[NANDI – The Griot – Verse 1] (Low, spoken rhythm, like ancient prophecy on a beat) Yo… They talk gold, they talk throne, they don’t speak of the cost They forget every empire is built on the lost From Mali to Mecca, the sun scorched our backs Some died in silence… some never made it back We carried dreams wrapped in cloth on camels Some carried wounds, some carried shovels I watched brothers fall, no glory, no name Just a prayer in the wind — that’s how they remain ⸻ [HOOK – Ensemble, haunting chant-like hook under beat] The ones we lost… remember them clear Not just the gold, not just the year Their blood in the dust, their pain in the stone We built this empire, but we ain’t alone… ⸻ [MUSA – Verse 2 – Regret flows like confessional] I gave gold to the world, thought I bought us respect But the weight of that flex put knives in our neck I ain’t see the signs, too blind with the vision Too loud with the mission, too proud for precision Thought faith was enough, thought dreams would suffice Now the sand holds the names of those who paid the price Tell me—what’s a crown if it sits on the graves Of the ones who believed, the ones I couldn’t save? ⸻ [HOOK – Ensemble with slight beat drop and echo FX] The ones we lost… please remember We marched in heat, through every ember Gold don’t gleam like a brother’s soul Can’t buy back life when the desert takes hold ⸻ [NANDI – Verse 3 – Raw griot flow with rising energy] I told him: kings walk, but griots recall The dead don’t vanish, they rise in the call And we tell it raw, we don’t gild the truth We name every elder, every fallen youth They was sons, warriors, scholars in stride Some never got to see that Meccan sky But we carry ’em, each verse, each beat Their stories live on in the rhyme, in the heat ⸻ [MUSA – Final Verse – Slower tempo, stripped-down beat] Now I spit these bars for the ones who gone For the dust-covered dreams we rode upon I was crowned by the world, but humbled by loss ’Cause a throne without people… that’s the real cost So build me a mosque, but don’t forget To carve their names in the walls — never in debt They died for the dream… now I see the truth Legacy ain’t gold… it’s the names of the youth ⸻ [FINAL HOOK – Harmonized – Minor Key Choir Behind Beat] The ones we lost… the blood, the soul Their lives, the fire that made us whole Remember the pain, remember the price Remember the journey… remember their life… ⸻
