in all fairness, mikkel went to jr high & high school with me. we went to southwood jr high in country club hills & high school in olmympia fields. neither of which were in chicago or anything ghetto. after high school he went on to college, played hoop & graduated. afterward he was an elementary school teacher. not saying that he can't tell this story; any black person can. but i don't know how well urban resonate when the source is far from an urban person. either way, i'm proud of him
oh yeah, the song is hot. also, i didn't spend every waking moment with the brother either. all i'm saying is that a suburbanite telling a story about the city doesn't really ring true. again, most any black person can tell the narrative of a kid at the liquor store but the underlying theme gets lost. he's not a part of the proliteriat. but again that's just the way i see it. i still respect him as a person & that's because i know the man. but this isn't genuine in my opinion
lol, i used to kinda of giggle when he said he from 116th and morgan, thats like one of them quiet blocks where alot of old people stay on, i thought he was from the city
116th & morgan? lmao, that might as well be beverly. i'm from 75th & east end myself. i also used to live off central & lake street. they get it on in both of those neighborhoods. i suppose that's why my parents moved the family to the burbs when i was like 12 or 13. i guess that's why it's funny hearing a burby tell a city story. there's a difference y'know. the same way kanye claims chicago but he's from homewood. but either way, mikkel is a good man. i just wish he'd show more insight
@upabittoolate i feel the same way to be honest lol... i'm an 18 year old artist that was born in Harvey but i don't really claim it cuz i moved out to the suburbs of IN when i was about 13 so i just say i'm from IN.. it's not going to make me any more/less of a man lying about where i grew up ... that's petty to me no disrespect
You're miss my point. I'm saying that he can't tell a lot of 'hood stories because that's not how he came as a young man. I've said this before & it bears repeating. I love the man & I'm extremely proud of him. But I have to temper my listening to his narratives with the reality that I know in my heart. I was born on Chicago's West Side & raised in South Shore. But I got to the 'burbs when I was about 11. Six years (I went back to the city 17) ain't an eternity but it's definitely something.
@jgatlin77 But most of all, I'm asking how "hood" is it to do well in school, play sports, graduate college then become an educator yourself? People get the wrong idea that I'm knocking the brother. I'm not. In fact, he did what people should ASPIRE to do. However, my other question is simply this: how can he remain "relevant" in a music/cultural climate that hoists Gucci Mane & celebrates ignent ass niggaz like Waka Flocka?
Most of all, I think people don't savvy what's unique about Chicago. It's why you got Bloods & Crips from coast to coast but they never touched the Chi. There's a reason that the Five Family Mob system won't touch Chicago. It's why organized crime systems consider Chicago to be cutthroat. It's not only because we have a level of violent sophistication that's hard to gauge. It's because Chicago's cultural mode is specific to itself. Even the burbanites miss that. I dunno if that makes sense.
@upabittoolate well they tried comin to gary... it didn't turn out to well tho... GRUESOME... and i understand where you come from the way i see it... Mikkey has a gift at telling urban narratives... music is music... it's an expression of self.. it's art... that's like telling an artist that they aren't credible because they don't know the people they are drawing.... but i kno u didn't mean any disrespect so it's all good... mikkey is somebody i look up to with my music and i respect him
a joe just becuz people live in da burbs dont mean they dont have city problems i live on 63rd & vernon and my cuzo from da burbs and be kickin it over here and he on wat we on (its nothing to glorify) but i do feel what you tryin to say but mikkey is ah city nigga even though you right bout him living in cchills but that dont mean his roots aint city/urban just like when they tore down the projects where do you think most of them live now (in da burbs)but they still got city problems ya dig
i never said they didn't have similar problems. i said that the narrative doesn't carry in a consistent way. i happen to know mikkel. i know that wheneer he opens his mouth, what he's saying is true. every experience is a personal experience for him. what i'm saying is that some of the message may get lost. there's a difference between going to lane tech high school & rich central high school; i've been to both so i can judge. i ain't knocking mister nance. my remarks are about art
like i said before: i LOVE that man. anything he's doing is a narrative for niggaz just like me; he's just like me (except a little smarter & a little more accomplished). i can honestly say that i can look in his face & see elements of me. BUT, having said that, i also know that there are some things with which i can't identify. i've always had some thinking tools, options & models. not every cat on the south sid eof chicago can say that. you feel me yet?
a' joe i feel ya ya dig even though we coming from two different perspectives we are actully on the same page all im saying is it dont matter wat part of the land you from its about wats in your heart and how you was built and for he being a narrator for the streets he is his and believe me chicago streets will vouch for him becuz i've been in da same circles as dat brother and he do speak from da heart and try to reach people even in a regular conversation ya dig
This Mik's brother Eric. Who r u? U obviously don't know my brother as well as u say. First of all, Mik didn't move out to the burbs till about 13. And all of our fam was in the city, mostly 76th & Colfax. Oh and 116th & Morgan is Ragtown, Pops old territory (but u wouldn't know shit about that). That's a faaar cry from Beverly. Bcuz you go to jr high or h.s. means that you aren't urban??? that's the dumbest shit Ive heard in a while. What's the difference b/w goin to lane tech & central???
they seem to not getting what you mean in your posts. i am not too bright so somewhat getting lost in what you're conveying but i don't see any "hating" at all in what you're saying but it just goes over ones head cause you're not simply saying "dope track"
you're bright enough; believe me. i guess since it's so personal, people have adverse reactions. i'm saying 2 things. 1) every brother in america can tell this narrative in 1 way or another 2) that being said, brother mikkel is a very well educated brother. in many ways that puts his analytical ability (his actual insight) beyond the subject matter of the words he wrote in the song. so the question i'm posing, rather the challenge i'm making is "how 'real' is this?"...
... in other words, beyond being the reporter of the mess, when-where-how do we clean up the mess. again, there's a huge difference between complete immersion in street culture (which many black folks are; they have no other models) & cats like mikkel that have had a very broad range of life experience. what is THAT narrative. what's "real" about THAT. fell me?
unless you've gone to lane tech & seen the difference in the resources they had versus rich central. or seen the abject apathy versus teachers that cared about you, i don't think you can contextualize my point. what i'm saying that the stresses that shape us as black men are all very similar. but there stresses & aesthetics that separate us. ie, a cat from tierra grande is extremely different than a cat from south shore.
like i said before, i have nothing but love & respect for mikkel as a person. he's brilliant. we were in just about every class together. his narrative is a universal one. but i'm trying to say is this: as an educated man, he can see ways out of the cycle that turns people to the bottle. many city kids don't. on 2 hands i can count some born & raised citizens of chicago that i personally know, who haven't ever set their feet downtown let alone going outside the state.
Not really. Especially if a tierra grande cat grew up in the hood for real. We moved cuz too many niggaz was dyin around us. There are real niggaz & bitch niggaz in every hood. G our dad just passed after smokin' crack for damn near 20 yrs. We were in CCh with the lights & hot water gettin shut off & tv's in & out of the pawn shop. We went to Higgins elem. & all our homies went to Fenger so we were blessed to go to RC. Mik neva fronted like he was a killa or a drug deala. What's ya name tho fam.
all of that is true. but believe me, there's a difference between an upbringing with 2 parents making >$70K, that are homeowners with a nuclear family vs. a single parent home, that's rented & on a fixed incoome. i'm very sorry to hear about your father. make sure you extend my condolences, i'm james....i never said that mikkel was fronting like anything. i asked how genuine the narrative was, given the fact that much of his young adulthood was spent in a relative prosperity...
I agree that having 2 parents is an advantage, but even alot of burb cats don't have that. It could be argued that people in harvey, robbins, or chi heights have it rougher than alot of cats in the city. Even cch got a arab owned liquor store on flossmor road(the old white hen) so "liquor store" is transcends the city. Don't u think that he's been in a liquor store like the 1 he raps about in the song? Not sayin that u hatin or nothin, just makin my point known.
wow, the old white hen? you just took me back to 1989. i digress. like i said, this is a narrative that ANY brother in america knows all too well. but i being who mikkel is, a man with a world class education, his range is gonna be different. bear in mind, he & were classmates with people that are now MDs, PharmDs, JDs & DDSs. hell, even buddy guy's daughter. kerwin went to the NFL. that's a completely different frame of reference than say, someone who went to south shore...
...and like i said before, any black kid in this country can tell this story. but i think his own personal range has a periphery beyond the liquor store experience. he's not really a ghetto cat. correct me if i'm wrong.
i'm also extremely sorry to hear about your utilities getting cut & shit like that. it's a tribute to y'all that you each maintained & kept a great degree of dignity. i'm truly proud to say that i know y'all.
@DerekfromthaCHI Actually I know some of his life outside of school. Like I said, I can considre him a friend. I'm not "arguing" any points genius. I questioned the authenticity of a 'hood narrative given the fact that he's not really a 'hood cat.
I guess you can't understand that simple nuance. Idiots usually can't.
Basically what you said was pointless. He's a black man and any black man reserves the right to speak on issues effecting his people rather or not he experiences them directly or indirectly. There was no point in you saying what you said except to throw salt on your 'friend". The fact that he's educated and articulate makes him the perfect person to expound on these issues in a thoughtful and empathetic way. .there was absolutely no point in you saying that except to be negative. bottom line
Alan Keyes is a Blackman. So is Ward Connerly. But I won't give any regard tyo their "authenticity". Conversely, I simply asked how authentic a "hood tale" is when it's coming from the mouth of a well-educated cat who spent most of his formative years in the burbs.
Asking a question isn't throwing salt. I love that man. That's why I'm asking the question. Loving someone isn't always about kissing a person's ass. Often, it's about challenging a person in order to find the depth.
If you had ANY introspect at all, you'd understand what I'm saying. But it's over your head. But I'm not going to dumb it down... even if you need me to use small words. Get your weight up homie.
Point blank period, Mikkey Halsted is the dopest lyricist there is.
JoJolovestheLord 5 days ago
in all fairness, mikkel went to jr high & high school with me. we went to southwood jr high in country club hills & high school in olmympia fields. neither of which were in chicago or anything ghetto. after high school he went on to college, played hoop & graduated. afterward he was an elementary school teacher. not saying that he can't tell this story; any black person can. but i don't know how well urban resonate when the source is far from an urban person. either way, i'm proud of him
upabittoolate 3 years ago
thats ok, i bet u like this song though
KillaCastro6438 3 years ago
oh yeah, the song is hot. also, i didn't spend every waking moment with the brother either. all i'm saying is that a suburbanite telling a story about the city doesn't really ring true. again, most any black person can tell the narrative of a kid at the liquor store but the underlying theme gets lost. he's not a part of the proliteriat. but again that's just the way i see it. i still respect him as a person & that's because i know the man. but this isn't genuine in my opinion
upabittoolate 3 years ago
lol, i used to kinda of giggle when he said he from 116th and morgan, thats like one of them quiet blocks where alot of old people stay on, i thought he was from the city
KillaCastro6438 3 years ago
116th & morgan? lmao, that might as well be beverly. i'm from 75th & east end myself. i also used to live off central & lake street. they get it on in both of those neighborhoods. i suppose that's why my parents moved the family to the burbs when i was like 12 or 13. i guess that's why it's funny hearing a burby tell a city story. there's a difference y'know. the same way kanye claims chicago but he's from homewood. but either way, mikkel is a good man. i just wish he'd show more insight
upabittoolate 3 years ago
@upabittoolate i feel the same way to be honest lol... i'm an 18 year old artist that was born in Harvey but i don't really claim it cuz i moved out to the suburbs of IN when i was about 13 so i just say i'm from IN.. it's not going to make me any more/less of a man lying about where i grew up ... that's petty to me no disrespect
jgatlin77 9 months ago
You're miss my point. I'm saying that he can't tell a lot of 'hood stories because that's not how he came as a young man. I've said this before & it bears repeating. I love the man & I'm extremely proud of him. But I have to temper my listening to his narratives with the reality that I know in my heart. I was born on Chicago's West Side & raised in South Shore. But I got to the 'burbs when I was about 11. Six years (I went back to the city 17) ain't an eternity but it's definitely something.
upabittoolate 9 months ago
@jgatlin77 But most of all, I'm asking how "hood" is it to do well in school, play sports, graduate college then become an educator yourself? People get the wrong idea that I'm knocking the brother. I'm not. In fact, he did what people should ASPIRE to do. However, my other question is simply this: how can he remain "relevant" in a music/cultural climate that hoists Gucci Mane & celebrates ignent ass niggaz like Waka Flocka?
upabittoolate 9 months ago
Most of all, I think people don't savvy what's unique about Chicago. It's why you got Bloods & Crips from coast to coast but they never touched the Chi. There's a reason that the Five Family Mob system won't touch Chicago. It's why organized crime systems consider Chicago to be cutthroat. It's not only because we have a level of violent sophistication that's hard to gauge. It's because Chicago's cultural mode is specific to itself. Even the burbanites miss that. I dunno if that makes sense.
upabittoolate 9 months ago
@upabittoolate well they tried comin to gary... it didn't turn out to well tho... GRUESOME... and i understand where you come from the way i see it... Mikkey has a gift at telling urban narratives... music is music... it's an expression of self.. it's art... that's like telling an artist that they aren't credible because they don't know the people they are drawing.... but i kno u didn't mean any disrespect so it's all good... mikkey is somebody i look up to with my music and i respect him
jgatlin77 9 months ago
a joe just becuz people live in da burbs dont mean they dont have city problems i live on 63rd & vernon and my cuzo from da burbs and be kickin it over here and he on wat we on (its nothing to glorify) but i do feel what you tryin to say but mikkey is ah city nigga even though you right bout him living in cchills but that dont mean his roots aint city/urban just like when they tore down the projects where do you think most of them live now (in da burbs)but they still got city problems ya dig
lilfocuss 3 years ago
i never said they didn't have similar problems. i said that the narrative doesn't carry in a consistent way. i happen to know mikkel. i know that wheneer he opens his mouth, what he's saying is true. every experience is a personal experience for him. what i'm saying is that some of the message may get lost. there's a difference between going to lane tech high school & rich central high school; i've been to both so i can judge. i ain't knocking mister nance. my remarks are about art
upabittoolate 3 years ago
like i said before: i LOVE that man. anything he's doing is a narrative for niggaz just like me; he's just like me (except a little smarter & a little more accomplished). i can honestly say that i can look in his face & see elements of me. BUT, having said that, i also know that there are some things with which i can't identify. i've always had some thinking tools, options & models. not every cat on the south sid eof chicago can say that. you feel me yet?
upabittoolate 3 years ago
a' joe i feel ya ya dig even though we coming from two different perspectives we are actully on the same page all im saying is it dont matter wat part of the land you from its about wats in your heart and how you was built and for he being a narrator for the streets he is his and believe me chicago streets will vouch for him becuz i've been in da same circles as dat brother and he do speak from da heart and try to reach people even in a regular conversation ya dig
lilfocuss 3 years ago
This Mik's brother Eric. Who r u? U obviously don't know my brother as well as u say. First of all, Mik didn't move out to the burbs till about 13. And all of our fam was in the city, mostly 76th & Colfax. Oh and 116th & Morgan is Ragtown, Pops old territory (but u wouldn't know shit about that). That's a faaar cry from Beverly. Bcuz you go to jr high or h.s. means that you aren't urban??? that's the dumbest shit Ive heard in a while. What's the difference b/w goin to lane tech & central???
WillisNanceJr 3 years ago
wassup rico. you were in the same class as my sister tiy. how are you brother
upabittoolate 3 years ago
they seem to not getting what you mean in your posts. i am not too bright so somewhat getting lost in what you're conveying but i don't see any "hating" at all in what you're saying but it just goes over ones head cause you're not simply saying "dope track"
lilcenzo 3 years ago
you're bright enough; believe me. i guess since it's so personal, people have adverse reactions. i'm saying 2 things. 1) every brother in america can tell this narrative in 1 way or another 2) that being said, brother mikkel is a very well educated brother. in many ways that puts his analytical ability (his actual insight) beyond the subject matter of the words he wrote in the song. so the question i'm posing, rather the challenge i'm making is "how 'real' is this?"...
upabittoolate 3 years ago
... in other words, beyond being the reporter of the mess, when-where-how do we clean up the mess. again, there's a huge difference between complete immersion in street culture (which many black folks are; they have no other models) & cats like mikkel that have had a very broad range of life experience. what is THAT narrative. what's "real" about THAT. fell me?
upabittoolate 3 years ago
unless you've gone to lane tech & seen the difference in the resources they had versus rich central. or seen the abject apathy versus teachers that cared about you, i don't think you can contextualize my point. what i'm saying that the stresses that shape us as black men are all very similar. but there stresses & aesthetics that separate us. ie, a cat from tierra grande is extremely different than a cat from south shore.
upabittoolate 3 years ago
like i said before, i have nothing but love & respect for mikkel as a person. he's brilliant. we were in just about every class together. his narrative is a universal one. but i'm trying to say is this: as an educated man, he can see ways out of the cycle that turns people to the bottle. many city kids don't. on 2 hands i can count some born & raised citizens of chicago that i personally know, who haven't ever set their feet downtown let alone going outside the state.
upabittoolate 3 years ago
Not really. Especially if a tierra grande cat grew up in the hood for real. We moved cuz too many niggaz was dyin around us. There are real niggaz & bitch niggaz in every hood. G our dad just passed after smokin' crack for damn near 20 yrs. We were in CCh with the lights & hot water gettin shut off & tv's in & out of the pawn shop. We went to Higgins elem. & all our homies went to Fenger so we were blessed to go to RC. Mik neva fronted like he was a killa or a drug deala. What's ya name tho fam.
WillisNanceJr 3 years ago
all of that is true. but believe me, there's a difference between an upbringing with 2 parents making >$70K, that are homeowners with a nuclear family vs. a single parent home, that's rented & on a fixed incoome. i'm very sorry to hear about your father. make sure you extend my condolences, i'm james....i never said that mikkel was fronting like anything. i asked how genuine the narrative was, given the fact that much of his young adulthood was spent in a relative prosperity...
upabittoolate 3 years ago
I agree that having 2 parents is an advantage, but even alot of burb cats don't have that. It could be argued that people in harvey, robbins, or chi heights have it rougher than alot of cats in the city. Even cch got a arab owned liquor store on flossmor road(the old white hen) so "liquor store" is transcends the city. Don't u think that he's been in a liquor store like the 1 he raps about in the song? Not sayin that u hatin or nothin, just makin my point known.
WillisNanceJr 3 years ago
wow, the old white hen? you just took me back to 1989. i digress. like i said, this is a narrative that ANY brother in america knows all too well. but i being who mikkel is, a man with a world class education, his range is gonna be different. bear in mind, he & were classmates with people that are now MDs, PharmDs, JDs & DDSs. hell, even buddy guy's daughter. kerwin went to the NFL. that's a completely different frame of reference than say, someone who went to south shore...
upabittoolate 3 years ago
...and like i said before, any black kid in this country can tell this story. but i think his own personal range has a periphery beyond the liquor store experience. he's not really a ghetto cat. correct me if i'm wrong.
upabittoolate 3 years ago
i'm also extremely sorry to hear about your utilities getting cut & shit like that. it's a tribute to y'all that you each maintained & kept a great degree of dignity. i'm truly proud to say that i know y'all.
upabittoolate 3 years ago
I think everything you just said makes him the perfect candidate to speak on what needs to be said.
I see you can't argue with any points he made. And you don't know his life outside of school. fuckin hater.
DerekfromthaCHI 2 years ago
@DerekfromthaCHI Actually I know some of his life outside of school. Like I said, I can considre him a friend. I'm not "arguing" any points genius. I questioned the authenticity of a 'hood narrative given the fact that he's not really a 'hood cat.
I guess you can't understand that simple nuance. Idiots usually can't.
upabittoolate 2 years ago
Basically what you said was pointless. He's a black man and any black man reserves the right to speak on issues effecting his people rather or not he experiences them directly or indirectly. There was no point in you saying what you said except to throw salt on your 'friend". The fact that he's educated and articulate makes him the perfect person to expound on these issues in a thoughtful and empathetic way. .there was absolutely no point in you saying that except to be negative. bottom line
DerekfromthaCHI 2 years ago
Alan Keyes is a Blackman. So is Ward Connerly. But I won't give any regard tyo their "authenticity". Conversely, I simply asked how authentic a "hood tale" is when it's coming from the mouth of a well-educated cat who spent most of his formative years in the burbs.
Asking a question isn't throwing salt. I love that man. That's why I'm asking the question. Loving someone isn't always about kissing a person's ass. Often, it's about challenging a person in order to find the depth.
upabittoolate 2 years ago
If you had ANY introspect at all, you'd understand what I'm saying. But it's over your head. But I'm not going to dumb it down... even if you need me to use small words. Get your weight up homie.
Peace.
upabittoolate 2 years ago
damn! classic!
symphonyraps 3 years ago