Afro-Juju Rememberance

Lyrics

Juju's Magnum Poetrium presents: Afro-Juju REMEMBRANCE Anthem On Twentieth of October, twenty-twenty. \[INTRO — SPOKEN WORD \] First, we acknowledge GOD of Juju as the main-domain again before dem beginning start believing the Blueprint of Juju’s Guitar bring the strings wey we sing from the ring through the spring, we win, we spin because GOD is in love with JiNG & BiNG! Juju — Low Transmission! Now listen... Ooooooohh... Black Rhythm wey dey bleed, but still dey breathe… Xoulful Blues wey dem leave, but still dey lead… \[VERSE 1 — ROOTS DEY RECOGNIZE ME\] Historically-grounding-me. Culturally-crowning-me. Rhythmically-surrounding-me. Poetically-sounding-me. Anciently-informing-me. Modernly-transforming-me. Digitally-storing-me. Intellectually-growing-me. Bronzily-glowing-me. Kingdomly-knowing-me. Heritagely-holding-me. Memory-unfolding-me. Truthfully-testing-me. Carefully-questioning-me. Evidently-guiding-me. Corroboratively-driving-me. Before New Benin be bringing a New Beginning, there was a child wey get a story, wey him suffery carry inside him small memory, wey become his first inventory, survive through life mystery, still he no hurry believing: Na GOD fit gift the glory.. \[PRE-CHORUS — DEEP AFRO-SOUL\] Ooooh, hear the heartbeat calling, Ooooh, see the old roots growing. From the voices wey the years no fit erase, To the children wey go carry on the race. \[CHORUS — AFRO HOUSE / CALL-AND-RESPONSE\] Lead: New-Benin-be-softly-grooming-me! Crowd: Dis-Juju-Xound-be-slowly-grooving-me! Lead: Black-Rhythm-be-readily-rocking-me! Crowd: Xoulful-Blues-be-steadily-shocking-me! The Ancestral Pulse no go die, From the earth to the stars, make the spirit fly. Juju for the vision, Afro on the mission, Culture preserved for the future generations, Make dem fit groove on a solid foundation! \[VERSE 2 — BLACK RHYTHM & XOULFUL BLUES\] Slowly-refining-me, Quietly-defining-me, Gracefully-reminding-me, Spiritually-guiding-me. From the red soil, make the bassline roll, From ancestral memory to the digital soul. New Benin wey open eyes, just to show me my size. Before I realize, my grace don fall from the skies, Finally by my side. So if you see me softly singing, Na GOD's love be the every reason I win, Even before my season. \[VERSE 3 — POETIC MELODIC RAP\] GOD's love be-Beautifully-blooming-&-building-me! From-faith-to-favors-His-Frequency-surround-me! From-mystery-through-History-slowly-unfolding, Ancestral-roots-&-flute-stories-untold-be-readily-reloading. Dem-New-generations-become-wealthily-be-known-globally-as-those-glowing. From page to sage, from street to screen, We begin in between. Keep the culture clean, make memory fit intervene, Make the records better stay unseen from those wey still believe the land will stay forever green. No be everything wey trend be our friend, Some friends fit already study you just to fit allegedly tragedy you. But strangely dem bring you new melody, Now melody turn remedy, From remedy before comedy, From comedy this Xound be… Historically-grounding-me, Culturally-surrounding-me, Rhythmically-resounding-me, Deeply-reverberating-me. From the red soil, make the bassline roll, From ancestral memory to the digital soul. Bronze in the history, fire in the sound, New Benin rising, make the whole world surround. Steadily-building-me, Intellectually-filling-me, Creatively-drilling-me, Purposefully-willing-me. \[BRIDGE — DEEP AFRO-SOUL\] GOD, give us wisdom make we know wetin to keep, Give us courage make we face the truth wey cut deep. Make the children inherit more than stories we tell, Make dem inherit understanding, make dem know themselves well. [READ-ALOUD VERSE: TWO OCTOBERS] (Music fades. One voice, steady. Pause at each full stop.) Hear this, and hear it plain. Two Octobers. Thirty-four years apart. On the nineteenth, nineteen eighty-six, a parcel came to a house in Lagos, and Dele Giwa, editor and co-founder of Newswatch, did not live to read the next edition. On the twentieth, twenty-twenty, young people stood at the Lekki Toll Gate, holding the flag, singing the anthem, asking the country to stop killing its own. The lights went out. The shots rang out. Families are still counting. The first case has no verdict. The second has a finding, but not yet full justice. A panel said soldiers shot unarmed protesters. The army denied it. The grief did not. We name no guilty man tonight without proof. That is the discipline Dele taught. But where proof has spoken, we will not look away, and where proof is missing, we will not stop asking. Silence is not a verdict. Time is not an answer. Research it. Record it. Review it. Report it. Ratify what holds. Remember who was lost. Reference the source. Revere the courage. The drum may fall silent. The pen must not. Say it with me, once, without music: Corroboration before conclusion. Memory before mourning ends. Justice before the quiet wins. (Two full beats of silence. Talking drum returns softly for the Outro.)