yeah... i used to live in one of those neighborhoods. and everyone there used it. out here, its speed. it isnt just the rich white kids from suburbia-the people in these places use as well. you cannot tell me otherwise; unless every neighborhood is different somehow from the ones i lived in.
to tell me i know nothing about it is rediculous when you dont know ME..... because i HAVE lived there. my mother WAS the drug addict, i KNOW what its like to do things (i never sold drugs... i robbed people.. it isnt right either way..) that i felt i had to do to help my family VERY young. i HAD friends that WERE dealers. you dont know me.... you have no clue what i know about and what i have been a part of and seen with my own eyes.
passing judgement? a spade is a spade, isnt it? everyone gets a little bothered whenever i say that PEOPLE ARE ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEMSELVES AND ALWAYS HAVE A CHOICE.
you know who i respect? people that went through things and didnt get sucked into the mentality and lifestyles these drug dealers and gangsters and pimps and whatever else these rappers glorify being. like those are some aspirations to have.... what was that on snoops first album? lil bow wow saying "i want to be a mutha#$%^ hustla"... how you going to tell me that isnt glorifying that kind of life? and yes, thats just one example. lets teach our kids to aim for the highest level of being a low-life, right? lets teach our kids to be cocky, arrogant, that the world owes them something, lets teach them that everything is all about themselves and what they want AN FORGET how it affects other people. lets teach our kids that you have to have the best everything to be cool, lets teach them that money is more valuable than knowledge, and that they should get it no matter the cost. lets teach our kids to objectify women and treat them like objects rather than people.
and no, every song by people like this isnt about dealin or pimpin or bangin, i know that. dont you think that their good positive songs somewhat contradict the rest of their music? i'm sure i'll get some response like "they are just human, nobody is perfect" or about how they are just showing the other side of things, some "yin and yang" type thinking....
people equate real to slangin dope, to bangin, to being real street, real gutter.... to going to jail. to catchin a case for armed robbery. dont sit here and act like this isnt the mentality that hip hop endorses. read any of the magazines and listen to any of the rappers at the top of the charts. read threads on this site. somehow these things are the things that earn badges of respect from people.
what about black star buying a book store that was about to close up shop? thats real. anyone listen to mos def's song "beef"?
and goldy, please dont take this personal, because allthough it was a response to your response to my post, i'm not trying to come at you. i am simply defending my position and this is what i see and how i feel.