Growing up 'gangsta': Surviving life on the streets of Chicago's violent South Side that rapper Chief Keef calls home

By Daily Mail Reporter

Published: 11:19 EST, 14 January 2014 | Updated: 13:43 EST, 14 January 2014

With its high murder rate, crushing poverty and gun crime, Chicago's South Side is a notoriously hard neighborhood to grow up in.

Youngsters who live in the same streets that produced rappers such as Chief Keef, King Louie and Fredo Santana face violence every day.

The day-to-day existence of their tough lives have been documented by New York photographer Daniel Shea, who spent a month in South Side earlier this year.

Roots: Chief Keef, pictured backstage at a show in Cicero, grew up in Chicago's South Side

Roots: Chief Keef, pictured backstage at a show in Cicero, grew up in Chicago's South Side

Gang culture: Students from Harper High School show clique signs

Gang culture: Students from Harper High School show clique signs

Harsh: Those living in the South Side, at places such as Marshall Field Garden Apartments, above, face higher rates of poverty and violence

Harsh: Those living in the South Side, at places such as Marshall Field Garden Apartments, above, face higher rates of poverty and violence

From members of the Blockheadz to the memorial for a six-month-old baby who was murdered, Shea's photos reveal the harsh reality faced by those living in the neighborhood's apartments.

Among those he photographed was Leon Cunningham, a 19-year-old shot on four occasions, all just outside his home, and Alvin Henry, a city employee who opens his home to teenagers to keep them off the street.

Shea first visited the notorious area, that helped pushed Chicago's murder rate higher than New York City's in 2012, with 18-year-old Keef, Feature Shoot reported.

He returned to trace the roots of the young rapper and others like him, as 'a way to pull back the curtains a little bit and examine the mythology that exists in hip-hop ... a way to understand where this hyperbolic stuff in the lyrics is actually coming from'.

Connection: Rapper Fredo Santana, who is signed to Keef's Glory Boyz label, is also from the South Side

Connection: Rapper Fredo Santana, who is signed to Keef's Glory Boyz label, is also from the South Side

Crime: Police surveillance cameras on a street in the neighborhood, where gun violence is high

Crime: Police surveillance cameras on a street in the neighborhood, where gun violence is high

Risk: Leon Cunningham recovers at Kindred Hospital after being shot for the fourth time. Each shooting has happened near the 19-year-old's home

Risk: Leon Cunningham recovers at Kindred Hospital after being shot for the fourth time. Each shooting has happened near the 19-year-old's home

Security: Razor wire tops fences around Marshall Field Garden Apartments

Security: Razor wire tops fences around Marshall Field Garden Apartments

Tragic: Discarded ribbons in Gordon Harsh Park, where Hadiya Pendleton, 15, was killed in crossfire

Tragic: Discarded ribbons in Gordon Harsh Park, where Hadiya Pendleton, 15, was killed in crossfire

Home turf: King Louie is pictured with friends in downtown Chicago

Home turf: King Louie is pictured with friends in downtown Chicago

Tough: Groups of teenagers gather outside New Block City

Tough: Groups of teenagers gather outside New Block City

Hope: Alvin Henry opens his Englewood home to teenagers to try to keep them safe and off the street

Hope: Alvin Henry opens his Englewood home to teenagers to try to keep them safe and off the street

Muse: The YouTube video for BloodMoney. Many rappers are influenced by their experiences in the South Side

Muse: The YouTube video for BloodMoney. Many rappers are influenced by their experiences in the South Side

On the edge: A view of downtown Chicago from Cabrini Green in the South Side

On the edge: A view of downtown Chicago from Cabrini Green in the South Side

Home: The South Side house of rapper King Louie

Home: The South Side house of rapper King Louie

Gangs: A member of the Blockheadz stands outside New Block City

Gangs: A member of the Blockheadz stands outside New Block City

Background: Rapper Chief Keef grew up on the tough streets of Chicago's South Side

Background: Rapper Chief Keef grew up on the tough streets of Chicago's South Side

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