All hail the reigning Eurovision queen Netta.
The Eurovision 2018 winner and assumed Israeli royalty has continued her streak of singing songs with plenty of sass as she has just released “Bassa Sababa”, her first new single since taking home the trophy last year.
Seemingly just as catchy as her winning song and hit single “Toy”, the new track uses the Arabic/Hebrew slang words for “Bummer, that’s cool” and is all about Netta’s roller-coaster ride following her newfound fame.
Never one for being basic, the accompanying music video lets us into Netta’s Willy-Wonka-style world of pink via a video game. Even Nintendo’s Mario would be afraid to level up in this game as the video features a glittery pink rhinoceros charging at a man who left the Israeli singer standing alone at the altar.
Netta – “Bassa Sababa”
Netta has previously declared her love for the animal. In a recent interview with dpa, she explained why she featured the African animal.
“I looked for an animal that I felt was strong. A rhino has very thick skin. That symbolizes the negativity that glided off my skin, all the negative reactions to which I felt immune.”
“I feel that I was born a rhino – strong, powerful, uncompromising and attacking her hardships.”
Netta described her video to dpa as a “tribal pop anthem,” playing ode to her former homeland Nigeria, Africa. Most notably, the song fuses African beats with pop and electronic dance which is sure to fire up dance floors around the world.
The video was shot in the Ukrainian capital Kiev and directed by Roy Raz, who has worked with previous Eurovision artist Anggun (France 2012).
This video proves that not only is Netta here to stay, but she is also here to slay, rhino style!
Did Netta want to sing “Bassa Sababa” at Eurovision?
We’ve previously published the highlights of an interview with TV director Yoav Tzafir, who is in charge of The Next Star for Eurovision, and he also directed Netta’s performance at Eurovision. In his interview, he mentioned that Netta submitted her own song to the special Eurovision committee that chose the song that she eventually sang at Eurovision.
Netta wanted to sing a song she penned herself at Eurovision, which featured a chorus with the phrase “Sababa Sababa” but the Israeli Eurovision committee voted for “Toy” instead. Inside the studio there were plenty of tears. But Netta broke “Toy” down into parts and eventually added the chicken sounds and the looper, at which point it all clicked as she made that song her own song, with her special touch.
As her new song has almost the same title, we suspect it may have been the song she wanted for Eurovision. The song has probably been further produced in the last couple of months. Netta is expected to perform on the Eurovision stage in Tel Aviv, so there is quite a big chance she will perform her new song on that stage. Looks like it could make it to Eurovision as she hoped all along.
“Bassa Sababa” Lyrics
BAM BAM BASABIM
MESIBA BASSIM
BIS MI WASABI
BASSA SABABA
Stop!
Call your mama
Run
Tell her I’m a Rhino
My killer girls are coming
If you won’t hide you’re done
I’m gonna eat you
Um um um um um
Gonna beat you like a drum
Um um um
Gonna chew you like some gum
Um um um
Go and tell her who I am
Baby call your mom
Bam bam bam bam bam
Stop!
Hold the trigger
Watch
My horn is bigger
I win
I love my thicker figure
I grew a thicker skin
I’m gonna eat you
What do you make of Netta’s first single since winning Eurovision? How do you interpret the music video for “Bassa Sababa”? Do you think she should have sung this at Eurovision instead of “Toy”? Let us know in the comments below!
A. Tribute to Israel and Netta from Lydia Wodruf
https://youtu.be/Bin0yv0n1qo
Much better than Netta actually
https://youtu.be/1pFIug7eseA
Neta did it again she just queen what an amazing clip which catchy song loves her
Yea with bought votes for sure. The same way she won eleni foureira . Eleni was leading almost to every internet poll and in semi final she won with very big difference in televoting but in some magical way netta won the final
oh please, get over it! Internet polls voted by no more than 10k people, most from the same countries, some of them not even in the contest. How is that reliable?
She didn’t lead any poll at all until may arrived. You’re full of crap.
Baby Shark Dance got some competition. Expecting a billion views within a month. #IDWTLOTPA
Entertaining artist with talent, about time a follow up song is released. A good one too. When is she releasing an album? The song is indeed catchy. Will appeal to all who liked ‘Toy’. However, in the video she is way too scary and aggressive to my liking. i’ll stick to the audio version. Already on my play list.
What’s our problem guys ???! It’s just Amazing song and Amazing artist. J’adore 😉 Vive Netta !!!!
I like the chorus and the rhino concept, but these video-games-themed music videos are a bit cliché now.
Bop!
Ugh, not this fakey-east asian s#it again…
Another horrible song from a horrible singer.
Nobody likes you Salvador
That may be but I am still regarded as one of the best winners of Eurovision ever, if not THE BEST.
Ok, you’re the best Salvador
Salvador is a lame hipster who lacks any originality. His winner song is a copy of million songs that were released decades ago. With no modern interpretation, no twist, nothing.
Except for thousands of people that go watch his concerts all over Europe almost two years after his victory and millions that voted for him.
Hello fake Salvador. Maybe it’s time to end your obsession with real Salvador and move on with your life, unless you are helplessly in love with him, which might be the reason for this obsession
YESSS!!! Salvador you are 100% right
I’m not 100% sure but she probably collaborated with Gromee on this one. He posted a photo with Netta on his Instagram before the release of the song, he wrote “something new is coming!” and added hashtag #bassa_sababa.
He’s said he is doing a remix of the song. Which will come out later.
I don’t understand the hype about her and about Mikolas, sorry: their music is meaningless.
Last year, ESC have such an incredible artists, creative people from a lot of countries… Why you don’t post about them too? It’s quite sad.
It’s not even a matter of opinion, it’s a matter of facts…
Because literally their songs have meanings…
You can either listen to the lyrics and actually think (I know thinking is hard) or at least look for it on the Internet
I understand the hype about Netta but I really don’t get the hype about Mikolas.
Do you get anything at all?…
Sometimes, like when I get the hype about Eleni…
how can you get eleni but not netta? eleni is just singing about how hot she is… (and toy is as catchy as fuego, if that’s all you care about)
Actually, I said I get the hype about both Eleni and Netta and actually, I agree because Toy is the better song, Fuego has weird lyrics that make absolutely no sense but I still get the hype around Eleni, Fuego was an OK song but it was SO OVERRATED.
What a fun video, and it helps make the song make more sense compared to just listening to it on Spotify.
It’s not usual to see a young woman such as herself who actually know what she is after in life. I admire her strength and statements!
Yeah… she’s all about bubble gum…
She’s gonna hit 1M views in a day. The song release is in every major paper in Israel and picked up by the AP. Good job!
It’s already 1.2 Million and counting
455.000 views in 10 hours
WHY DO I LOVE THIS SONG SO MUCH?!
Because you have incredible BAD taste
Roses are red
Violets are blue
Someone has BAD taste
and that person is YOU.
You should use some of this “creativity” to develop a better taste in music. And once you at it also in poetry
Whatever + learn English pls. + Tell me your favourite Eurovision song and I’LL be the one to judge this time.
So besides an incredible bad taste both in music and poetry, you have trouble reading… And let me recall you that you were the one that strarted to judge. This is my point. I don’t care at all what you like or don’t like.
Yeah, well neither do I. No one cares so don’t bother replying to me and saying this, “BAD TASTE”. In fact, if I could I would report you.
You were the one who started it. So, besides being a wanna-be ridiculous “poet” and having problems reading (and not mentioning your “wonderful” taste in music and I guess in life in general) you have a memory problem… I am starting to feel sorry for you.
Everything you said, the same goes for you. Everything except… Oh! NOTHING.
Whatever…
…
“Gonna beat you like a drum” Sounds a bit abusive to me…
This is actually much deeper than a pop song. The girl has a message and her personality is reflected in this catchy song. This song can be a hit around the globe.
Well done Netta!
It should be
I think it is more fun than toy. It is noisy and wierd.
Not on my playlist. But o.k.
This song is so different from Toy while still having a clear “Netta”-ness to it. Absolutely love the song, the aggressiveness in the verses, the amazingly catchy chorus, and all the funny lines. This is going to be stuck in my head for the whole year
This song hit my like toy did
1st listen: W T F
2nd listen: this is actually ok
3rd listen: Pampampampampam
Really good!
Awful
she is different and do her music, and make fan
love it
I love it!
Perhaps not quite as strong as Toy, but Netta’s delivery and personality make up for a lot. She’s a star.
Wait so a guy didn’t want to marry a girl and she decided to punish him….I….if the roles were switch i wonder what the reaction would be
I love how you are always looking out for political correctness, Melania Trump. It’s true though. Any man would be crucified for such a narrative. Rightfully so. But apparently, when you’re a big woman, it’s totally okay.
It’s almost as if women have a totally different history to men…imagine!
Ah, so it’s okay to torment men? How very enlightened of you.
You may notice that is is a video game – not reality, so it is about wiping his memory. This is not about physical revenge, but for having a thick skin.
I’m sure it’s all in good fun, yes. But Mrs. Trump did raise an interesting question.
Not all that interesting. Aside from the video, where in the song does it mention anything about him refusing to marry her? There’s no mention of any romance whatsoever – the lyrics could apply to any scenario whatsoever, they don’t even specify what gender Netta is singing to, but whatever…and to think they call liberals “snowflakes”! Maybe follow Netta’s example and get a thicker skin. There are bigger battles worth fighting. Peace!
I have no clue what the song is about. I read that comment, then watched the clip and indeed, it looked like the guy left her at the altar and due to that she got mad. That’s what I responded to. I don’t know what that has to do with my own skin but my skin is thick enough to ignore your narrow and incredibly small-minded snowflake comment. Apparently, people have to be either liberal snowflakes or conservative snowflakes for you. I do not feel addressed either way.
There are many clues as to the song highlighting having thick skin. Understanding any art piece is about the willingness to engage, and if one claims to have no clue after clues were already discussed, then they apparently already have a VERY thick skin. Best to you, Mr. Bean.
Again: I was not responding to the song, I was responding to the comment and to what I saw in the video, NOT what I heard.
Cool. Now, let’s go back to experiencing the rich video that Netta just provided…
In the spirit of conciliation, I’m sorry if I somehow misinterpreted your remarks. I will try to explain mine – no, tormenting men is not okay. To answer the original poster’s question “what would the reaction be if the roles were reversed?”, I would say yes, the reaction may be quite different – but that would be perfectly understandable given that men have a huge and shameful history of oppressing women. That is not the case the other way around, so we are not comparing like with like.
I believe in a gender-blind society, meaning to me it’s wrong to categorize people based on which sex they are. Both sexes have a lot of evil representatives. It annoys me when anyone speaks of “men” and “women”. I find it so simple that it’s primitive. At least adding “a lot of men”, “some women” would make it more accurate. The truth is that a lot of women harm men as well. It’s just less visible for various reasons. Evil is not gender-related.
Unfortunately that is an ideal, not a reality. You can believe in a gender-blind society all you want, but the actual lived experience of women makes clear that it does not in fact exist.
Just enjoy the frickin video. Sheesh
It’s me or she’s loosing weight?..
No it just looks that way because the norm is different for rhinos.
Auotune not in a good way.
It’s awesome! This is so good song and it will be a hit! ??
I don’t know. This song seems more aimed for the Israeli market, since the title isn’t even in English. I don’t think it’s as accessible as Toy.
I think it’s super accessible actually. The chorus, while in Hebrew, is incredibly catchy and easy to remember. Having the title in a different language isn’t really an issue. I doubt it will be as big of a hit as Toy just because it is not as “out there” but it is definitely just as good of a song
There’s not even one word in Hebrew in the song, what you think is Hebrew, (Bassa Sababa) is actually Arabic.
Bis miWasabi, the word bis is in Hebrew (a bite of Wasabi)
So there is Hebrew 😉
Plus, Joe, Despasito (for example) was a huge international hit not even in English
Music crosses the borders of language!
I truly believe she is a great artist. But she is really waisting time and money and most importantly her talent in this kind of… well… music?…
“Wasting time”? Pretentious much? She’s the winner of Eurovision, and one of the most sought after artists in Europe, topping charts, and selling out gigs. Who are you exactly? Another armchair critic thinking he can do a better job managing the talent from his keyboard and computer screen. With all due respect how many youtube views do you have? Please don’t mansplain what music is – okay?
Adele, Bjork, James Blake, Robyn, Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa, Rosalía, are sought after European artists. Not Netta!.. (assuming she would be European) Stop believing in this urban myth. As for your personal attacks, I will not dignify them with a response.
The fact that you’re so triggered over someones opinion (just like you have the right to yours) shows just how pretentious you are, my dear.
How is she wasting her time, money, and talent? This song is a great representation of who she is as an artist. It’s fun, catchy, cheerful, full of weird sounds, uses plenty of vocal effects, and still maintains an Israeli identity. Like I’m sorry, but Bassa Sababa is a song only Netta would think of producing, so it’s a great use of her talent
This is like… Toy 2.0. She made us wait an entire year for THIS.
How is it like Toy 2.0?
I wish she had used her looper in this song though, it’s like her symbol and she didn’t even use it
She’s going to use the looper to do all those voice effects on stage, no doubt about it.
Toy is not only about her looper… The only good thing about this new act is that she is getting rid of the looper. Indeed this is Toy 2.0: same sounds, same voice effects, some message and underlining narrative, some aesthetics… only worst… Netta deserves better.
Well, she knows who she is and that’s her artistic style…
The sounds, voice effects, and message are not the same at all, but okay
This is what’s called an artistic line. And yes, she is allowed to sing more than one song about self empowerment. She’s not your toy 😉
A bit monothematic, though…
Other artists will write entire albums of breakup songs, but Netta gets called “monothematic” because she releases one song about not letting yourself be held down by those around you and another about making lemonade out of lemons smdh
GIRL YOU DON’T LIKE ANYTHING!!! WTH
if you’re gonna make us wait a year for your second single and then it ends up being THIS….. i ain’t gonna pretend to like it lmao
Polegend, this is what Netta wanted to send to the stage a year ago. If you found it as Toy 2.0, that’s okay. We all enjoyed it.
Well what would you expect?
A heartoching ballad?
Despite being a bit too aggressive in my opinion, I really like it!
Netta is super talented, original, creative and such a lovely and down-to-earth person 🙂
I wish her the best <3
This could have been a great contender – and possible winner – for Eurovision 2019. It’s a shame Israel didn’t want to pull a Germany and recycle their artist.
Me Gusta – Mikolas Josef or Tomame by Eleni would have been great too. 🙁
I couldn’t agree more with you – if some artist is good and has a new catchy song – it would be a great idea.
Especially for Czech Rep and Cyprus – they had their best ever results with a strong new direction. Why not save some money and select internally?
I actually like this more than Toy.
Netta is probably the most resilient Eurovision winner in today’s time. Apart from what she expresses through her songs and music videos, she is calm and patient as she does not fight back against those who bash on her, may it be for personal or political reasons. And this music video looks expensive.
She’s very creative, but with this song i look at her a bit out of focus. Be strange doesen’t necessary means “be creative”; “Toy” was good, and for most of the people even “amazing”, she has to prove right now that she can be complete, and not only monotone. The video makes me with no words, it’s seems like’s a parody video: it’s too much.
The message here, have a thick skin, is not as clear as the one in Toy, but it does not have to be outside the competition. All the “strange” things in the video are connected to the themes – for example – the bubble gum connected to a line in the song and Netta’s love for anything pink. This is soooooooooooooooooooo creative, but one has to look more to find out…
It’s not “Bismi” it’s “Bisli” which is kind of a snack here in Israel
http://www.samlil.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/bissli_d2.jpg
“Bisli-wasabi” = “Wassabi (flavoured) Bissli.”
Dude just listen to the song – its a clear M sound not an L – it can’t be Bisli.
its bis mi wassabi which mean bite from wassabi, even netta confimed this on her story on instagram
I love that she’s used a rhino for the theming – it’s such a niche animal!!
Me too! I also think it’s really smart. A rhino is basically a thick-skinned unicorn, which kind of describes Netta in a way
This horrid and disturbing. Thankfully I don’t have to listen to that again.
k
the song is good but I find the video clip a bit disturbing…sorry for the boy…
Correct Lyrics (translation at the end): Chorus: Bam Bam Basabim Messiba Basim Bis MiWasabi Bassa Sababa Verse 1: Stop! Call your Mama Run! Tell her I’m a Rhino My killer girls are coming If you won’t hide you’re done Bridge: I’m gonna eat you Um um, um um um Gonna beat you like a drum Um um, um Gonna chew you like some gum Um um, um Go and tell her who I am Baby call your mom Bam bam bam ba ba Chorus: Bam Bam Basabim Messiba Basim Bis MiWasabi Bassa Sababa Verse 2: Stop! Hold the trigger Watch!… Read more »
Damn, you can say whatever you want, but this girl has talent and creativity ! The song is so catchy! I love it. I can’t wait to hear the album. Well done Netta!
She looks amazing, the video I stunning visually but the song is bad!! She screams even though she has a very good voice!!!! It’s a pitty to wait over a year to listen new music from Netta and that’s all she can do
Omg Yan — read your message. You sound like those people who cried about “Toy” being “bad music” with “weird noises”. She’s not “screaming”, she’s growling, she’s belting out. Like a rhino. Listen to the song again. And then listen to it one more time. Just like with “Toy” by the third listen, you’ll be hooked. This is priceless and is built on a winning formula.
This is so cool and so “Netta”, what a queen 🙂
Like
If this was the song she wanted to perform in Eurovision before Toy was handed to her, I don’t think the result would have been different. She would’ve won with this one too. It’s very catchy!
Brilliant and fun! The “I’m” part sounds like eating sounds 😀 .
YES! It’s my favorite part haha
The lyrics you posted is not accurate!
Wow amazing! The chorus kinda gibberish words are actually Hebrew! It says: Bam bam in the subwoofers (bam bam basabim), party (messiba), basses (bassim), a bite of wasabi (bis miwasabi), it sucks (bassa), it’s good (sababa)? it’s genius!
I love her new song. I can’t wait for her to release an album!