It was a beautiful day in the bush. Not too hot, not too cool. Anansi was out going for a walk in the forest. Now Anansi had slept in that morning, and by the time he got up everyone in the village was gone. He was bored, and needed something to do. More importantly he needed someone to do it with. After walking for a long time, he happened upon the sound of a drum beat (drummer plays bass rhythm for Lamba).

Entranced by the music, Anansi began to follow the sound. He ran down a narrow path as the sound got louder and louder until finally he reached a clearing where he saw many of his fellow villagers dancing. They were doing a dance called Lamba while a master drummer called Jelí played the djembe. Suddenly the drummer and dancers began to sing a song that went along with the dance:

Ye jaliyaa, Alla le ye ka jaliyaa da
Ye jaliyaa, Alla le ye ka jaliyaa da

Anansi asked if he could join in. Jelí said “If you want to dance with us you must audition. Anansi said “I’ll do it”. Then Jelí played the rhythm and said “Do what the other dancers do, and sing the song.” So Anansi tried to dance with the other dancers. He also attempted to sing the song:

Ye jaliyaa, Alla le ye ka jaliyaa da
Ye jaliyaa, Alla le ye ka jaliyaa da

This went on for about five minutes before Jelí yelled out “Okay stop! I can’t take it anymore. I have never seen a dancer so offbeat. Your timing is terrible: plus you can’t even sing the words correctly. Go away and quit wasting my time”. Anansi’s feelings were hurt. Therefore, he left the clearing and wandered back into the forest. Some of the dancers didn’t approve of how Jelí treated Anansi. Neither did the djun-djun player Onyansafo. Now the jun-jun is the drum that provides bass for African rhythm. Truth is that when dancing to African rhythm, one should follow the djun-djun. But many villagers thought that they were supposed to follow the djembe. Jelí went on letting them think that because it gave him a sense of control.

After Anansi left many of the dancers complained, “Jelí you’re wrong for that” they protested. “We need more dancers, and he has potential” said Onyansafo, but the protests fell on deaf ears. Jelí said “Just keep on dancing, so they started dancing again. Jelí then sang out the song: