With the change of time and culture, the music and arts, especially hip-hop, befit themselves as the catalysts for the transgressions and troubles of the life and times that people encounter on a day-to-day basis. More than a form of expression, hip-hop carries a life and soul of its own in the countless stories it tells. For one rapper, it was that and much more. September 29, 1985, marked the birth of a seed that would sprout within the social bounds of scarcity and domestic neglect—George Abourjeili, a.k.a Boston George, or simply put, Boston—with no more a father figure than the disc that spun in his walkman could offer. Carrying with dear life the aspiration to achieve renown in the hip-hop world, Boston pushed forward to make his dream a reality. With his unremitting diligence and dedication, Boston has begun to gain recognition, at least from a local level, through a talent that cannot be denied, not superficiality.
Boston’s mother and father were both born and lived in Lebanon. In the mid 80’s, caught in the cross-fire between an all out civil war, they fled to L.A. California with hardly enough money to get by. Escaping the brink of war was not enough to escape debauchery of violence, however; Boston’s father was a guerilla fighter in the war for several years during the Lebanese 20 years war. Moreover, his father would be the mentality of guerilla aggression to the household. Boston’s childhood would be characterized by incessant violence and domestic abuse. Finally in 1999, Boston’s father would have evaded the country due to legal problems.
The echoes of aggression and emptiness, however, would carry over to Boston’s thoughts; and more resoundingly, his rhymes. The only remedy that Boston could find in the desolation of a broken home was the sweet melody and rhythm of hip-hop tunes. Music was the only way in which he could escape the daily mart of strife and depravity to some extent of peace of mind. Nevertheless, the economic situation of the family could not be evaded. Struggling to make ends meet, Boston family life with his mother consisted of anything but family life. Hip-hop would befit the position of the father that Boston so wistfully yearned. Spending his nights and days, even in school, listening to rap and writing poetry to evade the stark reality of life, Boston honed his skills and endeavored to escape the abyss wherein misfortune had put him.
Arduously enduring the physical violence of childhood and a socioeconomic status just short of impoverishment, Boston would get in an accident that would nearly take his life. On September 1, 1997, during a basketball game, a loosely bound wall of heavy concrete stones collapsed on Boston’s body, nearly putting him in a state of paralysis or death. For the next year, hip-hop and poetry would be the only nurse that would revive him from the brink of death, both physical and emotional. It was in this period of time that Boston would become serious about ensuing the noble craft of a hip-hop emcee. Life after the accident would never be the same again.
During class, Boston would preoccupy himself with poetry and lyrics. One of his poems, The Man Who Never Was, was even published in a national seller on November of 2003. Skipping class, he engaged in freestyle battles and local performances, making a name for himself on a local level. His witty flows and brilliant rhymes would be labeled “better than crack” (or blow). Hence, comes the name Boston George, after the motion picture Blow, where George, played by Johnny Depp, from Boston, would pursue the career of a large-scale drug dealer—i.e., pushing blow. Similarly, Boston George would endeavor to push his better-than-crack rhymes like blow. Art and music manifested into a way of life, and Boston’s mission would be to enhance words from their mere weakness to an unrivaled potency—from words to blow
Hip-hop grew more than just an infatuation or interest in poetry. It is the life and soul of Boston George. It was the only thing that tenaciously catered to him in times of neglect, misfortune, or even physical disability. It is that soul that we find in Boston’s rhymes. Through continuous diligence, Boston has moved on to a position of local repute, establishing an independent record label and entourage of skilled and diligent proponents of his enterprise. Unshaken by the prospect of failure, Boston continues to make a name for himself in the state of California. Time is money, and Boston is out to get both and waste none.
