Muad'Dib X Profile picture
Mar 20 130 tweets 27 min read
No Long Talk
———
Yes that’s my son
And indeed he’s taken to music
And I’m very proud of that because I wish
I had those kinds of creative skills
The lyrics are tremendou
———
The intro is from a man who's proud of his son's career path/choice. In reality it's from Mdot's father, Tsatsu Tsikata. It should be stated that this statement was made during an interview with the dad, on CitiFm.
Contrast this with what one pundit said (see tweet)

No Long Talk is a one verse rap with no hooks, chorus, refrains, nothing. It's from a rapper who wants to address some issues that's been on his mind. Hence, this is a no-holds barred delivery.
———
Yeah
Allow me to recap, what has happened thus far
Mama I'm a rap star, I got Allahu akbars
My ambition and drive is a luxury ride
Your own be konko car, you taking shots? Bongo bar
———

The rapper begins with a recap of all the issues that's happened in the industry
since he started or since he last addressed it. We can't be sure of the time frame but there are pointers, which shows that he's recapping from the time he decided to become a rapper (Mama I'm a rap star...).
In the recap, the rapper is happy to inform his mama that he's made it. It's always great when you choose the road less travelled and you succeed especially when the other less likable option presents a certain surety of success, at least financially. On GPS, Mdot said—
"I dey hold my portmanteau move with purpose
Son of Tsatsu and Naana
Nobody thought he go be a rhymer
Coulda had a suit and a day job
Or maybe ambassador to China
Now I’m in the booth and I pay it forward" (GPS, 2023)
This clearly shows the options that was available to the rapper and gives credence to the happiness.

In announcing his status to his mum, he let it known that he's got great bars, which basically is to say I rank highly/greatly on the most important indicator in my field.
The line "Allahu akbars" is an allusion to how great the rapper's bars are, which also means "God is Great". Thus, the rapper is praising God for this status.

Someone did an excellent breakdown on the "Allah akbars". Read his complete breakdown here

After the intro from dad & the "salutations" to mum, all is set for the rapper to dissect the industry & address the issues at hand.

He moves to categorically state his ambition & juxtapose it with the others. His ambition is a luxury ride & yours is a konko car.
A konko car is a car made of used milk cans. Kids used to do this in the 90s. It was a past time. You build your own konko car & use a fishing hook to cut out circular pieces from old slippers to serve as the tyres.
We used to add a used insecticide spray can, if we want to turn it into fuel "tanker". "Konko" is an onomatopoeia as the name is obtained from how it sounds when it hits the ground. And Konko car could also be just junk car. Image
Now contrast the konko car with any luxury car you can think of & there is no limit to the differences & ambitions between the two. There's is a double entendre on "drive"—Mdot describes his motivation as a luxury ride.
That's, he's motivated to achieve the best possible in the game or his literal drive is a luxury ride. Whilst yours is just the rudimentary realisation of kids.
He then questions these people with no ambition, whom are they taking shots at? To take shot is to castigate indirectly, to cast innuendos, make equivocal statements, make swipe remarks, & cast insinuations.
Taking shots, together with "Bongo Bar", also means to take a swill of alcohol. So taking shots at a Bongo Bar could be said to be the entire ambition of the addressee in these lyrical bars. Which isn't a great one, just like a konko car.
Now Bongo Bar. There's a Bongo Bar in Accra & many other places. But these are not the references. Locally, Bongo Bar is similar to Blue Kiosk, where only spirits are sold. Its used here is more of an allusion.

The rhyme scheme is heavy.
For instance, "far", "star", "akbars", "bar", "car", "konko", "bongo", "own", "ride", drive", etc. "My ambition and drive is a luxury drive" is a metaphor that describes his motivation. The entire rap is also epistolary. It's like an epistolary rap—a letter written to someone.
———
I dey fit to shock but trolling is mandatory
How am I the laughing stock who’s taking inventory?
But I never worry
‘Cause it's been some years since I been here and no one in my category
———

The rapper reminds his audience that he has the capability to "shock" them,
by doing the unexpected or he's done the unexpected, but they pretend not to see because they're more interested in trolling. Trolling is one of those internet jargons that developed from the social media craze.
It's virtual bullying & teasing with something partly or wholly untrue, just to get ruffle the person being attacked. It's a hive behaviour & mostly the instigator will have a clique of people who will support his unfounded assertions, mostly with half-baked or poor arguments.
Trolling aims to antagonise someone with offensive & inflammatory posts—to ruffle feathers.

These lines are paradoxical because though the rapper is surprised, shocked, that he's being trolled, he also admits that trolling is part of the industry, hence "mandatory".
In the next line, the rapper asked a rhetorical question—how am I the laughing stock? The objective of trolling is to make someone the laughing stock. To be a laughing stock is to be the subject of mockery or ridicule. The use of "stock" here is a pun.
Because in the next line, the rapper asked "who's taking inventory?" We take inventory of stocks. Again there's a pun on "inventory". Who's taking stock/inventory of his achievements, his movements in the industry? He's questioning the trolls—who among them is the stock-taker? Image
But he's not bothered by these trolls. He's not worried at all. If you know where you're going, you're not bothered by trolls. If you know your drive & ambition, you eat trolls for breakfast.
The rapper isn't worried because "it's been some years" since he's been in the industry & there's no one in his category. Zilch. Zero. As he said on Tim Westwood's show,

"It's lonely at the top but I think I like the view"
—Tim Westwood Freestyle
The confidence is oozing and the facts have been stated. Mdot has made similar statements in many of his rap songs, including #ScorpioFlow, which has a similar theme as this—

Only two rappers I know in Africa
Me and nobody in particular
—Scorpio Flow
The rapper rhymed "mandatory", "inventory", "worry", "category"—these aren't the simple single-syllable rhymes common in raps. There's also shock & stock.
———
Let’s not prolong I’ve been a pro for so long
Legacy a snitch and I feel like I’ve been told on
Tally up the total, immaculate are these vocals
I’m accurate when I’m vocal I turn the local global
———
Let's not stretch this conversation, let's not prolong it, I've been a professional for so long. The rapper is emphasising the fact that this game was specifically chosen. It wasn't as if there wasn't any other option.
Let's not argue, because this has been my profession, my life's work, for some time. See how he rhymes the "prolong" with the "pro for so long"? Yes.
He feels he's been told on by his legacy. "Told on" is what snitches do. They inform people in authority of what they know about others. The line is both a personification & a metaphor. "Legacy" has been given human qualities/personified, making it able to tell on him.
As a metaphor the rapper is comparing his legacy to a snitch, implying that it has betrayed him—revealing what they look like.

The rapper is saying that his legacy has snitched on him and that if we tally up (add, sum) his credits, his scores—
the voice is immaculate (perfect, pure, without blemish, spotless), accurate when he's vocal, & he turned the local global. These are high-scoring points. Image
Here tallying/summing has to be accurate to grasp his impact.

With regards to rhyming, we see "pro long", "pro for so long", "told on", "immaculate", "accurate", "total", "vocal", "global", "local"—the last four are internal rhymes. See the location of "immaculate" & "accurate".
And there's the alliteration on the "t" & "c" in the line "Tally up the total, immaculate are these vocals/ I’m accurate when I’m vocal I turn the local global". This also emphasises the quality of the rapper's vocals, as referenced.
———
Interesting, I’m not suggesting that I’m never resting
I’ll sleep when I’m dead, alive and I’m manifesting
A scribe when I inscribe, I come alive on IG Live
You know me, low key, move clandestine
5G to a two plus
Still rep my hood no dey talk about the Ku Klux
You gon' get this work, remix yeah the new Lux
———

Given his ambition, his drive, the legacy he wants to leave, don't imply that he's never resting. Nope. He will rest when he's dead, but as he lives, he's manifesting his ambitions, his legacy.
There's a paradox here—he rests but not resting until he's dead.

There are at least four rhyming words in these two lines "interesting", "suggesting", "resting", "manifesting". There's also a juxtapositioning of sleep, alive, & dead, which are all states of unconsciousness &
metaphoric & an alliteration of the sibilant "s" sound.

As he lives & manifesting his visions & dreams, then he's a scribe. A scribe is a writer. It's taken from the times when they wrote on scrolls & scribes were required to write the events as they occurred or to write the
King's edicts. Inscribe is to write, or engrave. Inscribe has a sense of perpetuity. What's inscribed lasts longer, is eternal. Thus, with a pen, he inscribes his legacy. ImageImage
He's active on IG Live, where he puts himself up, but even then, he still moves clandestinely—secretly. He's able to compartmentalise his life. He tells you enough to let him move incognito. He doesn't broadcast all the things he does, even when he's broadcasting live on IG.
M.anifest is a co-founder of Giant Steps, which supports entrepreneurs & the co-founder of Culture Forward, which aims to fund the next generation of African talents. Last year, Culture Forward partnered with the British Council to work with 60 music professionals.
M.anifest has many of such collaborations & they are hardly talked about. These are his legacy, these are the things that snitch on him. Otherwise, he moves low-key, from a 5G (network) to a 2+. This is an indication that his "not loudness" is intentional.
He prefers to move quietly. Hence, it'll be wrong to assume or construe his quietness for inaction.

There's irony in saying "you know me", while describing his movements as clandestine. You're difficult to know if you move clandestinely.
A 5G is a fifth generation telecommunication infrastructure that has tremendous internet speed, whereas a 2G network only supports text messages on feature phones. This is a metaphor that describes how he clandestinely moves in the industry, to escape prying eyes.
Irrespective of this, he still reps his hood, he isn't referring to the Ku Klux Klan. This is an allusion with many meanings. He represents his hood/neighbourhood, Madina. Everyone knows this. Madina has been an inspiration for many of his songs.
And by representing his hood, he's not referring to how the KKK represent their neighbourhood with nefarious & clandestine activities. To rep (in pidgin) could also be "to wear". So he wears his hood/hoodie, a type of dress common among Klansmen (or the KKK).
Thus, even though he reps his hood, he isn't referring to the Klan. He's also the protector, of some sorts, of his hood, like the KKK but unlike them.

The rapper hints of a remix of a work that he's going to put out, just like the new lux (luxury ride or the lux soap?). ImageImage
———
We lost our compass but they still couldn’t rule us
The lockdown has put a padlock on any new love
But by early May, Ella Mai, I might be boo’d up
Nip tuck go operation on any sick pup
By June diɛ all wanna fears go be zipped up
Even off the top they cannot top us
Don’t compare me to wave-hoppers and name-droppers
Search through the rubble the game needs a remodel
Dem no be rappers dem be IG model
———
We lost the device that directs us & still they couldn't rule us. Even when we went astray, when we lost our focus, we were on top. Then again, the compass & the rule are both tools of measurement, of sorts.
The compass helps us determine our direction & the rule measures distance. Hence, we can say that they couldn't measure up even when we lost focus.

There was no way one could form new love during the lockdown due to the restriction/limitation on movements & contact among people.
Hence it's like the lockdown has locked up, metaphorically, the formation of new love. Irrespective of this, the rapper is informing Ella Mai that by early May, he might have found new love (boo'd up).
Boo is the noise we make as a show of disapproval or contempt. Musicians are booed off stage many times. However, boo, as a slang, refers to someone you love or care a lot about. Ella Mai is a British musician. She released "Boo'd up" in 2017. ImageImage
These lines bring a positive outlook to one of our darkest times—a period where human movement became a crime. Nip/Tuck is a medical TV show about plastic surgery. Also nip & tuck is a face-lift cosmetic surgery to remove wrinkles. ImageImage
"By June deɛ...", This was a popular phrase that popped up during the COVID period. The country had gone on lockdown in March. Everyone thought things were going to slow down but the number of infections kept increasing & the president kept extending the lockdown duration.
In a comedy skit, the comedian Clemento Suarez was asked to recite the COVID ABC, when he got to June, he said "By June deɛ na obiara awu", to wit "everyone will be dead by June".

Its use here is the opposite. It gives hope instead of upping the fear. The rapper said, by June all our fears would have been locked up—a reverse of the situation at the time where we were locked up & fear was running amok. But by June, there would be no need to be fearful.
The rapper jumped back to the main subject of addressing his trolls & critics-via-negativa. He states that even if he goes off the top (of his head), that's if he's required to rap extemporaneously (off the top), they still can't top him.
His rap game is so tight that he doesn't need to be compared to those who engage in name-dropping & wave-hopping to be relevant. A wave hopper is someone who has to consistently jump on what's popular at the time, whereas name-dropper
is a person who drops the names of, or alludes to, important people, either to impress others or to be seen to be superior. ImageImage
The game is full of fakes. And that if you look through the rubble, debris, the congeries of broken fragments of concretes, we will find that we need a new model, a new motif, a new template.
Rappers who post more photos of themselves than their lyrics—he doesn't consider them to be rappers. They're IG models. The line gives a great imagery of the state of the industry.

The first four lines is filled with alliteration on the "l"—"lock", "still", "rule", "lockdown",
"padlock", "love", "early", "Ella". There's also an assonance on the "a" vowel in "May", "Mai", which also rhymes. There is also the alliteration on the "p" sound, as in "nip", "operation", "pup".
There are internal rhymes—"compass", "us"; "lockdown", "padlock"; "rubble", "model", "hoppers", "droppers" & end-rhymes as in "up", "pup", "up"; "top us", "drop us"; "remodel", "model".
———
The game is a brothel, everybody want chop
In other words there’s always somebody in it that’s getting fucked eh he he
In other words there’s always somebody that's getting
———
The first line is a metaphor & the last two lines are répétition, for emphasis. A brothel is a place or building that houses prostitutes. Hence, every time there's someone who wants to eff someone up & there's someone who's being effed up.
"Everybody want chop" could mean everyone wants to sexually eff someone, as they do in brothels. But as a metaphor, it means everybody wants to make a living from it, by hook or crook. It could also mean everybody wants to mess up/cheat/exploit someone to succeed.
That's every time there's someone being molested or being cheated/exploited. That's the irony. You're either exploiting someone or you're being exploited.
———
From twists to locks now I’m back to the baldie
Crown Prince of Saudi my Kingdom can’t ignore me
My voice on many beats having beautiful orgies
For your viewing pleasure I’ll gladly give you floor seats
Road kinda rough ɛbɛ weaki wo shocks
Till you binge on remorse, thoughts blacker than The Moors
And a rolling stone gathers no Randy Moss
And my name hall of fame my account offshore, for sure
———
Mdot used to have dreadlocks but now he's back to being "clean shaven". It tells of the cycle of life, the changes that we go through. He's the Prince of Saudi, his Kingdom can't ignore him.
He's the revered person, "the leader of the different ones" (#TooBad), the heir apparent to the throne, and his people, his constituents, his "kingdom" can't ignore him. They'll always be behind him.
His voice moves on many beats like orgies—intercourse involving many people. The rapper is taunting the trolls & doubters—if you want to see me in action & witness my performance, I will arrange to get you seats closer to the stage.
He compares, metaphorically, his voice on instrumentations as a sexual encounter. And if you want to have a view of how his voice moves on beats, then he'll be glad to give you the floor seats—floor seats get you closer to the action, the performer.
A$AP Ferg has a song titled "Floor Seats", though I think this is just a coincidence. There's is the assonance on the "o" sound in these lines "orgies", "for your viewing pleasure... floor seats". ImageImage
But, in all these, the rapper agrees that the road to success to his ambition is a rough one, which can weaken the shocks of your vehicle. Note how the road metaphor aligns with the drive & luxury ride metaphors? That's, the rapper considered this as a journey to his goals.
But let's not forget that this is a retrospective presentation because he's already achieved it, he's already a "rap star"—"Mama I'm a rap star, I got Allahu akbars". So the goal has been achieved. The roughness of the road includes these trolls having a go at you.
Shocks used in this line is a metaphor for zeal, fervour, the inner drive. The rapper personified the road by assigning an action to it. The naysayers & destructive forces can destroy your zeal to the extent that you'll begin to indulge regret,
question your choices, ruing over the decision to forego the certain options. Binging is excessive/unrestrained indulgence of food or drink or anything. Today people binge on movies, series, etc.
These rumbling thoughts could lead to darker areas/the abyss & could lead to depression, described as a bottomless pit. The darkness is compared to the Moors, who are Berber Muslims from North Africa who conquered Spain.
The Moors/Blackmoors were generally considered as darker skinned but there were some light-skinned Moors. ImageImageImage
Randy Moss is an American NFL player. Moss is also a green algae that grows on wet rocks. Now Moss messed up in his NFL career, which might have put him in a dark place. According to the story "Randy was the rolling stone, on a fast track to the bottom of the hill".
This is an adaptation of the idiom "a rolling stone gathers no moss" (the green algae).

If a stone is hurtling down the hill, it's unlikely to pick up any moss. So Randy Moss rolling down the hill picks up no moss to mitigate his fall. This occurred Minnesota. Image
There are two diametrically opposing ways to understand these lines—

The first is this—the rapper may mean if you're on the road to your dream, if you're speeding/rolling (another metaphoric reference to journey) towards your dream, you
candysdailydandy.blogspot.com/2010/10/moss-g…
don't pick up these moss, these negativity, these green envy/jealous-filled criticisms, they roll off you like water. You have no time to absorb the negativity. And soon you arrive in the hall of fame, which represents wider acknowledgement & recognition.
You also become financially successful, which is indicated by having your accounts offshore. Thus, if you're able to hold off the detractors, you'll become successful.
The second is that, if you move around too often, like Randy Moss, you'll not be able to gather enough wealth & success (represented by the moss). These two are allusions.

"Off shore", "for sure"; "baldie", "me", "Moss", "Moors", etc. are all end rhymes.
———
My GPS dey trip so I detour
When I come competition split like a divorce
I gave you all of me, you still need more?
Ebei ok now I’ll swim vertical like a seahorse
In the belly of the beast with my nice claws
I hit em up Machiavelli with my outlaws
If you think my story self-righteous
Okay my guy, you be guy, you can write yours
And of course Ghana we dey
Everybody dig for gold, economy galamsey
Not literally per say, and the bias does appear
———
The rapper's GPS, the thing that keeps him on his trajectory, malfunctioned, which took him off course (detour). But he's already stated that "We lost our compass but they still couldn’t rule us".
Thus, even when he lost his focus, the competition split, give way, when he's coming, just like divorce—where parents split & go to live at different places. This hyperbolic representation is very imagistic.
He's given all he has, yet they're asking for more (rhymes with detour). This is the problem artistes face the most. They have soul in the game, because the creative process, if that's what comes first, requires that every time you put a part of you in the product.
Artists & artistes have suffered many strange psychological issues along their creative journeys. Creativity is like birthing. Doing something from nothing is how the world came to be (scientifically & religiously/biblically).
And like God, the artiste/artist gives breath to their creation.

The rapper seems confused at this request for more. And to pacify them, he's now going to swim vertically like a seahorse (rhymes with divorce).
This hyperbolic allusion tells us that the rapper is ready to do more than the normal, more than the ordinary to top his previous works. Seahorses swim vertically; perhaps, the only aquatic animals that do that. Image
The rapper describes himself, metaphorically, as trapped in the belly of the beast (reference to Wyclef's Diallo) from which he must come out. In the Belly of the Beast is a book written by Jack Henry Abbott, which described his experiences in the prison system (the beast). Image
That's being in the belly of the beast is a metaphor for being in a difficult place.

But the rapper is unfazed because he has nice claws (rhymes with divorce & seahorse)—imagine Wolverine in X-Men. This is what made him break open from the beast & "hit 'em up"
with his entourage/gang/outlaws (rhymes with divorce, seahorse, & claws). Hit' em up is a song by Tupac. It featured his group, The Outlawz. It was a diss song to Biggie. As an allusion, this rapper could be saying that he got out of the belly of the beast & dissed his prisoners. Image
Additionally, the belly of the beast could also be a metaphor for the music industry in Ghana that's focused on keeping everyone down to promote only the people they like. But this rapper isn't going to leave his destiny in their hands.
He has his claws & his outlaws to break the lockhold of the industry & once done diss them—which is what he did in later parts of the rap.

Makaveli (a play on Niccolo Machiavelli) is the pseudonym given to Tupac for his fifth studio album, The Don Killuminati—The 7 Day Theory. Image
Niccolò Machiavelli was an Italian diplomat, author & philosopher. Image
The rapper has at times being accused for being "self righteous"—he's seen as coming from a privilege background & so can't talk about the hardship, which is the inherent motif of Hip-Hop.
This absurd beliefs & thesis is emphasised by the way people seem to love the "grass to grace" stories as if to be "legit" in any field you must have started as a poor person. As if having a well-to-do parents is a crime. See previous reference.
But the rapper is insistence & claims that if you think his story is easy, perhaps you can write yours (all the lines rhymes). And why not? We are in Ghana, the economy is there for everyone to milk—galamsey is illegal mining. But it is also a slang for sidework.
Thus, the critics can also pick up rapping as a side hustle.

While referencing that "everybody dig for gold, economy galamsey", the rapper ironically added he doesn't mean it "literally". That's the figurative explanation provided above might suffice.
The rapper ended that line with "and the bias does appear", which stresses the interpretation of the bias in music industry.
———
Just because we no dey talk no dey mean we no dey hear
They want to undermine me on their talk shows
A bunch of swines so I guess this is a pork show
No more Mr Nice Guy chale the door closed
Stay with me, the beat filthy like a whore’s clothes
All semen, it's seeming I got a tongue of a seaman
So many bars I stand behind on remand
High in demand, ɔmo nhuu rapper ɔyɛ dapper ah otimi bɔ band
If it’s truth then e no be rosh
I just chock with some cognac or maybe scotch on the rocks
How these sheep consider themselves a fox
Keep their face in pussy so much can't think out of the box
———
The rapper added that the fact that he does not respond to the bias, the behind the curtain whispers, doesn't mean he does not hear what they do or say. At this point, the rapper has picked up the "hit 'em up" reference.
He explained that these critics, the gatekeepers of the music industry, try to undermine him on their talkshows, but they're a bunch of swines (pigs) so it's just a porkshow.
He isn't going to be the Mr. Nice Guy who let things go, anymore. That door is closed. He's now going to attack/respond to them with equal measure. The times that they trampled on him, undermined him on their shows, is over.
He asked his listeners to stay with him as he completes the rap, as the beat is "filthy" like a whore's clothes. The filth used in this line is a Litotes. That is the beat is bad (when we really been it's extremely good).
A whore's clothes is all semen, which is the general outcome of their activities. Note how his voice makes orgies with beats & how do you expect his tongue to taste?
The rapper suggests that perhaps/it seems he has the tongue of a seaman (which rhymes with seeming & semen). There's a comparison between the salty sea & the semen. The whore's clothes is no different from the tongue of the seaman—both are salty.
That's, the beat is salty (provocative) to these gatekeepers or the beat & his voice on it will make them salty (bitter).

The rapper added that there are so many bars in this rap that he stands behind on remand. Bars is a pun.
First it refers to a "segment of time corresponding to a specific number of beats". However, sometimes in rap, bar is loosely used to mean a line that is heavy with meaning. ImageImageImage
The rapper is saying that there are so many bars in this delivery that they imprison him (the bars—metal rods & bracing—of a prison). This is a double entendre. To be on remand is to be on put in prison to await trial. He has so many bars that they put him in bars. Image
In fact Mdot has made a similar line in his Tim Westwood Freestyle—"Jesus, the irony of using bars to free us".

He's high in demand (rhymes with remand) & one of his credentials is that he's a dapper rapper that can play with a live band (rhymes with demand & remand).
This is what amazes them—or this is what they've not seen/witness before (ɔmo nhuu rapper ɔyɛ dapper ah otimi bɔ band). Perhaps the reason they dislike him, as this can upend/overturn the gatekeepers' beliefs & stance in the industry.
The rapper added that this is not boastfulness (rosh, in pidgin), because it is true. If what you say you are is true, it's not boastfulness. Ghanaians have a thing against highly confident people who talk about their capabilities.
They're mostly described as "too known" or are told "you dey rosh", in pidgin. This has made most Ghanaians quiet on their achievements, for fear of being negatively described as such.
Mdot is observing them from his corner with some cognac (rhymes with corner) or scotch on rocks (rhymes with "chock", which is "to be in a place", in pidgin). There's assonance on the "o", "chock", "cognac", "scotch", "rocks", "corner", "fox", "box", "rosh", etc.
The final punch is to describe them as timid, dull, & generally stupid like sheep (metaphor), though they think they're crafty & sly like a fox. This makes sense if you figure the ways & the machinations of someone who thinks they're plotting against you.
Imagine seeing a thief, who's bending & crawling his way into your house, on your security camera (à la Johnny English). They will seem stupid even though they think they are being smart.
Then he added, they've kept their heads in pussy for so long that they can't think outside the box (rhymes with fox, rocks, rosh). They can't be innovative. They've being fixated on one thing for such a long time that they can't bear to see different.
This is similar to that line On GodMC, where Mdot said

Kidnap your ears for years now it’s stockholm syndrome.
—GodMC

THE END.
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More from @nfreduagyeman

Mar 5
Ghana at 52 — M.anifest
———
Dokita Kwame Nkrumah
Yɛ frɛ wo
Gye yɛn so
Osagyefo gye yɛn so
———

This is how libation to the gods & ancestors begins. We first call on them & beg them to hear us out. As a direct translation:
Dr Kwame Nkrumah
We call you
Respond to our call
Osagyefo, respond to our call

Nkrumah is one of those ancestors you can call upon. Usually, the ancestors who're remembered are those who played significant role—through their bravery, selfless acts, magnanimity, etc—in society.
Merely growing up & dying doesn't make one a worthy ancestor to call upon.
Read 40 tweets
Feb 26
As part of #BlackHistoryMonth, we take a lyrical journey from Western Sudan to Naija to reclaim & celebrate our history with #Sankofa by M.anifest.

The breakdown

Sankofa
————
Intro
Uhuh, go back…
Go back and reclaim it…
———
The intro is just an interpretation of the title—Sankofa; or more properly "San kɔ fa"—Go back & take. It's from the proverb, "Sɛ wo werɛ fi na wo san kɔ fa a, yɛnkyi"—It's not a taboo or an abomination to go back for something you've forgotten.
Whenever we realise we've made a bad judgement call, we should reverse the process & make the right one, if it's possible. "It encourages learning from the past to inform the future, reaching back to move forward, and lifting as we climb".

adinkrasymbols.org/symbols/sankof…
Read 83 tweets
Feb 24
Kilimanjaro
____________
This review will be both technical and explanatory. I've focused more on the explanatory than on the technical in previous reviews.
———
M dɔdɔdɔ ti dɔ

Verse 1

I shook hands with my future self
I’m your future self let me introduce you to your future wealth
———
This is such a beautiful introduction to a song. The play on the physical & the imaginary self. It is a reassurance that the decision to take the least travelled path is worth it.
Read 87 tweets
Feb 21
Below are polls on M.anifest's music. Vote & retweet, comment, like, etc.
1/ What's the title of M.anifest's first album
2/ Which year was M.anifest's first album released?
Read 16 tweets
Feb 19
Over & Under
———————
M.anifest opened this song with the chorus. To feel over & under is to be completely "beaten" by life's situations or overwhelmed by life. It's almost like being in a state of despair with no hope—hanging onto one's last breath & seeing no help from anywhere.
M.anifest is considered "one of the few socially conscious rappers on the continent"—(Howard University) & this is confirmed by many of his songs that brazenly tackle social life. Whether it is Suffer, Someway Bi, Blue, Hubris,Plenty Feelings, We Dey Manage,
Confusion among others, or even in his love songs such as Simple Love, Sugar, E No Easy, M.anifest tackles the human condition like no other.

The images are clear in this song—to have the weight of the world on your shoulders is to be burdened by life,
Read 49 tweets
Feb 16
Style of my own I don't follow fashion I'm supreme
Custom-made studio one 89 (yeah, yeah)
Art comes first that's a weighty line (yeah, yeah)
#ScorpioFlow, M.anifest Image
Shea butter smooth skin, gap tooth
24 karat smile ohhhhh
I go love you die, i'm a die hard fan
Before the day is done let's go meet the fam
Confessed my love for you to the ancients
You're my oracle when i'm chased by agents
—Be My Woman, M.anifest Image
Read 5 tweets

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