O.C. - Born 2 Live

"From time to time you wish you could find a way to forgive and let them know you forgave."

Album: Word Life [debut album]
Genre: Hip Hop, East Coast Hip Hop
Album Release: October 18th 1994
Single Release: November 22nd 1994
Length: 4.46
Producer: Buckwild
Cuts: Roc Raida
Vocalist: O.C. [age 23]
Label: Wild Pitch Records

Music Video


Live on NPR Tiny Desk in 2018


Organized Konfusion Remix

Charts, Streams & Sales

Spotify: Over 100 thousand
YouTube Music: Ober 800 thousand

Credits & Gear

Features samples from Isaac Hayes and Keni Burke.

Details

• O.C. serves up a dose of reality rap detailing the death of his childhood friend who was hit by a car in Baltimore. The track is about a complex and serious subjects, which is how grief affects children. In this case, a friend of the deceased, but it's also about the fragility of normal life. Things are normal until one day they're not 'dying all young at the age of seven'.
  
  In 'Born 2 Live', Mike Boogie gets hit by car and his death hits his loved ones like a train. The song is insightful, poetic and poignant: "When somebody is gone that's when you realise how close you was, how close you are, like a scar it takes time to heal." It displays the type of insight revealed to someone who has actually lived an experience. Time might heal the wound but the scar is always with you, and serves as a reminder to avoid unnecessary risks, but also to be grateful that you are lucky enough to be alive.
  
  On 'Born 2 Live' O.C. practices what he preached on 'Time's Up' by keeping it strictly real. He shoutouts his real life friends 'Zach, Leo & Ed' and names the real life street where he was raised: 'Harmon Street'. Such granular attention to detail paints a convincing picture of time and place that allows the listener to invest in the story.
  
  Even though the death of O.C.'s friend is tragic, 'Born 2 Live' also evokes a sense of nostalgia that springs from the camaraderie and community spirit in the face of such events. A neighbourhood coming together in the face of hardship can be of tremendous comfort to the people involved because it allows them to focus on what is truly important: the people around you. I get the impression that despite its difficulty, O.C. enjoyed his childhood 'every other brother in Bushwick, rushed to your side thick'. His recollections have a fondness normally found in a life well lived.
  
  In the spirit of the song I would like to humbly send peace and love to the family of Mike Boogie.
  
  
• There is a remix by Organized Konfusion.

Artwork