Gbedemuke TV

17/05/2020

Ẹnu mi kò mà ní pa mí - May my mouth not kill me…

© Originally Written by: Ọ̀lọ́bẹ̀ Yóyọ̀n

"In Yorùbá thought system, as seen in the context of Yorùbá rhetoric, it is believed that in the abundance of words, there tends to be all the vices associated with self-destruction.

Often, to demonstrate this point, the tale of the legendary bird, òrofó (wild pigeon), would be told. Òrofó, having laid two eggs, stood by the roadside and gloated to the passerby, beckoning them to come and see her house full of eggs.

Well, the passerby went there, found two eggs and hauled them away for food. The òrofó tale was not only of pride and egotism on the part of the mother bird, but of inordinate verbal superfluity."[1]

King Sunny Ade put this in a broader perspective in his 1986 highly successful runaway hit album - “My Dear” (translation below)...

Nínú pẹlẹbẹ, nínú roboto
Nínú roboto, nínú pẹlẹbẹ
Dọdan ni k'ẹnu ó ṣe kan
Ẹnu ò dùn, k'ẹlẹ́nu pọn la
Ọ̀rọ̀ t'ẹnu bá sọ
Iṣẹ́ ọpọlọ ni yẹn

Ẹnu mi kò mà ní pa mí
Ẹnu mi kò mà ní pa mí o
Bí ti Òrofó, tó bí 'mọ méjì
Tó ní ‘lé òun ti kún ṣọ́-ṣọ́-ṣọ́

B’ẹnu bá ṣe pẹlẹbẹ tí o ṣe roboto
B’ẹnu bá ṣe kuduru tí ó ṣe sọnpẹ
B’ẹnu bá ṣe gọngọ bi kettle nọin
Èyí ó wù k' ẹnu o ṣe
Kó ṣá ti sọ̀rọ̀ ọgbọ́n jáde...

In English:
Either flat or round
I say, either flat or round
The mouth must choose one shape
No matter how sweet the mouth is, it cannot be kissed by its owner
Whatever comes out of the mouth
Is the work of the brain

May my mouth not kill me
I repeat, may my mouth not kill me
Like that of a wild pigeon, that hatched two eggs
And started boasting that her house is overfull with chicks
If the mouth is flat and not round
If the mouth is blunt and not sharp
If the mouth is pointed like a cheap kettle costing just nine pence
Whatever the shape of the mouth
As long as it speaks sense…

May I not join them is spreading fake news.
May I have the courage to resist the urge to propagate unsubstantiated claims.
May my fingers not type rubbish but listen to my brain before sharing unverified news.
May common sense guide my actions.
Àṣẹ

Reference:
[1] Falọla T, Genova A: “Yoruba Creativity: Fiction, Languages, Life and Songs” (2005)

©Ọlọ́bẹ̀ Yóyọ̀n

29/04/2020

OORUN ATAN’MO’S’OKO (YORUBA)

– The Sun that Tricks Children to Linger at Farm.

© By DELE AJAJA

“Young people acquire some of the life experiences they need to survive the complex world during their ‘TALES BY MOONLIGHT YEARS’ (elementary and middle school years.) Children are generally open, oblivious, and uncomplicated at that stage of life. Consequently, they view things in uncomplicated ways. They don’t think so much about the complex parts of life or the grey areas between issues – until they find out otherwise. For instance, children basically associate sun with daytime, and moon with nighttime. Among others, they often don’t ‘account’ for the grey areas between day and night (twilight) and night and day (dawn,) because they are more conversant with ‘daytime’ and ‘nighttime.’

Growing up in the late 60s, I recall the first time my cousins and I got tricked by the setting sun, and we waited more than necessary at my maternal grandfather’s farm. ‘Look, the sun is still up! We can hang around a bit more before heading home,’ reassured one of my cousins. Innocently, we associated the setting sun with daytime, and believed that we had more time to play around the farm. Suddenly, the sun disappeared beneath the horizon, and the darkling twilight set upon us. It was dark when we arrived home, and told the adults that the sun just disappeared suddenly. ‘Oorun atan’mo’s’oko (the sun that tricks children to linger at farm)!’ My grandfather clarified, with his characteristic innocuous grin.” – DELE AJAJA

IMAGE: Oorun atan’mo’s’oko, the sun that tricks children to linger at farm.

24/04/2020

Wishing all our Muslim brothers and sisters Ramadan Kareem!

16/04/2020

Welcome to Àkàgbádùn Hub Podcast. Àkàgbádùn Hub 👨‍🏫 is where we read different Yorùbá literatures only. 😌🥳 Presently we're reading _Ògbójú Ọdẹ nínú Igbó Irúnmọlẹ̀ by_ *D.O Fágúnwà*🧟‍♀🧙🏿‍♂🦸🏿‍♂🧟‍♂ Stay tuned as we roll out th...

04/01/2020

The Physics of Bàtá drums…

The tradition of bàtá drumming in Yorùbáland is at least five centuries. It was introduced by Aláàfin Ṣàngó. It developed an intentionally esoteric system of encoding Yorùbá speech in the form of encryption in order to communicate securely and exclusively with Awo (the insiders - custodians of Yorùbá esoteric knowledge).

While the bàtá once functioned exclusively as a cult and war drum within the Ọ̀yọ́ empire and communicated messages securely and exclusively to Awo, the drum’s talking technology and its textual material necessarily excluded Ọ̀gbẹ̀rì (the outsiders - lay people).

The methods of bàtá drumming developed to transform ordinary Yorùbá speech into a spoken code and then into a coded language once served the needs of cult secrecy. Over the years however, the social function of the bàtá drum has transformed dramatically.

The knowledge of bàtá drum texts and the coded language is called ẹnà bàtá. Sadly, as most Yorùbá are now Muslims or Christians, the number of alubàtá and àyàn drummers who are well versed in the art of bàtá drumming has diminished over the years!

Nevertheless, due to the dwindling Òrìṣà ritual practices, bàtá drumming is slowly creeping into secular realms, where it is used more to provide dance rhythms than for the transmission of semantic messages.

As the knowledge of ẹnà bàtá diminishes among alubàtá, the whole trandition of the Yorùbá bàtá as a talking drum is endangered and there is a great anxiety that Àyàn lineage knowledge of the bàtá’s encoding method, texts and musical repertoire will be permanently lost in Yorùbáland! Hope is not lost though because the art of bàtá drumming is florishing in Brazil, Cuba and in other parts of the Americas with Yorùbá diasporas.

The bàtá ensemble comprised of the lead drum - ìyáàlù, the second drum - omele abo and the small accompanying drum - omele akọ. The two largest drums (ìyáàlù and omele abo) have two heads with highly contrasting sounds, one mellow and slightly sustained (the ojú òjò), the other loud and high-pitched with high transients and a fast decay (the ṣáṣá).

The ìyáàlù and omele abo ojú òjò use several kinds of hand strokes. The open tone is played by striking the edge of the ojú òjò and letting the fingers bounce off the skin. To produce the mute tone, the hand stays on the skin and damps the sound, producing a slightly higher fundamental frequency.

For the slap tone, the hand moves towards the centre of the drum and the fingertips produce a high sound. The bílálà is a flexible raw hide be**er that is used to strike the ṣáṣá, which is not played with the hands in certain styles of bàtá drumming, each of the ojú òjò tones can be played simultaneously withe the bílálà stroke on the ṣáṣá.

Reference:
Villespastour A: “Ancient Text Messages of the Yorùbá Bàtá Drum: Cracking the Code” (2010).

Credit: Ọlọ́bẹ̀ Yóyọ̀n.

31/12/2019

Appreciation! Appreciation!! appreciation!!

Yinniyinni kẹ́ni ó le ṣẹ̀ẹ̀míǹ 😊
We're saying a big🥰😘🙏🏾 thank you to all our fans that have stood beside us throughout the year, we never for once underestimated your support because it's the furnace where we forge all our ideas and inspiration from.😇
Thank you so much, the Yorùbá say: he whom we extend goodwill to and refused to show gratitude, would definitely left one with the feeling liken to that of armed robbery experience. 😢🤕

😃We hope to get more of your support this coming years and we'd love to get your advice on how we can improve our contents.
Gbẹdẹmukẹ TV is saying thank you.😊🙏🏾
Ẹ ṣeun 🙏🏾 lọpọlọpọ ò, ojú kìí tiná alẹ́, ojú ò ní tì yín láṣẹ Olódùmarè.

We pray may God grant you the capability to go beyond limits in achieving your goals this coming year and we're pledging to serve you even better. 🥰❤

Happy new year, we pray this year gives you the opportunity fulfil all your positive heart desires. 🎇🥳🍾🌃🎆🍹🍾

30/12/2019

This is a sci-fi book written by our very own Alàgbà Bọ̀dé Ọ̀jẹ̀. Get your copy 😍

"Irinajo si'nu Ayedimeji" is the first Interstellar Sci-Fi written in the Yoruba Language.

This is a welcome development as our African languages must be set up as tools to open the African mind to all great possibilities.

Bode Oje can be reached for more information on the book.

30/12/2019

Lónìí ọjọ́😍 Ajé, k'ájé olókun ògúgúnísọ̀, ẹlẹ́gbẹ̀ta obìnrin onísọ̀ bòji, abánikọ̀yà lọ́jọ́ tó burú filè gbogbo wa ṣe ibùgbé.🤗 Ká ríná, ká rílò, ká má tọọrọ jẹ láṣẹ Olódùmarè. Ojúmọ́ ire ni ò 🙏🏾

29/12/2019

"IJAKADI LORO OFFA" 🤼‍♂

The Ijakadi festival 2019, in Offa is a celebration of culture and traditions of Offa people 🥰. The festival was colourful, historical, and intriguing and it has the potential to boost tourism in Kwara state. 💯💯💯

These images feature the Olofa of Offa, Oba Mufutau Gbadamosi (Esuwoye II) and High Chief Essa of Offa, Alh. Y. Bukoye in an historic Ijakadi battle.....🌚

©Olajide Kabir Oluwatosin

29/12/2019

Compliment of the season and a prosperous New Year ahead to all our fans, we're happy to announce to you we now have our page up and running. 🤗😍😘