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Abdullah Adekola: Carnival City

Videographer Jenny Handley Download transcript

Carnival City

From Harehills to Chapeltown and back
From the Caribbean to Leeds before that
From the land of wood and water to the windrush
From West Africa to the West Indies
Look up, look down
Some things change
Look back, look around
Some things the same
Somewhere between learning from elders who paved the way
And fighting for the future that we’re making each day

 

Every day turns to night
Every night turns to day
Public transport like a ghost
I know it better than most
There’s been an outbreak
And yes I was worried
A top boy like Sully
I’m always in a hurry
A hurry to get healthy
And build a loving home
I’m turning up
Trying to find a motive
Trying to shaku on the beat
With a Ye that’s different to yours
In this big city life
I’m just trying to get by
Just trying to get from A-to-B
And escape poverty
In this big city life
It’s just hi and bye
Pressure goes up
No matter what I try
Don’t you ever get lonely
Don’t you want to know me
Be a friend of mine

 

Big city life
So I have to run
I can give you five
When my work is done
Why do we live our lives
Like all this stuff survives
Don’t you ever get lonely
Don’t you want to know me
Be a friend of mine

 

From Harehills to Chapeltown and back
From the Caribbean to Leeds before that
From the land of wood and water to the windrush
From West Africa to the West Indies
Look up, look down
Some things change
Look back, look around
Some things the same
Somewhere between learning from elders who paved the way
And looking to the future that we’re making each day.

Abdullah Adekola (he/him) is a Black British working-class writer and performer. He is interested in decolonisation, as well as alternative and healthy approaches to masculinity and mental ill-health recovery. He works for a mental health charity and is a board member of the David Oluwale Memorial Association.

Abdullah describes his work as playful, philosophical, and romantic and is influenced by artists including James Baldwin, bell hooks, Roger Robinson, Maya Angelou and Corrine Bailey Rae. His breakthrough collection of poetry, Nigrescence, was published in September 2021 and is available on adekola.bigcartel.com. He has also been selected for the New Creatives North talent development programme by Arts Council England and BBC Arts.

For his PANIC! Bursary project, Adekola presents his debut film which includes a poetry performance with his collaborators Tai Ogunyinka and Alya Adekola. The film reflects on Black History in Leeds, with a focus on the Leeds West Indian Carnival. Adekola contemplates the pros and cons of city life, friendship and loneliness, whilst drawing on comparisons with the past and hopes for the future. A version of this poem is included in Adekola’s breakthrough collection of poetry, Nigrescence.

Taiwo is a Black male in his late 20s. He has a short beard and stubble. He wears a green beanie and a green fleece, black jean trousers, and trainers Alya is Black woman in her early 20s. She is wearing a black jersey and black trousers with black converse shoes. She is wearing a blue and white headwrap over braided hair Abdullah is a Black male in his early 30s, he has short black hair and a short shaped beard He is wearing a blue shirt that says Tokyo and a silver chain He is wearing grey checkered trousers
Taiwo is a Black male in his late 20s. He has a short beard and stubble. He wears a green beanie and a green fleece, black jean trousers, and trainers Alya is Black woman in her early 20s. She is wearing a black jersey and black trousers with black converse shoes. She is wearing a blue and white headwrap over braided hair Abdullah is a Black male in his early 30s, he has short black hair and a short shaped beard He is wearing a blue shirt that says Tokyo and a silver chain He is wearing grey checkered trousers
Somewhere between learning from elders who paved the way, and looking to the future that we’re making each day."

Discover the other PANIC! bursary artists

This work is presented as part of the PANIC! (Promoting an Artists’ Network in the Crisis) series of bursaries.

Earlier this year, PANIC! awarded a group of artists in Leeds City Region £5,000 and £1,000 bursaries to support the making of a new contemporary visual artwork or project. The bursaries offered space to create a voice and help us think through the new psychological, social and cultural conditions we face today.

You can find the work of artists Tora Hed, Dave Peel, Emily Ryalls and Tammy Tsang here.

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