Ghetto Youth
Sky and Tricky Lyrics

Me's a ghetto youth
I am a young person from the ghetto

Me come from straight dung ina the ghetto
I come from deep within the ghetto

Seen, Rockfort, Warica
I have witnessed the communities of Rockfort and Warica

Seen, Matches Lane
I have seen and experienced Matches Lane

Jungle Heights
I have lived in Jungle Heights

All I and I are one.
We all belong to the same community

Me a tell ya
Let me tell you

All Bull Bay Heights and dem heights dey.
Even in Bull Bay Heights and other similar areas

Yeah
Yes

Big dem up
Acknowledge and respect them

Seen, I you a hear me
I hope you can hear and understand me

Wicked ina de ghetto mi bredda
Life in the ghetto is difficult, my brother

Wicked to the max
Extremely difficult

And you done know the man have youth and youth
And you already know that children grow up to become men

A come up
They mature and rise up

And you see when
And you see that

And the father drop out
When the father is absent

Dem no know no father so dem come up tun gunman.
They don't have a father figure, so they become involved in criminal activities

Me done know, because a so de ghetto
I already know this, because it's how life in the ghetto is

Run a so the politician do it
That's how politicians manipulate the situation

Dem bring in a bag a gun
They bring in many guns

And barrage a ting and seen run pon youth and then
And they use these weapons to attack and control the young people

When you check it out.
When you see the reality of the situation

Dem send dem police friend to come for dem gun
They send their police connections to collect the guns

And dem say dem not running gun and dem tings deh.
They claim they are not involved in illegal activities

And bere tings in a ghetto
There are many things happening in the ghetto

Seen, man no stop kill man.
In the ghetto, people continue to kill each other

Seen, man no stop rob man.
People are constantly robbing each other

A no dem tings deh we want ina Jamaica
We don't want these things to happen in Jamaica

We want love, unity, seen, strength and energy.
We desire love, unity, strength, and energy in our community

Yeah, we want a whole heap of things to go on for the Ghetto youth all next year.
We hope for many positive changes for the ghetto youth in the upcoming year

You done know me as one a dem uprighting ghetto Youth, Seen, so we a start from way down dey so.
You already know that I am one of those uprighting ghetto youth. We start from the bottom.

We no just a come from no way and a come up ya so.
We didn't just come from nowhere, we've been right here

A way dung de so man a come from.
We come from deep within this area

Say man a come way from the rock, when me say de rock, Me mean the rock
We come from poverty and struggle, when I say 'the rock', I mean the harsh reality of our lives

Seen, Dem have flour mill and cement company
There is a flour mill and cement company that operates in this area

The most worst industry inna di whole Caribbean country
These industries are considered the most destructive in the entire Caribbean country

Man know from man did bawn
We have known about this situation since we were born

We no got no royalty, know what me say?
We don't have any advantages or support, do you understand?

Yeah, buil'(build)up all one place we dem call Texaco
They built a gas station called Texaco in this area

Them sinting(thing)we'(where) dem a store.
They store various things at this place

Gas fi'(for) plane, gas to this, gas to that, gas to everything.
They provide gas for planes, vehicles, and everything else

An' if a likkle fire ever get weh?
And if a small fire ever starts

Wow, mi nu' say di word.
Wow, I won't even mention it

Mi' don know seh(I already know that) my little friend over there.
I already know what my little friend over there is capable of

Chu, mi nah lef' him at all(I'm not leaving him at all
Because I won't abandon him

See Tricky?
Do you see, Tricky?

Gwan hol' tings.
Keep doing your thing

You don' know yuh a up front man.
You already know that you're an honest man

Yes me brother, Sky de yesuh.
Yes, my brother, I'm here, Sky

And a easy we a easy an' a buss one reason and tings.
We are taking it easy and just discussing various topics

I tell ya, the youth.
I'm telling you, the young people

You a god blessed picnee, trust me.
You are a blessed child, trust me

I want to show y'all a thing about the ghetto.
I want to educate you about the reality of the ghetto

See the ghetto
Look at the ghetto

Yu'(you)see Kisco pop
You see Kisco pop

Sugary soda that was sold in Jamaica and many other Third World British exploited countries), lollipop, an all of them pop there.
Sugary soda that was sold in Jamaica and other exploited countries, along with lollipops, they were all popular there

Yeah, I and I a juggle them from mi a' nine from down dessuh (there).
Yes, I have been managing and selling those products since I was nine years old, here in the ghetto

See yu know is cool me just a go a sister mammy
You know, it's fine, I'm just going to my friend's mother

See ya don't know man a'(is) ghetto youth, see?
You don't know that I am a ghetto youth, do you?

Straight boy original, see?
I am an authentic and genuine person, you see?

Yeah, and noboby can fool we and no bigga' heads(those who think they're more powerful)can come use we.
No one can deceive us and no one with power can manipulate us

Yeah, that's the way we run things.
Yes, that's how we handle things

We just DEAL wid tings, we sell suck suck an' them things.
We are simply dealing with things, selling items and making a living

An' ping pong and them thing an'star and daily news an' enquire And X news for earn our own paper.
We play ping pong and other games, read newspapers like Star and Daily News, and we work hard to earn our own money

Yeah, cause we nah let nu'(we're not gonna let) Some boy come tell about 6 to 6 and 6 to 12 And nuh half hour this and Half hour dat and you drink champagne and cock up (put up) Yu' foot an' inna place an' ting unda' AC(ting=things) (unda'=under) An' we ah out dessuh a bruk our hand and our neck fi yu'(And we're out there breaking our hand and neck for you) We nuh work dem de ways(We don't work those ways)
We don't follow the rules of working from 6am to 6pm and 6pm to 12am, we don't believe in working for just half an hour, drinking champagne, showing off, and staying in an air-conditioned room. Instead, we are here, working hard and sacrificing ourselves for you. We don't work like that.

That's how the ghetto youth live.
That's how we, the youth from the ghetto, live

That's why them ever try to elevate us, I and I ya see?
That's why they always try to improve our situation, you see?

Dem nuh want (they don't want)I and I elevate out of the slum.
They don't want us to escape from the slums

Cause dem know who, we have 'hole heap of wisdom
Because they know that we have a lot of wisdom

Same way we mek paper, we mek use of dat too See?
Just like how we make money, we also use our wisdom

We done know seh(we already knew that) Our mother and our father never have nothing, from way down dessuh.
We already know that our parents didn't have anything when we were growing up here in the ghetto

Trust me me brother.
Believe me, my brother

See that's how I and I come up.
That's how we rise and succeed

Go to school without lunch money and them sittin' (things) there.
We go to school without money for lunch and face that situation

That's why I and I no love nuh big heads(conceited older person).
That's why we don't like arrogant and self-centered people

Only thing I love a'the little youth dem a wear khaki suit (Jamaican school children uniform).
The only thing I appreciate is seeing the young children wearing their school uniforms

From yu' wear uniform me and you nuh friend me brother.
If you're wearing a uniform, it means we're not friends, my brother

I tell ya, mi nuh shame fi talk or chant or anything ya want.
I'm not afraid to speak up or express myself in any way you want

I and I know.
I know, we know

Liberty a liberty, yu see?
Freedom is freedom, do you see?

Reality a reality see?
This is the reality, do you understand?

We no promote none of them boy over there.
We don't support any of those guys over there

See them stay over one side and go and eat them Turkey and drink them what they want to drink them.
Let them stay on their side and enjoy their luxuries

De way dem a gwan' suh when dem drink dem Guinness And kick back and go and meditate and see?
The way they act when they drink their Guinness and relax, trying to act enlightened

Yeah, live with people mek people live with we.
Yes, we live with the people and they also live with us

Ya know what me say?
Do you understand what I'm saying?

Yeah, 'cause when I tell ya me brother, See a pure chain and bondage dem a have we unda, see?
Because when I tell you, my brother, we are still under the chains and bondage that they impose on us

Babylon release the chain but them a use dem brain, see?
Babylon releases the physical chains, but they still control us mentally

Trust me.
Believe me

That's why I and I nuh gauze(bother) fi dem see?
That's why I don't worry about what they think

Guy dem we a buil' up dem big pretty church and nah build nuh school.
Those guys are busy constructing beautiful churches but neglect to build schools