Rap/Hip-Hop
34
Glossed by: Nanyamka Jacobs-Gates
1.New York City is referred to as a “Concrete Jungle”.
2.Sign of inner city and poor living.
3.Figure of speech (literal and figurative)
4.Steps leading to the front door.
5.Woman who hangs around gay men.
6.Not real
7.Referring to nude shows which at the time New York City was popular for.
8.Slang meaning “a person who thinks highly of themselves”.
9.Day time soap opera.
10.Primetime soap opera.
11.Boxer of the 1980’s.
12.Refers to city transit strike of 1966.
13.The joint between the sacrum and the illac bone at the back of the pelvis.
14.Biblical Reference (Exodus 33:3)
15.Someone who cannot take a punch.
16.Referring to life’s highs and lows.
17.Known for being dark and dirty side streets where crime took place.
18.Men such as drung dealers, gangsters, gamblers, etc. who made their money illegally.
19.See 17
20.Bank Robber of the depression era.
21.Robbers known for telling their victims to “stick-em up”.
22.Eight year prison sentence.
23.Slang for prison rape victim.
24.Number one cause of death for prisoners.
25.Dying before you get old.
Driving big cars, spending twenties and tens
And you wanna grow up to be just like them, huh,
Smugglers, scramblers, burglars, gamblers
Pickpockets, peddlers even panhandlers19
You say: I'm cool, I'm no fool!
But then you wind up dropping out of high school
Now you're unemployed, all non-void
Walking round like you're Pretty Boy Floyd20
Turned stickup kid21, look what you’ve done did
Got sent up for a eight year bid22
Now your manhood is took and you're a Maytag23
Spent the next two years as a undercover fag
Being used and abused and served like hell
'Til one day you was found hung dead in your cell24
It was plain to see that your life was lost
You was cold and your body swung back and forth
But now your eyes sing the sad, sad song
Of how you lived so fast and died so young25
It's like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder
How I keep from going under
It's like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder
How I keep from going under
[Hook]
Year: 1982