BRAND NVBIAN – Brand Nvbian (1989)

Brand Nubian is an American hip hop group from New Rochelle, New York, composed of three emcees (Grand Puba, Sadat X and Lord Jamar), and formerly three DJs (DJ Alamo, DJ Sincere, and DJ Stud Doogie). Their debut studio album, One for All (1990), is one of the most popular and acclaimed alternative hip hop albums of the 1990s, known for socially conscious and political lyrics inspired by the teachings of The Nation of Gods and Earths.

The Nubians are a Nilo-Saharan ethnic group indigenous to the region which is now Northern Sudan and Southern Egypt. They originate from the early inhabitants of the central Nile valley, believed to be one of the earliest cradles of civilization. In the southern valley of Egypt, Nubians differ culturally and ethnically from Egyptians, although they intermarried with members of other ethnic groups, especially Arabs. They speak Nubian languages as a mother tongue, part of the Northern Eastern Sudanic languages, and Arabic as a second language. Brand Nubian is a pun between “Brand New” and “Nubian”.

One for All (1990) is the debut studio album by American hip hop group Brand Nubian. The album was highly acclaimed for its politically charged and socially conscious content. Sales never matched the wide acclaim — the album has only sold 350,000 copies as of May 2013 — but it has remained in print since its 1990 release. The album is mainly produced by Brand Nubian, but it also features production by Skeff Anselm, Stimulated Dummies, and Dave “Jam” Hall. The album’s production contains many motifs of hip hop’s golden age including James Brown-sampled breakbeats and funky R&B loops. The album is broken down track-by-track by Brand Nubian in Brian Coleman’s book Check the Technique.

[Verse 1: Lord Jamar] Brand Nubian function A junction of three, collaborating in a style that’s like funk To slap palms, swing arms, tap a soul Cause no rock rolls down our hill Yo black it’s kinda ill, we don’t roll no rocks we just fill Heads with knowledge, pure foundation Showing and proving through the manifestation Of our name which is “Brand Nu” Brand Nubian and we’ve come to Make the people aware that black means first Four hundred years we’ve been made to feel cursed But now, it’s our time to rule Student of the old, teacher of the new school My inspiration is the Five Percent Nation As I cram, education was born Like a thorn in your side I have sworn Never to divide with Brand Nubian

[Verse 2: Sadat X] You have to stand as a black man, Brand Nubian From the Sudan plus I never ran I’m from Africa, the central region There I grew and formed a legion of a force See me riding on a jet black horse, at any cost Brand Nubians will rise up and be the boss and show it All fairness if you’re black and show awareness You can rally ’round the flag Stand tall, or don’t stand at all You’re with the three and the three won’t sag to the floor Besides the picture that I’m painting I can draw See me work nine to five on my easel My physical is strong and my mind is cock diesel Brand Nubian function in conjunction with the three You might also like All for One Brand Nubian Wake Up (Reprise In The Sunshine) Brand Nubian Najwa Farouk – Mawjouaa Galbi (Romanized) Genius Romanizations [Verse 3: Grand Puba] Brand Nubian, not on a bandwagon following a fad Making use of the knowledge that we already had Grand Pu, here to send the mind into a frenzy I bet I’ll swing something this summer for the Benzi Seep into the mind the brain and activate the pelvis Keeping the blind, dumb, deaf, and blind is Elvis Meaning old, so behold (The black, the beautiful, the bold) Now if this falls short, I’ll try harder A wisdom to me is someone like Assata I’d like to say peace to Bambaata Tasah Kuma(?), Ahmed, and Kenyatta Brothers that’ll fight for the cause And they live in the boundaries of the righteous laws To be exact, dominant means black But some have a hard time trying to swallow that Now we have some that are fake Wearing blue eyes and green eyes, come on, gimme a break Brand Nubian here to wake up Take off the makeup, ’cause all it’ll do is cake up Just be real that’s how I feel Brand Nubian

[Outro] Nubian, a native or inhabitant of Nubia Nubian, A member of one of a group of African tribes that formed a powerful empire between Egypt and Ethiopia from the 6th to 14th century Nubian, any of several languages spoken in the central and northern Sudan And that’s why we call ourselves Brand Nubian As the midnight oil burns, our minds turn Make a mistake and be fake and you’ll burn We’re here to teach so you’d might as well learn That the tree has the knowledge for what you yearn Brand Nubian