Napoleon Da Legend - The Whole in my Heart

〈napoleon da legend verse 1〉
Child of a militant an immigrant
Actually w as innocent i changed after the atmosphere got menacing
American dream. i seen the highs and lows of it
Was soldiering, way before the covid exposed a bit
Always made the most of it, forgotten and ignored
Couldn’t get a job, wonder why i got diplomas for
Moving boxes in a store, knowing i’m worth so much more
Getting scolded on, brave face, but inside i’m just holding on
Lost my dad, magically got half of my family mad
Would have thought i killed him with my own hands, my bad
I was by his side in africa, the pressure was spectacular
Evicted from my apartment while sitting at the hospital
Next to him, he didn’t recognize me though, just another domino
Trying to figure out what happened
But on a side note, late twenties, didn’t accomplished nothing yet
My music didn’t bubble yet, i just had to get passed it
Pops got transferred to paris, then he died unexpected
Family yelling at me, i had to accept it
Took his body to comoros, anjouan to bury him
Time i didn’t sleep was longer than the arms of shawn marion
Back in maryland, i had to pick up pieces
But thankfully my mom was there, her crib was the cleanest
I used to walk for hours out in germantown
Minimum wage job at cvs i couldn’t turn it down
With a whole master’s degree, i was making $7.50
Or $7.25 i forgot, (at) least i was busy
Local swimming pool, i would swim laps to relax
Floating would make me feel light again
Hoping one day, i could take flight again
Slowly but surely would feel alive again
The sadness was heavy, but i kept going in spite of it
Turned the page on the life i lived before
Nothing to show for, surrendered to enter the next door ...

〈napoleon da legend hook〉
Life is lonely and the road is dark
Been through forty days of rain without noah’s ark
This world can be cold my soul caught some scar
Still carry this whole in my heart, nah, nah, nah
Life is lonely and the road is dark
Been through forty days of rain without noah’s ark
This world can be cold my soul caught some scar
Still carry this whole in my heart, wo, wo, wo

〈napoleon da legend verse 2〉
Mental mildew removed and time heals wounds
Kissed moms off to brooklyn i’m a see you real soon
Felt better so i had to go get it, no more waiting
Survival and a better life a source of motivation
Met baz, met steele, sean price, beatminerz
Also met some bloodsuckers most of them was dishonest
Got props and compliments, side eyes and ice grills
But as long as i keep them talking that’s how the hype builds
High level bills the cost of living in new york
Either you move with force or u get removed from the course
I put the proof in the sauce worked a job and i rapped
Ralph mcdaniels had me playing on music box and in fact
Folks would recognize me at work, didn’t know how to take it
But i was happy though i knew that was the process to make it
S.o.b’s shows, pharaohe monch, i opened up for him
And it hit just how much i had changed my whole decorum
But my boss back at work was the worst, he was a narcissist
I had to quit that left in a blaze like an arsonist
Lots of sharks in this who tried to sabotage my entrance
So now, when i book a show or verse i charge them interest
My whole outlook was different, i felt more present
Since trump and covid 19 everbody’s a professor
But i learned you can’t skip steps, i analyzed the game like skip bayless
Took missteps some nights i skipped death
Gun smoke aroma on my skin like melanoma
I set a goal and pivot when i got a cold shoulder
Rejection and terrible advice that i deflected
Never followed, stayed outside the box like brexit
From city housing to blessing stages front of thousands
Dropping albums at a rate they knew nothing about it
Today now, it’s type official flew like a missile
To my target, no time to wait, this life is fickle now i know

〈napoleon da legend hook〉
Life is lonely and the road is dark
Been through forty days of rain without noah’s ark
This world can be cold my soul caught some scar
Still carry this whole in my heart, nah, nah, nah
Life is lonely and the road is dark
Been through forty days of rain without noah’s ark
This world can be cold my soul caught some scar
Still carry this whole in my heart, wo, wo, wo

Translation in french:

Fils d’un immigré militant
J’étais innocent mais j’ai dû changer quand l’atmosphère est devenue menaçante
Le rêve américain, j’ai vécu ses hauts et ses bas
J’étais un soldat bien avant que le covid laisse apparaître un tas de chose
J’ai toujours fait avec ce que la vie m’a donné, je me sentais oublié et ignoré
Je n’arrivais pas à trouver du boulot, je me demandais à quoi servaient mes diplômes
Je déplaçais des cartons dans une boutique, je savais que je valais mieux
On me criait dessus, je gardais la tête haute, mais au fond de moi, je tenais à peine le coup
J’ai perdu mon père, soudainement, la moitié de ma famille s’est retournée contre moi
A croire, que je l’avais tué de mes propres mains
J’étais à ses côté en afrique quand il est tombé malade, la pression était immense
J’apprends qu’on me vire de mon appartement, alors que j’étais encore à l’hôpital
A côté de lui, personne ne me reconnaissait, je n’étais qu’un domino de plus
J’essayais de comprendre ce qu’il se passait
À côté de ça, à 20 ans, je n’avais encore rien accompli
Je n’avais toujours pas percé dans la musique, je devais juste survivre à cette épreuve
Mon père a été transféré à paris où il est mort subitement
Ma famille s’en prenait à moi, j’ai dû encaisser
On a transporté son corps à anjouan aux comores pour l’enterrer
Le temps où j’ai dû rester éveillé était plus long que les bras de shawn marion
De retour dans le maryland, je devais recoller les morceaux
Mais heureusement, ma mère était là, et sa maison était sereine
Je marchais pendant des heures à germantown
On m’a offert le salaire minimum à cvs, je ne pouvais pas refuser
Avec un master, je gagnais 7,50$
Ou peut-être 7,25 $ de l’heure, mais au moins j’étais occupé
A la piscine, je faisais des longueurs pour décompresser
Flotter, me faisait sentir de nouveau léger
Espérant qu’un jour, je pourrais prendre mon envol, une fois de plus
Petit à petit, je me sentais vivant, une fois de plus
La tristesse était pesante, mais je continuais d’avancer malgré tout
J’ai enfin tourné la page sur la vie que je menais avant
Il ne me restait rien, j’ai tout abandonné pour ouvrir une nouvelle porte

Chorus (x2)
La vie est solitaire et la route est obscure
J’ai vécu 40 jours de pluie sans l’arche de noé
Ce monde peut être froid, mon âme en porte les cicatrices
Je garde toujours ce trou dans mon cœur

Douleur mentale effacée, le temps guérit les blessures
J’embrasse ma mère, départ pour brooklyn, on se reverra bientôt
Je me sentais mieux, donc maintenant je fonce, plus le temps d’attendre
Survivre et avoir une vie meilleure étaient source de motivation
J’ai rencontré baz, steele, sean price, beatminerz
J’ai aussi rencontré des sangsues, la plupart d’eux étaient malhonnêtes
J’ai reçu du respect, des compliments, des mauvais regards et de la jalousie
Mais tant qu’on parlait de moi, c’est que le buzz montait
Grosses factures, le coût de la vie est très élevé à new york
Soit, tu prends ta place soit tu te fais expulser de la course
J’ai fait mes preuves, j’ai trouvé un boulot et je rappais
Ralph mcdaniels me jouait sur video music box
On me reconnaissait au boulot, je ne savais pas comment réagir
Mais j’étais quand même content, je savais que ça faisait partie du chemin vers le succès
Des concerts à s.o.b’s, j’ai fait la première partie de pharaohe monch
J’ai réalisé à quel point j’ai fait changer mon décor
Mais au boulot, mon manager me cassait les c…., c’était un narcissique
Tel un pyromane j’ai dû partir de manière explosive
Trop de requins dans ce milieu ont essayé de me mettre des bâtons dans les roues
Alors maintenant, j’ajoute les intérêts quand je me fais payer pour un concert ou un couplet
Mon état d’esprit avait changé, je me sentais plus vivant
Depuis trump et le covid, tout le monde se prend pour un expert
Moi j’ai appris qu’il ne faut pas sauter les étapes, j’ai analysé le jeu comme skip bayless
J’ai fait des faux pas, certaines nuits j’ai échappé à la mort
L’odeur de la fumée du calibre sur ma peau comme un mélanome
Je me suis fixé un objectif et ai changé de voix quand j’ai reçu un accueil froid
Coup-bas et mauvais conseils, que j’ai esquivés
Jamais suivis, je suis resté hors du cadre comme le brexit
Des hlm à la scène devant des milliers de personnes, une bénédiction
Tout en sortant des albums à un rythme effréné, du jamais vu
Aujourd’hui, tout est bien, j’ai pris mon envol comme un missile
Visant ma cible, plus le temps d’attendre, la vie ne tient qu’à un fil

Napoleon Da Legend - Biography

Bilingual, Hip-Hop/Afrobeat artist, Napoleon Da Legend transferred his skills on the basketball court to the wax. Before that, he had to teach himself English. He kept his ears glued to the radio.

Paris-born, to the Comoros Islands, then Washington DC raised, the son of an immigrant family, Napoleon is a Brooklyn-based artist who uses his voice as weapon of hope, social-critique, conquest, and joy. After an untimely split, his parents left the U.S. and went their separate ways leaving the 16 year old to fend for himself in the DC / Maryland area, which helped him develop his hustle, instinct and work-ethic. NDL’s song “Black Privilege” led him to be featured at the Essence Festival in 2017. He was then invited to perform live on FOX 5’s Good Day DC.

NDL’s message of empowerment, community, and self-determination through music doesn’t stop there. He also works regularly with youth, running hip-hop workshops in Brooklyn’s toughest schools and Rikers Island’s juvenile programs.

Following the release of his “Steal This Mixtape” series in 2016, Napoleon headlined his “Steal This Mixtape” European Tour. He’s been featured on Statik Selekta’s Show Off Radio Show and Sway Calloway’s Sway in the Morning. To top all this, he graced the stage at the final Rocksteady Crew’s 40th Anniversary show at SummerStage in Central Park. In 2019, NDL performed in Europe’s biggest Hip-Hop Festival Hip-Hop Kemp in Czech Republic as Supa Kaiju with rapper/producer Sicknature.

2018 was yet another prolific year, without a doubt. Napoleon released 10 projects- including four albums, four mixtapes, and two EP’s released through various indie labels (Chopped Herring, Media Pop, Copenhagen Crates and Tuff Gong Records). This was followed by eight appearances in 2019 at Harlem Week’s main stage. He then became recognized for his fusing the world’s of Hip-Hop and Anime with albums Dragon Ball G (Dragon Ball Z), Bronze Saints (Saint Seiya) and King of the North Star (Fist of the North Star) in a feature article on Bandcamp (How Napoleon Da Legend Made Anime-Inspired Rap an Artform).

Since then, NDL has released 12 more projects, including the afrobeat/hip-hop fusion projects, “Afrostreet” & “Afrostreet 2”. After creating a few anthems (“Poulet Maafe”), which became popular with his French speaking audience, NDL decided to put his French powers into high gear. In September, 2019, he gave his first in interview in French with Mediapac (Watch it here), garnering over 100,000 views in less than a week. In May 2020, NDL featured on elite French rapper Akhenaton’s (IAM) “Asteroïde” project, trading verses in French and English on the innovative song “Storytellers”. In 2021, NDL was invited to adapt Akhenaton’s 19 minute song “La Faim de leur Monde” in English. They later collaborated on a 3-part EP series called “The Whole in my Heart” produced by Akhenaton on his label La Cosca.