Despite the high volume of crime in Chicago, this can’t be blamed exclusively on the city. Over the years, there have been a long list of rappers who been fatally shot in their own city. Jam Master Jay, Nipsey Hussle, Fat Pat and Freaky Tah are some notable names on that list.
It seems like a bad idea for rappers who have achieved a certain amount notoriety to stick around in their old hood. So why do so many rappers stay put? I have a couple theories that may apply to some of those artists.
For one, I think some of these rappers have the fame but not the money to leave the hood. This is especially true for some of the new rappers who achieve online fame but don’t have the dollars to go with it.
Consequently, some rappers have one foot in the music business and the other in the streets. Even when some rappers are able to monetize their fame, they still are stuck in that ‘street mentality’
They fail to make the transition from being a street person to a full time artist. It is no longer makes sense to stand on the same blocks that you used to be on.