Mbala

by Ochuka

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  • Full Digital Discography

    12
    releases

    Get all 12 Ochuka releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Telomere, Mbala, Proof of Life, The EP, I Give You Nothing But My Soul, Dua Ya Nafsi, A Cute Melancholia, Soul, and 4 more. , and , .

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1.
Intro (Faded) 02:07
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|Verse| They say you’re alive Phenomenal like Maya Angelou’s bird Beating its bloody wings till the cage disclose Possum on the road, bleeding from inside Roll the dice every night the body hurts, There was no breathing we cried Faded denim felt like, ripped off pieces of designer cloth lines Swiping debit, she got a thing for designer bags she can’t afford Costing more than the rent, living on second floor These dreams roll the dice like comet tails swallowed by black holes Even when you chase on the same accord Big heart carries all the pain of feeling more I would devote all my time and you’d hate me for it But if I didn’t, I was broke then you’d hate me more Paid dues and death encounters I had a handful bruh I could’ve left before expected, I had no death proof luck Remember signing my Eulogy on that hospital scrub Bypass sirens, singing with the ambulance, When the body would cramp By-stand, signing burdens at the cyber café This is how you breathe, homie, fuck the absurd Once the innocence pricks, You got the guilt of the blemished lamb Me and death, chess board, Playwright versus the gambler Fireflies versus bulldozers and caterpillars Mozart, toe to toe with symphonies of Mahler I’m metaphor more than that Bless the vision, feels like what we are, we are I had to say it with my chest wide open, it’s from the heart Put my soul in this, if cancer was my karma, true feel the contrast I’m trying to clock life with the blooming flowers Throw me mine, closed caskets, let the soils devour Raw bars, something sensual for your linguistic nerve I’m trying to love from a true place of love Fuck statistics, I done bended my soul to survive flat curves Burst tyres and burst vessels, even went on & borrowed love I’m not just a body A puddle of combustible particles, A piece of developer’s code defying miracles and logic I got resilience of old dying stars Silence is my poetry I got infusions with deep polymaths, vinyl bleeding with needles deposits And when I am gone They’ll excavate my dinosaurs to study the lyrics and the fossils Old soul, since Mother Mary, my soul is in my scars. |Refrain| Why I give my time to all my greatest vices? Know everything costs, but never pay the prices You don't feel it when they say it 'cause they faked the writing See you niggas say you artists, but can't paint it like us.
2.
Outbreak 02:24
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Bless your soul, Ink my nectarines, on these scrolls Undercover, use my chest as a pillow At times I hate you When you smell like war, When you bleed like a, red rose I howl at the moon When you’re far, I code these Messy love notes Call your phone to soothe my ache Blush when emojis sauce the texts I taste the drips of your lips on my thoughts Mushy, I hate it, I grow emotional I want you in the rawest form Inhale your soul and grow love poems When you smile I go mellow I’m like, “Chill, you pretty much a distraction.” You circle the cycle Comeback with more trouble “What’s that thing you do with your eyebrows?” I’m curious I wanna know What’s your truth? Can I show you pretty birds in the park? With you it’s different Stormy eyes, quiet like my own Show me your pain, bring your scars My lips plea with the stars How are memories told? I’ve been broken too, no sugarcoat But to the far seas, like a river, I flow Heavens pour down We stand strong through the storm Spin the marbles, Never worry about what fate brought We all bleed Standing before you with all my six senses Your skin is my crime scene With folded eyelids, I know how to make you breathe You’re my open mic surgery My lines of henna, you healing me Just breathe, write my name on the windowpane You’re that beautiful key, your secrets are safe with me In sands of time I be looking for your footprints Use the arrows drenched in the ink Build a journey, It’s us against the rhyme of the beats Show me your soul Let me sail in the sea under your skin Smell my rose Let me be your lighthouse And when you’re lost You know you can always find home I do, in many ways, so many different ways, always.
3.
Martine 03:44
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I know it’s been a while Maybe I am a little too late Maybe stars are diminishing their faults I figured you would wait Like all the lining of destiny would bring us back together But reality checked, you moved on past forever Pluck the blues you faced And I knew it With a head full of bruises And a heart deprived of all light I was, Too used to these signs In my mind, I did it all before Too sick of holding on Too sick of falling for So, I took it the blame that wasn’t & I called it yours I was sure that it was right Although I knew the price, I never thought I’d have to pay it so I threw the dice That’s on me, And it will be forever Guilt without the pleasure Still I seem measure every aspect of comparison Hold your reflections on my traits Dark night if the soul, that derailed your train I was battling the rough patch For a minute I forgot to dance with you in the rain Maybe it’s the metaphors & optics Thinking that my void in your life was that insignificant With all the things that you were going through Surrounded you I was just a drop in the ocean that was drowning you So take the blade And cut the tall grass reaching for the skies where you rest Still regret every call I never answered What would have made you feel safe, now is a thing I cannot change. I can see your soul I can see your smile Everywhere I go You’re by my side I can see your soul. All this time I was cursing you for quitting For giving up on trying to say sorry to a person who won’t listen For saying you won’t forgive me if I ever stopped breathing I was living I couldn’t understand the pain But I really wasn’t looking for the answers And abandoning the answers I threw it all to the wind Abandoning the judgment, my blue in in the grief Maybe it feels better now, have you forgiven me? Because I knew it The defense you were using It was meant to be, between your freedom in how you heal It was meant to be defense, between the free & codependency I feel the fire that left the open flames All the while it was grey, till the night we overcame I let the anger blind to justify concerns If I never tried to catch you, won’t learn But in time, we bore spaces to get the lessons, man To never bear to hold a grudge you can’t keep forever You can’t press rewind Everytime I sit and think you gave up trying to call You probably wondered how I couldn’t see the signs at all Looking down at me from heaven, if there is one Watching as I act like I didn’t feel the drift Sailing further with your cross Felt bad about placing every count of blame Painting it as your fault, but counting it about the same What I wondered if you saw me breaking through You said you hoped I feel the loneliness of my own death I was to hurt to face the truth I really hope my love reached all the times your pain would crowd That hasn’t changed You’re the reason for this rawness The reason for the courage The person that I became, to harness The name to be Of lessons I took from life, with every day I breathe And since I never got the chance to say I’m sorry Martin Rest in peace, I miss you every day! I can see your soul I can see your smile Everywhere I go You’re by my side I can see your soul.
4.
Feel it in the Air 03:45
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Kare gin gwen chieo oduor to olo uwi Piny osiko, oruu gimage, wang’ otimo dudi Arieyo fuondi Ang’ulo hapa ka pok chieng’ olenyo thoo e it lum mang’ich Miyo chur, Thomoni omonjo dala, dhok puodore e kul Tach chumni otore but da-pii, Tielo animo e pii, lekna duto mag baro buk Sama ng’ut rwedhi rwako jok Nyangile goro picha magalagala e kor ot Gimoro chija, to denda winjo koyo Dhano winyo, dhano opija, bedo dhano hono Pong’ to pod rego mos, ng’ako mogo Ofuko be pod suoso e bwo loo manyo omuogo Liech katicham nyaka iwe kech okinyal geng’o Yien tur e kor lwasi, ka pok odongo Otula kaw vako mos Arum tidi olokore japidi otimo kos Sano to Luya chotna, muya chokna to chunya podho Lowo palore kwer puro modhno Puothe tindojony onge miyo Thuondi tiwayiko, mieche tiodong’ lilo Dana nyabiero tinde nyako oromo Rabuor malando mamuol tinde ool nono: “Kalambi kir ng’og e buk Nyathina akwani chir gi chia gi rieko matut.” Kwe kende Dana, inemimiyo chunya tur Katobedo ni kora thung’ To denda goya ngero, gimora amora dwaro chung’ Genona sira pile Adoko dhano adhana, akwayoni ngima maber mochwere chuth! Nam kwar, ang’ich welo ochido Dhoga omoko gi dwal, winy ero pod gedo Yiedhi kwang’ e I ataro kamanyo geno Koth odudo to uno diek ogajore e kuth pedo Dhok odenyo saa abich to pok agonyo Buya tindogawo puotha ndi ma kata adoyo Atek tagwari, Dunia mokili, Ogola Wuod Adoyo Malit osiko, to be ichiko iti ne nonro? Osiep gi wat tindeiuso e chiro, atek maloyi Lwenj tonge gokumba orumo Lang chunje mager, wasigu tindodak e del, ogo duol Telo tindoba yoo, ng’enyne onge duol** Kuo t’alanga, yore otimo kalagakla thuol Moko chilo omieno, dum tong’ mokuok Kind siro gi tado, ere duong’? Koth ka onge, to kodhi oknyag malong’o Dhier lit, ma samoro kakithiedhi nyalo tami Tuo hera be onge ga manyasi? Jomoheri kendo ogeni, e mbeseni Chieng’ kimote badi, to del oner, remo ringo e lecheni Moko omor kodi kapok masira osandi, to pok onyieri e leke jii Pok ojari kendokwedi e mbeke gi Bed motang’ e wecheni Miwacho okanimuony kendo, odiechiengegi Mokalo okanoduog kendo, winj weche gi! “Mor mauneneo E piny kaa, enokalo ka yamo…” Kawuono ingima kiny muya ochot igamo Juogi ila kabet e laro, gwen asangonegi okaka e aguch tao Tao filosofia e siganda tindagano Ngima dhano chalo oguyo mafuyo ka manyo kar jot Ndalo chuok, manyinyore ler bende pod top Miero liekore apoya nono Dhano duto inyuolo gi ng’ol, to moko yudi e dongo Kamokuot nyalonegi Kamonegi eminenogodo nendi Nendi no e duogo miling’o godo tugo e bur otonglo Otonglo taim, ochumi rach, makatigo otong’o Pesa to sabund chuny otimo buoyo Rateng’ apimo piny, maembe dodo olwar e kuoyo Mwandu dwono Roya mogen, be ich buogo Dola moketne piny owacho, jii yako Dabed ajuoga dahosora athiedhna dhoho Machiwo ok gowi Mamiyi gi chuny maler ok olal e rumbi Ma thum miwero gi nyadhi Dag aming’a chieng’ gan ne ji Ochuka ne jadolo, timbena nodong’ ka rapar ne ji Chieng’ ka mach owang’o decha Juoka chieng’ odong’ chien, thu tinda!
5.
Stargazer 03:31
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Part I Night unfolds From dark space, the birth vehicle where light is unborn Veins with adorable pins The first vowel settles inside the womb carrying fire for seeds There are three holes for grief The first stanza crawling back to the pit Bringing forth the surveyors For the garden is full of black roses Months are razorblades, And peeling canvases grow from unknown riddance Where do stars go by day? Some evenings, I reminisce of what we would not become, and I pray For courage when the orange ball settles with the dust When these flowers are broken, And fires purifies blades of grass Warriors growing beautiful seeds through their scars That’s me, Outerspace, the last standing vowel impressed on streets full of speeding cars Hope is my retainer Domains stroked by wooden pencils and I, Rise from the lasers My breath is my serenity Ng’a ma ngima pok odhier Ngima e mew, berne en hera man kod yie Find me writing hymns with star gazers Naked I came, clothed with courage beyond measure I pray for guidance As I walk through the trouble waters They say pain is a hidden valour And scars are medals without which life is never conquered Part II We are born from veins raptured Pages torn from the forests, canopies dead for another Rebirth My smile carries love So long as the beat goes on Remember my metaphors when they penetrate our common souls Vessels adorn my heart with the arrows Battle, violins can make you cry, So music made me a survivor I delight in healing Crowned where the future is couldn’t pull no plug Sad letters blood-written drying in the rug The doors of dawn Star gates unveil the light of lovers Awaken Isiah bones in these stanzas Homage to Hezekiah, Airforce, roses and gunpowder Walk the valley of death, and defeat shadows of cancer Chariots lead For loved ones who are gone Granma used to say the tongue is just another river He took Nature from dirt Rooted us with the seeds of the universe Son of woman, The ocean is my road Souls stare from their sleepless coffee, deep Solitaire how I glisten these chess odds stuck against me Are you gone hold my hand? Skies are full of rings, let my fingers conceive I guard your wisdom with my dreams The end yields strength from calls of distress Baby be like water Weaver birds soothe me and make me mellow With these gifts bless you forevermore Thorns Battlefields and headstones Torn Adlibs can pen flowers as the hedge grows Wither roots of diseased flowerpots I belong where alchemists sojourn Scars don’t decide which pain I carry home Metals seeded where I hurt most The last hand to hold me better be divine & gentle Looking for heaven while the soul is unbound It ain’t hard to tell If I am nurse or harpist or playwright or psalmist I am the manifest, The painter with the brush The poet unclaimed, without the ink, there’s blood I’m the portrait, symposia orator, imposter philosopher’s stone I’m the prophet, fusing to profess the alchemy I’m the sage, the evolution of an old soul’s divinity It’s hard to choose if I am nothing or everything.
6.
Light Years 05:08
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Ratili ya lawama kwa kichwa Tangu ni tear out of uterus ya mother Nametameta ka glitter ya stardust, eternity ni further Miba zishajidunga ndani ya moyo, tangu maternity, sorrows nimegather? Interstellar, skiza sauti ya grandma, kabla hata sikuwa nimeandika Dear Maria Iza Bella, Destiny yako ikuletee Kwe my dear Nimeweka rare gems kwa nyimbo sikufaa kuandika Kuturn despair na pain into triumph, sijui ka niget deeper? Kariako, nimecarry potter begani Harakati ya kufinyanga mchanga, nianze kutour ramani Window ni ya johari, Life yangu tu ni script, ka maua na umande, breath yenyewe ni gari Maafa zinakuathiri, hauwezijiganga mwenyewe roho Ni ile shimo la tewa Ni zile misimu za kudhoofika singekewa Unalea juu ya jukwaa Mahali uzi unaziba, sindano ilishawacha wazi ufa Ni ka meli ya taabu inazama ndani ya barafu Ni ka malighafi, nafsi kunusa karafuu Mbele ya kioo, nauliza maisha nimpe nini? Nahisi ka kiputo, matope chafu ndani ya dimbwi Najiambia vitu geni, juu vile nilivyojua siezitena tumaini Kinachonipa machungu ni kile sieziguza ndani ya mwili Mahusiano ya fikra zangu ndani ya daftari Mifupa zangu chuma chakavu, wanasema moyo ni maradhi Ingawa mvua ni mafumbo ndani ya vumb Elewa, sinema zilitafsiriwa zikapuuzwa ndio zinajirudia saa hii Elewa pia, majibu ndio zinaleta maswali mengi Kila day najiskuma siendi Sixteen on death row Kila February, surako ndio unikeep alive Kila dakika, kila siku, kuna mwisho wa kipindi Kila dakika, kila siku, kuna mwanzo wa kipindi Najitunza ndani ya fumbo, ndani ya tungo Kilo ka mbili nusu, nakubeba ndani yangu kama sorrow I tell you right now, it’s more than love (Amour et peines, douleur et genes) I tell you right now, it’s more than love (Amour et peines, douleur et genes) Ka ningeweza kurudisha wakati nyuma Lakini nostalgia huwa na tendencies za kujikashifu na lawama Nawezajitazama ndani yako, mbele ya kioo Shahidi wangu akuwe zile thoughts nimebury ndani But from a distance You’re in my mind like these words I can’t speak Dear daughter Me tu ni nafsi imeundwa kujifariji chini ya jua, mwezu na nyota Naigiza maisha, ni ka mto kujitazama ndani ya maji Kama vile ndoto ya bara, kutamani za bahari Flicker za eyelash Nikifumba macho nione hio point iko hidden ndio nicrash Raw impact, ni ka nimeguza break imefail, Kutazama dunia kwa kuta zimecrack Kati yangu na dilemma naface, Most times ni kuogopa labda nitawalet down my love Siku sitaki nizunguke maua, nikingoja kwa foleni, I feel trapped Ni ka night na day ni one Ni ka life na death ni kama zero sum Niko lost sijielewi, Ni ka silhouette grotesque, najioni chini ya slab Abandoned by nothing Relieved of everything I got boats swimming in my eyes, I long to find a way to you, I long to find my way home. Kuta za mjini zinanikumbusha hauko hapa tena Umande unayeyeyuka, sembuse kula nyama mbichi mile roho imependa? Mimerewrite script over and over, sijui ka prescription ya sorrow ilikuwa part of the agenda? Life ni tragic, escape ya kwanza itakurudisha tu back to the sender Life ni tragic, estate ya blunder itakukaribisha too bad to the highest bidder Unavyozidi kuelewa, ndio burden ya fare pia inaongezeka Mbio speedy, hakuna cha kunidhibiti napojikwaa Dear O, I’m off my elements without you Inaniuma kila day, hakuna kitu naezafanya juu Nimejipoteza kwa gharika, machungu ndio zangu Nilipokuwa down, Nilijitoa kama lightwarrior, kunikinga dhidi ya imani nimepoteza this part of town Sanaa saa hii kwangu ni clown Naenda nikirudi, ni ka nimechizi brain, sipati tena maana kwa vitu vilinifariji vikanipa way out Body inauma Hata sifeeli kukaribiwa, juu nikoback kujiona bila hata huruma Ni ka maisha ndani ya mawe Ni ka juogi imenitoka sina fasihi za Dawe Dear soul I’m collecting your memories Piling up your past beyond the tragedies They say even the most tragic plots wind up in the glossary The dead took it The ones alive take it Cures in eulogy, Everyone knows pain, it’s all in the script But some pains are more pain than others And some days I wish I didn’t know pain, so I wouldn’t know love.
7.
Ink na Uzi 02:48
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Nafsi umeshindana na hofu, Ramogi alilia, hatutakunywa maji ya Victoria, na ajali ya daraja Sondu Kila kovu huwa sio fani tu Maisha sio jani tu Baada ya dhiki zote kutakuwa na daraja tu? Penseli, wino na uzi Pia sensei, duara likichorwa na tafsiri za mkufunzi Lifeless, fani ime-stretch ka behadani Kesho huwa haikuji na ilani Inakukuta juu ya sakafu, wanasema kufa kwa mtu huwa lonely Anga inafunua fate ya kila mtu chini ya ramani Ndani ya sayari Jalada ya mwisho, msalaba tatu za mbao begani Mbingu ikitemea ardhi dua yake, Wanaotazama nyota au kungoja mbalamwezi kugeuzwa bloody Misery ilikuwa wino, Tragedy ilikuwa just another, bahari bila glory Sick of being strong, Parody maua iki-push IV further kwa veins, and all they could do is feel sorry Hook: Anatema: ndoto hazimfai, (ramani kupoteza hadhi) Anahema: msongamano njiani (in na uzi kwa dibaji) Wanasema: jogoo anachovya alfajiri Kilemba siku njema mabaya yanakujabadili Hauwezizuia hii matope mainzi kuifyonza Mwoga hajifariji, mjasiri hafumaniwi Bonde chafu, Mifupa ni malighafu Mother alidungwa visu, Badala ya orgasm na love, bloodrush Tumours zina njaa, The same treasure, udhaifu unazidi kuiwinda The same measure, fundi wa mawazo hachumii mchezo ukiisha Mind ni canvas, Ku-trade suicidal thoughts, Dispenser ikitema moshi ya glock [paw] Machozi, maua, mbao na hadithi juu ya kinanda Wino ulimwaga Uzi uli-needle, Mali ya gardener Tanzia saa zingine huwa silver bullet kwa rifle Na kila time Sio kila anwani maandishi za rambi huficha funeral chini, right? Na kila time Al inkishafi, chunga kiganja inaezakuwa baraka au guns clapping Graves rocking, soul choking Insha siku mawe za nyumbani zimeshatter dirisha ya jeneza Black Cotton, wino ku-spilliwa kwa uzi kuongeza memories kwa graveyard Hook
8.
Okano Wach 05:18
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|Verse 1| Nyakwar Awuor nyamin Andawa Nyangee rawuoth, gwethni nenolamna gi dana Sama rumbi gudore, to polo piach e wang’ taya Ouko Taya gi Mboya wuod chula Owagi Baja Mbai, Musa Ja-Usonga Makambo Otieno tinde ere wuod Ochuka Yawuoyi maratipo ayula oyudho ninde chuodho Kodh ajiki da Apuke ka pee mago wi rabondo piny mawendo Mor alenya emanyong’o kech mar dek Rapar Gor Daniel, Lori ridore Daraja Sondo, Ramogi neywak ni pii nam okanwamodh kendo Masira machimi kod kech Masira mahimi kod del mapon gi rem Masira machieli lero nyalo puonji be? Masira ma— Kindaki, They say prayers are a waste of wishes Mier ket, Ohula mane mol mos, tindedaro ji e gweng’ Sama lwedo bidho togo mond losgo par Jothurwa paro otamo ng’ado rieko chal mabusu e od twech Nayango e lela, Kataywagora e mudho gi dwe To odiechieng’ okanine wang’a gi pii wang’ machwer Kata juogi ila ka liel ma iye nigi bie Aseketo chunya a ratil, Sitoo Pamba, Nyakawa dala Anywang’ oromo bawo adhonda gi lwet jatheth Nabiro bayo, yandasiko awuoro kaka thim lich Pado pek, Chalo puth rambaka wasika nigi ting Balo ber, Ochuka Raballa, A moment of silence for the Third President Kaw kuth konga mondigwargo rapar thuondi who are not here today Yie kwang’ e I ataro marateng’ Piny oyuso, oganda oramo manyo loch e od lee Marewa mach, Wachulo gop Misiani Janabi, piny obiro yore, piny obiro marach Agwata tinde onge, Chiro tindopodho, madaknuweye Agwenge ochamo luche? Sama pala hadho ng’ut rwath to dhok mamoko tho gi lum e dhoggi Mtaa mayutmen tinde oloko nying gin mana mbogi Mbla koo gwen, tie lori kanyo yawuoyi are catching bodies It’s flat-out gender wars Violence & trauma has replaced the charity at home Pap iye lach, Jo amen nitie (jomayware rimba be gi ich makwar) Jo peng’ nitie, (nyanjawo owiro dhoge mor makwar) Jo survey nitie, (mogawo mar otit mach kod fwambo) Jo min wach nitie, (bao ting’o pek sama ngima sandi kendo itar) Ford gi buya ogawo nam, jopiny ywakne Otieno Achach Chung yamo, yamo ger Tuk tapo, siasa tinde mana mila, geno onge be Flames of ink & black gold I spark like a rebel soul, Diminish the blur between broken hearts soaking in its own pain Though the soul is heavy, Mind levitate, where guns grew the roses died and left My mind recalibrates, They thought I’d die, spit on my grave But Carolyn’s son, Mary mother, I still survive the worst grades Rock bottom we dream in power, leaving our fathers shaking in their graves! |Hook| Rapar moko ageno gi lala, Moko naweyo wich owilgo mond alogodo bura An e yoo, gotiko, sigandwa mar welo Kaponi duogo kitam, to chieng’ nalalra mana gi geno Kakanadogi, bende biro bedo kaka neabiro? Gi lith lwetagi, masira duto okanotama ng’ado nengo Who says life is what you make it, When really life is what makes you? |Verse 2| Pedi no, da! An mana buya marach motiap e puodho Ringre nyalo feli, But it’s all good Piny maruu gi mage to nyaka ne chieng’ ka podho Ngima otong’o weyo del ka nigi ng’ol ma ok nyal geng’o Lwedo ong’ak bang’ tich matek mar doyo Koth chwe, iwiro cham bang’ komo Koth bel wang’ achiel ka wang’ Maria yuora to neno piny mabor Pong jachwech rego mos That’s why we grind stones to feed fodder of the body into flesh Jaber bergi pokne, Samohoyi torango wang’I kendo obuonjo kodi mos Wendo ber gi chiane, Symphony, ka samoonge to chunyi chandore mabor Lowo rido nyaka ich ma pok muoch okayo Mana kaka thum bende chogo juogi ma chuny opando Mana kaka thagruok osiko, lit koda paro Kama e kaka piny kod kite ochano Buru mayiki donge e mano ma in iwuon yande ichamo? But tuoni iwuon, Kata isangri yath manade to moni chango? Spend a life with the body in battle From the womb of the cradle till you bite dust with joy and sorrows Masira en lweny Kinde kalo, koth chwe to chieng’ rieny To ondiegi nyiero e wii got Winja maber, Agenoni muya maler, Chango ne del… With less pain and struggles through nights and days (Nights & days) And if you gone before storytellers cry your songs Before your child can crawl From the balance of your arms and the watch of your soul Like wars & battles that left our mothers tired and old Guide all my wonders through every road that leads home Blowing a wish upon the stars For every day arrives and become bygones You can’t balance love with just a pint of love And if all returns, Let me cherish the days that I was brave enough to follow my heart. Let me collect the memories that I shared with all I loved.
9.
Less of Heaven 03:32
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We came from graves buried like seeds In fates we change soul to wealth and deposits Empty my arm, I wanna feel alive Scarred too bad we even wound to cry At night Jostle with prayers on muted lips Cryptic, the currencies We use axes to peel the axis And still no mortgaging heaven Hemorrhaging all our problems On these page, deprive defeat with something like faith Wet thumbs caressing elements of consents Scraps for medals, we not too broken Ain’t no death, when rebirth is in our pockets Nature’s forces when we rivet Pens to the journals Dry voices on the record Cracked clay before wet foliages Expose our deaths to the open skies Hinge the bolts of surviving these modern days And still we daughter our lovers And mother unknown fathers Like stolen phones in a city of unlocked servers Snaking through bellies, the nausea is venomous Tokens fall, power lines drop Cure no body if the mind never blossoms Give no heaven for anyone avoiding they faults Then the midget seeds grow enormous Seen beauty through pool puddles of blastoma Swimming pools with drowning death under the lastoplast We are the last of first How can there be more, the drifts minimise to lesser I’ve got temperaments of coded aggressor Hold the villain where the story tethers On these tropics we trope abstract genres See hell full of fathers Welcome to the apophenia Too much woods in the wire, seesaws we puzzle the lumberjacks And fuck surgery and all those ugly scars Or death designed in footnotes of laws of contract (bind you in the name of sick bars) 9 years going decade , Survivor Prognostics with the keys, my metaphors are still gross We afraid to look soul in the eye Or judge the Pen by the way the judge’s hammer cries It’s hip hop, Nuh, it’s lofi, levitating so the world can dresstop I’m a fraud Like toxic frog menu for the snakes to catch Too much pain between a woman’s heaven to call love So we yell gazers of stars, close cut And step into the world, with beats in the heart Who are we? We is atoms peeling life out of graphite, raw We is walls that couldn’t catch the slide, fall We are born losers Philosophers with every kiss we give the booser Africa deployed to
10.
Blackjack Soul 02:48
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11.
Monastery 02:29
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And I will, need you halfway Like lone stars, Drifting far away Close my eyes, Soul search & immerse myself in wonder Stripping pencils, I broke down when I saw you in the hearse Suited, pinstripes I lost count then; I show you in my heart Shoelace, ignites The saddest thing was seeing my hero brother breathless A hole in my chest, a void in your place But every rat meets their own cheese traps, and runs their own race I’m slippin’ Fred, I miss you dawg, rest in peace DMX Taking pills to bargain with my pains If the dance last forever or just a day I’ll need another stretch The birds still chirp, man Fast cars or old moving trains I’m miseducated Low hills use to seem big, Mountains of agony I climbed and put them below my feet Twelve bars for fellow scribes who dig my creed Roses spill their colors on hospital scrubs But we still use breath to write life on concrete slabs I’m still on a journey, I got soul Our wounds listen, Feed the mind & watch the body heal slow Our blues glisten, Feel the light & what the lonely winds blow I still got records aching in my bones What is it like to hold myself against the crutch is still untold Someday, They’ll find a big river in my source They’ll walk with me halfway home Through the light that don’t get lost: Hook Love and sorrows Last, so long Absurd, boredom Heart, cradle Say grace and cry out, yesterday was tomorrow Fireflies inside I’m a butterfly Two side Gemini, I nourish myself day & night Prayers chini ya candlelight Yesterday we mourn, tomorrow our souls unite They say once you breathe you roll the dice No wonder, the ironies coincide Atoms collide on footprints to flatten the strides You can’t just let, the coin decide The sun still shines The son still breathes a kiss of life across the skies From places of love We had to show bruises To live beyond low life and blue days What is it like? Maybe there ain’t no love, if there is no sorrow Push your lamp through the dark, that’s how you hold on To rise from the ashes & mould from the wreck Halfway Proof of life, that’s all remains.
12.
Nana 03:18
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I wish I could see through See deep into you And now what you thinking now Mary Sabina Amollo, nyar Tobias Achieng’ nyar Francis born, August 23rd Heaven sent for real, mother I am full of life Collins Darren Wycliffe aka Omondi Ochuka Born morning daystar, that’s me the good Doctor Black-Rose curator, Professor Flowers, rivers and overseas In the midst of pain, and heartache I wish the vinyl would prick, the soul’s place They say when the sun becomes orange That’s when we praise the days Sunset, first born, a girl becomes a mother out of pain A boy is a gun Where roses graced, guns grew A warrior was born to cradle his truth It’s orchestra Symphonic of a lot of memories that were great And even though, sometimes The crayons were broken, the soft chalk of breath The dance of feathers when weaver birds sing amazing grace Even though, The tough ones still harm every dream at night Fresh soil, blending with loved ones we once knew From dusk to dawn, Wallflowers no longer bloom where we once stood Crawling through the floor Gibberish smile, When there used to be joy at home But let the good times roll Like the sower’s palms broadcasting, the seeds fall Against the rains, the clouds, And the stretch through the dusty roads Passport size photos held in my hands, Sometimes grief remains stories untold 8-years old, the love and warmth Was like that mellow soup, Grow from child to years under the sole And for the dance that don’t last forever, I see your true colors, Shine through this life’s endeavour Dear ma, It’s your little one, Doc Here’s a vivid picture of my love letter, return to sender, let me dance with you slow. Akinyi Ruth, lando Jaber nyamin mamana Dory Atieno daktari, born a day in October Some days remain, Like memories out of stone are carved I kept the necklace and counted blessings when my life was hard Reminiscing of the days you took me in to legally guard Even though you had your own, Even Julie said I could share her dad Like a sailor arrow of dreams, You always said I had a gift of the moon, the sun and the stars Gave your nephew a chance to advance The first moments I saw my wings expand Then I started to fly Embrace the weather and heal from all the times I cried Soaring through life with a beautiful mind Aunty so proud, for everything you did You never sat and let the coin of fate decide Mommy and child, That’s how you made me feel You kept it real and gave my soul a journey to drift I’m so glad you both opened your arms Double goodluck charms In life, I was born and raised By wonder women, The love I felt over these years has been fierce Dear Mary mother, I give you nothing but soul, You gave me breath, to face the world, That’s why we make these records and name them love songs Bless you beautiful girl, Your last-born son, first from your blossom, I send you love.
13.
Flower Song 04:06
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Dreams in monochrome, Some nights, the body is a Blackbox Who says the journey is divisible by soul? Full flight inside the wreckage, Arriving here inside the breath as a vehicle Lifelines, and bloodlines, You survive the wars but, earn wounds from the battle C’est la faute à pas d’chance, C’est la faute à pas d’chance Wipe the dirt, budding on the window Stars in clusters, Suicide letters written by vomiting biros No grief is viral, Once you get bruised by the absurd You’re on your own, Like, Chiral combustible, dust particles Trapped behind time written on stones Or myths, ill-fated, projecting from broken telescopes What’s deep? My child curiosity peeling the crayons Ad-libing to sad melodies, no remedy No alibis, it’s a tragedy, Stuck with me, that November day Now I understand, What Van Gongh, struggled his whole life to say They say every- Body has a blind spot, knife scars of dry paint For me, maybe My starry night are these, Recurring tumors, in third grade For real, amazing My daily dice, I live Skipping ropes on death’s polygraph Beautiful mind, some say O is a polymath For nights I swallow my tongue To taste my own sickness, let the blues be sang Don’t give me flowers, Honor my scars. Sans regret, Sans peur, Si l’amour peut guérir Toutes ces plaies, Toutes ces plaies Hera mbala, del chieng’ iywag ang’e Chunya, chieng’ imuoj k’ombasa, Bapa ting’o chieng’ nobed mapek Half-life, all ends in decay, Marker pens showing fault of my stars TFIOS// Lethal grade, adversarial// Ripple effects, of color clashing vomiting biros and broken crayons// Aonge gop jowi, aseng’ado nengo geno// Asekalo masiche miwuoro, del mapone obadho// Chuny modagi loch// Ka yao modagi duono// A dhanadhana, chieng’ono nayud yweyo// Ngimana nodong’ chien ka tipo// Tumour markers, sketch unstable uranium scans But fuck that, I’ve lived overtime, I was to be dying three years ago around this time I will never forget, On your way sometimes, the best is yet to come Breathing is like a divine skillset How many times did I die? Fresh soil graves blending with planted roses on Freddie’s grave, We shed tears, Ratego Baba How long we mourn you, till the end of our days Something to remember me by when my graph flatten Raw graphite, inedible flowers, songs for my dearly departed Weep not child, we’re just grains of dust passing like expanding universe’s Always you Frankie, thanks for being a blessing upon my existence I don’t need devises, Similar similes, I am metaphor more than these crises Blame it on the universe’s debts If you find, the caged bird singing in the nest Blame it on bad luck, My liver like fly’s carcass trapped in the spider’s nest Blame it on love Blame it on genes, the blemishing fault of my stars Blame it on that day, they pushed me inside the ambulance, man Blame it on deferred dreams, Blame it on hope, chemo and laser therapy beams Blake it on me, I still hear echoes Of the last phone call, may soul rest in power and poetry dear bro I’m obstructed by my own cries I’m protracted between, To whom it may concern & return to sender tonight As far as, These eyes have seen, Will there ever be a flower that grows inside? I’m locked in these symphonies And all the dance of the rhythm, When they said the end can only be sad But rain dance, If body is water, We pick dirt to heal our broken parts If only we knew what pain was in the sum We’d have blown a dear wish upon the stars Upon the craft, Upon the chaff, when the sower winnows the breadcrumbs
14.
Thank You For Memories 03:57
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“Thank You For Memories” was to be an outro to Cures In Eulogy the album. You, how do you remember? How does the small radio voice whitenoise or creek like a videotape through your head, searching for memories, broadcasting future imaginings? How are you doing, I mean y’all just ask me how I do, how are you feeling? When are the times your old TV box goes black rice shhhhh… unplugged and woke, unparse the code, binary numbers, gender wars let the grammar explode See, trees fall out their dead or dying barks. And annual rings add to the pulp. How is your veins written? What do you touch pain into life with? How does it feel, being the deciding, defining clock? Are you afraid, of the unabandoning shadow? The black hole that roots with you, they have a name for every sickness but what ails you? Who taught you pain? Who speaks your silence? What’s your life’s soundtrack, refrain: There’s always mirrors of many mirrors to look inside to? How do you love? How do you remorse? What’s god, drowned in mud, that’s a mother of a deal? Would you exchange your arteries, for my pollen? Think me godly even though I am without your faith? How do you remember me? Will you ever remember me? How do you even breathe? When all I am is just a wooden body floating, seas sinking? Have you ever listened to vinyl’s pricking? Cassette threads choking on their own grind inside the deck? Like caskets being lowered by feeble belt? It’s like a war eroding a woman’s walls, old stars will carry a soul back home? Have you felt tomorrow’s nostalgia? The terror of knowing? The sayer of drawings? Be a flower, baby, just grow wings. And fly, the skies are open to your blooming. Familiar like sepia, unknown like hues. But what’s your audacity? How do you dare? Your plasma has devastating tumor growth and unstable androids. Your lungs are collapsing because they dug, one, too many graves. Your bones are Buddha’s flute singing, “You’re in your mind’s likeness. Mind over matter. Love and Light.” Bring your ethics, we are all where we belong, ain’t we? Who has the measures of the boatman’s sorrow, his glory as he furnishes the river with a ferry of people’s soul? Coping with mortality. Why do you throw gods at me? I ain’t no believer, am a bereaver, am death stalker, I’d kill my flesh to sustain the atom inside of me. If, if one moment, at last, unknown unknowns speak, what would it be? Songs for straying, past bullet holes, flowers sprout, we breathe revolutions and dig biopsies to our cores to soothe our souls. Songs for leaving, songs for memories, unremembered, unwritten, oh even unsaid! Logical told me to sing like a bird. Waking up with my tears fading from the blades of grass. Cue my violins. My wounds need iodine. Seal the fate. Don’t let invisible choirs validate, how your heart pours and your wounds vend broken flowers, fuck it we all burials overdue, we all cry over you, let the baits of destiny imbue, true angles, angels too are lost: trying to recompass, inkflow obliged, trying to recanvas, broken souls humming their way home. But what’s home, a place? People’s covert pitfalls? Or time, drift, space, shift, the in between? Lost in the middle, mending our pains, living before we actually die tomorrow or today? Tomorrow was yesterday. Fuck it though, am makeshift. Let’s see what beauty hides beneath. Let’s mourn the child a father never grieved. Loved ones, top-dressing gardens into cemeteries. Scars old, mothers purifying dirt to feed they babies! Violins trumpet my saxophone, suicide note clock-stops, loved ones crying on the other side of the dial tone! Metaphorical diary. No ID on my body, just hold my hands, let’s walk through the vagaries. Shotgun, driveway, little sad melodies. Journey songs we sang, crown of thorns resting on my head. Film negative, lens shatter. Flee, fugitive, tense blast and: A soul flows, like water onto water.

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released December 31, 2022

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Ochuka Nairobi, Kenya

Omondi Ochuka is a Kenyan poet, visual artist and thinker whose literary flare spans ages beyond his time. From an early age, he displayed an adept intimacy to books.

He's been defined by critics as abstract, rich in metaphor and symbolism; a Saul William-esque pen with a cryptically profound nature. Fused with classical verses and Hip-hop, he gyrates words into a web of intricate melodies ... more

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