Born to Jamaican and Nigerian parents and raised in Ireland, the Dublin-based rapper JyellowL us known for his evocative lyrics fuelled by political conviction and a passionate delivery that makes him a voice for the Ireland’s black community as well as juggernaut in the Irish scene. Today he’s produced one of his rawest singles to date with Doesn’t Feel Like summarising his experience moving to Ireland as an African immigrant. He goes into more detail about this experience below:
“This song is about my experience as an African immigrant in the western world. I came to Ireland when I was in my early teens and it was the first time I was made conscious of my racial and cultural difference. The first time I experienced racism, covert and blatantly overt. The first time I met people who hated me because of my race and wanted to cause me bodily harm as a result. The first time I met people who truly believed they were my superior because of my skin colour. The first time that my character was judged based on the actions of groups of people, whom I shared nothing in common with but complexion, and faced the physical consequences in some instances. Those experiences I faced coupled with the historic injustice faced other black people all over the western world, made me feel like I didn’t belong here. They say home is where the heart is, but I found it very difficult to place my heart somewhere that I was regularly reminded was not my ‘actual’ home.”
This isn’t just any song, it’s a call to action. JyellowL expertly portrays his own experience through his candid lyrics showing cases of racism that are prevalent within our society and the intimate production allows these lyrics to take centre stage, giving us no excuse to not sit and listen to these issues. JyellowL has produced some amazing tracks in the past but this one is, in my eyes, his strongest to date and his most powerful. I implore you all to dive into his entire discography as it is just spellbinding.