[Verse 1]:
I grew up in the 1980's
In a 4-bedroom house
My family, my Grandma
3 or 4 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 you 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 last 3 months solid
I got my first pair of Nikes, we were still eating porridge
Me and my cousin used to play Mel & 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
[Hook x2]:
1980 year that God made me
89 I started to get by
99 I started to write rhymes
Walk with me reminisce my life
[Verse 2]:
So then we moved up
I thought I was the Fresh Prince
Dynasty was re-runs and Dallas was faded
With 3 beds this time and 6 kids
We got a doggy that dog loved to sh**
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 neighbours 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 4
Mum worked late and we learnt to cook
Rice peas chicken and stew pea soup
In the room watching Kung-Fu films
And Cleopatra Jones
Wishing we were Cosby kids and the match stick girls
[Hook]
[Verse 3]:
The man downstairs was dead for 3 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 k**er
We used to pray for 3 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, durags and pin curls yes
Sexy boys walking round showing interest
In what i don't know coz we all had flat chests
Don't think we never mastered the Kid n Play steps
Doo-Wop for days in the bogle yep
But this is just the beginning of my life right
9 kids a house and one lifetime
Yo, the beginning of my life right
9 kids a house in one lifetime
[Hook]