[Verse 1: senegalese wolof-accented male MC, heavy and deliberate over the thundering sabar drums] On a Hundred-Sixteenth Street, I was nine and couldn't talk Every word would hit my teeth and freeze up like a lock Kids would laugh at how I said my name, the teacher wouldn't wait So I ate my lunch alone and kept it quiet, kept it straight Then old Lamine in 4C heard me drummin' on the stair Said "Come up, little brother, bring that noise up here" Had a sabar on the radiator, goatskin and a stick Said "When the mouth gets heavy, let the hand go quick" Taught me mbalax, taught me every call, the big ones and the small Twenty years in that apartment with the drum skins on the wall [Hook: wolof-accented MC, sung strong and wide over the kora and the drums] They said speak on it, speak on it, say what he said Every word I tried got caught behind my teeth instead So I speak on it, speak on it, hand to the drum He taught me when the mouth gets stuck, the hands gon' come [Verse 2: wolof-accented MC, the sabar rolling harder under every line] Now the whole block's in the hall, folding chairs in every row Aunties dressed in white and gold, uncles standin' by the door And his daughter Awa takes my hand and says "You knew him best Stand up, say a word for him, and we'll take care of the rest" So I'm standin' at the front with every eye in there on me And the first word hits my teeth and locks the way it used to be Five seconds, ten seconds, I can hear the folding chairs Then I see his drum against the wall, and I could feel him there [Hook] They said speak on it, speak on it, say what he said Every word I tried got caught behind my teeth instead So I speak on it, speak on it, hand to the drum He taught me when the mouth gets stuck, the hands gon' come [Drum Speech: the lead sabar plays the rhythm of the words alone four times, then the whole band answers with the kick] Jerejef, Baay Lamine Thank you, teacher, thank you [Verse 3: wolof-accented MC, full force, the kora and the sabar driving together] I didn't say a single word, I let the sabar talk Played the day he found me on the stairwell, played his walk Played the way he laughed, the way he tapped the table when he ate Played the bus he took to Brooklyn every Thursday, never late Played the night they took him in, the mornin' that he went And the aunties started cryin', 'cause they knew just what it meant Awa grabbed another stick and came and joined me on the low Then his brothers, then the whole room, beatin' on the chairs in rows Twenty years he taught me how to say it with my hands And I ain't say a single word, and everybody understands [Hook] They said speak on it, speak on it, say what he said Every word I tried got caught behind my teeth instead So I speak on it, speak on it, hand to the drum He taught me when the mouth gets stuck, the hands gon' come [End]
0/500