In this very special edition of Translation Tuesdays, we are thrilled to bring to our readers three translations of hip-hop song lyrics translated from the Swahili by Richard Prins. From LWP Majitu to Juma Nature to Inspector Haroun, these three songs give us a peek into the music made by a generation of hip-hop artists working out of contemporary Tanzania. These lyrics, thoughtfully arranged in a visually refreshing use of space, find their own musicality and rhythm on the page in Prins’ translation as they tackle issues such as power and punishment through allegory and allusion. Be sure to check out the music videos in the links under each song as you feel your way into the counterpoints of page and performance.
Story! Story!
“Hadithi Hadithi” by Sloter ft. Juma Nature
Back in the old days,
in the village of Kwale
in the land of the Pare,
there came a lion,
a lion,
stomping an elephant
dead.
Come, deceit
Make it sweet
So listen: When the wild dogs saw that the lion was a killer,
They pulled a gun on the lion.
They pulled a gun on the lion.
The elephant rose from the dead.
Story! Story!
Come deceit
Make it sweet
Better hear it young
Or you’ll be lost
And now that the elephant was resurrected,
Giraffe
Lion
Gazelle
Hyena
Monkey
Cheetah
gathered around Lake Tanganyika
to witness the matinee
spectacle:
An elephant, trampled
to death.
And once the elephant was resurrected:
He pulled a gun on the lion.
The lion pulled a gun back.
Beat the elephant down.
Lion stomped him afresh
and knocked his lights out.
The elephant fell,
extinguished.
Story! Story!
Come deceit
Make it sweet
Better hear it young
Or you’ll be lost
Jail
“Jela” by LWP Majitu ft. Inspector Haroun
Yo
don’t go thinking
everyone in jail
is a thief
For some
just looking suspicious
is illicit
Picked up
for loitering
when you weren’t
even there
Say a problem arises somewhere
it’s no businessman
no office flunkie
you’re all stooging
for the police
People swear their oaths
to eat
Bring noise
and you swallow a fist
Cops won’t hesitate
to eviscerate
you
but that won’t happen to
no richie-rich kids
You will behold
a white horse pull up
your hands are cuffed
taken to the station
where you show your cash
if you don’t have cash
say bye to your boys
they come and they go
while you go to jail
on your ass
Not everyone in jail committed a crime
Not everyone in jail committed a crime
Some are only there because they got framed
For others it’s the same, they just took the blame
People in jail
aren’t all criminals
or evil-doers
No!
Denied!
When they see you get out
people get scared
to let you in their house
Thief! He’ll rob us!
But it takes all kinds
to fill up a jail
Normies! Crazies!
Priests and sheikhs!
People say their prayers
in jail like anywhere
Isn’t your brother
locked up in Segerea
but you won’t even bring him
a bar of soap?
Deaf to the word jail
jail, jail, jail
It’s no game, it’s agony
lined up to eat
by a baton
then whipped to sleep
If your brother calls to say
he’s at Chang’ombe Station
better plot
to spring him loose
before they bring him to the coop
Not everyone in jail committed a crime
Not everyone in jail committed a crime
Some are only there because they got framed
For others it’s the same, they just took the blame
It’s jail
the clink
the slammer
the big house burns you down
Anyone can get hit
by justice
shoved by guilt
or the hand of the law
can slip
People in jail
aren’t perps
No! they weren’t caught
they just got set up
Hey Officer
frame a case
loitering, murder, why not
get ourselves
a meal
If your wallet
isn’t full of bills
then you rot
Your folks
hold you in doubt
and if you get out
they think you’re a cat
resurrected
from the afterlife
Anyone anywhere can go to jail
we’re not snitches
except
for the thieves
eating our riches
with a fork
you tricksters
shapeshifters
you imperial goats
Not everyone in jail committed a crime
Not everyone in jail committed a crime
Some are only there because they got framed
For others it’s the same, they just took the blame
Rats
Roaming nights
scratching days
if you sleep
your food is gone
Roll the mat over the headboard
and it’s nothing but tooth
Get lost
Rat!
A horde on the roof
is building a shrine
A rat’s never lost
he’s always back
with his posse
and when he sees you
he does a double take
Commander of the Crash Pad
Rats! Rats!
Devouring everything you have
Rats! Rats!
Who drank up yesterday’s soup?
It was a rat.
Ratratrattyratrat!
Rats infiltrating
like they’ve been dispatched
wake up in the morning
and find your foot bit
No such thing
as a civilized rat
they’re all rabid
when they get hungry
they come frolic
A rat is never evicted
leave him a path
he trades places with you
leave out some fish
and he’s coming for you
If you have rats
whatever you do
don’t buy a sofa
they will get all
uppity
like they live
in a penthouse
This rat is danger
danger!
Commander of the Crash Pad
Rats! Rats!
Devouring everything you have
Rats! Rats!
Who drank up yesterday’s soup?
It was a rat.
Ratratrattyratrat!
The commander
of the crash pad
is fearless
with his Joti strut
He won’t go
knocking on doors
once he sees leftovers
he’s already home
never picky
about what he bites
when he sees you
don’t turn off the lights
Scratch
you’ve got him
in the cabinet
breaking glass
belly-flopping
and catching a lift
back to the cabinet
man!
Ripped
from sleep
I hit the cabinet
with a shoe
he bolts
under the bed
I check the bed
and he darts
out the door
vanishing
in the surround
invisible
Commander of the Crash Pad
Rats! Rats!
Devouring everything you have
Rats! Rats!
Who drank up yesterday’s soup?
It was a rat.
Ratratrattyratrat!
Translated from the Swahili by Richard Prins
Juma Nature, a frequent collaborator of LWP Majitu, was the founder of the seminal Temeke hip-hop crew TMK Wanaume and remains one of the more recognizable personalities in modern Tanzanian music. He has been nominated for Best Hip Hop album in the 2005 Tanzania Music Awards and Best African Act in the 2007 MTV Europe Music Awards. He continues to record and produce music in Temeke, Dar es Salaam.
LWP Majitu is a Swahili hip-hop group founded in Temeke, Dar es Salaam in the late 1990s. Their first album Mke wa Mtu ni Sumu featured several gems of old-school Swahili hip-hop such as “Jela,” and other songs portraying the realities and quirks of life in Dar es Salaam. Originally a trio consisting of the rappers Sloter, Ally G and Rockman, the group reformed as a duo (sans Rockman) in the late 2000s and continued releasing tracks in their trademark hard-hitting and humorous style.
Inspector Haroun was a founding member along with Luteni Kalama of Gangwe Mobb in the late 1990s. Taking their name from the American hip-hop duo Mobb Deep, they described their style as “rap cartoons” depicting street life in Dar es Salaam. Their album Nje Ndani was nominated for best hip-hop album in the 2004 Tanzanian Music Awards. The duo dissolved in 2004 and Inspector Haroun has since pursued a solo career.
Richard Prins is a New Yorker who has lived, worked, studied and recorded music in Dar es Salaam. He received his MFA degree in poetry from New York University, and he is currently completing an MFA in literary translation at Queens College. His poems appear in publications like Gulf Coast, jubilat, and Ploughshares, his essays have received “Notable” mentions in Best American Essays and Best American Travel Writing, and his translations appear in publications like Columbia Review, Los Angeles Review and Washington Square Review. Arrests include criminal trespass (Trump Tower), disorderly conduct (Trump International Hotel), resisting arrest (Republican National Convention), and incommoding the halls of Congress (United States Senate).
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