Lyrics Analysis

Kyle Rapps obviously seems to be rapping about his childhood at school and how he, despite trying to get something out of school and college, still managed to get influenced and dragged into being supposedly a "gangster". The first line says "I'm not gangster, but I am gangster" - perhaps showing he doesn't want to be like the rest of the "gangsters" however he has no choice.  He then goes on to talk about how his friends are possibly fake and the line "I don’t got a slow brain but I get retarded" which could be telling the listener that he was told he was no good in school, however he was just actually never supported by everyone. This would have obviously meant he sorted to being a "gangster" and taking cocaine as he mentions.

The chorus says "First grade, second grade, third grade, fourth Bell rings walk out that door," which, in my interpretation, tells us that all of the children that go to school forget everything from school and completely change as soon as they "walk out that door". They seem to be thrown into a different and harmful community, where you have to fit in with the gangsters to be recognised and to make friends in the town he lives in. The song title "Hard Knock Children" which is mentioned in the chorus, tells me that he feels that children in his society have a hard life and have to resort to violence, drugs and all sorts of anti-social behavior because there is no support from anyone for them.
The second verse is Kyle Rapps talking about how many tests he took, and perhaps how they didnt help him at all. He then mentions "Mother f*cker teach fake fact at my third grade class" which tells me the education the children were receiving wasn't even very good, which meant that the children didn't feel that school was worth while and most will find it a chore. You can see that in this line he was angry at his teach, which shows that he wanted his education to be worthwhile, and wanted the school to teach him something right - perhaps to teach him not to mix with the people he was forced to make friends with.

Kyle then talks about him and his brother used to  "Fight, fight, fight" and this shows that even at home he did not feel loved or supported in his family, therefore decided to resort to the drugs and violence which made him supposedly a "gangster". The lines "what you know about smoking candy’s cigarettes without a light   Right in front of mama …move to Michigan to …   …everything I know now I learned" i feel are very important. Firstly he shows that obviously he was exposed to things like smoking from and early age as there reference to "candy cigarettes.  I think the rest of the line about his mum making them move is important as he says "everything I know now I learned" which tells us once he moved he realised that he was doing the wrong thing and wanted to perhaps to change. On the contrary it could mean that his mum left him and his family, and he learned that he had to change to bring his family back together.

Overall I think the song is very powerful and has a very clear message that young children at school have a hard time and need support and education to make sure they don't get influenced by "gangsters" in their community. It is obvious that he regrets his childhood and wants others to hear his music and lyrics and understand that there is more to life than being antisocial taking drugs and causing violence.

I think that we will be able to illustrate some of the lyrics in our music video, perhaps showing siblings arguing, young children pretending to smoke candy cigarettes or just showing the artists anger when rapping lines such as  "Mother f*cker teach fake fact at my third grade class" and "Right in front of mama …move to Michigan to …   …everything I know now I learned".