Benion Asfaw Dissertation

1ST EDITION ISSUE

SOURCE

THE

NEW YORK COLLECTORS EDITION: THE WORLD OF HIP HOP AND ARCHITECTURE MIXING TOGETHER

IS THERE A CONNECTION BETWEEN THE NY HOUSING PROJECTS AND THE ARTIST’S MUSIC ?

THE MAGAZINE OF HIP HOP MUSIC, CULTURE, ARCHITECTURE, POLITICS

JAY-Z

Hood Saviour ?

MARCY PROJECTS Crime & violence still high

NYCHA

Public Housing Crisis !

THE KING OF NY INTRODUCING:

THE VOICE OF THE GHETTO

02 WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NEW YORK HOUSING PROJECTS IN THE BOROUGH OF BROOKLYN AND THE MUSIC OF THE ARTISTS THAT GREW UP IN THEM? by Benion Asfaw Supervisor Yung Gao (PhD)

Masters of Architecture University of Huddersfield School of Arts and Humanities Department of Architecture & 3D Design TMA 1160 Dissertation

DECLARATION

03 I Benion Asfaw, hereby declare that the thesis What Is the relationship between New York Housing Projects in the borough of Brooklyn and the music of the artists that grew up in them? is entirely my own original work, with the exemption of quotations and references which have all been identified and acknowledged, and it has not been submitted either in parts or whole for another degree elsewhere.

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ABSTRACT

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T

he purpose of this research is to show the connection between hip hop and the built environment by looking at the housing projects and the music of artists that grew up in them. This dissertation specifically will look at Jay Z and Marcy housing projects as a case study. It will do this by using secondary research such as dissertations, books and reports that are appropriate to the topic. What this dissertation has done is expose how poor the housing project scheme by Robert Moses’ was implemented and how it had serious implications because it displaced a lot of people and had long term effects.

The housing projects neglected any social aspect in the design and rapidly declined post completion, there was no funding going back into the building and there was no maintenance and repairs which caused the quality of life to deteriorate. This then led onto the environment creating breeding grounds for crime, violence and drugs, in which people like Jay Z had to grow up in seeing these things at a young age.

These findings indicate that there needs to be serious changes to better the quality of living in housing projects, which could ultimately help decrease crime in the area.

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ABSTRACT

09 FIGURE LIST 10 GLOSSARY 11 12 13 14

CONTENTS PAGE

INTRODUCTION THE ORIGINS OF HIP HOP HOUSING SCHEME PROJECT JANE JACOBS

15 LITERATURE REVIEW 16 CASE STUDIES 18 FINDINGS & DISCUSSIONS 19 MARCY BACKGROUND 20 MARCY & THE CRACK EPIDEMIC 21 TITLE 1 PROJECT - PUBLIC HOUSING 22 JAY Z BACKGROUND 23 ANALYSIS OF JAY Z’S LYRICS & HOW IT RELATES TO MARCY 32 CHANGES TO MARCY 34 CONCLUSION 11 BIBLIOGRAPHY 11 APPENDICIES

Figure 1 ​(Falk, 2018)​

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FIGURE LIST

Figure 1 Public Housing Projects Photo Falk, ​​ S. (2018, July 9). The Rise and Fall of New York Public Housing: An Oral History - The New York Times. The New York Times. https:// www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/06/25/nyregion/new-york-city-public-housing-history.html...................................................................................................................................................08 Figure 2: Collage that shows the intergration of Hip Hop and Architecture in New York.................................................................................................................................................................11 Figure 3: DJ Kool Herc Setting up a DJ Booth BYO (2020). HISTORY: DJ KOOL HERC INVENTS HIP-HOP AT 1520 SEDGWICK AVENUE [Photograph]. Backyard Opera Sydney. https://www. backyardopera.com/home-1/2020/6/10/history-dj-kool-herc-invents-hip-hop-at-1520-sedgwick-avenue....................................................................................................................................12 Figure 4: The actual ivnitatoin for the first hip hop party Fields, K (2016). Today In Hip Hop History: A Kool Herc Party Pops Off In The Bronx 43 Years Ago [Photograph]. The Source. https://thesource.com/2016/08/11/today-in-hip-hop-history-a-kool-herc-party-pops-off-in-the-bronx-43-years-ago/............................................................................................................12 Figure 5: Housing Project Skyline Ginga (2006). Public housing in the Bronx, New York City [Photograph]. iStock. https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/public-housing-gm13987079 5-1638498?phrase=housing%20projects%20new%20york..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................13 Figure 6: Jane Jacobs Speaking Mcdarrah, F (2017). The Woman Who Saved New York City from Superhighway Hell [Photograph]. VanityFair. https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2017/04/jane-jacobs-citizen-jane-documentary..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................14 Figure 7: Map explaining the context of NYC Authors Own........................................................................................................................................................................................................................17 Figure 8: Collage of Marcy Projects Frankovich, G (2020). Drake - When To Say When & Chicago Freestyle [Photograph]. FADED4U. https://www.faded4u.com/2020/03/drakewhen-to-say-when-chicago.html.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................18 Figure 9: Graph showing the homcide rates in NYC in and out of public housing Fagan, J. (2005). The Bustle of Horses on a Ship: Drug Control in New York City Public Housing.

Columbia Law School, 1–47...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................19 Figure 10: People of New York protesting against the Title 1 Project ​Alonso, G. (2018, February 7). Robert Moses and His Effects on New York – Spring 2018: Shaping the Future of New York City. https://eportfolios.macaulay.cuny.edu/alonso2018/2018/02/07/robert-moses-and-his-effects-on-new-york/#more-115...............................................................................21 Figure 11: Graphic of Jay Z posing for a photoshoot (Crate 808, 2020) Jay Z - Crate 808. (2020). [Photograph]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/crate808/posts/when-wetalk-jay-z-we-talk-about-a-man-whos-left-an-odyssey-in-rap-from-that-sta/705130273601108/.....................................................................................................................................................23 Figure 12: Photograph of a Prison Cell in Rikers Island NY US Prison Walters, J (2017). ‘Belly of the beast’: former inmates hail New York plan to close Rikers Island jail [Photograph]. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/apr/02/new-york-rikers-island-jail-closure-inmates......................................................................................................24 Figure 13: Inside a typical Swedish Prison Cell Insider. (2020). The Swedish Prison System [Photograph]. The Horizon Sun . https://thehorizonsun.com/features/2020/12/18/ the-swedish-prison-system/..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................24 Figure 14: Layout Plan of Marcy Projects NYCHA. (2021). Marcy Consolidation Individual Action Plan. New York Housing Authority, 1-19................................................................................25 Figure 15: NYCHA Citywide Report Card C.D.P. (2011). A Report Card for the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA)................................................................................................................27 Figure 16: Criminalization Section C.D.P. (2011). A Report Card for the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA)...........................................................................................................................27 Figure 17: Protest Banner C.D.P. (2011). A Report Card for the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA)........................................................................................................................................27 Figure 18: Graphic of Jay Z Performing at the Apollo Theatre KMazur (2020). Happy Birthday Hov: A Look Back at Some of Jay-Z’s Most Memorable Outfits [Photograph]. Complex. https://www.complex.com/style/jay-z-memorable-outfits/apollo-theatre...........................................................................................................................................................................................28 Figure 19: Jay Z Album Cover Photo Jay Z on the building Genius. (2019). Vol. 3: Life and Times of S. Carter [Photograph]. Genius. https://genius.com/albums/Jay-z/Vol-3-life-andtimes-of-s-carter..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................29 Figure 20: Collage of Michael Ford and Public Housing Buildings Michael Ford collage George, R (2018). Michael Ford, The Hip Hop Architect, To Speak at ArchEx [Photograph]. AIA Virginia. https://www.aiava.org/michael-ford-the-hip-hop-architect-to-speak-at-archex/...............................................................................................................................................................30 Figure 21: Picture of Jay Z at a concert Jay Z last one graphic PictureGroup. (2019). Jay-Z Is Officially The World’s First Billionaire Rapper [Photograph]. Refinery29. https://www. refinery29.com/en-ca/2019/06/234482/jay-z-net-worth-billionaire..........................................................................................................................................................................................................31 Figure 22: Collage of Marcy Projects Frankovich, G (2020). Drake - When To Say When & Chicago Freestyle [Photograph]. FADED4U. https://www.faded4u.com/2020/03/drakewhen-to-say-when-chicago.html, Lenthang, M (2020). [Photograph]. Mail Online. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8714971/Married-couple-shot-arm-leg-stray-bulletsBrooklyn-apartment.html.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................33

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GLOSSARY Bars - The words/sentences that a rapper says.

Block Parties - These are parties held within the housing projects.

Clean - This is slang for meaning that a person is dressed well.

Dope – Slang for drugs.

Dough – This is slang for money.

Hood – An abbreviation for neighborhood, often a rough area filled with violence and gang activity.

MCing – A vocalist who is rhyming over a backing track from the DJ on a mic, the official title for the person is an MC so the verb of that is MCing.

NYC – An abbreviation of New York City.

NYCHA – An abbreviation for New York City Housing Authority.

Off the Dome – This means to rap without writing anything down, and to just say what comes to mind Opps – short for opposition, it is slang for someone who is an opponent or part of a rival gang or enemy.

Skate off the Set – To quickly leave a place.

Spittin - This means a person speaking words with a strong sense of rhythm on a mic over a backing track instrumental.

The Ghetto – An impoverished area of the city, mostly occupied by ethnic minorities.

Track – Slang meaning A song recorded by an artist.

11 INTRODUCTION

Figure 2: Collage that shows the intergration of Hip Hop and Architecture in New York (Author’s Own)

The main aim of this dissertation is to bridge the gap But this research will show that the original problem is meaning to connect the two cultures between Hip- the actual housing projects that these artists grow up Hop and the housing projects of New York, drawing in that needs to change, these very housing projects similarities and highlighting how they impact each are the ones filled with drugs and crime, the artists other. There has been a lot written on these two top- are simply telling their own story. Once the state of ics separately, the main themes covered when looking housing projects in New York changes then so will the at work written on the housing projects were crime in message of the music. The dissertation will start by housing projects ​(Lens, 2013)​, gentrification, displace- looking at the origins of both hip hop and the housment ​(Freeman & Braconi, 2004)​and the effectiveness ing scheme project, this is very critical to mention, in of housing projects in New York City (​Elmedni, 2018)​ order to understand how both topics link together. . However little exists on how hip-hop and the hous- The dissertation will also aim to answer the following ing projects directly corelate with each other. This research questions: How can we ascertain the relaremains highly puzzling as the music genre hip-hop tionship between hip hop and the built environment? was born in these New York housing projects. These Can we see a direct correlation between those who housing projects were built by the housing authorities grew up in the housing projects and their trajectory who are a governmental body that have stated their into hip hop? Do the lyrics of hip hop artists mention aim is to provide affordable housing that ensures the their area and the housing projects they grew up in? safety of the residents in that environment (​NYCHA, How are housing projects represented in hip hop?

2023)​. This is important to remember because this By tackling these questions, it give a better underdissertation will show how the NYCHA has neglected standing to help bridge that gap between the 2 topthe residents of these housing projects and has not ics, further highlighting why it is important to do so. been meeting their aims and objectives. This disser- The dissertation will have colloquial language that has tation is very important because hip hop is something been taken from the lyrics and implemented into the that has always been criticized for the glorification dissertation itself to fully immerse with hip hop, definiof violence and drugs in the music (​Canton, 2006)​. tions of such language will be provided in the glossary.

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ORIGINS OF HIP HOP The origins of Hip hop are very much rooted in the early New York urban planning project as well as in the various housing policies. It was in these very housing project buildings that Hip Hop was born. 1520 Sedgewick Avenue in the Bronx is often credited as the birthplace of the music genre.

In the early 1970’s DJ Kool Herc held a party at this very location, which played mostly soul and funk music with people “spittin” on the mic which was called “MCing”. This was the first event of the hip hop movement, which attracted huge attention within minoritized ethnic and racial communities. DJ Kool Herc’s party prompted huge “block parties” across the Bronx where vast numbers of people were gathering in one place to hear the music from the DJ’s and the MC’s. (​Tate, 2023)​.

It is important to note that during the 1970’s in New York there was an economic decline. According to Rory, the manufacturing industry falling, and the construction of the Bronx expressway were the main contributors to the economic collapse (​Rory, 2019).​This changed the demographics of many communities, as a lot of the white middle class moved to suburbs to escape the economic decline and the social challenges that followed. Neighborhoods that were African American, Caribbean and Puerto-Rican saw a rise poverty, gang violence and crimes due to the economic situation. At this time in New York most shops were closed, and any source of economic opportunities and entertainment were scarce, so the urban youth went to the streets as a way of having fun and self-expression (​Rory, 2019)​. This led to the rise in rapping, breakdancing, Djing and Graffiti art which are fundamental pillars of hip hop culture.

All these artistic endeavors went onto have their own cultures with legacies. But this dissertation will specifically look at how rapping in Hip hop was used as a creative outlet for the urban youth during the 1970’s as a way for them to express themselves through tough times, speaking on the socio-economic issues at the time. Atlanta rapper TI said in an interview with then Daily show presenter Trevor Noah that “Hip-hop traditionally has always been a reflection of the environment the artist has to endure” ​(Penrose, 2016)​.

Artist KRS-One in his lyrics on track 17 from the album D.I.G.I.T.A.L said” Rap is something you do; Hip hop is something you live”. (​ KRS-One – Hip Hop Vs. Rap Lyrics | Genius Lyrics, n.d.)​ .

Figure 3: DJ Kool Herc Setting up a DJ Booth BYO (2020)

Figure 4: The actual ivnitatoin for the first hip hip party Kiah Fields K.F (2016)

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HOUSING SCHEME PROJECT Housing projects by definition are subsidized apartments buildings, that are owned by the housing authority or federally owned, who aim to provide affordable housing for low-income families ​(Housing Project Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster, n.d.)​. The housing projects came under the public housing program which was introduced on a federal level all over the US under the 1937 housing act. The idea of the public housing program was seen as a solution to “inner-city poverty” and to be able to provide good housing for everyone. Planners, architects and social workers saw this program as a necessary part of their duty, which they believed would improve the well-being for all people and improve quality of life for slum dwellers ​(Stoloff, 2004).​Famous town planner Robert Moses oversaw the housing project program of New York in the 1950’s and 1970’s, which saw a huge clearance in slum areas to be replaced. Michael Ford talks about how Moses terribly sampled part of Le Corbusier’s towers-in-the-park-concept, which was a series of high-rise buildings mingled with parks and public spaces. Le Corbusier had this concept for Paris in 1923 and thought it would create good citizens and benefit them, but officials in Paris very much disagreed with the idea. Ford stated that these housing projects were terribly sampled because Moses took the idea of big high rise residential towers but did not include the park spaces, which created very dense living conditions and became the standard for the housing projects in the city of New York as well as around the country. Ford says that the construction of these dense towers were the very same spaces that birthed the elements of hip hop in these same areas where private space was scarce was where the youth gathered, thus creating a whole culture. (​Ryan, 2018). The housing project scheme has faced a lot of scrutiny from its conception till now, with Robert Moses receiving most of the backlash. The literature repeatedly mentioned the fact that Robert Moses’ slum clearance project had racial undertones. Chronopoulos in his article says that Moses’ housing projects had racial overtones he cites this according to Schwartz​ (Joel Schwartz, 1993)​, who says that Moses’ public housing projects only accepted white or black tenants depending on what type of neighborhood they were built in.​

This meant that there was no integration between communities but rather segregation which Moses has done to many communities since introducing his slum clearance projects ​(Chronopoulos, 2020)​. Chronopoulos also adds that Moses’ had also removed a lot of black and Latinx populations from neighborhoods this happened.

What Moses would do is create brochures to justify to the public the reason for demolishing these slum spaces. These brochures focused on 3 main themes; empty lots, abandoned buildings and tight back alleys (​Chronopoulos, 2014)​. This was all so Moses could commence with his Title 1 plan which was to basically demolish on a large scale and rebuild the area with improved and expensive housing out of the price range of minority residents. This displaced a lot of residents from Manhattan and other areas with particularly black New Yorkers were the most affected by the “slum” clearance (​ Joel Schwartz, 1993, p. 102)​. Moses had done this because he believed that the” slums were a cancer” to the city of New York. If the city were to ever to develop, it needed to be demolished and rebuild on a larger scale with private bodies ​(Ballon & Jackson T, 2007)​. Moses even had plans of demolishing the slums of Manhattantown ,again mostly populated by black African Americans, to build a 120 feet wide road through the middle of Washington square park. His justification was to “move traffic through the village” to deal with the traffic problems.

Jane Jacobs wrote a letter to the New York City officials against the idea and protested in 1955 on the streets for the idea not to go through, she collected over 35,000 signatures and the project never happened (​Rorke, 2016)​.

Figure 5: Housing Project Skyline Ginga (2006)

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ane Jacobs is someone who has played a huge role in critiquing the New York urban planning schemes during the time Moses built most of the public housing projects. Jacobs was a journalist and activist in the field of sociology and economics, her most famous book was The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961) ​(Tavolari, 2019)​. In this book Jacobs talks about how city planning in the early twentieth century was very abstract, they lacked understanding of what would make cities work. Jacobs is encouraging planning that is based on close observation and promotes healthy growth, it should consider low income and poor areas rather than remaking the whole urban body ​(Tavolari, 2019, p. 15)​.

This is why when Jacobs lived in New York she heavily criticized Robert Moses and his slum clearance projects because she felt that it did not consider anything she mentioned in her book. Jacobs would say that Moses’ housing projects did not take into account human scale and would attract crime and violence (​Zhou, 2018)​. She would often protest at Moses’ public hearings and write complains to the government for certain schemes not to go through, Jacobs had a connection to these spaces Moses was trying to demolish because she took a liking to them when she moved into New York (​Callahan & Ikeda, 2014)​. Her ideas now are seen as parameters to build towards a good city with good ideals, it can also be used to identify certain issues within cities to see what they are missing Jacobs knew the importance of the social aspect of city building rather than just focusing the building designs. She believed that communities are an integral part of cities, and these communities are full of life and characters that must be preserved at all costs ​(Tavolari, 2019)​.

JANE JACOBS

Figure 6: Jane Jacobs Speaking Mcdarrah, FM (2017)

15 LITERATURE REVIEW Are Public Housing Projects More Dangerous Than Their Neighbourhoods ?

Shaochun Zhou

This thesis by Shaochun Zhou is a study looking at crime in public housing and the causative factors that lead into crime happening in the New York City area. The main question that Zhou aims to tackle is if public housing are more dangerous than its neighbourhoods and he does this using a quantitative method that primarily draws from existing studies and journalistic articles that provide statistical support ​(Zhou, 2018)​. Zhou firstly identifies the earliest mention of the public housing program that was established during the great depression in 1937 in the US, the form of the building consisted with one or more concentrated blocks of apartment buildings. These were operated by state and local housing authorities ​(Zhou, 2018, p. 1)​. The housing act mentioned 3 main objectives of the housing scheme; to create more jobs, slum improvement and to provide housing for the poor. The public housing scheme up till the 1960’s had a rapid increase with many cities building public housing by the mass such as New York, but shortly after in the 1970’s these public housing started to deteriorate due to financial trouble from public housing authorities. This led to construction costs of designs and materials to be cut, funding for maintenance and repairs being cut too. Pruitt Igoe (a demolished housing project in St. Louis) was the tipping point for the decline of housing project since it was the first to be demolished in 1973, this led to federal support to decline. Zhou goes onto mention how activists and scholars such as Jane Jacobs and Marshall Berman saw these social problems from the very beginning with Jacobs saying that the housing project do not consider human scale and they breed crime to happen. Breman mentions how the design is disordered and lazy ​(Zhou, 2018)​. The main conclusion of the thesis is that NYCHA’s public housing generally has a higher crime rate that surpasses the city average, this is due to the underperforming buildings which lack quality. The main causative factors are the fact that post completion these public housing does not have any funding, repair or maintenance services, residents feel neglected. Zhou also mentions the fact that although the actual building design plays a factor in the failing of public housing, the social aspect plays a more important role, social problems and crime are more likely to arise from social disorder in these environments.

This is a very helpful thesis since it relates to the dissertation question it gives evidence to why public housing especially in New York have failed. It gives parameters to measure how public housing has failed and how crime, drugs and social issues has entered the environment. This links directly to the lyrics of Jay Z in music since it covers the same themes. Jay Z paints a vivid picture using crime and drugs as the forefront to describe the housing project of Marcy.

The hip-hop architect on how music and the environment can influence one another This article is a very important part of the dissertation question, this looks at Michael Ford’s idea of “hiphop architecture” ​(Ryan, 2018)​. The reason this is important is because it is one of the few works that forms the connection between hip hop and architecture, something that is the main aim of this dissertation. Ford says that hip hop is a form of critique of architectural modernism which Le Corbusier thought of, and Moses implemented. Hip hop was born in the very same dense and deteriorating housing projects, the message of hip hop has always been linked to its environment, because the artists are a product of their surroundings so their life story will reflect that. The main aim for Ford is to use hip hop as a way to get more children of a minority background to get involved in the world of architecture, and for them to make a change that will help the low-income neighbourhoods they come from. This is a very helpful article because it gives an example of how architecture and hip-hop are connected, it also shows how the built environment world directly affects the hip hop world. Another strength of this article is that it also shows how the lyrics of artists directly critique the housing projects environments and one main finding is that most of them are linked with negative connotations. Most artists only credit their rough environments for making them mature quick since they dealt with issues such as poverty, crime, death and drugs at a young age.

CASE STUDY 16

JAY Z - MARCY PROJECTS The main method of this dissertation will be looking at one main artist and the housing project they grew up in as a case study to help find the connection between architecture and hip hop. The case study will be Jay Z as the artist and Marcy as the housing projects. The reason for picking Jay Z is because he is regarded as New York’s biggest and most successful artist. So, when exploring the lyrics of Jay Z and his relation to Marcy it will be interesting to shed light on how he describes his housing project. This dissertation will show how growing up in the crack epidemic and how that shaped the message of Jay Z in his lyrics. This case study will help explore the link that the dissertation is attempting to demonstrate between hip hop and architecture. Jay Z’s discography will help bring out the information within his lyrics that relate to Marcy in order to form that link and then see how the architectural side has impacted the lives of people like Jay Z in their upbringing. Most of the data collected will be from already existing secondary data, books and articles that are appropriate to the dissertation question. Most of the secondary data will be thesis documents, reports and dissertations that mention the main topics of the housing projects or hip hop as a culture. The geographical context for Marcy is that it is located in the neighbourhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant which is in the Borough of Brooklyn in New York City, USA.

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Figure 7: Map explaining the context of NYC Authors Own

FINDINGS & DISCUSSIONS

18 MARCY BACKGROUND

A

s mentioned before Jay Z hails from Marcy Housing Projects in Bed-stuy Brooklyn, it plays an important part in his life since it shaped him to be the person he is today, as recurringly mentioned in his lyrics. Before going into the findings of Jay’s lyrics and his housing project, there needs to be a little information about what Marcy is in order to fully understand his upcoming in the area The Marcy Housing projects were built in 1955 by the New York Housing Authority. It was named after William L Marcy who was the 21st US secretary of state and the 11th governor of New York.

Marcy is a big campus of 28 residential buildings which are all 6 stories high, it has 1,714 residential units with 3,972 bedrooms ​(Steven Winter Associates, 2017).​It was part of the public housing program that Robert Moses brought into New York City and was built for affordable housing.

Marcy thus has always had many minoritized ethnic residents, being mostly from the black African American community. Like other public housing projects Marcy has always been one filled with drugs, violence, and gang activity this can be argued that is it the arrangement of the housing projects and its environment that created breeding grounds for crime and poverty. Crime and drug activity reached an all-time high when the crack epidemic hit NYC in the late 80‘s which saw cocaine taking the streets, breeding more gangs and violence on the streets of Marcy. Evidence for this is in the thesis written

by Zhou who mentions writes about how public housing and its physical design can breed crime and social problems. Critique of the public housing began in the 1950’s but the focus was never on the housing quality. But in the late 50’s factors such as the design standard decline, social isolation and the lack of security were mentioned (​Zhou, 2018)​.

Then during the 1960’s and 1970’s the crime rate became even worse and again the public housing projects were blamed because they showed clear signs of social disorder and had no maintenance. Something that Jane Jacobs’ spotted and critiqued writing that the highrise blocks fail to consider human scale which “causes all such evil to appear” ​(Zhou, 2018, p. 9)​.

Zhou also mentions how Newman in his book Defensible space compared two identical housing projects and found that the one with the bigger building height had the higher crime rate. Which he says that it is strong evidence of the physical design failure, Newman argues this is a result of the open space not being utilized properly which means the exercise of family territoriality could not happen which he believes is an important factor to keep crime levels down. Interestingly Zhou later writes that most early reports on public housing were flawed because it only focused on architectural failure rather than social, economic and political factors. Newmans reports overly emphasized building heights rather than looking at tenant policy, poverty and historical factors (​ Zhou, 2018, p. 11)​. Even Newman himself went against his initial thoughts on architecture and design after working with the NYCHA (New York City Housing Authority) and says that other

Figure 8: Collage of Marcy Projects (Greg Frankovich, G.F, 2020) & (Marlene Lenthang, M.L, 2020)

19 MARCY BACKGROUND

Zhou does this to say that the physical architecture such as the building height and the spatial arrangement can play a part in the breeding of social problems.

But Zhou is saying that the more important part to look at is the social aspect, tenant base, management and the maintenance of the building. Zhou feels like these play a more important part and are the most likely to breed crime and violence into public housing if overlooked. Zhou even uses the example of the Pruitt-Igoe public housing project which was very short lived that had a rapid decline post completion. This was due to the lack of funding and maintenance of the ventilation, design aspect, stairwells, corridors and recreation facilities. Meaning that the quality of life and social aspect were neglected, this allowed social disorder and poverty to creep in, this led to it becoming a dangerous neighborhood which led to its demolition ​(Zhou, 2018, p. 9)​. This is to say that public housing in New York City may end up facing the same fate since they are going down the same path of Pruitt Igoe if the NYCHA

continue to neglect the important factors such as the maintenance and the social aspects it could lead to even worse crime and social problems. So now when we look at figure nine we see the homicide rates in New York from the year 1986 to 1996, the top line shows the rates in public housing and the bottom line outside of public housing. It clearly shows that homicide rates in public housing is much higher in New York City the only time it comes close is in 1996 where it has a decline, but the highest point of homicide is in 1990 which is during the peak of the crack epidemic ​(Fagan, 2005)​. The rate was for every 100,000 more than 50 were due to homicide rates within public housing. So, when drugs are introduced in poor social environments such as public housing projects then it will spread like wildfire since they are “hotbeds of crime” (Zhou, 2018, as cited in Jacobs, 1992) as described by Jane Jacobs so naturally violence and homicide rates will increase.

Figure 9: Graph showing the homcide rates in NYC in and out of public housing (Fagan,2005)

20 MARCY & THE CRACK EPIDEMIC The crack epidemic ties in with all the themes of the dissertation, it played a part in housing projects, and the life of Jay Z to the point he even started getting involved selling drugs during the peak of the crack epidemic. He mentions this in his book ​(Jay-Z, 2010, p. 20)​“I stood on cold corners far from home in the middle of the night serving crack fiends.”

The crack epidemic is basically the introduction of the crack cocaine drug which is cocaine in solid form.

The use of cocaine in the US had been normal in the early 1800’s it was used an anti-depressant and used in beverages; it was only in the 1880’s that anti cocaine laws were put in place only allowed to have federal restricted cocaine provided by the government. It was later ruled that cocaine had no legitimate use and fully banned, so in the 1930’s it was used in an underground setting and was sold in the powder form ​(Osler, 2013)​. Then in the 1980’s a new wave of cocaine called crack started to surface, it mainly came from Colombia and made it to cities like Los Angeles and Miami. From there it spread throughout many different major cities, it spread through and affected poor neighbourhoods in urban areas ​(Watkins & Fullilove, 2001)​ . As mentioned previously crack cocaine is a solid form that is usually smoked, crack itself is very highly concentrated this means that it is very addictive because it gives the user a shorter but very intense ex-

perience compared to just cocaine. ships and have kids at a young age.

This how it spread throughout urban The eldest kid of Ricochet would say areas in the US, users were trying that there were times she was not to keep chasing that intense high​ fed for 2 days since all the money (American Addiction Centre, 2022)​. went to getting crack, even to the The relation the crack epidemic has point where Ricochet would put her to the built environment is that plac- kids (at the age of 14 and 12) up for es such as housing projects in New prostitution to get more money to York were the ones that were most get crack. Ricochet fell deeper into affected by the introduction of crack her addiction to the point where into the streets. Evidence to back her home and kids were taken away this is in Jay Z’s book ​(Jay-Z, 2010, from her and she primarily became p. 20)​he says “I lost people I loved, a crack working sex worker at the was betrayed by people I trusted.... height of the epidemic (​J Sociol Soc I saw crack addiction destroy famiWelf, 2006, p. 8)​. lies, it almost destroyed mine.” Jay Z noticed the change in the behavior The reason the crack epidemic of people that consumed crack and spread widely in the inner city of how it affected others around them. New York housing projects was because they were filled with social Another instance is the story of Ric- disorder, they were filled with povochet told in the research paper (​J erty and lacked maintenance and Sociol Soc Welf, 2006)​that looks at funding. As mentioned before Zhou the effects of the crack era in Af- and Jacobs explained how the social rican American families. They inter- aspect plays a more important role viewed the family to tell the story of than the actual psychical design. how Ricochet’s life was affected by They were breeding grounds for crack. To summarize the story, Ric- crime and social problems. It creochet was born in Brooklyn in 1961 ated crack markets where the peoin housing projects, and during her ple who were selling it were trying teens like many others she would to make quick profits to get out of get involved in drinking alcohol and the housing projects, and the people smoking cocaine. So, when crack who were consuming it were trying was introduced into the streets in to get it by any means to support the late 80’s she would try it and be- their habit. This caused behaviours come addicted. Ricochet would fall such as violence, increased prostiinto a cycle of spending all her mon- tution, abuse, child neglect and the ey on acquiring crack and smoking it, breaking up of families to increase to the point when she had no money, in housing projects (J Sociol Soc she would turn into prostitution to Welf, 2006, as cited in, Johnson, Golget money to buy crack. Ricochet ub & Dunlap, 2000). would get involved in many relation-

Figure 10: People of New York protesting against the Title 1 Project (Alonso,2018)

21 TITLE 1 PROJECT - PUBLIC HOUSING Now another thing to mention is the Title 1 project introduced by Robert Moses which was a large slum clearance project that displaced mostly African Americans.

Most public housing such as Marcy were built to combat the major displacement that the title 1 housing projects caused. This was because the redevelopment of these slum areas meant that the slum residents could not afford the new prices of these housing developments since the rent increased greatly, which caused them to move elsewhere. So, Moses suggested building low-income housing for the large number of people that had been displaced by his title 1 project in order to make up for the problem his new modernist housing developments caused. ​(Ballon & Jackson T, 2007, p. 102)​. As seen in figure 10 protestors took to the streets due to Robert Moses’ slum clearance the signs would read “Culture belongs at home“ and ”No home no culture!” people (especially within the black community) felt like Moses had no interest in the people and how his projects affected them. The article called Robert Moses and His Effects on New York (​Alonso, 2018)​talks about how Robert Moses only cared about the growth of a city as a whole and not the induvial neighborhoods. Moses did not care how his ideas displaced a lot of people. As such, he was criticized for his slum clearance and his arrangement of the high-rise buildings, the traditional, street-oriented grid style layout damaged the popu-

lation density and caused a lot of high public traffic in these areas. Furthermore, it created unhealthy living conditions by depriving people of” basic human needs: open space, light and air.” ​(Ballon & Jackson T, 2007, p. 96) The Title 1 project created the terrible conditions the residents of Marcy and Jay Z lived in, where they were constantly deprived of open space, and people of similar low-income were pushed together. It is no surprise that when the crack epidemic hit the US that housing projects like Marcy had high crime rates, it is due to Moses’ poor arrangement and organization of these public housing that created unhealthy living conditions. The public houses did not consider the residents occupying the space and lacked any social aspect, so this created breeding grounds for drugs and violence​ (Zhou, 2018)​. Therefore, people like Jane Jacobs strongly disagreed with Moses’ plans since they could see the long-term effects on the people. Jane Jacobs was one of the people who vocally went against the title 1 project, she strongly disagreed with Moses’ claims that slums were a “cancer” and that they needed to be demolished for growth to happen. Instead, Jacobs firmly believed in the preservation of these neighborhoods, she did not see them as slums and noted that these places are full of character and culture even though they had dilapidated buildings ​(Ballon & Jackson T, 2007)​.

22 JAY Z BACKGROUND Before the disseration makes the link between Marcy projects and Jay Z, there needs to be a little information on his background. Jay Z (Sean Carter) was born in Brooklyn, NY on December the 4th 1969, he grew up in the Marcy Housing Projects in Bed-stuy Brooklyn. Jay Z is the co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records, owns a major stake in Tidal which is a streaming platform, and his own luxury champagne company Ace of Spades (​Leena, 2021)​. Jay Z is often viewed as the face of Hip Hop being one of the biggest selling artists in rap, as well as for his role in investments and being a savvy businessman. He has become the epitome of the “American dream,” in that his life is the prime example of rags to riches and the fact that anyone can make it to the top despite their background ​(Yvonne Bynoe, 2006, p.

189)​. Jay Z was also inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame. He is part of only ten hip hop artists out of 365 inducted into the hall fame, showing just how recognizable and appreciated his work and contribution to hip hop and the music world is.

Given this context, Jay earliest memory of rapping came from a neighborhood kid called Slate; whom he saw him rapping “off the dome” rhyming for thirty minutes off the beat of handclaps. Jay talks about

how Slate was talking about how “clean” he was, and how he wore all the freshest clothes. This amazed a young Jay Z which inspired him to go home and start writing bars himself (​Jay-Z, 2010, p. 11)​. Jay Z talks about the arrival of crack as a total takeover of the hood, in his book decoded Jay Z says that it is was a new reality that was irreversible “Like losing your man to gunshots.

Or your father walking out the door for good” (​Jay-Z, 2010, p. 16)​. Now to most these are very extreme examples but to Jay Z and a lot of the black population in America this was the reality they had to face every day. These two are examples of what Jay Z had to endure, which is why he compares those two situations to describe an irreversible reality that the crack epidemic had brough to housing projects in New York City (NYC). ​ (Galea et al., 2002)​identified that between 1990 and 1998 in New York city there were 11,113 firearm deaths. From that 33.7% of the deaths were between the ages of fifteen and twenty-four which had the highest deaths between all age groups, 48.1% were of African American descent and 91.4% were male.

Out of all the boroughs Brooklyn had the highest number of firearm deaths with over 55.3% of the deaths having positive drug influence, the top 3 being cocaine, alcohol and

cannabis in that order. So, it is clear to see that the kids of Marcy could’ve easily been part of this statistic, this is what Jay was seeing every day on the Marcy streets growing up, he too could’ve been part of this statistic.

All the information provided is relatable to the dissertation because it gives an insight into who Jay Z is, this will help understand why he has said some of lyrics in his songs, since this dissertation will be analyzing the lyrics of artists and relating them to the built environment.

The background research highlights what shapes Jay Z’s lyrics in most of his songs where he consistently talks about the violence in the streets of Marcy, and he had to sell dope to get money because he felt like it was his only option of getting out. Eary in his career you will see the violent metaphors shown in later sections of the dissertation to describe his difficult upbringing. But as you go through his discography you see Jay credit his upbringing to him becoming a legal businessman and, everything he learnt from his illegal business he applied. This is why research on Marcy, the crack epidemic and Jay Z’s upbringing was important to highlight, because it gives an understanding of how these different historical factors shape how Jay Z spoke in his music

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“WHERE I’M FROM,MARCY SON” “AND LIFE EXPENTANCY SO LOW WE MAKING OUT WILLS AT 18” “WHERE THE PLAN WAS TO GET FUNDS AND SKATE OFF THE SET” JAY Z, WHERE I’M FROM, IN MY LIFETIME VOL.1, 1997 (GENIUS, 1997)

ANALYSIS OF JAY Z’S LYRICS & HOW IT RELATES TO MARCY

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The track Where I’m from ​ (Genius, 1997)​from his album in my lifetime Vol. 1, gives the listeners a descriptive insight to living in New York City and especially Marcy projects using literal and metaphorical lyrics. The chorus of the track repeats the bars “Where I’m from, Marcy Son, aint nothing nice”​ (Genius, 1997)​ this has been placed at the chorus, which is the heart of the song, to show the importance of how Marcy has a rough environment . Jay backs this up with saying that “And life expectancy so low we making out wills at 18” ​(Genius, 1997)​this is due to the amount of young kids Jay Z has seen die from the hands of Marcy as an area whether it be crime or drug related.

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many young residents turn to drug dealing. This was especially the case during the height of the crack epidemic because the demand for it was so high so many dealers could make a lot of money.

However, most dealers also fell into addiction and used their profits to acquire the crack for themselves not having saved anything (​ J Sociol Soc Welf, 2006)​.

This created a crab effect of dealers and crack addicts in the housing projects.

This speaks volumes of how these housing projects such as Marcy do not have the best quality of life, to the point where people would risk their own freedom just to be able to get the money quick enough to leave. This theme of drugs and violence is a reoccurring theme in Evidence provided by (​Galea et al., 2002)​ his first four albums from 1996 to 1999 as shows that the age group of 15-24 had the forefront message, detailing stories the highest deaths relating to firearms and the ins and outs of the selling drugs and homicide in New York City. Another that he learnt growing up. Jay Z feels like interesting lyric is that Jay gives an in- this is the best way to portray Marcy besight to his mentality as a young person cause it is all he knows; he is a product living in Marcy saying, “Where the plan of the environment that he grew up in. was to get funds and skate off the set”​ (Genius, 1997)​“skate of set” is slang for quickly leaving a place. Meaning that there is no long-term plan of staying in Marcy, the main goal is to get out of the area as soon as possible which is why

Figure 11: Graphic of Jay Z posing for a photoshoot (Crate 808, 2020)

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Figure 12: Photograph of a Prison Cell in Rikers Island NY (Walters, J , 2017)​

As explained, Robert Moses demolished large slum areas and built these high-rise towers which created dense living conditions for residents. An idea Jane Jacobs was very much against, who said these slum areas and old buildings should be preserved. Now when we look at the spatial arrangement and aesthetic of Marcy itself it is very similar to prison block arrangements, the rooms of Marcy itself are very small exactly like prison cells. The public spaces can be seen as prison yards where the residents from each block come together. This is important to note because studies show that violence in prisons is linked to quality of the environment. The research journal (​Ellis et al., 1974)​mentions that it is possible to determine the behaviour of inmates by just looking at the prison and its environment. It highlights that men (inmates) are brutalized by their environment and not the other round, so the act of violence is simply a form of adaptation to that environment (​Ellis et al., 1974, p. 35)​. Furthermore, research found that more inmate-on-inmate violence happens in smaller, denser prison facilities and the rates in larger spaced-out facilities were lower ​(Wolff et al., 2007)​. A prime example of this is how Swedish prison facilities are run they follow a more organic style rather than a militaristic which better describes US prison facilities.

They focus on the overall quality of environment for the inmates so that they can be rehabilitated, which is their aim. ​(Lindstrom & Leijonram, n.d.)​. This is why Swedish prisons cells are larger than normal cells and they have facilities such tv’s for entertainment, also

Figure 13: Inside a typical Swedish Prison Cell (Insider. 2020)​

there are no armed guards present. Swedish prisons inmates have a 25% lower risk of reconviction over a 3-year period of release, compared to U.S which has a rate of over 50% for reconviction within 3 years of their release ​(Berman H. Anne, 2004)​​(Benecchi, 2021)​.

No wonder Jay Z always uses violence to describe Marcy, he constantly talks about getting out of the area he feels like his freedom comes from when he leaves Marcy and that is his way of escaping the prison that Marcy is. A YouTube video (​Welcome to Marcy Houses Projects in Brooklyn | NYC Hoods, 2021)​by a channel called Hood Vlogs gives a modern-day tour of Marcy by the residents that live there. The residents in the video talk about famous people that live in Marcy, Jay Z being one of them.

The topic of violence, drugs and crime in the area stays consistent throughout the whole video. Residents give their stories about people they knew and even close friends that lost their lives to either gang activity, crime, or drugs, this is the melting pot that Jay Z grew up in. The people giving the tour describe Marcy as a prison. They talk about how the police do regular patrols of the area and check inside the blocks. This can be reflective of how wardens and police officers constantly patrol the prison cells to make sure the prisoners are behaving, the people of Marcy in this case can be seen as prisoners.

25 They also mention how there are a lot of cameras around, not just Marcy but most Housing projects in NYC. This represents another feature of prisons, where cameras are constantly monitored to watch over the prisoners.

This all shows that the quality of life in Marcy is not the best. This is due to the high crime rates, now violent crimes such as murder, rape and assault had decreased by 44% from the late 90’s to early 2000’s but remains to be a problem. Bedford-Stuyvesant (the neighbourhood that Marcy resides in) accounted for 7% of all shooting in the city of New York in 2016. Police stations in Bedford-Stuyvesant had an 11% in crime in housing development properties ​(di Napoli & Bleiwas, 2017)​. This is why housing projects are heavily monitored by cameras and police. The report ​(di Napoli & Bleiwas, 2017, p. 5)​also mentions poverty in Bedford-Stuyvesant, and how a third of all households are not devoting more than half of their incomes to rent. It also mentions how NYCHA facilities are in disrepair meaning it is in poor condition and neglected. This links to the importance of the social aspect of these urban neighbourhoods mentioned before, and if neglected can breed crime, poverty and social issues.

The video is very interesting because to some degree it is a critique of the actual building, its genius loci and the spatial arrangements. The residents are critiquing Marcy demanding what needs to be changed because they want it to be a usable and liveable space. When they show the inside of Marcy you see that the interior is very dilapidated, there is a lot of mold and rust in the corners of the rooms, and most of the doors have been damaged and not replaced in a long time. The conditions of the place have not been maintained. In terms of entry of the housing blocks they mention that there is only one way in and one way out of the housing blocks, they complain and say they always must be on the lookout for police and rival opponents (known in slang as Opps) because they can be trapped in the blocks since its only one entry and exit. This is potentially dangerous, as it can cause altercations between people of different sides and oppositions especially with the high crime rates. One thing the hood vlog has in common with the music of Jay Z is it gives a personal and true insight into Marcy by telling all the stories and the connections with the project itself and the effects of how the violence and drugs have impacted them as well as how their critique of the housing projects has a historical impact into the life of the housing projects in New York in general.

Figure 14: Layout Plan of Marcy Projects (NYCHA, 2021)​

One main takeaway from all this of the housing project when it was is that the plan for building most built and after its completion. The low-income public housing such as report by ​(C.D.P, 2011)​looks at the Marcy was never built with the in- current condition of NYCHA buildings tention of the residents in mind. The and the way it does this is by giving only reason Moses built them was out report cards for residents to fill to deal with the displacement issue by giving a grade. The report card that his original Title 1 project had has sections such as management, caused. According to ​(Alonso, 2018)​ repairs, maintenance and crime and less than 15% of people who were residents will give a grade for those displaced stayed in public housing, main sections and subsections that showing that the solution that Mo- come under that. For the grading ses had provided did not work and system a Pass is an A, B or C and that there was no care and thought a Fail is a D or F, the report not only into the planning and the designing shows the results but gives recomfor low-income public housing. It mendations on how to tackle issues was a quick fix by Moses since his within the sections. As we can see hand was forced by protestors and in Figure 12 and 13 the overall evalupeople like Jane Jacobs who went ation of the report card shows that against his ideas, so when large there is a serious public housing crinumber of people were displaced sis, the highest grade was a C, and and complaining to the authori- the lowest grade was a D+ (​C.D.P, ties, Moses had to come up with 2011)​ . Residents felt like maintesomething quickly since most of nance and criminalization were the the displacement was his doing. main two issues in public housing The irony is that the Title 1 project since they both received the lowest was creating even more slum areas, grade being a D+. Residents have because those that had been dis- highlighted that they keep reporting placed moved to these areas since about the elevators constantly being they could not afford the rent in the broken, with 44% of the respondents new houses ​(Alonso, 2018; Ballon & have said that elevators have broJackson T, 2007)​. This is why peo- ken on a weekly basis. Other issues ple protested the original idea of consist of broken intercoms, cleanlithe slum clearance because they ness of the public spaces not being knew the long-term effects, and kept and pest/rodent infestations this is proven by how public hous- all these scored between a D and C-. ing in New York City had the highest The pest/rodent infestation had the murder rates in the country during highest failure percentage in the the crack epidemic in the 1980’s. whole report card with 67.3% showing this is the biggest issue in public We see the long-term effects of the housing. Recommendations given by poor maintenance and organization the report are to hire more mainte-

nance staff, issue annual building checks and to provide funds for pest extermination and prevention measures. In terms of criminalization, the main issue with residents is that they were stopped unjustly and felt like police were abusing their power rather than protecting public housing residents. One in three respondents have either been stopped themselves or had family members get stopped by police in their own building ​(C.D.P, 2011, p. 5)​ The main conclusion is that the results of the report card are a visualization of the voices of residents in public housing. It shows that the public housing system is something that needs serious change because the grades given by residents are not good, they feel like they are not living in a place that is livable and there is no quality environment. The main themes are that public spaces were crumbling, repairs either never happened or took too long and there was a hostile environment due to the police failing to provide safety and security. This not only links to how Marcy residents were describing the housing project in the YouTube video, the lyrics of Jay Z in how he describes Marcy, but also the importance of the social order and maintenance describes by ​(Zhou, 2018)​ that can breed crime is neglected.

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Figure 15: NYCHA Citywide Report Card (C.D.P, 2011)

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Figure 16: Criminalization Section (C.D.P, 2011)

Figure 17: Protest Banner (C.D.P, 2011)

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“I GOT BLOOD MONEY, STRAIGHT UP THUG MONEY THAT BROWN PAPER BAG MONEY UNDER YOUR MATRESS DRUG MONEY YOU GOT SHOW DOUGH, LITTLE TO NO DOUGH” JAY Z, IMAGINARY PLAYERS, IN MY LIFETIME VOL.1, 1997 (GENIUS, 1997)

“SEE I’M INFLUENCED BY THE GHETO YOU RUINED THE SAME DUDE YOU GAVE NOTHIN, I MADE SOMETHIN’ DOIN” “I HAD TO HUSTLE, MY BACK TO THE WALL, ASHY KNUCKLES POCKETS FILLED WITH A LOTTA LINT, NOT A CENT GOTTA VENT, LOTTA INNOCENT LIVES LOST ON THE PROJECT BENCH” JAY Z, RENEGADE, THE BLUEPRINT, 2001 (GENIUS, 2001)

Now when looking at the upbringing of Jay Z you see the very results of Moses’ actions, you see the connection that is formed between the public housing and his music. As previously noted hip hop music is a form of self-expression, in which Jay Z this medium expressed through his lyrics. Although the message is mostly drugs and violence this is all Jay had known growing up it is what he saw everyday going in and out of Marcy projects. Scholar Robin D.G Kelley 2004 calls gangster rap “the lesson of lived experiences” even though people complain about hip hop having vulgar, violent lyrics that glamorize a certain lifestyle. Kelley says that it reflects and projects the issues in the black community of what they have lived through.

Most of their lyrics are autobiographical tales and are verbal pieces of literature that give people who listen an insight into their life and how the government and police have constantly gone against them ​(Anth Neal, 2004, p. 375)​.

Figure 18: Graphic of Jay Z Performing at the Apollo Theatre (KMazur, 2020)

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“WHETHER WE DRIBBLE OUT THIS MOTHERF**KER RAP METAPHORS AND RIDDLE OUT THIS MOTHERF**KER SOME HOW WE GOTTA GET UP OUT THIS MOTHERF**KER SOME DAY COPS’LL KILL A MUH’F**KER I DONT ALWAYS WANNA BE THIS DRUG DEALING MUH’F**KER JAYZ, SOME HOW SOME WAY, THE BLUEPRINT 2, 2002

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(GENIUS, 2002)

These are some of the lyrics of Jay Z that on the base level may seem that he is glorifying the use of drugs and violence, but Jay Z is just being transparent about his life. As a representative of the average resident of Marcy he too was trying to escape the shackles of living in an environment like Marcy provides. Most black children in the 80’s did not have much of a choice since they did not do well academically, they had the second highest dropout rate with Hispanics being the highest.

The high school dropout rate in the 1980’s was 19.1% and it was 20.8% for black males​

(Digest of Education Statistics, 2017, 2017)​.

So, for Jay Z to make it out the hood it was either he became a rapper, be an athlete or sell drugs, which was seen as the path for many black children in the 1980’s if they did not make it through the academic route, to get out of the projects. Jay Z felt like he had to make It out of Marcy because he felt that if he stayed, he would just be another statistic to either gang violence or police brutality. He reflects on how he does not even want to sell drugs, but he must because he is left with no other option if he wants to leave Marcy.

This all links back to Moses’ poor arrangement and plans for the low-income housing projects such as Marcy, his neglect of the displaced black African American community created unhealthy living conditions which had a roll-on effect to create the very drug filled environment of Marcy in Jay Z’s childhood and present day.

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19: Ja yZa

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30 All the things mentioned fall into line with Michael Ford’s term of “Hip-hop architecture” he has been travelling around the world to talk about how he sees the link between architecture and hip hop, him being both a qualified architect and a fan of hip hop. In his Ted Talk Ford said that hip hop became a form of architectural criticism, and it was a voice for the voiceless that said modern architecture had failed them ​(TEDX Talks, 2017)​. This is why Ford jokingly calls Le Corbusier the” godfather” of hip hop because it was his very modernist ideals of the towers in the park concept from his book City of Tomorrow that were implemented

by Moses. Ford also mentions that the fact that Moses implemented this in a manner of no organization, he did not include the amenities that Corbusier included with his concept, which made the city very dense and caused movement issues. Nevertheless, hip hop was still born in these high brick towers build by Moses and inspired by Le Corbusier (​Ryan, 2018)​ . Ford says that his notion of hip hop architecture brings design accountability because most lyrics of hip

hop is filled with counterpoints to the environment that they grew up in ​(Hip Hop As Architectural Criticism - Design Exchange, 2018)​.This links with the lyrics of Jay Z his discography is filled with counterpoints to how environments like Marcy were designed. His lyrics are like a post –occupancy report that points out and shows all the issues with poor design of neighborhoods which essentially criticize the architecture of the housing projects. As previously mentioned, Atlanta rapper T.I. has said that hip hop has always been a reflection of the environment so if you change the environment then maybe hip hop will not have such a negative message (​Penrose, 2016)​.

to show others what life really is like by detailing his own, as mentioned before the base massage to some might be drugs, gangs and violence but the underlying message is that underprivileged communities such as Marcy need help. Jay Z is saying that he and many other kids in the neighborhood go down this exact same path of drug dealing and gang violence. Relating to the point made before that most residents in Marcy do not have long-term plans to stay, they just need to get the money to move somewhere else that has a better environment. Analysing his lyrics, we see that he feels isolated and trapped by his circumstances and his environment, it’s as if his community has just been left So, the main reason for Jay Z’s mu- stranded with no help, no matter sic having a heavy emphasis on how much they protest and cry for drugs and violence is to show how help nothing is being done. Ford architecture not only failed him but saw this and made the connection his community. His lyrics bring ac- between the two he saw deeper countability to Moses and the New into the lyrics of hip hop artists; he York City housing authority who treated their lyrics as a cry for help. have not done anything to change the situation created by Robert Moses. Jay’s whole discography is him putting his community on a platform

“HIP HOP ARCHITECTURE” Figure 20: Collage of Michael Ford and Public Housing Buildings (George, R 2018)

31 “I’M FROM MARCY HOUSES, WHERE BOYS DIE BY THE THOUSAND “MARCY ME STREETS IS MY ARTERY, THE VEIN OF MY EXISTENCE” “OH MARCY, MARCY ME JUST THE WAY I AM ALWAYS GONNA BE I AIN’T GONNA CHANGE, NO” JAY Z, MARCY ME, 4:44, 2017 (GENIUS, 2017) He realized how underprivileged communities such as Marcy were affected by careless planning, policies and design that went into the first public housing projects, they were recipes for failure and still nothing has been done to change or improve these communities (​Hip Hop As Architectural Criticism - Design Exchange, 2018)​. This is why Jay Z even later in his discography he still mentions Marcy which he did in his 4:44 album in 2017. At this point Jay Z is very successful and moved out of Marcy a very long time ago yet he still mentions the housing project and continues to critique Robert Moses

and how Marcy still has not changed and is filled with drug and violence.

This shows that even in the timeline where Jay was born and has grown up into an adult, Marcy is still facing the same issues from when he was a child and probably even before him. Nothing has changed so Jay Z continues to shed light with his music on the issue of neighborhoods like Marcy so that more people know about this injustice.

JAY-Z Figure 21: Picture of Jay Z at a concert (PictureGroup, 2019)

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CHANGES So, Jay Z has used his whole musical career to give an underlying message of how every kid in Marcy is either turning to drugs and violence due to the poor plans and policies of the housing projects in New York City. He has critiqued and shed light into the situation begging for change, so this section will analyze any changes that have been made to Marcy since it being built to present day 2022. There has been little change to Marcy projects since being built, one main thing is that gun violence, domestic abuse and lawlessness has become even more prominent in the area. Crime continues to grow in New York City meaning there will be more kids in Marcy like Jay Z that get introduced into a life of crime and drugs at a young age.

In 2018 the New York housing authority are deciding to gradually transform Marcy into a market level housing scheme. This means that they will turn away from a waiting list for residents and turn to an open market meaning that more middle to upper class families will fill these places ​(New York Series: Jay-Z “Where I’m From” - NYS Music, 2018)​. This is encouraging gentrification to happen in Marcy; however, this is nothing new because gentri-

TO MARCY

fication has been happening around the area of Bedford Stuyvesant. The census in 2000 shows there was more than 75% of black people living in Bedford Stuyvesant but in 2018 the area changed to a mix of 25%50% and 50%-75% (​ Chronopoulos, n.d.)​. It had a 36.1% increase in the average rent from 1990 to 2010-2014, so what this means is that when more middle-class people move into low-income areas it begins to drive up the average rent prices meaning that the low-income families that lived there before could not afford to pay rent prices, so they are forced to move elsewhere.

So as more and more middle class move into the area and drive out the low-income families the area now becomes middle class thus being gentrified ​(Hairston, 2018)​. Like how Robert Moses demolished the slums and built a modernist housing project which the slum residents could not afford the new rent prices. This just shows that the housing authority would rather drive out the low-income families from the area and encourage the middle class to move in to deal with the issue of crime in housing project communities. The only positive change made to Marcy projects is that it was changed from

a Pre-RAD to a RAD building which means that inspection will happen every 2 years to make sure federal quality standards are met and major renovations happen every 2 years if needed. Also rent is set at 30% of income and the owners change to public/private entities with most of the capital coming from private investors and lenders​ (WEB, 2021, p. 79)​. This is one of the only positive changes since it will directly address issues with the quality of living in Marcy which links to the point before of keeping up with maintenance to improve the social environment of the public housing.

Now looking at the alumni of Marcy projects Jay Z, this section will cover what he himself has done for the community in which he came from.

He mentions in his lyrics his plans of giving back to the projects that made him into the rap mogul he is now, he feels like it is important part of freedom to be able to own his neighbourhood and make the changes that the NYCHA failed to make when he was a kid growing up.

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“I TOLD HIM PLEASE DON’T DIE OVER THE NEIGHBOURHOOD” THAT YOUR MAMA RENTIN’ TAKE YOUR DRUG MONEY AND BUY THE NEIGHBOURHOOD THAT’S HOW YOU RINSE IT” JAY Z, THE STORY OF OJ, 4:44, 2017 (GENIUS, 2017)

“TILL YOU OWN YOUR OWN YOU CAN’T BE FREE” DJ KHALED FT JAY Z, I GOT THE KEYS, MAJOR KEY, 2016 (GENIUS, 2016)

In terms of Jay Z himself giving back to the community he came from; he has opened his own foundation (Shawn Carter Foundation) and has given out scholarships for the kids of Marcy. He has also opened a Bitcoin school that aims to teach financial literacy for the Marcy residents. It is a free course that teaches people how to be aware of cryptocurrency and how to invest in it. However, this was met with skepticism with many residents saying that it does not help them in any way. Many of the residents do not have the money to invest everything they make goes into paying for rent, and groceries ​(Chan, 2022)​. One of the residents named

“

Nyashia Figueroa says that the bitcoin academy is very unhelpful and mentions how fixing quality of the housing project will be a much better way of helping. She feels that Jay Z has become out of touch with the neighborhood he grew up in and that the only time she has felt like he did something is during Christmas when he gives out free toys to all the kids ​(Chan, 2022)​. The main takeaway is that the residents feel like Jay is not doing enough for the community he has been mentioning in his lyrics. They feel they have been forgotten by both the NYCHA and by Jay himself, the very same person who lived within the same brick walls as the residents now.

Figure 22: Collage of Marcy Projects (Greg Frankovich, G.F, 2020) & (Marlene Lenthang, M.L, 2020)

CON CLUSION 34

In conclusion this dissertation shows how the housing projects in New York affected the artists growing up in them. In this case this dissertation looked at Jay Z’s lyrics about Marcy to form that connection between hiphop and architecture which is the main aim. The main takeaway is that hip hop is a is a critique of the architecture of housing projects. The use of violent lyrics and mentioning of drugs and crime is a direct reflection of the environment that they grew up in. This is why Jay Z always talked about selling drugs to get out of the Marcy since living there is not a long-term plan for anyone, most residents want to leave housing projects but just cannot afford it. Therefore, many residents were affected by the introduction of crack cocaine because the quality of life in housing projects were very low, and they were socially neglected. So many would indulge in the drugs during the crack epidemic, and when there was a demand for it many dealers would jump on this opportunity to gain profit and leave the projects.

Many of the youth would sell drugs because during the 1980’s most black children did not thrive academically so the only way of escaping places like Marcy was either through music, rapping or selling drugs, to become a rapper or athlete there would need to be some sort of talent which not many are born with so drugs would be the only option. Another takeaway would be how people like Jane Jacobs saw the demise of housing

projects from the moment they were built, this is because Moses’ neglected any social aspect when building these super-high buildings. And this is shown in the report card that grades how public housing is seen by its residents all aspects such as maintenance, repairs, and criminalization very low. This just shows how Moses’ housing project program did not have a long-term effect, it was implemented with poor organization and declined post-completion. The dissertation really shows the long-term effects of Moses’ short-term solutions and how his actions have affected the life of many that lived in the housing projects he poorly implemented.

The design thesis project will be set in Marcy projects as the site and the main aim will be to give something back to residents, for them to know they are not neglected. It will achieve what the NYCHA and Moses’ could never do for its people. The main findings in the dissertation will serve as the parameters during the designing process, it will take into account the social aspect to create a better quality of life for residents and restore the social damage. It will also pay homage to hip hop which was a voice for the people when they were voiceless, and the authorities and police tried to silence them.

By changing the environment of Marcy, it will mean more people will grow up in a positive environment.

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APPENDICIES JAY Z’S DISCOGRAPHY Reasonable Doubt, 1996, Roc-A-Fella Records In My Lifetime Vol. 1, 1997, Roc-A-Fella Records, Def Jam Records Vol. 2 Hard Knock Life, 1998, Roc-A-Fella Records, Def Jam Records Vol. 3 Life and Times of S.Carter, 1999, Roc-A-Fella Records, Def Jam Records The Dynasty: Roc La Familia, 2000, Roc-A-Fella Records, Def Jam Records The Blueprint, 2001, Roc-A-Fella Records, Def Jam Records The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse, 2002, Roc-A-Fella Records, Def Jam Records The Black Album, 2003, Roc-A-Fella Records, Def Jam Records Kingdom Come, 2006, Roc-A-Fella Records, Def Jam Records American Gangster, 2007, Roc-A-Fella Records, Def Jam Records The Blueprint 3, 2009, Roc Nation Manga Carta Holy Grail, 2013, Roc Nation, Roc-A-Fella Records 4:44, 2017, Roc Nation