JELLEESTONE

PURCHASE "THE HOOD IS HERE" CD NOW. GO TO HMV.COM



FRIENDAMINE feat. Nelly Furtado

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The Hood Is Here



Three decades into the rise of the rap game, one truth remains: Hip never would have hopped without the hood. From the streets of New York, where rap was born, to the stoops of all the worlds inner cities, hip hop is most at home in the places where people breathe and bleed the urban sagas painted by its lyrics. In Toronto, that means neighbourhoods like Rexdale or Doomstown, in hood-speak a concrete jungle populated by highrise towers, lowrise housing complexes and lowdown playas.



I been in the hood for over a quarter of a century, man, says Jelleestone, Rexdales favourite son. I am the hood, the hood is me. Theres no separation there.

Jellees hood story is actually a tale of two cities: Born in Toronto, he grew up splitting time between his mothers place in Rexdale and his fathers in the Bronx. The former was and is his heart; the latter provided his education. Hip hop was formally introduced to me in New York, the MC says. But once I understood the culture and everything it was about, I was like, Shit, we do this at home [in Rexdale]. The music was telling stories that I was living.