Did Jamaican Patois Create UK Black Slang?

[00:00:00]Do you think you're trying to be black?

[00:00:01]No, I don't think so. I think again London is a mixture of London different things. So like you get from Caribbean influence, you get African influence. I think a lot of the popular stuff in London culture does derive from like black culture.

[00:00:15]>> So that's why people also stereotypes associating certain things with black people. So black people might have been I don't know if there's truth. This is just an example, but like black people might be the first people to like start wearing grills, but then because they wear it in London, other people see that that's kind of cool. And then it starts becoming a London culture. And because being born and raised in London, I see that as like what I like as well. And then a lot of it is down to the accent.

[00:00:36]So people think the way you speak and trying to be black, which I don't understand. So like you're either stereotyping how black people speak and saying it's like negative way like you're trying to be black because of the way you speak.

[00:00:46]>> I mean look like I think you know like piggybacking off what you said. Yeah.

[00:00:49]It's also down to ignorance cuz obviously we've grown up in London surrounded by so many different ethnicities. We know that we're not trying to be black. It's just a byproduct of the environment we're in.

[00:00:57]Obviously people that live in other countries, they don't know that. They obviously watch.

[00:01:01]>> I can't lie. This this particular guy here, he sounds black as hell.

[00:01:06]>> I'm [clears throat] going to get to it.

[00:01:07]I'm going to cuz I know a lot of people watch you thinking black. What do you mean by black? Cuz black is different in different parts of the world. But in terms of like UK black culture, he sounds like a black guy.

[00:01:18]>> Media and then they associate this is how black people speak and these Asian guys who are supposed to sound a certain way, they sound like this. If you think the type of comments we've received, why are you trying to sound black? You sound uneducated. Why you trying to act like a road man? Comments like that. And then that's where we learned what MLE means.

[00:01:32]>> ML stands for multicultural London English. It's a fusion of traditional cogn Caribbean PWA and West African and South Asian linguistic influences.

[00:01:41]>> Right? So this is my view on this whole scenario.

[00:01:47]I'm going to go based on generations. My generation, right? I was born 84.

[00:01:54]So me growing up as a young man or as a as a young boy, sorry, I I haven't reached young man stage yet. Young boy, that's the era I'm going to go start from.

[00:02:05]Yeah. So we're talking like early 90s to mid '90s. All the lingo I learned was predominantly Jamaican lingo. Wuan were you man saying? That's how we used to talk to each other. Little bit of English in it. in it that was in there as well. I remember a lot of the aunties and uncles used to make fun of us in what's this thing you always say in but the stuff was Jamaican Jamaican was culture was the most dominant culture around that time in the UK we're talking from the from the 80s I don't know much about the 80s cuz I was born in ' 84 but me growing up I saw it trickled into our generation so ' 90s all the way through to maybe to like the American culture having like a massive effect on the UK culture as well around the early 2000s. Things like YouTube and stuff and MySpace and that I saw a massive American influence as well. We always had the American influence during the 80s and 90s. The American influence was there, but Jamaican culture was more dominant because it was right on our doorstep. We lived with Jamaicans.

[00:03:10]Jamaicans were in the UK. So, as me as, first of all, those of you probably be wondering what's he on about. I'm Ghanaian. For me as a West African, I grew up around predominantly Caribbean people where I lived and to school mainly Caribbean people, but I have to emphasize mainly Jamaican. I'm not too sure about the other islands or the other Caribbean um uh um landscapes um areas, but I grew up around Jamaicans.

[00:03:37]Right now, I understand what they're saying about the whole uh Caribbean, West African, and English kind of fusion. I'm not sure what they called it. I think it was called, let me go back and see that bit there. They said something about >> why you trying to act like a road man.

[00:03:51]Comments like that. And then that's where we learned what MLE means.

[00:03:54]>> ML stands for multicultural London English.

[00:03:55]>> It's a fusion, >> right? Multicultural London London English. MLE, right?

[00:04:02]I think now we can call it MLE. But at the time, West Africa wasn't in it wasn't in the boardroom. It was Jamaican and English. Like Jamaican PWA and English. that were those were the two things that people spoke when I was growing up. The West African element started to become part of the conversation I would say around the 2020s.

[00:04:25]The rise of Afro beats, people like the Bange, you know, they they opened the floodgates. A lot of the UK kind of cool kids started doing the Afrobeat sound and using Afro and African um West African um slang and lingo. people like um man I'm bad with the names man because I'm not really a big fan of their music but um what's that guy's name again? Did you see what I done came and the black men's left and a white one? How could I forget his name? But you know what I'm talking about. That generation. Yeah. Fredo him all those guys. They jumped on that afro pop or afro swing whatever they called it. And that's when I feel as if like people started to really mess with African lingo. Plus you had the mega stars like David do and Whiz Kid. Even Drake jumped on some of the tunes. So that kind of helped as well. But in terms of the UK, I'm talking about the geographical landscape. It was the young guys, the hip young guys that were jumping on the African sound that made people start throwing some of the African in that MLE. But before that, it was Jamaica and English. And the reason why I'm saying that we have to give each other our flowers because I think growing up in a world where black people we don't own our media outlets. People's perception of us is always from a white man's perspective cuz we don't own our media outlets. As much as we may be given some freedom to create our own programming and stuff, there is some limit to it. So it's very difficult for us. For instance, like if you look at like Asians, right? Punjabis have their own channels, Hindus have their own channels. We see as if it's one monolith like, oh, they all watch one channel.

[00:05:59]No, they've got their own media for their own cultural influences and their cultural projection. They got their own media for it. We as black people don't seem to have our own media. Do you understand? It's like we accept what it is that white people say about us and but we know like it's like a little subculture where we know the difference, but the entire of like like mainstream England doesn't know the difference.

[00:06:23]They don't know the difference. They don't they're not going to know that that's how Jamaicans talk and that's how Africans talk. They see us all as the same. I'm not even kidding you. I've seen white people ask me questions like I remember when Shawn Paul was one of the biggest like exports out of Jamaica.

[00:06:40]White people were asking me why is this Chinese man talking like a Jamaican?

[00:06:46]How do I explain to them that he might have he might have um South uh he might have East Asian um uh ancestry in his blood somewhere, but East Jamaican? Same as this new girl, Shansia.

[00:06:59]I'm sure there are people in the mainstream world who look at and think, "How is this girl from Asia, but she chats like a Jamaican, not knowing that she's got Korean blood in her?" A lot of people don't know the Caribbean islands have always had um people from East Asia over there. Do you understand? You know, and people from Southeast Asia, that's where you get the people they call, I don't want to say the word the C word or the K word, but you know what I'm talking about. Let's Okay, [ __ ] I don't know what they're called now, but people of maybe Asian ancestry, I don't know what you call them. Let me correct me in the comments. Yeah, but people don't understand this. Like I said, it's a subculture that gets it, but the mainstream culture doesn't understand this stuff. So when people are saying black culture, but really that is to be warranted or credited to Jamaicans, it takes away from Jamaica's contribution, it takes from Jamaica's spotlight on the global stage. Do you understand? And when people say, "Oh, that's African." Then it takes away from Africa's people say that's that's that it takes away from that. I think we understand the subcultures, but those that don't, we must make them understand that is mainly down to Jamaican lingo.

[00:08:07]This is nothing to do with African lingo. Only of recent time can we say, "Yeah, Africa has jumped inside that conversation and our influence has kind of contributed to this lingo that we have in the UK as black Brits." But prior to that, it was Jamaican, PWA, and English. Cockney and sometimes a little bit of posh words here and there. Do you know what I'm trying to say? But it was Cockney and PWA. Let's be real. Do you understand? Pigeon English has just just entered. African lingual just entered.

[00:08:35]African slang just entered. Do you understand? So yeah, I get where these guys are coming from. And it's a shame that people hear them talk and say, "Oh, you're trying to be black or you're trying to your your son uneducated."

[00:08:47]It's a shame that people affiliate that way of talking with being uneducated.

[00:08:52]But it's not just a race thing because even Cockney as a kid, that's how people perceive the Cockney speaking people.

[00:08:59]they perceive see them as uneducated because like I said the media's portrayal of us is not our portrayal. So the media's portrayal of Cockney accent back in the days was that yeah these people are from the streets they're unintelligent they're ignorant this how they talk and that's that that that's how they perceived it whereas we are poshion we talk like this and we're more sophisticated and educated too and these are the people who were projecting this through these networks through these program stations these were the people do you know what I mean and that's why I said if we had our own media platforms you would know okay that that's definitely from Jamaica that's definitely from West Africa you would know the difference too. But because the mainstream world was given one perspective as if we're a monolith and we don't have any differences, it's difficult to know whose contribution is what. And I give you a perfect example.

[00:09:50]I remember back in the early 2010s, correct me if I'm wrong in the comments, but when the Sopranos come out, was it early 2000s or 2010s?

[00:09:59]Either way, there was an episode where there was a Somalian guy and it made me realize just how much in the mainstream world they can't tell the difference between us. They really can't. They just see black. And the thing is, we want to see it that way as well. But unfortunately, like I said, there are subdivisions within that culture. We know the differences. I know a Somalian from West African. I know a Ethiopian from a Sudanese person. I know a Kenyan from a Zimbabwean. like we can see these things like once you're in that culture you can especially if you if you if you care enough for that culture you can see it. There are those in the culture who can't see it because they don't look for these things. But in terms of like the mainstream culture they can't see the differences between us. They really don't know the difference between us. I've had white people ask me certain questions in the past even re of recent time where I'm like they seriously can't see it. They don't know the difference. The ones who do are the elitist. instead of the ones who know how to play the games and manipulate this and use all these different tribes their advantage to create divide and rule. But the average Joe who's just a consumer of content on the mainstream platforms and mainstream networks cannot tell the difference. And I'll tell you why. In this film, in this TV show, The Sopranos, there was a scene where a Somalian immigrant who's a student was being attacked by the Italian mafia's sons cuz the show is based on Italian mafia. It's called the Sopranos about they're telling him mafia their sons are chilling. Now this Somalian guy just happens to come around the wrong place at the wrong time.

[00:11:34]>> Just watch this and tell me if this man looks Somalian to you. Watch this.

[00:11:41]>> YOU WRECKED MY [ __ ] DOOR AND YOU DID THAT TO your own door. Whoa, whoa, whoa.

[00:11:45]What the [ __ ] you say? I SAID HE OPENED THE DOOR. HE DON'T LOOK >> Does that guy look Somalian to you?

[00:11:52]>> Keep it real. Does he look Somalian to you?

[00:11:55]Even if one in a million some Somalians may have these kind of features. Yeah.

[00:11:59]Does he look the average Somalian to you? The answer is no. But watch what happens.

[00:12:04]>> Look at all LOOK AT MY [ __ ] BIKE.

[00:12:06]>> Did you hear this guy?

[00:12:08]>> You saw it.

[00:12:09]>> [ __ ] you, [ __ ] [music] >> I am not a [ __ ] I am from Somalia. I go to school and I work.

[00:12:19]>> I am from Somalia. I go to school and I work. Even his accent is so West African.

[00:12:24]And look at his face. [laughter] [clears throat] Somalians would call him a jer because of his hair. I think Jer means like coarse hair.

[00:12:34]The man does not look or sound Somalian.

[00:12:37]But you know the crazy thing because this demographic that this show was made for will never know the difference. They didn't even have to bother working on getting a Somalian actor. They didn't care because they know that demographic will just see a black person and say, "Yep, African."

[00:12:55]This is what I mean about those guys in the video saying, "Oh, they said you sound black." And D. The people saying these things are ignorant cuz they don't know the difference.

[00:13:05]They think when you say black, it means all of us. They don't understand about the distinct ethnic groups, the differences between us. And I'm not one who use the differences as negatives.

[00:13:17]They're all positives cuz they're all contributions to us as a people. As you can see, outsiders just see us.

[00:13:25]So that's all I'm trying to say here.

[00:13:26]That's what I'm trying to say is like let's get let's let's give the flowers who the flowers belong to. Those guys saying what they said. It's all good adding all the other lingos, but it was the Jamaican and Cockney that created the UK black lingo. Africa came along a lot later, maybe early 2010s. But yeah, listen, let me know what you guys think about this conversation. You know, what are your thoughts on this conversation?

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