Roots Of Blue

Before the Dutch man came to claim Zulu land in apartheid's name

Made by God

Yo, check it

Yo, I'm the first man standing upright, holding a stone in my hand

After beating an ape, claiming the land

Taking the stand and feeding my fam

Back when man ate they children

I'm killing other animals just to nurture them

I journey further from mine, my people, into another culture

Not knowin' my brothers 'bout to come and take over (Ayo)

We made it all the way to Asia and to Australia

Then made the passage to the Americas after all behavior

Came home and they started makin' homes outta stone

Showin' tribes around 'em how much they've grown

Yo, I'm [?] at the end of the of start of civilization

I'm shuttin' it down, I'm settin' out to build a nation

I'm the son of Ra, the son of Ka, father of Africa

King Khafre and King Khufu, blood of the Zulu

Osiris, Isis, Horus, Anbuis, the Royal family

Akhenaten, Tutankhamun and all the Ramesses

Amam and Hotep, Mentuhotep, Thutmosis

Ahmosis, Kamose, is etymology of Moses

I'm the kings of Egypt, kings of Nubia, Mesopotamia

Mediterranean, Babylon, Saudi Arabia

I'm Muhammad comin' outta the Middle East after the Romans

Reclaiming their gold, homin' their throne 'cause they own it

I'm on the first boats to reach America

We all African, we sold you to America, we not coming back

[?]

Ayo, I'm Adam, the original man banned from the garden

I'm Noah, pardon the flood, after the revolution started

I'm Japheth, I'm Shem, and I'm Ham

I'm Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the motherland

I'm Moses posin' against the king, freein' his people

I'm Babylon, tryna reach God by buildin' a steeple

I'm the strongest man, Samson

I'm the first king, Samuel

The prestigious king, Saul

Son of King David, I'm Solomon

I'm preachin' to the choir like Elijah

Isaiah, Jeremiah and, not a king higher than King Hezekiah

I'm on fire like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

I'm Jonah and the whale

Daniel in the lion's den

I'm Job with just a little hope

I'm John The Baptist, the messiah's comin'

God's son, Jesus Christ of Nazerath

Thank Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John for the narrative

And Paul for all the passages

Apostolic Episcopal before Constantine

Constant persecution, first century

Eventually, revolution

Islam, sixth century and on and on

Slavery, where are you takin' me to, huh? America?

Yo, I'm Kunta Kinte 'fore he was enslaved by America

Picture the freedom before the terror

Who had to carry the black burners to Nat Turner

During a slave revolt, we came before Columbus dumped us

Off the slavery boat, the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman

Yeah, we probably would still be slaves if it wasn't for Fredrick Douglas

I'm up in his government before all them like Booker Washington

With all his boys like W.E.B. Du Bois and Noble Drew Ali and Marcus Garvey

Takin' us to Africa like Chancellor Williams, Chandler Owens and Asa Randolph

Last of all the honorable Muhammad, Elijah Muhammad

Louis Armstrong, Langston Hughes, and Thurgood Marshall

Richard Wright, Rosa Parks and Gordon Parks

Joe Lewis, Jackie Robinson and John Henrik Clarke

Alex Haley, James Baldwin

Malcom X, Martin Luther King Jr, Clarence 13X

Maya Angelou, Ray Charles, Minister Farrakhan

Ivan Sertima, John Cochran, Stokely Carmichael

Emmett Till, Eldridge Cleaver, Bobby Seale

Huey Newton, Muhammad Ali and even Gil Scott-Heron

Al Sharpton, Fred Hampton, Oprah Winfrey

Barack Obama, Assata Shakur, 2Pac Shakur, Biggie

And everyone else creating black history

That lives with me everyday, until I'm gone

They took dark skin and they made a purse for a pale skin whore

Yo

I'm Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie

Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy

Sun Ra Orchestra, Charles Mingus, Ahmad Jamal

Milt Jack', Wes Mont', Herbie Hand-Cannonball

Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters, Screamin' Jay, Howlin' Wolf

Chuck Berry, Jimi Hendrix, B.B King, Sam Cooke

Billie Holiday, Ella Fitz, Nina Simone

Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Diana Ross

Chaka Khan, Tina Turner and Roberta Flack

Al Green, Marvin Gaye, James Brown, Michael Jack

Prince, Sly Stone, Curtis May

Roy Ayers, Temptations, 5th Dimension, O'Jays, Ohio Players

Earth, Wind and Fire, Funkadelic

Parliament, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles

Otis Redding and all the shit from the nineties

Eighties, seventies and sixties

The fifties, forties, thirties and all the twenties

All the armies, the Black Panther party, the nation

NAACP organizations

All the black NBA, NFL and MLB players

And we can't forget Shaka Zulu (Woo)

We see you brother, Mandela