Reports From The Streets
1. Lil Herb: Easy Access To Guns.
Stories of deaths by shooting in Chicago are reported more than most major cities in the country. Lil Herb believes it is due to everyone in the area having easy access to guns, as they often cost no more than $100 – even $20 in some cases. “Everybody can get their hands on a gun” in Chicago, says Lil Herb. “Kids can get their hands on a gun – money speaks. Money talks.”
“A beef can start with something so little as an Instagram post or a fight, like, a petty fight,” the drill rapper tells us in this eye-opening exclusive. According to Lil Herb, female bystanders and people getting killed within a day of getting involved in someone else’s beef is a common-day occurrence – he even admits to some women being shot at while being in his presence.
He himself had a gun charge that got dismissed because officials didn’t have probable cause to do so, which came at a time where he was just starting his career and trying to avoid harming his reputation. To keep himself in a good light, Lil Herb has decided to follow in the steps of fellow Chi-town rapper Chief Keef and take his talents to California. “Me, Lil Herb, I am moving to L.A., Los Angeles [and] getting away from all the violence,” he says with a smile. “I wanna be around positive energy, and I wanna be rich, and I wanna make the lives better for everybody around me.”
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Editor’s Note: Not sure sentences are as harsh as he says, but not sure of the context he is thinking of.
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2. Talib Kweli: This Is A Poverty Issue.
Talib Kweli commented on Chicago’s battle with gun violence during a recent sit down with VladTV, and he believes that the violence in Chi-Town represents everything that’s wrong with our inner cities.
Mentioning the 4th of July weekend in which 82 people were shot in the city, 14 fatally, the Brooklyn emcee calls Chicago a “perfect storm.” “Because it’s such a big city, it’s experienced so much migration, so much gentrification at such a fast rate, people being put out of their homes . . . ” Kweli noted, later adding, “These are problems of poverty, these don’t happen because Black people are violent . . . this is a poverty issue.”
Kweli discussed further the challenges faced by inner city communities, mentioning cuts in education, lack of opportunity, lack of housing and more.
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Editor’s note: There weren’t 82 people shot this Fourth of July weekend; that was a story from last year that mistakenly went viral when taken for this year’s toll.
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See also: DJVlad’s YouTube channel.
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Previously:
* Rappers vs. Rahm.
* Chief Keef’s Deadly Rap War.
* Lil Chicago.
* The Field: Chicago.
* Chicago Week On Sway.
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Comments welcome.
Posted on August 6, 2015