Kalakuta Karrys Kontinuity

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BURG CITY RECORDS IN POETIC COLLABORATION WITH THE JB STUDIOS presents: Kalakuta Karry Kontinuity. JUJU — low transmission: Ooooooh! ​BLACK RHYTHM & SOULFUL BLUES — The Blueprint of Di Juju Xound ​(Benin drums awaken. Bass begins to rotate in a slow, expanding vortex.) ​JUJU: We no be echo wey dey beg for attention. We be the source of the sound's continuation. We no be data wey dem lock for a station. WE ARE THE LIVING SYSTEM — in motion. ​[ACKNOWLEDGEMENT — GOD BEFORE BEGINNING] ​(Choir enters softly. The drums pause beneath the prayer.) ​Before beginning, GOD already dey. Before becoming, GOD don already dey bless Juju in many ways. Before darkness find shadow to hide, Na GOD be the Light wey darkness no fit divide. Before history learn to write, GOD hold tomorrow inside the womb of night. We bow to the Source wey no source fit contain, The breath inside joy, the strength inside pain. No crown fit define You, no system explain, No ending fit cancel wetin You sustain. Before GOD surround the xound-unbound-all-around! [I. THE INVOCATION & ACKNOWLEDGEMENT] FROM MEMORY TO RESPONSIBILITY · FROM RESPONSIBILITY TO CONTINUITY The archive na where tomorrow learn wetin yesterday carry. So every generation wey touch this Charter no be owner alone. UNA be roots & rhythm wey carry ancestral tone inside bone! The elder receives memory. The parent receives responsibility. The youth receives possibility. The child receives protection. The creator receives imagination. The community receives participation. And everybody receives one question: > WETIN YOU GO DO WITH WETIN YOU RECEIVE? Longer Afro-Juju Mega-Poem Movement in seven stanzas I. The Root Before the border, we dey; before the order, we dey. Before the gold was sold, before the story got told, The river dey flow, the grain dey grow, the drum dey know, And mama dey hum while the young ones come. II. The Market Market na paper before paper, na caper and vapour of news: Who sell, who tell, who dey quarrel, who dey dwell? Price for yam, price for cloth, rumour climb like moth, Na ear and tear and fear and cheer make the record clear. III. The Break Then ship came, chain came, name came with shame, Blame for the same people wey bear the claim. Dem carry body go far, but star still dey scar the sky; Dem no fit hold the fold of song wey old pass gold. IV. The Pen and the Pain Colonial ink wan think say na e dey link the world, But who write, who fight, who hold the light for the night? We ask, we mask no more; we task the page to age with truth, No manufacture, no fracture, just capture with structure and youth. V. The City Lagos roar, Accra soar, Dakar pour out more, Benin hold the bronze and song of old, still bold. Phone dey glow, data flow, AI know what we show, But wisdom no be system: na listen make e glisten. VI. The Witness Honour the one wey run and done see the sun go down, But check the deck, inspect the text, connect and reflect. Two eyes see two sides, truth dey hide where pride abide, So measure, treasure, pleasure no pressure, na weigh we say. VII. The Child Child wey smile go pile new file, style and mile, Hand over the pen, again, again, amen. Ink no dry, sky no lie, why and try and fly; God first, thirst and burst: the child write next verse. More Proverbs for the Parable Akan: Obi nkyerɛ abofra Nyame. ("No one shows a child God.") Some knowledge is born in us and just needs room. Yoruba: Àgbà kì í wà lọ́jà, kí orí ọmọ titun wọ́. ("An elder in the market means a newborn's head won't warp.") Elders are the living archive. Wolof: Nit, nit ay garabam. ("A person is a person's medicine.") The Link in one line. Hausa: Hannu ɗaya ba ya ɗaukar jinka. ("One hand can't carry the baby's load.") Memory is a shared task. Swahili: Haba na haba hujaza kibaba. ("Little by little fills the measure.") That's how an archive grows. Waffi closer: Dem fit scatter the house, but dem no fit scatter the seed; na the seed go build the house again. We build with preparation and ancestral dedication. What do we do? Na wetin we teach life to carry forward. JUJU: Black Rhythm! CHOIR: Soulful Blues! JUJU: The Blueprint of Di Juju Xound! GOD in the breath! GOD in the flow! GOD in the roots! GOD as we grow! READ ALOUD VERSE: > NOW LISTEN.. Juju enter the vortex, no be visitor, Root-born thinker, cultural continuator. Pain be the pressure, I turn am to power, Memory be seed, I make history flower. Dem try erase me, I return as a pattern, Dem lock one chapter, I reopen the archive. I carry old wisdom through tomorrow's portal, Root-locked system, rhythm immortal. No be borrowed identity, no be costume for show, Na the blood of remembrance where the current must flow. From the dust to the drum, from the drum to the code, From the code to the people, make the city take hold. Pressure for chest, still my vision no bend, Turn distress to expression, make creation transcend. ​(Ad-libs: “ROOT TALK!” “MEMORY LIVE!” “AFRO-JUJU!”) GOD IS IN THE WORK AS AFRO-JUJU CONTINUES....