Still Not a Player

I hooped off the train at Broad Street Station and walked down the stairs to the street. Bumper to bumper traffic, as usual, and people were holding their horns left and right in order to inch up a few feet. I got to the sidewalk and started my walk down Broad Street. I began to faintly hear music in the distance, and as I walked closer and closer, it was a song completely recognizable to me. With his windows down and his speakers blaring, I clearly heard the lyrics to one of my favorite 90s hip hop songs.

If you know this song, which most of you should, you definitely sang it in tune, and I wouldn't blame you for bustin' a quick dance move from wherever you are reading this blog from. While most of you are going to have to listen to this song after reading this, some of you might not know this song. The song is called "Still Not a Player" by Big Pun, it's one of his most commercialized songs, and one of the best known hip hop/ rap songs of the era.

Newark was surrounded by this type of music in the 90s. Poverty stricken cities such as Newark thrived off of hip hop in the 90s. Rappers at this time were Ice Cube, Jay Z, Raekwon, Dr. Dre, Biggie, Tupac.... want to know what all these individuals had in common? They all came from poverty stricken cities, whether it be Detroit, Compton, Brooklyn, Bed Stuy, etc. There were reasons why hip hop was, and currently is, so common in Newark. These rappers spoke about real life experiences; some did do in a poetic, appreciative and reflective way, like Tupac, while others did it in a nasty, counterculture emotional way, like Ice Cube. Listening to these rappers talk about life struggles, selling drugs, growing up homeless, high crime rates, and so many other issues that large cities have in the slums, individuals in Newark had something in life to look forward to. These rappers gave the kids in Newark something to pay attention to and look up to. These rappers were role models to all individuals in an area like Newark because they were successful black individuals, who grew up in a similar life style!