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There Are Legends Of People With The Gift Of Making Music So True It Conjure Spirits From The Past And The Future.

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While the consensus is that hip hop originated in the Bronx, many scholars and enthusiasts argue that the genre's artistic roots can be traced back to Africa. Dating back to the 13th century, griots were prominent figures in West African kingdoms and empires. These highly skilled orators, poets, musicians, praise singers and satirists traveled extensively, recounting the history of their empires through rhythmic and repetitive delivery.

This well-established oral tradition is often cited as a precursor to rap, suggesting it may have laid the foundational groundwork for the emergence of hip hop.

Call-and-response, popularized by artists like James Brown,and featured in 1980s songs like Kurtis Blow's "The Breaks". Call-and-response has deep historical roots in African traditions, evident in the Igbo musical style of ogene music, the foundational elements of fuji music and oríkì panegyrics performed by Yoruba priests.

African-American poetry groups, collectively called The Last Poets offered the earliest glimpse of Africa’s influence on Western hip hop culture, during the Civil Rights movement. The group's vocal style incorporated elements of call-and-response and rhythmic chanting rooted in African cultural traditions. Moreover, the name "The Last Poets" was inspired by a poem titled "Towards a Walk in the Sun" by South African poet Keorapetse Kgositsile.

This orature legend of the birth of the Soninke bardic art chronicles the fall of Wagadou, the Soninke/Mande empire more popularly known as Ghana (not present day Ghana the country, which is named after this historical Mauritanian-Senegalese-Malian region empire).

Follow Gassire the warrior prince, who turns away from nobility to become his people's first diari (griot: bard).

Here is a song named for the Soninke

https://open.spotify.com/track/55YdtD6BbmJ7NsDW4Z1Dpo?si=2Ogi-U2QQkuHoSZef_-PXw

Wagadou rose between the 1st-3rd century and fell in the 13th century, after being conquered by Sosso and submitting to the later Malian empire. Wagadou was preceded by Dhar Tichitt (1600 BC) and Djenne-Djenno, the ruins of which can be seen today. It was followed by Mali and Songhay, 2 of the most powerful kingdoms in the old Sahel.

Ghana means "warrior chief," and Wagadou (the Soninke name) could be named for the Wague (name for the nobility of the region) or named after the Soninke goddess. Legend says that when the 2 sons of the Kaya Maghan (king of gold, 800 Dinga Cisse, princes Khine and Dyabe fought over who should take the throne. Khine was victorious, continuing the Cisse Tounkara dynasty. However, Dyabe in humiliation, made a deal with the seven headed snake Bida, who promised victory over his brother in exchange for sacrificing a beautiful virgin every year. It was believed that the prosperity and gold that granted that prosperity was a result of these sacrifices, and so they continued until the brave fiance Maadi of the beauty Sia Yatabere was the first to rebel, slaying the snake and cutting its heads. Bida cursed Wagadu to drought and ruin, and sure enough, Wagadou fell, and the Soninke had to migrate southwards to find fertile land.

The now rare film Sia, Le Réve du Python, is based on this legend.