Anytime I speak to my dad and ask him how London is he always replies in the same manner “shit, the economy is still on its arse and there is too much crime”. That’s the thing in 2008 there were 8 murders in one month, all victims were under 21. Pretty shocking huh? There’s been a lot of talk about knife crime with most kids packing a shank out of fear or just to feel safe and comfortable. Disenchanted youth + poor housing + poor education spells trouble and London has faced a backlash of gang crime for their inability to weed out it out and offer better living standards on the estates.

I remember when I was on the plane leaving London to move to Amsterdam and I thought about the last few years and it striked me that I’ve never been robbed and that’s quite abnormal in modern day London, especially as a young kid. A friend of my cousin got robbed six times in two weeks and spiralled in to a deep depression, in certain places it’s really rough and hearing stories from an old friend who visited Amsterdam a few weeks back, not much has changed.

One can speculate on the causes of the trouble facing young black men in the U.K but only if one has been through or has seen it with their own eyes. Mainly, these kids are a product of their environment and the latter can be quite isolating. A lack of motivation and lack of knowledge about future prospects are two of the factors that stand central to this issue. The romanticism of gang crime within the youth culture and its axis of masculinity which it revolves around are pretty fundamental to the reasons and likewise an answer to the big WHY question. Its not all doom and gloom though because out of adversity comes creativity.

London is quickly heading towards the state of pre Giuliani New York and director Mo Ali present us with a maybe over zealous but very interesting look on how London might be in the future. A dystopian, decaying and doom like city run by gangs is depicted by the director, surely taking a page out of Steven Spielbergs book. Starring a host of Grime rappers such as Bashy this is definitely a film to look out for.