The Crow's Nest

My Personal Connection to A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie’s, “Jungle”

By Destiny Bernard

On February 14, 2016, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, a young rapper from the Bronx, released a single from his album, Artist, called “Jungle”. The lyrics of this song speak to me personally because of its unique lyrics that coincide with my life and things I’ve experienced. The song has a great catchy beat that is made up of drums, piano, and claps. The beat gives me a nostalgic feel that causes me to reflect on my life.

The lyrics, “This is what that jungle do, You been plottin wasn’t you” is reflective of growing up in a crazy neighborhood where people do you wrong everyday. Betrayal usually turns people into monsters because betrayal usually comes from the people closest to them. It makes people think they should have never trusted anyone. The follow up lyrics, “I should’ve never messed with you” take the listener way back to the story of Caesar getting stabbed in the back with the words “et tu Brute?” which translates to “even you Brutus?” meaning “and even you would betray me? ”. The next lines “Yeah I started in the back had to skip the line though” refers to coming up from poverty and failure and persevering over obstacles. As the song continues you hear him say “People throw you in the shade cause they wanna shine tho people throw me in the grave in a Ferragamo”.  A Ferragamo is a popular, high end, expensive belt that is mostly in fashion with males of this generation. The lyric means that people will try to wrong you because they only care about their own success and they only want to see you attain success when it’s too late and you’re already gone. The next lyric, “Man I can’t believe they killed my bro Quado it was so deep I had to say that with my eyes closed,”  hit me very hard personally because I am 17 years old and have already many friends and it shouldn’t be that way.

The next lines, that touch a tender spot are “This is all I ever wanted why would I let you take it from me” because it refers to finally being successful and reaching your goals yet having people in your life try to take your spot, but you won’t let them.  I have seen this happen often in life;  unfortunately, not many people want to see you doing well.

This song can relate to many of the youth of 2017 that are growing up in areas known to be unprosperous. These areas are known as communities that are well enough for people to live. People who live in these areas can survive and make a living, but there is no money left-over for luxury items or other wants. Many people only have money to fulfill their needs.