What Burna Boy's Song "Ye" Is REALLY About (comments from the YouTube official video's discussion thread)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part II of a three part pancocojams series about the 2018 Burna Boy song "Ye".

Part II presents selected comments about the meaning of Burna Boy's song "Ye" from the discussion thread for the official YouTube video of that song. (The official video for that song is embedded in Part I of this series.)

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/01/nigerian-afrobeat-singer-burna-boy-ye.html for Part I of this pancocojams series. Part I presents information about Nigerian Afrobeat singer, songwriter Burna Boy and showcases a YouTube video of his hit 2018 song "Ye".

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-traditional-use-of-exclamation-ye.html for Part III of this pancocojams series. Part III presents comments about the traditional exclamation "ye" and similar exclamations that are found in West Africa, elsewhere in Africa, and in the Caribbean. These selected comments are from a sub-thread of the discussion thread for the official YouTube video of Burna Boy's song "Ye".

The Addendum to this post presents information about the word "ye" from http://naijalingo.com.

The content of this post is presented for cultural and linguistic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Burna Boy for his musical legacy. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to Burna Boy for publishing this video on YouTube.
-snip-
A pancocojams post about other contemporary meanings of the Nigerian word "Ye" will be published ASAP. I also plan to publish a pancocojams post that presents comments about Nigerian Pidgin English and Jamaican Patois. Those posts will have the tag "Burna Boy song Ye" and/or the tag/s "Nigerian Pidgin English" in addition to other tags.

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
Burna Boy's 2018 hit song "Ye" is sung in Nigerian Pidgin English, Yoruba, and African American Vernacular English in addition to standard American English. Two examples of African American Vernacular English in that song are the lyrics "My "n word"* what's it gon' be?" and the lyrics "I still want turn up" (which I believe loosely translated means "I still want to enjoy life". One widely used form of the African American originated slang phrase "turn up" is "turnt up".

Read the selected comments below for explanations about the meaning of this song.

These comments are presented in relative chronological order. If you disagree with any or all of these opinions, please share what you think Burna Boy's song "Ye" means in the comment section below.
-snip-
*A form of what is widely known as "the n word" is fully spelled out in the lyrics to that song.

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SELECTED COMMENTS ABOUT WHAT BURNA BOY'S SONG "YE" MEANS
(from the discussion thread of that song's official YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPe09eE6Xio)

I've added numbers to these comments for referencing purposes only.

1. IAmATanker TheTankerIsMe, 2018
For all those that are not familiar “Ye” is an exclamation Nigerians do when they are surprised, excited, shocked or scared. Normally with this action as demonstrated in the emoji 🙆🏾‍♀‍"

**
2. kayla george, 2019
"What is he saying?"

**
REPLY
3. IAmATanker TheTankerIsMe, 2019
"kayla george he’s basically talking about how crazy his life is now, how he can afford all these things, how his people grind hard to get money and how he’s just living lavish and doing his thing because people will talk no matter what so there’s no point stressing (“I can’t come and kill myself”). So in that context “Ye” is a reaction to all these exciting changes and events that are happening in his life."

**
4. Mona Majestic, 2019
"This song is about the black people’s struggle..."

**
REPLY
5. Hobby Bear, 2019
"Bless you queen. U just summarized it in a very simple way 👊🏾🙌🏽😍"

**
REPLY
6. Ken Mckay, 2019
..."Nigerians have adapted to suffering and smiling, we are getting screwed over by the government but no one wants to revolt because no one is ready to die."

**
REPLY
7. Tim Akhile, 2019
"@ken so on point"

**
REPLY
8. OurTruth, 2019
"Oh wow I didn’t know,What language is he speaking?"

**
REPLY
9. Lumani LuLu, 2019
"OurTruth Nigerian Pidgin talking about the hate Africans get in this world yet we still strive and remain the best even when they try and kill us it never works we thrive. We enjoy, live life, get money the best way we can and live. Basically our enemies never win is the message"

**
REPLY
10. Hope Oguidi, 2019
"@OurTruth he is speaking yoruba, a Nigerian dialect"

**
REPLY
11. fade1283, 2019
"@Hope Oguidi yoruba is a language, not a dialect"

**
12. A S, 2019
"No idea what he's saying but this 🇯🇲🇯🇲🇯🇲 thinks this song is 🔥🔥🔥🔥."
-snip-
"JM" = Jamaica; Jamaican

**
REPLY
13. Happy Ness, 2019
"He is talking about societal oppression, corruption in Government and bad leaderships. People struggling to do all kind of things to make money just to survive, to buy basic necessities like buy car, build house, and yet these same oppressed people are not bold or ready to stand up to their oppressors for fear of losing their lives because they would rather only talk about it, go to clubs to turn up and enjoy life, so they think ("suffering and smiling")."

**
REPLY
14. Bernedette Kuteyi, 2019
"A S. the back ground song is say Oh baby your bodi is so fine. Also he is saying talking about life in Nigeria when you make money, how people want you to be. That’s why he can’t kill himself"

**
15. Angel Highlight, 2019
"For all the Americans here and non Nigerians
What he is saying is that he will enjoy life drive all the cars and buy mansions
He will enjoy his life before he die that he just got one life to live and he shouldn’t worry about what people are saying because people must talk and talk is cheap"

**
REPLY
16. Bidemi Akinade, 2019
2 months ago
THAT IS NOT WHAT HE IS SAYING!!!!!

**
REPLY
17. George Lin, 2019
"He's saying that he's gonna live it up and shine even if it doesn't fit what society expects because of his race."

**
REPLY
18. Chimezie Hh, 2019
"It’s funny because you are just lying to people and they are buying it.. this song is about the difficulties we face in Nigeria, we prioritize individual accolades and no one wants to die or be revolutionary regarding the government, we just want to ball, get money flex and go back to our bad roads poverty etc. no one wants to die to make our lives better. It’s better you don’t say what you don’t know!"

****
This concludes Part II of this pancocojams series.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comment are welcome.

Nigerian Afrobeat Singer Burna Boy - "Ye" (information, official YouTube video & lyrics)

Edited by Azizi Powell

Revised January 11, 2020

This is Part I of a three part pancocojams series about the 2018 Burna Boy song "Ye".

Part I presents information about Nigerian Afrobeat singer, songwriter Burna Boy and showcases a YouTube video of his hit 2018 song "Ye".

The lyrics for Burna Boy's record "Ye" are also included in this post, with information about some of the Yoruba words, and/or Nigerian Pidgin English words, and some other references in those lyrics.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/01/what-burna-boys-song-ye-is-really-about.html for Part II of this series. Part II presents selected comments about the meaning of Burna Boy's song "Ye" from the discussion thread for the official YouTube video of that song.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-traditional-use-of-exclamation-ye.html for Part III of this pancocojams series. Part III presents comments about the traditional exclamation "ye" and similar exclamations that are found in West Africa, elsewhere in Africa, and in the Caribbean. These selected comments are from a sub-thread of the discussion thread for the official YouTube video of Burna Boy's song "Ye".

The Addendum to this post presents information about the word "ye" from http://naijalingo.com.

The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Burna Boy for his musical legacy. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to Burna Boy for publishing this video on YouTube.
-snip-
A pancocojams post about other contemporary meanings of the Nigerian word "Ye" will be published ASAP. I also plan to publish a pancocojams post that presents comments about Nigerian Pidgin English and Jamaican Patois. Those posts will have the tag "Burna Boy song Ye" and/or the tag/s "Nigerian Pidgin English" in addition to other tags.

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INFORMATION ABOUT BURNA BOY
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burna_Boy
"Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu (born 2 July 1991), known professionally as Burna Boy, is a Nigerian singer and songwriter.[1][2] He rose to prominence in 2012 after releasing "Like to Party", the lead single from his debut studio album L.I.F.E (2013). In 2017, Burna Boy signed with Bad Habit/Atlantic Records in the United States and Warner Music Group internationally. His third studio album Outside (2018) marked his major-label debut.[3] In 2019, he won Best International Act at the 2019 BET Awards.[4] He was also announced as Apple Music's Up Next artist. His fourth studio album African Giant was released in July 2019.

[...]

In January 2018, Burna Boy was featured on "Sunshine Riptide", a track from Fall Out Boy's seventh studio album MANIA (2018).[17] He released his third studio album Outside on January 26, 2018. Described as a mixtape, Outside consists mostly of Afrobeats, dancehall, reggae and road rap....Outside was supported by six singles: "Rock Your Body", "Streets of Africa", "Koni Baje", "Sekkle Down", "Heaven's Gate" and "Ye".... The album received critical acclaim and was ranked by Pulse Nigeria and Nigerian Entertainment Today as the best Nigerian album of 2018.[18][19] It won Album of the Year at the 2018 Nigeria Entertainment Awards.[20] In February 2018, Outside debuted at number 3 on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart.[21] The album's biggest single "Ye" ended up atop most Nigerian publications year-end list as the biggest song of 2018.[22][23]

[...]

Artistry
Burna Boy describes his music as Afro-fusion, a genre that blends Afrobeat, dancehall riddims, reggae, American rap and R&B.[32][6] August Brown of The Los Angeles Times said Burna Boy's sound is "savvy and modern but undistracted by obvious crossover moves".[38]"...

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SHOWCASE VIDEO: Burna Boy - Ye (Official Video)



Burna Boy, Aug 6, 2018

The official video for Burna Boy's "Ye" from the album 'Outside'.
-snip-
Statistics as of January 11, 2020 at 2:56 PM
total # of views - 57,780,785
total # of likes- 369,000
total # of dislikes- 11,000
total # of comments -13,077

****
PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S COMMENT
Because pancocojams is a family friendly blog, when I showcase songs that include what I refer to as "the n word". For that reason, I've modified the spelling of the introduction to Burna Boy's song "Ye".

**
I plan to publish a pancocojams post on the meaning of the word Ye in Burna Boy's song of that name, but here's an excerpt of that post that helps explain the lyrics of that song (with numbers added for referencing purposes only)
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPe09eE6Xio [discussion thread for the official YouTube video of Burna Boy's - Ye.]

IAmATanker TheTankerIsMe, 2018
1. "For all those that are not familiar “Ye” is an exclamation Nigerians do when they are surprised, excited, shocked or scared. Normally with this action as demonstrated in the emoji 🙆🏾‍♀‍"

**
REPLY
2. Miss Krystal63, 2018
"IAmATanker TheTankerIsMe thanks for the information because I really didn’t, now if I could hear it being use on a sentence would be great"

**
REPLY
3. May Show, 2018
"@Miss Krystal63 Ye! They have increased my rent."

****
LYRICS - YE
(composer - Burna Boy)

Girl in the background: My baby your body's on fire
Oluwa(God)Burna- oluwa(God is a prefix for many nigerian names(yoruba nigerians)
Ye Ye( a way nigerians or africans express pain(like ouch)
This one na gbedu wey dey ja pata(This is a song that makes people go crazy)
Me, I no get time, I dey da pada(me, i don't have time, i return what you give me( like you get what you give)
Dada cover my face, calling me Lagbaja( I have natural dreadlocks covering my face and they call lagbaja( a mystery nigerian artiste who covers his face(no one knows him but everyone knows his song, like banksy but in music)
Biggie man, wey no dey wear agbada( A rich person who is not wearing agbada( a nigerian traditional attire people wear to show wealth)


My ni&&a, what's it gon' be?
G-Wagon or the Bentley?
The girl dem riding with me
I no fit, die for nothing
( i can't die for nothing)
My ni&&a, what's it gon' be?
G-Wagon or the Bentley?
The girl dem riding with me


Ah, make you know say
Anything wey you do, dem must commentate
( you know it's everything you do that they have their opinion about)
(I can't come and kill myself)(his way of saying, they always have their comments and opinions on my life and i can't kill myself for those people )(side note: Nigerians use this expression to show that they cannot be bothered or stressed by an issue)
So anything wey I dey do
(so anything i do)
I dey try to dey do am my way
(i'll try to do it my way)
(I can't come and kill myself)
Plenty plenty plenty suffer wey we face
(We face a lot of suffering)
Just to make sure money dey
( all for the sake of money)


But my people dem go say
(but my people always say)
I no want kpai, I no want die( i don't want to end it, i don't want to die)
I no want kpeme, I want enjoy
( i'll live life, i want to enjoy)
I want chop life, I want buy motor
( i just want to enjoy life, i want to buy cars)
I want build house, I still want turn up
( i want to build houses, i still want to turn up)
Tell me, tell me

My ni&&a, what's it gon' be?
G-Wagon or the Bentley?
The girl dem riding with me
I no fit, die for nothing
( i can't die for nothing)
My ni&&a, what's it gon' be?
G-Wagon or the Bentley?
The girl dem riding with me


Different tings dem happening
(different things are happening)
Schemes and packaging
Inna one night, fourshows I'm juggling
(in one night, i have four shows, i'm juggling)
Flow like the ocean, my boat I'm paddling
Shout out Shina Peller
That's my bro; my family
Frozen chains, when it comes to money
I dey concentrate
( when it comes to money, that's when i concentrate)
Make I tell you straight, you are not my mate
( in case you don't know, i'm not on your level)
If you be commissioner, I be head of state( if you were a commissioner, i'll be the head of state.)


But my people dem go say
(but my people always say)
I no want kpai, I no want die( i don't want to end it, i don't want to die)
I no want kpeme, I want enjoy
( i'll live life, i want to enjoy)
I want chop life, I want buy motor
( i just want to enjoy life, i want to buy cars)
I want build house, I still want turn up
( i want to build houses, i still want to turn up)
Tell me, tell me

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iNEIVj3oSc [discussion thread comment posted by George Holmark, 2019.
-snip-
An earlier version of this pancocojams post featured the lyrics from https://genius.com/Burna-boy-ye-lyrics. That website's lyrics includes the intro:

Yeah
My ni&&a... die for nothing, ah
My ni&&a... die for nothing, ah
Die for nothing, ah
My ni&&a... die for nothing, ah
My ni&&a... die for nothing, ah
My ni&&a...

-snip-
That genius.com lyric site also features the "ye" refrain before verse #1:
Oluwaburna, ehn-ehn, Ye Ye Ye
Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye
Ye, ehn-ehn, Ye Ye Ye
Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye
Ye Ye, Ye Ye
Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye
Ye, ehn-ehn, Ye Ye Ye
Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye
-snip-
It also features the ending refrain:

Oluwaburna
Ye Ye, Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye
Ye, ehn-ehn, Ye Ye Ye
Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye
Ye Ye, Ye Ye
Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye
Ye, ehn-ehn, Ye Ye Ye
Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye
Ye, ehn-ehn, Ye Ye Ye
Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye
Ye Ye, Ye Ye
Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye
Ye, ehn-ehn, Ye Ye Ye
Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye Ye
-snip-
Here's some information about this song from that website:
"Written By Burna Boy
Release Date: January 26, 2018
Interpolates: Sorrow Tears and Blood by Fela Kuti
Interpolated By: SHINESHINEBOBO by Eazy Bob Wizzy
Cover By: Ye (BBC 1Xtra Cover) by Koffee
Remixed "My Yé Is Different" by OSH"
-snip-
I switched to the lyric version that is given above because it included English explanations about the words to that song.

****
EXPLANATIONS ABOUT SOME OF THE LYRICS TO BURNA BOY'S SONG "YE"
Part 1
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPe09eE6Xio commenter udezeh henry, 2019 gave these explanations for some of the lyrics in that song:

[...]

"This one na gbedu wey dey ja pata( This is a jam that can tear your pants)
Me, I no get time, I dey da pada( Me, I don't have time, i return them back)
Dada cover my face, calling me Lagbaja( Dreads covering my face like I'm Lagbaja- Lagbaja is another Nigerian musician).
Biggie man, wey no dey wear agbada( A rich man that doesn't wear agbada - Agbada is a native wear that has a flowing top that is very long that reaches your toes.)....
Ahn ahn (tell me, tell me)

[...]

I no fit, die for nothing( I can't die for nothing)

[...]

Anything wey you do, dem must commentate( Anything you do people must talk about it)

[...]

Anything wey you do, dem must commentate( Anything you do people must talk about it)

[...]

I dey try to dey do am my way( So anything i do , i try to do it my way)

[...]

plenty plenty plenty suffer wey we face( A lot of suffering we faced)

Just to make sure money dey( to ensure that there's money)

But my people dem go say( But my people will say)"...
-snip-
In his transcription of this song, udezeh henry used the word "Yeah" for "Ye". Although the Yoruba (Nigeria) word "ye" is pronounced the same way that the English word "yeah" is pronounced, "ye" does not mean "yes".

****
Part 2
Other explanations of words in that song
(given in the order that they appear in that song, with numbers added for referencing purposes only.)

Additions and corrections are welcome.

1. Oluwa - Yoruba name for "God"
From https://www.legit.ng/1180093-yoruba-names-starting-oluwa-meaning.html
" “Oluwa” is the Yoruba word for God. And there are many Yoruba names with the prefix “Oluwa....

Yoruba names usually have unique meanings. According to the Yoruba culture, the name given to a child will affect his/her destiny. That is why Yoruba people especially the Christians give their children names with God in it. The “Oluwa” could be at the beginning of the name or the end.
-snip-
That article provides a list of Yoruba names that either begin or end with "Oluwa". For example, "Oluwabunmi" is a unisex name meaning God gifted me.".

My guess is that Burna Boy used that traditional formula to give himself the name "Oluwaburna", but that isn't an actual name that is given by Nigerians to males or to females.

**
2. ehn-ehn
http://naijalingo.com/words/yeee indicates that "ehn-ehn" is synonym for Yeee. That website gives the meaning for "yeee" as "Exclamation, usually negative: Example: Yeee, my leg dey pain me oh.
-snip-
"oh" [also given as "o"] at the end of a sentence adds intensity to what was said.

**
3. gyaldem- girls them

**
4. kpai
from Google translate Yoruba to English - the first

**
5. kpeme
from Google translate Yoruba to English - watch

**
6. chop
From http://naijalingo.com/words/c/alphabet
chop- eat
-snip-
"chop life" = enjoy life
-snip-
In addition, here's some information about the following references in this video (numbers added for referencing purposes only)
1. Lagbaja
From https://www.allmusic.com/artist/lagbaja-mn0000125482/biography
"b. Bisade Ologunde, Lagos, Nigeria. Now based in Manhattan, New York, USA, Nigerian singer Ologunde adopted the name Lagbaja (meaning ‘anonymous’ or ‘faceless one’ in Yoruba) as he embarked on his career in the early 90s. His name was reflected in his choice of stage attire - a slitted textile and rubber mask adopted so that the artist represented the ‘common man’ in keeping with the carnival tradition of his Yoruba tribe. He formed his first small band in 1991 in Lagos after he had taught himself to play the saxophone. With a high quotient of percussion instruments including congas and talking drums, this group drew its principal inspiration from the traditional highlife music of the 60s, as well as western jazz....

Their debut album was released in 1992. Colours - The Colour Of Rhythm... further cassette followed in 1994, a self-titled collection which included songs such as ‘Naija Must Sweet Again’, which many took to be an attack on Nigeria’s military rulers. This theme was continued on sessions for Lagbaja’s 1996 album. Songs such as ‘Bad Leadership’ concerned what Ologunde views as the biggest problem afflicting contemporary Africa."...

**
2. G-wagon
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_G-Class
"The Mercedes-Benz G-Class, sometimes called G-Wagen (short for Geländewagen, "cross country vehicle"), is a mid-size four-wheel drive luxury SUV manufactured by Magna Steyr (formerly Steyr-Daimler-Puch) in Austria and sold by Mercedes-Benz."...

**
3. Bentley
from https://www.truecar.com/prices-new/bentley/
"Bentley cars are handcrafted in Crewe, England, and are known to be ultra-luxury vehicles."...

**
4. Fela Kuti [Note: According to Genius.com lyric site quoted above, Burna Boy's song "Ye" interpolates Fela Kuti's song "Sorrow Tears and Blood". In addition, an image of Fela Kuti is found in that song's official video]
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fela_Kuti
"Fela Anikulapo Kuti (15 October 1938 – 2 August 1997), also professionally known as Fela Kuti, or simply Fela, was a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist, musician, composer, pioneer of the Afrobeat music genre and human rights activist. At the height of his popularity, he was referred to as one of Africa's most "challenging and charismatic music performers".[1]"

**
5. Shina Peller
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shina_Peller
"Shina Abiola Peller (born 14 May 1976) is a Nigerian entrepreneur, politician, Industrialist, Hon. Member of the Nigeria ninth national assembly. He is the chairman and chief executive officer of Aquila Group of Companies and Club Quilox.[1]...

Political career
Peller is a member of the All Progressive Congress,[4] and declared his intention to contest under the platform of the All progressive congress as a member of the Federal House of Representative representing the Iseyin/Itesiwaju/Iwajowa/Kajola Federal Constituency in Oyo State.[5][6][7]

On 5 October 2018, Shina Peller won the primary election for House of Representatives candidate for lseyin/ltesiwaju/ Kajola/lwajowa federal constituency on the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC) for the 2019 general election and won the seat. He won the seat for House of Representatives in his constituency on 23 February 2019.[8][9]."...

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This concludes Part I of this pancocojams series.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.