The Los Angeles based Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. are one of the early influential a… Read Full Bio ↴The Los Angeles based Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. are one of the early influential acts from the West Coast rap scene. Emerging from the same era of West Coast hip hop greats such as Cypress Hill and Ice Cube, the Boo Yaa T.R.I.B.E. are one of the more underground legendary acts, but command much respect from the hip hop community and hardcore hip hop fans. They are known for incorporating heavy metal and Funk into their hip hop.

The T.R.I.B.E. (Too Rough International Boo-Yaa Empire) originally consisted of six Samoan American brothers from Los Angeles, California, including Paul "Ganxsta Ridd" Devoux, Ted "Godfather" Devoux, Danny "O.M.B." Devoux, Roscoe "Murder One" Devoux, David "E.K.A." Devoux, or Kobra, and Donald "Don L" Devoux. A seventh brother, Vincent "Gawtti" Devoux, would join later on.

One of the unique aspects of the group that sets them apart from most West Coast acts and hip hop groups is that the brothers can all play musical instruments, making them an interesting live act. They often insist on playing their own instruments on their albums as well as on stage. Introduced to music via the Baptist church, Gawtti, the youngest, explained, " Our father was a minister of a church and we had to learn instruments to play at his services. We’d go in the morning and set up the instruments and play a lot of funk before folk came in."

Despite their religious background, the brothers fell into the local west coast gang lifestyle. They became members of the Samoan Mob Piru Bloods, and eventually all of the brothers had at some point served prison time on drug and/or weapons charges. It was the death of their younger brother, Robert ‘Youngman’ Devoux, in a 1987 shooting that became the turning point in their lives. The brothers quit the gang-banging lifestyle cold turkey. Godfather explained, "The gangsta way of life came at a high price. At the time me and family was at war with different enemies and he got caught up in the cross fire……y’know, you gotta understand, you grow up in life with your brothers, and even though you’re in a war zone you don’t think about losing someone, and when it happens to you, you can do two things: you can get madder or you gotta run with it.” This changed all the brothers lives, Gawtti explained "It made us choose whether we wanted to go war or to music. We chose the music because that’s what he would have wanted."

Legends
Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Long Ago, there was a bird who sang but just once in her life.
From the moment she left the nest,
she searched the longest leaf for a thorn tree,
never resting until she found one.
Then she began to sing,
more sweetly than any other creature on the face of the earth.
But carry away in the rapturous honor song,
she impaled herself on the longest, sharpest thorn.

As she was dying,
she rose above her own agony to out-sing even the lark and the nightingale.
The thorn bird traded her life for that one song and
the whole world was captured to listen!
And God, in His heaven smiles~
As her very best was brought out only of the cost of great pain.
Driven by the thorn, with no fear for her death to come.
But when we push the thorn into our breast,
We know

We understand
And still we choose the pain of the thorn

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E.'s song "Legends" are inspired by the legend of the thorn bird, a mythical bird that impales itself on a thorn to sing its most beautiful song. The song symbolizes the human experience of sacrificing oneself for the sake of one's art, one's passion, or one's beliefs. The song narrates the story of a bird that sang the most beautiful song in the world but did so in exchange for its own life. The bird shows absolute dedication to its art, willingly sacrificing its own life to achieve its goal.

The analogy of the thorn bird in these lyrics is meant to inspire people to pursue their dreams, to work hard to achieve their goals, and to be willing to make sacrifices for the sake of doing what they love. The song suggests that true greatness is achieved only through pain and sacrifice, but that the rewards are worth it in the end. The lyrics reflect a message of strength and resilience, urging the listener to push themselves even when the path seems difficult or painful.

Overall, "Legends" is a powerful and emotional song that uses the metaphor of the thorn bird to convey the message that greatness requires sacrifice, and that true artists will stop at nothing to achieve their goals.

Line by Line Meaning

Long Ago, there was a bird who sang but just once in her life.
There was a bird that sang only once in its life a long time ago.

From the moment she left the nest,
As soon as the bird left the nest,

she searched the longest leaf for a thorn tree,
the bird looked for the tallest thorn tree,

never resting until she found one.
and didn't stop until she found it.

Then she began to sing,
When the bird found the thorn tree, it started to sing,

more sweetly than any other creature on the face of the earth.
in a very beautiful way that was better than any other animal on the planet.

But carry away in the rapturous honor song,
The bird was carried away in its delightful song,

she impaled herself on the longest, sharpest thorn.
and accidentally stabbed herself with the longest and sharpest thorn.

As she was dying,
While the bird was dying,

she rose above her own agony to out-sing even the lark and the nightingale.
it managed to sing louder and better than the lark and nightingale, despite the pain.

The thorn bird traded her life for that one song and
The bird traded its life for that one beautiful song and

the whole world was captured to listen!
the world was captivated by its song!

And God, in His heaven smiles~
God smiled from up in heaven,

As her very best was brought out only of the cost of great pain.
because the bird's best singing only came out when it was in great pain.

Driven by the thorn, with no fear for her death to come.
The bird was driven by the thorn and had no fear of death,

But when we push the thorn into our breast,
but when we intentionally cause ourselves pain,

We know
we are aware

We understand
we comprehend

And still we choose the pain of the thorn
but we still choose to feel the pain of the thorn.

Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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@guardianlaxel1289

2y↑18

The first time I heard of this song was when I played True Crime Streets OF LA.
That video game was outstanding I completed it.
Legends that song is off the chainz. I really like it!!
Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E I will listen to more of their songs in the future!