Yeah

Daddy weren't around, so I used to play up

I was a robber tryna blend in as a raver

I still did things when I didn't wanna take part

Just tryna see my dough rise like a baker

In the city, there's no love for your neighbour

The postcode war used to be major

I could've been in jail or a graveyard

It's kinda mad, but music really was my saviour, yeah

They listen to me rap, and no, it's not a game

I'm ashamed, I used to be a robber, and popping chains

They weren't about me, and a gangster was about the pain

I've seen your mum struggle, just to buy you clothes and games

Just tryna make some money, hurting people weren't the aim

Being a bad boy is just someone you fear of your ways

They put that shit on TV, and it's stuck inside our brain

Then we go do what we just saw, and they call us insane

Then we go do what we just see, and have to buss a case

Nah, not bussin' movements 'round no road to get P just in case

My family couldn't support 'cause we're since half our days

But how you gonna handle all this guilt, when tryna stuff a plate

Yo, I've made a few mistakes, and I have made it to rock bottom

Had to switch up what my aim was then I really start to blossom

So don't ever throw no tarnish under my name, 'cause I really ain't bothered

Man come through like Katherine Tate from the council estate, but I'm living like Boris

Daddy weren't around, so I used to play up

I was a robber tryna blend in as a raver

I still did things when I didn't wanna take part

Just tryna see my dough rise like a baker

In the city, there's no love for your neighbour

The postcode war used to be major

I could've been in jail or a graveyard

It's kinda mad, but music really was my saviour

Daddy weren't around, so I used to play up

I was a robber tryna blend in as a raver

I still did things when I didn't wanna take part

Just tryna see my dough rise like a baker

In the city, there's no love for your neighbour

The postcode war used to be major

I could've been in jail or a graveyard

It's kinda mad, but music really was my saviour

I don't do birthdays when I was young, they didn't go too well

You can ask my mum, I spent my 16th one inside a cell

Flipping hell, that's what it felt like, 'cause no one tried to help

Police are out to get me, they charged me and dropped everyone else

Six months on tag in summer, playing with my mental health

Didn't even do what they were saying, I just didn't tell

Mother sticking by me, taught me 'bout values and family wealth

I stopped blaming others once I realised I weren't by myself

Stop for a second try to picture me

Early teens, fighting a broken system that's blaming me

You should see how many others are living just like me

Can't believe I was in court during my GCSEs

They shut the youth clubs, no more social spots, we roam the streets

I see them lock up people that I knew, and throw the key

Real struggles, people fighting just for things to eat

Ain't many vegans in the hood, 'cause all they know is beef

Daddy weren't around, so I used to play up

I was a robber tryna blend in as a raver

I still did things when I didn't wanna take part

Just tryna see my dough rise like a baker

In the city, there's no love for your neighbour

The postcode war used to be major

I could've been in jail or a graveyard

It's kinda mad, but music really was my saviour

Daddy weren't around, so I used to play up

I was a robber tryna blend in as a raver

I still did things when I didn't wanna take part

Just tryna see my dough rise like a baker

In the city, there's no love for your neighbour

The postcode war used to be major

I could've been in jail or a graveyard

It's kinda mad, but music really was my saviour