[dropcap]T[/dropcap]wo days ago L.A native Cody Macc released a visual to his song Western Ave Slaves from his Album Cozz & Effect. Cody Macc is proving to be a real MC. Staying true to the art form while giving us a true L.A vibe. His flow, along with his lyrical content definitely makes him stand out amongst many of the new age artist we see currently. Real recognizes real and Cody Macc is apart of the Dreamville family meaning he is endorsed by one of the realist in the game right now. He recently went on tour with Cole and was apart of Cole’s Dollar & A Dream Tour along with the Fiends, shouts out to Bas & Omen.
Cody Macc’s album Cozz & Effect is one that I bump regularly It is a honest reflection of L.A minus the gang-banging, selling dope, kill a nigga framework of mainstream marketed rap music. One of the songs that definitely stood out to me was the song Western Ave Slaves. Anybody from L.A who really lives in the eastside knows that Western Avenue is what Figueroa was in our parents day. “The Ho-stroll.” But no matter how much I “know this” aspect, it always seemed to me something out of a hood film. I knew it wasnt a movie however. I had family members and girls who I know personally who ended up not specifically on Western, but drawn into the life of cheap motels, older men and fast money.
I used to say jokingly to make light of this situation, well what are these girls supposed to do, starve? They too are living in these impoverished neighborhoods. But it is no laughing matter. These girls are coming from backgrounds that make them develop a certain type of mindset or behavior as a means of protection or survival. However no girl should have to use her body as a means of exchange or collateral.
This is something that I definitely wanted to touch on within my developments so to see another L.A native speak about these things within his platform and through his art definitely solidified the fact of the epidemic of this for me. The video was straight forward and it definitely put me back in L.A for a couple minutes with the shots and camera angles. After watching the video I definitely thought about my own aspirations and why this camera/film stuff is so important to me.
