Roots Of Blue

Before the Dutch man came to claim Zulu land in apartheids name
Made by God
Yo, check it
Yo, Im the first man standing upright, holding a stone in my hand
After beating an ape , claiming the land
Taking the stand and feeding my fam
Back when man ate they children
Im killing other animals just to nurture them
I journey further from mine, my people, into another culture
Not knowin my brothers bout to come and take over (Ayo)
We made it all the way to Asia and to Australia
Then made the passage to the Americas after all behavior
Came home and they started makin homes outta stone
Showin tribes around em how much theyve grown
Yo, Im [?] at the end of the of start of civilization
Im shuttin it down, Im settin out to build a nation
Im the son of Ra, the son of Ka, father of Africa
King Khafre and King Khufu, blood of the Zulu
Osiris, Isis, Horus, Anbuis, the Royal family
Akhenaten, Tutankhamun and all the Ramesses
Amam and Hotep, Mentuhotep, Thutmosis
Ahmosis, Kamose, is etymology of Moses
Im the kings of Egypt, kings of Nubia, Mesopotamia
Mediterranean, Babylon, Saudi Arabia
Im Muhammad comin outta the Middle East after the Romans
Reclaiming their gold, homin their throne cause they own it
Im on the first boats to reach America
We all African, we sold you to America, we not coming back
[?]
Ayo, Im Adam, the original man banned from the garden
Im Noah, pardon the flood, after the revolution started
Im Japheth, Im Shem, and Im Ham
Im Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the motherland
Im Moses posin against the king, freein his people
Im Babylon , tryna reach God by buildin a steeple
Im the strongest man, Samson
Im the first king, Samuel
The prestigious king, Saul
Son of King David, Im Solomon
Im preachin to the choir like Elijah
Isaiah, Jeremiah and, not a king higher than King Hezekiah
Im on fire like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
Im Jonah and the whale
Daniel in the lions den
Im Job with just a little hope
Im John The Baptist, the messiahs comin
Gods son, Jesus Christ of Nazerath
Thank Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John for the narrative
And Paul for all the passages
Apostolic Episcopal before Constantine
Constant persecution, first century
Eventually, revolution
Islam, sixth century and on and on
Slavery, where are you takin me to, huh? America ?
Yo, Im Kunta Kinte fore he was enslaved by America
Picture the freedom before the terror
Who had to carry the black burners to Nat Turner
During a slave revolt, we came before Columbus dumped us
Off the slavery boat, the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman
Yeah, we probably would still be slaves if it wasnt for Fredrick Douglas
Im up in his government before all them like Booker Washington
With all his boys like W.E.B. Du Bois and Noble Drew Ali and Marcus Garvey
Takin us to Africa like Chancellor Williams, Chandler Owens and Asa Randolph
Last of all the honorable Muhammad, Elijah Muhammad
Louis Armstrong, Langston Hughes, and Thurgood Marshall
Richard Wright, Rosa Parks and Gordon Parks
Joe Lewis, Jackie Robinson and John Henrik Clarke
Alex Haley, James Baldwin
Malcom X, Martin Luther King Jr, Clarence 13X
Maya Angelou, Ray Charles, Minister Farrakhan
Ivan Sertima, John Cochran, Stokely Carmichael
Emmett Till, Eldridge Cleaver, Bobby Seale
Huey Newton, Muhammad Ali and even Gil Scott-Heron
Al Sharpton, Fred Hampton, Oprah Winfrey
Barack Obama, Assata Shakur, 2Pac Shakur, Biggie
And everyone else creating black history
That lives with me everyday, until Im gone
They took dark skin and they made a purse for a pale skin whore
Yo
Im Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie
Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy
Sun Ra Orchestra, Charles Mingus, Ahmad Jamal
Milt Jack, Wes Mont, Herbie Hand-Cannonball
Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters, Screamin Jay, Howlin Wolf
Chuck Berry, Jimi Hendrix, B.B King, Sam Cooke
Billie Holiday, Ella Fitz, Nina Simone
Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Diana Ross
Chaka Khan, Tina Turner and Roberta Flack
Al Green, Marvin Gaye, James Brown, Michael Jack
Prince, Sly Stone, Curtis May
Roy Ayers, Temptations, 5th Dimension, OJays, Ohio Players
Earth, Wind and Fire, Funkadelic
Parliament, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles
Otis Redding and all the shit from the nineties
Eighties, seventies and sixties
The fifties, forties, thirties and all the twenties
All the armies, the Black Panther party, the nation
NAACP organizations
All the black NBA, NFL and MLB players
And we cant forget Shaka Zulu (Woo)
We see you brother, Mandela