By KRISTEN TORRES
Homicide Watch Chicago
Academy and Grammy award-winning artist Common encourages Chicago’s youth to #PutTheGunsDown in a new video with other rappers. | Leo Burnett
A rising number of fatal shootings on the West and South sides has made Chicago almost synonymous with violence.Homicides have become almost commonplace, and have led to activists trying just about anything to get the city’s youth to put the guns down.
Some have blamed the problem, at least partly, on often-violent lyrics in rap songs, which sometimes glorify the violence. But one new effort is trying to turn that theory around.
“Gun violence is increasingly becoming a problem in the U.S.,” said Brian Shembeda, creative director at the Leo Burnett advertising agency. “We realized we needed to take small bites, and focus on our community first and foremost.”
In partnership with Chicago Ideas Week, the advertising giant has released a music video featuring local rap artists advocating non-violence.
"The most effective solution might be from those you'd least expect—Chicago’s hip hop and rap artists. Yes, those artists whose lyrics are often blamed for promoting or inciting violence," Burnett's Megan Berger said.
The Chicago Ideas initiative #PutTheGunsDown features real people affected by gun violence. | Leo Burnett
The new "Music Vs Gun Violence initiative brings together nine artists most relevant to youth on the streets," she said. "They encourage people to put the guns down in an interactive music video where people affected by gun violence can lend their voice, and their lyrics, to the cause."
The video can be viewed on the website musicvsgunviolence.com.
All participating artists, including Grammy and Academy award winners, wrote their own original verses and performed for the video without charge.
“It took us two years to complete the project because there are a million moving parts when it comes to music,” Shembeda said. “Every single aspect was donated time, including the agency. We would approach folks and explain the project, and we never got turned away.”
Shembeda and Chris Clark, director of music for Leo Burnett, teamed up with Twilite Tone, an executive producer who’s worked with artists including Pusha T and Kanye West to create the gritty beat they felt would best translate to their target audience.
“We knew the beat had to be respected on the streets if the song was going to have any impact,” Clark said. “It had to have the roughness and reality of what all bedroom producers in hip hop and rap create on their own.”
The video is shot in grey scale, opening with shots of the city before panning onto individual verses performed by Common, King Louie, Katie Got Bandz, Saba, Nick Jr., Tree, Mic Terror, Lil Herb and Noname Gypsy.
“When we first started working on the video we stepped back and really looked at the problem. We realized that over the course of time, music has been associated with various kinds of violence,” Shembeda said. “We started to figure if music has the ability to incite gun violence, theoretically it could stop it as well.”
Despite the growing efforts from community members to quell the spread of violence, whether campaigns like these actually work remains unknown.
Arthur Lurigio, faculty scholar and master researcher at Loyola University Chicago, is skeptical about efforts to end gun violence through methods with no previously measured results.
“The peer education model is effective,” Lurigio said. “Young men are more likely to listen to people who are like them–people they respect and admire. It’s a well-intended effort but I’m not convinced because of the limited interaction between at-risk youth and the video.”
Lurigio’s hesitance is not without reason. The city has experienced more than 2,300 shootings this year, more than New York and Los Angeles combined, according to Burnett. Though efforts are many, they may be proving futile.
Among the campaigns aimed at stopping the violence is Rahm Emanuel’s recently launched Get IN initiative. With a goal of $50 million in corporate pledges, the program aims to push funding into community youth activities. So far, Get IN has disbursed about $3.7 million in grants to youth programs, according to media reports.
Another anti-violence nonprofit, the Community Anti-Violence and Restoration Effort (CARE), has set the hefty goal of making Chicago the safest big city in America by 2020, according to the organization’s vision document.
The organization aims to end and prevent violence through community members and local programming. Using both the city and county governments, the non-profit is funded fully by grants and city dollars for violence reduction.
Young men that have gotten to the point of shooting have been through 10, 15, 20 years of traumatizing experiences,” Lurigio said. “Most of these youths are simply fearful.”
Despite the seemingly endless shootings and the perpetuation of street violence, individuals and organizations are trying to help with efforts such as the video. It may just a matter of getting people to listen.
For more information on the Chicago Ideas anti-violence efforts, visit the website.