"Ruyö" ("Putting on fashionable clothes") - Young Magic

Ojullu Olem, stage name "Young Magic" is one of the most popular Anywaa artists in Gambella at the moment. He actually composes and records music on the side; his main job is as a lecturer in engineering at Gambella University. He found out he had a talent for music while mentoring some young rappers at a local youth center and released his own full album in 2018.

The album is stylistically and topically diverse. Young Magic uses traditional genres, such as the agwaa-ga and obeerø, as well as global popular styles such as rap and afrobeats. Some of the songs are about love, and others offer advice to the community. "Ruyö" falls into the latter category, telling listeners to not get caught up in fashion, laziness, and drinking but to work hard and cooperate with one another for the betterment of the community.

Young Magic says that one of his main reasons for becoming a musicians is to give guidance to his community. "As you can see," he said, "I’m not a president or I’m not a manager of some office, so the way that I’m gonna address my community...is [through] music."

Anywaa singer and composer, Young Magic
Young Magic, photo by author 2018

The audio, translation, and transcription are all included here. (Note that the bracketed portions of the translation are not in the original lyrics but are added for additional clarification).

Lyrics

Chorus

Ruyö paththa kwänynyö
Putting on nice clothes doesn’t mean you are a knowledgeable person

Ngäyu bëët na aciel aciel
Everyone knows this, every one of you

Bëëtö paththa kwøw
Life is not just for living [we have to do something productive]

Ni bängë jammi nyeng liel
When we have nothing we look dangerous

Yaa acäängngë näk mii jääk ki maay yi wïtta bäät dwaar
In ancient times, if you were bad at fishing, you could change your profession to hunting

Ri beenhnhi wïï ker gäätï no ba paathi ya apaar
So in this generation, do not be confused if you do not succeed in school [find something else to do]

Waae mo bung tietge wiiø geni ker tïïö ni luup kwuuö
Let us put aside gossip and nonsense things

Tïïö ki gïï mo duunnö
Let’s find something productive to do

Koro caar døny wøk tïïö
Instead of leaving [Gambella or Ethiopia], let’s make our living doing something productive here

Ya! Näk mo ngääö na cenø tiirø jöö nø
Ya! Let us come to our senses

Ocäädhï mëëth no oniidø wääth ongøønø
Let us walk slowly like the chameleon [to make progress]

Keec bung gïn mo wile røø manynya wic
Jealousy will never bring any change for us, let us leave it

Tägö ki wääth mo nyään mo cïppö ki metec
Let us start a new beginning that will bring happiness

Pøø nee døønge pëënya tïïc marø
Bringing change requires our effort and working together

Bung jur mo ööy ki wøk nee tïië ni beer røø
We should not expect another tribe to come and make positive change

Verse 1

Niine ba kännï ki wïïtö yi paac
Sleeping all the time will never bring change

Jøøa wa köö ni dwättö raac, kööa ni neenno døøc
Those of you who are against unity, I’m saying look at it carefully

Wïnynyï ki wangi, neeni ki ïthï
Listen with your eyes, look through your ears

Ocaani gøøni ki umï, wala paani nyïëdï
Tell it through your nose, how Gambella really is

Nee uudï comma Jwøki ki bango,
You think the house is built by God

Noo lïïmi kwany okuunï
But when you visit, there are biting insects hidden in the dust on the floor

Nee bëënyö kwanya piny ki bangi,
If you think success is so easy,

Jöö ngaam cii omäänyi
Then why don't you just go find it somewhere

Nee dwättö käla leny ki dëël,
If you think our coming together brings conflict with each other

Karate china okunyï
We can invite China to teach us karate [to fight each other]

Nee mëër ba kunyï dëërï,
If you think love is not useful for yourself

Kööa ni wëël Jwøk ker jeeyi
Don’t tear the Bible

Anywaae poot manynya gøøni døc,
The Anywaa are still in need of it

Ker per paani keeyi
Don’t be jealous for Gambella

Tööt a keec, keec a tööt ge bëët ge cööpa ri män
Lying is jealousy, jealousy is lying, both will lead us to hating each other

Køøre bee ni theema wiye, oløø nyïmö bang can
It’s best for us to leave this attitude, and unite to fight against poverty

Teek käla dwättö, käc [hunger] riema tïïc ocaanø
Unity brings strength, hard work will eliminate hunger

Kuutö, dwattö, dwattö kare dagø bee caa ennø
Coming together, unity, unity is important, our time is now

Paac tëënö gøøni ngää thäängë mo thiinh ajooda
ity will bring change to our region, I’ve seen some of it already

Verse 2

Ni dhaanhø bëëdë ni teek beenhnhø man paththa ruyö
For a person to survive in this generation, it’s not just putting on nice clothes

Wïï ker tïï no owïl okööy ni bëëtö bee muyö
Don’t forget and think that life is just about getting drunk

Bëënynyö mari keri kurö dhaanhø, bëëtë aay ni teenhö,
Don’t expect someone else to improve your life, because life is tough now

Wääth cooth manynya caath ni nyïm da gïn mo nëënö
You have to walk always expecting a bright future

Tïï, tïï, göödï, tïï nii cädö kiper paac,
Work, work, go to school, work, keeping our homeland in mind

Paani, paani ker wëëgu jiy, ker wieø nee bëëdë laac
We should not leave Gambella for others to work on it

Jïëdhï mo caath ni biyyø näk mo thööth jïtï okäli
There are many paths to success; if you see something good, make use of it for our region

Acaara mo raac ker caari dëërï ge bëët pöödhö wali
Don’t expect negative things for yourself, these hardships will pass

Ngaap mo ngaap bungngö mo jööt møøk käla mäc
You cannot accomplish without a struggle, sometimes it hurts like burning fire

Ni näk ø manynya nø pööthö wøk ki jaami tïïc ni ngäc
If we want to success in life, we have to make wise decisions

Dwöt ceng ki bung acaara bee jeni no käl jäk
Sitting without doing anything and without correct thinking will bring laziness

Dwättu re tïïc maro koro gaalø ki bëët anyääk
Let us unite and work together, don’t be confused by passing on responsibility to others

Gïnu tïïc wat ni beer pere ker cängö keeyø
When you see someone doing something good, don’t be jealous [just support them]

Bëëta ageem, ki mane, ajeeny mwøgø bëët manynya gø nee kwierø
Living with conflict, hatred, and discrimination, we should ignore all of this

Gïn mo raanya bëëtö mara acätö bäätë nee neena
I examine myself for these things, what is destructive and what is not destructive

Nee bëëtö beeda naa aba lwïththï ngää ni bëëta beeda bee ni kïïna ha!
If I live without examining myself, that will bring suffering on myself, ha!

Bëënynyö mo cak ni zero teek manynya ngaap mo dwøng
Making change from level zero is difficult, it needs great effort

Koro cäädhö jaak no pärö jaay neenø dëëtö dikwøng ha!
We should not move forward taking shortcuts, but evaluate ourselves first

Credits and Bibliography

Ojho Othow Ojullu (transcription, translation, and coordination)