[Intro]
Black call back — (Call)
Black call back — (Answer: We answer back)
Move forward in life, yeah (Move forward)
Black call back — (Call)
Black keep black — Black lift black — (Answer: Lift us)
Black keep black — yes
Black keep black — yes
[Verse 1]
Sunrise paints the market in amber and gold,
Footsteps on cracked pavement, stories fold and unfold.
Drumbeats from the corner where the children run free,
Mama sells beans, humming hope into me.
Black call back — (Who answers?) — Voices on the street,
Steam from the kettle, the city keeps its beat.
We pass the crossroads, where old scars become maps,
We stitch our futures with the rhythm of our hands.
[Pre-Chorus]
Tired eyes get brighter when the first horn blows,
We turn the small victories into lantern glows.
[Chorus]
Black keep black, fire still alive — (Call)
(Answer: Fire still alive)
Black keep black, fire still alive — (Call)
(Answer: We rise, we thrive)
Black call back — move forward in life
Black lift black — higher in the light
[Verse 2]
Night trades its hush for the cymbals and strobe,
Brothers on the rooftop, sisters in the globe.
Laugh lines like rivers, and the sunset knows our names,
We trace tomorrow on bus windows and trains.
Black call back — (Call) — drums reply like rain,
Feet find the beat; heartbreak learns to change.
From market stalls to the schoolhouse gate,
We carry one another — we write our fate.
[Chorus]
Black keep black, fire still alive — (Call)
(Answer: Fire still alive)
Black keep black, fire still alive — (Call)
(Answer: We rise, we thrive)
Black call back — move forward in life
Black lift black — higher in the light
[Bridge]
They tried to fold us into whispers, hide the drum beneath the floor,
But seeds in concrete broke the pavement — now the chorus roars.
For my mother's quiet prayers, for the child learning to write,
For the songs that kept us moving through the long slow night.
Yes — Black keep black, we hold the flame, hands open to the sky,
This is our promise, our answer, our battle cry.
[Breakdown / Call & Response]
Lead: Black call back! — (Response: We call back)
Lead: Black keep black! — (Response: Keep it alive)
Lead: Black lift black! — (Response: Lift us higher)
[Chorus — Final]
Black keep black, fire still alive — (Call)
(Answer: Fire still alive)
Black keep black, fire still alive — (Call)
(Answer: We rise, we thrive)
Black call back — move forward in life
Black lift black — we keep the light
[Outro]
Black call back — (soft ad-libs: ah, ah)
Move forward in life, yeah — (echo: move forward)
Black keep black — yes (layered: yes, yes)
Black keep black — yes
[Production Notes]
Tempo: Mid-tempo Afrobeat ~100–105 BPM.
Arrangement: Syncopated percussion (congas, shakers), pocketed kick/snare, bright guitar skanks, punchy horn stabs on the chorus, and a warm bassline driving the groove.
Vocal production: Lead with confident, warm tone; call-and-response backing vocals in tight harmonies; layered ad-libs on the final chorus. Emphasize syncoped,
