"Drume Negrita" is a lullaby that is meant to evoke the accent with which Spanish was spoken and sung by the African slaves shipped to Cuba. This, like "A mi no me cumben," is another piece of music with a history all its own, and has been through too many incarnations and versions to mention here. Authorship is credited to Eliseo Grenet, a Cuban composer, although some writers insist that the song is folklore which Grenet appropriated and arranged. Horacio Salinas has based the Inti-Illimani version on a guitar transcription by Leo Brouwer, a Cuban composer of a more recent generation -- so Salinas says in "La canción en el sombrero."

From www.mamalisa.com, comes an English translation volunteered by "Evelyn." This website carries a copyright date of 2016 in the name of Lisa Yannucci.

Mama the feet of the little black baby girl
come out of the cradle
and the black woman Mercé [Mercedes?]
doesn't know what to do

Sleep black baby girl
And I will buy for you a new cradle
Complete with a cover for the top
and a baby rattle

If you sleep, I will bring you
a bright red-colored "mamey" [fruit?]
If you don't sleep, I will send for
the Santeria babalao who will give you a spanking

Sleep black baby girl....