e song…”I never prayed to God, a Pray to Gotti.” The desire for material things is something very common to those that are listening. Jay-Z, coming from the same back round writes songs on things he knows and surrounds him. Besides the “hunger” another subject that is very common to this subculture is violence. It is not a coincidence that violence is a subject matter prevalent in both the music and the subculture. Like Donna Gaines, Nas and Jay-Z acts as sociologists reporting what they see. Nas writes on the graphic violence that he is accustomed to…”Straight up *censored* is real and any day could be your last in the jungle get murdered on the humble, guns’ll blast, niggaz tumble the corners is the hot spot, full of mad criminals who don’t care guzzling beers…” Donna Gaines writes that she has observed that the “burnouts” drink in front of a 7-11, Nas also explains that criminals hang out on the corner. Both Donna and Nas write about what they observe. It is true that violence is a major theme in this music, but that is because the artists are writing about the real issues that are present in the subculture whom they are part of.If Jay-Z and Nas continued to write song lyrics covering the same things in their first album in their later one’s, than it could be argued there is too much nonsense and violence in lyrics. However, that is not the case. As both of these artists moved out of the ghetto, became famous and satiated their hunger the lyrical content of their music also changes. No longer is violence and hunger something they are accustomed to or the only thing they know. As they both have more and more positive things surround them and the more they experience other things, their music shifts to covering this new material in their songs. Jay-Z has produced songs like, “money aint a thing” which is a fun song explaining he no longer is...
