Yet another rap dude‘s home has been raided behind the search for alleged drugs & other bad guy paraphenilia. This is becoming quite commonplace.
In all actuality, though, things like this happen in the hood all day, everyday, like clock work. Cops patrol, see some activity, nose around a bit, find out who has what, & it’s a wrap. Nobody ever really makes a big deal out of it because it’s unwritten law that all is fair in the neighborhood. A real-life cops & robbers, so to speak. But, once you start dealing with careers & livelihoods & what have you, the rules should change. In other words, if you “made it,” all the petty contact with police officers one should have should be about their own security. Not their right to remain silent. Besides, isn’t that the whole reason for leaving the hood in the first place?”
With all the “Hip Hop police” talk that goes on & all the attempts to dispel the myth that such an organization even exists, it sure is a lot of rappers going to jail on a somewhat consistent basis. I’m just saying; coincidence & happenstance are 2 different things.
Far be it from me to try & point out who I think the genuine criminals are in the rap game (I wouldn’t start with rappers if I did). But, the thing is, I don’t have to. They do it themselves. & even if they don’t do anything per se, just take Marc Hall for a prime example of what happens when (openly) “keeping it real” goes wrong. Back in the day, I would’ve never thought the cops/feds/Man would ever stoop so low as to troll rap music for urban information transference. But, I guess that’s no different than the cops driving down my block & “overhearing” the homie tell me about the quantity of illegal narcotics he has available for distribution. (You’d be surprised.) Technically, if you admit something of your own valition, that has nothing to do with you getting caught, because again, all is fair in the neighborhood. Also, that’s what lawyers are for.
The music takes a back seat to the images I see so regularly, though, thanks to the ‘Net (among other things). I’ve seen rappers snort cocaine on camera & post it on Worldstarhiphop.com, inviting the witnessing world into their insanity. You don’t think somebody, somewhere, saw that? Nigga please. At the very least, one day their children might see them sniffing coke, which is the ultimate snitchery, if you ask me. Kiss all that “just say no” bullshit goodbye.
Rap music is from the “streets,” & the streets stay telling it’s constituents to be quiet & all that. However, being “quiet” defies every rule rap music was built upon. You’d have to be Helen Keller not to appreciate that hilarious contradiction. If you’re anything like me, though, you know that music should only be consumed at it’s specific entertainment value, & you could care less if a dude is really the drug dealer he insists he is. But if he is, my best guess says it’s not that smart for him to make songs about it. Like how a human trafficker wouldn’t do a stand-up comedy routine about smuggling a baby.
Someone will pay more attention to what you say than you want (just because) & that would really suck, because smuggling babies is a little worse than selling drugs.
“If you’re anything like me, though, you know that music should only be consumed at it’s specific entertainment value, & you could care less if a dude is really the drug dealer he insists he is.”
Amen. My only problem is with the youngsters who can’t differentiate. I think it’d be healthier if rap got broken down and classified into movie genres like you’d see at the video store (do they have those anymore?) with the explicit understanding that it’s just an audio movie. Action, Comedy, Drama, Romance, Children (teeny bopper), Documentary/Reality, etc. That way the ones pretending don’t have to pretend anymore and the ones who claim to be 100% real have to show some proof to back up their claims…and then we’ll read here on R&WIFDP about what happened to them when the law came knocking.
The breakdown makes total sense, but too many people would have to admit what I (& my like minded peers) say all the time—-the shits not real life. I truly believe that people would not support the artists they do if they found out about them in real life.
That’s what happened to Paul Wall. Niggas found out he was happily married w/a beautiful family & wanted no parts of his metal mouthing &/or his tip drill club songs. Liposuction didn’t even help.
Damn Soul…you nailed this one w/the genres. I tell my nephew all of the time that Lil Boosie aint shit. I don’t know him, but one of my best homies KNOWS him. Played on the high school basketball team w/him and everything. Boosie was never a gangster; he was a good-grade having, shit-talking, class clown who just happened to rap about killing and shit. And everybody believed him. Let my nephew tell it, Scarface (Tony Montana) aint got shit on Boosie. SMDH
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If rap was “real” then we’ve been making serial killers (no Boosie) and sociopaths rich. 99.99% of hip hop is a facade that suburban kids dream of emulating and confused youths consider absolute truth. Dressing up in Liberace’s jewelery while moving U-Hauls full of rocks and AK spraying small populations of people is NOT all in a day’s work. Entertaining? Fuck yes. Realistic? Hell no.
-people stopped listening to Paul Wall because he’s garbage. White people don’t speak with that contrived blaccent. Dude had a thicker accent then most of Texas. Guarantee his parents don’t sound like him. He was too busy trying to be someone else when he should’ve just been himself. Respect the culture don’t be a vulture.
I’ve decided that if a rapper really is “real” and does all the shit he says (like how I imagine freddie gibbs), then I give him mad respect for all of his hustle, and make sure to stay the fuck away from his bad side haha
But if a dude isnt? Well thats rap, i still bump Rick Ross first album cus it was just sick coke rap
I talk about growing weed………..i shouldnt. Thank god no one will hear it
the funny sh^t though is the same dont-believe-a-rapper mantra also discredits songs like “The Message” and “Fight The Power”…
so the “keep it real” slogan is dead and forgotten. Nobody believes you anyway right? Might as well talk mad sh^t…they paying me for it!
$yk, I don’t have a blanket discredit on all rappers. A gang of em really do what they say. In the Bay I know rappers who FOR A FACT have really killed and push weight. Not gonna dry snitch but take my word that its indisputable (for some not all). In fact a lotta times becoming a rapper only increases their access & opportunities to get into some shit. I have no reason to believe rappers from other regions aren’t “real”. That’s why I was deliberate in not saying ALL are fake. Hell, even Rawse could still be real for all I know. Anyone who’s been locked up or have had friends/fam locked up could tell u that CO’s are the ones who facilitate the prison drug trade.
But my point with the movie perspective is that listeners need to bear in mind that music, like film, is an art form. The best art is a reflection of the artist’s reality. If money cash hoes is what Jeezy knows then that’s what he should rap about. Ditto for Immortal Technique: if his reality is about revolutionary struggle that’s what he needs to spit. But just cuz that’s their reality doesn’t mean their art should be taken literally. But liberties with the truth & exaggerating (in the name of “art”) shouldn’t invalidate the artistic merit of the rapper either. Ice Cube’s body count on wax is in the 100′s, even if he’s never bodied anyone in real life it doesn’t change the fact that his art reflected his environment…
I just hate when rappers are like “yeah, I lived that shit” and you find out their Rick Ross. I understand this is entertainment, 100%. However, would it be hard for some of these niggas to try some honesty?
Rap music is from the “streets,” & the streets stay telling it’s constituents to be quiet & all that. However, being “quiet” defies every rule rap music was built upon. – The realist shit spoken. We came up from that RUN-DMC “Say no to drugs and thugs and you’ll be cool” era. It wasn’t until emcees started showing guns not only in music videos but street interviews, claiming to be realer than they are. The genre’s would be nice but we can’t rely on that for these babies. You have to teach them the difference.
There are only a few rappers I believe actually did some or all the things theyve talked about. One of my alltime favorite “keep it real” lines comes from Devin The Dude: “I smoke weed, I drink brew/ Shit, thats all I talk about because thats all that I do”. Thats a safe one, HA!!!.
There are a few Bay Area rappers that really walk what they talk.
But really who cares besides the misguided youth who are too hard headed to listen to a “old head” tell them any different?
“But liberties with the truth & exaggerating (in the name of “art”) shouldn’t invalidate the artistic merit of the rapper either.”
^ that shouldn’t depends on the individual
but co-sigz what you typed