Top Boy: What’s It Really Saying?
(There will be some spoilers)
The streets are hot. Gun violence is increasing every day. And we were blessed with a show to interpret how the streets really are. That’s Top Boy, an explanation of how kids try to survive and dream big. An explanation of how the mandem can switch up and be your worst enemy. A story about how the streets can leave you with nothing, after working so hard to achieve everything. You need to watch this show. Its bigger than the streets. The family ties, greediness, the community outlook, the hunger for bigger success. Top Boy explains a lifestyle that you need to be that guy. This show on Netflix showed a few details to me which I will now share with you… Let’s dive into it.
Enter Dushane and Sully (played by Ashley Walters and Kano) two guys who were about their money and status, running the streets to become underground drug kings. It sounds like a stereotypical “chase the bag” theme but believe me, its bigger than that. People die. Men get dropped. A character you may like gets knifed. A character you may hate gets shot. Anyone can get it. But to Dushane and Sully, the common goal is money and how they can get more of it, no matter who’s standing in their way. The friendship between these two is a roller coaster of emotions, pain, and anguish. What can Top Boy do for you though? The answer is complicated and inconspicuous but I believe I have some valid points to share.
Location
You have a business idea and need it to grow. But you are broke and don’t fit the social norms of society. Where do you start? Your community. Your hood. Your ends. Top Boy illustrates the ties to your area will follow you forever. The mentality. Belonging to something or someone. And providing for the people you love the most. Some kids turn to the streets because they believe they don’t have another choice. Take Ats, in season three of Top Boy he starts to work for Jamie’s gang to provide for his mum and himself at the age of 12. A 12-year-old had to join a gang to pay bills. Absorb that for a second. Done? Look, no 12-year-old should have to feel that they need to be included in gang activity to get food on the table or pay a few bills, but you can always rely on the hood. The streets have a place for you if you know the right people. The community and the environment is the real connection to that lifestyle. Believe that. The keyword here is should. It shouldn’t have to be this way, but sadly that is the reality in the show and in the real world.
Desire
Business is booming, you’ve made your fair share of money, it’s time to leave the game right? Nah, let’s go for more. Let’s keep going, why stop now, we’ve got nothing to lose init. We are the Top Boy(s). A mistake that costs Dushane and Sully emotional pain through Season two to Season three. Both were advised to leave the game early by close friends or loved ones. Take your money and retire early. One realized before the other that this life right here, ain’t it but it was already too late. The desire for more was cemented in Dushane and Sully’s minds. Don’t leave it too late. You may not get that 2nd or 3rd chance. Learn and adapt. Characters in the show learned this the hard way, with costly casualties.
Greed
The character development from Season one to three is prevalent with the two protagonists (Sully and Dushane) and as they both got older, it was best to believe they would leave the streets for good. But that’s all they were good at. That’s all they have known since they were teens now into full-grown men. They couldn’t go to university. They couldn’t get a part-time job at a local store. What else are you going to do? Go back to the only thing that you know well. Controlling the streets and moving drugs was the only thing they excelled in, this was the only life they knew. It’s hard being stuck in the same situation you were in from your teens to adulthood. It’s hard losing the people you thought you could trust when they leave the game, change what they are about or, die. The temptation can lead you down a path you never wanted to see. But you are still stuck in that situation because of your choices. Our choices define us. And the protagonists chose greed. But anything for the money. Anything to be the Top Boy right?
There’s no figure to satisfy the streets. You will always want more. More power, more dominance, more territory. How much are you willing to sacrifice? The characters in the show answer that well. Some sacrifice their own siblings for extra money. Children would skip school for money. But even with all that money, why do you keep losing things that you love? Ask Sully (minor spoiler, just watch the show).
Its Deeper Than That
Top Boy isn’t like a lot of shows on TV now. It’s more than a show, it’s an adaptation of how life comes quick and you either get left in the dust or get involved with it. You must watch the show from Season one, in summerhouse, to fully grasp the full material of the show. This will help you completely understand what the highs and lows of the hood can entail and how it can affect everyone close to you. If you need a new show on Netflix, I hope I guided you to look no further. If you watched Top Boy, I hope I gave you greater insight into the show. Stay blessed, daily offenders, crazy eastenders.
