Protoje, Lila Iké and Agent Sasco – Not Another Word

• “Not Another Word” original music video. Thanks to Protoje.

8.5 “Excellent Reggae from Jamaica”

A single release in April, 2019.

The roots reggae revival continues in Jamaica and I’m delighted to receive the signals. As Protoje’s website puts it:

There is an exciting resurgence of conscious, organic music in Jamaica, and industry experts and observers agree that Protoje, born Oje Ken Ollivierre, is a forefront figurehead in what has become known as “The Reggae Revival.” This Grammy-nominated songwriter and philosophical thinker articulates the righteous anger of an emerging generation. Protoje reports for duty, re-establishing the standard for the decaying art of socially responsible, mentally stimulating lyricism.

Joining him on this one is rising star Lila Iké (good soul and beautiful singer, check out her fantastic 2019 single “Where I’m Coming From”) and the powerful Agent Sasco, who’s been putting out great tracks for some 20 years now. He emerges with the tunes killer-line: “If yuh don’t know there’s a battle, then you’ve already surrendered” pow pow pow!

As you’d expect, it’s all part of a clear message; you can’t go blaming the government for everything, taking personal responsibility for your actions is going to be key in fixing much of societal boderation. Protoje: “It was important to me that we touched on everyday scenes that aren’t uncommon to see when we take a look at happenings in Jamaica. I wanted the video to be grounded in our everyday reality. The video director Ruption really understood the vision and came up with the idea to capture a lot of the scenes using a ‘God’s Eye’ point of view. It was a vibe.”

Ay
We don’t, we don’t learn (So now we got to go the hard way)
No, we don’t, we don’t learn (So trouble a deh deh all day)
No, we don’t, we don’t learn (Why we always got to take the hard way?)
No, we don’t, we don’t learn
Alright!
Times get tough again
Bread nah no butter then
No diss mi not handgun and long rifle a go off a dem
Di streets dem no governin’
It’s a free for all
Can’t get peace at all
Soul a fly weh like a Peter, Paul
See it’s all clear and evident
Caused all the decadence
CIA intelligence
No Netflix have the evidence
And man a shoot pastor inna church
Man a shoot father him pickney
School some different man a set di bruise, ay
Matter of fact, no waan sing bout dem ting ya
When man cyaa even manage put dem garbage inna bin ya
Food box outta car window
A clog up di drain
Then when the flooding start di government dem get the blame
My brothers it is a shame
More time mi feel embarrassed (Ay watcha now)
To be part a dis generation causing all these havoc, a wha dat?
A man wouldn’t even care bout him offspring (Bumboclaat!)
Mi stop sing
And mi seh not another word
We nah go no further
Wadda deya warn inna earth ya
Di yutes dem have no parents so yuh find that they have lost their way
And mi seh not another word
Mi nah go no further
Your babymother yuh go murder
Revelation tell wi seh how dis is the end of day
Ay my bredrin Protoje (Yo)
There’s so much more to say (Yes)
How the place a run and now we have to hope and pray
‘Cause (What?)
When dem come wid dem man dress las
Di yutes a seh dem bound to
They pay off all dem di yutes a play
A man a tun di basic school dem inna shooting range
So whole heap a likkle toddler nah go see another day
So a who da turn di lion eye dem a turn di other way
Hold on, what’s the agenda?
Dem comin’ in like dem no memba seh
We will only give up on the 40th of November
We have a strong alliance with the ultimate defender
And all it tek fi bun dung Babylon is jus an ember
Pull out the weakest link
Dem fall like Jenga
Line a watch di cablebox like Bird Box challenge ya
Cus all yuh cannot see dat while yuh video dem a render
If yuh don’t know there’s a battle, then you’ve already surrendered
Not another word
We nah go no further
Wadda deya warn inna earth ya
Di yutes dem have no parents so yuh find that they have lost their way
And mi seh not another word
Mi nah go no further
Your babymother yuh go murder
Revelation tell wi seh how dis is the end of day
Guess dis is the end of day
Guess dis is the end of day
Oh, lawd
Cus we don’t, we don’t learn
So now we gonna learn the hard way
We don’t, we don’t learn
(So now, we gonna learn the hard way)
We don’t, we don’t learn
Mi seh not another word