Really nice.
You alright gov?
Yeah?
I said, 'You alright gov?'
He looked up and went hmm.
Love what you're doing man.
Thank you very much.
Appreciate you.
Thanks for doing big things.
I'm trying man, trying my hardest.
You're doing big things.
Thank you man, yeah, I appreciate it.
Hakeem is the only child that gave me a lot of trouble.
He didn't like boundaries, you know?
His friends, were out on road, doing whatever they were doing,
because their parents didn't have the same values as me.
So he's, for me he's not to be out on road at X time,
you need to be at home, because I don't want any trouble
come to my door, as a young black man.
but he didn't listen and he sure did get himself into trouble.
His song, Windrush song, I think it's brilliant,
you know and I take all the credit for that.
Yes I do,
because had I not been instilling him, teaching him
about himself as a black man –
I told them that already though.
– And you know who he is and where he comes from –
He wouldn't be, he wouldn't have that in him.
I put all that in him from he was like five, because my grandmother say,
'You have to bend the tree when it's young',
but when it's grown it's too late.
What happened to our people, the struggles that they went through for us,
you know the fight that they put up for us and ...
and because of what they have done we are able to take it and move forward
and do better for ourselves.
Yeah.
Growing up in the Isle of Dogs was wonderful.
Very community inspired,
everyone was in everyone's business everyone knew each other,
but it's not the same place any more.
I used to run up and down on the street, this street here.
my mate Shay lived there, my mate Laurence lived there,
it was wonderful.
It's like there's always mixed people like,
everyone just got along.
All my neighbours was was Irish, yeah,
apart from the Somali lady that used to live next door,
everyone was Irish.
So, but Jamaicans and Irish get along so ...
You can see the difference immediately, do you know what I mean?
I think they ruined the street.
They're not even finished, they just keep putting more and more and more up.
None of them are even inhabited, no one even lives in them.
Half of these ones are empty.
People just moving out to Essex or here or there.
We don't want to go nowhere we just want our island.
Gentrification's touching everywhere in England not just the Isle of Dogs,
but on the Isle of Dogs it's rife.
What happened to the butchers and the bakers that used to be there?
I wrote a song called Lost London and it's about
that fucking long ghastly industry eradicating our communities
as it does generationally.
So, this is what Lost London's about.
Yes Governor?
Look at him he's starting early isn't he?
Oh yes he said again, look.
Cheers man, cheers.
You know what I mean?
I'm trying, I'm no good –
Oh, she's gone for the old neck grab.
Come on Jess Lovey.
Oh yeah she's coming straight in with the old cuddle.
Lovely jubley.
No mucking and muddles.
Nice to meet you.
You enjoy it, yeah?
Thank you so much man that was sick.
It was.
I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Brilliant.
Thank you bro, I respect that.
Appreciate it.
Darling, waiting for you, waiting for you, waiting for you.
Sometimes it's difficult right?
It's horrible, it's horrible isn't it?
They come to the market?
It's sad also, right?
It is.
And they cross the road and ...
And they hold their bags.
I know in Brixton, this is a place where they put us.
Stacked us on top of each other.
Burning down buildings and killing people
and now 50 years later,
you want to cross the road when we're walking outside,
when this is the only place that you've dashed us.
Give it here.
You're the most important one today, you are.
You nearly got one on the lips.
I write songs about what I see.
People feel hopeless at the moment, you know?
People feel very hopeless at the moment.
Everything's through the roof, do you know what I mean?
Cost of living, we know what's going on and that horrible Tory government,
They take even more when there's nothing more to take.
There isn't really much to believe in except for
maybe the person standing next to you.
So that's why I feel like the best thing to do is
to forge relationships with friends and people,
you know and put ideas and money together
and try and get yourself out of a deep hole.
Because I guess that's the only way really.
My hero, Freddie Hampton, he was a black panther.
He realised that there was an issue with racism
and there was an issue with class as well.
They run quite synonymous, they run parallel.
You know, we're all at the bottom of the crab bucket together.
No matter the colour of the crab you're still at the bottom of the bucket.
I'm here now and I'm singing the truths
and I can go around the country and sing to people
and I sing Windrush baby and people love it
and they go crazy because they feel me.
Because I'm a real working-class people, I'm from that
and they connect with that.