Street Life: Lyrics

An image from the Street Life music video.

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I was never really into hip hop, so when I first got the CD with Street Life on it, I admittedly had to listen repeatedly to understand what Malik was saying. When I told him that I found a lot of the words weren't decipherable to me, he chuckled knowingly and said: "You'll get used to it the more you listen. That's hip hop." He was right. I eventually acclimatised to the lingo and style of delivery and now 'speak fluently'. The song is written from the perspective of youths on the streets and the frustration and crime that can result from hardships faced on that terrain ...

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Walk the streets full of chalk marks and shells

Surrounded by thugs, drug dealers and baseheads

Lost souls stand parallel from hell

Black zombies rising from the dust

Frustrated, ready to bust

Nothing to lose but everything to gain

Caught in the matrix

Chips in the brain ...

(Some of the lyrics for Street Life by Malik)

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Actually, it was a video for his song Dying Man that Malik had initially wanted me to do, but when I heard Street Life, I felt we should go with that instead. The beats and music, created by producer Navid Lancaster of Suresound Studio are slow yet moving, capturing the feeling of driving through the streets. There's something simple, infectuous and cross-overish about the overall song which (as a non-hardcore-hiphopper myself), I felt would appeal to a wider audience. It felt like the right move for Malik's first release.

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TOMORROW: Interview with Malik

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- Elspeth -