Africa must wake up, the sleeping sons of Jacob
For what tomorrow may bring, may a better day come
Yesterday we were kings, can you tell me young ones
Who are we today? Yeah, now

Well, Africa must wake up, the sleeping sons of Jacob
For what tomorrow may bring, may a better day come
Yesterday we were kings, can you tell me young ones
Who are we today? Yeah, now

The black oasis, ancient Africa the sacred
Awaking, the sleeping giant, science, art is your creation
I dreamed that we could visit old Kemet
Your history is too complex and rigid, for some western critics
They want the whole subject diminished
But Africa's the origin of all the world's religions
We praise bridges that carried us over
The battle fronts of Sudanic soldiers, the task put before us
(Do you hear me now?)

Africa must wake up, the sleeping sons of Jacob
For what tomorrow may bring, may a better day come
Yesterday we were kings, can you tell me young ones
Who are we today? Yeah, now

Well, Africa must wake up, the sleeping sons of Jacob
For what tomorrow may bring, may a better day come
Yesterday we were kings, can you tell me young ones
Who are we today?

Who are we today? The slums, diseases, AIDS
We need that all to fade, we cannot be afraid
So who are we today?
We are the morning after, the makeshift youth
The slave-ship captured, our diaspora is the final chapter
The ancestral lineage built pyramids
America's first immigrants,
The kings and daughters from our waters
The first architect, the first philosophers
Astronomers, the first prophets and the doctors were us, us

Now can we all pray? Each in his own way
Teaching and learning, we can work it out
We'll have a warm bed, we'll have some warm bread
Shelter from the storm dread and we can work it out
Mother nature feeds all, in farming and drought
And though selfish in ways, not to share is out
What's a tree without root? Lion without tooth
A lie without truth, you hear me out?

Africa must wake up, the sleeping sons of Jacob
For what tomorrow may bring, may a better day come
Yesterday we were kings, can you tell me young ones
Who are we today? Yeah, now

Africa must wake up, the sleeping sons of Jacob
What tomorrow may bring may some more love come
Yesterday we were kings, I tell ya young bloods
The world is yours today

Dadyahow daali waayey, nabada diideen
Oo ninkii doortay dinta, waadinka dillee
Oo dal markii ladhiso, waadinka dunshee
Oo daacad ninkii damcay, waadinka dooxee
Dadyahow daali waayey, nabada diideen
Oo ninkii doortay dinta, waadinka dillee
Oo dal markii ladhiso, waadinka dunshee
Oo daacad ninkii damcay, waadinka dooxee

(..)

We want to thank y'all, everybody out there
This is Nas, Damian Marley, 'Distant Relatives'
We're all distant relatives, no matter where you from,
Where you live
How near, how far, Africa, China, Japan, Afghanistan, Israel
We're all fam, we're all distant relatives
So that's why we came together, one of the reasons
Why myself and Damian came together
'Cause we all come from one place and that's Africa

That's right, you too and you, the whole world
We're all family, we're just spread out all over the place
So to all my distant relatives, let's take it back home

Africa must wake up, the sleeping sons of Jacob
For what tomorrow may bring, may a better day come
Yesterday we were kings, can you tell me young ones
Who are we today? Yeah, now

Well, Africa must wake up, the sleeping sons of Jacob
For what tomorrow may bring, may a better day come
Yesterday we were kings, can you tell me young ones
Who are we today? Who are we today?

Morning to you
Morning to you man
Morning to you love