Cradle Of Civilisation - Lowkey (Conscious Rap)

[Intro]
If my mother got angry or frustrated with me, she'd say..."oh, esh ked heluwa el hurriya"
...and the basic translation of that is "Oh,how beautiful is freedom"
But where is freedom
Close my eyes, I can still hear my ummi saying
Where is our freedom?

[Hook]
Oh, esh ked heluwa el hurriya

[Verse 1]
This is for Baghdad, the place of my mothers birth
The cradle of civilization, for what it’s worth
The land I’ve never seen, culture I’ve never known
Iraq is in my heart, my blood, my flesh and bones
The air I’ve never breathed, fragrance I’ve never smelt
The pride I never had, the nationality that I never felt
Saddam was bad, are the American’s even more so?
They made me groan like I was missing part of my torso
But I never picked up a grenade in my garden
I never saw people I love die starving
I never saw my family die through many years of sanctions
While the ruler’s family lived in palaces and mansions
Never had a family member kidnapped for a ransom
Never lost a friend to violence that was random
Bombings, occupation, torture, intimidation
A million dead people doesn’t equal liberation

[Verse 2]
Forget division based on ethnicity or religion
Whether you Sunni, Shia, Kurdish or Christian
Pain is still pain if you’re a person that’s missing
We all deserve a life in this earth that we live in
Is there enough words that can say
How deeply Baghdad is burnin' today
And it’s not about pity, hands out or sympathy
It’s about pride, respect, honour and dignity
Babies being born with deformities from uranium
Those babies aren’t just Iraqi, they’re Mesopotamian
What I view on the news is making me shiver
Cause I look at the victims and see the same face in the mirror
This system of division makes it harder for you and me
Peace is a question, the only answer is unity
So many dreams about this place that I’ve never seen
The place my family had to leave in the 70’s

[Verse 3]

It rains white phosphorus in Fallujah
This is for those that won’t live to see the future
Sorry that I wasn’t there, Sorry that I couldn’t help
I’m sorry for every tear, Sorry you’ve been put through hell
Still I feel like an immigrant, Englishman amongst Arabs and an Arab amongst Englishmen
Like I said they never gave me the culture
But they did give me Kubdad Haleb,Hakaka and Dolma
Ana isme Kareem
Wa ohmre thalatha wa-’ishrun
Umi min Baghdad, wa abuya min Dover
And that’s the combination that I carry on my shoulders
Still I rep, till my death, till they kill and steal my flesh
From now all the way back to Gilgamesh
Such a villianized and criticized nation
You will always be the cradle of civilization

In my sleep, in my dreams Motherland I can still feel you calling me
In my sleep, in my dreams Motherland I can still feel you calling me
In my sleep, in my dreams Motherland I can still feel you calling me
I can still feel you calling me
I can still feel you calling me

Thank you so much for sharing this Charlie. While I don't usually listen to rap, your addition of "Conscious Rap" in the title drew me in.

I was more than pleasantly surprised with this - soothing melody with intelligent lyrics and a profound message. I look forward to sharing this with friends & family, there is much truth in the lyrics, especially this:

Forget division based on ethnicity or religion
Whether you Sunni, Shia, Kurdish or Christian
Pain is still pain if you’re a person that’s missing
We all deserve a life in this earth that we live in

Really glad that I came across this song tonight.

Good stuff, Maynard. This is what hip hop was meant to be about, which is why it was taken over and changed into gangsta rap. I'm glad to see its making a comeback over the last decade or so. But will it ever be mainstream? Probably not, because you can't go into a dance club and grind your privates up against a stranger to this kind of music... But we can always hope people will get their priorities in a more respectable arrangement.

a reply to: CharlieSpeirs

After a visit from the powers that be he has refrained from rapping such though provoking music..

Lowkey’s Home Raided & All Arabic Writing Confiscated

silencednomore.com...

a reply to: purplemer

I think topics that he discusses in this next song played a part in the visit you mention. It exposes many corporations for what they really are.

LOWKEY - HAND ON YOUR GUN (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO): youtu.be...

He has several others that were equally controversial.

Also, his lyrics are proof of his investigation skills, he is very smart, maybe he connected the dots to something really big and had to be silenced by threatening those he loves?

Saw Lowkey on stage in November 2013 as a special guest at an Akala show (fellow UK Conscious Rapper)...

He performed "Terrorist"...





If I could upload videos from my phone I'd show you him and also a few videos I recorded when I saw of Immortal Technique.

Anyways...
As far as I know, Lowkey hasn't been silenced, he just kicked back from music to study and do activism work.

His album is, according to him, 25 years in the making, and he probably felt it best to let that sink in rather than follow on with another album.

Great album too.



Also, he has done a few collaborations since he "retired"...

So I'd expect a comeback sooner rather than later.