Hausa rapper Ziriums releases album “This is Me” and music video single online. Lyrics included here.

Barka da sallah! Happy Eid, everyone!

For a Sallah gift to yourself, consider buying and downloading, Zirium’s new album “This is Me”!

Readers may remember my previous posts, an analysis of the song “Government Money” and a translation of an interview in Aminya, on the Hausa rapper Ziriums, whose satirical “Girgiza Kai” (“Shake Your Head”) was banned by the Kano State government.

Having started his musical career in Kano, collaborating with Hausa entertainers like Adam Zango, Abbas Sadiq, Billy-O, Alfazazi, Osama bin Music, and others, Ziriums was featured on CNN in August 2008.  Ziriums moved to Abuja in 2009, where he collaborated with Abuja-based musicians Yoye, S. Solar, T-Rex, and others. His contribution to S. Solar and T-Rex’s song “Government Money” helped turn a Nigerian version of Busta-Rhymes “Arab Money” into, what I argue is, a  subversive  piece that critiques the corrupt money-obsessed culture of Abuja. Ziriums has performed at the pre-parlour music festival in Niamey, Niger, at Kano’s British council, at Ceddi Plaza in Abuja, and the Savannah International Movie awards, as well as other locations. He is also featured in Saman Piracha and Alex Johnson’s upcoming documentary Recording a Revolution.

Now Ziriums has released online his own album, “This is Me,” named for the track he released as a single music video about a month before. I think Ziriums may be the first Hausa hiphop musician or even contemporary Hausa musician to have released his album for sale online. (There is a sampler of other Hausa hiphop and popular music available for free at dandali.com, put together by the brilliant and prolific Hausa popular culture scholar Professor Abdalla Uba Adamu, which includes songs by Billy-O, Soultan Abdul, Abdullahi Mighty, Menne, Lakal Kaney, Neba Solo, and the “traditional” musician Dan Maraya Zamfara [actual name is Babangida Kakadawa].) Ziriums’ album, This is Me, is available for purchase (for those with credit cards) on on itunes, myspace, and amazon (UPDATE 10 September 2010, the amazon link I originally included is for the U.S., but you can also buy the album at amazon.co.uk and I imagine other national amazon sites. Just search for “Ziriums”). I bought the album from Amazon.com and it downloaded just fine (though very slowly on my internet here in Nigeria. You can also listen to a clip of and buy  “Vamoose,” the song he performed with Yoye and Sunny Man from the “Take Over” mix album. It is track 10.)

When I asked Ziriums how those in Nigeria, without credit cards, could access the album, he told me he is planning to soon release it on cd in Nigeria, but hoping to make capital from the online purchases before the pirates can get a hold of it. He also told me that he released the album online, because no one could censor material online, as they had censored “Girgiza Kai” from the radio and later banned it, unless they literally blocked the website from every browser in Kano. The songs can be listened to in their entirety on Zirium’s myspace album page. (Ziriums noted that several of the songs were by other musicians, but, as he had featured in them, he had gotten their permission to include them on his album. This includes one of my favourites, track 3, “Murja Baba” by Alfazazee, featuring Ziriums, Murja Baba, and Maryam Fantimoti; the songs in Fulfulde Ziriums sang with Tasiu;the song “Muyanata” by Osama bin Music, Zirium’s younger brother, on which Ziriums featured alongside Abdullahi Mighty, Shaga, and Ontos. “Kano ta Dabo,” was sung by Ziriums, Billy-O, and Adam Zango, when they formed the group Northern Soldiers)

During a July 2009 interview with Saman Piracha and Alex Johnson, where I was also present, he talked a little bit about the album he hoped to release and his struggle with censorship in Kano . I was given permission by the filmmakers to transcribe and post on this blog what he said:

“Maybe they are going to ban it as well, but I’m sure it is going to be on internet, my myspace address, my facebook address, and it is going to be on Bluetooth […] Bluetooth is the fastest way we use to spread our message. Because they will not air our songs on their radio stations. I can remember the time I finished “Girgiza Kai, the one they banned. I took it to radio stations; they played it once, you know. From the censorship board, they wrote a letter to them, you should not play this song again, you understand? And they stopped airing it. And from that day, no one aired my song again and later now they banned it. I think Bluetooth helps us a lot because I can put it on my phone. My friend will listen to it and say oh give me and I’ll push it to him. Then through that, it will go all over, all over, not even Nigeria, not even Kano, not even Nigeria, itself. It can go anywhere. Because now if I put it in your handset you carry it to the US. […]  I’m going to release my album.  I’m working on it. And when I finish it, maybe probably it is going to be sold in Kano. We’ll see how I will go behind the national constitution. I’ll go there and stand and use it. Because I am a Nigerian as well. Since Timaya and P-Square can sell their album in Kano, why not I? Why? Why can’t my album be sold in Kano?  I must censor it? Who said so? I will not do that? I’m looking at myself as Timaya and P-Square and any damn artist in the country. I’m looking at myself as the same thing as them. We don’t have any differences. The only difference is that they have their albums outside. People know them. You understand? They have the opportunity that we couldn’t get. If I have the opportunity or the chance they have, I could have reached or I could have passed their level. So my album is going to be sold in Kano insha Allah. With censors or without censors.

To learn more about Ziriums, visit Zirium’s myspace page. Two of his music videos can also be watched at his youtube channel. Ziriums also has a Facebook fan page and a ReverbNation account. [UPDATE 13 September 2010: And in a meta-moment, I’m quite delighted to see that Free Muse has picked up on this post….]

I may include more analysis of the album at a later point, but for now, so that readers can get a taste of his music, I will include Zirium’s hot new music video “This is Me,” including the lyrics and a translation, partially by me, partially by Ziriums, and partially by Professor Abdalla Uba Adamu. I will also include the complete lyrics to “Girgiza Kai” and the translation I did with Ziriums back in February 2009.  Ziriums’ “twisting” in Hausa has a punch that isn’t quite comparable with anything else in contemporary Nigerian hiphop, and I suspect it will take him far.

Enjoy

[NOTE that this video is embedded in this post under Fair Use laws for review purposes.]

“THIS IS ME”

(Thank you to Ziriums for providing me with the lyrics in Hausa of the first two verses. He and Professor Abdalla Uba Adamu did the translation of the third. I’m also grateful to Osama bin Music, Zirium’s brother who helped me correct a few of the lines My translation is very basic and flawed, and corrections are welcome. )

[UPDATE: 26 April 2012, Ziriums has sent a few small corrections to the translations, which I have made here. It is now vetted by him.]

INTRO:

ASSALAMU ALAIKUM – ASSALAMU ALAIKUM

Peace be upon you – Peace be upon you

YARA KU FITO HIP HOP,

Kids come out to the Hiphop

MANYA KU FITO HIP HOP

Big guys come out to the hiphop

YARA KU FITO HIP HOP,

Kids come out to the Hiphop

MANYA KU FITO HIP HOP

Big guys come out to the hiphop

CHORUS:

THIS IS ME –ZIRIUMS X4

NINE NAN – ZIRIUMS X4

(This is me, Ziriums)

RAP 1:

BA’KO BABU SALLAMA MUGUNE KU BIYO SHI DA ‘KOTA,

The guest who does not greet with sallama is evil, chase him away with a stick.

NI NA AJE GARIYO DA ADDA NA DAU ‘KOTA TA MIC,

I dropped my javelin and my machet, I took up the mic (stick)

DA FARI SUNANA NAZIR

To start with my name is Nazir

BN AHMAD HAUSAWA LUNGUN KWARGWAN

Son of Ahmad Hausawa from Kwargwan neighborhood

YAYAN OSAMA BN MUSIC

Big brother of Osama bin Music

AH’ SHUGABAN TALIBAN NA HIP HOP A K-TOWN

Head of the Taliban of Hiphop in K-town

REVOLUTION ZAN NA MUSIC NA ANNABI SAY ALRIGHT (ALRIGHT x3)

It’s a music revolution. All who know the Prophet, Say Alright (Alright x3)

NINE INNOVATOR NA RAPPING DA ZAURANCE TWISTING DA HAUSA

I am the innovator of rapping with twisting in Hausa.

NINE MAI SUNA BIYAR TSOFFI SU KIRANI DA ‘DAN TALA

I am the one with the the five names, the old folks call me Dantala (a person who’s born on Tuesday)

MANYA SU KIRANI MUHAMMADU HAJIYATA TA KIRANI TACE NAZIR,

Other grown-ups call me Muhammadu, Hajiya (my mom) calls me Nazir

NIGGAS SU KIRANI DA ZIRIUMS

The Niggas call me Ziriums

SANNAN ÝAN MATAN GARI IDAN SUN GANNI SUCE NAZIRKHAN

Then the girls of the town if they see me, they say Nazir Khan

TO DUK KU KIRANI DA ZIRIUMS (ZIRIUMS. NI NE ZIRIUMS, ZIRIUMS)

TO, all of you call me Ziriums. (Ziriums. I’m Ziriums. Ziriums)

SUNCE WAI BA ZAN IYABA LA’ÁNANNU MASU HALIN TSIYA

They say I “supposedly” I can’t do it, that’s what the spiteful gossips say.

‘DARA ‘DAIRI YA ‘DIRU ‘DAIRA HATTA ZANANTU ALLAN YA HURA (BALA)

I through my kite up and up i cant even see it- it falls down (Arabic)

KOMAI NISAN JIFA ‘KASA ZAI FA’DO KAJI TIIIIIIM

Everything that goes up, will come down, you hear me (Tiiiim- a sound of falling rock)

YAU GAREKA GOBE GA SOMEBODY,MAI LAYA KIYAYI MAI ZAMANI-AH

Today it is your time, but tomorrow somebody better will come along.

CHORUS:

THIS IS ME –ZIRIUMS X4

NINE NAN – ZIRIUMS X4

(This is me, Ziriums)

CHORUS

RAP 2:

IM HUSTLING TAMKAR ‘DAN ACA’BA DARE RANA HAR SAFIYA

I’m hustling like a d’an achaba (motorcycle taxi driver), night and day, until the morning

DAMINA SANYI DA RANI DA DARI HIP HOP NI NAKE SO

In the time of the cool rains and in the hot season and in the night, it’s hiphop that I love

I WILL NEVER RETIRE NEVER GET TIRED,COS IM ROLLING LIKE A TYRE

I will never retire, never get tired, cause I’m rolling like a tyre

GABA DAI GABA DAI MAZAJE NA HIP HOP(SAI MAZAJE NA HIP HOP)

Go on go on all you hiphop guys (you hiphop guys)

DUKIYA MAI ‘KAREWACE,MULKI MAI SHU’DEWANE,HANYA MAI YANKEWACE

Wealth comes to an end, power passes away, the road is cut off

SAI MUN HA’DU CAN FILIN ‘KIYAMA ANAN NE ZAKACI ‘KWAL UBANKA

Let’s meet there in the place of Judgment, there you’ll suffer like you’ve never suffered before

BA ÝAN SANDA BA JINIYA-GA ‘DAN BANZAN GO-SLOW

No police to escort you, no siren, you’ll see a terrible go-slow

CAN GEFE GUDA WALAKIRI DA SANDA MAI ‘KAYA KAI MISTAKE YA TUMURMUSAKA

There to the side the angel of hell with a rod of thorns, if you make a mistake he’ll beat you stiff.

SANNAN DUKKAN GA’B’BAN JIKINKA DUKA SUNE ZASU BABBADA SHAIDA

Then all the joints of your body, all of them will give testimony

RANAR BABU P.A DA LAWYER BALLE ÝAN BANGAR SIYASAGGA MASU

That day there will be no P.A., no laywer, much less those gangsters of politicans who

SHIGA GIDAN REDIYO SUYI ‘KARYA DAN ANBASU NAIRA,

Go into the radio house and lie to get naira (money)

INZAKA FA’DI FA’DI GASKIYA KOMAI TAKA JAMAKA KA BIYA

If you’re going to say something, tell the truth, in everything walk in the way of your forebearers

ALLAH BAIMIN KARFIN JIKIBA BALLE IN TAREKA IN MAKURE

God didn’t give me a strong body, I could have attacked your neck,

AMMA YAIMIN KAIFIN BAKINDA HAR YA WUCE REZA A KAIFI

But he gave me a sharp mouth, sharper than a razor.

YES I’M SAYING IT.

Yes, I’m saying it.

CHORUS:

THIS IS ME –ZIRIUMS X4

NINE NAN – ZIRIUMS X4

(This is me, Ziriums)

Third Verse

(translated by Professor Abdalla Uba Adamu (to the part about Dala Rock), after that it is translated by Ziriums, himself. Both Ziriums and Prof sent the translations to Alex Johnson and Saman Piracha for a documentary on Hausa hiphop, Recording a Revolution. Translations used by permission of filmmakers. I’ve made a few very small edits to both translations for a more informal feel)

CAN NA GANO FACE MAI SIFFAR LARABAWA

Then I saw a face like an Arab beauty

NA CE MATA ZO TA TAKA

I said to her, come on let’s dance

TA CE BA TA TAKU DA TAKALMI

She said she doesn’t dance with her shoes on.

SAI DAI IN TA TAKA A SANNU

But she will dance slowly

TATTAKA A SANNU

(Go ahead) dance slowly

AMMA KUMA KAR KI GIRGIZA

But don’t shake your body

DOMIN IN KI KA GIRGIZA

Because if you shake your body

RUWAN KOGI ZAI AMBALIYA

There will be a flood

SAI BARNA TA WUCE TSUNAMI

More destructive than Tsunami

HAR DUTSEN DALA YA TARWATSE

Which will destroy Dala Rock.

(From here translation by Ziriums)

TATTAKA KI TAKA RAWAR DON TAKU KI TAKE TEKU,

Dance, Dance my type of dance, so light you dance on the ocean-top

TAKE TAWA KISA MUSU TAKA TAMU AKE TAKAWA TAKA

Step like me ‘cause it’s our type of step they want to dance.

TATTASAI TANKWA DA TUMATIR ITA TASANI TONON TANA

Chilli pepper soup and tomatoes make me dig for earthworms

TATTABARU TARA NE NA TARE TUN RAN TALATA MUKE TAKAWA,

I gathered nine doves. We’ve been stepping out since Tuesday

(The following stanza is an old Hausa poem (according to R.C. Abraham’s dictionary) sung for a “children’s game of prodding heaps of sand to find things hidden there.” Zirium’s brother Osama bin Music explained that the game includes catching the hands of one on whom a twig falls. Ziriums left it untranslated, but I’ve translated the latter part, which I think I’ve understood correctly. If I haven’t please correct me!)

GARDO GARDO –GARDON BIDA

ATTASHI BIRE –KAMANIMAN

GYARAN FUSKA –DA WUYA YAKE

ZAN KAMA KA –

(I’ll catch you!)

KAMANI MAN

(Catch me, then)

KAMANI MAN

(Just catch me then)

CHORUS

THIS IS ME –ZIRIUMS X4

NINE NAN – ZIRIUMS X4

(This is me, Ziriums)

Shout outs:

Ziriums Intersection, giant beatz, Pro Okassy,Dekumzy, Solomon, Korex, Solar

In the house man You know what I’m saying?

Osama bin Music, Pastor Dan, Yo, this is Intersection,

Giant beatz K-town, baby.

Daga Kano, Bahaushe, Yeah Ziriums kar ka manta da sunan

From Kano, a Hausa, Yeah Ziriums, don’t forget the name

—

To listen to Girgiza Kai, which was banned by the Kano State Government, check out track number 4 of the “This is Me” album.

Girgiza Kai….

.. ..

Ehen. This is Pastor Dan productions. Ziriums…

.. ..

Mai dokar bacci, ya bige da gyangyed’i.

The one who says sleep is against the law is the one nodding off…….

.. ..

Kar ku taka. Ku girgiza kai kurrum.

Don’t dance. Just shake your head…..

.. ..

Girgiza girgiza

Shake shake….

.. ..

.. ..

Chorus:….

Girgiza kai/ Girgiza kai. Girgiza kai. Girgiza kai.

Shake your head, shake your head. Shake your head. Shake your head…..

.. ..

Girgiza kai. Girgiza kai. Girgiza kai.

Shake your head. Shake your head. Shake your head…..

.. ..

Girgiza kai. Girgiza kai. Girgiza kai.

Shake your head. Shake your head. Shake your head…..

.. ..

1.

Kai karku taka kun san an hana.

Hey, don’t dance, you know they banned it. ….

.. ..

Gwamnan garinmu ran nan. Shi ne ya hana.

The governor of our city here. He banned it…..

.. ..

In ka ji kid’a ya yi dad’i. Girgiza kai kurrum.

If you hear a good beat, just shake your head…..

.. ..

Eh, In ka ji kid’a ya yi dad’i. Girgiza kai kurrum.

Yeah, if you hear a good beat, just shake your head…..

.. ..

Chorus….

.. ..

.. ..

2.

Kai tsalle waka a gidan giya.

Hey,[stop] jumping and singing in a bar….

.. ..

In an kafa doka. Ku bi ta daidai wisely.

If they make a law, make sure you follow it wisely

.. ..

Eeeeh, an hana. Eeeeh, sun hana.

Eeeh, it’s against the law. Eeeeh. They said it’s against the law…..

.. ..

Chorus….

.. ..

3.

Kai ku daina arufta an hana.

Hey stop roughriding, it’s against the law…..

.. ..

Kyale tukin maye sassauta, an hana.

Stop drunk driving. It’s against the law…..

.. ..

Eeeeh, an hana. Eeeeh sun hana.

Eeeeh, it’s against the law. Eheheh, they said it’s against the law…..

.. ..

Chorus….

.. ..

.. ..

4.

.. ..

Kai mai tauye mudu an hana

Hey, you, who weight your measures. It’s against the law…..

.. ..

Algus a cikin wasko, ai shi ma an hana

You, who thin down food. It’s against the law…..

.. ..

Eeeh an hana. Eeeeh, sun hana.

Eeeeh, it’s against the law. Eeeeh, they said it’s against the law…..

.. ..

Chorus…..

.. ..

5. (RAP)

.. ..

Wanda duk ya hana mu sana’a

Anyone who keeps us from working….

.. ..

Ya Allah ka zuba musa maruru sittin da bakwai

Oh God, send him sixty-seven boils….

.. ..

A ta karshensa shawara da basir mai seedling

In his rectum, give him yellow fever and piles. ….

.. ..

Sore throat ya ..kama.. mak’oshinsa.

May his throat catch fire

.. ..

Likitoci su kasa ganoshi.

May doctors say they can’t find what’s wrong. ….

.. ..

Da Dala da Goron Dutse

So Dala and Goron Dutse [hills in ….Kano….]….

.. ..

Da gidan birni da gidan k’auye

The house in the city and the house in the village….

.. ..

Na hada na cusa a gajeran wandon mmmhmmhmmm

I put ‘em together in the underpants of his mmhmmmhmmm ….

.. ..

….Bari…. d’aya ne.Ya ji labari. ….Bari…. d’aya bai san komai ba.

One side knows what’s going on. One side has no idea…..

.. ..

Eeeh an hana. Eeeeh sun hana.

Eeeh, it’s against the law. Eeeeh, they said it’s against the law…..

.. ..

Come on.

.. ..

Chorus….

.. ..

.. ..

6.

Mmmmmm, waka ba gadona bace.

Mmmmm, I wasn’t born into singing. ….

.. ..

Dan malam ne ni k’yank’yank’yan wasu sun sani

I’m the son of a complete Islamic scholar, everybody knows…..

.. ..

Kar ku ce min na k’i halin malam samsam kurrum.

Don’t tell me I don’t have character…..

.. ..

Na yi karatun boko har da na addini, kwarai.

I’ve done Western education and religious. Oh yes…..

.. ..

Samartaka ce na kad’ana domin zamani.

It’s the way of the young. It’s the beat of our time…..

.. ..

Eeeeh an hana. Eeeeh, sun hana.

Eeeh it’s against the law. Eeeeh, they said it’s against the law….

.. ..

Chorus 2X….

.. ..

.. ..

End

(c) Lyrics: Nazir Hausawa
Translation: Carmen McCain