Yo..yo..yo..
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
Daddy 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
And my Cousin's moved out And 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

[Chorus]
1980 year that God made me
89 I started to get mine
99 I started to write rhymes
Come, walk with me baby this were my life
1980 year that God made me
89 I started to get mine
99 I started to write rhymes
Come, walk with me reminiscing my life

So then we moved up thought I was the 'Fresh Prince'
'Dynasty' was re-runs and 'Dallas' was faded
With 3 beds this time and 6 kids
Still we got a doggy (yes that gog loved to shit)
My brother got his first pair of 'LA Gear'
He thought it were to take pictures of instead of wear
We started hanging out 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 Master Preach
Benediction was all we went for
So we could run home and play 'connect 4'
Mum worked late and we learnt to cook
Sasparilla and stew pea soup
In the room watching Kung-Fu films
And Cleopatra films wishin we was the cosmic kids and the matchstick girls

[ Repeat Chorus]
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, our house was bigger
We had a large garage and the attic was killer
We used to pray for 3 hours in the morning
Sitting on the school bus believe we was yawning
All our hair was stuck down to our forehead jam and spritz doo rags 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
Doowop for days in the bogle yep
But this is just the beginning of my life right,
9 kids a house in one life time
Yo, the beginning of my life right
9 kids a house in one life time......

Writer : CREED/SHELTON/VENEY/HILL/BELL/SWARAY/SWARAY
Copyright : Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., CHRYSALIS MUSIC OBO CHRYSALIS MUSIC LTD UK