This is not a place you go, it’s a place you end up, where all you need to be a star is a rubbish car and a loud stereo.
That’s how Huddersfield has been immortalised by rapper Jack Flash in his new song ‘This Town’, where he says a skyscraper is only two storeys high and empty Greggs bags blow through the streets like tumbleweed.
The lines paint a bleak picture of life in Huddersfield – but they are just part of the story, paired with tender words of protectiveness and pride for the town Jack only left to pursue his music career in London six months ago.
Jack, whose real name is Rob Bradley, said: “I wrote the song while I was still in Huddersfield but I really didn’t get it until I moved away. The distance has meant I can fully appreciate what it means.
“London is such a melting pot – it made me think about these people in their own little towns. A lot of the time we focus on the big cities but the UK is made up of this tapestry of little towns with their weird and wonderful habits.
“You have got to laugh at Huddersfield. You have licence to do that when you’re from there and you hold it in a special place - it’s not an insult.
“When I started performing the song I realised it brought us all together. Someone from a small town in Italy told me he really related to it.”
In the song he says: “This town, you can love it and hate it - you could destroy and rebuild it but you couldn’t replace it... But I’m proud to call it home, even with all of its flaws, I take the p*ss but if someone else disses it I go to war.”
The 29-year-old, from Salendine Nook, has been rapping since his early teens, and was part of Huddersfield soul band Extra Curricular.
He said: “I was taking music very seriously but I always had to have some sort of job and income. You name it, I’ve done it.
“Nothing glamorous but in a twisted sort of way it amounts to frustration, which is channelled into creativity. “There are people out there that don’t have jobs so I have always been grateful I have had things to do as it’s enabled me to pay for music projects.
“Moving to London was coming for a long time – I wanted to pursue music and that’s the way you do it. There is no real music industry outside London, and I was getting to a good place musically so I thought it was a good time.
“It’s going really well – I have met some great people, I’m getting some good gigs and it’s nicely coming together.
“But having Huddersfield to go back to is nice because London is always on and Huddersfield has a different pace of life to come and relax in for a few days. It’s the people, the friends and family I miss the most.
“People from Huddersfield are loving the song. The response has been really positive. A lot of people say it sums it up perfectly.
“I’d love to come back and perform it.”
