To Develop: Blog 365 Day 46 – Anyone There
By Jiddoe S'Phatt
Warmest greetings! My name is Jiddoe S’Phatt. Welcome to day
46 of “To Develop: Blog 365”.
Inspiration to write comes from a number of places. For this
blog I’ve been inspired by hip-hop artist Rick Chyme and producer
David K. Manley of Man@Work Productions. Through a collaborative project
titled #DailyPieces365
these two artists will release a new song every day for 365 consecutive days!
Their impressive dedication has motivated me to write a new blog every day of
2018.
A little piece of me goes into each entry I write. I hope
you enjoy this one!
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The song “Stakes Is High” by iconic hip-hop group De La Soul
is considered by many, including me, to be a classic. The first single and
title track of their 1996 full-length studio album, this J-Dilla produced gem
still resonates today.
On it group member Posdnous delivers a line that’s grown
more poignant and relevant to me as time has progressed.
Pos says, “Neighborhoods are now ‘hoods ‘cause nobody’s
neighbors”.
I grew up in a quaint yet tough area. The grass was green,
bushes were trimmed, flowers blossomed along fences, and its trees rained
plenty of leaves to rake in the fall.
Many of the families who lived there, including my own, were
close-knit transplants from the south. Their children and grandchildren played and
attended school together from the time they were in kindergarten until they
graduated from high school. We all knew one another, cared for one another, and
treated each other like extended family.
I don’t know anyone there anymore.
Most of the elders have passed on. Their children and
grandchildren fled for different cities and states as drugs and drug-related
crimes ravaged that once quaint neighborhood. The grass, bushes, flowers and
trees are dead. Bullets reign.
My neighborhood became a ‘hood. Stakes there are certainly
high.
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