This morning, I am obsessively grooving (can one obsessively groove?) to hot Naija musician M.I.'s Talk About It album. On the (next to) last track "Thank yous and ova ish," he gives a shout out to his Jos based "evangelist" parents with a sheepish admission that "yeah, I know I'm not doing gospel music, but, um, I'm still, this is my gospel. Let me preach it."
Prelude:
(Girl’s voice)
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He maketh me lie down in green pastures.
He leadeth me beside still waters.
He restoreth my soul.
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for thou art with me.
Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
Thou annointest my head with oil.
My cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
(M.I.)
Verse 1
Yeah, I fill my life’s pages, with the goodness of the Rock of Ages
The drama in my life is stages ,to fight the blazes
Going through life with seeing through many different phases
One way to run but with different paces, will track you different races
I bet on God because he knows all the aces
I give him everything in him my places
Because I ain't trying to waste this
Serving Jesus till my soul he raises
So call self, for in clay, we all vases
Different ranges, but I will argue as his vase he makes us
So he won’t let me face this, unless he knows that I can take this
The world remains, how my situation changes
Though the wrath of rages, he stands courageous
Because I know my basis
I read my Bible and I say my graces
I spend my time with him instead of reading Hadley-Chases.
And I’d forgotten that this is the basis, to going places
So when the wells dry up, Jesus is the oasis
Chorus:
Oh Jehovah, (yeah)
Still watching over (yes he is/yes he does)
X2
Verse 2
Let me tell you what I do in crisis,
Whenever trouble rises.
I know that Christ suffices, and I receive his sacrifices
When the water rises and living tries us
The economy is shifting prices and when the world is cold and lifeless
It’s then I open up my eyes and realize this
That no weapon comes against us as long as he’s beside us
You see I read that he is promises that he’ll provide us
Whatever we need as long as he live inside us
So when the light of life is burning dim, he’ll reignite us
And when we lack the strength to fight the world, he’ll send us fighters
Angels to lead and guide us, until he’ll reunite us
Under his arms he’ll hide us, and he’ll provide us
So I don’t even know who you are or what you’re going through
But you see I know my Jehovah can be there for you
And I believe it’s true, the Bible says it too
I ain’t a preacher, just a sinner. He too beautiful
Chorus:
Oh Jehovah (watching over you and I)
Still watching over (watching over you and I)
X4
Chorus of voices: Jehovah Jehovah Jehovah
X8
(I fear no evil, thou art my rock of salvation, yes you are, yes you are, God on Jesus, God on Jesus)
Verse 3
I ain’t a minister, though I administer the truth
But one thing remains, while my sin is to youth
That is defendin’ the truth, when I speakin’ the proof
It’s a messenger here, bringing lessons of his
And the messenger is—not important at all
But I wholly fall at his feet and declare
You are marvelous, gracious, wonderful, beautiful, bountiful, merciful
You are everything
Chorus:
(simultaneous. Woven Together)
That’s who you are X3
Jehovah, Jehovah, Jehovah X24
(Yes, you are, yes, you are. God on Jesus. You are my salvation. God on Jesus. God on Jesus. Yeah. Strong Tower. The name of the Lord. HE’s a strong tower. The righteous call on him. Yes he is.)
Oh Jehovah, Still watching over X4
7 comments:
Hello Talatu.hope fine,just checking up on u
M.I album is fantastic, I came across it late last year.
I like the easy way in which his lyrics flow, the lack of pretence and the realistic delivery of each word, just draws you and makes you wonder about this artist.
I found myself researching about him, interested in where he came from and his views (important things when listening to an artist)
All in all his a good artist, I'm still however confused about he blaze song, is that pro cannabis smoking or some other type of smoking, would like to know your views on that.
@Jinni, Hey, I'm doing great. Sorry I don't spend as much time on this blog as I used to! Have moved most of my effort over to a more "professional" blog, but I still post more personal things on this one.
@Asenka rose, I know. He's great isn't he?! I actually had a long discussion about "Blaze" on Facebook the other day. I LOVE the song. I think he is actually using cannabis or other drugs as a provocativ metaphor for his music--contrasting the "destructive" nature of drugs with the "healthy" drug of his rhymes: Take for example these lines:
MI:
"Yo,my music like marajuana, you wanna get high, brother you die smoking that 'juana, but my flow is nutricious like a banana...";
"my ish get you hooked like nicotine, at the same time my rhymes build like protein, so if you wanna fly, let me get you high off a "I" you can touch the sky"
Jesse Jagz: "Music take me high like a space ship from NASA, King of Babylon, I'm a lion, I'm Mufasa."
"Boys pass the raps around the room.... You know me now, I only smoke the mic cables..."
Female Vocalist (?):
"I thank the Lord, he legalized this herb, that we push it in the streets, baggin 'em like sweets... that good ish, the narcotics in the beat, we move it in kilos from the west to the east, the north from the south, that home grown pumping out of every mouth "; "this is music, hiphop, just the way I like it served" etc
I think the point is that his music is addictive, mind-blowing, etc, as well as healthy for society, as opposed to other kinds of drugs. Not too humble. But humility is not a characteristic usually associated with rappers! :-P ;-)
Re-listen to the track with that in mind and see what you think.
Hello MI fans.....Am an upcoming artist,i love MI & evrytin abt him,his swg,his flows...name it.he's de person am looking upto in dis entertainment industry,i.e,he's my mentor....I love you man,carry on!!!
Wonderful beats,gracious lyrics and a sympathetic rap that keeps his fans ALWAYS amazed! M.I,that great music artiste that has an expertise in entwining words. Haha,i'm so perplexed,thats a wonderful song...kudos!
Jst did a google search on his lyrics the I found ur blog .... Even though this song is on his 1st album... I love d song like mad...I keep n playing dis song....heheheh in such away that my frds keep asking why I love the song... It makes me rememba that without GOD's mercy we are DOOMED... MI the only intelligent rap till date... Facebook www.facebook.com/innocent2swag
Great Job deciphering all that .
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