Life Round Here; How Two Styles Of Rap Share Chicago

   Sometimes when trekking through the city I feel like I’m in two completely different parts of the world. On the one hand you have places like Lincoln Park, Lincoln square, and the loop. On the other you have Garfield Park, Englewood and the wild 100’s. Our city is beautiful but the fact that some people  grow up in an environment where there isn’t a store that sells fresh groceries for miles, schools that are of a much lower standard in comparison to the city and extreme violence while some live around beautiful buildings, amazing schools and a bustling economic community is clearly a sign that some people have more opportunity for success.

   Enough about that though lets get to the music. If you haven’t heard LA Capone’s “Round Here” or James Blake’s and Chance’s “Life Round Here” then I provided the links below and I suggest hearing it before the write up. La Capone’s “Round Here” gives me the goose bumps whenever I listen, “Lotta people scared round here, lot of people crying round here, a lot of people dying round here” those lines describe the current state of some our cities hoods. The beat is heavy and his bars have such a cold gritty feeling to them and some of the lines literally give me chills.

   Chance’s song is beautiful and serene. James Blake’s singing is beautiful and the production is impeccable. Chance spits straight bars over a grime breakdown towards the end of the song which really solidifies this song as a classic. At one point he says “Life ain’t been round here for a minute, chaos been round her for a while, save yourself first”.

  

    If you think about it these songs are saying the same thing, Chano is from the south side not too far from Englewood where L.A Capone was from. These are two completely different styles of music portraying the same thing essentially. Chaos and hopelessness in a city where a portion of the population lives in fear of the police and there own kin. Both are groundbreaking styles in the world of hip hop and we’re so blessed to have two amazing scenes being cultivated on our front door step. If you read between the lines you can make out the history of a dystopian city. When Chief Keef took off, it put Chicago on the map and made the violence going on an international issue. The music is backed up by statistical facts and something is clearly wrong. This music is here to stay though so don’t let it slip past your radar.

Written by: Dmonet