CAN YOU HEAR THE CITY BREATHE OUT, Don Martin and Zeshan Shakar

With the album "En gang Romsåsgutt alltid Romsåsgutt" (Once a Romsås Boy, Always a Romsås Boy), Don Martin wanted to tell his side of the city. The side that was often talked about but rarely got to speak for itself. Elsewhere in Groruddalen, Zeshan Shakar was working on a similar project, and in 2017, the novel "Tante Ulrikkes vei" (Aunt Ulrikke's Path) was released. New voices had truly begun to emerge from East Oslo. "Kan du høre byen puste ut" (Can You Hear the City Breathe Out) takes us between the lines of Don Martin's album, to a childhood on Linje 5 Vestli and to the first meeting between Martin and Zeshan. It's about telling one's own story. The book is a powerful reflection on themes the two friends constantly return to, such as class, racism, community, and exclusion. And about how the places we come from take root in us.