GETTING MY STREET CRED
GETTING MY STREET CRED
And promptly having it revoked.
It’s been a long road for me and ‘gangsta rap.’ It started some ten years ago in the Yale Daily News layout room where sometime reader and commenter, Troy, would play Biggie’s ‘Ready to Die’ CD, just to watch my horrified reaction at that track where the two guys are walking around and see red dots flash across their body. As soon as they realize what the dots are, you hear the explosive gun shots and the track is over.
“What the hell? Did they just get killed?”
And then he would laugh and laugh. Between that, and mangling the lyrics to Alanis Morissette’s ‘Jagged Little Pill,’ it was years before I could listen to CDs in computers.
But last night, I broached that final frontier, I went to a rap concert!
For a review of the show click the link above and read the New York Times’ piece, for a review of why Dawn Summers thinks we need to give the police state ‘another look-see,’ see Karol’s opening paragraphs. I mean, not only are people in the audience carrying blunts around behind their ears, the rappers themseleves are lighting up on-stage shouting ‘fuck the police,’ and “I’m rich enough to post bail.”
Funnily enough, said rapper was arrested on gun possession charges last night. Unfortunately, they let him out without asking for the bail that he is all rich enough to post.
And there were parents who brought their children with them! And I’m not talking “the cool mom” bringing her teen-aged son…no, like eight year olds. My lord.
Oh, but I did learn that when people are rudely blowing second-hand smoke, with no regard for asthmatics around them, and flicking ash onto your clothes, dropping your discarded chewing gum onto their seat, will make you feel better.
August 10th, 2005 at 8:23 pm
Wow you are a brave soul!! I like hip hop as an art. G.rap I don’t have a taste for it. I understand it, I have lived it, but I don’t like it. Just one man’s opinion. Hey check my site http://www.lovesbible.com and let me know what you think.
August 10th, 2005 at 9:05 pm
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
August 10th, 2005 at 10:16 pm
Dawn,
You forgot the buildup to the gunshot climax. I especially like the part where the two hoods are sneaking around the house, then one looks over at his partner and asks “Hey what’s that on your chest?” His boy says “What?”, glances down, says “Ohh ssshiit,”, then looks at his man and says, “There’s one on you, too!”
Dude then looks down at his chest and both men shout “Ohhh ssshhiittt” in unison. – then the gunshots. Get it straight.
By the way, I thought of you when I saw that Alannis Morisette released an acoustic “unplugged” version of Jagged Little Pill. With new melodies and without me around to subvert the empowerment lyrics, it should be a lot more enjoyable this time.
- And the sports desk still rocks it to Grand Pu.
August 11th, 2005 at 4:01 am
hahahahah…Edit 4 Ever!
January 30th, 2009 at 4:45 am
[...] And I got so mad, that I went to the record store and bought another one. So’s their faces.) Ha, I’ve actually blogged about the nefarious T-bone before. Anyway, Chris’ girl was saying how she got tickets to Britney’s Pittsburgh concert and she was [...]