Today, a baffled lady observed the shell where my soul dwells
Sot, nje grua e habitur vezhgoi guacken ku shpirti im banon
And announced that I'm "articulate"
Dhe shpalli qe jam "elokuente"
Which means that when it comes to enunciation and diction
Qe do te thote se kur kemi te bejme me artikulimin dhe shqiptimin
I don't even think of it
une s'kam nevoje te mendohem
‘Cause I’m "articulate"
sepse jam elokuente
So when my professor asks a question
Pra kur profesori im ben nje pyetje
And my answer is tainted with a connotation of urbanized suggestion
dhe pergjigja ime permban domethenie te zhargoneve te rruges
There’s no misdirected intention
Nuk ka qellim te keq
Pay attention
Ki kujdes
‘Cause I’m “articulate”
Sepse une jam "elokuente"
So when my father asks, “Wha’ kinda ting is dis?”
Kur babai im me pyet "C'soj gjeje eshte kjo ?"
My “articulate” answer never goes amiss
Pergjigja ime elokuente s'mungon kurre
I say “father, this is the impending problem at hand”
I them "baba, ky eshte problemi qe duhet te zgjidhim tani"
And when I’m on the block I switch it up just because I can
Dhe kur dal ne lagje E ndryshoj sepse mundem
So when my boy says, “What’s good with you son?”
Dhe kur miku im me thot "C'kemi o vlla?"
I just say, “I jus’ fall out wit dem people but I done!”
Une them "ja, u zura me ca njerez po iku, mbaroi!"
And sometimes in class
Dhe ndonjehere ne klase
I might pause the intellectual sounding flow to ask
Mund te pushoj rrjedhjen intelektuale te se folurit dhe te pyes
“Yo! Why dese books neva be about my peoples”
"Ore! Pse kta librat nuk flasin kurre per njerzit e mi"
Yes, I have decided to treat all three of my languages as equals
Po, kam vendosur te trajtoj te treja gjuhet e mia si te barabarta
Because I’m “articulate”
Sepse jam "elokuente"
But who controls articulation?
Por kush e kontrollon elokuencen?
Because the English language is a multifaceted oration
Sepse gjuha angleze eshte e folur me shume aspekte
Subject to indefinite transformation
E nenshtruar transformimeve te pa kufizuara
Now you may think that it is ignorant to speak broken English
Tani ju mund te mendoni qe eshte injorance te flasesh anglisht te thyer
But I’m here to tell you that even “articulate” Americans sound foolish to the British
Por une jam ketu t'ju them qe edhe Amerikanet "elokuente" degjohen qesharak te Britaniket.
So when my Professor comes on the block and says, “Hello”
Pra kur Profesori im del tek lagja dhe thote "Tungjatjeta"
I stop him and say “Noooo …
Une e ndaloj dhe them "Joooo...
You’re being inarticulate … the proper way is to say ‘what’s good’”
Po ben si i pa artikuluar menyra e sakte ta thuash eshte "C'kemi"
Now you may think that’s too hood, that’s not cool
Tani ju mund te mendoni se kjo eshte shprehje rrugacesh, qe nuk eshte "cool"
But I’m here to tell you that even our language has rules
Por une jam ketu t'ju them qe edhe gjuha jone ka rregulla
So when Mommy mocks me and says “ya’ll-be-madd-going-to-the-store”
Dhe kur mami me perqesh dhe thote "juve keni shkalluar per te shkuar ne dyqan"
I say “Mommy, no, that sentence is not following the law
Une them "Mami, jo, kjo fjali nuk po ndjek rregullat
Never does the word "madd" go before a present participle
Kurre nuk shkon fjala "te shkalluar" perpara nje pjesore te tashme
That’s simply the principle of this English”
Ky eshte thjesht nje parim i kesaj Anglishteje"
If I had the vocal capacity I would sing this from every mountaintop,
Nese kisha aftesine vokale do ta kendoja kete nga cdo maje mali
From every suburbia, and every hood
nga cdo rrethine dhe cdo geto
‘Cause the only God of language is the one recorded in the Genesis
Sepse i vetmi Zot i gjuhes eshte ai qe eshte shenuar ne Gjenezen
Of this world saying “it is good"
e kesaj bote duke thene "Eshte e mire"
So I may not always come before you with excellency of speech
Pra une mund te mos qendroj gjithmone para jush me fjalim te shkelqyer
But do not judge me by my language and assume
Por mos me gjykoni nga gjuha ime dhe pretendoni se
That I’m too ignorant to teach
jam teper injorante per te dhene mesim
‘Cause I speak three tongues
sepse flas tre gjuhe
One for each:
Nje per secilen:
Home, school and friends
shtepine, shkollen, dhe miqesine.
I’m a tri-lingual orator
Jam nje orator trigjuhesh
Sometimes I’m consistent with my language now
Disa here jam e qendrueshme me gjuhen time
Then switch it up so I don’t bore later
pastaj e nderroj qe te mos me merzitet me vone
Sometimes I fight back two tongues
Disa here duhet te mundem me dy gjuhe
While I use the other one in the classroom
kur perdor tjetren brenda ne klase
And when I mistakenly mix them up
Dhe kur gabimisht i trazoj
I feel crazy like … I’m cooking in the bathroom
Ndihem si e marre, sikur...po gatuaj ne banjo
I know that I had to borrow your language because mines was stolen
E di qe mua mu desh te marr hua gjuhen tuaj sepse timen e vodhen
But you can’t expect me to speak your history wholly while mines is broken
Por nuk mund te prisni nga une te flas te gjithe historine tuaj kur e imja eshte e thyer.
These words are spoken
Keto fjale jane folur
By someone who is simply fed up with the Eurocentric ideals of this season
Nga dikush qe eshte thjesht e merzitur me idealet Eurocentrike te kesaj kohe
And the reason I speak a composite version of your language
Dhe arsyeja qe une flas nje variant te perzier te gjuhes tuaj
Is because mines was raped away along with my history
eshte sepse e imja ishte perdhunuar bashke me historine time
I speak broken English so the profusing gashes can remind us
Flas Anglishte te thyer keshtuqe plaget e thella te na kujtojne
That our current state is not a mystery
Qe gjendja jone e sotme nuk eshte mister
I’m so tired of the negative images that are driving my people mad
Jam kaq e lodhur prej imazheve negative qe po cmendin njerzit e mij.
So unless you’ve seen it rob a bank stop calling my hair bad
Nese s'e ke pare duke vjedhur nje banke, mos thuaj qe floku im eshte i keq
I’m so sick of this nonsensical racial disparity
Me ka ardhur ne maje te hundes nga kjo pabarazi raciale absurde
So don’t call it good unless your hair is known for donating to charity
Dhe mos thuaj qe eshte i mire, pervec se floku jot njihet qe dhuron neper shoqata bamirese
As much as has been raped away from our people
Me kaq sa eshte marr me dhune larg nga njerzit e mij
How can you expect me to treat their imprint on your language
Si mundesh te presesh nga une te trajtoj gjurmen e tyre ne gjuhen tende
As anything less than equal
si dicka me pak se e barabarte
Let there be no confusion
Mos u ngaterro
Let there be no hesitation
Mos u ndrydh
This is not a promotion of ignorance
Ky nuk eshte nje promovim injorance
This is a linguistic celebration
Ky eshte nje celebrim gjuhesor
That’s why I put "tri-lingual" on my last job application
Dhe kjo eshte arsya qe une shkruajta "trigjuhesh" ne kerkesen e punes
I can help to diversify your consumer market is all I wanted them to know
Une mundem te zgjeroj tregun tuaj te konsumatoreve eshte ajo qe doja te dinin per mua
And when they call me for the interview I’ll be more than happy to show that
Dhe kur te me marrin ne telefon per intervisten Do jem teper e gezuar tu tregoj qe
I can say:
mundem te them:
“What’s good”
"C'kemi"
“Whatagwan”
"C'kemi"
And of course …“Hello”
dhe natyrisht..."Tungjatjeta"
Because I’m “articulate”
Sepse jam "elokuente"
Thank you.
Ju falemnderit.
(Applause)
(Duartrokitje)