Gabriel's use of Xhosa lyrics have been read by scholars as evidence of the "authenticity" of Gabriel's effort to highlight Biko. By using a language that many South Africans, and the majority of outsiders, did not know, the words trigger curiosity; in the words of Byerly, "compelling become, like Gabriel, insiders to the struggle". In contrast, scholar Derek Hook has written that the song highlighted the artist, rather than Biko himself, and "[secured for the singer and his audience a kind of anti-racist social capital". Hook questioned whether the "consciousness raising" efforts of the song could turn into "anti-racist narcissism". Drewett stated that the use of a simplistic and generic "African" beat was an indication of an "imperial imagination" in the song's composition.