David Simon's masterpiece The Wire is considered the greatest television drama of all time by numerous pop culture and media critics. The series tells the story of Baltimore and the institutions and individuals that shape the modern American city. Focusing on the interaction of the drug trade, the police system, City Hall, public education, the media, and the struggling working class--the scope of The Wire is ambitious but perfectly executed. One of the constant themes in each season is the message that the American Dream of old is nonexistent for lower and working class persons. In my opinion, Bodie--who begins as a low level drug dealer--perfectly represents the failure of these institutions to keep the American Dream of upward mobility alive for those who strive for success.

Anthony Hamilton- The From Where I'm From

Anthony Hamilton's "Comin From Where I'm From" is a deeply emotional, sorrow-filled track, plainly laying out the hardships one faces in his hometown in order to provide for himself and his family. This song embodies the opening scenes involving Bodie in the Baltimore drug trade. Bodie is a low level dealer trying to make some money in the impoverished, struggling Baltimore City. Baltimore was a factory town, but with globalization many of these former employers have left town, leaving many residents out of work, poor, and forced to turn to the drug trade. The gang control in the city and the high rates of murder and violence and the emotions felt living in a struggling place like that can be felt in Hamilton's voice as he sings "it gets hard, coming from where I'm from. " This initial song sets the emotional landscape of inner city Baltimore, providing the setting for Bodie--a place where he must adapt business skills and an ambitious attitude to succeed in the drug game.

Hamilton sings "got time and a story to tell/ started when I was 9 years old.... frontin' in the hood trying to be somebody." These lines embody Bodie's life story. He is just trying to search for success, introduced to the "game" at a young age. The bassline throughout the song is hard hitting, it is an attempt to reach the soul. The powerful bass makes the listener feel the song and you can feel the tribulations Hamilton as been through. These tribulations are similar to bodies, you can in essence, feel the hard knocks of life.

In season 1, Bodie begins as a low level dealer, working for D'Angelo Barksdale in the Terrace projects. However, Bodie has dreams of one day being a kingpin in the drug trade--he is ambitious and hard working. In one of the most poignant scenes of the first season, D'Angelo is telling Bodie and the other dealers about the game of chess and how it relates to the drug trade. He compares Bodie and the others to pawns, saying they have the ability to become more and move up, but they can never become the king. Bodie retorts, "unless you a smart ass pawn." This drive and confidence to be successful in the drug game is also embodied in Curtis Mayfield's "Pusherman."

The song is upbeat, full of horns, and seems like a celebration. The song also talks of "heavy bread," "making money all the time," "I'm the man," etc. This braggadocio and happiness embodies Bodie's personality at the beginning of season 1, as he is full of life and thinks he can become a kingpin one day. The song has a "build up to it" and this build up of elements can tell the story of Bodie's journey from kid to adult. At the beginning you hear the horns, the light drumming, while Mayfield talks about dealing for the "man" and being the "man." But at the 1:43 mark more is added to the "story." There are additional horns, additional guitar playing, all while he sings he is a "victim of ghetto demands." This added narrative context is coupled with more musical layering, adding physical depth. In the sense of Bodie, it can be taken as adding narrative depth as well... his story is more layered than a boy in the hood wanting some money.

Mobb Deep- Survival of the Fittest

Mobb Deep's "Survival of the Fittest" is filled with a dark, terrifying bass line and piano, which is a perfect companion for Bodie's development at the end of season 1. Bodie has impressed on of the heads, Stringer Bell, of the drug dealing Barksdale Organization, but Bell has tasked Bodie with killing his friend Wallace. Bodie has come to realize that he is just a pawn in the system, but he is still loyal and does want to succeed in the drug industry. He ends up killing Wallace--thought hesitant--forever tying into the evil of the drug game. The violent, truthful imagery in "Survival of the Fittest," paints a picture of a war on the streets, something Bodie experiences in Baltimore, and also speaks on how the weak are killed in the drug game, another parallel as Bodie had to physically kill his friend in order to survive and advance up the organizational ladder.

The beat in this song is simple but hard-hitting. The beat feels dark and that alone paints the picture of the hardship Bodie faces. The beat consists of a dark piano loop and is coupled with gritty street lyrics, a tragically beautiful scene is painted by the lyrics. The rappers say they wear a bulletproof vest underneath their normal clothes, a tragic reality of the gang wars on the street. Aside from the dark piano loop, horns blare out at the chorus, where the words "only the strong survive," are repeated. Bodie is living this life, a life where instead going to school he has to wear a vest under his shirt to live, in order to simply make some money in a city without opportunity. This song embodies the horror of living this reality.

George Carlin- The American Dream

George Carlin's bit on the American Dream tries to make the audience realize that the dream that anyone from the lower class can rise up and be successful, is just that, a dream. He jokes, "It's called the American Dream because you have got to be asleep to believe it." Carlin's tells the audience that the elites have everyone "by the balls," and although it is crude, Bodie would definitely agree with that sentiment. Bodie is victimized by an oppressive criminal justice system, one that jacks people up on the corner and sweeps the streets just to get arrest numbers up—which is a self-serving policy from the political elites. Bodie knows that he is simultaneously breaking the law but is also a victim of an oppressive law enforcement structure. Carlin's riff on the American Dream nails this point.

This standup bit is indicative of Bodie and his ambitions because by the end of season 1 he realizes that this environment can not allow him to rise up to become king--and the actual city of Baltimore has a decimated lower and working class, preventing him from rising up in an industry outside of the drug trade. Throughout the next few seasons, everything around him fails. His friend Poot is locked up, the Barksdale drug organization is decimated by arrests and rival drug lords, and he eventually ends up having to work as a low level dealer for another organization. By season 3 he is essentially right back where he was at the start of the show--the American Dream is dead to him.

Factory Ambient Sound Effect

By season's 3 and 4, David Simon's vision for The Wire has been showing the failure of the police and government to make any meaningful change in the lives of the Baltimore people. People like Bodie have to drop out and work in the drug trade to make money. Simon loves the anecdote of "the drug market is the only factory that is hiring." By these later seasons Bodie has also changed, from a young low level dealer with great ambition, to a loyal cog in the machine. He no longer wants to rise up to be the "king," he would now prefer to just do his job, make his money, and not die. In a sense he is just a factory worker, clocking in everyday to do his job--working his corner of Baltimore.

The sound is just a loop of the machinery operating in a factory. This relates to Bodie's life because he just does the same thing over and over again. Just like the video, time may be lapsing but everything stays the same. You hear the metal in the background over and over again and the listener may expect a change but it never comes. Bodie thinks he will eventually make it to the top but he stays the same no matter how hard he works... he stays a corner boy, just a cog in the machine.

Nas & AZ- Life's a Bitch