» I Hope I Do It Justice – Album Experience (track 1)

“I Hope I Do It Justice” – Album Experience (Home Page)

“I Hope I Do It Justice” is my 8th Baha’i-inspired, spiritually focused hip hop album. The album centers on fatherhood, hip hop, spirituality, and justice, and is dedicated to my 2nd born son, Justice.

Track 1 – “I”

🎧 Song Description 🎧

“I” is a song that explores my roots as a member of the Baha’i Faith with mixed heritage (Persian and white-American), delving into the aspects of social justice from the two cultures I inherited. The song also explores my journey into becoming a rapper, as well as my understanding of who we all are as human beings.

🎨 Album Art 🎨

The album art for “I” features a Sonoran Desert background, to symbolize my place of birth of Phoenix, Arizona (which is also where I’ve lived my whole life). Centered in the frame is an ambiguous tree that is not native to this desert, but still appears to be thriving. It has elements of a cypress tree, which is native to the Middle East. This symbolizes my growing up in Phoenix, Arizona in the United States, but having maternal roots from Iran, as well as paternal roots that are white-American.

🎧 Listen 🎧

Stream “I” below using your platforms of choice (Spotify, YouTube, or embedded web player):

⬇️ Download ⬇️

Click the button below to download “I” to your computer or phone:

✍🏼 The Lyrics ✍🏼

[Intro]
It’s time to get real on this one.It’s time to tell my story.So, who am I? Who am I?

[Verse 1]
Who am I? How to identify?
My roots travel to the other side of the earth,
Ever since birth, I was left to wonder why,
I got this feeling inside that I’m not quite fitting in,
You see my mother was an immigrant,
Not by choice, fleeing persecution from the revolution,
Don’t accept her kind, she’s a Baha’i,
So is my father, but he’s a white American,
Living in a nation of white supremacist ideology,
Messing with my psychology,
On the one hand my people are oppressed,
By a clenched fist,
On the other hand my people cover their eyes to a people with a raised fist,
But the question is, what is a hand for?
To exert force? See it’s unfortunate,
Instead of lending a hand or a handshake,
Our forefathers couldn’t handle what the Redeemer of man had to say,
Be ye as the fingers of one hand, the members of one body,
But instead they took everyone that embraced and embodied the Cause of oneness and dismembered their bodies,
From Fort Tabarsi to Zanjan, Nayriz, Mazandaran, Yazd, Tabriz to Tehran,
The blood of the martyrs like water flowing through the soil of the hearts of the righteous,
And as their souls took the flight to bliss, nothing but light to give,
Breakers of the dawn forsaking their earthly form for the sake of God,
The nation destined to be my destination,
With the destructive machine of manifest destiny directly contradicting humanity’s destiny illuminated by God’s Manifestations,
A country founded on lies,
Indigenous genocide,
Dirty money from cash crops on stolen land,
Cultivated by stolen African hands,
Blood of oppressive tyranny pouring down torrentially
to the dirt and the seas of the West,
Built on theft, exploitation, and the deepest form of prejudice, materialism, and selfishness,
The most corrupt civilizations, if you can even call them that,
I’m tied to these two points on the map,
The birthplace of the Dawnbreakers now in heaven,
Gotta be a living sacrifice to be a spiritual descendent, uh

[Chorus]
Who am I?
Is it something assigned?
Or do I get to decide?
It’s on my mind, yeah
Who am I? Who am I?
Who am I? Is my life really mine?
Or guided by the Divine, how to define? yeah
Who am I? Who am I?

[Verse 2]
As a youth, I was timid, afraid to stand out,
Many thoughts up in my mind, but my mouth, not a sound,
What if I am not accepted? too controlled by the doubt,
So instead of using my voice, I fade into the crowd,
But then I found the power of rap,
Just a fan at first, but something about it would grab
My attention, possessing my mind, and my soul, it was packed,
With so much power, and style, and swagger
Wondered, can I tap into that?
So I picked up the pen, wrote a couple lines,
And the power started to flow with every rhyme
Written from my mind, had to face my fear, do I decide
To share or do I keep this power locked up inside, uh
Something told me I had to share my light,
Didn’t sound great at first, but my friends said my flow was alright,
And the message was nice, but then the power stalled until
I had a moment that would change my life, yeah
8,000 miles from my home, on a trip to Cameroon
God works in mysterious ways, shout out to Awu and Duke Frank
I spit some rhymes for ‘em gassed me up, must’ve filled my tank,
And reignited my drive to change the world, my world was changed,
Their encouragement, gave me courage to take a leap,
Recorded my first song, new power released,
Then time to release, Went from A to Z,
Writing, rapping, recording, then releasing,
Now people singing along to my songs with me and…
I can feel the energy start to build up inside of me,
Lyrics kept on flowing, prayed to God to keep on guiding me, as
I’m sharing Wizdome in my rhymes, hoping it LIT up the mind,
When I Release The Power of the pen and let it shine,
To remind the people they’re Created Noble that’s my aim,
And when I lay these verses down it’s sacred like a Holy Day,
I want you to Be Happy when you hear me rapping,
But it’s more than that because it’s giant shoulders that I’m standing on
In Hip hop, so many artists in the history
and culture that helped make this movement into what it came to be,
The empowerment, the spirit of change and revolution against oppression, strength and confidence, and storytelling,
Taking inspiration from the past and then on top of a beat,
I humbly add a contribution that’s authentically me,

[Verse 3]
I: One syllable, one sound, two horizontal lines running parallel bound by a pillar down the middle, same symbol representing the most perfect Roman numeral: one,
Before we reach this station, our soul originates from the spiritual worlds of perfection
No beginning, no end, just like a circular dot, but then at the time of conception,
Whether you’re ready or not, your soul connects to the embryo, which is more like a box, locked in by material laws,
But then this dot and this box capitalize, together they are drawn, to become one,
To become I, I am a human being, but this only lasts a mortal life,
My physical body remains in the world below, acting like a mirror reflecting my soul, uh
Until that day finally comes when it’s time to return, body to the world of dust,
As our soul yearns to come home to the spiritual realms, like a stream to the ocean,
Light ray back to the sun,
We all come from God, and unto Him we return, created in the image of the Divine,
See the light at the close of my eye, cuz when I die is when my life truly becomes alive, yeah

📖 The Story Behind the Song 📖

One of my favorite parts about rap and the culture of Hip Hop is the emphasis on storytelling. In this opening track of the album, I wanted to tell my story. My story as a member of the Baha’i Faith, my story as a Persian / white-American, and my story as a rapper. I also wanted to explore the concept of what it means to be a human being, using the letter “I” as a metaphor.

Knowing our roots and history is so important in understanding the present. I love this excerpt from the Ruhi Institute about the importance of understanding history:

“History shapes much of the identity of the individual, as well as entire peoples. When connection with history is severed, confusion sets in and people become rootless trees… Seeing clearly the elements that characterize the past enables individuals to contribute more effectively to shaping the future.”

my family and I when I was a young child (I’m furthest to the right)

In the first verse of this song, I explore the two sides of my heritage. My mother was born in Iran, the land where the Baha’i Faith originated. My connection to the Baha’i Faith on that side goes back several generations. Sadly, Baha’is have been severely persecuted in Iran since the inception of the Baha’i Faith, back in 1844. This persecution, which also saw an intensification after the Islamic Revolution of 1979, caused many Baha’is to flee Iran, including my mother and her family.

Many early followers of the Baha’i Faith literally sacrificed their lives (it is estimated that over 20,000 Baha’i were martyred in the early days of the Faith). These early believers are affectionately referred to as the “Dawnbreakers”, as they help shed the light of the Faith in it’s earliest days, in most heroic fashion.

I also explore my paternal roots, which are white-American, with my ancestors primarily coming from England and Denmark to the United States. As anyone with a heart for justice learns, the United States is a country with severe injustice at it’s foundation. The lands were colonized and unlawfully taken from the Indigenous peoples, and millions of Africans were enslaved and trafficked to the country, stripped of their human dignity.

I finish the first verse referring to the words of Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Baha’i Faith, who wrote that the Baha’is of North America were the “spiritual descendants” of the Dawnbreakers who must work towards building a new world, and match the sacrifice of the early believers “not by their death but through living sacrifice.”

rockin’ the mic at a house concert

In the 2nd verse, I explore my journey as a rapper. I start by sharing how, as a young person, I was rather timid and quiet, especially in big groups. However, as I matured, I began to find my voice, and the medium of rap became an effective way to express myself. I reference a life-changing trip to Cameroon, where my friends Ngalim Franklin and Awu gave me the courage and confidence to record and produce a song professionally (“Change The World”). Since then, I’ve created 8 albums worth of music (with all the album titles referenced in the lyrics).

writing my first song in Cameroon with my friend, Awu

Through my experience as a rapper, I’ve also come to understand and appreciate the rich history of Hip Hop as a culture and movement, and rap as an art form that grew out of it. In order to do justice to the art form, it’s important to honor the history, and strive to build on the many beautiful aspects and values of the culture, a few of which I reference at the end of the verse, such as empowerment, social change, and authenticity.

I finish the song by exploring what it means to be a human being, using the letter “I” as a metaphor. Much of the verse is actually transplanted from a previous song of mine (“Eternal”) that I felt fit absolutely perfectly on this song. At the time of writing that song, I was staring at the lower case and upper case i / I, as so much insights started flowing to my mind, that I then channeled into the verse.

🎁 Bonus Content 🎁

The first verse of this song was actually written back in 2019. I was invited to contribute to a collective project that promoted social justice for Baha’is in Iran, however, the project never came to fruition. I knew I wanted to use this verse at some point, and when the song “I” was conceived, I felt this verse would fit perfectly to open the song. Here’s a video from back in 2019 of me sharing the verse on Facebook:

Additionally, the third verse of this song was also written back in 2019. It was the second verse on a song I wrote called “Eternal” was was the closing track on my lyrical remix album, “LIT”. “Eternal” was about how our earthly life is only a short part of our spiritual journey, which lasts for eternity. The second verse of “Eternal” I used the letter “I” as a metaphor for our eternal existence. Again, when I conceived of the song “I” for this new album, I felt this previously written verse would fit quite perfectly into the song flow (with a slight adjustment on the last 2 lines of the verse).

You can check out my song “Eternal” (which is a lyrical remix of the song “Youth” by Troye Sivan) here:

If you enjoyed the lyrical remix song, I actually created a similar digital “Album Experience” for my LIT album on my website, which you can access and dig into here: LIT Album Experience

🤔 Reflection & Discussion 💬

➡️ Why is it important to understand our roots and history? What aspects of your identity have most shaped you in your life?

I would truly LOVE to hear from you! Please take a moment to share your thoughts below! 👇🏽

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Colby Jeffers