pride101's Blog

We hear so many analysts comment on what caused last year's murder rate.  There are many reasons they have given for this problem, from easy to get guns to poverty.  I would like to interject a different opinion.

I have observed the slow decompostition of rap music since 1997.  Tupac Shakur was killed in '96, and Biggie Smalls was killed in '97.  You saw after that the vast majority of rap music's content based on guns and violence.  It has always been a part of rap music, but the key difference was the use of a metaphor for violence in the previous years, instead of  the promotion of it in the music from 10 yearsago to today.  This has been 10 stong years of rap music being overrun by this main theme.  There was a time when you could hear storytelling, fun comedic based, dance themed, jazz music infused, political,  not to mention street hard core based.  There was a variety of different styles that you could listen to back in those years, unlike the years after where the majority of rap was based on, drugs, crime, and gun play.  It was as if you went into gap, and they only sold sweats in one color, black.  No variety what so ever. 

The rap industry would have you think that this message is coming from the experiences of the "artists" from the street.  They do not mention that most of these rappers that are aired on major stations are making millions of dollars.  They do not have to live in the communities where those who imitate the lifestyles they display in video, and on CD, live.  The "chicken or the egg", discussion is always used.  The rappers speak about how they are just taking the life experiences, and dramas that people go through in the "hood", and putting it on a record.   Russell Simmons, (sometimes called the godfather of Hip Hop), even described them as "poets", saying that many people in previous times did not agree with the  poets of their day, and that they would illustrate what life was like in the real world.  Using this analogy, then rap should be full of hard working stories about people who work every day, the struggles of raising kids, and holding 2 jobs.  This is the "real" story of the poorer neighborhoods, no matter what color or creed.  There is a small minority who carry guns, use drugs, spend money irresponsibly, disrespect women, have such distain for having a marriage and family, etc. 

Just like the Islamic faith, Christian faith, and other examples, rap music's voice has been pirated by extremists.  Islam is a faith based on family, dedication to the poor, and self responsibility.  Now the story of Islam, to many, is about terrorism. This is due to those who have taken hostage of what it means to be Muslim, by declaring they are the true example of the faith.    The Christian faith is based on forgiveness, and non judgement.  Now the faith's story is about conservatism, berating those who disagree with their views, and almost vicious anger.    This is the problem with rap, whose story is increasingly about  how many people you can kill, money you can make, drugs you can sell, women you can disrespect, etc.

This has been the status quo for a good solid 10 years.  The constant drilling into the mindset of those impressionable listeners, the story that being a man is about using a gun, commiting violence, selling drugs into your neighborhood, sleeping with as many women as possible with no commitment.  Think of the affect this has on the listening demograhic.  Those kids from 5 years old to 15 years old, were raised on these sexually charged, violence based  lyrics in the last 10 years.  Is it no question that those who commit  the most gun shootings are aged 15 - 25?  Is this a coincidence?

It is a scientific fact that a child's mind is extremely impressionable.  If you tell a child, or even a person, they are stupid and will amount to nothing over and over again, it will become a self fullfilling prophecy.  If a child witnesses a family who all go to college, work at jobs, respect others everyday, and hear this in daily conversations, then there is a great possibility that this is who they will be.  The kids today in poorer neighborhood, watch parents work everyday, to only just maintain, and not progress.  Those in middle class neighborhoods, watch the same thing, but at a higher level.  They may see family go to college, work at a fairly good job, or maybe find it difficult to find a job, work hard everyday at jobs sometimes they do not like, but make ok money.   Kids are far more advanced than we were at the same age, and these kids see rappers on videos, who have had histories of selling drugs, going to jail, and they do the math.  They can go to college for 4 years and make $50,000 a year, live a ok life, sometimes at a job they do not like.  They can also sell drugs, make a "ton" of money, maybe go to jail for 2 - 4 years, write some rap lyrics, cut a record from some of the money they stashed away, and get a $500,000 or even 7 figure contract with a record company.   To them it is a "no brainer".  Work hard, just to struggle in life or live the seemingly carefree lifestyle of the rapper with women, money, cars, etc., with the same investment of time.

The lifestyle that you see on videos is actually true.  There are people who sell drugs, hang in the clubs, have sex with many women, carry guns, and willing to use them to show proof of their manhood.  They get into the music business, and treat it like the drug business.  They put out samples of their product, which causes stimulation, (the drugs, sex, toughness or violence), then they get them hooked, and they continue to ask for the same thing even if it is destroying their lives and neighborhood.  The rappers will argue that no one attacks the movie industry, and bring up movies like the Godfather.   They do not look at the fact that although there was violence in this movie, it had more to do with the interaction of a family.  It displayed how the culture was, and the respect they had for tradition and family.   The violence was in context.  In many of the rap music, they are bragging about if the rap "game" does not work out that they could go back to selling drugs in the neighborhood.  Of how many "bodies", they have in the past, before becoming a rapper, how many people from their same race they can kill.  How tough they are, because of the amount of people in their "crew", and how they would attack you if you "diss" them.  There was a time when being a man was standing up for women, the ability to defend yourself one on one, etc.   Now to be a coward, and having to use a gun, or "jump" people with an overwelming force is being tough to them. 

Those in power are trying to fight against a mentality that has invaded like cancer, in so many neighborhoods.  The kids think that having a gun is being a man.  It is to the point of being brainwashing.  You can lock everyone up, but the core thing is to destroy this mentality.   There was a time when you proved manhood by fighting your own battles, now the mindset is that a gun with prove it for you.  The women are prey instead of something to protect.  Only when people have the courage to address this will things change.  It is hilarious how those record stations will have "stop the violence", or "put down the guns" events, and then play the next "hit" on their station that has the "artist" rapping about the many people he has killed, and drugs he has sold.  They have no credibility.  Watch how the kids are repeating the phrases they hear on CDs, in playgrounds, in the school yard.  Many of which are extremely violent.  Unless something is done to give these kids a choice they will repeat the same mistakes of this generation that were raised on these unrealistic ideas of manhood.

I am sure I will get those who have excuses for rap.  Who will attack me as someone that does not understand, or has no experience about the life someone lives in the getto.  For full disclosure, I grew up in what is called now "The Badlands" in North Philadelphia, so I am fully aware of the community.  I did not grow up with wealth.  I remember being sent to the corner store to pay off the credit book. (which was a composition book kept by the merchant who dealt out credit to those who had "slow" times".   So I understand poverty.  We none the less kept our community clean, sweeping the side walk ,and streets.  Block captains who organized the community to plant trees on the block.  Protect from crime, etc.  The poor of today have cell phones, Playstations, and, cable television.  We were not able to mimic the better off by having what they had in their homes.  We were lucky to have a television in the living room, and/or stereo.  There were drugs, and gangs. Zulu Nation, 11th and Indiana, and so on.  I remember gang wars where all the participants would stop fighting if they saw a woman or child coming down the street, and then continue when we passed.  They fought with hands or maybe a club, bat or two.  To pick up a gun was considered cowardly.  Some had hand held zip guns, that shot 22 shells that might as well had been BB's.   Concerning the music, I was there during the creation and cementing of Hip Hop and rap. We were the generation that created and sustained it.   From Kurtis Blow, and African Bombaata - to Rakim - LL - KRS One - Dougie Fresh - Public Enemy - Special Ed - Audio Two - MC Lyte - Cool G Rap - Kool Mo Dee, and on and on.  This was the music we listened to, along with Phil Collins, Elton John.  The excuses of poverty being a catalyst is destroyed by our example.  We suffered far more racism, to the point of not being waited on in stores in Kensington, when we went to Magnet schools there.  There were tough lyrics from people like Schooly D, alongside with Will Smith.  We had a variety.  So if we felt like being tough we could, if we felt like having fun we could also, and most times on the following record played on a radio station.  We hear the argument about how the government has a part in the violence.  Well, there were many times that better jobs were not available to many of us in some neighborhoods.  There was heroin available in the community also.  Again the majority of people those days, (just like these days), worked hard.  Now the criminal element has infiltrated rap, and placed it's values, dress, and behavior as the preferable example.  We had our style of dress, but always had "church" clothes, or dress clothes which we used for special occasions, job interviews, etc.   Now the "kids", do not know how to wear a suit of even have one available.  They wear oversize clothing, that does not fit welll or "present" well at job interviews.  This makes them unemployable, causing them to gravitate toward the "hustle game", and preying on the community.  There is no outside cause for this, it is an internal problem in the community.     

When people start looking at this aspect of behavior, instead of excuses for the behavior, then we may get an handle on the increasing violence.