Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part II of a two part pancocojams series about the inspirational song "Na Gode" by Nigerian Afro-Pop performers Yemi Alade featuring Selebobo.
Part II features the official YouTube Swahili version of Yemi Alade's "Na Gode".
This post also includes selected comments from that video's discussion thread and from the official YouTube video's discussion thread that focus on how this song and other Yemi Alade songs serve as evidence of and impetus for African unity.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/11/the-inspirational-nigerian-song-na-gode.html for Part I of this series. Part I showcases the official video for the original version of Yemi Alade's "Na Gode", featuring Selebobo. This post also includes three versions of the lyrics for "Ha Gode", the original lyrics (in Hausa, Nigerian Pidgin English, and Igbo), standard English lyrics (posted by a commenter on the official YouTube video's discussion thread), and Swahili lyrics.
That post also includes a few selected general comments about this song from the discussion thread for this video and the discussion thread for the official video for the Swahili version of this song.
Part II features the official YouTube Swahili version of Yemi Alade's "Na Gode".
This post also includes selected comments from that video's discussion thread and from the official YouTube video's discussion thread that focus on how this song and other Yemi Alade songs serve as evidence of and impetus for African unity. In addition, this post includes some comments about celebrating their Africanness from people from the Black African Diaspora throughout the world.
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The content of this post is presented for cultural, religious, inspirational, linguistics, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Yemi Alade, Selebobo, and all those who were associated with this song and video. Thanks also to the transcriber of the versions of this song and thanks to the publishers of these videos.
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Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAPEntGix4M for the YouTube video Yemi Alade - Africa (Official Video) ft. Sauti Sol. Yemi Alade is a Nigerian Afro-Pop (Afrobeats) singer and Sauti Sol is a Kenyan Afropops singing group.
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SHOWCASE VIDEO - Yemi Alade - Na Gode (Swahili Version Official Video)
YemiAladeVEVO, Published on Jan 24, 2016
"Effyzzie Music Group presents the music video for the Swahili version of Yemi Alade's hit single "Na Gode".
The clip of the Selebobo produced thankful anthem was created due the popular demand of it by East African music lovers and fans. The track will be housed on Yemi Alade's sophomore album titled "Mama Africa".
Directed by Paul Gambit.
-snip-
Statistics for this YouTube video (as of November 8, 2017 (at 1:30AM EST)
total views - 4,678,873
total likes (thumbs up) - 27K
total dislikes (thumbs down) -1K
total number of comments - 2,440
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COMMENTS ABOUT AFRICAN UNITY IN THE VIDEO'S DISCUSSION THREAD FOR YEMI ALADE'S SONG "NA GODE" (Swahili Version)
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_7fy-UiHfM
2016
1. Blaise
"Yemi Alade is one of the most talented female musician in Nigeria, always bringing unity to we African while some other musician are busy trying to imitate Americans and Europeans and other culture.
#Respect"
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2. abdiwali adan
"I love you My African people"
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3. Lawlahdey
"she's distinct! she knows how to bring Africans together, can u imagine an artiste trying all languages to bring all in unity😍..I love Yemi Alade! End of story😘"
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4. Safiya Ummi
"+Lawlahdey very true, we should unite rather than divide though we have many differences; we are still one Africa, that way we can build the Continent and make it a better place."
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5. Chrispine Ouma
"while African leaders bicker and bi&ch* the artists are uniting the continent from the west to the east"
-snip-
The complete spelling word is used for this word in that discussion thread.
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6. Leon X
"Am from Cape Verde(West Africa)and i love this song.Don't understand it but listen to it everyday.Love this SongLove To My African Brothers&Sisters☆"
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7. PrettyAbby Jean
"I'm not African but I'm Haitian girl and I proud of me cause I'm black. Africa! !! Its our soul!"
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Reply
8. Winnie Favor
"am kenyan ..Africa is more than colour. ..together we stand"
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Reply
9. Masaba Masaba
"+Winnie Favor Nice Nice Winnie One Love Africa"
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Reply
10. Praise Onaturals
"+PrettyAbby Jean I Love You All Africa is Indeed Our Soul!"
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11. Nyabyenda Jean Paul
"Hey you can not imagine how I liked the music good message Swahili Nzuri.I played the song ten times. I am in Rwanda but there should no border for Africans we are brothers and sisters? isn't it? thanks again my sister!"
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12. chris maloney
"+Sam Mungai you Kenyans should thank us " NIGERIANS " for making this replicate in Swahili, not telling the world how u proud to be an African..."
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Reply
13. Ice Ada
"+chris maloney YOu are the perfect picture of a fool. That wasn't an insult, it is merely my opinion. So on the one hand, there are hardworking Nigerians like Yemi, who believe in the spirit of Africa and would go to any lengths including learning various languages just to bring about a universality of all African brethren, than on the other hand, there are people like you, spreading hate and disunity and trying desperately to cast Nigeria in a bad limelight. I have only one advice for you... GO TO SCHOOL!!! or better still just read a book. Let me take this time out to apologize to all Kenyans who have been offended by this post. Not all NIGERIANS are idiots."
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14. Glo M
"yEMI ALADE reminds me of Late Mama Miriam Makebe. Musical Diversity. Representing Mama Africa in all its splendour. Keep it Up Malaika."
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15. Molyne Hazinah
"yemi alade...i applaud you...you sing as a swahili speaker...proudly african born nigerian singing kenyan..."
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16. Astemhat
"Say you are Continental African to be Precise.The other blacks are Diasporic Africans.Hope that helps!"
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2017
17. Sandralinabeauty Sandralinabeauty
"Shout out to all my Africans brothers and sisters 🙌🏾✊🏾❤"
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18. nauta tobias
"love this African queen , she make me proud of my root , afrikan spirit i feel it , Afrika is everything
much love from Namibia , keep it up .
wind of change , the Afrika shining"
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19. mike askme
"African American here, and even though i dont understand the words, i feel the beat, the words in my soul. Love my African brothers and sisters no matter where they are at in this sick world. Peace and One Love."
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20. chris _theconcious one
"Such a beautiful song. Such beautiful people. As a Black American this songs reinforces my desire to visit the motherland"
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21. Seth Adams
"this lady deserves a peace award,she connects the continent into one"
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22. Rita Mutua
"gal can sing swahili like an east african. !!! Unite the continents with music.....l. Black gal magic ;-)"
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23. winfray sango
"I love because it makes us one,it reminds me o f those days that Africans struggled for a common goal.other ther follw,yemi is no one.she joins Aafricans."
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24. mali idris
"im morrocan and love my african ppl"
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25. Diamond Fox
"I am where Yemi Alade came from. I am Nigerian. I love the lord and my family and most importantly, AFRICA! May god be with you all. :)"
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COMMENTS ABOUT AFRICAN UNITY IN THE OFFICIAL VIDEO FOR YEMI ALADE'S SONG "NA GODE"
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8dqVuHmj5k
2016
1. Wandeti Kassaja
"I am from Tanzania and Yemi's songs are very popular here but nagode and nagode swahili version are songs we always play more often especially on special occassions like weddings etc
It feels great to see how this big continent can be united by something wonderful like this!"
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2. daysis fuentes
"I love this song I'm proud to be Afro Cuban !! Africa en mi"
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3. Maureen Munge
"is it really neccessary to specify whether its a Nigerian music, Camerounian or Ghanian? dont think so. we all are Africans. its not because nigerian music is becoming more popular now in Africa and beyond that we need that separation. yemi alade, tiwa savage, etc when they go out of Africa for a show or any other thing they represent Africa not just Nigeria guys. i just love this song alot because it goes along with my passion. nice work yemi/selebobo."
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4. Asedri Amin
"While subshaharan African countries have different levels of cultural advancement, there is no doubt that a lot of Subshaharan countries promote and advocate the advancement of Subshaharan cultures regardless of what country it comes from.
Case in point, Yemi becomes popular in Africa after Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Ghana went viral with her song Johnny, it was already popular in these subshaharan countries way before the video of Johnny song was realised.
My point is one successful subshaharan country becomes the pride of all other subshaharan countries, "one subshaharan Africa indivisible".
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Reply
5. C Will
"I don't like the term sub-saharan, what does it even mean. Its are redicilous divide that European colonizers invented. A dividence that shouldn't even be in Africa. Lets refer to Africa based on the region call it West Arica, Central Africa, North Africa, East Africa and Southern Africa."
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6. Nefertiti QueenOfEgypt
"There is no such thing as a Sub-sahara Africa ! Africa is one land mass with many Ethnic groups there are what you call " Pure Africans " in North Africa not all are mixed or Arab ! plus Arab is not a race it's a cultural Ethnicity. Also, Somali, Ethopia, Eratrea and Djibouti is in what Europeans like to call sub-sahara Africa they are black but they don't fit the non-African myth of the true black most of us are not mixed like whites always claim without knowing us. Also Sudan, Chad, Mali, Niger, Maurtiania and Northern Nigeria and Burkina Faso all seat longitudinal in Al-Sahara with Millions of people living there ! ! ! ! Therfore, we real Africans don't need to call ourselves Sub-Saharan since there is no such thing ! ! ! ! Only in the european mind ! ! ! !"
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7. Tropical Citizen
"+Love last forever, subshaharan Africans simply means Africans who are partially or fully south of Sahara, North African Arabs allied with Arab world and they are considered part of Arab world not Africa."
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8. C Will
"+Tropical Citizen we know what it means that was not the discussion, the discussion is about how Africans are no sub to anything and that the term is offensive. We shouldn't use the term, beside the fact that the term is flawed. The Arab world is not a continent, just so you know."
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9. hannah60000 (2017)
"Um Africa is split into 5 regions: North, West, East, Central, and Southern regions.
If you mean black Africa by your use of "subsaharan" Africa then black folks are native across [t]he continent, yes black ingenious ethnic groups in the North too.
Of course we support one another, we come from a same root, although we have diverse cultures within and between our nations!"
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10. Mariivoire (2017)
"Asedri Amin As Africans, we should always support each other. #ProudToBeAfrican
-snip-
These selected comments are part of a long sub-thread. Most of the commenters in that sub-thread rejected the term "sub-Sahara".
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11. Lorriane ebrunie
"alright guys, we'll be in 2016 soon. you should've learned by now that Africa is the most diverse continent on earth. As we step in 2016 I don't want to see anymore "African music" but rather " Nigerian music" on Nigerian music video because African music doesn't all sound the same. so please try your best to refrain from using the term African when referring a single country of the continent."
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12. ChickAboutTown.com - Living & Lifestyle in East Africa
"+Lorriane ebrunie Yeah, you do you and we'll do we. Go ahead and preach separateness if you want, I'd much rather preach our similarities not our differences because that's my experience as a Tanzanian'/Ugandan who grew up in the Ivory Coast and lived long periods in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda having also been to 9 other African countries."
-snip-
These two comments are part of a relatively long sub-thread from this discussion. Most of the commenters indicated that they like the term "African music" as it demonstrates African unity.
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13. murielle salvador
"i don't know why i love nigerian too much like this though i'm ivorian,anyways na the same Africa.i think na naija i go marry ooooo make una keep a black fine bobo for me there abeg"
-snip-
Nigerian commenters complimented this commenter from The Ivory Coast for her command of Nigerian Pidgin English. The commenter wrote that she learned Nigerian Pidgin English from her friends and the movies."
I'm learning some Nigerian Pidgin English terms from the internet. Here's what I believe is the standard English "translation" for amurielle salvador's comment [Additions and corrections are welcome]
"I don't know why I love Nigerians so much like this although I'm Ivorian. Anyway, it's the same Africa (no matter where you come from). What I really think is that I'm going to marry a Nigerian. Please keep a fine, hip Black man for me there."
Btw, in response to one commenter who complimented her for how well she expressed herself in Nigerian Pidgin, murielle salvador wrote in 2017:
14. "Thanks that shows how i love una lol.one love"
-snip-
"One love" is a frequently used as a ending tag in this and other contemporary African music discussion threads. That phrase originated as a title of one of Reggae superstar Bog Marley's records.
This comment was written in 2017 in response to murielle's salvador's comment about wanting to marry a Nigerian man:
15. burlhorse89
"marry a nigerian because of the music??you can get the music on spotify now.lol"
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And that comment prompted this one:
15. FroMaestro (2017)
"^ ded. lolol"
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“ded” ("dead”) is an African American Vernacular English originated term that means that what was written was so funny that the person figuratively died laughing.
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2017
16. MYCA
"YEMI is beyond talented!!! She is just too much ooo. She can sing, definitely dances very well and fashion wise she is an African diva. Her choices of styles and dresses is sooo unique and she is one of the very few African artists who promote our African wear through her music. God Bless her and her music career!"
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“Too much” = means "very good" ; The Nigerian Yoruba language and Pidgin English use of one or more "o"[s further emphasize that statement.
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17. Carol-anne Francis
"I live In France, I'm from Guyane and if I were rich I would pay millions to know where my ancestors come from in africa so sad I didn't grow up In african culture"
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Reply
18. Quinta Brown Deriona
"eriona
Ehmm...
U dont need millions actually... CHeck ancestry.com
U r welcomed :)"
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19. ik ben chadia
"Here a north african in love with this!!!"
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20. Stephania Pierre
"I am from Haiti and we are very proud of our African roots, but looking at Yemi Alade makes me even more proud of my African Ancestors. I wish to transmit this pride to my future kids"
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21. konjo melat
"Ethiopian but always in love with west African music."
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22. serikpa Bruno Djatchi
"Bonjour à la galaxy Africaine mais en particulier à la jeunesse NIGERIANE et à sa tête les jeunes Loups comme Flovour, Yemi Alade et autres. Pour moi le meneur du groupe reste Flovour et je voudrais ici lui dire un grand merci. Je suis de la Côte D'ivoire et je vis à Paris mais ces derniers temps, la musique NIGERIANE reste la Meilleure. Bravo mes jeunes frères et bonne continuation à vous tous."
-snip-
Google translate from French to English
"ello to the African galaxy but in particular to the NIGERIAN youth and to its head the young Wolves like Flovour, Yemi Alade and others. For me the leader of the group remains Flovour and I would like to say a big thank you to him. I'm from Ivory Coast and I live in Paris but lately, NIGERIANE music remains the Best. Congratulations my young brothers and good luck to you all."
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23.Ryan Rock
"All the way in the Caribbean and loving this song.........one day I shall visit the Motherland"
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24 Alpha Savage
"I'm a proud South African American...........My fellow African American, Jamaican,Haitian,European Africans and fellow Africans born in the continent, let's all unite."
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25. Keisha Blocker
"As a black American I have such an appreciation for African music and the many cultures. Having little to no connection with my ancestry this makes me feel closer. Thank you for such beautiful music. I may not always understand the words but I feel a stirring in my soul when I listen."
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This concludes Part II of this two part pancocojams series.
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