Well, Malocchio, an impressive debut. And I certainly must want to get this off my chest as I have been thinking about it all day, and have lost the first two attempts to post it here. This format is maddening for a rookie, but I'll forge on, as the ghetto I am interested in representing is the one 'here and now'.

My birthplace, the City of Angels is currently the murder capitol of the United States (20 homicides in 2 weeks; most of those in South Central), and I am not comfortable with that in the year 2002. And the new police chief has had to take over a public high school in the city as there have been so many assaults and rapes during the school day. Where budding new AWADies should be blossoming, children cannot even be assured of their safety at school.

And that brings me to the music that has been sweeping the local hip hop radio stations of late. Tupac Shakur's new (posthumous ) double cd, Better Dayz. While I find much of it abhorrent, the misogyny, violence and homophobia is almost more than I can take, I have teenagers in my home, and I work with hundreds more young people, and I am telling you they are absorbing this stuff, so some of us better pay attention.

This is not for the faint-hearted. There is a plethora of the "n" word and the "f" word, and all kinds of other things that AWADies are not likely to be all that comfortable with, and I certainly am not. But if you can get past that, there seems to me to be something more there. These are someone's children, acknowledging that they are trapped in a cycle of destruction which they desperately long to escape. I assure you, this music is wildly popular and emulating 'thug-life' is a way for middle class youth to rebel. It's just not quite that innocuous for those actually trapped in he ghetto.

So, if you want to venture in, surely it will make you sad or angry or disgusted, or all of that. But I am telling you, it is more prevalent that we may wish to think.

The lyrics are at the links below. I think it all sounds better as rap, with music, but I can't give you that. I have picked a couple of pieces that I think are almost palatable. I don't recommend the others as I myself am deeply offended by the sensibility, but you can all make your own decisions as to what you wish to explore.

I recommend two lyrics, 'Thug Mansion', and 'What do you believe in'....to get a sense of what is going on....

http://www.ohhla.com/anonymous/tupac/better/thugznas.2pc.txt

http://www.ohhla.com/anonymous/tupac/better/who_do_u.2pc.txt

So, on to better dayz....

Maria