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Video of the Day: Ice Cube's Song 'Why Me?' Asks an Important Question about Gang Violence, and Uses Jamiel Shaw Murder as its Prime Example
The murder of 17-year-old high schooler and football player Jamiel Shaw made headlines and had reverberations not only in his community, but city-wide. Now rapper Ice Cube has voiced his heartbreak over the death of a young man with a promising future--a death caused by senseless violence. His video for "Why Me?" uses the Shaw case a reference point for this kind of tragedy. The Daily News explains that "Cube says the Shaws are a powerful illustration of the pain that remains after a murder." The video "also features photographs of dozens of other crime victims blowing from a tree then across the sand in the desert north of Los Angeles. The video also depicts a young man in a football jersey being gunned down on a street. As he lays dying, he asks, 'Why me homie, why me?'"
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