A rapper has been accused of brainwashing young Albanian fans into risking their lives to cross the Channel and join him in London.
In the video for Real Albanian, Vision reclines in the back of a luxury car next to a voluptuous model and seems to be living the high life.
He brags of having started on the streets with nothing and the song’s chorus includes the line: “Baby wanna come to London, come chill with a real Albanian”.
The song has been viewed more than 620,000 times on YouTube since it was uploaded last month.
Youth workers in the Albanian capital Tirana said the rap has become an anthem for easily influenced teens living in the country’s poorest areas.
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The number includes boasts about a life of cars, weapons and money in the UK and features men wearing gang-style balaclavas, bandanas and caps performing gun signs and pouring drinks from a gold-coloured bottle.
Zombie There is also a husky dog, considered a fearsome status symbol among the young. Xheni Hatillari, a city councillor in Tirana, told the Sunday People : “He’s saying he got to the UK without any money, they are working in groups and doing all the illegal stuff.
“These are usually young boys, they come from usually poor families, follow a tough guy lifestyle and are easily manipulated by the promise of a richer lifestyle. This hip-hop song has had a great impact on their lives.”
The heavily tattooed rapper, who claims he is “a bad boy”, also speaks about a “bando” – slang for an abandoned drug house, and having a “rambo”, understood to be a reference to a large zombie-style knife.
He also brags about making $60,000 on social media app TikTok, as well as having access to a gold Bugatti and a Lamborghini.
And he demands the authorities should “Free up the guys in HMP”.
Lyrics include: “These days man I’m way too famous, in the bando never do favours.” Another verse adds: “Take man down and do it like rugby, rambo tucked on my waist like chucky, lucky them man they can’t touch me.”
The video, which has chilling echoeof gangland footage posted online, was filmed on a new-build housing estate in Barking, East London, where properties sell for up to £600,000 each - a world away from the value of similar homes in Albania, where a monthly wage can be as low as £235.
There has reportedly been a surge in Albanian migrants crossing the Channel in small boats in the past 12 months.
The majority are said to be single adult men looking for work, many from northern Albania, where there is soaring unemployment.
More than 32,000 migrants have crossed the English Channel in small boats so far this year – more than during the whole of 2021.
And it is believed Albanians accounted for a large number of Channel migrants over the summer, with up to 7,000 thought to have reached the UK.
It is feared many have been sucked into London’s criminal underworld.
MPs have demanded urgent action to stop Albanian people-smuggling networks making millions of pounds out of dangerous Channel crossings.
And last month the union representing Border Force staff warned the Home Secretary the surge in criminal migrants poses a “significant risk” to national security.
Ms Hatillari, who is also a youth worker, added: “You can see how impactful these songs are to young boys in rural areas of Albania.
“There are some songs that explain in detail how young Albanian boys can move to the UK, earn some money there and live their life there.”
Another worker, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals, said: “Young men here are being brainwashed into believing that risking their lives to get to London will solve all their problems and they will live like kings. It’s sad as evidence shows they’re more likely to live in poverty or even end up in jail.”
This month Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama accused the UK of scapegoating his citizens to excuse its “failed policies” on borders and migration.
He said Home Secretary Suella Braverman ’s remarks about the UK being invaded would fuel xenophobia.
Mr Rama said Britain was a role model on integrating minorities but was becoming “like a madhouse”.
A spokeswoman for Vision said last night: “Vision is not focusing on encouraging or speaking about this current matter. I hope you can understand.”
