Badinyaa Kumoo
Translated roughly, Badinyaa Kumoo means “The Promise of Unity Within the Embrace of the Mother.”
With this album, released in 2022, Jeli Sona Jobarteh weaves the tapestry of a new future for the children of Mother Africa. Dr. Jobarteh incorporates the recent history of enslavement and colonizing of African peoples throughout the Continent and Diaspora as the interim backdrop of a new story. The featured artists, rhythms and melodies of Badinyaa Kumoo honor the larger, eternal backdrop—the history of beauty, peace and creativity that mark the Soul of Africa. The album expresses the range of emotions emerging from overlapping dimensions of experience: love & anger, honor & shame, remorse & celebration.
Our rough translation of the Manding expression, Badinyaa Kumoo, is derived from a much longer explanation of the meaning of the words given by Dr. Jobarteh in an interview with AfroPop in January 2023. The fact that the artist took the time to articulate the meaning of each song for fans is a testament to the traditional role of the jeli as an educator and keeper of culture. Badinyaa Kumoo delivers a spirited immersion into the heart of Africa.
We express our sincere gratitude to Dr. Sona Jobarteh and her team, who provided the following lyrical descriptions, which are also available in the CD notes. Collectively, the descriptions form a treatise on the forward-thinking role of artists and educators in the restoration and advancement of African culture, society and economics.
1. Musolou – Women
This song pays homage to the fact that all of humanity is born from a woman, and nothing compares to the love of a mother, who will fight and sacrifice against all odds to protect the next generation. I give thanks to our treasured women all around the world for all their sacrifices and hard work. However, I ask how societies give back to women in return for their hard work and sacrifices for humanity. Women are controlled, silenced, oppressed, beaten and mutilated … I ask what type of people harm the very people that brin us to and raise us in this world? I ask the people of this world to stand by women, to fight for women and their dignity. I call directly on men to fight for change, and to educate young boys who will be our future generation of men. I call directly on women to ensure they support one another generously in success and to cast out jealousy. We must educate women fully in order to be able to harness all our citizens to be active participants in the development of our nations. I pay homage to just a few iconic female role models of African descent, both past and present, who have fought for social change: Maya Angelou | Queen Nanny of the Maroons | Yaa Asantewaa | Queen Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba | Angela Davis | Ellen Johnson Sirleaf | Harriet Tubman | Mbuya Nehanda | Giséle Rabesahala | Miriam Makeba | Rose Chibambo | Margaret Ekpo | Sejourner Truth | Andrea Lua | Women Warriors of Dahomey. Women of the world, I thank you.
2. Dunoo – Responsibility
This song addresses artists and musicians around the world to think carefully about the content of their art, the messages they spread, and to carry a sense of responsibility for what they promote. I ask artists to recognize that they are powerful humans ion society, who inspire and consequently lead many, especially the youth, to follow in their footsteps. I therefore ask artists to treat their position within society with responsibility and humility, and instead of spreading messages of degrading women, worshipping wealth, celebrating greed, and revering violence, be active role models for the next generation in inspiring positive change, productive goals, respect for one another and promote development.
3. Kambengwo – Unity
This is a song that celebrates the values which bonded ancient African societies together – kinship, family and community. However, we have permitted division to be utilized as the most powerful weapon to implant and sustain the exploitation of our continent. Africans have been brainwashed to believe that ‘tribalism’ and conflict are innate elements of African culture. It is no coincidence that the worst conflict and poverty are found in the richest countries in natural resources. I call for Africans to awaken and realise that perpetual conflict serves only to benefit those exploiting the continent. I reject the concept of ‘aid’ when more wealth is exploited from our land than all the aid that comes back. Africans have learnt a powerful sense of innate self-rejection: our beautiful languages, our beautiful cultures, our beautiful skin, our beautiful hair – we reject them all. I call Africans to fight exploitation by standing together and uniting in the hope of a Pan-African future. Youssou N’Dour features on this song as a symbol of the power of African icons in the cultural, economic and political spheres, and their active and effective role in empowering and inspiring Africans not just on the continent but around the world to stand proud.
4. Ballaké
A dedication to Ballaké Sissoko, one of the most influential Kora players of his generation, and one of my role models on the Kora. Ballaké also stands as a symbol in this ancient tradition of the role of the father figure as the mentor in passing on the tradition; a symbolic representation of my own father Sanjally Jobarteh and his role as my mentor in passing on the tradition to me. The song pays homage to the interdependent connection and respect between one generation and the next in this hereditary tradition, which rests on the responsibility of passing on our knowledge.
5. Fondinkeeya – Youth
This song is dedicated to the need for curriculum reform across Africa in order to fully break free from the education systems implemented during the colonial era. Education has been an essential tool for indoctrinating the minds of Africans in order to pave the way for colonization, and to maintain the exploitation of the continent and its people, which continues to feed international financial growth. Our education system still influences Africans from a young age to revere anything that does not look like, sound like or behave like them, thus nurturing a deep sense of inferiority and cultural rejection. Education is a vital foundation block in changing mentality, and it is my conviction that by rewriting our education we are directly strengthening the bigger mission of real sustainable development, and building a powerful road towards the self-determination, self-governance and economic self-sustainability of our African nations. I call for an education system that places the history, culture and identity of the African child at the center of their everyday academic education This song is written in a very unfamiliar time-signature for this tradition (in the count of seven), symbolizing reformation, the call for change, and the hopes for the future which lie in investing in our young, as our leaders, role models and changemakers of tomorrow.
6. Kafaroo – Forgiveness of Our Sins
This song is a prayer for the evils of war, and a lament for the unforgiveable pain and suffering of innocent children brought to this world in the midst of conflict rooted in the perpetual human quest for power and money. I mourn the lives of our most precious gifts, destroyed before they have even started. I pray for the forgiveness of humanity for the evils of war, and for the hypocrisy of the nations of the world that hide behind the veil of human rights whilst still reaping the benefits of war.
7. Ubuntu – Humanity
The term ‘Ubuntu” (Mooya in Mandinka) refers to a shared African concept which encompasses defining aspects of humanity, such as compassion/unity/ community. In this song I call into question the fact that compassion, empathy and humanity towards others is distorted by international media and the dominant global narrative through a process of dehumanization. Many are de-sensitised to the lives of others by repeatedly being exposed to images of people stereotyped as those who suffer from war; those who suffer from poverty; those who are branded as ‘terrorists’. I assert that the onlookers carry a responsibility of compassion and humanity towards all people, because we are one. I use the Zulu language in this song to pay homage to the Zulu warriors who were amongst our African heroes who fought to defend their land against invasion from Europeans.
An important aspect of humanity is the ability to work together to protect your land, your people and to stand up for human rights; however this aspect of humanity has been consistently distorted in relation to Africans. This homage to Zulus highlights the problem of the subconscious and internalized narrative that historically labels all Africans who fought for their land, freedom and human rights as ‘violent’, ‘threatening’, ‘barbaric’, ‘primitive’ ‘terrorists’. We therefore need to reassess who we as Africans consider to be ‘heroes’, and who are in fact ‘terrorists’. We need to think carefully how both the historical and current narratives need to be re-written from the perspective of the African, in order to memorialise our pioneers, role models and freedom fighters in the rightful way. Singing in the Zulu language, which is foreign to me, was important to make a statement of the need for us to value and be proud of the rich diversity of languages we have within the continent. Instead of defaulting to colonial foreign languages without any question, let us learn to explore and celebrate our own.
8. Gambia
This song was written to mark the 50th year of independence of the Gambia. It is a song which celebrates the country and its people, both inside the country and those in the diaspora, calling on them never to forget their homeland. Gambia is renowned for its peaceful nature and the people are reputed for their warm and open hearts. This song is an important homage to the country that has given me so much throughout my life, and is also a pledge to my commitment of giving back to the country through my work in education and through the music I create that will always carry the name of the Gambia throughout the world.
9. Nna Kangwo – My Voice
This song is about music and identity. I address the need that people feel to try to define me, analyse me and categorise me in order to try and understand me and the externally imposed complexities of being ‘multiracial’ along colour lines. In this song, I assert that my identity is rooted in the simplicity of ‘I am who I am’, and that the music I create comes not from a calculated melting pot of genres and styles, but from the complex yet complete expression of my cultural identity and life experiences. Music is a deep rooted form of cultural expression, and the blues musician playing the harmonica on this song (Jock Webb) symbolizes the fact that music is an honest, pure expression of one’s identity, which is in turn born from the experiences of bot the individual and the collective. Although genres like the blues, or mandeng music can be ‘learnt’, analysed and theorized from afar, this cannot eclipse the fact that these are not ‘genres’, but in fact sonic expressions o the real lives and experiences of the people to which they belong Bypass the history, the experiences, the identity and the culture of the people, and you will be left only with an imitation, void of depth and meaning. It is the reality of the lives of the people that breathes life into music and gives it purpose; to relate, communicate and move the listener. Music is the language of people’s lives, and my music in the language of my life.
10. Nna Mooya – Our Spirit
This song is written in homage to the legacy of the trans-Atlanta slave trade, and the justice that has never been served to this day, by means of the lack of full acknowledgement by the nations that perpetrated these crimes against humanity on one of the largest scales we have seen in human history. The lack of accountability and justice, and the ongoing levels of denial and diminishment maintains an open wound within us. Ignorance and distorted representations of the trans-Atlantic African holocaust is still widespread both abroad and within the continent, and is an ongoing testament to the continued under-valuement of African lives and African history, and subsequently continues to support and justify the unequal distribution of wealth in relation to the African continent. In this song, I express my anger at the lack of accountability for the atrocities; anger at the wealth that was and continues to be extorted from Africa as a direct result of the exploitation and dehumanization of African lives. In this song, I state that they can take away our names, our land, our families, our identity, our culture, our languages, our wealth, but they can never take away our spirit. The featured artist, Kirk Whalum (saxophone), serves as a symbol of the connected spirit we share between Africans on the Continent and those in the Diaspora.
11. Meeya – Missing Someone
This is a song that talks about feelings of love that are so deep that they feel painful, and how being separated from someone you love deeply hurts. Whilst this song refers to the difficult emotions of lovers who are far from one another, it also alludes to another level of emotion when separation is caused by social or economic reasons, or duties that may force people to separate.
12. Taariko – History
This song is written in homage to African history, artifacts and monuments. I have created a rhythm for this song that is inspired by Takamba – a tradition belonging to the Tuareg and Songhai peoples of Niger and Mali. The featured singer on this song (Zihirina Maiga), from Cao, is one of the oldest surviving singers of Takamba, and is a member of one of Mali’s most renowned Takamba ensembles, Super Onze. In this song I express the shame I feel seeing the thousands of tourists (including Africans) flocking to visit and pay respects to ancient monuments all across Europe whilst our own ancient sites stand quietly alone – people unaware even of their existence. I feel anger at the number of ancient artifacts that are still being held in captivity by nations who robbed them from our Continent during colonial times. As a result of distorted education systems and a mentality of self-rejection, not enough Africans recognize, celebrate, respect or value their history enough to preserve the ancient sites we have on our Continent, or fight for the rightful return of their stolen artifacts. The presence of Zihirina Maiga on this song stands as a symbol of the importance of valuing our amazingly rich culture and history, and the responsibility each new generation has to make sure the history is proudly celebrated, valued and re-told.