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.
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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.
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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.
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Jidenna - Chief Don't Run
Jidenna, Aug 18, 2016
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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
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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]"...
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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."
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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."...
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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)."...
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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.
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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
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*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.
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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"...
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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"...
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This concludes Part I of this two part pancocojams series.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
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