Akira the Don is a music producer I've only recently discovered. (Via Taylor at the Amala Ekpunobi: Unapologetic podcast. Thanks!)
"If" is a poem by Rudyard Kipling, which you can find at The Poetry Foundation. The first stanza is copied below. I do like the poem; I'm not sure it works as a song.
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
This is "Jocko Willink x Rudyard Kipling - IF" (or just "If") by Akira the Don. Vocals by Jocko Willink. Lyrics from Kipling's poem "If." This is from the 2019 album Meaningwave Masterpieces.
Kipling is one of those writers that has a great deal of relevance to today, but isn't studied. He was around during the period of the British Empire that closely resembles the current American Empire's state.
ReplyDelete