Why was Jay-Z able to escape from Marcy and not Nipsey Hussle? What did Jay-Z do right, and Nipsey do wrong? If the title of this blog doesn't make sense that's because you haven't read the book yet. When I first heard about the death of rapper Nipsey Hussle, the first thing that came to mind was author Leon Thomas. I met Leon Thomas during my third visit to the United States in the summer of 2018 at the African American Book Expo in Brooklyn, New York. I had purchased his second novel, The Escape Diary, for my book review. The topic of childhood sexual abuse caught my eye since my mother was a victim of it and still struggling with the trauma many years later. After writing a blog about The Escape Diary, I decided to purchase his first novel, ESCAPE FROM MARCY. His debut novel set in the Marcy projects in Brooklyn during the infamous crack epidemic that took New York City by storm during the late 1980's. Struggling to escape out of the "hood", the main character meets a aspiring hip-hop artist who brings new meaning to his life and the residence of the Marcy projects. Without giving away the plot of the novel and not have to create a spoiler alert, I will say that Nipsey's death clearly reflects the life of the rapper in Escape From Marcy. The two men was loved by the community. The two men's lives had a tragic ending. One phrase that I still remember from the novel is, "For most urban youths, a successful debut rap album can be a bridge out of the hood, but for a few, it is a road filled with jealousy, envy, and death."
Sky Watcher, Burj Khalifa Tower, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
