Picture of BMF's Meech & his victim Wolf during better times...
Photo courtesty of http://jimiflixx.com
Photo courtesty of http://jimiflixx.com
Rusky Mafioso usually keeps me on my toes about all things hip-hop and social.
Today, we were rappin when he posed a question to me that had been asked of him..
"Someone asked me about gun culture in rap, and why there have been a slew of shootings lately...Why can my white washed roomate go to any concert he wants to (rock shit, of course) and NEVER have a story about dudes beefin or someone getting shot outside. BUT, if I talk to my bird who likes to go to the reggae club every week and who used to promote at hiphop and reggae spots in L.A. and H'wood, she's got all kinds of tales about dudes knifing in the club...shooting at the club afterwards...all kinds of violent shit...Why is gun culture so prevalent in hip-hop and not white music. Ann brought up this point of how Johnny Cash and some othe older kuntry cats used to sing about killing dude and loading their guns....but theres not a connection with violence stemming from that or surrounding that genre of music."
Immediately after that, I started peeping some recent hip-hop news and it wasn't hard to find some worthy tidbits...
Jacob The Jeweler Arrested For Laundering 270 Mill, BMF Ties
Jay-Z Shelves Cristal At 40/40 Club, Urges Boycott
Member Of Dem Franchize Boyz Arrested In Drug Raid
All in all, it's interesting...
Is hip-hop becoming a musical incarnate of Lionel Tate?
Can we not grow, move forward and leave some of the negative behind?
I'd like to think so but we have to be aware of the constant spotlight on us, as artists and fans. With privilege and entitlement comes responsibility that we all have to accept, like it or not.
As the floodgates are opened and more seedy characters enter the game, will outsiders to the culture label everyone involved with the culture as negative?
In the studio surrounded by weed carriers and hangers-on, can a rapper be held in complete accountability for the action around him?
In a way, yes and no.
No, in the sense that you have to seperate yourself from certain elements that could endanger your livelihood. But at the same time, you are expected to maintain some connections to your original crew who held you down when you were splitting pizzas and sleeping on random couches.
Thin line...
In Jacob's case, with the amount of money being exchanged, yeah he prolly knew some things & yeah the Feds are prolly getting some help from...let me stop speculating. But if I'm Jacob, as long as these dudes are bringing me lump sums a few dollars under $10K, I'm taking that shit, I'm not asking questions. I'm watching my cash register cake up & my name as well as my product spread even further around the country.
Although none of us can claim to know the intricate dealings of Jacob or buddy from DFB, it reeks of guilt by association...
As for the comments made by the rep from Cristal, it does indeed have some underhanded swipes that hint @ race. He reportedly says hip-hop but in general, when you say hip-hop, who does that include as the racial majority in the eyes of most?
Is hip-hop shooting itself in the proverbial foot? As we progress in terms of financial stature & gain some forms of leverage, are we eating ourselves alive from the inside out?
Perhaps. Although it was based on a rebellious nature and a vehicle of expression, shit's changed. Cats are feeding their families off their rap hustle. But how many outsiders want to be directly associated negative connotations that hip-hop carries with it as baggage.
While the little $200 we spend in the club to feign status prolly won't effect Cristal's profit margin, one has to wonder how much disgust they have for hip-hop as a community to turn down the free fuckin advertising rappers give them...
Sorry fam, no real answers or solutions today.
Just observations and opinions.
Feel free to add your .02 in the comments section.
The game's almost on.
I'd like to send a special *golf clap* out to Shaq for hitting those clutch freebies the other night. The whole goddamn bar breathed the proverbial sigh of relief & every brother in the spot, no matter who they were cheering for, gave each other a pound LOL.
And I know I ain't the only one who let out a "hell motherfuckin yeah" when they seen Mr. Mean (GP for the unintiated) hit that goddamn jumper...
Salute!
Gotty™
Oh yeah...whoever sent me Monty Alexander - Concrete Jungle: Music of Bob Marley, bless you. Shit's blue flame!