The family of Afunakwa, the Solomon Islands singer whose lullaby became the backbone of Deep Forest's 1990s hit Sweet Lullaby, is seeking recognition and compensation, ABC News reported on November 5, 2026. Afunakwa, who died in 1987, recorded the lullaby Rorogwela in 1969 in the Baegu region of Malaita province; her daughter Elen Kasi told the ABC that she was paid $2 after singing and that the family has received nothing since.

Swiss ethnomusicologist Hugo Zemp made the field recording, which reached Deep Forest through a UNESCO collection found in a Paris record store. Zemp, who died in January at 88, maintained that he never gave the duo permission; Deep Forest disputes that account, with remaining member Eric Mouquet saying he supplied a list of samples and that permissions were handled by others, while French producer Dan Lacksman said that was not his role and Sony did not respond to a request for comment. The song helped the 1992 album reach number one in Australia and has more than 50 million streams.

In 2018, Sydney producer Matt Singmin travelled to Baegu and has since launched the Afunakwa Foundation with community figure Celsus Talifilu and Afunakwa's grandsons to recoup some of the royalties the community never received. Mouquet told the ABC that failing to credit Afunakwa was "very regrettable" and said he was open to collaborating with her family; Deep Forest has added her name and Zemp's to its YouTube version of the song.