Album Review: Bashy - Being poor is expensive
Artist: Bashy
Album Title:
Being poor is expensive
Stand Out Track of Album: Black Men Lose Their Smile
Representation is important in society. Its inspiring when you see someone who looks like you breaks barriers and lets you see that people who look like you can achieve anything. Black doctors, lawyers, politicians, Scientist. The more we see it the more we aspire to achieve the dreams we want. It's always amazing to see black actors and musicians but it's even more inspiring when the person is from your city or even better the same borough. Ashley Thomas AKA Bashy Hails out of the London borough of Brent and has put out one of the best bodies of work this year. Bashy who had an amazing music career in the 00s transitioned into acting and can now be seen rubbing shoulders with the biggest actors in Hollywood.
So why would he revert back to music?
This album is a reflective album. An album that allows people into the mind of someone who "Made it out"
Being Poor is Expensive takes you back in time and allows you to listen to Bashy unravel the mind of the younger him and take you on the journey of being a good kid in the dangerous environment of North West London AKA Nart West or North Weezy!
Album Highlights:
London Borough of Brent:
London Borough of Brent starts with the sound of the London overground train arriving at Willesden Junction. Bashy arriving back into the place he once called home as the older wiser him, giving you a sense that he's remembering the feelings the environment brings out of him. "Round here's mad don't you know" Reminiscing that this is the place that motivated him to achieve what he needed to escape "When your broke you will do mad tings and when your broke you will do sad tings". The Choir echoing his blessed to be alive line hits hard as Bashy really knows it has to be by miracle that he managed to navigate through NW at a time when the relationships between areas in the borough were separating "Anywhere from Kilburn down to edgware, anywhere from Kensal Green to Wembley..."
Being Poor is expensive:
Bashy brings you to a typical West Indian household in London sampling the Let Me down easy by Derrick Harriott & The Crystalites. He's bringing you in to the culture of NW London not just by the stories he's telling, but also what the sound of NW was like for black children with Caribbean ancestry.
Although the beat is more chilled and relaxed, Bashy Is still showing you no matter what, there was always problems, always issues, always victims and even if you think you've made it out or you think your old enough to no longer be involved in the issues that's most likely when you can become a victim and lose your life! "Even if your not involved the zones involve ya, and it never stops think its over when your older (Gun Shots)
How Black men lose their smile:
The most powerful song of the whole album for me. This song breaks down the tactics used to dehumanize black men in society. This track shows the tactics and circumstances that took the innocences from young black men and created deep mental conflict within blacks in England. "The World has made me hate myself, I'm scared of men that look like me, self hatred rooted so deep". Bashy gives more detail than most artist of the breakdown of black society in European environments in this song. He goes as far back as detailing the generational trauma that has been passed on to us by our parents that a lot of people don't realize is a real thing. How black men lose their smile adds to the overall rehabilitation Bashy is enduring during this whole album. He shows how black culture has been broken in European societies using tactics and lies to neutralize black people. This song speaks to me as a black man living in European institutions and seeing the methods used to make black men powerless, miserable and devalued. If you know bashy from even his Chuppa Chups mixtape days you can hear that he's tone of voice has even changed. He no longer raps with expression. Its almost like life has really pushed Bashy to a point where he no longer sees the joy in it anymore. That's how black men lose their smile.
This album expresses an unedited, raw, dark insight into the world of a survivor. Every track gives you this opinion. every track paints the scenery to being a adolescent surfing the streets of NW London. From On the Rise with its upbeat garage sound to Lost in Dreams with its more deep hip hop essence. Bashy delivers morbid, cold, calculated verses including the injustices that gripped London during his childhood. From Stephen Lawrence Being murdered in a racially motivated attack by a gang of white men, To Mark Dugan being murdered by police officers, Bashy leaves no stone unturned when breaking down that era in NW.
If Im being honest his album is unskippable which is why I rate it so highly. To skip a track is to skip the story. To miss out on the journey of what a good, clean hearted kid from the ends had to endure. Makes you think next time you see one of the people in your area that was never involved in anything how difficult it was mentally to survive.
This Album is therapy. Its not for sales, it's not for new fans, Its for NW London. It almost feels like he owed it to the ends to say thank you for making me who I am. He was even intentional with the features on the album. All 3 features, Skrapz, Hailey and Roses Gabor are all natives to the same environment Bashy grew up in. Its only right if your talking about NW then only people who know should be on the album. This album is from the mind of a man who no matter how much success he achieves he still suffers from the trauma he endured growing up in NW. His Resilience is to be admired. His faith in his ability is to be praised and his faith in God is what he will credit it to. Even though he didn't break in the way the environment would have thought, survivors remorse still leaves him broken.
Bashy is from the same era as Kano, Ghetts, Wiley, Lethal B, Dizzy Rascal!
They all manage to give their areas albums that are guides to their environment! Albums that are Staples to the culture, Bashy Finally Gave us ours!
Thank You!
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