This is a starkly realistic depiction of life in the urban ghetto in modern America. I grew up in Chicago in the early '70s and there were lots of neighborhoods like this one - mostly on the South Side. Some of the worst were "the projects" that started at Cabrini Green and then ran along the Dan Ryan Expressway toward the south. As white kids we didn't go into those places if we could help it at all. We didn't know the details of what life was like there - we just knew they were dangerous places to be avoided.
This is one of the first "socially conscious" rap songs to become popular. Much of the rap that came before this was merely "party music" celebrating drinking, drugs and chasing women. The Message was really the first of its kind - it gave voice to the frustrations experienced by black youth stuck in dead end situations with little visible prospect of improvement. It helped those of us who were fortunate enough not to live there to at least have a tiny bit of understanding of what daily life was like for those who did.
No comments:
Post a Comment