Nas & Damian Marley - Africa Must Wake Up Lyrics

(feat. K'naan)

[Intro: Jr. Gong]
Morning to you man
Morning to you love
Hey, I say I say

[Chorus: x2]
Africa must wake up
The sleeping sons of Jacob
For what tomorrow may bring
May a better day come
Yesterday we were Kings
Can you tell me young ones
Who are we today

[Verse 1: Nas]
The black oasis
Ancient Africa the sacred
Awaken the sleeping giant
Science, Art is your creation
I dreamt that we could visit Old Kemet
Your history is too complex and rigid
For some western critics
They want the whole subject diminished
But Africa's the origin of all the world's religions
We praised bridges that carried us over
The battle fronts of Sudanic soldiers
The task put before us

[Chorus x2]

[Verse 2: Nas]
Who are we today?
The slums, deceases, AIDS
We need all that to fade
We cannot be afraid
So who are we today?
We are the morning after
The make shift youth
The slave ship captured
Our Diaspora, is the final chapter
The ancetral lineage built pyramids
Americas first immigrant
The Kings sons and daughters from Nile waters
The first architect, the first philosophers, astronomers
The first prophets and the doctors was us

[Bridge: Jr.Gong]
Now can we all pray
Each in his own way
Teaching and Learning
And we can work it out
We'll have a warm bed
We'll have some warm bread
And shelter from the storm dread
And we can work it out
Mother Nature feeds all
In famine and drought
Tell those selfish in ways
Not to share us out
What's a tree without root
Lion without tooth
A lie without truth
You hear me out

[Chorus:]
Africa must wake up
The sleeping sons of Jacob
For what tomorrow may bring
May a better day come
Yesterday we were Kings
Can you tell me young ones
Who are we today
Ye lord
Africa must wake up
The sleeping sons of Jacob
For what tomorrow may bring
May some more love come
Yesterday we were Kings
I'll tell you young blood
This world is yours today

[K'naan: somali]
Dadyahow daali waayey, nabada diideen
Oo ninkii doortay dinta, waadinka dillee
Oo dal markii ladhiso, waadinka dunshee
Oo daacad ninkii damcay, waadinka dooxee
Dadyahow daali waayey, nabada diideen
Oo ninkii doortay dinta, waadinka dillee
Oo dal markii ladhiso, waadinka dunshee
Oo daacad ninkii damcay, waadinka dooxee
[translation:]
Oh ye people restless in the refusal of peace
And when a man chooses religion, aren't you the one's to kill him?
And when a country is built, aren't you the one's to tear it down?
And when one attempts to tell the truth, aren't you the one's to cut him down?
Who are we today?
Morning to you
Morning to you man
Morning to you love

[Outro: Nas]
We wanna thank ya'll everybody out dere
This is Nas, Daimian Marley
Distant relatives
Were all distant relatives
No matter where you from where you live
How near, how far
Africa, China, Japan, Aghanistan, Israel
Were all fam
Were all distant relatives
So that's why we came togheter
One of the reasons
Myself and Damian came together
Cause well all come from one place
And that's Africa
That's rite u too, and u
The whole world
We all family
We just spread out all over the world
So to all my distant relatives
Le'ts take it back home

[Chorus:]
Africa must wake up
The sleeping sons of Jacob
For what tomorrow may bring
May a better day come
Yesterday we were Kings
Can you tell me young ones
Who are we today