A new art installation will play Toto’s ‘Africa’ in the desert for “all eternity”

I bless the rains down in Africa...

A new art installation will play Toto‘s ‘Africa’ on a never-ending loop in the continent that initially inspired the iconic song.

The project is the brainchild of Namibian artist Max Siedentopf, who has constructed seven white plinths in the Namib desert.

On top of the tallest plinth sits an MP3 player, which holds just one song. It’s surrounded by six speakers that surround the player, in order to project the song into the desert.

Describing the project, Siedentopf explained that “the song is put on loop and the installation runs on solar batteries to keep Toto going for all eternity.”

“I wanted to pay the song the ultimate homage and physically exhibit ‘Africa’ in Africa,” Siedentopf told the BBC.

“Some [Namibians] love it and some say it’s probably the worst sound installation ever. I think that’s a great compliment.”

He’s also pretty ambitious about the success of the project – he hopes that it’ll play for 55 million years.

“Most parts of the installation were chosen to be as durable as possible, but I’m sure the harsh environment of the desert will devour the installation eventually,” he added.

Siedentopf’s project comes after the 1982 song experienced renewed popularity in the wake of recent viral fame.

In August 2018, a Burger King restaurant announced plans to play the track on loop for one day at a London restaurant.

Earlier that year,a dedicated Twitter account named @weezerAfrica also began campaigning for Weezer to cover the track before they eventually relented.

Toto then took the joke full circle – covering Weezer’s ‘Hash Pipe’ in return.