Hip Hop and John Henry

The main message I get from "John Henry" is overcoming impossible odds. In the ballad, John Henry is a "steel-driver" and is known to be the best there ever was. He was challenged to a battle of steel-driving against a machine that the whites built, which would seem impossible by today's standards. In "The Message," the overcoming of impossible odds is present because the singer feels like he's at his breaking point and he doesn't know if he can continue to try and complete what seems like near impossible tasks that seem like everyday chores to us. The singer of "The Message" describes his enviornment to be incredibly hostile and hard to live in using such lyrics as, "Broken glass everywhere/People pissing on the stairs" (Pg. 82) and "Eating outta garbage pails." (Pg. 83) "N.Y. State of Mind," is similar to "The Message" because it deals with a young black man in a horrible environment, but he deals with his actions a little more violently and bluntly using weapons and such. Both utilize the theme of overcoming what seem like impossible odds, but in a different manner.
"John Henry" also in cooperates how even though you can be victorious and successful, the outcome might not be what you thought it would be. John Henry was able to beat the steel-driving machine, but doesn't live to tell the tale. In "N.Y. State of Mind," the singer talks about how even though he's able to survive and make money off of his rap, he still lives a very tough life and it wasn't really a very glamorous end. He talks about how he he's addicted to "sneakers, twenties of buddah (money) and bitches with beeps (women)," and how he's taking rapping to a new plateau, but he refers to earlier times when life wasn't so complicated living in New York.