Boston-born and Worcester-raised rapper and musician Big Nate Allstar has been in these pages plenty this fall as part of our Digital Battle of the Bands, where you voted in a March Madness-style bracket for your favorite recent songs from Worcester-area musicians, and in the end, you chose him as the winner.
Now, he has something new for you to listen to: original verses over the beat made famous by drill rapper G Herbo on “Went Legit,” released Dec. 12 and featuring a music video that co-stars downtown Worcester.
The very first thing you see is the Worcester City Hall clock tower, lit up at night, from atop the Pearl Elm Garage as Nate steps out of his Cadillac and gets down to business.
“This government shutdown, who want what now? Y’all been knew the rules, you know it’s get down to lay down/Only the strong survive, who gon’ get paid now? ICE coming for your ice, no kids on the playgrounds,” he raps.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 23.2% of Worcester residents are foreign born, and the threat of federal immigration raids as part of the Trump administration’s “mass deportation” campaign has been hanging over the city all year.
In May, federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers detained one Worcester woman in front of her two daughters and a large crowd of neighbors on Eureka Street. An October report from investigative newsroom ProPublica found more than 170 cases this year in which ICE held people they knew to be U.S. citizens on suspicion of being here against the law.
Social commentary is exactly what to expect from an artist who used his music to address the false accusations his father, William Bennett, faced in the high-profile 1989 Stuart murder case, and it still stands up when the song touches on other ideas, too.
At another point, Big Nate reminds listeners about his own story, getting a shot at fame as a first-base prospect for the Oakland A’s but having to give up professional baseball to take care of his terminally ill mother.
“Athlete with the rap sheet, that’s what they call that/Had to leave the league, wonder why I ain’t call back/My mama’s kidney failed, I had to hustle and all that,” he raps. “Salute when you see me, a legend in the flesh.”
In every shot of the music video, the city appears front and center, from Main Street to Union Station to signs for I-290 West to underpasses beneath the railroad tracks.
A Worcester Police Department cruiser appears at one point while a siren plays in the background, and there’s even a brief glimpse of the Mercantile Center, home to the Telegram & Gazette newsroom.
The camera rides along with Big Nate as he drives the Caddy through downtown, laying out his case.
Songs about struggle can easily go off the rails, but Big Nate’s “Went Legit” remix stays its course instead of trying to appeal to pity or look down upon anyone who’s going through it. No, this song is here to commiserate with whoever is suffering and serve as a reminder to everyone else.
As Big Nate finishes out the last verse, he zooms out to look at the big picture again: “The government’s taxing, we gotta pay the fees/How we gonna eat? They got him praying on his knees, Lord knows.”
“Went Legit Remix” is available as a music video on YouTube.
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