In case you missed it last year — or didn't get the joke — a video with a Cape Flats rendition of Beyoncé's "Irreplaceable"is trending all over the Internet again, this time catching the attention of international audiences despite the sense of humour failure by some.
Channel24 had the trio of Felicity Kiran, Anray Amasure and Lauren-Lee Bock from the cast of Woman2Woman in the studio to sing their version of Beyoncé's "Irreplaceable". That's the video above.
Like the original song, Woman2Woman's "Irreplaceable"is about women telling their shady ex-boyfriends to pack up their stuff and put it in a box "to the left", only this time it embodies a representation of the women of the Cape coloured community.
While it may have sounded strange to American ears, the language and accent used during the rendition is commonplace in the Western Cape and familiar to most South Africans. The show Woman2Woman celebrates women by highlighting their experiences, their challenges and the importance of sisterhood through song.
According to Channel24, the version going viral now was created by Woman2Woman director Ramaine Barreiro-Lloyd about six years ago. Kiran, Amasure and Bock are actually the fifth group to perform it. Channel24 reported that 10 percent of the proceeds from the show, which ran for two days in October 2016, were donated to the Cancer Association of South Africa in support of cancer awareness month.
The trio recorded two other parody songs — "Dear Mr. President" by Pink and Blu Cantrell's "Hit Em Up Style" — to promote the show. But it was "Irreplaceable" that turned them into a viral sensation resonating with a South African audience.
The video was picked up by the American media house the Shade Room recently but viewers misunderstood it, as the trio were thought to be a band who were giving a poor performance and degrading Beyoncé's hit.
Americans' picking up on the video is not the only reason the video is trending again. The trio were on SABC's "Expresso" show last week and interest in the video picked up again.