In the great tradition of hip hop,
Chicken Noodle Soup combines the lyrical and rhythmic power of insightful poetry with profound social commentary reflecting the societal, economic and educational realities of Harlem and other communities like it.
The
chicken noodle soup symbolizes a cheap meal and speaks to the economic distress of the community while “the soda on the side” represents the allure of unhealthy “feel good” sugar foods and calories highlighting directly poor nutrition and the need for instant gratification indirectly (by contrast most families with greater education would serve milk or water with the soup).
It has been argued that the rain can mean almost anything metaphorically, but that the depth of the metaphor is that it is a recurring maladaptive behavior repeated over and over by members of the community. “
Let it rain, then clear it out. Let it rain, then clear it out.” No effort is made to stop the rain from coming in. It’s allowed and then “cleared out” in
perpetuity.
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