THE CONCRETE jungle, the ends, the school of hard knocks, the hood, inner-city London. There’s a bag of names for where we live but the one thing that all of these names have in common is ‘US’ – (writes Abstract Benna).
All of these names represent a familiar place but I wouldn’t love it so much if it wasn’t for the culture we’ve developed here.
The way we talk, the way we walk, our ability to make and set trends from survival.
The skills we possess to take something and make it our own, or take something ordinary and breathe life into it.
We took the social housing estates and turned them into a London-wide culture called ‘the ends’.
We took English and morphed it into an exquisite lexicon; an ever evolving language unto itself – it made me a professional Code Switcher – if you know you know. This culture gave birth to the ‘Stormzys’, ‘the Daves’ the likes of ‘Lil simz’ and many other talented individuals, it must be why we celebrate their wins like our own.
The lyrics we wrote and shared as therapy about our life in this concrete jungle are put on repeat and sang aloud by youth who live where the grass is greener. The streets we all walk still holds the memories of historical gang warfare that shaped a whole generation.
The holes we used to have in our jeans are now worn with pride by many; the style and swag we made up on the estate is the cool that helps push industries further. Most of the things we created came out of necessity.
Necessity breeds innovation. It’s this continual innovative spark that inspires my work and love for the people here.
It’s a ‘family’ kind of energy. Even the familiar strangers get a head nod… why? It’s like when you’re outside of London and you see another Black person in an all-white area, the head nod is worth a thousand words – I know you get the picture!
It’s an instinctive knowing that our experiences are very similar and we’re here for each other even if we never see each other again. The people in this environment not only shaped me but play a part in shaping history.
This is what inspires me to write. I write with the intention of archiving our stories with rhyme, our history in all of its nuances, for myself, for us and for future generations to help them make sense of themselves within our collective.
My passion for capturing and archiving our stories is apparent in my soon to be released; Spoken word based audio film ‘Out of Darkness’ which is being launched as part of Certain Blacks presents Shipbuilding at Rich Mix on February 25.
This project captures the essence of what I do. It sets the premise for the things I want to talk about going forward.
My on-going themes are identity. What it means being raised in the diaspora and adapting to inner-city London life.
Out of Darkness captures the essence of what it was like growing up in a pre-gentrified neighbourhood when crime, poverty, community love and a vibrant culture was all in a melting pot of what shaped us into the people we became.
Abstract Benna’s Out Of Darkness at Rich Mix February 25 is part of Certain Blacks presents Shipbuilding: https://richmix.org.uk/events/abstract-benna-ep-launch-out-of-darkness/
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