[2] According to this story, Adam Salim composed "Malaika" song in 1945 for his very beautiful girlfriend Halima Ramadhani Maruwa.

[1] Although Fadhili William has always insisted on his authorship of "Malaika", even providing a detailed description of the circumstances in which he wrote it,[citation needed] he is only recognized as the composer for royalty purposes.

[citation needed] It was later re-recorded at Equator Sound Studios by the British-born Kenyan music promoter Charles Worrod, who marketed the ballad to eventually becoming an internationally acclaimed song.

[citation needed] Miriam Makeba's early recording helped make it famous throughout the continent and eventually the world.

Her performances of the song brought it to the attention of such famous names as Harry Belafonte, Pete Seeger, Boney M, Usha Uthup and Angélique Kidjo.

[3] The song has been covered by many other international artists such as the Hep Stars, Boney M, the Brothers Four, Helmut Lotti, Rocco Granata, Saragossa Band and is a staple for many African musicians.

[1] The song is sung by a poor young man who wishes to marry his beloved "Angel" or "Little bird" but is defeated by the bride price.

[8] Having heard the statement that the Hep Stars were "the Swedish Beatles", he brought a guitar and started playing the song for them, much to their liking.

[8] After finishing shooting the Kenyan parts of their movie, the group traveled back to Sweden, and entered Europafilm Studios in April to record "Malaika" with Gert Palmcrantz producing.

The B-side was the Andersson composition "It's Nice to Be Back", which was intended as the closing song for the Hep Stars movie, upon their return to Stockholm.

Boney M. would use the double A-side format in this period, typically with the A1 being the song intended for radio and A2 being more squarely aimed at discos.

[citation needed] The original German and Spanish 4:30 single mix featured no percussion ad-libs and most notably, after the second verse it has a key-change to a drum, handclaps and a cappella chant before the song quickly fades.