Blue Blazer

Picture this,

See me I was born the youngest of three,

One mum one dad we were a tight knit family,

In our small flat in the best part of London, (thats south)

The city where you need more than just heart to survive this dungeon,

Old school days weren’t about glitz and glamour,

Back then we didnt care about bricks and hammers.

We were free!

So hear me out,

We used to play Ruthless freestyle on the back of the bus,

Those days Dubz and Giggz was the soundtrack for us,

We knew when that bell rang at 3:30 it was on!

South West was crazy! School girls screaming, heavy aunties breathing,

And in the winter some days were so dark you would’ve thought you were dreaming,

But then you’d hear “Yo cuz, what ends you from?!”and that dream was done...

Yet the mandem were free!

Remember that smell,

You had to ask the dinner lady for another slice,

I can almost taste it! That sprinkle cake was so nice,

Either way you had to have some p’s or you got given a token,

Careful, you aint know dinner was only for the outspoken,

Strip burger and chips, wings with burger sauce,

The only place to get that double cheese was Chicken Palace of course.

But what's the cost of growing up?

Life was sweet,

No bills, no taxes, no added fees,

That 6 week holiday was equivalent to going overseas,

Okay so I may have exaggerated in that last line,

But remember how easy it was to pass the time?

Penny up, 66 and run-outs were some of the best,

Who remembers summertimes playing out in the park?

Those days mummy worried a lot so she told us, “Don’t stay out after dark,”,

Cause we were young and free...

Do you feel me?

We spent so long tryna grow out that blue blazer,

We weren’t concerned about our bad behaviour,

Back then we had no ills not even a worry,

Praise God we made it this far and we can tell mum, “I’m sorry,”,

For all them nights you stayed up in tizzy,

The marathon continues so we gotta stay busy . (RIP NIP)

We turned blue to black that was the price we paid for freedom...

After Thoughts

This is my first written piece of the year as ive been to focusing on other endeavours, namely school and improving my personal skills (life after uni really slaps you in the face unless you're patterned lool). It is also one of my first attempts at poetry/rap - I feel like I have quite a rhythmic way of writing so I just needed to add some rhyming words.

To be honest, I'm starting to feel like an old head and one of my favourite things to do is reminisce. As I turn 24 this year its been 8 years since I left school and I always remember being 16 and thinking I was the biggest man in the world but boy was I wrong. This piece was just a throwback to good old days, as we move faster in our day-to-day, it made me realise they really were the good old days. Back in 2008 we only had two ways to listen to music your phone or tv (youtube wasn't a hit until I was in year 11 in 2010/2011); we could get 4 wings for £1; Nike and Ralph Lauren were the biggest brands (we even used to add a foreign accent to the 'Lauren' making it sound more exotic), we came home to 50/50 and all them school shows we never got picked to be in. In this line, "Careful, you aint know dinner was only for the outspoken", is a throwback to the amount of school lunches I saw got taken. Assassination Squad. Beefing other schools, the list could go on but like any school in south there were a variety of dangers but that's only what made it so fun.

And as we got older the risks we took equalled harsher punishments, we lost some man to the cells and some to death. Life was really showing us her best. I went to a school were we very family orientated, we had a code and we were very proud young black boys. That blazer we wore had a lot responsibility and weight attached to it - some of us didn't know any better and some of us revelled in the pressure which made us blossom and unfortunately, some grew up and stuck in that same mindset of a 16 year old and the pressures from back then caused them to crack. I am proud to have went to Tenison's and I can say I still have friends from year 7, hell these man are my family now and even though we dont see each other as much as we used to no one can take those days from us and the bond we shared starting off with the same blue blazer.

#black #blackbritish #blackritishart #blackbritishartist #school #memories #rap #hiphop #raw #senses