Before the Dutch man came to claim Zulu land in apartheid’s name
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Made by God
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Yo, check it
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Yo, I’m the first man standing upright, holding a stone in my hand
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After beating an ape, claiming the land
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Taking the stand and feeding my fam
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Back when man ate they children
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I’m killing other animals just to nurture them
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I journey further from mine, my people, into another culture
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Not knowin' my brothers 'bout to come and take over (Ayo)
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We made it all the way to Asia and to Australia
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Then made the passage to the Americas after all behavior
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Came home and they started makin' homes outta stone
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Showin' tribes around 'em how much they’ve grown
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Yo, I’m at the end of the of start of civilization
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I’m shuttin' it down, I’m settin' out to build a nation
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I’m the son of Ra, the son of Ka, father of Africa
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King Khafre and King Khufu, blood of the Zulu
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Osiris, Isis, Horus, Anbuis, the Royal family
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Akhenaten, Tutankhamun and all the Ramesses
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Amam and Hotep, Mentuhotep, Thutmosis
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Ahmosis, Kamose, is etymology of Moses
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I’m the kings of Egypt, kings of Nubia, Mesopotamia
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Mediterranean, Babylon, Saudi Arabia
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I’m Muhammad comin' outta the Middle East after the Romans
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Reclaiming their gold, homin' their throne 'cause they own it
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I’m on the first boats to reach America
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We all African, we sold you to America, we not coming back
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Ayo, I’m Adam, the original man banned from the garden
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I’m Noah, pardon the flood, after the revolution started
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I’m Japheth, I’m Shem, and I’m Ham
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I’m Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the motherland
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I’m Moses posin' against the king, freein' his people
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I’m Babylon, tryna reach God by buildin' a steeple
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I’m the strongest man, Samson
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I’m the first king, Samuel
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The prestigious king, Saul
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Son of King David, I’m Solomon
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I’m preachin' to the choir like Elijah
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Isaiah, Jeremiah and, not a king higher than King Hezekiah
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I’m on fire like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
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I’m Jonah and the whale
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Daniel in the lion’s den
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I’m Job with just a little hope
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I’m John The Baptist, the messiah’s comin'
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God’s son, Jesus Christ of Nazerath
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Thank Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John for the narrative
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And Paul for all the passages
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Apostolic Episcopal before Constantine
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Constant persecution, first century
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Eventually, revolution
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Islam, sixth century and on and on
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Slavery, where are you takin' me to, huh? |
America?
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Yo, I’m Kunta Kinte 'fore he was enslaved by America
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Picture the freedom before the terror
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Who had to carry the black burners to Nat Turner
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During a slave revolt, we came before Columbus dumped us
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Off the slavery boat, the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman
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Yeah, we probably would still be slaves if it wasn’t for Fredrick Douglas
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I’m up in his government before all them like Booker Washington
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With all his boys like W.E.B. |
Du Bois and Noble Drew Ali and Marcus Garvey
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Takin' us to Africa like Chancellor Williams, Chandler Owens and Asa Randolph
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Last of all the honorable Muhammad, Elijah Muhammad
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Louis Armstrong, Langston Hughes, and Thurgood Marshall
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Richard Wright, Rosa Parks and Gordon Parks
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Joe Lewis, Jackie Robinson and John Henrik Clarke
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Alex Haley, James Baldwin
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Malcom X, Martin Luther King Jr, Clarence 13X
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Maya Angelou, Ray Charles, Minister Farrakhan
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Ivan Sertima, John Cochran, Stokely Carmichael
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Emmett Till, Eldridge Cleaver, Bobby Seale
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Huey Newton, Muhammad Ali and even Gil Scott-Heron
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Al Sharpton, Fred Hampton, Oprah Winfrey
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Barack Obama, Assata Shakur, 2Pac Shakur, Biggie
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And everyone else creating black history
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That lives with me everyday, until I’m gone
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They took dark skin and they made a purse for a pale skin whore
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Yo
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I’m Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie
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Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy
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Sun Ra Orchestra, Charles Mingus, Ahmad Jamal
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Milt Jack', Wes Mont', Herbie Hand-Cannonball
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Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters, Screamin' Jay, Howlin' Wolf
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Chuck Berry, Jimi Hendrix, B. B King, Sam Cooke
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Billie Holiday, Ella Fitz, Nina Simone
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Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Diana Ross
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Chaka Khan, Tina Turner and Roberta Flack
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Al Green, Marvin Gaye, James Brown, Michael Jack
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Prince, Sly Stone, Curtis May
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Roy Ayers, Temptations, 5th Dimension, O’Jays, Ohio Players
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Earth, Wind and Fire, Funkadelic
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Parliament, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles
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Otis Redding and all the shit from the nineties
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Eighties, seventies and sixties
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The fifties, forties, thirties and all the twenties
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All the armies, the Black Panther party, the nation
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NAACP organizations
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All the black NBA, NFL and MLB players
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And we can’t forget Shaka Zulu (Woo)
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We see you brother, Mandela |