I came across this song on people’s reels and stories, so I got interested. What is this song all about? Is there a meaning to this or is it just another Naija vibes without deep roots.
I took more interest when I saw a white lady jamming to the song, that was when I knew it was finished and I need to research the song.
There is something about music, it doesn’t matter if you understand the lyrics or not, it pulls you in and then you want to dance to it.
Let’s delve into the song.
Verse 1
Hey! Ah!
Ameno ameno…
Oyadepe kirin
Help me tell them how the thing goes (how the thing goes)
Dori me
Shebi meka tamoa
Say my pikin no go join cult
Ha, you want to bamba
You wanna chill with the big boys
Na you dey run kiti kiti
You dey run kata kata
No fit drink water drop cup
Ah! Hey
Shey you see how the thing goes?
Chorus
Ameno, oma nare imperavi ameno
Dimere, dimere, mantiro (Oya tell me na who blend you)
Mantire mo, ameno (and who and who?)
Oman are imperavi emu nare, ameno
Ameno ameno do re
Ameno dori me
Ameno do…
Verse 2
This one, this one no be kind deals
Go school, go school, you do dey press tools
And the parameters sef you wan dey form too
See even your papa no fit save you
For all the calamity wey him pikin don do
Men, all the nigga don dey find you
Cause that nigga wey you peff
Omo, e don puff
Oh boy e don puff
Ah! Hey
Come let’s go
Chorus Dori me, shebi meka tamoa..
Verse 3
Because you’ve made it to the top throne,
let me see what my godfather can do
Cause he is the Father to the fatherless
A mother to the motherless
And nothing no one can do
But promise not to fight again
Not to do anything that will hurt again
Cause if you do na him be say e go hot again
Another time you go run again, I swear
The song is a mix of pidgin English and Benin language. The theme of the song is cultism. One of the prevalent issues we have in Nigeria is cultism in our universities and it has extended its tentacles to some secondary schools.
Power is not something we joke with -coming from traditional roots where magic and the power of gods and goddesses are in full display, people fear anyone who has the ability to conjure these powers to harm other people either as a form of revenge or as a pure act of wickedness.
The rapper started the song by reminding people that if his son ever enters the university, he won’t join cult. When he said, you want to bamba’ it meant ‘you want get initiated?’ however, his son went ahead to join the cult because he wanted to chill with the big boys, he wanted to be a part of those who wield power on campus… In verse two, the rapper was asking him ‘tell me who blend you?’ he wanted to know the names of those who initiated his son.
One of the characteristics of these deadly fraternities is that they have different factions and are always at loggerheads. A particular sect may have fight with another sect and this will lead to their members losing their lives. They count scores with the lives of members who are died during a fight, so if sect A loses two people in a fight and sect B loses one person, that is 2 -1 in favour of sect A. Be assured that sect B will not rest until one person in sect A dies too. Now rival gangs are after his life and he is running helter-skelter for his life (you dey run kiti kiti, you dey run kata kata). This young man has done a lot of bad things, he has probably killed a cultist and they are after his life. This why some young people drop out of school, because they are running for their lives.
In verse three, the rapper tells his son, you’ve made it to the top throne, let me see what my godfather can do… We use godfather for men who may not be our biological father but was there for you in times of need. But the second line opens our eye further to the godfather he is referring to… He is the father to the fatherless. The only person we refer to as father to the fatherless is the Almighty God. In verse 3, the rapper was talking about repentance, if only this boy can decide not to live a destructive lifestyle anymore.
Goya Menor might have chose Ameno by ERA because whenever Big boys in Nigeria order for expensive drinks in a club, they start playing this song.
Imagine you are dancing in a club to your favourite music and suddenly the song changes to Ameno by ERA, you want to be a part of that. You want to buy expensive drinks, you want to be a part of the VIP club. Goya Menor may just have found the perfect song to pass his message across.
Ameno Amapiano is a remix of the original by ERA and it is meant to pass out a strong warning to young people. There is nothing good about cultism, it just another vicious way of life.
Booky Glover 