Cosa Nostra - Youngs Teflon (feat. Blade Brown) (2022)

Mafioso motivation from two of south London road rap's best laid over an epic, cinematic instrumental. Don't get lost in the wave because everybody peaks.

Recently I’ve been in a battle with myself. I’m sure I’m not the only one.

The coldest months of this winter got to me more than ever before. At the beginning of December, on my return from a once-in-a-lifetime holiday in Japan that my wife and I have been planning for years, I remember texting my sister to say that I felt like I could approach the Christmas period with greater presence and positivity than ever before: winding down at work, easing into hibernation, giving myself some grace.

But this didn't happen. Various shifting plates in the foundations of my family life, the pure chaos and violence of the modern world, and the darkening early evenings outside my study window got in the way of me realising my festive intentions.

I persevered into the new year, but I became cocooned by my inner thoughts. Safe but neurotic, hopeful but heavy, pretending not to be overwhelmed but slyly on the brink.

Exercise has long been the only way I can battle this breed of seasonal low.

I resent this because I know it is a dependency. When I fail to depend on it - I promise myself I am going to go on a run, or to the gym, or on a cycle, but end up still in my slippers - I feel my mind and body slipping into stagnation. I beat myself up and end up in a worse place than when I started.

But I love it because of its power to heal me like nothing else in this world. A night run along the Thames, a sunrise sprint up the hill near my flat, a sauna session after exerting myself on the pull up bars: all of these get the blood pumping, the oxygen into my lungs and my mind cleared of the overthinking that otherwise crowds my consciousness, especially in the colder months spent indoors.

Over the last few months, one song that I've loved for a couple of years since it dropped has played a pivotal role in getting me up and out the house when I could stand the negativity and inaction no longer. I credit it with improving my mood and wellbeing more than any other art I’ve consumed.

Youngs Teflon is often referred to as one of London’s most underrated rappers. A rare lyricist of likability but also no-nonsense, he has been at it for years, having elevated out of the road rap of the late-2000s and steadily made his name among UK rap’s veteran elite across the 2010s.

In 2022 he released a project called All Eyes On Me Against The World. I remember the eye-catching pop of the orange and purple artwork appearing on my iPhone screen. I appreciated its Tupac-inspired title, philosophical/literary references of the first two tracks Plato and Homer (both woozy, jazzy, nighttime meditations) and top-tier poetry blended with modern, mature, crisp and reflective beats throughout.

I could run the whole project start to finish and be very happy. But I am unlikely to do so without reloading Cosa Nostra multiple times. For some reason it has become one of my favourite tracks of recent years.

It has an epic, cinematic beat by legends M1onTheBeat and Jackson whose crescendoing instrumentation - the motivational horns, the choral vocals, the slapping bass and drums - make it feel like the soundtrack to an adrenaline-fuelled gangster film.

Tef’s first verse, full of humble braggodocio and cheekiness — “dinner date with bae eating sh*t I can’t pronounce” - is followed by an interlude spoken in what is presumably a Sicilian accent that sounds like it’s pulled from a documentary:

‘Despite the word "mafia" gettin' so much attention
It is only rarely used by its members
Mafiosi are much more likely to call it Cosa Nostra
Which simply means "our thing"‘

Then fellow south London road rap legend Blade Brown joins as the music behind him builds and builds. His verse contains a piece of wisdom I come back to a lot when thinking on past mistakes or visualising future achievements:

"Don’t get lost in the wave cah everybody peaks.”

Anyway, I felt like this song was due a call-up to the All City playlist because I owe it for getting me through what has been a challenging period.

Fortunately, some purple flowers have started growing in my garden.

I just went for a jog at sunset. It wasn’t that cold. The sky was blue and pink. I gasped deep sighs of relief at the end.

Spring and the potential for rebirth is nigh.

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