South side of Chicago

References in popular culture

• The opening lines of Jim Croce's 1973 song "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" state that the South Side is "the baddest part of town".
• Richard Wright's novel Native Son (ISBN ) takes place on the South Side and focuses on the plight of African Americans in the ghetto, including the housing practices that created such slums.
• Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle (ISBN ) was a revelation about the Union Stock Yards at the turn of the 20th century.
• A Raisin in the Sun (ISBN ) is a story of Lorraine Hansberry's youth growing up in the Woodlawn community area.
• Barbershop and parts of The Blues Brothers take place on the South Side. David Auburn's play Proof takes place exclusively in the Hyde Park neighborhood; the 2005 film adaptation expands the setting.
• The Spook Who Sat by the Door is a novel and film dealing with the integration of the CIA. The majority of the story takes place on the South Side of Chicago where the sole graduating black cadet is from.
• The Boondocks, a comic strip and animated series, stars the Freeman family, who have recently moved from the South Side of Chicago to an affluent suburb.
• James T. Farrell's novels, collectively called the Studs Lonigan Trilogy, are set in an Irish neighborhood on the South Side.
• Iceberg Slim, the author of Pimp, was raised on the South Side of Chicago, which is the setting of most of his stories. He sold over six million books, which were translated, further disseminating his depiction of life of the South Side.
• Chicago's South Side is the setting for the Showtime series Shameless and the Chicago Fire, Chicago Med and Chicago PD TV series produced by Dick Wolf.
• The South Side is seen in Netflix's Sense8 series, in the scenes of Will.
• Kanye West was raised in Chicago's South Side and frequently mentions it in his music. His lyrical references are heard in the song "All Falls Down" where he can be heard saying "South Side, South Side, we gon' set this party off right". Other examples include "All Day" ("South, South, South Side"), "Feedback" (You borrow our motto, I'm a Chicago south sider) Famous ("For all my Southside n***as that know me best), and Wash Us in the Blood ("South Side let it bang, outside let it rain", and later in the song – "South Side what it does").
• In the 2004 film Mean Girls, which takes place in Evanston, Illinois, Mr. Duvall responds to a school-wide fight with, "Oh hell no, I did not leave the South Side for this!"
• The TV series South Side was co-created and written by Bashir Salahuddin, who was born and raised on the South Side.
• Chief Keef was raised on the South Side of Chicago, in the Parkway Garden Homes. He references the South Side in his music, such as the song "South Side". He references the South Side in the song "Almighty Gnar", with Lil Gnar.