Metaphorical Conceptions in Hip-Hop Music

On my block, it's like the world don't exist. We stay confined to this small little section with dividends," proclaims hip-hop artist Scarface in his composition "On My Block." From the perspective of the artist, then, his neighborhood, figured adequately as a block, takes on the qualities of a corporeal, three-dimensional square: one both confining and small. The impression of the artist, voiced through metaphor, allows the careful listener to envision an insider's representation of an urban, African American neighborhood. Whether the neighborhood as a block is meant to resemble a jail cell, a cramped, subdivided apartment, or even an auction block is unclear, but it is clear that Scarface pictures his neighborhood pejoratively. His block is not the same block of such phrases as "block parties" or "The New Kids on the Block." Rather, Scarface's metaphorical block contrasts with pleasant and safe metaphors; his connotes an arguably unique African American enclosure or confinement.