In "DAVINCI," Bugzy Malone sketches his life like layered paint, moving from grief and a buried past to hard-won ownership and wealth. The childhood timeline of stabbings, jail, and depression gives way to a plan, escape, and millions made cleanly. Comparing himself to Da Vinci, he treats rap as deep, vivid self-portraiture rather than fame-seeking. The repeated image of hundreds of layers suggests survival leaves depth that cannot be faked, and that progression costs the old self.
DAVINCI Lyrics by Bugzy Malone
Ah, do you know what?
I just have to keep loosening up in this shit, you know
To me, this is like my notebook
I’m just sketching
You get what I’m tryna say, bro?
I feel like I’m a real credible artist, yeah, you know
More than a rapper
Bugsy aka Da Vinci
Easy
In the Mona Lisa, there’s hundreds of layers of paint
Call this Da Vinci cuz there’s hundreds of layers of paint
Oh my god, watch this
They ain’t heard from me in a second
I’ve been knee-deep in grieving
I’ve been needing a blessing
It’s like the old me’s deceased and I’ve just buried the coffin, but that’s the price you pay for crazy progression
I need the best to be ballistic
I want bullet protection cuz rappers start taking shots when they can smell a recession
I own the rights to all my music
That’s a heavy collection
Now I’ma landlord
Rent collecting is my profession
Watch the mic go up in flames like I do telekinesis
If I close my eyes and focus, I could blow it to pieces
When you come up from the mud, you better shake off the leeches
I just think I’m the realest
I like going the deepest
So when I speak, I see it vivid like you’re sleeping and dreaming
When I was younger, uncle told me he was fighting a demon
Everybody called him mad
I think I really believed him
There was a murder in his gaff and after that he was tweaking
When he got sectioned, I was 14, visiting the mental institution
Every day I had my shank because I wanted retribution
For my family or my gang, I would’ve done an execution
I’ll just say it how it is
I just think your wires are different
When you grow up hearing stories about murder as a kid, it’s like you smell it in the air
You can feel it in your ribs
I’m like Da Vinci with the pencil
I’m just sketching what I think, but let me throw the kitchen sink
Ah, I heard an article something about the north and it said who’s the real king, but I thought let me not reply
I wait until I’m on the mic and stand in front of any guy and ask him who the fuck you think
Let me simplify the facts and we’ll just see if it sinks in
Age 11, I got home lit cuz I’ve been stabbed
I got him back like Vinnie Jones in Lock, Stock covered in glass, dirty
My cousin asked me for a spade and we was digging till the early hours till eventually we found a strap
14, I got nicked on an attempted murder
15, my mate committed murder
16, I’m sat in jail
17, I’m getting active with the scales
18, I’m in designer like I’ve written Semi-Tuner
19, I lost a boxing match and called it a day
20, I was so depressed I nearly called it a day
21, I made a plan
I’m really tryna escape
So 22, I’m back to kicking doors
I finally escaped
23, I caught 150
I was well on my way
24, I made a mil and all my taxes were paid
25, I dropped a mil on a house with electric gates
So 26, I got my huracan, same color as my rave
I spent 3 million on my London crib, rented it out
Standing out in the dorado, there’s not many about
I hear them talking about numbers like I’m in it for clout
I was never tryna be famous
I was tryna get out
If they do pop, they can talk about me like we’re the same
Like rap music ain’t for kids that come from serious pain
Before rap, they were legit and now they work for the game
Before rap, I knew some shooters that will blow your brain
The industry are gatekeepers and the north couldn’t play
When I started rapping, none of us were making a wage
So for them to get paid, I had to blow off the gate
That makes me king of the north until I’m dead in my grave
I learned the hustle from the boys, pedal bikes in the rain
That means I’m self-employed so don’t be shouting my name
I bought the Lamborghini cash
Now that’s a separate lane
And I get man of the match because I’m messy on stage
Suicidal as a kid, then I seen Cassius Clay
That’s when I realized what it was to be great
I said I’d represent the strugglers and I showed them the way
And then I made my first tape
Started setting the pace
I’m Leonardo with the Biro like I wrote this in Latin
Every album’s up a level
You might notice a pattern
I’ve been a savage all my life, but now I’m finding a balance
You become a crouching tiger when you’re hiding a dragon
I guess I changed the game
You know, an inspiration for the kids
And every time I’ve taken aim, I didn’t miss
I’m like John Wick
I hit as hard to quarantine
I made them physically sick
And that’s back when I was Manchester rich, but now I stick
In the Mona Lisa, there’s hundreds of layers of paint
Call this Da Vinci cuz there’s hundreds of layers of paint
Ah
