"Bridgeland Road (ft. Michaela Coel)"

7 February 2023

5 mins 24s

Bridgeland Road

East London rapper Guvna B (Isaac Borquaye) excels himself with new single 'Bridgeland Road'. What begins as a tribute to his parents and the eponymous street morphs into a searing indictment of the Metropolitan Police, who let Borquaye down after he was attacked by racist thugs.

The first voice we hear belongs to a police officer who leaves a voicemail on Borquaye's phone, not that the rapper wants to hear it. He does listen to a message from Michaela Coel, who encourages the rapper to write down his feelings and take control of this dire situation.

What follows is lyrical, razor-sharp criticism of the police response ("I guess I'm not their idea of a victim/Call that gentrification"), as well as concerns over escalation ("Takes a village to raise a child/But I wonder what we do when the village on fire"). Borquaye's eye may have healed, but not everyone will be so lucky.

He also raps, "There's power in a conversation/But you'd probably learned more if we swapped location". Thus, director Joshua Stocker immerses viewers in Borquaye's London - a black-and-white city full of memories, both good and bad.

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