Beanie Sigel: The Cracked Mirror of an MC

“You have to lay where I laid, stay where I stayed”.

Growing up in the inner city can be very challenging for our youth. There is a lot of temptation, crime, love, hate, poverty, broken families and school systems that are often inadequate. When a young man faces these various fights, he is forced to be tough and have the ability to survive the fittest. Dysfunctions can build character or destroy a person. When it comes to Hip Hop, the MC’s that move me often persevere through the storms of life and share the news with eager listeners. Beanie Sigel, born Dwight Grant, took us on a journey to South Philadelphia with the same vivid imagery that was shown when NAS took us to Queensbridge in the early 90's.

“Yo I come from a crack in the ground, a hole in the wall And dog when the crack ain't around, the smokers'll brawl Streets like a bullet in cancer, it'll swallow you up Or eat you from the inside and hollow you up And everyday like a test, you know life got rules And its sorta like checkers and chess I went to school and took the lessons punk Know a pawn get kinged, a bishop get juiced A rook get jumped”…

– Beanie Sigel “Got Nowhere” Part of Verse 1; prod. by Kanye