by 
Song: 1991
Singer: Yasin
Label: YasinTheDon
Release date: Aug 21, 2026
Yasin 1991 Lyrics in English Translation
To understand this story, I have to take you back in time
Back to 1991, when Somalia’s then-dictator was overthrown
And the country suffered from civil war and famine
Sweden, just like many other countries, took in those who would become our parents
In refugee centers, they perhaps hoped to find some of their family members
Family reunification gave them the opportunity to earn some money
While also helping someone in need from their homeland
I didn’t understand it back then, but that was why the neighbor’s mother had the same surname as me on paper
They managed to get by financially
In Rinkeby, where doctors and farmers fall under the same umbrella: immigrants
The charming gangster who helps the old ladies with their bags got into the game by robbing old ladies
Early 2000s, when the neighborhood was peaceful, rap sounded different back then, it was a different time
People listened to Latin Kings, Immortal Technique
Back when street rap meant sharp social criticism
I’m not going into the present yet, where grown men pretend to be a child’s friend
Where the child is then forced to take a life to earn a place in a brutal gang, with their emotions shut off
Politicians pay people with mental health problems to have a Quran burned
It’s 2025 now, and 2026 is approaching
Reading about deadly violence has become so commonplace
In Sweden in the ’90s, it wasn’t even conceivable
It wasn’t even conceivable
Okay, now it’s around 2004, my mother is expecting her sixth child, and she struggles to pay the rent
The fathers of her first three children, he passed away
And as if that wasn’t enough, her third child also passed away
Several years have passed, and she is still in shock
She meets a new man, he gives her two children, and then he also passes away
That’s when my father enters the picture
He wins her over with his tricks, and because of that, she has me
Ah, she got Yasin Byn, but my father didn’t die, no, that bastard just left, he walked away
And now she is standing in line at the social services office, thinking, “Fuck”
Outside the government offices, social initiatives are taking place in vain
According to the statistics, segregation is increasing significantly
No one stepped up and did what was necessary
The consequences were open drug dealing and robberies of cash-in-transit vehicles
Acts of violence based on which postcode you belong to
When one dies, another dies, and another dies, people were waving their weapons
On the first day of the 2010 World Cup, I looked out the window and saw the Rinkeby riots
Shit, when I think back on it, I get chills
I saw people throwing Molotov cocktails into the police station
People were running left and right, cars were smoking
I’m not going into the present yet, where grown men pretend to be a child’s friend
Where the child is then forced to take a life to earn a place in a brutal gang, with their emotions shut off
Politicians pay people with mental health problems to have a Quran burned
It’s 2025 now and 2026 is approaching; reading about deadly violence has become so commonplace
In Sweden in the ’90s, it wasn’t even conceivable
It wasn’t even conceivable
It wasn’t even conceivable
It wasn’t even conceivable
Hi, my name is Yasin, I’m around thirteen years old
My friends steal phones and break into houses
I keep myself away from it as much as I possibly can
But the money they make seems so tempting
I need an adult, how am I supposed to handle this?
I’m not hard to persuade, I’m easy to recruit
It’s crazy not having anyone to talk to about it
Even though it concerns something as widely debated as gang crime and the recruitment of children
I got my first job in the parking lot of Rinkeby School
I took 200 grams on credit, and I lost everything
Something went seriously wrong in my planning
They kept harassing my phone, trying to collect the money
Now I have the older guys on my back like a tattoo
My mother was so unaware, arguing with me about waking up for school on time
I woke up late because I smoke weed
Social services had raised the alarm about all of us by this point
I ran from the police into the school, straight into the classroom, pretending to be obedient and well-behaved
I got my attendance and shook off a police officer, killing two birds with one stone
I’m not going into the present yet, where grown men pretend to be a child’s friend
Where the child is then forced to take a life to earn a place in a brutal gang, with their emotions shut off
Politicians pay people with mental health problems to have a Quran burned
It’s 2025 now and 2026 is approaching; reading about deadly violence has become so commonplace
In Sweden in the ’90s, it wasn’t even conceivable
It wasn’t even conceivable
Rinkeby Center, it was a den of thieves
I saw the older guys walking around with gold chains, five hundred G’s
I’m talking about five hundred grams of gold
When the gold is so pure that it washes away shame and guilt
It’s nothing new, it’s gangster tendencies
Kindness is weakness, a gun sets the boundary
And there I was, right in the middle of it all during my late teenage years
Around sixteen years old, I was looking for shortcuts, I wanted to get rich quickly
For a crook in western Stockholm, there were opportunities everywhere
Filling big bags, sorting zip bags
There are robberies, fraud, crowbars, and drugs
With weapons, you protect your territory
And sometimes you go to war to gain even more ground
It’s no joke, it’s serious
Once you go in, you don’t get out, not even if you become religious
I still signed a 360 deal anyway, just like that
And I wasn’t even nervous, I wanted a Porsche and a phone that could move several thousand grams
I sold my soul, and the devil was a gang leader
He said I could take as many kilos as I wanted
I even had to pay him later
Because he knew I was lost and wasn’t doing well
He knew we were struggling financially at home
He knew I came from a dysfunctional family
