Heard on the Streets of London

London is arguably the most multicultural city in the world thanks to its colonial past and geographical position. As a result the culture of London is pretty eclectic with plenty of mash-ups.

One of the strangest by products of the London mash-up is that people with no connection to the Caribbean are starting to speak Creole and especially the Jamaican patois that arrived in the UK during the 1950s and 1960s. The FT ran an article which followed a white, middle class boy from the City of London school (a prestigious private school) as he navigated his way through life speaking a mixture of estuary English and Jamaican patois.

“The crashing thump of drums in the South London music school suddenly ceases and for a moment the road outside is silent. Then the door swings open and teenagers tumble down the building’s steps, shouting a volley of words that would be unfathomable to any passing foreign tourist and, indeed, are unfathomable to me, a Londoner, come to meet my 15-year-old cousin, Joseph.

“Naes, ma, dat is sick” (”Nice man, that is cool”), one boy says admiringly, as he watches his friend take the flight of steps in one go, bouncing deftly to the pavement in his Adidas trainers. “Can’t be on de long ting, bwoy” (”Can’t be wasting time, boy”), his friend replies. “Bare tings to do innit” (”I’ve a lot to do”). As they say their goodbyes (”bae”) and head off in different directions, Joseph comes over to greet me. “Wha’ g’wan on, man?” he asks, as he gives me a hug.”

While the article notes that this trend has been parodied relentlessly by the likes of AliG it is still going strong with the suspicion that it is inspired by the rise of Hip Hop over the past 30 years.