Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Asmera, Khartoum, Harare, Hargeza, Mogadishu, Kigali, Kinshasa, Dar es Salaam, Lagos, Accra, Dakar, Kampala, Lusaka, Johannesburg, Durban, and Pretoria, Freetown, Cape Town, Cairo, Casablanca, Tunis, Algiers, Tripoli, Luanda, Bamako, Maputo, Abuja, Kumasi, Yaounde, Mwanza, Dodoma, Niamey, Ouagadougou, Juba, Lilongwe, Bujumbura, Bangui, Brazzaville, Mombasa, Lomé, Bissau, Djibouti, Monrovia...
city to city, whole continent, Africa...
unified especially in the mind of diaspora
slums to the village, townships to the gritty core
to refugee camps and lands plagued by war
youth that don't speak their language no more
ancestors kidnapped off shores
empires built by work that's forced
for hundreds of years there's an African source
for all american culture exports
there's nothing more beautiful than Black to me
nothing more complex then our history
Sankofa followed me since they first said go back
and get what you lost, fractals in a cross
everytime i rhyme i'm carrying a torch
can't shake it
it's more sacred than i could say
in some ways, a stage is the only place i'm safe
to shine all ways with my true spirit face
Mulatu Astatke taught me bout grace
i'm still learning, may my actions give thanks
for all those who came, and walked through the flames
carried scars and the pain and lived anyway
who passed on a joy deeper then any shame
we are healing in public
you call it a game
i want my heart to touch yours and to break all chains
free the land, free the people, may the borders erase
Soul-searching hip-hop from this Florida rapper, with lyrics that dig deep and take an unflinching look at life’s questions. Bandcamp New & Notable May 1, 2023