Usually when you hear “hip-hop song about” and then something related to the environment or sustainability, you start cringing in advance, expecting dad-rap or puppets or, worse, Grist editors. Obviously there are exceptions — I love these kids — but let’s just say it’s not a genre that’s overburdened with quality. This song about urban farming by Keith Cross, though, is pretty dang catchy, in addition to having a nuanced message about self-sufficiency:
Sample lyrics:
One seed and I get a tree or a whole vine
Bearin’ tens, even hundreds of fruit at one time.
So while the dollar bill steady losin’ its strength,
I got enough food to feed ten families on my fence,
Enough melons to make farmers out of felons,
Turn gangstas into gardeners
‘Cause now they smart enough to keep this system from starvin’ us.
It’s a nice twist on the “home grown” concept, and it’ll be stuck in your head for the rest of the day.