First off, let me say that I’m not convinced, for one second, that Rick Ross The Rapper & ~~Young~~ Jeezy really have beef, because I live in South Central Los Angeles. Born, rasied, & still here. Between experiencing old school, white knuckle, hands-on L.A. gangbanging, & this Hip Hop hybrid of too-old-for-that-shit rapbangers, I can tell the difference between hood-involved discrepancy & cats who happen to know the “right” people for the wrong reason. This situation between adult entertainers, on the other hand, seems to be a clear cut case of “Ay nigga, I was HERE, first!”

I find it odd that 2 artists in the same recording house would even be involved in the type of real-life frucus that could effortlessly extend beyond rap music. Really though, all this name-dropping amongst the civilian & criminal community could easily result in someone being killed. (Not that I’m an expert or anything, I just know A LOT of criminals ~~& watch ‘Oz’ whenever I can~~.) I know with extreme, blood-related certainty that real drug dealers don’t fuck around, especially if they convince themselves that you’re interfering with their fiscal intake, which, to a person’s whose ambition is based soley around greed, isn’t a hard thing to do. See, a gangbanger does things out of ignorance, while the dope dealer does so what he does because he feels it’s necessary. Now, for the rap world to peep, we have 2 rappers from the same drug-dealing gang subliminally trying to prove to each other “who knows who.” Good grief.

Is that hilarious or what? Like when ~~Young~~ Jeezy got The Real Big Meech for ‘The Real Blowin’ Money Fast’ song, to expose the necessary amount of pimp-hand to Ross, as a taunt. That’s truly a page taken for the “That’s why niggas cain’t have shit!” handbook. Same thing goes for Nightstick Rick, except, in true 40 year-old hustler fashion, he got Meech’s moms to cosign him in the streets, where everything that’s really anything gets dealt with, anyway, as the youngsters ~~used to~~ say.

& that quickly, The Real Big Meech has replaced The Real Ricky Ross as the dope dealer to be for Halloween. I mean, don’t you just love the hypocrisy of democracy? Only in America is there an equal opportunity to praise the condemned & condemn the praised (I’ve been wanting to type that sentence, without seeming like a douchebag, for years. Mission acomplished?). & on a related note, my kids were singing ‘B.M.F.’ the other day, & when I told them who Big Meech, Larry Hoover, & the real Ricky Ross were, beyond being anonymous names in rap music, they stopped singing the song, & haven’t since. Well, not as much as before they knew what they did for a collective living, anyway.

Score 1 for the good guys, perhaps.

August 10, 2010

Leakin’: Andre3000 x Bishop Lamont x Young Jeezy x Waka Flocka Flame

by TGDC Leakin' • Tags: andre3000, bishop lamont, k-os, koshir, New Music, playboy tre, Waka Flocka Flame, Young Jeezy

Andre3000
‘I Do‘

Bishop Lamont featuring Talib Kweli
‘Get ‘Em Girl‘

Young Jeezy
‘Death Before Dishonor‘

Waka Flocka Flame
‘Fuck This Industry‘

K-os
‘Blackwater‘

Playboy Tre
‘I Don’t Care‘

Koshir featuring Krizz Kaliko
‘Naked Twister‘

March 21, 2010

Age Ain’t Nothin’…

by TGDC grown folks are talking, keeping it real, legit spit, rap crap, true stories, usual suspects • Tags: Hip Hop, Neva Morris, Old Man Rap, Rappers Changing Names, Wayne, Young Jeezy

Usually, the age 18 is when one is considered a grown-up. Perhaps Hip Hop has a legitimate excuse because the lifestyle, the culture itself is based in a youthful rebellion. When Hip Hop turned 18, it was just hitting it’s stride. Look at early 90’s rap music & tell me I’m wrong. It stopped being about just how you rapped & danced, & became a way of life. Babies were being born into it, raised by it. I remember my first Adidas jogging suit, & have clear memories of my dad playing ‘Freaks Come Out At Night‘ every time we’d leave the house. Still to this day, grandfather & all, he’ll tell you that Whodini was/is/will be the best rap group ever.

My son’s favorite rap cat is NaS, through no fault of his own, which is something I never would’ve imagine back when I’d get high & listen to ‘Illmatic’ for days on end. But that’s neither here nor there.

Eventually though, we knew Hip Hop had to start growing up. If only a little bit. 2009 saw a healthy handful of yesteryear’s household names making a “comeback,” even though they’d been here for years. Old Man Rap, was the term coined. Maybe it was a backlash of every other MC of the previous decade being a Little Young. Or possibly the OG’s got tired of seeing all their hard work got down the tubes. Whatever the case, I give credit to Jeezy, for dropping “Young” from his name. That’s a definitive move on his part, & others should take note. Now, if we can just get him to fall back on music that glorifies the poisoning of our community, I could g’head & give the nigga his cookie. But, that may be asking for a little too much. No pun intended.

He’s not the first rap dude to take a stand with his nom de plume, but it may be important as he’s one of the more popular rappers of his era. An era where, if you weren’t a “lil” or a “young” you didn’t get any play, for the most part. Lil Wayne gets a pass because, contrary to popular belief, he’s father’s name is Dwayne. His daddy’s name is Baby. & it’s not that there’s anything wrong with being young, we all were at some point, but wisdom isn’t born from youth. Well, maybe sometimes. & while we’re at it, somebody should let Jay-Z know that the “Young Hova” routine is getting sort of sad. No matter how cool you look in a Yankees cap, 40 years is a substantial amount of time to be alive. Ain’t shit young about that. Unless you ask Neva Morris.

& for the record, while cats give Waka Flocka Flame grief over his rap name, that shit would be ill if he were a rock ‘n’ roll band. Just saying.