Everyone knows that I love me some music from all different areas (well maybe everything but country and let's be honest some of it's OK, yes just OK). So today we venture to the land of rap and when I say rap, I mean legitimate rap. Think back to the days of N.W.A and and Run DMC, and the influences they had on gangsta' rappers life. Now probably one of my favorite songs of this time would have to be Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise."
I loved that in one of my high school English classes we had the chance to analyze this song and relate it to our poetry assignments in the class (not to mention that was the class that I first found "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien which is one of the most impacting books in my life). But, to have the chance to analyze this song as a poem and really look at how the life of a so called "gangsta" is, truly amazed me. Never thought I'd have a chance to do that in a high school setting, but I guess they probably thought something along the lines of "Well it's a ghetto high school, they'll appreciate learning about what's affecting the area surrounding them."
I have to say as much as people ragged on my high school, saying it was the number one drug spot and the worst high school in town to send your kids, I truly appreciated the experience I had at there. It taught me a lot about acceptance and being open-minded and I will never forget that. Even though the line divided the area between the "white-folks" and the "black-folks" we all met together in environment that helped us learn, accept, and even enjoy each other. So, if nothing else, thank you my dear old high school for teaching me lesson that even if you're not in the best of situations, you'll still learn a lot from it.
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