Is The Ghetto Being Sold To Suburbia?
More often than not, nowadays you will see a piece of the Ghetto in the Suburbs. From Clothing to Music to Slang it gets embedded from what kids see as cool.
The underlying appeal is why Scarface is hip-hop's Rosetta stone. Why kids play cops and robbers instead of cops and real estate brokers. Why we love Tony Montana, Jesse James, Genghis Khan and Robin Hood.
It's why the ghetto is a commodity packaged in "Reality" and sold in suburbia while suburbia is packaged in "Surrealism" and sold in the ghetto.
It's why cul-de-sac folk watch Menace II Society and rap along to "Fuck tha Police." It's why it's a thrill to drive through Compton on vacation. It's why Johnson County kids flash gang signs and sip 40s of Olde E. They want what they don't have: excitement.
That's why kids around Douglas and Hazel watch Scarface and rap along to "Hyphy". Why it's a thrill to drive a sleek, black Chrysler with 24-inch rims. Why hip-hop is inundated with cash, jewelry, clothes and hos. We want what we don't have: status.
At its best, underground hip-hop is honest -- Tupac as thug poet, Public Enemy as conscience and chaos, Bay Area Folks connecting grit, wit and gall. But the Mainstream? What happens to fledgling artists with blurred vision and unrealistic expectations? What happens when millions of desperate voices spit over one another without saying anything?
Stroll through the local-music section at any Northern Cali record store. You'll see dozens of rap albums plastered with images of Benjamins and half-naked chicks, discs with titles such as Now or Never and Hustlin' 'til I Die. Everyone is hard. Everyone is a pimp. Everyone is rich (even though the only area rapper who can buy groceries on the mic is Lynch, 40 Water and a few others). Most of these records feature no fewer than 1,247 guest appearances.
Most are collecting dust.
But grinding out a 9 to 5 isn't top priority when Nor Cal mentors are dropping albums such as Money Is Motive, Married To The Game and Illegal Game. Its the Name that Says power and Money is in the CD Case. Now we have Gangs in the Burbs. Is it Life imitating Art or Vice Versa? While in the Ghetto we see The Surreal Life and Hogan Knows Best with dreams of moving on up to a better lifestyle, The Burbs watch Chingy and The Game on BET with dreams of Hoes, Cars and Power.
But does it stop there? Reading in the SN&R a few weeks back I seen the Ghetto actually being sold to Suburbia. How? Take Oak Park and Broderick for example. I see Minorities being pushed out so the people with more cash can come in. Now I have no Problem with Fixing up and bettering an area. But If you are fixing up the area and are planning to get rid of the ones who backed the projects to better the Community something is just wrong.
This is just some more verbal ranting and raving.........
Some things to think on...................................................... Comments welcome.
More often than not, nowadays you will see a piece of the Ghetto in the Suburbs. From Clothing to Music to Slang it gets embedded from what kids see as cool.
The underlying appeal is why Scarface is hip-hop's Rosetta stone. Why kids play cops and robbers instead of cops and real estate brokers. Why we love Tony Montana, Jesse James, Genghis Khan and Robin Hood.
It's why the ghetto is a commodity packaged in "Reality" and sold in suburbia while suburbia is packaged in "Surrealism" and sold in the ghetto.
It's why cul-de-sac folk watch Menace II Society and rap along to "Fuck tha Police." It's why it's a thrill to drive through Compton on vacation. It's why Johnson County kids flash gang signs and sip 40s of Olde E. They want what they don't have: excitement.
That's why kids around Douglas and Hazel watch Scarface and rap along to "Hyphy". Why it's a thrill to drive a sleek, black Chrysler with 24-inch rims. Why hip-hop is inundated with cash, jewelry, clothes and hos. We want what we don't have: status.
At its best, underground hip-hop is honest -- Tupac as thug poet, Public Enemy as conscience and chaos, Bay Area Folks connecting grit, wit and gall. But the Mainstream? What happens to fledgling artists with blurred vision and unrealistic expectations? What happens when millions of desperate voices spit over one another without saying anything?
Stroll through the local-music section at any Northern Cali record store. You'll see dozens of rap albums plastered with images of Benjamins and half-naked chicks, discs with titles such as Now or Never and Hustlin' 'til I Die. Everyone is hard. Everyone is a pimp. Everyone is rich (even though the only area rapper who can buy groceries on the mic is Lynch, 40 Water and a few others). Most of these records feature no fewer than 1,247 guest appearances.
Most are collecting dust.
But grinding out a 9 to 5 isn't top priority when Nor Cal mentors are dropping albums such as Money Is Motive, Married To The Game and Illegal Game. Its the Name that Says power and Money is in the CD Case. Now we have Gangs in the Burbs. Is it Life imitating Art or Vice Versa? While in the Ghetto we see The Surreal Life and Hogan Knows Best with dreams of moving on up to a better lifestyle, The Burbs watch Chingy and The Game on BET with dreams of Hoes, Cars and Power.
But does it stop there? Reading in the SN&R a few weeks back I seen the Ghetto actually being sold to Suburbia. How? Take Oak Park and Broderick for example. I see Minorities being pushed out so the people with more cash can come in. Now I have no Problem with Fixing up and bettering an area. But If you are fixing up the area and are planning to get rid of the ones who backed the projects to better the Community something is just wrong.
This is just some more verbal ranting and raving.........
Some things to think on...................................................... Comments welcome.