“Black Boys” by Bashy - A Black British Anthem

 

Ashley “Bashy” Thomas, is a black British phenomenon in the world of the arts from his thrilling acting, to his amazing music emerging from the rap scene in the early 2000s. One of Thomas’s most notable pieces of work is “Black Boys”, a single released in 2007 under the alias “Bashy”featuring Loick Essien, produced by Naughty Boy. This single was recorded in 2 hours and became such an anthem as a debut single for “Bashy” that it kickstarted his career as well as Naughty Boy, the producer, who funded the video.

“Black Boys” is a song that promotes people in the black community making an impact by fighting against stigmas with positive actions. 

Thomas shares countless examples of great black men and their accomplishments through out the first verse. Thomas refers to Dizzee Rascal, a Black-British rapper winning the £20,000 Mercury music prize in 2003. Dizzee Rascal was awarded by Ms Dynamite another popular black British MC, who has helped shape the sound of British music today. “Bashy”, (Thomas) expressed how impactful, and encouraging it is to see relatable people doing things you aspire to do. It strengths our self belief, seeing our dreams are in fact a reality, and can be for anyone that work to make it so. 

Being inclusive, despite the title of the song being “Black Boys”, listeners are bombarded with a list of Black woman through history and their accomplishments as we are reminded of the many great things black people do, especially in Britain where we are a minority ethnic group, despite having built communities for ourselves across the country. 

The chorus samples lyrics from the song “O-o-h Child” by the Five Steppers. It’s a message of hope, things will get better, and Loick Essien’s soothing vocals compliments everything, tying the song together so well. Loick Essien is another example of a black male using his creative talents and pursuits to create something positive, like this song and in turn change the stigmas of black boys and men. 

“Black Boys” features another sample of lyrics from “Cry” by Swiss ft Sharifa. “Cry” is a British urban anthem that highlights the struggles some black people face resulting from growing up in ghettos, the restrictions of poverty, exposure to violence, and the stigmas about black men, especially at the time, listed as reasons to why one may cry.  In a similar sense both “Cry” and “Black Boys” are songs released in the mid 2000s that provided relatable music that reflected life at the time for some British black men in urban communities. 

Since releasing “Black Boys” in 2007, Ashley “Bashy” Thomas has continuously pushed himself and developed his career to be an even more remarkable example of a “Black boy” that has grown to become a remarkable black man. His catalog of work now ranges from Netflix series Top Boy to BBC , where he is the first black man to match the description and portray lawyer, Mr Jaggers in the latest TV adaptation of Charles Dickens classic, Great Expectations.

All living things grow. Which areas of your life are you promoting growth?