THE KALAKUTA CHARTER

Songtext

BURG CITY RECORDS IN POETIC COLLABORATION WITH THE JB STUDIOS presents: THE KALAKUTA CHARTER — AFROBEAT REMIX Abeokuta Cadence · Afrobeat Resistance · Benin Bounce · Kalakuta Announce [00 — THE MARKET WAKES] ELDER VOICE: Before the stage, there was the market. Before the horn, there was the woman's voice. Before the song called the nation, a mother called the women. And the women came. [Bass and drums lock in. Horns blast.] BURG CITY — open the gate. The JB STUDIOS — keep the date. KALAKUTA — the charter no dey wait. [I. THE INVOCATION — GOD BEFORE THE GROOVE] GOD before the groove, GOD before the move, GOD before the proof, GOD before the truth. Origin of origins, Author of the authors, Keeper of the mothers, Witness to the fathers. You see the market woman with the basket on her head, You count the coins of tax wey dem take from her bread. You hear the night prayer when the lantern dey low, You hold the seed of courage wey the colonial rain no fit drown. Source-of-the-sound, Ground-of-the-ground, Crown-without-a-crown, Name-wey-no-go-down. Before we sing resistance, we acknowledge the Resistance-Giver, before we cross the water, we bow to the Maker of the river. CHOIR: GOD before the groove. CHOIR: GOD before the groove. CHOIR: GOD before the groove, and the people go move. [II. THE MAMA CHARTER — FUNMILAYO FIRE] Funmilayo, Funmilayo, the name wey shake the palace, teacher with the chalk, but the chalk turn into balance. From the classroom to the crossroads, from the lesson to the line, she organise the women till the women organise the time. Abeokuta women, market-strong, basket-heavy, dem tax the woman's head while the system dey dey ready. Flat-rate, no-weight, no-debate, no-escape, till Mama say, "Enough," and the women change the shape. They marched to the palace, ten thousand voice, they slept by the gate, they no give the system choice. Night-watch, sit-down, song-loud, no-sound of surrender for their mouth, only courage for the ground. [DOUBLE-TIME — THE UNION STACK] Mobilise-the-market, organise-the-target, analyse-the-budget, never-dodge-it, never-fudge-it. Petition-the-position, challenge-the-tradition, turn-the-woman's-condition to a national decision. Union-in-the-unity, community-immunity, 1949, the throne bend, and the women hold the dignity. CHOIR: Funmilayo. CROWD: Fire no dey expire. CHOIR: Funmilayo. CROWD: Spirit no fit tire. [III. THE FELA CADENCE] From the womb of resistance came a horn with a mission, the son of the fighter turn the fight to composition. Mama fight with petition, Fela fight with the drum, same fire, new wire, same root, new sun. Saxophone sermon, bassline lecture, keyboard confession, rhythm-guitar architecture. The groove go long, because the struggle long, fifteen minutes for a song, because the system wrong. He make the people dance while the mind dey wake, he make the dancefloor shake till the government shake. Anikulapo, the one who carry death in the pouch, no fear for the soldier, no fear for the couch. Shuffle-the-shame, expose-the-game, name-the-name, no-tame-the-flame. Horn-on-the-corner, drum-on-the-border, truth-on-the-order, the whole Lagos record am. Clause one: GOD na the source, no debate. Clause two: Mama na the foundation, no mistake. Clause three: the music must carry the meaning. Clause four: the dancing must leave the mind dreaming. Clause five: no forget the market women name. Clause six: no let the story turn to game. Clause seven: check the fact before you sing am. Clause eight: carry the truth wherever you bring am. Clause nine: the fire belong to the next. Clause ten: the charter na living text. [DOUBLE-TIME — FAMILY FIRE] Fire-of-the-mother, fire-of-the-brother, fire-of-the-elder, fire-for-each-other. Fuji-wire, highlife-choir, Afrobeat-higher, rhythm-supplier, ember-remember, September-December, fire-no-surrender, GOD-the-defender. [READ-ALOUD VERSE — NOW LISTEN] NOW LISTEN.. In the 1940s, the women of Abeokuta faced a poll tax, a fixed charge on each woman whatever she earned. They also faced controls on markets and produce, managed through the colonial system of indirect rule and the throne of the Alake. Chief Mrs. Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti and the Abeokuta Women's Union answered with organisation. They refused to pay the tax, boycotted markets, held press conferences and demonstrated at the Alake's palace, where they slept outside for days. Their marches drew up to ten thousand women. On 3 January 1949, the Alake abdicated. Decades later, in 1977, soldiers raided Kalakuta, the home of her son, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. She was thrown from a window during the raid. She died of her injuries on 13 April 1978. On 30 September 1979, Fela and his supporters carried a symbolic coffin to Dodan Barracks, the seat of the head of state. That journey became the song "Coffin for Head of State." The mother organised. The son composed. The people remember. GOD IS IN THE WORK AS AFRO-JUJU CONTINUES. [Final horn blast. Groove out.]