Freedom or Hell

And now for something a little different…

Clay Street is a neighborhood that creates a host of fascinating world-views. You will find a diverse range of opinions in its alleyways and corner stores; all of them highly articulate and passionate.

Listening to the young black males down here one common thing that comes out is a deep anger. This anger is real and must not be dismissed, for that energy, which here created inspirational words and music, can easily be diverted towards less constructive goals.

This anger calls for a dual change in the current society: external and internal. Externally the young African Americans feel out of place, unwelcome, and even despised. Internally they see their community destroying itself by forgetting its history, succumbing to the illusion of crime, and not fathering its children.

One of the purest expressions of that anger is through hip-hop, which by nature refuses to tone down any message (it often does the opposite to call attention). On Clay there are two exceptional wordsmiths, J-Roc and Q, who have a song entitled “Freedom or Hell” which channels this anger into a call to end the drug war the black community is waging on itself. In this video they are performing at a Block Party they helped organize on a hot Saturday this past June (more videos of this event coming soon). They are introduced by the always-provocative words of Amaro, another omnipresent Clay street figure. 

[Note: explicit lyrics] 

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Posted in September 2007