The Cycle of Success and Death on Chicago's Southside

McArthur Swindle, otherwise known as NuNu or Nuski, was an affiliate of his cousin Lil Durk. He was shot and killed in a Chicago mall parking lot days after his music video for "OC" had been released.

In 2013, I was a part of a VICE documentary crew looking to shed some light on Chicago’s troubled history with violence amid its newfound fame. Our cameras captured a sliver of daily life in Chicago’s Southside, plagued with violence, its residents hardened from the cold reality of gang-ridden streets.

As with many Black Americans born into impoverished neighborhoods like Chicago’s Southside, they look to move to more affluent neighborhoods with their newfound wealth. The city’s brightest star Chief Keef is the template for this, having relocated to the posh neighborhoods of Chicago’s Northside, but the same violence he left on the city’s Southside followed him to the suburbs.

On April 9, 2014, that same violence hit close to home with the murder of Keef’s cousin, Mario Hess also known as Blood Money or Big Glo. Hess, an elder statesman of Chief Keef’s young and rowdy Glory Boys bunch, was a big brother figure to the younger artists on the fledging label. We got to see this brotherhood bond up close as while we filmed, with Big Glo advising the younger Ball Out to watch what he says while the cameras were rolling.

Born in the rough gang affiliated streets of Englewood, Hess was spoken highly of as a family man who wanted to get away from the violence. His cousin Keef provided that way out and Hess was relentless, recording songs and shooting videos sometimes every day to perfect his craft.

His dream was finally realized when he signed his own deal with Interscope Records, unfortunately only two weeks prior to his death.

In the streets of Chicago, the phrase "get rich or die trying" is more of a mantra than the title of a 50 Cent album. Many look to use rap to achieve a level of financial success unobtainable within the current state of the Chicago education system that closed over 50 schools last year. These hopeful young adults, some barely out of their teens, take to the studio booths to finally be afforded once unreachable opportunities that could change their lives for the better, but often find it difficult to break their chains to the street culture that raised them when their parents were in capable.

Another young artist featured with his own episode was Lil Durk. Durk, fresh off the success of his powerful single “Dis Aint What You Want” and recently home from a June 5, 2013 arrest for unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, was jovial as we filmed him and his OTF crew on South Halstead after his headlining performance. It was here we met Nuski or NuNu as family and friends called him. Then Nuski was just one of the many in Durk’s entourage of young men, sporting True Religion jeans and gold chains, laughing and carrying on before we left in a 20-car caravan to end the night at a local strip club.

Nuski, whose name is McArthur Swindle was working with his cousin, Lil Durk to establish himself as the next star out of Durk’s OTF crew. He was just starting to break out, collaborating with Durk on a song called “OC” and had plans to release his anticipated Nuski Got Da Strap mixtape this summer. He was also looking to continue his education by attending college courses.

Sadly just days after the music video for the song “OC” was released, Swindle was shot and killed in a Chicago mall parking lot in the middle of the afternoon.

More shocking was Swindle’s death was one of four fatal shootings in a 12-hour time span ending in the early morning of June first. Yet again, the streets of Chicago claimed more young souls.

Almost two years later, as the hoopla over Chicago’s drill music has cooled and the cycle of hype has focused its eye on Atlanta’s new generation of trap artists, the mercury has started to rise. With it, so does Chicago’s murder rate. As of May 2014, police reported 42 murders in the month of May alone, raising the city’s total to 137, same as first five months of 2013.

So here we are, approaching another hot summer, moving backwards with no solution from local government, community activists, or youth leaders on how to stem the cyclical violence that continues to eat its own young.

Gregory Keith Jones is on Twitter - @beeficus

Find Noisey's Chiraq series here.