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\u201cYou said you outside, but you ain\u2019t that outside<\/a>,\u201d Beyonce sings in her latest release, Break My Soul. And, believe me, no one understands this concept more than an out-out girl. If you think you go out, try tagging along with us next time.<\/p>\n

Concerts? We\u2019re there. House parties? We\u2019re there. BBQs? We\u2019re there. As the label might suggest, being an out-out girl means that most of your free-time is spent in the streets. Don\u2019t get me wrong, I appreciate spending downtime indoors, but there\u2019s something about being out-out that makes me feel alive.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you know, you know \u2013 being out-out is the pinnacle of our being.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

This started young. I\u2019ve always taken a likening to social gatherings. In primary school, I loved a birthday party or going to the cinema with friends. Being a social butterfly came naturally to mini me. This continued into secondary school, only by then I had more freedom to go to my friends\u2019 houses on the weekend, from where we\u2019d head out-out whenever we could.<\/p>\n

If we weren\u2019t in the park, we were going bowling, at an arcade or anywhere we could explore on the weekends. If I\u2019m being honest, my favourite part about school was planning the things we\u2019d do outside school (sorry, mum).<\/p>\n

My out-out tendencies were only emboldened during university. Before I\u2019d even been accepted, I made sure I knew all the clubs to go to (thank you, Ink and Oceania). I went to Nottingham, which a predominantly white university so I looked at the clubs\/events that played the music my friends and I listened to. When we stepped out-out, we wanted to hear RnB, hip-hop and Afrobeats.<\/p>\n

Luckily for me, there were several events during my time in Nottingham that catered to a Black crowd, so my party-needs were more than met. Post-uni was the peak of my partying days though. Black club nights and day parties like Recess and DLT were making a name for themselves in London at the time, and you could find me at one or other at least every month.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

$\"Habiba$ Habiba and friends pre-party<\/div>\n

My camera roll is filled with videos and pictures of me and my friends getting ready, screaming from the top of our lungs to our favourite songs and taking the nasty but necessary tequila shots.<\/p>\n

I thought the older I get the less I\u2019d feel inclined to be running the street like a fox. But if the past two years have taught me anything, it\u2019s that life is short and I should take advantage of the time I have now.\u00a0<\/p>\n

By day, Adwoa Darko, 27, from Northampton is an inclusive communities manager. By night, she\u2019s an out-out girl too. Darko is Ghanaian and her earliest and best memories are of hall parties.\u00a0For the uninitiated, this is huge phenomenon in Black communities \u2013 parties located in a grand hall, usually to celebrate a birthday, wedding or even funeral.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI would do something elaborate for my birthday every year growing up \u2013 party is me and I am party,\u201d Darko says. \u201cWhen I turned 18, I was working in the local Primark and some of my older colleagues volunteered to take me out. I remember rocking up in my peplum dress and bottle of Caribbean twist \u2013 I caught the vibe ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Her night-outs began in Afrobeats clubs but then moved to London\u2019s infamous out-out zone, Shoreditch, where she would venue hop. Darko explains that she loves the whole routine of it all. \u201cThe pre nap, starting makeup at 5pm, calling your girls to stress about what you are wearing, pre-drinks playlists, changing outfit last minute, the palaver of booking a taxi, the cab ride itself, making friends in the queue. I\u2019m gagging for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her social tendencies may have shifted hours a bit since then, but they\u2019re still part of who she is. \u201cNowadays, I appreciate a good day party,\u201d she laughs. \u201cIn bed, skin routine done by 10pm. I\u2019m not young like I used to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Ladina*, 26, a post-graduate student from Milton Keynes, knew she was an out-out girl when people would comment on her Snapchat saying, \u201cYou love going out don\u2019t you?\u201d \u2013 to which she would respond, \u201cHow can I not?!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a period where I go out every one to two weeks. The longest I haven\u2019t been out (not counting lockdown) is a month,\u201d Ladina says.\u00a0\u201cI enjoy being outside because of the music played. I go to predominantly black events and it\u2019s a reminder to enjoy yourself because life is stressful!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

$\"Habiba$ Habiba and friends before Yam Carnival<\/div>\n

Her definition of a perfect out-out outing is singing and dancing with random people as if you\u2019ve known them forever and having your all close friends in the same setting. \u201cI like going to places like Recess, DLT, Pitch Sundays and Pxssy Palace,\u201d she adds.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hertfordshire-based Chimma*, 24, is an office runner, and goes out nearly every weekend, plus maybe some days during the week if she has a gig. \u201cThe last few months it\u2019s been consistently Friday night \u2013 out of my house. Saturday night \u2013 out my house. Sunday \u2013 I reign it in but I\u2019m still out doing something,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Chimma realised she was an out-out girl when her brother would tell her\u00a0\u201cI haven\u2019t seen you this weekend\u201d or her friends would exclaim, \u201cYou\u2019re always doing something!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy longest run of going out every weekend was from New Year\u2019s Eve to the start of February, and I loved it. My bank account on the other hand did not. I\u2019m such a social person and I love meeting new people whenever I can \u2013 it\u2019s because of the pandemic and being inside for so long, coupled with a breakup I went through last year. I just have this regenerated lust for life,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re out, for me I just forget about stuff that\u2019s piling up. Last weekend, I went out Friday night to Sunday night. It ended with the Kaytranada gig and I just remembered the feeling of euphoria me and my friends had while were vibing to his set. I may have been tired by the end but it was such a memorable weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

People always ask me how I have so much energy to go out, like they\u2019re suggesting something, but the answer is I really don\u2019t know. Even if I\u2019m half-asleep in the morning, I\u2019ll find the energy to live it up in the afternoon. So, catch me at the next bar or club near you and, whatever you do, be sure to say hello.\u00a0<\/p>\n

*Some surnames have been omitted to offer anonymity.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
Related…<\/h3>\n
\n
<\/a>Beyonce’s Anti-Burnout Anthem Is The Sweet Release From Work We All Need<\/a><\/li>\n
<\/a>Here’s How You Can Still Go ‘Out Out’, Even On A Tight Budget<\/a><\/li>\n
<\/a>Why Don’t We Commit To Friendships Like We Do Marriage?<\/a><\/li>\n
<\/a>The Cost Of Living Crisis Has Totally Changed The Student Experience<\/a><\/li>\n
<\/a>An Ode To House Parties \u2013 Freedom Isn’t Just About Clubbing<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cYou said you outside, but you ain\u2019t that outside,\u201d Beyonce sings in her latest release, Break My Soul. And, believe me, no one understands this concept more than an out-out girl. If you think you go out, try tagging along with us next time. Concerts? We\u2019re there. House parties? We\u2019re there. BBQs? We\u2019re there. As […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3849,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/teachbytes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62be8832250000665147503d.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teachbytes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teachbytes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teachbytes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teachbytes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teachbytes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3850"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/teachbytes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3851,"href":"https:\/\/teachbytes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3850\/revisions\/3851"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teachbytes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teachbytes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teachbytes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teachbytes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}