Hip-Hop music in Syracuse, New York is marred by a history of violence. Making it big in the hip-hop industry is a seemingly impossible task, especially in a city at it’s peak poverty level. According to the Syracuse Post Standard, “The percentage of all people and all children living in poverty in the city are also at a high for the past four years. More than a third of the city was living in poverty in 2012. For children, the number is almost 55 percent.” Napoleon “Kuntry” Clemons is trying to beat the odds. Kuntry, 23, is a member of the Bloods gang, and moved to Syracuse, New York for a new life, trying to escape arrest in Georgia. Despite the city’s dismal situation, Kuntry is trying to use rap music with his group, Money Bag Movement, to escape poverty and to create a better life for himself and his family. Kuntry struggles to balance life on the streets as a rapper with his life at home with his girlfriend, son, and two stepchildren