With the rumbling sound of cannons, streamers cascaded down, and the crowd around the plaza surged like the waves from a fountain. Colorful banners and hand flags rippled in wave after wave, ceaselessly billowing.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the opening of the Gotham Music Festival took place in Central Plaza. Before the official opening in the afternoon, a parade of floats left Central Plaza and processed along Central Street, passing through the East District and South District, where the most tourists gather. More than 70 floats, lined up end-to-end, performed continuously for 4 hours from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM.
The floats were divided into five themes: music and art, architecture and cities, humanities and history, sports and dance, life, and nature.
It goes without saying that the theme of music naturally aligned with the Gotham Music Festival, focusing on East Coast rap.
In the '90s, East Coast rap was in a slump, caught in a struggle between artistic exploration and commercialization. Although there was no shortage of godfather figures like Puff Daddy who never gave up and kept discovering new talent, to this day, most rap enthusiasts listen to a few dominant albums from the West Coast.
Fortunately, in 1994, a miracle album rescued the East Coast. The widely-known "Ready To Die" rapidly became a sensation across America, slightly shifting people's attention back to the East Coast.
The Notorious BIG, also still adored and remembered by countless rap enthusiasts as Biggie, descended like a celestial being, slaughtering that year's charts with a single album.
Despite his dazzling achievements, the current Biggie was caught in some difficulties. Active rap enthusiasts from that era might be aware of his feud with the famous West Coast rapper Tupac.
Simply put, the two were once good friends, heroes who respected each other. But unfortunately, one day in 1994, Tupac was attacked while recording an album in New York.
He thought that the scenes depicted in the lyrics of the album Biggie was recording at the time were very similar to the scene of his attack and speculated that this could have been a disgraceful competitive tactic from the other side.
Based on this, an explosive East Coast vs West Coast battle began. Apart from the singers directly clashing, the fans' verbal battles never stopped and even many turned into offline threats, creating a relentless atmosphere.
However, a year after this incident erupted, an album from Gotham emerged out of nowhere—"King of Gotham" by a singer who called himself Gotham Boy. Released just three days prior, it shook the rap community of the East and West Coasts.
Some might wonder, given the highly developed mob culture in Gotham, why had there been no achievements in the rap scene previously?
You should know that Gotham's mob is the traditional Italian mob, completely different from the modern mobs of Chicago and Miami, who still value traditional honor and dignity. It's a culture hardly conducive to fostering any rebellious spirit.
Apart from the high-level mob members, there are certainly lower-tier mobsters. But sadly, in Gotham's environment, it's hard enough just to survive, let alone delve into music and art.
But it's proven that as the order of the mob gradually collapsed and the social environment improved, Gothamites' ingenuity was no less than that of any other city.
And due to the city's extremely unique atmosphere, the art it could foster was also groundbreaking and awe-inspiring.
The East Coast singers and record companies who had been struggling with the dichotomy of individuality and commercialization found a perfect balance in the album "King of Gotham."
East Coast rap is heavy on narrative, which also means that the flow of tunes is not as rigorously crafted. A good commercial album should not focus only on the aggressiveness of the lyrics; rhythm and musicality are also very important.
Rap as a genre is bound by the cultural and artistic level of the musicians, which means, in short, that most rappers lack the ability to create a song with a popular melody that can be accepted by the masses.
Composing can be very challenging; it requires solid music theory knowledge, an understanding of the public's current musical taste, even some knowledge of auditory and sensory science.
But finding the rhythm is even harder than composing. At least with composing, there are rules to follow; rhythm relies mostly on innate talent. Throughout history, no outstanding pop composer has lacked their own unique rhythmic style.
Although East Coast rappers have great lyrics, if the tune doesn't captivate, and the rhythm isn't conducive to popularity, no one will buy in. "Ready To Die" was a hit mainly because Biggie and Puff Daddy were willing to compromise commercially, using lively and catchy samples like "Juicy" and "Big Poppa," to complement Biggie's vivid rapping style with the final piece of the puzzle.
While now considered a classic, at the time, nobody knew if this experiment would succeed. Perhaps a second time, the public would find it tedious, or perhaps by continuing this way, one might lose their unique style.
At that time, Biggie, with just one album to his name, couldn't help but feel lost. Plus, he was caught up in a war of words with a former friend, and everyone was anticipating how he would strike back with an exceptional album. The pressure was immense on this sudden superstar.
"King of Gotham," the album, perfectly addressed the dilemma of East Coast rap. In the album's leading track, also entitled "King of Gotham," he adopted a unique and deeply tragic melody, which fans came to call Gotham punk.
It certainly borrowed elements from punk music, but it encapsulated so much more—the music born from the contradictory and dark history of Gotham, dark but not just dark.
The album name "King of Gotham" might make you think it's about some arrogant youth who sees himself as a city's ruler, telling stories of driving luxury cars, living in mansions, fighting for control of the city with his close friends and brothers, and taking out enemies with a pop-pop.
But in reality, it was the complete opposite. The song's lyrics alternated between illusion and reality, telling the story of an old low-level mob hitman on his last mission for his boss, shot by enemies, lying in a pool of blood waiting to die, and imagining a series of scenes before his death.
The so-called King of Gotham only existed in this old man's fantasy. Standing in the old man's shoes, Gotham Boy used an enraged tone, like a machine gun, to expose the bloodiest and darkest underbelly of Gotham.
When you're a mob hitman, your son will surely be one too, and your grandson as well. But it's not even because the mob threatens you—you're even grateful to the mob for providing a livelihood, as there are many things on the streets far worse than the mob.
It seemed like Gotham Boy was just passionately cursing the dire situation in Gotham through a fictional character, but this managed to give a huge shock to rappers from both the East and West Coasts, most of whom came from gangs. Didn't they know all too well what being in a gang entailed?
If in Gotham the mob was considered orderly, then what were they fighting against outside of the mob?
What followed was the old man's fantasy, a segment that could almost be called magical realism, because the most interesting part was that the old man's dream of starting life over wasn't cliché—born into a wealthy family, attending prestigious schools, becoming an executive in a company, reaching the pinnacle of success.
It wasn't even the typical rapper's dream of climbing gang ranks to eventually rule a territory, driving luxury cars, living in mansions, and focusing on music with friends.
He imagined himself becoming a magician, using his magic to gradually kill everyone in the city, exterminating the whole of Gotham, then storming into the empty Wayne building and crowning himself as the true King of Gotham from the rooftop, overlooking a city strewn with corpses.
Of course, the fantasy included a dig at Batman, with the old man's toughest enemy in his imagination being Batman, whom Gotham Boy, through the old man's voice, called a delusional dreamer with a fetish for dressing up. He stated that Batman must also have entered this fantasy world when facing death because he would never succeed and was bound to die in the end.
As the narrative continued, the imagery still conveyed a deep despair. The real-world sections revealed various bottom-of-the-society details that were too relatable. The fantasy was so bizarre and violent, it carried a kind of deranged beauty that left your mind buzzing.
The latter half of the song break convention with a flashback, recounting how the old man ended up here—on his last mission for his boss. It wasn't until the penultimate stanza that people listened to the old man calling his boss "my dear little Shark."
In the first half of the song, it was mentioned that the old man's nickname in his youth was Big Shark, meaning it's very possible that his own son is the current mob boss.
This unexpected twist left listeners puzzled. Why isn't he enjoying his retirement with a son who's a mob boss? From the lyrics, their relationship seemed good, so how did he end up in such a state?
Then the lyrics quickly switch, recounting the old man's younger glories—from attending the Godfather's dinners, witnessing the bright lights of Grey Street, getting framed and ending up on the streets, marrying a woman from the same lowly status, having children with her, the death of his wife, and the growing up of his son.
Amidst it all were complaints about his son's lack of ambition, but more sharply, it highlighted the most fatal flaws of that era's mob, a vision of order on the verge of collapse.
But then, the song suddenly shifts in style. Gotham Boy, through the perspective of the older generation, expresses intrigue and dark humor toward the new things appearing in Gotham. He remarked that the last ice age featured dinosaurs while mob bosses suddenly became moles burrowing and building refrigerated warehouses. The equipment of the Gotham Police Department seemed ready to take on Australia, and if he had a daughter, he definitely wouldn't let her scream at Batman perched atop the building.
Finally, he revealed whom he was actually warring against—a gang that had taken over the land of his grandson's new school and kidnapped and killed one of his grandson's classmates, and now, they were planning to take back the land.
The last line of the song, brimming with black humor, said he actually had a grandson, the grandson actually had a school, and a man who had lived on that land for over 60 years could truly have a chance to take back his land.
The song's final image lingered on an increasing flow of blood turning into a puddle, its surface mirroring the first ray of sunlight breaking through the clouds and the old man's astonished gaze before dying.