East London

My hometown was the place to be
Success driving so we chased the p's
Worked so hard didn't need degrees
Some found success so famously
Yeah we did it ourselves, no button pushers
With inspiration like Alan Sugar
Who built themselves from the ground up
Was in that culture that I found love
And we found trust
All around us
Got pounds up
And got frowned on
By older folks who didn't understand
How some of us yutes made a hundred grand
Off saying some words to a dirty beat
How Dizzee Rascal won Mercury
Ever since Ghetts said have you heard of me
True say it's been nothing but Merkery
From Ilford, Barking, Forest gate (home)
On to the rave then staying late
Then dispersing to the old estates
Sometimes I miss those older ways
Those older days so carefree
But styled ourselves so carefully (pride)
Pocket change getting by barely
But we still lived good, no bare feet
Had clothes on our back that we took
Pride in
White Nike t shirt with the black writing (swag)
Following icons from round our ends
With supercars going round the bend
All round the ends like David Beckham (ball)
Celebrities up
North of Peckham
Those stars in the hood
like Tinchy Stryder
Real Eastenders, Danny Dyer
From East London where the mandem are g's (brap)
Ruff Sqwad tunes and the gyaldem are freaks (yeah)
Old white ladies calling police
On young Eastenders roaming the streets
It's East London we were born and bred (home)
Hiding the shoebox under the bed (cash)
Old white ladies calling the feds
On young Eastenders working for bread

Work's done, Upton Park on the weekend
West Ham, highs or lows we would see them (always)
Cos it's not about winning, it's repping our ends
The best supporters on the North of the Thames
That's Sol Campbell, Jermaine Defoe
Or say Jimmy Greaves decades ago
And you might have to watch for them hooligans
There's a few but we got much more to show
But gangster life is what's shown in movies
Guy Ritchie, that's stuff that you see
Snatch, lock stock smoking barrels
That were showing our ends on every channel (shame)
But that's not reality really
Few car chases, more time dreary (dead)
There were also actors, famous names
Like Idris Elba and Michael Caine

But that wasn't the main thing (no)
Music was our life blood, rap was reigning
East London was the home of grime
'03 onwards was the best of times (fun)
Electric beats with electric rhymes
So it's popularity climbed and climbed
Till all of London would take a shine
Ever since Wiley said he called it grime
There was grime in the streets,
grime underground
Wherever you went,
Know that grime was the sound
It was our culture
The talk of the town
There were few venues where grime was allowed
Like Jammer's basement, Lord of the Mics
Battling out for like all of the night (war)
Turn the sound up, dim the lights
They would battle rap, not cause a fight
And that was the main thing, it gave the yutes
A chance to stop beefing and say their truth (yeah)
Real stories told in the booth
And it sparked the start of those east end crews
Like N.A.S.T.Y., ruff sqwad, Heartless too
So solid, pay as u go were so smooth
Some man like Crazy Titch were so rude
Young Diz rocked worlds with 'I Luv U'

Still sittin' here listening to old school Kano
Channel U,
That's some old school radio
Top boy settings with Asher D
On Dejavu, D Double E
Sbtv
Ask Ghetts where's Carlos
On the Next Hype like Tempa T
Been bumping POW from Lethal B
That's what it's like when you come from East
It's East London where the mandem are g's (yeah)
Ruff Sqwad tunes and the gyaldem are freaks (ooh)
Old white ladies calling police
On young Eastenders roaming the streets
It's East London we were born and bred (said)
Hiding the shoebox under the bed (p's)
Old white ladies calling the feds

On young Eastenders working for bread
It's East London where the mandem are g's
Ruff Sqwad tunes and the gyaldem are freak (ooh)
Old white ladies calling police
On young Eastenders roaming the streets
It's East London we were born and bred
Hiding the shoebox under the bed
Old white ladies calling the feds
On young Eastenders working for bread