Saturday, February 23, 2008

Coney on The Mic

Brooklyn is the home for cultural awareness
So in all fairness, you can never compare this
Some good, some bad. little hope for
the weak Dangerous streets and Coney Island Beach

- Gangstarr, 'The Place W here We Dwell'


As Brooklyn neighborhoods go, Coney Island does not have the biggest rap reputation. Bed Stuy gets mentioned on tracks a lot more than Coney Island, and the Marcy Houses get mentioned a lot more than Carey Gardens. Musically, Coney Island is often more associated with rockers like Lou Reed ("I'm a Coney Island baby, now"), or crooners like Neil Diamond.

Nonetheless, Coney Island does have a few MCs. One of these, who has been steadily making a name for himself and for Coney Island Hip Hop, is Torae Da Young Vet.

In a recent interview with
AllHipHop.com, Torae displays nothing but love for Coney Island:

Coney Island has always kind of been off on its own, kind of excluded from the rest of the borough. It's a nice little vibe out here, man. It's about a 25- 30 block radius, everybody knows each other, there's only 3 avenues, so, about 25 blocks everybody pretty much knows each other, knows what's going on. For the most part, it's a nice close knit community; of course it's like any other hood. We got our crimes and little problems amongst each other. But for the most part Coney Island it's all love out here. […]

Coney is more famous for the ball playing than the emceeing, but there are a few dudes that are out to change that…


Torae Da Young Veteran: Following The Calling [AllHipHop.com]


- post by Ben Nadler

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