Probably one of the darkest songs I’ve ever heard, “Kim” by Eminem gets a spot on the playlist. This may seem like a strange choice, but it comes directly from an incident that occurred once day during service learning. The harsh lyrics presented in “Kim” are directly referring to Eminem’s now ex-wife Kim Scott. The popular rap star sings about getting revenge on Kim Scott for cheating by killing her brutally. A little strange.. Well one day at Anna’s Arts for Kids, while proctoring the children during their coveted “Vevo Time” as I like to call it, a student asked me to listen to the song they were listening to. Sure enough, it was “Kim”. I didn’t know how to respond thinking about the first time I had heard the song, probably his age, and the scary reality it brought to me. It was different for this student in particular because he loved the song. Now did he love the song for the beat or the message, I don’t know. What I do know is that it made me think extra hard about the violence and crime in New Orleans and how some music that is filled with violent images could be contributing to the scary trend in New Orleans. Because one of the main goals of Anna’s Arts for Kids is to eventual end street violence in New Orleans, the song came as a bit of a shock to me.
I also have an experience with the kids' music at Anna's Arts. One day, a couple of the kids were singing some of their favorite rap songs, and the songs were nice enough at first, until this little girl starts going, "I got that good kush!" I was so quick to be like, "Don't say that! That's a very bad thing to say!" and correct her and tell her that's not the type of music she should listen to.
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