Human tragedy has always been processed through song and this summer it’s happening most vividly in the city where America’s blues turned electric. In Chicago, a rising generation of young rappers — Lil Durk, Chance the Rapper and countless others — are coming of age amidst an epidemic of gun violence that’s contributed to the murders of 229 people this year and counting. In 2012, Chicago tallied 509 slayings. In 2011, it was 433, with more than 80 percent of those killings reportedly taking place in public spaces, leading some to wonder if Chicago’s youth should be treated for the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. With segments of Chicago resembling veritable war zones, the Windy City has lived up to its brutal new nickname, Chiraq. Chicago’s younger rappers appear to be responding to this engulfing violence by challenging it, ignoring it, grieving it, escaping it, adapting to it, embracing it, exploiting it — sometimes all at once. Every song is different. But ultimately, every song is an implicit declaration of visibility and survival.
(link below)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/chicagos-rap-scene-produces-some-of-the-genres-best-music-amidst-waves-of-violence/2013/07/29/7cba4fd8-f3dc-11e2-aa2e-4088616498b4_story.html
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
CHICAGO RAP SCENE CONTINUES TO FLOURISH AMIDST WAVES OF VIOLENCE
Human tragedy has always been processed through song and this summer it’s happening most vividly in the city where America’s blues turned electric. In Chicago, a rising generation of young rappers — Lil Durk, Chance the Rapper and countless others — are coming of age amidst an epidemic of gun violence that’s contributed to the murders of 229 people this year and counting. In 2012, Chicago tallied 509 slayings. In 2011, it was 433, with more than 80 percent of those killings reportedly taking place in public spaces, leading some to wonder if Chicago’s youth should be treated for the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. With segments of Chicago resembling veritable war zones, the Windy City has lived up to its brutal new nickname, Chiraq. Chicago’s younger rappers appear to be responding to this engulfing violence by challenging it, ignoring it, grieving it, escaping it, adapting to it, embracing it, exploiting it — sometimes all at once. Every song is different. But ultimately, every song is an implicit declaration of visibility and survival.
(link below)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/chicagos-rap-scene-produces-some-of-the-genres-best-music-amidst-waves-of-violence/2013/07/29/7cba4fd8-f3dc-11e2-aa2e-4088616498b4_story.html
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