Understanding the Relationship Between Black Chicago Youth and Chicago Drill Music Culture
Chicago is most noted as a beautiful, Midwestern city, set to the backdrop of Lake Michigan, with skyscrapers and the bustling energy of the downtown Magnificent Mile. The “Tale of Two Cities,” Chicago is a city full of hope, opportunity, and potential for some, but a city plagued with poverty, violence, disinvestment, and hopelessness for others. There has been a significant increase in the awareness of the violence happening across Chicago. The emergence of social media has provided a direct and unfiltered view of the reality of violence the city has faced on an ongoing basis. Crimes such as shootings, carjacking, and gang violence are constantly thrust into the spotlight and often captured and discussed in mainstream and social media. The internet has become an essential aspect of everyday life for most of us. The explosion of social media and music/video streaming platforms has created a means by which Black Chicago youth capture the realities of their world. The virtual world of likes, shares, and hashtags has created an algorithm, leading viewers a few short clicks away from experiencing the “Ghettaverse,” an immersive virtual experience of poverty, violence, and gang life in Chicago. The popularity of likes and shares combined with a global hunger for ghetto and poverty voyeurism has created a path for the poorest residents of Chicago from the most adversely impacted communities to derive a strategy to reap benefits from the digital economy. Black Chicago youth are sharing “hood” stories and experiences with millions of individuals worldwide through music and video streaming. Black Chicago youth have gained worldwide notoriety for creating Chicago drill music. The qualitative data for this study suggest that Black Chicago youth engage in creating and listening to navigate the poverty and violence experienced in their environment. This study led to the understanding of how Black Chicago youth engage in Chicago drill music culture as a way to interpret their experiences while amplifying their voices to meet their own needs.
Chicago Drill Music, Black youth, Chicago youth, Chicago rap, Chicago violence, Drill Music, Counseling, Organization Development, Other Social and Behavioral Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Social Justice, Social Work, Urban Studies and Planning
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