1980 - Estelle

Yo yo yo

I grew up in the 1980's
In a four bedroom house
My family, my grandma,
Three or four aunties
Uncles and brothers
In and out of prison daily
At certain times when there was no heat
We stay under covers
There was life like u never seen
Grandma taking extra people in
Come dinner time it was tippin' 18
Boil a big pot of water on the stove to take a bath
Rub my face with olive oil
All my mates used to laugh
All my cousin's moved out
We all got divided
As i started to get older I seen God providing
I've seen 50 pound last 3 months solid
I got my first pair of Nikes we were still eating porridge
Me and my cousin used to play Mel and Kim
Practising dancin'
Coming down the stairs and ting
I touched Africa and came back darker
Knowing myself
Feeling my roots a little bit harder

1980 Year that God made me
89 I started to get by
99 I started to write rhymes
Walk with me reminisce my life
So then we moved up

1980 Year that God made me
89 I started to get by
99 I started to write rhymes
Walk with me reminisce my life
So then we moved up

I thought I was the Fresh Prince
Dynasty was re-runs and Dallas was faded
With three beds this time and six kids
We got a doggy that dog loved to shit
My brother got his first pair of LA gears
He thought they were to take pictures of instead of wear
I started hanging out and my jeans got tighter
My weird neighbors set their own house on fire
Church was all day every day and every week
That's where i learned how to sing
Hearing that pastor preach
Benediction was all we went for
So we could run home and play connect four
Mum worked late and we learnt to cook
Rice peas chicken and stew pea soup
In the room watching Kung-Fu films
And Cleopatra Joans
Wishing we were Cosby kids and the match stick girls

1980 Year that God made me
89 I started to get by
99 I started to write rhymes
Walk with me reminisce my life
So then we moved up

1980 Year that God made me
89 I started to get by
99 I started to write rhymes
Walk with me reminisce my life
So then we moved up

The man downstairs was dead for three weeks
His own cat started eating him
The house starts to wreak
That's when we moved out
And our house was bigger
We had a large garage and the attic was killer
We used to pray for three hours in the mornin'
Sitting on the school bus
Believe we was yawning
All our hair was stuck down to our foreheads
Jam curls, splits, dorags and pin curls yes
Sexy boys walking round showing interest
In what I don't know 'cause we all had flat chests
Don't think we never mastered the kid and play steps
Doowop for days in the boggle yep
But this is just the beginning of my life right,
Nine kids a house and one life time
Yo, the beginning of my life right
Nine kids a house in one life time
Artist: Estelle
Title: 1980