Heyyy blogville,
As I am sure you have noticed I am a massive music lover, but in d past year especially, I have only been listening to Naija songs because dey are just sooo DAMNN HOTT!! I was co-hosting a radio show with the lovely R and R(www.radio.warwick.ac.uk/listen), and we played the club smash Anoti by M.I and but could not figure out what Anoti actually means. And then I noticed that most of the time we actually have nooo freakin clue what these songs actually mean!! But as usually Miss B to the rescue, I have decided to help you de-code and translate the hottest naija songs. So after much calls, txts, googling and yoruba dictionaries, I have broken it down for you all!!!
Anoti by M.I- literally means Undefeatable or Unbeatable(ds took ages of research, just for us to find out he says it at d end of the song!!)
Fokasibe by DJ Zeez-this was clarified by RocNaija, 'Foka' apparently means the four corners of the earth i'e north, south, east & west.. so when he says "Ori yin Fokasibe" it means your name shall be heard in the four corners of the earth..So as against an insult it's actually a prayer(thanks for that)
Yori-yori by Bracket- I think this is just a description of the feeling of falling in love, I think this is the same for Shoobeedoobedoo by Ikechukwu
Yebariba somboribobo by Sauce Kid-Nooo idea what language this is even in, just sumthng abt havin loads of swagga
PuYanga by Tilla Man(p.s ds jamm is hot hot hot!!)- again not sure what language, am guessing it means stop forming/feeling
Gbono feli feli by D'banj -this means am hot basically, hotter dan very hot amala
Pasa pasa by M.P-this literally means very quickly, basically d babe is making his heart and body beat/shave very quickly
Tear Rubber by GXPloits -It means a Virgin(LMAO)
E nu o se by Durella-means people talking bad about you will not harm you etc(yoruba is funny cause 3 words can mean alottttt)
Kamakaze(on a kedro level) by Olu maintain- i actually dont think this has a meaning, am guessin it means we ballin on a higer level etc
N doli doli by H man- It means softly softly, or gradually
Shokori bobo by KC Presh- this defo has NO meaning
Hapuya by Morachi-This literally means 'Leave it', like File/dont touch it
Lori le by X Project-literally means put ur head down, but in this sense means get down on the floor
Adara by Sasha- it will be better
Bosi gbangba by Eldee- come to the open/outside
Jaiye jaiye by Phizzle- someone that likes to enjoy lifee
Kaju Mbe by Blacko Blaze- Remove your eye from there, basically stop lookin at something thats mine
Eye adaba by Asa- this means a white dove
Mobolowowon/Olorun Maje by D'banj-my enemies cannot succeed basically
and of course Gongo Aso by 9ice-- This literally means the talking drum will tell( a story) but in this context means the whole world will know (about me/my success);
although 9ices whole album probably needs translation, cause I dont even get half of it, and I speak Yoruba but we all LOVEE it(esp my Huasa peeps)
And for all the ajebos like me i just found the meaning of -
shayo-alcohol
kpoli/Ganja- weed etc anythng dt gets u high
"a wash put"-jazz a lady puts in food to make a guy fall for her(lool!! i just heard of ds--i know i know, I am an ajebo)
maga- a moomoo
mezebu-sex
ginger-get excited
Of course these are all open to interpretations. But I guess thats d beauty of Naija songs, we all love them, especially when it has a MADD beat even though we have no clue what they on about!!! This probably says alot about the wonder of music in general, that is it transcends language, culture and style. Good music is always recognisable.
What are your interpretations of these songs and are there any you do not know the meaning of?? Let me know!!
Enjoy, xoxo
Miss B.All songs are on Gidi lounge http://music.gidilounge.com/
this is gud info to have
ReplyDeleteI actually saw DJ Zeez on Primetime with Keke and D-One and he said Fokasibe means something else..
ReplyDelete'Foka' apparently means the four corners of the earth i'e north, south, east & west.. so when he says "Ori yin Fokasibe" it means your name shall be heard in the four corners of the earth..
So as against an insult it's actually a prayer..
What says ye..
Oh really?? thanks for the infod, i defo did not know that! i will edit accordingly!!!
ReplyDelete"Ori e o fokasibe" means "your head scatter for there". I've not found any proper English equivalent of that..but I guess you get the point..but again, as RocNaija suggests, DJ Zeez could've had a different meaning for the song (although the translation he gives doesnt make sense)
ReplyDeleteI have actually spoken to some elders of the language and they lend credence to what DJ Zeez said. Go figure!
Delete'somboribobo' is actually 'samboribobo' meaning 'sample ori obo yi' get it?
ReplyDeleteGongo Aso does not literally mean "the talking drum will talk " ("gangan" is the term that is used for the talking drum not "gongo").
ReplyDeleteGongo Aso means something great is going to happen
Foka - scatter / shatter / or break into pieces.
sibe - There
ori- head
Thus, ori e foka sibe literally means your head will scatter there.
The other Yoruba translations are okay.
Nice blog.
Tear Rubber is colloquial for "brand new".
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteKnowing where to place the sections in your song will help highlight the crucial parts and create some nice crescendos to parts of the song.buyrealplays.co
ReplyDeleteI feel a lot more people need to read this, very good info! . Best Music App For Teens
ReplyDeleteI think the best way to let me describe this song is by handing over to its writer, Stephan Jenkins. 'The song 'God of Wine' takes things from the cellular level, where it says, 'And soon cells give way.' click this link
ReplyDeleteMiraculous compositions by a marvelous essayist, I should state.
ReplyDeletefree tubidy
This variant of Girls Just Want To Have Fun is very nearly a totally different melody in itself. It's played on piano, https://www.spotifyfame.com/
ReplyDelete