Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part I of a two part pancocojams series on Nigerian American Hip Hop artist Jideena's 2016 Hip Hop track "Chief Don't Run".
Part I provides information about Jideena and showcases the official YouTube video of his 2016 song "Chief Don't Run". The lyrics for that track are also included in this post.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/06/comments-about-igbo-culture-from.html for Part II of this pancocojams series. Part II showcases the official video of "Chief Don't Run". Part II also provides some information about Igbos and presents some of the comments from that video's discussion thread which refer to Igbo (Nigerian) culture or are from Igbo people or are from other people from the continent of Africa.
The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Jideena for his musical legacy. Thanks to all those who are associated with this showcase video and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to the publisher of this video on YouTube.
-snip-
WARNING: Some scenes from Jideena's official 2016 video "Chief Don't Run" show Jideena and another Black man being arrested by the police. These scenes are very similar to the tragic deaths of Eric Garner and George Floyd. Consequently, these scenes may trigger some viewers.
RIP to Eric Garner, George Floyd and all others who have dead as a result of police brutality.
**
WARNING - Jideena's "Chief Don't Run" includes a form of what is commonly known as "the n word". Because pancocojams is a family friendly blog, I've used a modified spelling of that referent in the lyric section.
****
Jidenna - Chief Don't Run
Jidenna, Aug 18, 2016
-snip-
Statistics as of June 1, 2020 at 1:58 AM EDT
Total # of views- 14,467,057
Total # of likes- 135K
Total # of dislikes - 4.9K
Total # of comments -5,231
****
INFORMATION ABOUT JIDEENA
Excerpt #1:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jidenna
Jidenna Theodore Mobisson (born May 4, 1985), better known mononymously as Jidenna, is a Nigerian-American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer.[2][3] In 2015, Jidenna released two singles, "Classic Man" and "Yoga", promoting Janelle Monáe's label Wondaland Records' compilation EP The Eephus with Epic Records.[4] His debut album, The Chief was released on February 17, 2017 and peaked at number 38 on the Billboard 200.[5]
Early life and education
Jidenna Theodore Mobisson was born on May 4, 1985 in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin,[6][7] to Tama Mobisson, a Caucasian accountant, and Oliver Mobisson, a Nigerian Igbo academic. Jidenna grew up partially in Nigeria, where his father was working as a professor of computer science at Enugu State University.[3] When Jidenna was 6 years old, the family moved back to the United States.[3] In 1995, the family moved to Norwood, Massachusetts, and then to Milton, Massachusetts, in 2000.[8] His father died in 2010.[3]"...
****
Excerpt #2
From https://www.allmusic.com/artist/jidenna-mn0003397779/biography
Artist Biography by Andy Kellman
"A sharp dresser, singer, and rapper with geographic connections ranging from Nigeria to U.S. cities like Oakland, Atlanta, and New York, Jidenna Mobisson arrived in 2015 with a hybrid R&B/rap sound he called swank. The son of pioneering Nigerian scientist and educator Oliver Mobisson, he cited Nat King Cole, James Brown, and OutKast among his many inspirations. The Stanford graduate signed to Janelle Monáe's Wondaland label and debuted with "Classic Man," where he delivered boastful, foul-mouthed rhymes and a neat vocal hook over a sparse, street-level beat. Released in February 2015, the single took a while to gain traction, possibly receiving a nudge from Monáe's March-issued "Yoga" (which featured her new signing) and reached the Billboard Hot 100 three months later. It eventually went double platinum.
The Eephus, a six-track showcase for the Wondaland crew, was released in August 2015 with the original "Classic Man" and a version featuring Kendrick Lamar. Mobisson gained further exposure performing his song "Long Live the Chief" on a season one episode of the Netflix Marvel series Luke Cage in 2016. A Grammy nomination for "Classic Man" and several stylistically varied singles, including "Little Bit More," "The Let Out," and "Bambi," led to the February 2017 release of The Chief, Mobisson's first album. The well-received album debuted at number 38 on the Billboard 200 and peaked at number 16 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. July 2019 saw Mobisson issue the singles "Tribe" and "Sufi Woman" ahead of the release of his sophomore full-length effort 85 to Africa, which arrived later that August."
****
Excerpt #3
From https://www.npr.org/2017/03/23/521079614/jidenna-on-what-it-means-to-be-the-chief
Jidenna On What It Means To Be 'The Chief'; by Christina Cala, March 23, 2017
"The 2015 hit "Classic Man" introduced the world to Jidenna. His look matched his sound: three-piece suits, polka-dotted ascots and red hair slicked down in a wave that would've made Nat King Cole jealous. At one point, a friend's manager took him aside and said he thought Jidenna had a ton of potential as an artist — but there was just one problem.
"He said, 'You're too perfect,' " Jidenna says. "And man, that stuck with me."
So for his first full-length album, the singer and rapper found himself drawn back to his roots: Nigerian highlife singers and the story of his father, who passed away seven years ago.
With his Nigerian dad and Bostonian mother, Jidenna spent his childhood moving across cities, continents and boundaries. Now, he's released his debut album, The Chief.
"The chief is really my father and my grandfather," he explains. "It's also my highest self — the best parts of them in me."...
****
Excerpt #4
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/jidenna-the-remarkable-rise-and-grand-visions-of-a-classic-man-113548/
..."In February [2017], he [Jideena] finally dropped The Chief, a debut album that more than justifies his confidence. Standouts range from the Nineties-style banger “Long Live the Chief” – which went is-that-really-the-“Classic Man”-dude? viral last year after Jidenna performed it on an episode of Netflix’s Luke Cage – to the Magic City–ready “The Let Out” (with Quavo of Migos), all the way to the gorgeous single “Bambi” (it’s Sam Cooke meets the Wailers with trap high-hats, and it’s 2017’s best song so far)."...
-snip-
Although I didn't note the source, I remember reading somewhere that Jideena's father was an Igbo chief. However, "Chief" is only one of Jideena's nicknames, Another nickname for Jideena is "Classic man", a reference to his hit track with that name and also to his fashion style in 2015. By 2019, if not sooner, Jideena changed his looks as evident in his video for his track "Sufi Woman" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7_Yg2BHVpU.
****
LYRICS -CHIEF DON'T RUN
[Intro]
Olualuweaway
Uweaway
No the chief don't run
The chief don't
No the chief don't run
[Hook]
Oh the chief don't run
Oh the chief don't run
Oh the chief don't run
Oh the chief don't run
[Verse 1]
Before the red cups and the backwoods smoke
Me and mom in the shack in the woods, bro
I was sleepin' on the floor with the oven door open
While I dreamt about the places that I would go
We would go door to door to door all day
We were begging 'em to lay up in the foyer
I was sittin' with the hookers in a motel hallway
Waiting onna blind audition like it's Broadway
Now these Madams looking like a fleet of foxes
Rat Pack chief of staff like Sinatra
Eat, drink, swank, ni--a* that's the mantra
Betta stand when I speak, ni--a*, fix your posture
Chief don't run, baby, word to poppa
Wanted me to-be-a lawyer, engineer or doctor
The new Godfather, keep your old mobsters
Matter fact, you can keep your old Oscars
It's tomorrow never dies now
I'm on yacht with a prince in Dubai now
I'm with the Dalai Lama's homies in the sky lounge
Cocktails got me loosenin' my tie now
They say a prophet never honored in his homeland
That's fine, I'd rather have my own land
Gotta plan for a hundred Roman numerals
Long live the chief, ni--a, welcome to your funeral
[Hook]
Oh the chief don't run
Oh the chief don't run
Oh the chief don't run
Oh the chief don't run
[Verse 2]
It's my time, hit the gong out here
They gon' need to build a bigger wall out here
I live a different set of laws out here
Know my rights even when I'm in the wrong out here
Look what we did with one song out here
Like a locksmith opened every door out here
Ya dealing with a king, not a kong out here
You a pawn, but we can get along out here
You in my house actin' too free though
We know you foul—ni--a, two free throws
Chiefy, chiefy in a new chief cloak
I ain't even said a word, but my suit bespoke
I got a new agenda that gotta carry through
When your father's enemies are tryna bury you
And the royal families are tryna marry you
Long live the chief, ni--a
Welcome to your burial
[Hook]
Oh the chief don't run
Oh the chief don't run
Oh the chief don't run
Oh the chief don't run
[Post-Hook]
Everybody wanna run, they don't want it like us
Paid my dues, but they still tryna Wesley Snipe-us
Tell me why we gon' still win tonight
Breakin' bread, we got everybody right
Source-https://genius.com/Jidenna-chief-dont-run-lyrics
-snip-
*This form of the "n word" is fully spelled out in these lyrics.
Among the information about this song that is found on that genius.com page is that "Chief Don't Run" was written by the following people:
Spree Wilson, Mark Williams, Milan Wiley, Nana Kwabena, Roman GianArthur, Nate “Rocket” Wonder, Andrew Horowitz, Leslie Gray, Raul Cubina, Nana Afriyie & Jidenna.
-snip-
The beginning word "Olualuweaway" is quite similar to the Yoruba (Nigeria) Orisha "Babalu-Aye"
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babal%C3%BA-Ay%C3%A9
Babalú-Ayé , (also Omolu, Obaluaye, or Obaluaê) (Yoruba: Ọbalúayé, lit. 'Father, Lord of the Earth'[1]) is an Orisha strongly associated with infectious disease and healing in the Yoruba religion, including the body, wealth, and physical possessions. In West Africa, he was strongly associated with epidemics of smallpox, leprosy, influenza, ebola, and HIV/AIDS.[2] Although strongly associated with illness and disease, Babalú-Ayé is also the spirit that cures these ailments. Both feared and loved, Babalú-Ayé is sometimes referred to as the “Wrath of the supreme god” because he punishes people for their transgressions.[3] People hold Babalú-Ayé in great respect and avoid calling his actual name, because they do not wish to invoke epidemics.[4].
Yoruba
Venerated by the Yoruba, O̩balúayé is usually called Sopona (Shopona) and said to have dominion over the Earth and smallpox. He demands respect and even gratitude when he claims a victim, and so people sometimes honor him with the praise name Alápa-dúpé, meaning “One who kills and is thanked for it"...
-snip-
If this Orisha is suggested by the beginning word Olualuweaway in Jideena's song "Chief Don't Run", that name may have been evoked to represent how "bad" (worthy to be feared and respected) this Chief is.
Alternatively, the word "Olualuweaway" may (also) have been coined to represent the Yoruba Orisha "Oluwu". which is another name for Olorun, the most powerful Orisha and leader of the Yoruba pantheon.
From https://www.godsmonsters.com/Game/Divine/3/8/
"Olorun, Oba-Orun, Olodumare, Orisha-Oke, Eleda, Oluwa, Orisa Nla
Sobriquets: Owner of the Sky, King of the Sky, Owner of Endless Space, Creator"...
****
This concludes Part I of this two part pancocojams series.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitors comments are welcome.
Showing posts with label Yoruba orishas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yoruba orishas. Show all posts
Monday, June 1, 2020
Thursday, April 20, 2017
Names For The Days Of Week In Ten Traditional Nigerian Languages (Part II)
Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part II of a two part pancocojams series on the names for the days of the week in ten traditional Nigerian languages.
Part II provides information about and lists of the days for the week in Igbo, Ijaw, Kanuri, Urhobo, and Yoruba languages.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/04/names-of-week-in-ten-traditional.html for Part I of this series. Part I provides information about and lists of the days of the week in Edo, Efik, Fulfulde (Fula), Hausa, and Ibibio languages.
For information and comparison's sake, the Arabic names for the days of the week are also given in Part I since Arabic greatly influenced the names of the days of the week in Fulfulde, Kanuri, Hausa, as well as Swahili and certain other traditional African languages.
This post features only a very small sample of the languages spoken in Nigeria as there are over 521 languages that have been spoken in that nation (nine of them are now extinct.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Nigeria
Note that some of the languages featured in this series are spoken in other West African nations.
This pancocojams series is part of an ongoing series that provides information about and lists of day names in various African languages. Click the "African languages days of the week" tag to find other posts in this ongoing series.
The content of this post is presented for linguistic, cultural, and educational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
****
NAMES FOR DAYS OF THE WEEK IN FIVE TRADITIONAL NIGERIAN LANGUAGES
(This list is given in alphabetical order.)
Igbo
Excerpt #1:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igbo_language
"Igbo is the principal native language of the Igbo people, an ethnic group of southeastern Nigeria. There are approximately 24 million speakers, who live mostly in Nigeria and are primarily of Igbo descent. Igbo is written in the Latin script, which was introduced by British colonialists. There are over 20 Igbo dialects. There is apparently a degree of dialect levelling occurring. A standard literary language was developed in 1972 based on the Owerri (Isuama) and Umuahia (such as Ohuhu) dialects, though it omits the nasalization and aspiration of those varieties. There are related Igboid languages such as Ika, Ikwerre and Ogba that are sometimes considered dialects of Igbo,[6] the most divergent being Ekpeye. Igbo is also a recognised minority language of Equatorial Guinea."
**
Excerpt #2:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igbo_calendar
"The Igbo calendar (Igbo: Ògụ́àfọ̀ Ị̀gbò is the traditional calendar system of the Igbo people which has 13 months in a year (afo), 7 weeks in a month (onwa), and 4 days in a week (izu) plus an extra day at the end of the year, in the last month. …
Many parts of this calendar are named for or dedicated to certain spirits (Igbo: Mmuo) and deities (Igbo: Alusi) in Igbo mythology. Some of the spirits and deities were believed to have given the Igbo people knowledge of time. The days, also known as market day, also correspond to the four cardinal points, north, south, east, west.
Market Days
Igbos generally have four market days, namely: eke, orie, afor and nkwo. The market days according to the Igbo calendar follow each other sequentially as shown below:
Eke
Orie
Afor
Nkwo
[...]
The names of the days have their roots in the mythology of the Kingdom of Nri. Eri, the sky-descended founder of the Nri kingdom, had gone on to break the mystery of time and on his journey he had saluted and counted the four days by the names of the spirits that governed them, hence the names of the spirits eke, orie, afọ and nkwọ became those of the days of the week. The days also correspond to the four cardinal points, Afọ corresponds to north, Nkwọ to south, Eke to east, and Orie to west.[5] These spirits, who were fishmongers, were sent down by Chukwu (Great God) in order to establish markets throughout Igboland which they did by selling fish.[4]
While there are four days, they come in alternate cycles of "major" and "minor", giving a longer eight day cycle.[6]"
****
Excerpt #3
From http://www.nairaland.com/1115190/days-week-nigerian-languages-meanings Re: The Days Of The Week In Nigerian Languages And Their Meanings.
[comment] by chijiblaze(m): On Sep 16, 2016
"There are eight (8 ) days in the Igbo week.
Ya bụ Ụbọchị asatọ bọrọ n'eluigwe
Eke Ukwu - Greater Eke
Orie (or oye or orye)
Afor
Nkwo
Eke Nta (or Lesser Eke)
Orie
Afor
Nkwo"
**
Excerpt #4:
From http://www.nairaland.com/1115190/days-week-nigerian-languages-meanings Re: The Days Of The Week In Nigerian Languages And Their Meanings
[comment by chijiblaze(m): On Jan 13 [2017]
"Ụbọchị Ụkà / Mbọsị Ụkà = Sunday
Osote Ụbọchị Ụkà / Osota Mbọsị Ụkà = Monday
....Tuesday....?
Ụbọchị Etiti Izu-Ụkà / Mbọsị Etiti / Etiti Izu = Wednesday.
Osote Ụbọchị Etiti / Osota Mbọsị Etiti = Thursday
.....Friday.......?
Ụbọchị Nzùrike / Mbọsị Ezùmike = Saturday.
****
Ijaw
Excerpt #1:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ijaw_people
"Ijaw people (also known by the subgroups "Ijo" or "Izon") are a collection of peoples indigenous mostly to the regions of the Bayelsa, Edo, Delta, Ondo, Akwa Ibom and Rivers States within the Niger Delta in Nigeria. Many are found as migrant fishermen in camps as far west as Sierra Leone and as far east as Gabon along the Western Africa coastline and the Dakolo Family that migrated from Ghana notable from the family is Timi Dakolo.
The Ijo population is estimated to be over 15 million people....
Language
The Ijaw speak nine closely related Niger–Congo languages, all of which belong to the Ijoid branch of the Niger–Congo tree. The primary division between the Ijo languages is that between Eastern Ijo and Western Ijo, the most important of the former group of languages being Izon, which is spoken by about ten million people."...
**
Excerpt #2:
From http://www.nairaland.com/1115190/days-week-nigerian-languages-meanings Re: The Days Of The Week In Nigerian Languages And Their Meanings.
[comment] by AjiereTuwo: On Sep 24, 2016
"Days of the week in Ibani egere(ijaw)
Oru ene - Sunday
Oru ene obuu - Monday
Kala feni ibiene - Tuesday
Ogunu feni ibiene - Wednesday
Feni obuu ene - Thursday
Feni ibiene - Friday
Kala oru ene - Saturday"
****
Kanuri
Excerpt #1:
From http://www.languagesgulper.com/eng/Kanuri.html
"Name Origin: Kanuri means 'person'.
Classification. Nilo-Saharan, Saharan. Other members of the Saharan branch are Tedaga, Dazaga and Zaghawa.
Overview. Kanuri is one of the three major languages of northern Nigeria (the other two are Hausa and Fula) and is also spoken in Chad and Niger. It is associated with the Karen-Bornu trading empire that ruled around Lake Chad from the 9th to 19th centuries. Kanuri served as a lingua franca of northern Nigeria but its role was reduced in favor of Hausa during colonial times. It is a tonal language with an agglutinating morphology and verb-final sentences.
Distribution. Kanuri is spoken west, north and east of Lake Chad: in northeastern Nigeria (state of Borno), eastern Niger, western Chad (states of Kanem, Lake and Chari-Baguirmi) and northern Cameroon. A substantial number of Kanuri expatriates live in Sudan....
Status. Kanuri is one of the national languages of Nigeria and Niger. A standard Kanuri orthography was formulated in Nigeria where the language is taught in schools and at the University of Maiduguri (capital of the state of Borno), being used in the media as well."
**
Excerpt #2:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanuri_people
"The Kanuri people (Kanouri, Kanowri, also Yerwa and several subgroup names) are an African ethnic group living largely in the lands of the former Kanem and Bornu Empires in Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon. Those generally termed Kanuri include several subgroups and dialect groups, some of whom feel themselves distinct from the Kanuri. Most trace their origins to ruling lineages of the medieval Kanem-Bornu Empire, its client states or provinces. In contrast to neighboring Toubou or Zaghawa pastoralists, Kanuri groups have traditionally been sedentary, engaging in farming, fishing the Chad Basin, and engaged in trade and salt processing.[5]"...
**
Excerpt #3:
From http://www.masteranylanguage.com/c/r/en/Kanuri/DaysOfWeek/2 Kanuri Language (Kanuri) Days of the Week Level 2
"Litinin
Monday
tàláwù
Tuesday
láráwà
Wednesday
làmísù
Thursday
jəmmà
Friday
səbdù
Saturday
lâdù
Sunday
****
Urbobo
Excerpt #1:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urhobo_people
"The Urhobos are people of southern Nigeria, near the northwestern Niger delta. The Urhobo is the major ethnic group in Delta State. Delta State is one of the 36 states of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The Urhobos speak the Urhobo language. The Urhobo culture is related to several cultures in the Niger-Delta...
There are about two million Urhobos. The word Urhobo refer to a group of people and not the geographical territory. The Urhobos have social and cultural affinity to the Edo speaking people of Nigeria (Northcote Thomas, 1910).
[...]
Urhobo calendar[edit]
Urhobo Okpo (week) is made up of four days based on regulated market cycles, religious worship, marriages and other community life. The four days of the Urhobo week are Edewo, Ediruo, Eduhre, and Edebi. In Urhobo mythology, Edewo and Eduhre are sacred days to divinities, spirits, and ancestors. Most markets are held on these days. Ancestors are venerated on Edewo. Most traditional religious rituals are held on Eduhre."...
**
Excerpt #2:
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=413853415302872&id=292790394075842
Urhobo People's Progress, May 25, 2012 ·
"Urhobo calendar
Urhobo Okpo (week) is made up of four days which regulates market cycles, religious worship, marriages and other community life. The four day's of the Urhobo week are:Edewo,Ediruo,Eduhre,Edebi. In Urhobo mythology, Edewo and Eduhre are sacred days to divinities, spirits and ancestors. Most market days are held on these days, ancestors are venerated on Edewo. Most traditional religious rituals are held on Eduhre."
****
Yoruba
Excerpt #1:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoruba_people
"Yoruba people (Yoruba: Ìran Yorùbá, literally: Yoruba lineage, also known as Àwon omo Yorùbá, literally: Children of Yoruba, or simply as Yoruba) are an ethnic group of Southwestern and North Central Nigeria as well as Southern and Central Benin, together known as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute over 40 million people in total. The majority of this population is from Nigeria and make up 21% of its population, according to the CIA World Factbook,[1] making them one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa. The majority of the Yoruba speak the Yoruba language, which is tonal, and is the Niger-Congo language with the largest number of native speakers.[9]
...
Significant Yoruba populations in other West African countries can be found in Ghana,[10][11][12] Ivory Coast,[13] Liberia and Sierra Leone.[14]
The Yoruba diaspora consists of two main groupings; one of them includes relatively recent migrants, the majority of which moved to the United Kingdom and the United States after major economic and political changes in the 1960s to 1980s; the other is a much older population dating back to the Atlantic slave trade. This older group has communities in such countries as Cuba, Dominican Republic, Saint Lucia, Jamaica,[15] Brazil, Grenada,[16] Trinidad and Tobago,[17][18][19][20][21][22][23] among others"...
**
Excerpt #2:
From http://www.omniglot.com/writing/yoruba.htm
"Yoruba (èdè Yorùbá)
Yoruba is one of the four official languages of Nigeria and is a member of the Volta-Niger branch of the Niger-Congo family of languages. It is spoken by about 22 million people in southwest Nigeria, Benin, Togo, the UK, Brazil and the USA.
Yoruba first appeared in writing during the 19th century. The first Yoruba publications were a number of teaching booklets produced by John Raban in 1830-2. The person who made the biggest contribution to Yoruba literacy was Bishop Ajayi (Samual) Crowther (1806-1891), who studied many of the languages of Nigeria, including Yoruba, and wrote and translated in some of them. Crowther was also the first Christian bishop of West African origin. A Yoruba orthography appeared in about 1850, though it has undergone a number of changes since then.
[...]
Yoruba is a tonal language with three tones: high, mid and low. The high tone is indicated by an acute accent (á, é, ẹ́, í, ó, ọ́ and ú). The mid tone is not marked and the low tone is marked with a grave acute (à, è, ẹ̀, ì, ò, ọ̀ and ù)."...
**
Excerpt #3:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoruba_calendar
"The traditional Yoruba week has four days. The four days that are dedicated to the Orisa go as follow:
Day 1 is dedicated to Obatala (Sopanna, Iyaami, and the Egungun)
Day 2 is dedicated to Orunmila (Esu, Ifá and Osun) *
Day 3 is dedicated to Ogun (Osoosi)
Day 4 is dedicated to Sango (Oya)
To reconcile with the Gregorian calendar, Yoruba people also measure time in seven days a week and four weeks a month. The four-day calendar was dedicated to the Orisas and the seven-day calendar is for doing business.
The seven days are: Ojo-Aiku (Sunday), Ojo-Aje (Monday), Ojo-Ishegun (Tuesday), Ojo-Riru (Wednesday), Ojo-Bo/Alamisi (Thursday), Ojo-Eti (Friday) and Ojo-Abameta (Saturday).
[...]
The traditional Yoruba calendar (Kojoda) has a 4-day week and 91 weeks in a year. The Yoruba year spans from 3 June of a Gregorian calendar year to 2 June of the following year. According to the calendar developed by Remi-Niyi Alaran[who?], the Gregorian year 2015 AD is the 10,057th year of Yoruba records of time.[2] With the British colonial and European cultural invasions, came the need to reconcile with the Gregorian calendar: Yoruba people also measure time in seven days a week and 52 weeks a year."
-snip-
The asterisk is given in this Wikipedia page, but doesn't appear to lead to any information. Click the pancocojams tag "Yoruba orishas" for posts about this subject.
****
This concludes Part II of this two part series on names of the days of the week in ten traditional Nigerian languages.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
This is Part II of a two part pancocojams series on the names for the days of the week in ten traditional Nigerian languages.
Part II provides information about and lists of the days for the week in Igbo, Ijaw, Kanuri, Urhobo, and Yoruba languages.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/04/names-of-week-in-ten-traditional.html for Part I of this series. Part I provides information about and lists of the days of the week in Edo, Efik, Fulfulde (Fula), Hausa, and Ibibio languages.
For information and comparison's sake, the Arabic names for the days of the week are also given in Part I since Arabic greatly influenced the names of the days of the week in Fulfulde, Kanuri, Hausa, as well as Swahili and certain other traditional African languages.
This post features only a very small sample of the languages spoken in Nigeria as there are over 521 languages that have been spoken in that nation (nine of them are now extinct.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Nigeria
Note that some of the languages featured in this series are spoken in other West African nations.
This pancocojams series is part of an ongoing series that provides information about and lists of day names in various African languages. Click the "African languages days of the week" tag to find other posts in this ongoing series.
The content of this post is presented for linguistic, cultural, and educational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
****
NAMES FOR DAYS OF THE WEEK IN FIVE TRADITIONAL NIGERIAN LANGUAGES
(This list is given in alphabetical order.)
Igbo
Excerpt #1:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igbo_language
"Igbo is the principal native language of the Igbo people, an ethnic group of southeastern Nigeria. There are approximately 24 million speakers, who live mostly in Nigeria and are primarily of Igbo descent. Igbo is written in the Latin script, which was introduced by British colonialists. There are over 20 Igbo dialects. There is apparently a degree of dialect levelling occurring. A standard literary language was developed in 1972 based on the Owerri (Isuama) and Umuahia (such as Ohuhu) dialects, though it omits the nasalization and aspiration of those varieties. There are related Igboid languages such as Ika, Ikwerre and Ogba that are sometimes considered dialects of Igbo,[6] the most divergent being Ekpeye. Igbo is also a recognised minority language of Equatorial Guinea."
**
Excerpt #2:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igbo_calendar
"The Igbo calendar (Igbo: Ògụ́àfọ̀ Ị̀gbò is the traditional calendar system of the Igbo people which has 13 months in a year (afo), 7 weeks in a month (onwa), and 4 days in a week (izu) plus an extra day at the end of the year, in the last month. …
Many parts of this calendar are named for or dedicated to certain spirits (Igbo: Mmuo) and deities (Igbo: Alusi) in Igbo mythology. Some of the spirits and deities were believed to have given the Igbo people knowledge of time. The days, also known as market day, also correspond to the four cardinal points, north, south, east, west.
Market Days
Igbos generally have four market days, namely: eke, orie, afor and nkwo. The market days according to the Igbo calendar follow each other sequentially as shown below:
Eke
Orie
Afor
Nkwo
[...]
The names of the days have their roots in the mythology of the Kingdom of Nri. Eri, the sky-descended founder of the Nri kingdom, had gone on to break the mystery of time and on his journey he had saluted and counted the four days by the names of the spirits that governed them, hence the names of the spirits eke, orie, afọ and nkwọ became those of the days of the week. The days also correspond to the four cardinal points, Afọ corresponds to north, Nkwọ to south, Eke to east, and Orie to west.[5] These spirits, who were fishmongers, were sent down by Chukwu (Great God) in order to establish markets throughout Igboland which they did by selling fish.[4]
While there are four days, they come in alternate cycles of "major" and "minor", giving a longer eight day cycle.[6]"
****
Excerpt #3
From http://www.nairaland.com/1115190/days-week-nigerian-languages-meanings Re: The Days Of The Week In Nigerian Languages And Their Meanings.
[comment] by chijiblaze(m): On Sep 16, 2016
"There are eight (8 ) days in the Igbo week.
Ya bụ Ụbọchị asatọ bọrọ n'eluigwe
Eke Ukwu - Greater Eke
Orie (or oye or orye)
Afor
Nkwo
Eke Nta (or Lesser Eke)
Orie
Afor
Nkwo"
**
Excerpt #4:
From http://www.nairaland.com/1115190/days-week-nigerian-languages-meanings Re: The Days Of The Week In Nigerian Languages And Their Meanings
[comment by chijiblaze(m): On Jan 13 [2017]
"Ụbọchị Ụkà / Mbọsị Ụkà = Sunday
Osote Ụbọchị Ụkà / Osota Mbọsị Ụkà = Monday
....Tuesday....?
Ụbọchị Etiti Izu-Ụkà / Mbọsị Etiti / Etiti Izu = Wednesday.
Osote Ụbọchị Etiti / Osota Mbọsị Etiti = Thursday
.....Friday.......?
Ụbọchị Nzùrike / Mbọsị Ezùmike = Saturday.
****
Ijaw
Excerpt #1:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ijaw_people
"Ijaw people (also known by the subgroups "Ijo" or "Izon") are a collection of peoples indigenous mostly to the regions of the Bayelsa, Edo, Delta, Ondo, Akwa Ibom and Rivers States within the Niger Delta in Nigeria. Many are found as migrant fishermen in camps as far west as Sierra Leone and as far east as Gabon along the Western Africa coastline and the Dakolo Family that migrated from Ghana notable from the family is Timi Dakolo.
The Ijo population is estimated to be over 15 million people....
Language
The Ijaw speak nine closely related Niger–Congo languages, all of which belong to the Ijoid branch of the Niger–Congo tree. The primary division between the Ijo languages is that between Eastern Ijo and Western Ijo, the most important of the former group of languages being Izon, which is spoken by about ten million people."...
**
Excerpt #2:
From http://www.nairaland.com/1115190/days-week-nigerian-languages-meanings Re: The Days Of The Week In Nigerian Languages And Their Meanings.
[comment] by AjiereTuwo: On Sep 24, 2016
"Days of the week in Ibani egere(ijaw)
Oru ene - Sunday
Oru ene obuu - Monday
Kala feni ibiene - Tuesday
Ogunu feni ibiene - Wednesday
Feni obuu ene - Thursday
Feni ibiene - Friday
Kala oru ene - Saturday"
****
Kanuri
Excerpt #1:
From http://www.languagesgulper.com/eng/Kanuri.html
"Name Origin: Kanuri means 'person'.
Classification. Nilo-Saharan, Saharan. Other members of the Saharan branch are Tedaga, Dazaga and Zaghawa.
Overview. Kanuri is one of the three major languages of northern Nigeria (the other two are Hausa and Fula) and is also spoken in Chad and Niger. It is associated with the Karen-Bornu trading empire that ruled around Lake Chad from the 9th to 19th centuries. Kanuri served as a lingua franca of northern Nigeria but its role was reduced in favor of Hausa during colonial times. It is a tonal language with an agglutinating morphology and verb-final sentences.
Distribution. Kanuri is spoken west, north and east of Lake Chad: in northeastern Nigeria (state of Borno), eastern Niger, western Chad (states of Kanem, Lake and Chari-Baguirmi) and northern Cameroon. A substantial number of Kanuri expatriates live in Sudan....
Status. Kanuri is one of the national languages of Nigeria and Niger. A standard Kanuri orthography was formulated in Nigeria where the language is taught in schools and at the University of Maiduguri (capital of the state of Borno), being used in the media as well."
**
Excerpt #2:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanuri_people
"The Kanuri people (Kanouri, Kanowri, also Yerwa and several subgroup names) are an African ethnic group living largely in the lands of the former Kanem and Bornu Empires in Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon. Those generally termed Kanuri include several subgroups and dialect groups, some of whom feel themselves distinct from the Kanuri. Most trace their origins to ruling lineages of the medieval Kanem-Bornu Empire, its client states or provinces. In contrast to neighboring Toubou or Zaghawa pastoralists, Kanuri groups have traditionally been sedentary, engaging in farming, fishing the Chad Basin, and engaged in trade and salt processing.[5]"...
**
Excerpt #3:
From http://www.masteranylanguage.com/c/r/en/Kanuri/DaysOfWeek/2 Kanuri Language (Kanuri) Days of the Week Level 2
"Litinin
Monday
tàláwù
Tuesday
láráwà
Wednesday
làmísù
Thursday
jəmmà
Friday
səbdù
Saturday
lâdù
Sunday
****
Urbobo
Excerpt #1:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urhobo_people
"The Urhobos are people of southern Nigeria, near the northwestern Niger delta. The Urhobo is the major ethnic group in Delta State. Delta State is one of the 36 states of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The Urhobos speak the Urhobo language. The Urhobo culture is related to several cultures in the Niger-Delta...
There are about two million Urhobos. The word Urhobo refer to a group of people and not the geographical territory. The Urhobos have social and cultural affinity to the Edo speaking people of Nigeria (Northcote Thomas, 1910).
[...]
Urhobo calendar[edit]
Urhobo Okpo (week) is made up of four days based on regulated market cycles, religious worship, marriages and other community life. The four days of the Urhobo week are Edewo, Ediruo, Eduhre, and Edebi. In Urhobo mythology, Edewo and Eduhre are sacred days to divinities, spirits, and ancestors. Most markets are held on these days. Ancestors are venerated on Edewo. Most traditional religious rituals are held on Eduhre."...
**
Excerpt #2:
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=413853415302872&id=292790394075842
Urhobo People's Progress, May 25, 2012 ·
"Urhobo calendar
Urhobo Okpo (week) is made up of four days which regulates market cycles, religious worship, marriages and other community life. The four day's of the Urhobo week are:Edewo,Ediruo,Eduhre,Edebi. In Urhobo mythology, Edewo and Eduhre are sacred days to divinities, spirits and ancestors. Most market days are held on these days, ancestors are venerated on Edewo. Most traditional religious rituals are held on Eduhre."
****
Yoruba
Excerpt #1:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoruba_people
"Yoruba people (Yoruba: Ìran Yorùbá, literally: Yoruba lineage, also known as Àwon omo Yorùbá, literally: Children of Yoruba, or simply as Yoruba) are an ethnic group of Southwestern and North Central Nigeria as well as Southern and Central Benin, together known as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute over 40 million people in total. The majority of this population is from Nigeria and make up 21% of its population, according to the CIA World Factbook,[1] making them one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa. The majority of the Yoruba speak the Yoruba language, which is tonal, and is the Niger-Congo language with the largest number of native speakers.[9]
...
Significant Yoruba populations in other West African countries can be found in Ghana,[10][11][12] Ivory Coast,[13] Liberia and Sierra Leone.[14]
The Yoruba diaspora consists of two main groupings; one of them includes relatively recent migrants, the majority of which moved to the United Kingdom and the United States after major economic and political changes in the 1960s to 1980s; the other is a much older population dating back to the Atlantic slave trade. This older group has communities in such countries as Cuba, Dominican Republic, Saint Lucia, Jamaica,[15] Brazil, Grenada,[16] Trinidad and Tobago,[17][18][19][20][21][22][23] among others"...
**
Excerpt #2:
From http://www.omniglot.com/writing/yoruba.htm
"Yoruba (èdè Yorùbá)
Yoruba is one of the four official languages of Nigeria and is a member of the Volta-Niger branch of the Niger-Congo family of languages. It is spoken by about 22 million people in southwest Nigeria, Benin, Togo, the UK, Brazil and the USA.
Yoruba first appeared in writing during the 19th century. The first Yoruba publications were a number of teaching booklets produced by John Raban in 1830-2. The person who made the biggest contribution to Yoruba literacy was Bishop Ajayi (Samual) Crowther (1806-1891), who studied many of the languages of Nigeria, including Yoruba, and wrote and translated in some of them. Crowther was also the first Christian bishop of West African origin. A Yoruba orthography appeared in about 1850, though it has undergone a number of changes since then.
[...]
Yoruba is a tonal language with three tones: high, mid and low. The high tone is indicated by an acute accent (á, é, ẹ́, í, ó, ọ́ and ú). The mid tone is not marked and the low tone is marked with a grave acute (à, è, ẹ̀, ì, ò, ọ̀ and ù)."...
**
Excerpt #3:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoruba_calendar
"The traditional Yoruba week has four days. The four days that are dedicated to the Orisa go as follow:
Day 1 is dedicated to Obatala (Sopanna, Iyaami, and the Egungun)
Day 2 is dedicated to Orunmila (Esu, Ifá and Osun) *
Day 3 is dedicated to Ogun (Osoosi)
Day 4 is dedicated to Sango (Oya)
To reconcile with the Gregorian calendar, Yoruba people also measure time in seven days a week and four weeks a month. The four-day calendar was dedicated to the Orisas and the seven-day calendar is for doing business.
The seven days are: Ojo-Aiku (Sunday), Ojo-Aje (Monday), Ojo-Ishegun (Tuesday), Ojo-Riru (Wednesday), Ojo-Bo/Alamisi (Thursday), Ojo-Eti (Friday) and Ojo-Abameta (Saturday).
[...]
The traditional Yoruba calendar (Kojoda) has a 4-day week and 91 weeks in a year. The Yoruba year spans from 3 June of a Gregorian calendar year to 2 June of the following year. According to the calendar developed by Remi-Niyi Alaran[who?], the Gregorian year 2015 AD is the 10,057th year of Yoruba records of time.[2] With the British colonial and European cultural invasions, came the need to reconcile with the Gregorian calendar: Yoruba people also measure time in seven days a week and 52 weeks a year."
-snip-
The asterisk is given in this Wikipedia page, but doesn't appear to lead to any information. Click the pancocojams tag "Yoruba orishas" for posts about this subject.
****
This concludes Part II of this two part series on names of the days of the week in ten traditional Nigerian languages.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
The Itch Dance Motions In Various African American Dances
Edited by Azizi Powell
This post presents information about and three* video examples of the "Itch" dance motions that has been performed in various African American non-religious dances.
*Updated on 8/22/2015 with a short video of a Nigerian dance from Ajegunle
I'm interested in finding online comments of and/or videos of other examples of "the Itch" in African American dance and in other dances throughout the world.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, historical, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are featured in these videos, and all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT THE "ITCH" DANCE MOTIONS
From https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0306805537 "Jazz Dance: The Story of American Vernacular Dance" by
Marshall Winslow Stearns, Jean Stearns [1968, page 27]
"A small but ubiquitous detail from another African dance has shown considerable power of survival. In Africa scratching is part of a dance to Legba, Guardian of the Crossroads who was identified with St. Peter by Negro folk in New Orleans because both are depicted carrying a bunch of keys. “Each went round and round in a circle” writes Melville and Francis Herskovitz of a Winti dance in Suriname, “arms crossed from time to time over his breast, the finger tugging at his clothes, as though scratching to relieve an itching sensation.”
This gesture became a standard routine known as the Itch in Negro dancing, accompanied by eccentric footwork. “Bull Frog Hop”, a song published in 1909 by Perry Bradford, describes the Itch as part of its routine, and the Butterbeans of the team Butterbeans and Susie used it in the teens to the tune of “Heebie Jeebies” as the climax of his vaudeville act. “I borrowed it from the great dancer named “Stringbeans” said Butterbeans.
The Itch is described by Elise Marcus as “a spasmodic placing of the hands all over the body in an agony of perfect rhythm.” It is the rhythm, of course, that makes the motions effective.
Other and later dancers adapted the Itch to suit their own purposes. Clarence “Dancing” Dotson who played the Keith circuit, combined elements of the Itch and the Quiver with singular effect to create what he announced as “Throwing A Fit”. James Barton’s “Mad Dog “ act also utilized the :Itch. By the late 1940s, at the Savoy Ballroom, the Itch was incorporated in the breakaway of the Lindy as part of the improvisation, and turned up again at the Palladium Ballroom in the fifties and sixties as an improvised addition to the Mambo. Indeed, the gesture has a universality that could lead to its appearance-with or without syncopated rhythms-almost anywhere."
****
From http://www.pbs.org/wnet/freetodance/about/interviews/donald4.html "Free To Dance": About The Film by Katrina Hazzard Donald
"African-American dance really early on is organized around a narrative, around the principles of the narrative. The dances were originally danced plays. When people dance in West Africa, it's organized and it has a purpose and it tells a story and it imparts principles. It imparts the norms of the society. It has a function, a high function. And that is not lost simply because we're transported a few thousand miles across the Atlantic a few hundred years into the future.
Early on, the African-American dances are danced narratives, danced plays. And of course, we see that retained right up through the 1930s and even today when African Americans organize embellishments to a dance -- for example, we'll be doing a basic dance step and then someone will throw in a hand movement or a turn, an embellishment, something to spruce up the dance, to make it more interesting, more exciting, to outdo their partner; those embellishments are drawn from the old dance narratives. Those embellishments are running commentaries on the basic dance movement itself. This is one of the principles that's used to create and organize African-American dances. We see it most clearly in the 1920s with the "Buzzard Lope," which, of course, had a caller on the side telling the story and someone patting the music and someone actually dancing out the narrative. And of course, we see some of that on the theatrical stage. When Bill T. Jones, for example, breaks into "The Itch," he is inserting that in the narrative of that dance. He is making a statement. He is pulling from the old smallpox dances of Africa in which scratching and itching was done to ward off the smallpox deity, to ward off the coming of the smallpox god.
-snip-
This excerpt was reformmatted for this post. I also added italics to highlight that particular sentence.
****
TWO EXAMPLES OF "THE ITCH" IN AFRICAN AMERICAN NON-RELIGIOUS DANCE
Example #1: Charleston -- Original Al & Leon Style!!
Trickeration Uploaded on Aug 31, 2007
Al Minns & Leon James from the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem
Filmed during the 50s-60s
-snop-
I believe that the dancers did a form of the Itch between 1:24 - 1:46 of this video.
****
Example #2: The Dlow Shuffle
Bop King Dlow, Published on Dec 5, 2013
BopKing Dlow Present's the "Dlow Shuffle!" WORLD PREMIER!!!!
-snip-
The "Dlow Shuffle" is a version of the contemporary Hip-Hop dance called "the Bop".
An example of "the Itch" movements occur at 1:52-1:53 of this video to the lyrics “Now touch on yo' body like you need a sweater”
Click http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/dlow/thedlowshuffle.html for the complete lyrics.
****
UPDATE: August 22, 2015
Ajegunle on TWF
Talk with Funmi, Uploaded on Mar 22, 2010
Selected comment from that video's discussion thread:
C Larbi, 2010
"Dat must be some serious itch. lol"
****
Thanks for visiting this post.
Visitor comments are welcome.
This post presents information about and three* video examples of the "Itch" dance motions that has been performed in various African American non-religious dances.
*Updated on 8/22/2015 with a short video of a Nigerian dance from Ajegunle
I'm interested in finding online comments of and/or videos of other examples of "the Itch" in African American dance and in other dances throughout the world.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, historical, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are featured in these videos, and all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT THE "ITCH" DANCE MOTIONS
From https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0306805537 "Jazz Dance: The Story of American Vernacular Dance" by
Marshall Winslow Stearns, Jean Stearns [1968, page 27]
"A small but ubiquitous detail from another African dance has shown considerable power of survival. In Africa scratching is part of a dance to Legba, Guardian of the Crossroads who was identified with St. Peter by Negro folk in New Orleans because both are depicted carrying a bunch of keys. “Each went round and round in a circle” writes Melville and Francis Herskovitz of a Winti dance in Suriname, “arms crossed from time to time over his breast, the finger tugging at his clothes, as though scratching to relieve an itching sensation.”
This gesture became a standard routine known as the Itch in Negro dancing, accompanied by eccentric footwork. “Bull Frog Hop”, a song published in 1909 by Perry Bradford, describes the Itch as part of its routine, and the Butterbeans of the team Butterbeans and Susie used it in the teens to the tune of “Heebie Jeebies” as the climax of his vaudeville act. “I borrowed it from the great dancer named “Stringbeans” said Butterbeans.
The Itch is described by Elise Marcus as “a spasmodic placing of the hands all over the body in an agony of perfect rhythm.” It is the rhythm, of course, that makes the motions effective.
Other and later dancers adapted the Itch to suit their own purposes. Clarence “Dancing” Dotson who played the Keith circuit, combined elements of the Itch and the Quiver with singular effect to create what he announced as “Throwing A Fit”. James Barton’s “Mad Dog “ act also utilized the :Itch. By the late 1940s, at the Savoy Ballroom, the Itch was incorporated in the breakaway of the Lindy as part of the improvisation, and turned up again at the Palladium Ballroom in the fifties and sixties as an improvised addition to the Mambo. Indeed, the gesture has a universality that could lead to its appearance-with or without syncopated rhythms-almost anywhere."
****
From http://www.pbs.org/wnet/freetodance/about/interviews/donald4.html "Free To Dance": About The Film by Katrina Hazzard Donald
"African-American dance really early on is organized around a narrative, around the principles of the narrative. The dances were originally danced plays. When people dance in West Africa, it's organized and it has a purpose and it tells a story and it imparts principles. It imparts the norms of the society. It has a function, a high function. And that is not lost simply because we're transported a few thousand miles across the Atlantic a few hundred years into the future.
Early on, the African-American dances are danced narratives, danced plays. And of course, we see that retained right up through the 1930s and even today when African Americans organize embellishments to a dance -- for example, we'll be doing a basic dance step and then someone will throw in a hand movement or a turn, an embellishment, something to spruce up the dance, to make it more interesting, more exciting, to outdo their partner; those embellishments are drawn from the old dance narratives. Those embellishments are running commentaries on the basic dance movement itself. This is one of the principles that's used to create and organize African-American dances. We see it most clearly in the 1920s with the "Buzzard Lope," which, of course, had a caller on the side telling the story and someone patting the music and someone actually dancing out the narrative. And of course, we see some of that on the theatrical stage. When Bill T. Jones, for example, breaks into "The Itch," he is inserting that in the narrative of that dance. He is making a statement. He is pulling from the old smallpox dances of Africa in which scratching and itching was done to ward off the smallpox deity, to ward off the coming of the smallpox god.
-snip-
This excerpt was reformmatted for this post. I also added italics to highlight that particular sentence.
****
TWO EXAMPLES OF "THE ITCH" IN AFRICAN AMERICAN NON-RELIGIOUS DANCE
Example #1: Charleston -- Original Al & Leon Style!!
Trickeration Uploaded on Aug 31, 2007
Al Minns & Leon James from the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem
Filmed during the 50s-60s
-snop-
I believe that the dancers did a form of the Itch between 1:24 - 1:46 of this video.
****
Example #2: The Dlow Shuffle
Bop King Dlow, Published on Dec 5, 2013
BopKing Dlow Present's the "Dlow Shuffle!" WORLD PREMIER!!!!
-snip-
The "Dlow Shuffle" is a version of the contemporary Hip-Hop dance called "the Bop".
An example of "the Itch" movements occur at 1:52-1:53 of this video to the lyrics “Now touch on yo' body like you need a sweater”
Click http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/dlow/thedlowshuffle.html for the complete lyrics.
****
UPDATE: August 22, 2015
Ajegunle on TWF
Talk with Funmi, Uploaded on Mar 22, 2010
Selected comment from that video's discussion thread:
C Larbi, 2010
"Dat must be some serious itch. lol"
****
Thanks for visiting this post.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Monday, August 4, 2014
Videos Of The Osun-Osogbo Festival (Nigeria) 2013
Edited by Azizi Powell
This post showcases two videos of the Osun-Osogbo festival that is held each year in August.
The content of this post is provided for cultural, spiritual, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Praises to Osun and all of the orisas. Thanks to all the devotees of Osun and thanks to all who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to the publisher of these videos on YouTube.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT OSUN
From http://santeriachurch.org/the-orishas/oshun/
"Oshun (also spelled Ochún, Oṣun or Oxum) is the youngest of the orishas and probably the most popular in Santeria. She was the last orisha born in the world out of Olodumare’s love for creation. She is the orisha of love, beauty, femininity and sensuality which leads many people to compare her to Venus or Aphrodite. Such a comparison is short-sighted, however, for Oshun is vast and powerful; she is actually the full breadth of womanhood. From the young, enthusiastic coquette that flirts with boys to the old matriarch that sits in a rocking chair, hard-of-hearing, reminiscing of her youth, Oshun contains every woman’s story within her patakis. She makes her residence in the rivers of the world. Hers is the power of sweetness in life, and all of the things that make life worth living.
Oshun represents all of the phases of a woman’s life and her worship was popular in Africa"...
****
From http://www.thaliatook.com/AMGG/oshun.php
"Oshun is the Yorùbá Orisha (Deity) of the sweet or fresh waters (as opposed to the salt waters of Yemaya). She is widely loved, as She is known for healing the sick and bringing fertility and prosperity, and She especially watches over the poor and brings them what they need. As Orisha of love, Oshun is represented as a beautiful, charming and coquettish young woman...
With the African diaspora, Oshun was brought to the Americas, and adopted into the pantheons that branched out of the African traditions. In the Brazilian religion of Candomblé, which retains close ties with the Yorùbá religion, as well as in Cuban Santeriá, She is called Oxum. In Haitian Vodou She is an inspiration for Erzulie or Ezili, also a Deity of water and love."...
****
INFORMATION ABOUT OSUN-OSOGBO GROVE
From http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1118 "Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove"
..."The dense forest of the Osun Sacred Grove is some of the last remnants of primary high forest in southern Nigeria. Through the forest meanders the river Osun, the spiritual abode of the river goddess Osun. Set within the forest sanctuary are forty shrines, sculptures and art works erected in honour of Osun and other Yoruba deities, many created in the past forty years, two palaces, five sacred places and nine worship points strung along the river banks with designated priests and priestesses.
The new art installed in the grove has also differentiated it from other groves: Osogbo is now unique in having a large component of 20th century sculpture created to reinforce the links between people and the Yoruba pantheon, and the way in which Yoruba towns linked their establishment and growth to the spirits of the forest.
The restoration of the grove by artists has given the grove a new importance: it has become a sacred place for the whole of Yorubaland and a symbol of identity for the wider Yoruba Diaspora.
The Grove is an active religious site where daily, weekly and monthly worship takes place. In addition, an annual processional festival to re-establish the mystic bonds between the goddess and the people of the town occurs every year over twelve days in July and August and thus sustains the living cultural traditions of the Yoruba people.
The Grove is also a natural herbal pharmacy containing over 400 species of plants, some endemic, of which more than 200 species are known for their medicinal uses."...
****
INFORMATION ABOUT OSUN-OSOGBO FESTIVAL
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osun-Osogbo
Osun-Osogbo or Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove is a sacred forest along the banks of the Oshun River just outside the city of Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria.
The Osun-Osogbo Grove is among the last of the sacred forests which usually adjoined the edges of most Yoruba cities before extensive urbanization. In recognition of its global significance and its cultural value, the Sacred Grove was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005...
Osun-Osogbo Festival
Every year, the Osun-Osgogbo festival is celebrated in the month of August at the grove. Yearly, the festival attracts thousands of Osun worshippers, spectators and tourists from all walks of life.
For the people of Osogbo Land, August is a month of celebration, traditional cleansing of the city and cultural reunion of the people with their ancestors and founders of the Osogbo Kingdom.[2]
The Osun-Osogbo Festival is a two-week long programme. It starts with the traditional cleansing of the town called 'Iwopopo', which is followed in three days by the lighting of the 500-year-old sixteen-point lamp called 'Ina Olojumerindinlogun'.
Ina Olojumerindinlogun, the sacred lamp lit at the beginning of the annual Osun-Osogbo festival
Then comes the 'Ibroriade', an assemblage of the crowns of the past ruler, Ataojas of Osogbo, for blessings. This event is led by the sitting Ataoja of Osogbo and the Arugba, Yeye Osun and a committee of priestesses.[3]
****
FEATURED VIDEOS
Video #1: Africarts...Osun-Osogbo Festival 2013 (Part A)
TVC News Published on Oct 14, 2013
The Osun-Osogbo Festival in south-west Nigeria occurs every year in the month of August.
It is a grand and colourful fest organized at the "Osun" sacred groves in Oshogbo, the Osun state capital.
It draws tens of thousands of believers of the Osun deity and tourists alike from within and outside the country.
-snip=
A central feature of this festival is that groups of people dance counterclockwise around a 16 light sacred lamp. That is shown at 12:04 in the video until the video ends.
I wonder if this Osun-Osogbo ritual could have been one of the sources of the ring shout:Caribbean.
"A shout or ring shout is an ecstatic, transcendent religious ritual, first practiced by African slaves in the West Indies and the United States, in which worshipers move in a circle while shuffling and stomping their feet and clapping their hands. Despite the name, shouting aloud is not an essential part of the ritual.
The ring shout was practiced in some African American churches into the 20th century, and it continues to the present among the Gullah people of the Sea Islands" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_shout
****
Video #2: Africarts...Osun Osogbo Festival 2013 (Part B)
TVC News Published on Oct 14, 2013
The Osun-Osogbo Festival in south-west Nigeria occurs every year in the month of August.
It is a grand and colourful fest organized at the "Osun" sacred groves in Oshogbo, the Osun state capital.
It draws tens of thousands of believers of the Osun deity and tourists alike from within and outside the country.
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitors' comments are welcome.
This post showcases two videos of the Osun-Osogbo festival that is held each year in August.
The content of this post is provided for cultural, spiritual, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Praises to Osun and all of the orisas. Thanks to all the devotees of Osun and thanks to all who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to the publisher of these videos on YouTube.
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INFORMATION ABOUT OSUN
From http://santeriachurch.org/the-orishas/oshun/
"Oshun (also spelled Ochún, Oṣun or Oxum) is the youngest of the orishas and probably the most popular in Santeria. She was the last orisha born in the world out of Olodumare’s love for creation. She is the orisha of love, beauty, femininity and sensuality which leads many people to compare her to Venus or Aphrodite. Such a comparison is short-sighted, however, for Oshun is vast and powerful; she is actually the full breadth of womanhood. From the young, enthusiastic coquette that flirts with boys to the old matriarch that sits in a rocking chair, hard-of-hearing, reminiscing of her youth, Oshun contains every woman’s story within her patakis. She makes her residence in the rivers of the world. Hers is the power of sweetness in life, and all of the things that make life worth living.
Oshun represents all of the phases of a woman’s life and her worship was popular in Africa"...
****
From http://www.thaliatook.com/AMGG/oshun.php
"Oshun is the Yorùbá Orisha (Deity) of the sweet or fresh waters (as opposed to the salt waters of Yemaya). She is widely loved, as She is known for healing the sick and bringing fertility and prosperity, and She especially watches over the poor and brings them what they need. As Orisha of love, Oshun is represented as a beautiful, charming and coquettish young woman...
With the African diaspora, Oshun was brought to the Americas, and adopted into the pantheons that branched out of the African traditions. In the Brazilian religion of Candomblé, which retains close ties with the Yorùbá religion, as well as in Cuban Santeriá, She is called Oxum. In Haitian Vodou She is an inspiration for Erzulie or Ezili, also a Deity of water and love."...
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INFORMATION ABOUT OSUN-OSOGBO GROVE
From http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1118 "Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove"
..."The dense forest of the Osun Sacred Grove is some of the last remnants of primary high forest in southern Nigeria. Through the forest meanders the river Osun, the spiritual abode of the river goddess Osun. Set within the forest sanctuary are forty shrines, sculptures and art works erected in honour of Osun and other Yoruba deities, many created in the past forty years, two palaces, five sacred places and nine worship points strung along the river banks with designated priests and priestesses.
The new art installed in the grove has also differentiated it from other groves: Osogbo is now unique in having a large component of 20th century sculpture created to reinforce the links between people and the Yoruba pantheon, and the way in which Yoruba towns linked their establishment and growth to the spirits of the forest.
The restoration of the grove by artists has given the grove a new importance: it has become a sacred place for the whole of Yorubaland and a symbol of identity for the wider Yoruba Diaspora.
The Grove is an active religious site where daily, weekly and monthly worship takes place. In addition, an annual processional festival to re-establish the mystic bonds between the goddess and the people of the town occurs every year over twelve days in July and August and thus sustains the living cultural traditions of the Yoruba people.
The Grove is also a natural herbal pharmacy containing over 400 species of plants, some endemic, of which more than 200 species are known for their medicinal uses."...
****
INFORMATION ABOUT OSUN-OSOGBO FESTIVAL
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osun-Osogbo
Osun-Osogbo or Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove is a sacred forest along the banks of the Oshun River just outside the city of Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria.
The Osun-Osogbo Grove is among the last of the sacred forests which usually adjoined the edges of most Yoruba cities before extensive urbanization. In recognition of its global significance and its cultural value, the Sacred Grove was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005...
Osun-Osogbo Festival
Every year, the Osun-Osgogbo festival is celebrated in the month of August at the grove. Yearly, the festival attracts thousands of Osun worshippers, spectators and tourists from all walks of life.
For the people of Osogbo Land, August is a month of celebration, traditional cleansing of the city and cultural reunion of the people with their ancestors and founders of the Osogbo Kingdom.[2]
The Osun-Osogbo Festival is a two-week long programme. It starts with the traditional cleansing of the town called 'Iwopopo', which is followed in three days by the lighting of the 500-year-old sixteen-point lamp called 'Ina Olojumerindinlogun'.
Ina Olojumerindinlogun, the sacred lamp lit at the beginning of the annual Osun-Osogbo festival
Then comes the 'Ibroriade', an assemblage of the crowns of the past ruler, Ataojas of Osogbo, for blessings. This event is led by the sitting Ataoja of Osogbo and the Arugba, Yeye Osun and a committee of priestesses.[3]
****
FEATURED VIDEOS
Video #1: Africarts...Osun-Osogbo Festival 2013 (Part A)
TVC News Published on Oct 14, 2013
The Osun-Osogbo Festival in south-west Nigeria occurs every year in the month of August.
It is a grand and colourful fest organized at the "Osun" sacred groves in Oshogbo, the Osun state capital.
It draws tens of thousands of believers of the Osun deity and tourists alike from within and outside the country.
-snip=
A central feature of this festival is that groups of people dance counterclockwise around a 16 light sacred lamp. That is shown at 12:04 in the video until the video ends.
I wonder if this Osun-Osogbo ritual could have been one of the sources of the ring shout:Caribbean.
"A shout or ring shout is an ecstatic, transcendent religious ritual, first practiced by African slaves in the West Indies and the United States, in which worshipers move in a circle while shuffling and stomping their feet and clapping their hands. Despite the name, shouting aloud is not an essential part of the ritual.
The ring shout was practiced in some African American churches into the 20th century, and it continues to the present among the Gullah people of the Sea Islands" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_shout
****
Video #2: Africarts...Osun Osogbo Festival 2013 (Part B)
TVC News Published on Oct 14, 2013
The Osun-Osogbo Festival in south-west Nigeria occurs every year in the month of August.
It is a grand and colourful fest organized at the "Osun" sacred groves in Oshogbo, the Osun state capital.
It draws tens of thousands of believers of the Osun deity and tourists alike from within and outside the country.
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitors' comments are welcome.
Monday, June 16, 2014
Brazilian Songs & Dances For Iansã (Yansã, Oya)
Tony Obá Ojuteran Almeida December 23, 2011
-snip-
From http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acaraj%C3%A9
"Acarajé is the most popular street food in the north eastern state of Brazil, Bahia. The recipe for acarajé was introduced to Bahia by slaves who came from Nigeria during the colonial period. In Nigeria acarajé is named Akara, and the women who sell it call out "Akara je", which means "Come and eat Akara" in Yoruba."...
-snip-
From http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acaraj%C3%A9
"Acarajé is the most popular street food in the north eastern state of Brazil, Bahia. The recipe for acarajé was introduced to Bahia by slaves who came from Nigeria during the colonial period. In Nigeria acarajé is named Akara, and the women who sell it call out "Akara je", which means "Come and eat Akara" in Yoruba."...
Latest revision -Dec 4, 2022
This pancocojams post showcases multiple YouTube videos of Brazilian songs & dances for the orixa (orisa/orisha) Iansã (Oya).
Information about Oya (Iansa/Yansa) in Candomble (Santeria) is also provided in this post.
The content of this post is provided for religious, folkloric, cultural, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Maferefun Oya. Thanks to all vocalists, musicians, and dancers who are featured in this post. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. In addition, thanks to the publishers of these YouTube sound files and videos.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT IANSA (OYA)
From
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iansan
Iansan (Iansã in Portuguese) is a spirit entity, or Orisha (Orixá), of the Afro-Brazilian religious faith Candomblé. Iansan is the Orisha of the winds, hurricanes and tempests. She lives at the gate of the graveyard, and has dominion over the realm of the Dead. Her name in English means "mother of nine (children).".
She is sincretized with Saint Barbara and particularly known with her association with the colour red and the salute "Epahei"."...
-snip-
Iansan (Iansã) = Yansa (Yanza; Yanzan)
"Epahei" is a Yoruba word that is also given as "Epparrei", "Eparrey", "Epa hei", "Epa Hey" and similar spellings. That exclamation means something like "Praises to ___"
[Information from http://www.magneticmag.com/2014/05/dimitri-vegas-like-mike-diplo-fatboy-slim-eparrei/ -comment: Ana Arcanjo, 2014
"Hey guys! Just to let you know: the lyrics [in that featured Brazilian record] are not in Português. They are actually in Yoruba, an African ancient language that is spoken in the Afro-Brazilian religion called Umbanda or Candomblé. Eparrei, babá means something like: praise Our Lord.""
****
From http://santeria.tribe.net/thread/5bd35e1a-9c5a-4ff5-aeb2-55d12afad558
Oya topic posted Tue, January 18, 2011 - 1:25 PM by Ged
"Oya, known also as Iansan (Mother of Nine) is the Santeria Queen of the Dead, Goddess of Winds and Storms and Lightning, Guardian of the Gates of the Cemetery, Deity of commercialism and markets, mother of the Ibellies (depending on the house),
Oya is a great warrior. She was the wife of Ogun, and a paramour of Shango. She was seduced by Shango, and is part of the reason of their age old feud. Oya and Shango have battled against each other many times, and so have she and Ogun, and neither was able to best her in battle. Though she could not beat them, she was able to stand toe-to-toe with them in both martial and magical prowess.
She is depicted as a woman dressed in many colors, for she is marked by 9 colors (no black), which represent her nine children. Originally a river goddess in Africa (of the Niger river), when Africans arrived in Cuba they syncretized her with the violent storms and hurricanes of the Caribbean, due to her tempestuous and fiery nature. She is syncretized with the spark that leads the lightning bolt to Earth, something that was not discovered until late in the 20th century. She is the lightning, the fiery whip that Olofi wields to strike at the Earth...
It is said that because Shango, her lover, resides in the Palm tree, lightning never strikes it. Paired with Shango, they are the lightning and thunder. She is also a great sorceress, and can spit fire because she tasted the magical concoction that Shango prepared in his magacal mortar"...
****
From http://www.mythopoetry.com/mythopoetics/scholar11_katsuko_oster_candombl%C3%A9.html
Alchemical Axé Hieros Gamos in Brazilian Candomblé Rites by Kris Katsuko Oster
..."Building and transferring axé, the energy or life force that courses through all of creation, are the central intentions of Candomblé rituals. Although axé is invisible and cannot be viewed with ordinary “seeing” or the eyes, it exists in the dancer’s movement, the drums’ rhythms, the colors of the ritual garments, and the herbs scattered on the floor of the terreiro Subtle and intangible, axé can be sensed in the natural world through intense heat or gentle, cool breezes blowing across your brow.
Orixás rule over the elements, and through trance-possession become doorways to both experiencing and observing axé in artful motion. All of nature—including flora, fauna, rocks, mountains, rivers—is sacred and alive with axé. Art and musical instruments, such as drums, sculpture and ritual garments pulsate with the sacred energy of axé.
Candomblé devotees strive to be in alignment with universal forces. The harmony of nature, culture, family and a person’s psychological and physical health depend on a cosmological balance of feminine and masculine attributes.
Candomblé initiation rites are comparable to oppositional elements found in the Jungian alchemical process of individuation. For example, the opposition between “hot” and “cool” is eloquently laid out by Paul Christopher Johnson in Secrets, Gossip and Gods: The Transformation of Brazilian Candomblé, who claims that the coolness of women and the heat of men are cosmological truths in the Candomblé worldview. Besides gender, “hot” and “cool” are descriptions given to orixás, food, animals, the elements (earth, air, fire and water) and colors:
female: earth and water: white: “coolness”: primordial mass::
male: sky and fire: red/black: “heat”: individual creation.
(Johnson 40)
While female orixás are considered “cool” and male orixás are considered “hot,” there is no finite categorical system that everything fits neatly into. For example, Iansã is considered a “hot” orixá, in spite of being female, and Oxalá, the father of the orixás, is “cool” (Johnson 40)....
Sight, sound, smell, taste and touch–every sense is engaged in the rites of Candomblé. These aesthetics permeated my soul.”…
-snip-
axé = ase, ashe From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orisha "Ashe, which is also spelled "Ase", "Axe," "Axé," "Aché," or "Ache," is the life-force that runs through all things, living and inanimate. Ashe is the power to make things happen. It is an affirmation which is used in greetings and prayers, as well as a concept about spiritual growth."...
orixas= orisa [orishas]
Iansã = Yansa
Oxalá = Obatalá
Iemanjá =Yemanjá [who is also mentioned in this article]
-snip-
Additional information about the orixa (orisa/orisha) Iansã (Oya) is found in some of the summaries and comments of the featured YouTube examples found below.
****
ADDITIONAL SHOWCASE VIDEOS
With the exception of Showcase Video #1, these examples are presented in chronological order based on their posting date on YouTube, with the oldest examples given first.
Example #2: yansã eparrei oya
josealves santana Uploaded November 27, 2009
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Example #3: Rita Ribeiro e Maria Bethânia - Iansã
RITA RIBEIRO, uploaded on May 8, 2010
****
Example #4: Acarajé de Iansã Video 6
Tony Obá Ojuteran Almeida, December 24, 2011
****
Example #5: IANSÃ - Margareth Menezes e Daniela Mercury -oya por nos
.
luiz237, Sept 14, 2012
Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbuqOYea8IM for a lengthy comment about Iansa in Portuguese including this excerpt :
"Oya a deusa do Rio Niger, e representada com um alfange e uma cauda de animal nas maos e com um chifre de bufalo na cintura. Na mitologia ioruba, Xango casou-se com tres de-suas irmas deusas de rio: Oya, Oxum, deusas do rio Osun e Oba, deusa do rio Oba… "
[Google translate from Portuguese to English:
"Oya the goddess of the River Niger, and represented with a cutlass and a tail of animal [in maos e ?] with a buffalo horn at the waist. In Yoruba mythology, Shango married three of his sisters- river goddesses: Oya, Oshun, goddess of the Osun river and Oba, Oba river goddess".....
****
Example #6: IANSA XANGO Monobloco
SENZALA DE UMBANDA, Published October 19, 2012
Comment:
Julia Ramos, 2013
Salve mamãe Iansã
Save [me/us] mother Yansa [Google translate from Portuguese to English]
-snip-
I think this means "Save me/us Mother Yansã."
****
Example #7: Salve Iansa
SENZALA DE UMBANDA, Published Oct 20, 2012
Comment:
Viviane C M Leite, 2014
"Yansã reigns over Wednesdays. She's the master of thunders and lightnings, the Queen of the storms... who encourages and promotes changes...she's the mighty warrior in every women."
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
The Orisha Shango (Chango, Xango) - Information & Video Examples
Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post presents information about the Yoruba orisas (orishas) Shango and showcases eight videos of Shango (Chango, Xangô).
The content of this post is presented for religious, historical, folkloric, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to all those featured in these videos, and thanks to the publishers of these videos.
Maferefun Sango!
-snip-
(Maferefún means “praises to the spiritual energy of” in the Yoruba language.)
****
INFORMATION ABOUT YORUBA RELIGION
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoruba_religion
"The Yorùbá religion comprises the traditional religious and spiritual concepts and practices of the Yoruba people. Its homeland is in Southwestern Nigeria and the adjoining parts of Benin and Togo, a region that has come to be known as Yorubaland. Yorùbá religion is formed of diverse traditions and has no single founder. It has influenced or given birth to thriving ways of life such as Lucumí, Umbanda and Candomblé.[1] Yoruba religious beliefs are part of itan, the total complex of songs, histories, stories and other cultural concepts which make up the Yorùbá society.[1][2][3]...
An Orisha (Orisa or Orixa) is an entity that possesses the capability of reflecting some of the manifestations of Olódùmarè. Yòrùbá Orishas (translated "owners of heads") are often described as intermediaries between man and the supernatural. The term is often translated as "deities" or "divinities".[8]...
-snip-
Additional information about orishas is found in the summary statement for the video given as Example #8 below.
****
From http://agolaroye.com/Chango.php
"Chango is one of the most talked about and most favorable orisha of Santeria. Chango also know as Shango, Sango, Alufina, Xango in Brazil, was a great warrior. He is the orisha of the thunder and thunderbolt. He is the thunderbolt that falls from the sky upon the land. When you hear the loud sound of thunder roaring through the heavens, it is Chango that is riding his white horse looking to serve justice. Chango is seen as a tall handsome man with an extreme physique. He is always dressed in satin outfits with his tiger skin wrapped around him. His crown is always firm on his head and it is always shining. His colors are red and white and in the home of a priest, he lives in a wooden batea (vessel), where his secrets and implements are kept. Chango loves to dance and he knows how to hype up a party. When he arrives, the party has just begun as he will dance and impress everyone that is there. He is also the owner of the bátá drums (the double headed drums in Santeria). When he finishes his dance, he is quick to grab the drums to show his skills.
Chango is a womanizer. He loves to flirt with all women. His dance is very seductive in which he uses to seduce his woman onlookers. Chango had many relations with females from every village. Maybe out of all the orishas he had the most with all and any woman. He had 3 wives that he loved dearly, each for their own special characteristics. Ochun, Obba and Oya."...
-snip-
Notice the close similarities between the description of Shango and the description of Thor: "In Norse mythology, Thor (from Old Norse Þórr) is a hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, the protection of mankind, and also hallowing, healing and fertility" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor
****
FEATURED EXAMPLES
(These examples are presented in chronological order with the oldest examples given first.)
Example #1: Shango Dance
Baba Abayomi• Uploaded on Jul 21, 2007
Song and Dance for Orisha Shango. Footage from the 17th annual African Street Festival.
-snip-
Here's information about this street festival from this video of that street festival which is posted by the same publisher: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiMCKuXhQHE “Orisha Dance Explanation”
aboshun, 2008
"this festival is annual in brooklyn (international african arts festival), but there are different performances every year. it doesn't seem like the egbe Obatala does this annually."
-snip-
I don't know if this festival is still held in New York City.
****
Example #2: Shango Dancing, Havana, Cuba
eguinkolade, Uploaded on Jun 6, 2009
Shango culminates presentation of Afro-Cuban dance at the Casa de Africa, Old Havana, 1992. Filmed by David H. Brown. Available as part of "Orisha Dance from Cuba". See http://www.folkcuba.com/stores/st_det.... (c) Folkcuba.com, LLC 2008. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
****
Example #3: shango
MrTharrison, Uploaded on Oct 7, 2009
music and dance for the orisha Shango, Santiago de Cuba. Original video filmed / edited by Tim Harrison, Santiago, Cuba
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Example #4: Baile Shango Lasaro Ros
Marcelo Madan, Uploaded on Dec 25, 2010
*****
Example #5: Lucumí Onì: Changó
Mikala Hoff Skovgaard, Uploaded on Jan 28, 2012
The afrocuban folkloric group Lucumí Oñi from Havana, Cuba.
Musicians: Ignacio Guerra Acosta, Julio Guerra Acosta, Florentino Coco Acosta Mendoza, Noel Guerra. Vocal: Boris Venancio Reyes Montalvo Dance: Changó: Alberto Vidiau Moreno, Ochún: Miriam Izquierdo Mikala Hoff: manager, Denmark
****
Example #6: Oya och Changó från Festival del Caribe 2012 - Santiago de Cuba
xmalikkha, Published on Aug 18, 2012
****
Example #7: Cuban Bata Drumming for Santeria Ceremony – Chango
Tiffany Nicely, Published on Oct 29, 2012
Bata drummers play for a Santeria ceremony, praising Chango, an oricha
****
Example #8: SHANGO, OGUN; GODS IN JAM SESSION – FESTOUR
Wintv Microres, Published on Feb 19, 2013
An Orisha (also spelled Orisa or Orixa) is a spirit or deity that reflects one of the manifestations of God in the Yoruba spiritual or religious system. This religion has found its way throughout the world and is now expressed in practices as varied as Candomblé, Lucumí/Santería, Shango in Trinidad (Trinidad Orisha), Anago and Oyotunji, as well as in some aspects of Umbanda, Winti, Obeah, Vodun and a host of others. These varieties or spiritual lineages as they are called are practiced throughout areas of Nigeria, the Republic of Benin, Togo, Brazil, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, the United States, Uruguay, Argentina and Venezuela among others. As interest in African indigenous religions (spiritual systems) grows, Orisha communities and lineages can be found in parts of Europe and Asia as well. While estimates may vary, some scholars believe that there could be more than 100 million adherents of this spiritual tradition worldwide
WIN, an acronym for "What Is New" is a comprehensive multimedia services package for maximum news distribution across several media channels via WIN TV,
****
Thank you for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
This pancocojams post presents information about the Yoruba orisas (orishas) Shango and showcases eight videos of Shango (Chango, Xangô).
The content of this post is presented for religious, historical, folkloric, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to all those featured in these videos, and thanks to the publishers of these videos.
Maferefun Sango!
-snip-
(Maferefún means “praises to the spiritual energy of” in the Yoruba language.)
****
INFORMATION ABOUT YORUBA RELIGION
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoruba_religion
"The Yorùbá religion comprises the traditional religious and spiritual concepts and practices of the Yoruba people. Its homeland is in Southwestern Nigeria and the adjoining parts of Benin and Togo, a region that has come to be known as Yorubaland. Yorùbá religion is formed of diverse traditions and has no single founder. It has influenced or given birth to thriving ways of life such as Lucumí, Umbanda and Candomblé.[1] Yoruba religious beliefs are part of itan, the total complex of songs, histories, stories and other cultural concepts which make up the Yorùbá society.[1][2][3]...
An Orisha (Orisa or Orixa) is an entity that possesses the capability of reflecting some of the manifestations of Olódùmarè. Yòrùbá Orishas (translated "owners of heads") are often described as intermediaries between man and the supernatural. The term is often translated as "deities" or "divinities".[8]...
-snip-
Additional information about orishas is found in the summary statement for the video given as Example #8 below.
****
From http://agolaroye.com/Chango.php
"Chango is one of the most talked about and most favorable orisha of Santeria. Chango also know as Shango, Sango, Alufina, Xango in Brazil, was a great warrior. He is the orisha of the thunder and thunderbolt. He is the thunderbolt that falls from the sky upon the land. When you hear the loud sound of thunder roaring through the heavens, it is Chango that is riding his white horse looking to serve justice. Chango is seen as a tall handsome man with an extreme physique. He is always dressed in satin outfits with his tiger skin wrapped around him. His crown is always firm on his head and it is always shining. His colors are red and white and in the home of a priest, he lives in a wooden batea (vessel), where his secrets and implements are kept. Chango loves to dance and he knows how to hype up a party. When he arrives, the party has just begun as he will dance and impress everyone that is there. He is also the owner of the bátá drums (the double headed drums in Santeria). When he finishes his dance, he is quick to grab the drums to show his skills.
Chango is a womanizer. He loves to flirt with all women. His dance is very seductive in which he uses to seduce his woman onlookers. Chango had many relations with females from every village. Maybe out of all the orishas he had the most with all and any woman. He had 3 wives that he loved dearly, each for their own special characteristics. Ochun, Obba and Oya."...
-snip-
Notice the close similarities between the description of Shango and the description of Thor: "In Norse mythology, Thor (from Old Norse Þórr) is a hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, the protection of mankind, and also hallowing, healing and fertility" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor
****
FEATURED EXAMPLES
(These examples are presented in chronological order with the oldest examples given first.)
Example #1: Shango Dance
Baba Abayomi• Uploaded on Jul 21, 2007
Song and Dance for Orisha Shango. Footage from the 17th annual African Street Festival.
-snip-
Here's information about this street festival from this video of that street festival which is posted by the same publisher: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiMCKuXhQHE “Orisha Dance Explanation”
aboshun, 2008
"this festival is annual in brooklyn (international african arts festival), but there are different performances every year. it doesn't seem like the egbe Obatala does this annually."
-snip-
I don't know if this festival is still held in New York City.
****
Example #2: Shango Dancing, Havana, Cuba
eguinkolade, Uploaded on Jun 6, 2009
Shango culminates presentation of Afro-Cuban dance at the Casa de Africa, Old Havana, 1992. Filmed by David H. Brown. Available as part of "Orisha Dance from Cuba". See http://www.folkcuba.com/stores/st_det.... (c) Folkcuba.com, LLC 2008. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
****
Example #3: shango
MrTharrison, Uploaded on Oct 7, 2009
music and dance for the orisha Shango, Santiago de Cuba. Original video filmed / edited by Tim Harrison, Santiago, Cuba
****
Example #4: Baile Shango Lasaro Ros
Marcelo Madan, Uploaded on Dec 25, 2010
*****
Example #5: Lucumí Onì: Changó
Mikala Hoff Skovgaard, Uploaded on Jan 28, 2012
The afrocuban folkloric group Lucumí Oñi from Havana, Cuba.
Musicians: Ignacio Guerra Acosta, Julio Guerra Acosta, Florentino Coco Acosta Mendoza, Noel Guerra. Vocal: Boris Venancio Reyes Montalvo Dance: Changó: Alberto Vidiau Moreno, Ochún: Miriam Izquierdo Mikala Hoff: manager, Denmark
****
Example #6: Oya och Changó från Festival del Caribe 2012 - Santiago de Cuba
xmalikkha, Published on Aug 18, 2012
****
Example #7: Cuban Bata Drumming for Santeria Ceremony – Chango
Tiffany Nicely, Published on Oct 29, 2012
Bata drummers play for a Santeria ceremony, praising Chango, an oricha
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Example #8: SHANGO, OGUN; GODS IN JAM SESSION – FESTOUR
Wintv Microres, Published on Feb 19, 2013
An Orisha (also spelled Orisa or Orixa) is a spirit or deity that reflects one of the manifestations of God in the Yoruba spiritual or religious system. This religion has found its way throughout the world and is now expressed in practices as varied as Candomblé, Lucumí/Santería, Shango in Trinidad (Trinidad Orisha), Anago and Oyotunji, as well as in some aspects of Umbanda, Winti, Obeah, Vodun and a host of others. These varieties or spiritual lineages as they are called are practiced throughout areas of Nigeria, the Republic of Benin, Togo, Brazil, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, the United States, Uruguay, Argentina and Venezuela among others. As interest in African indigenous religions (spiritual systems) grows, Orisha communities and lineages can be found in parts of Europe and Asia as well. While estimates may vary, some scholars believe that there could be more than 100 million adherents of this spiritual tradition worldwide
WIN, an acronym for "What Is New" is a comprehensive multimedia services package for maximum news distribution across several media channels via WIN TV,
****
Thank you for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Roaring Lion - African War Call (Calypso sound file & lyrics)
Edited by Azizi Powell
This post showcases the early Calypso song "African War Call" by Roaring Lion. Information about Roaring Lion & lyrics for that 1939 song are also included in this post. This post also includes information about Roaring Lion as well as brief information & comments about that song, with particular focus on the orisas [orishas] that are mentioned in that song.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, historical, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT ROARING LION
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roaring_Lion
"Roaring Lion (22 February 1908 – 11 July 1999)[2] was a calypsonian (calypso singer/composer). His 65-year career began in the early 1930s and he is best known for his compositions "Ugly Woman" (1933), "Mary Ann" and "Netty, Netty", which are still performed today. The song "If You Wanna Be Happy", which hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on 18 May 1963, as well as the R&B singles chart,[3] is based on Roaring Lion's "Ugly Woman".
From a young age, Roaring Lion (de Leon's adopted stage name) became known for his skill in creating calypsos (particularly in his ability to extemporize lyrics on any subject). Contrary to his humble origins, he cultivated a refined stage persona and always appeared sharply dressed. His career officially began in 1924; he cut his first sides in his late teens. He recorded extensively between the 1930s and 1950s, and was one of the calypsonians who deserves the most credit for the increasing international popularity of the genre during this period...
Roaring Lion achieved fame for his linguistic prowess as much as for his catchy tunes. His lyrics, delivered in rapid-fire style, show an impeccable command of the English language (as well as Trinidadian slang), and are replete with witty turns of phrase, humorous metaphors, and clever alliteration and internal rhymes. Of all the early calypsonians, he was by far the most scandalous, with the most banned songs by a large margin.
Early life
Lion was born Rafael de Leon in Aroquita, in the Caura Hills of northern Trinidad, to a mother named Basalicion de Leon and a father named Arias Cairi Llama. An illegitimate child, Lion spent some of his earliest years in two orphanages, before being taken in, following his mother's illness, by an elderly woman named Miss Charles who lived on Coffee Street in the southwestern city of San Fernando.a Finally, he was presented by Charles to a Muslim Indian family in San Fernando who wanted him; he was adopted by Najeeran Khan, who became his adoptive mother. He championed orphanages throughout his career, with songs such as 1940s "Orphan home", for example.
Although there has long been confusion about his full name, he himself gave it as Rafael Arias Cairi Llama de Leon.b He later met his biological father, who told him that his name, Cairi, was another name for Trinidad,c and that "Llama" is a sort of goat or deer from South America. In a 1990 interview, Roaring Lion stated that "from fear that I might be styled a thief, I only use Rafael Deleon."de[4]"...
****
FEATURED SOUND FILE: the lion- african war call
cvbagva, Published on Jan 2, 2011
-snip-
The YouTube sound file that was originally embedded in this post is no longer available [as of at least September 13, 2018]. Here's the summary that was published for that sound file: shango-related calypso recorded jan 1939 and one of the "war" calypsos of the time...essentially challenges to rival calypsonians by means of lyrical dexterity
****
LYRICS: AFRICAN WAR CALL
(Roaring Lion, 1938)
La da de da da de da da dum-a
Ah de de da da de de da de dum
La da da da de de da da da
Ah de de da de la da de da Aja ju oku ro
(Calling the god Ajaja, "Saint Jonaj," who lives in the sea: "Ajaja, my friend")
Yea, aku ro sho aku ro sho
(emphatically requesting Ajaaja to mount a devotee)
Chorus- Ajaja oku ro
Lion- Yea, aku ro sho
Chorus- Ajaja oku ro
Eh ku ro sho aku ro sho
Ajaja oku ro
Sababo !
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o !
(This call signals the mounting or posession of a dancer by a spirit or god. In this song, a call to several gods, there are several mountings)
All- Ajaja oku ro
Lion- Ku ro sho aku ro sho
Chorus- Ajaja oku ro
Sababo !
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!
All- Ajaja oku ro
Lion- Yea, aku ro sho aca 'bailar-oh
Chorus- Ajaja oku ro
Lion- Oku ro
Chorus- Oh-ro kuro ba' me (Oro is a god, a follower of the Ifa god of Medicine and Divination; a possible translation is that the devotee is asking the god Oro to leave but the god stops his request.)
Lion- Oku ro
Chorus- Oh-ro ku-ro ba' me
Lion- Vayase di-yeah
(good bye to the god that has possessed a devotee)
Chorus- Oh-ro ku-ro ba' me
Lion- Son abatala
(son of Abatala; e.g., the person devoted to Abatala and whom is possessed in the dance by Abatala)
Chorus- Oh-ro ku-ro ba' me
Sababo !
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!
Lion- Yea oku ro
Chorus- Oh-ro ku-ro ba' me
Lion- Emanja
(or Yemanja, Saint Anne, Oshun's sister, a river goddess)
Chorus- Oh-ro ku-ro ba me
Lion- 'Batala
Chorus- oh-ro ku-ro ba me
Lion- Ajaja
Chorus- Oh-ro ku-ro ba me
Sababa !
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!
Lion- Oh ku-ro
Chorus- oh-ro ku-ro ba me
Sababo !
Lion- Vayese di-yeah
Chorus- Oh-ro ku-ro ba me
Lion- Yea a new-war-e [?]
Chorus- Oh-ro ku-ro ba me
Lion- Son Ah-p[v]a-lo-pa
Chorus- oh-ro ku-ro ba me
Lion- Son ah-gu-ro
(The person mounted by Ahguro dancers)
Chorus- Oh-ro ko-ro ba me
Sababo !
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!
Lion- Eh! A gu ro
All- Oh-ro ku-ro ba me
(Drums)
Lion- Eh! A gu ro
Chorus- Oh-ro ku-ro ba me.
Lion's version of a Shango song that calls forth several gods who
in turn mount, or possess individual dancers.
Atila the Hun, the scholar-politician-calypsonian of this era, called the part of the song sung to the god Ajaja the "first calypso."
From insert, Calypso Calaloo, Early Carnival Music in Trinidad.
Reference to this era- Donald R. Hill, 1993, Calypso Calaloo: Early Carnival Music in Trinidad.
Posted on http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=138380"Songs from Trinidad" by Q, 16 Jun 11 - 02:16 PM
****
EDITOR'S COMMENT
In 2011 I posted three comments about Roaring Lion's African War Call on that same Mudcat thread whose link is given above. Those comments provided brief descriptions & links to more information about the Yoruba [actually Lucumi or Candomble] orisas [orishas] whose names are mentioned in that song. Here's the link to the first of those comments: http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=138380#3171672. My other comments about that song were posted at 16 Jun 11 - 09:49 PM and 16 Jun 11 - 10:01 PM. Also read Q's response to my first comment.
Among the points that I made in that first comment was that, although that song is entitled "African War Call", and the song's lyrics mentioned a number of orisa, it didn't mention Ogun, the Yoruba orisa of iron, and therefore of war. I therefore concluded that the title of that song was chosen for marketing purposes since the song didn't have anything to do with war. I rescind most of that portion of my comment as I failed to recognize that the war whoops which are heard periodically in that song might be considered to be imitative of stereotypical "African war calls". Those war whoops also sound like stereotypical American Indian war calls.
Also, in that linked comment I admitted that I was unsure about the orisa "Aja" who was mentioned in that song, and I wondered if that orisa was the same as "Ajaja", which is the title of a song performed by the Nigerian percussionist Oluntunji & his group. Click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51O2ymTtsR8 for a video of that song.
Since then I've found this information about "Ajaja":
From http://www.olorishas.com/#!erinle--olokun/c1qxd
"Erinle is a hunter orisha. He is the patron deity of Ilobu, an Ijesha town located in south western Nigeria. Ilobu lies along the Erinlè River, a tributary of the Oshun River, on the road from Ogbomosho to Oshogbo. Ilobu is known as a trade centre for the yams, corn, cassava, oil palms, pumpkins, beans, and okra grown in the region.
There are many variations on this orisha's name, he is known as Eyinle in Egbado, Erinle in Ilobu and Enlè in Okuku. In Cuba and Trinidad he is known as Inlè or Erinle 'Ajaja'.* Ajaja is an honorific title meaning 'He who eats dog' and is punned as Àjàjà 'The ferocious one' (Warner Lewis, 1994.) In Brazil, Candomblé Ketu, he is known as Inle or Òxóssi Ibualama.
"Erinle" etymologically means 'elephant (Erin) in (ni) the-earth' (ilè) or 'land-elephant' in standard Yoruba. Erinle is a hunter, healer/herbalist and animal husbander. He has close ties with many orisha, especially Yemaya, Oshun, Oshosi, Ogun, Osain, Oba and Otin.
Inle is an orisha of wealth and prosperity. He bestows abundance to his worshippers and is propitiated in times of sickness and for fertility. Erinle works with Osain, Asohano, Yemaya and Oshun in order to provide medicie for the mind and body and nourishment for the soul. Inle is both telepath and adept diviner. He learned Odu from Orunmila and Yemaya. Inle is both telepath and adept diviner. Abatan accompanies Inle, activating and administering compounds and cures to patients under their care."
*Italics added to highlight that sentence.
-snip-
I leave it to the reader to suss out whether the comment given about the lyrics to Roaring Lion's song that "(Calling the god Ajaja, "Saint Jonaj," who lives in the sea: "Ajaja, my friend")
is accurate. Or maybe that descriptor is a result of the Lucumi syncretism since Oku [Olokun] is the orisa of the oceans [Olo=owner + Okun= oceans http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olokun.
****
Thanks to Roaring Lion for his musical legacy. Thanks also to all those who I quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of that sound file on YouTube.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
This post showcases the early Calypso song "African War Call" by Roaring Lion. Information about Roaring Lion & lyrics for that 1939 song are also included in this post. This post also includes information about Roaring Lion as well as brief information & comments about that song, with particular focus on the orisas [orishas] that are mentioned in that song.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, historical, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT ROARING LION
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roaring_Lion
"Roaring Lion (22 February 1908 – 11 July 1999)[2] was a calypsonian (calypso singer/composer). His 65-year career began in the early 1930s and he is best known for his compositions "Ugly Woman" (1933), "Mary Ann" and "Netty, Netty", which are still performed today. The song "If You Wanna Be Happy", which hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on 18 May 1963, as well as the R&B singles chart,[3] is based on Roaring Lion's "Ugly Woman".
From a young age, Roaring Lion (de Leon's adopted stage name) became known for his skill in creating calypsos (particularly in his ability to extemporize lyrics on any subject). Contrary to his humble origins, he cultivated a refined stage persona and always appeared sharply dressed. His career officially began in 1924; he cut his first sides in his late teens. He recorded extensively between the 1930s and 1950s, and was one of the calypsonians who deserves the most credit for the increasing international popularity of the genre during this period...
Roaring Lion achieved fame for his linguistic prowess as much as for his catchy tunes. His lyrics, delivered in rapid-fire style, show an impeccable command of the English language (as well as Trinidadian slang), and are replete with witty turns of phrase, humorous metaphors, and clever alliteration and internal rhymes. Of all the early calypsonians, he was by far the most scandalous, with the most banned songs by a large margin.
Early life
Lion was born Rafael de Leon in Aroquita, in the Caura Hills of northern Trinidad, to a mother named Basalicion de Leon and a father named Arias Cairi Llama. An illegitimate child, Lion spent some of his earliest years in two orphanages, before being taken in, following his mother's illness, by an elderly woman named Miss Charles who lived on Coffee Street in the southwestern city of San Fernando.a Finally, he was presented by Charles to a Muslim Indian family in San Fernando who wanted him; he was adopted by Najeeran Khan, who became his adoptive mother. He championed orphanages throughout his career, with songs such as 1940s "Orphan home", for example.
Although there has long been confusion about his full name, he himself gave it as Rafael Arias Cairi Llama de Leon.b He later met his biological father, who told him that his name, Cairi, was another name for Trinidad,c and that "Llama" is a sort of goat or deer from South America. In a 1990 interview, Roaring Lion stated that "from fear that I might be styled a thief, I only use Rafael Deleon."de[4]"...
****
FEATURED SOUND FILE: the lion- african war call
cvbagva, Published on Jan 2, 2011
-snip-
The YouTube sound file that was originally embedded in this post is no longer available [as of at least September 13, 2018]. Here's the summary that was published for that sound file: shango-related calypso recorded jan 1939 and one of the "war" calypsos of the time...essentially challenges to rival calypsonians by means of lyrical dexterity
****
LYRICS: AFRICAN WAR CALL
(Roaring Lion, 1938)
La da de da da de da da dum-a
Ah de de da da de de da de dum
La da da da de de da da da
Ah de de da de la da de da Aja ju oku ro
(Calling the god Ajaja, "Saint Jonaj," who lives in the sea: "Ajaja, my friend")
Yea, aku ro sho aku ro sho
(emphatically requesting Ajaaja to mount a devotee)
Chorus- Ajaja oku ro
Lion- Yea, aku ro sho
Chorus- Ajaja oku ro
Eh ku ro sho aku ro sho
Ajaja oku ro
Sababo !
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o !
(This call signals the mounting or posession of a dancer by a spirit or god. In this song, a call to several gods, there are several mountings)
All- Ajaja oku ro
Lion- Ku ro sho aku ro sho
Chorus- Ajaja oku ro
Sababo !
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!
All- Ajaja oku ro
Lion- Yea, aku ro sho aca 'bailar-oh
Chorus- Ajaja oku ro
Lion- Oku ro
Chorus- Oh-ro kuro ba' me (Oro is a god, a follower of the Ifa god of Medicine and Divination; a possible translation is that the devotee is asking the god Oro to leave but the god stops his request.)
Lion- Oku ro
Chorus- Oh-ro ku-ro ba' me
Lion- Vayase di-yeah
(good bye to the god that has possessed a devotee)
Chorus- Oh-ro ku-ro ba' me
Lion- Son abatala
(son of Abatala; e.g., the person devoted to Abatala and whom is possessed in the dance by Abatala)
Chorus- Oh-ro ku-ro ba' me
Sababo !
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!
Lion- Yea oku ro
Chorus- Oh-ro ku-ro ba' me
Lion- Emanja
(or Yemanja, Saint Anne, Oshun's sister, a river goddess)
Chorus- Oh-ro ku-ro ba me
Lion- 'Batala
Chorus- oh-ro ku-ro ba me
Lion- Ajaja
Chorus- Oh-ro ku-ro ba me
Sababa !
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!
Lion- Oh ku-ro
Chorus- oh-ro ku-ro ba me
Sababo !
Lion- Vayese di-yeah
Chorus- Oh-ro ku-ro ba me
Lion- Yea a new-war-e [?]
Chorus- Oh-ro ku-ro ba me
Lion- Son Ah-p[v]a-lo-pa
Chorus- oh-ro ku-ro ba me
Lion- Son ah-gu-ro
(The person mounted by Ahguro dancers)
Chorus- Oh-ro ko-ro ba me
Sababo !
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!
Lion- Eh! A gu ro
All- Oh-ro ku-ro ba me
(Drums)
Lion- Eh! A gu ro
Chorus- Oh-ro ku-ro ba me.
Lion's version of a Shango song that calls forth several gods who
in turn mount, or possess individual dancers.
Atila the Hun, the scholar-politician-calypsonian of this era, called the part of the song sung to the god Ajaja the "first calypso."
From insert, Calypso Calaloo, Early Carnival Music in Trinidad.
Reference to this era- Donald R. Hill, 1993, Calypso Calaloo: Early Carnival Music in Trinidad.
Posted on http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=138380"Songs from Trinidad" by Q, 16 Jun 11 - 02:16 PM
****
EDITOR'S COMMENT
In 2011 I posted three comments about Roaring Lion's African War Call on that same Mudcat thread whose link is given above. Those comments provided brief descriptions & links to more information about the Yoruba [actually Lucumi or Candomble] orisas [orishas] whose names are mentioned in that song. Here's the link to the first of those comments: http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=138380#3171672. My other comments about that song were posted at 16 Jun 11 - 09:49 PM and 16 Jun 11 - 10:01 PM. Also read Q's response to my first comment.
Among the points that I made in that first comment was that, although that song is entitled "African War Call", and the song's lyrics mentioned a number of orisa, it didn't mention Ogun, the Yoruba orisa of iron, and therefore of war. I therefore concluded that the title of that song was chosen for marketing purposes since the song didn't have anything to do with war. I rescind most of that portion of my comment as I failed to recognize that the war whoops which are heard periodically in that song might be considered to be imitative of stereotypical "African war calls". Those war whoops also sound like stereotypical American Indian war calls.
Also, in that linked comment I admitted that I was unsure about the orisa "Aja" who was mentioned in that song, and I wondered if that orisa was the same as "Ajaja", which is the title of a song performed by the Nigerian percussionist Oluntunji & his group. Click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51O2ymTtsR8 for a video of that song.
Since then I've found this information about "Ajaja":
From http://www.olorishas.com/#!erinle--olokun/c1qxd
"Erinle is a hunter orisha. He is the patron deity of Ilobu, an Ijesha town located in south western Nigeria. Ilobu lies along the Erinlè River, a tributary of the Oshun River, on the road from Ogbomosho to Oshogbo. Ilobu is known as a trade centre for the yams, corn, cassava, oil palms, pumpkins, beans, and okra grown in the region.
There are many variations on this orisha's name, he is known as Eyinle in Egbado, Erinle in Ilobu and Enlè in Okuku. In Cuba and Trinidad he is known as Inlè or Erinle 'Ajaja'.* Ajaja is an honorific title meaning 'He who eats dog' and is punned as Àjàjà 'The ferocious one' (Warner Lewis, 1994.) In Brazil, Candomblé Ketu, he is known as Inle or Òxóssi Ibualama.
"Erinle" etymologically means 'elephant (Erin) in (ni) the-earth' (ilè) or 'land-elephant' in standard Yoruba. Erinle is a hunter, healer/herbalist and animal husbander. He has close ties with many orisha, especially Yemaya, Oshun, Oshosi, Ogun, Osain, Oba and Otin.
Inle is an orisha of wealth and prosperity. He bestows abundance to his worshippers and is propitiated in times of sickness and for fertility. Erinle works with Osain, Asohano, Yemaya and Oshun in order to provide medicie for the mind and body and nourishment for the soul. Inle is both telepath and adept diviner. He learned Odu from Orunmila and Yemaya. Inle is both telepath and adept diviner. Abatan accompanies Inle, activating and administering compounds and cures to patients under their care."
*Italics added to highlight that sentence.
-snip-
I leave it to the reader to suss out whether the comment given about the lyrics to Roaring Lion's song that "(Calling the god Ajaja, "Saint Jonaj," who lives in the sea: "Ajaja, my friend")
is accurate. Or maybe that descriptor is a result of the Lucumi syncretism since Oku [Olokun] is the orisa of the oceans [Olo=owner + Okun= oceans http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olokun.
****
Thanks to Roaring Lion for his musical legacy. Thanks also to all those who I quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of that sound file on YouTube.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
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