The Resonance Within
Song for the Ocean
Nature's Law
Resonance
Gumbo
Forgotten Ghost
Everything's Rumba
Obatala
Ojalá
Remembering
Song for the Ocean (traditional)
Yemaya
Madre del mar
Rock me in your arms
Rock me to sleep
With your songs of the deep
Take away all that brings harm
Yemaya
Madre del mar
Your shores we can’t replace
This life you renew
As we fall deep into
Your embrace
Baila baila baila con Ochun
Your tides caress my soul
Beneath the mantle of the moon
Vaya vaya vaya Olokun
As defenders of your waters
We cleanse the world with you
É Mama É Mama É
​
Yemaya
Madre del mar
Wash away these tears
Why disrespect
All that we must protect
You’ve loved us all for years
Yemaya
Madre del mar
We chant this chant for you
A beautiful tune
kiss the salt on your wounds
It can’t come too soon
I-Shea
tu fuerza me da
resiliencia
me hace acordar
mi existencia
no puedo dudar
que en tu belleza
me doy una limpieza
total
Metete en olokun
metete en olokun baby
metete en abundancia
que la banda no se va baby
metete en olokun
metete en olokun baby
pa yemaya vamos a celebrar
É Mama É Mama É
Àgò l’ònà o ‘yá le
Àgò l’ònà o ‘yá le
‘Yá le ‘Yá lu ma o
‘Yá lé
Omi ‘yá le
Ayaba omi o
Là ‘dì òkè. Là ‘dì òkè.
Òkè òkè, là ‘dì òkè
(òkè, là ‘dì o)
Nature’s law
What’s that odd feeling in the air?
Seems like a change is everywhere
All you, hope for, all you fear
The time has come, you know a change is near
Every change, has a price to give
Ask now how you want to live
Lay down your ebbo on the ground
Set your compass, what was lost is found
New doors open into a new dawn
The doors of what, once was are gone
You feel it break, the past now outgrown
Now the only, law is nature’s own
Resonance
Listen
To the planet’s breathing rise and fall
Listen
To the resonance within us all
Let the rhythm wake you
dance and you’ll be whole
Leave despair behind, unwrap it from your soul
Fill the silence with your songs
that ancient history foretold
An our heartbeat’s song unfold
​
Listen
Their whispers play upon the wind
Listen
Let them drum the echoes deep within
Let the rhythm wake you
dance and you’ll be whole
Leave distress behind, unwrap it from your soul
Hand in hand the land calls us
To our true nature to behold
As our heartbeat’s song unfold
Canta con TapRoots
Es una cosa diferente!
Cantamos con Elegua,
Ochossi y Ogun
Y si quisieras ayuda con el amor
Cantamos para Oshun
Bailamos en un bembe para
Compasivo Obatala
si tu quieres conocer los misterios del mundo
ve a un babalawo, nada mas!
Canta con TapRoots
Es una cosa diferente!
​
Gumbo
Come into my kitchen
Sit round the table
It's a deep blend, this recipe
I hope that you’re hungry
and you’re willing and able
Breaking bread with a stranger
makes them family
Pot likkin of greens
Another helping of rice and beans
Friends at the table you know who you are
Just a little more spice
This sofrito is paradise
Come on y’all let’s get together now
From near and from far
Mix up the flavors
The world’s wealth to behold
Where love sets the table, food is king
If hunger’s the best spice
And music’s food for the soul
Then this is for whose bread I eat
and all whose songs I sing
Pot likkin of greens
Another helping of rice and beans
Friends at the table you know who you are
Just a little more spice
This masala is paradise
Come on y’all let’s get together now
Step on up to the bar
We’re cooking up some Gumbo Gumbo
for the body soul and mind
We’re cooking up some Gumbo Gumbo
Such a heavenly mix
For all of humankind
​
Force:
It’s Force
I brought a cornucopia tryna cope with the
Notion it’s open season this soul food
I’m seasoning
Oh we goodie mob in the streets
Till finally we can feast or at least get our portion
I’m screaming bonapetit
Catalyst:
Taste magnifique,
delicious to say the least
When force and catalyst make mixture
to spice the speech
beasts when we on beats,
like chefs wit recipes
Best believe, its homecooking wit all the flavor received
Force:
Still Most parlance is parfait
The hard truths of today
A bitter root to taste
A bit intuitive stew in this
First class ingredients
The neediest are served first
Last (s)upper echelon
Crew ton of (crouton) pressure on
Catalyst:
Quick to prep it all,
flow come wit the roux
Taproots we thick as thieves
so I break bread wit the crew
Culinary genius put my foot all in the food
Everytime we rhymin its like magic
when we mix the stew
Pot likkin of greens
Another helping of rice and beans
Friends at the table you know who you are
Just a little more spice
This harissa is paradise
Come on y’all let’s get together now
Everybody’s a star
We’re cooking up some Gumbo Gumbo
for the body soul and mind
We’re cooking up some Gumbo Gumbo
Such a heavenly mix
In our lives entwined
​
Forgotten Ghost
Who is the forgotten ghost
Who travels with you
Raise a toast
They’re waiting in the rain
Don’t just leave them outside
Who will come and make the most
And call ‘pon the
forgotten ghost
It's time to learn from those
Who live in memories
Long gone by
​
Who will come and lift their prayers
To Ones left out
Without a care
And bring into the light
All that’s been hidden in the shade
Stories told from coast to coast
To welcome the
Forgotten ghost
Ancient voices call us
Walking balanced on the blade
​
Come bear witness to the rainfall
Feel your part within the whole
Seek your wisdom in the teachings told
Look deep within and call upon
the memories in your blood
To guide you through tomorrow
___________________
Dance of the Forgotten Ghost
___________________
​
Who is the forgotten ghost
Who travels with you
Make the most
Of your time in this world
Listen to the songs around you
Songs of power, freedom’s cry
Whose voices shake the earth and sky
On whose hands the woven strands
That braid our lives as one
We rely
​
​
Everything is Rumba
Everything is pandemic
Everything is alive
Everything is Moderna
Everything is survive
Everything is la rumba
Everything is lock-down
Everything zoom bombing
Every loss wears the crown
Everything’s vaccination
Everything is AOC
Everything’s tiashpe
Everything is Green New Deal
Everything is No Pipeline
Everything is Say Her Name
Everything a new dawn
Everything is just the same
​
Obatala
Ä– lú Obatalala
Ruling as the Sky Father
Ä– lú Obatalala
Creator of land and water
Obatala
Make your white and praise
Give thanks and praise
And praise the ways
For much brighter days
The light of bliss
The light of consciousness
Bodies of divinity
Bodies of purity
Protector of the most vulnerable
Father of the human race
And the most gentlest
Ä– lú ayé ‘mí ‘mò sÄ— o
Ä– lú ayé ‘mí Baba
Ä– lú ayé ‘mí ‘mò sÄ— o
Ä– lú ayé ‘mí Baba
Obàtálá ta wíniwíni
Sè ku’re
Gbogbo la nyá sè rere
sè rere Baba sè rere-o
Gbogbo la nyá sè rere
Ojalá
​
Ojalá que las hojas no te toquen el cuerpo
cuando caigan
Para que no las puedas convertir en cristal
Ojalá que la lluvia deje de ser milagro que baja por tu cuerpo
Ojalá que la luna pueda salir sin tí
Ojalá que la tierra no te bese los pasos
Ojalá se te acabe la mirada constante
La palabra precisa, la sonrisa perfecta
Ojalá pase algo que te borre de pronto
Una luz cegadora, un disparo de nieve
Ojalá por lo menos que me lleve la muerte
Para no verte tanto, para no verte siempre
En todos los segundos, en todas las visiones
Ojalá que no pueda tocarte ni en canciones
Ojalá que la aurora no de gritos
que caigan en mi espalda
Ojalá que tu nombre se le olvide a esa voz
Ojalá las paredes no retengan tu ruido
de camino cansado
Ojalá que el deseo se vaya tras de tí
A tu viejo gobierno, de difuntos y flores
Ojalá se te acabe la mirada constante
La palabra precisa, la sonrisa perfecta
Ojalá pase algo que te borre de pronto
Una luz cegadora, un disparo de nieve
Ojalá por lo menos que me lleve la muerte
Para no verte tanto, para no verte siempre
En todos los segundos, en todas las visiones
Ojalá que no pueda tocarte ni en canciones
Ojalá pase algo que te borre de pronto
Una luz cegadora, un disparo de nieve
Ojalá por lo menos que me lleve la muerte
Para no verte tanto, para no verte siempre en todos los segundos
En todas las visiones
Ojalá que no pueda tocarte ni en canciones
​
Remembering
​
Walking out that door
Will you bring Peace or war?
We all got to choose
Wide awake or numb
What will you become?
We all got to choose
From the day to night
Will you live wrong or right?
We all got to choose
With each waking breath
Do you want life or death?
We all got to choose
​
Every time
you’re through that door
You decide
Who you are
Nothing more
We all got to choose
​
Build it up
Or tear it down
Will you crawl
In mud or
Wear the crown
We all got to choose
​
Song for the Ocean (traditional)
(D)ibù, lóni èmi l’ówó
Èmí, YÄ—maya t(w)ìyá ‘re
(D)ibù, lóni èmi l’ówó
Èmí, YÄ—maya t(w)ìyá ‘re
Èmí t(w)ì ‘yá ‘re ilé t’ Olókun
Èmí t(w)ì ‘yá ‘re ilé t’ Olókun
(D)ibù, lóni
Opening
Headed to the crossroads
Time to make a choice
Three dimes in my pocket
Casting shells to hear his voice
All crossroads are my temple
All doors my altar stone
Paradox my native tongue
Pour me rum to call me home
​
Every choice we make, new possibilities
As libations pour
Find the door
… to set you free
You are the beginning
And always at the end
Going backwards to go forwards
This tricky path will bend
I am every doorway
Each entrance a guessing game
Once you cross a threshold
LIfe will never be the same
​
Every choice we make, new possibilities
As libations pour
Find the door
… to set you free​
Everything
​
everything is darkness
everything is free
everything is river
everything’s memory
everything is ISIS
everything is breath
everything is Orisha
everything is death
Take a look about yourself
You’re a part of this song’s wealth
Close your eyes, the sounds you see
from me to you and you to we
hear your breath upon the wind
As the ageless cycle spins
know the love I sing is true
know this love from me is you
everything is Zami
everything is oak
everything’s vibration
everything is smoke
everything is reggae
everything’s possessed
everything is Obama
everything is blessed
​
Take a look about yourself
you’re a part of this song’s wealth
Close your eyes, the sounds you see
from me to you and you to we
hear your breath upon the wind
As the ageless cycle spins
know the love I sing is true
know this love from me is you
​
everything is everything
Truth and Lie
I hear you whisper
In the moonlight
In the twilight space of dreams
Your faces changing in the mirror
For nothing is as what it seems
​
Go into hiding in these dark times
And follow tracks across the sky
Run now deep into the forest
Where you can spread your wings and fly
​
Truth and the Lie
Walk the land together side by side
Truth and the Lie
From the two there’s no place you can hide
​
Truth and the Lie
Walk the land deceiving all mankind
Truth and the Lie
Behind one the other you will find
Truth and the Lie
When we speak how do you know what’s true
Truth and the Lie
Can you tell me which face speaks to you?
​
patakin:
When Olofi created the world
he made it complete.
He may the day and he made the night.
He made good things and bad.
Olofi made the Truth and also made the Lie.
He made the Truth beautiful and strong.
The Lie wasn't so pretty;
it was skinny and ugly, as if it were sick.
Olofi felt sorry for the Lie
and gave it a machete to defend itself with.
Time passed,
and everyone wanted to walk with the Truth.
No one wanted to walk the Lie.
One day, the Truth and the Lie
came across each other upon the road
and like enemies, they began to fight.
The Truth was stronger,
but the Lie had the machete that Olofi gave it
and when the Truth wasn't looking, the Lie
- soc! -
cut off the head of the Truth.
So the Truth had no eyes, no head.
And with its hands it looked
and looked for its head.
It eventually touched the head of the Lie
so … it wrenched off the Lie’s head
and put it where it's own head belonged.
Ever since, the Truth has walked the world deceiving all people.
The body of the Truth with the head of the Lie.
​
Walk Lightly 'Pon The Land
As I walk these roads alone this sleepless night
I feel you close, right next to me
You are my breath, my life,
my comfort in this world
The hurt I caused I could not see
We should not wait
the day the rivers all run dry
The coasts are lost into the sea
She cries for you to fight
instead of walking by
Our survival is ecology
​
Trod lightly ‘pon the land
The hurricane is coming
Trod lightly ‘pon the land
The wild fires glow
Trod lightly ‘pon the land
The oceans are uprising
Trod lightly ‘pon the land
or reap the seeds you sow
​
Force:
Every step I take
and breathe
It stings
it seems the seasons longer
See the conquerors
the ones who write the history
The mystery is this
how'd we miss the signs
Amidst the rising falling,
call it tides (tied)
rope provided by on high
Hanging dry your eyes it's dire times
The dialect selected
Natural progression
precipice
I'm pressed against it
Present tense the President
convinced the climate isn't climbing
I'm inclined to jest but just can't justify
or find a way to tie rants (tyrants) in.
Flint's flooded in lead pipe lines
government spending instead
Incentives are giving for companies drilling
Building a wall
when all is said and done
nowhere left to run and hide
seek the meek shall inherit what we reap so (sow....)
​
Hallowed Ground
This is the new Jim Crow
The ballot box filled with strange fruit
One of these mornings
you may find your brothers and sisters gone
Who’ll be there when they come for you?
The hills will sing our songs
But is anyone there to hear their sound?
so what you gon’ do?
(Your silence won’t protect you)
Plant your feet on hallowed ground
Hands Up
​
Here we are
Another mother’s boy
died in the streets today
By the hands of the man
who swore to serve and protect
Just in the park with a toy
It ain't no game we play
It's a two-way street
to live with love and respect
Put your hands up if you stand with us today
Against the hateful and corrupt
If you fight for the right of all to live free of strife
So march with us, put your hands up
Another senseless shooting
fills my mind today
And the rage from the page of the sage
lights my soul on fire
They won't convict the criminals
in this tragedy
And our dreams are left to smolder
on the funeral pyre
Put your hands up if you stand with us today
And see we drink from the same cup
If you fight for the right of all to live free of strife
Come walk with us, put your hands up
​
Catalyst:
Hands up!
I'm still tryna understand what the man want
Black man livin like he in a manhunt
Cant wait for the system to man up
From a place where they wont come
unless they roll up on you wit the big guns
Put ya team up inside the hand cuffs
Mama wishin that they would unhand us
Nappy hair dark skin they can't stand us
Stand up, fist up, lift up til my times up
Look like me get picked out the lineup
I swear the times suck
Stuck, inside a mindset of racism
So take it til we make it need to break the schism
Cant even give my son hope
for him to take wit him
Break system til my people ain't the worst victim
Its all a downward spiral
When we don't want reform
we just wanna go viral
Don't know who to hold liable
Feels like a solution ain't viable
In the end we all people
Wit a mind and a heart to speak to
Beat to police you look how they treat you
We just wanna be equal!