After the tragic death of story telling rap artist King Von, we took a closer look at the murder rate of local and national rap artist and the numbers were astounding. Is it even safe to rap these days? In 2020 over 200 local and national rap artist have been killed.
Current or former gang members found rap as a outlet and a way to remove themselves from the harsh realities of life in the projects. However it has been hard for most rap artist to separate street life from entertainment. That includes the audience perception as well, not realizing that they are dancing to violence by art form. The current pandemic hasn’t been helpful in the levels of stress and anger in our society and in lower income communities.
According to the Mercury News; Just 3 days ago Bay Area rapper Lil Yase was shot and killed near the East Dublin/Pleasanton BART station early Saturday, authorities confirmed Sunday, leaving those close to him wondering what led to his death.
The 26-year-old artist from San Francisco, whose real name is Alexander Mark Antonyyo Jr., died after being shot on the 5100 block of Iron Horse Parkway on Nov. 28.
Police initially were called around 1 a.m. Saturday to the Valley Care Medical Center in Pleasanton for a report of a person who had arrived suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
Antonyyo Jr. was then taken to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, where he later succumbed to his injuries.
Many are questioning rather the very lyrics glorifying gun violence in the music and Instagram flexing contributes to the jealousy, hatred and violence. Industry insiders commenting that artist need to ” Move different” , calling artist to think about the implications of their lyrics and to separate street life from the art form.
The harsh reality is that those seeking solace through music may not find it through rap artistry.
