Rap Violence 2024

What up what up what up! this is OC and you are now reading Friday's opinion. So today I just kind of wanted to talk about the current status of rap music and what's been going on behind the scenes in the underground. Everybody knows rap music has evolved—sonically, the imagery, rap styles, etc.—but so has the violence. Don't get me wrong. I'm 42 years old now, but I used to be a young buck in the street myself. The unfortunate thing is that it's now at such a level that it's damn near uncontrollable. Trust me, I understand what it is to have beef; I understand what it is to be in competition; and I also understand that you can't take disrespect and should never let a man stand on another man without that man standing on his own. But what I see now is young men shooting each other in the face or doing drive-bys on the basis of their feelings and trying to be the biggest and baddest. I'm not here to diss anybody; to each his own, at least that's what I was taught, but where does it end? When I was growing up in hip-hop in the early 90s, rap music was a way to express and communicate with each other coast to coast, a way to mentally escape the impoverishment we endured. It was our way of creatively expressing ourselves, music is freedom of expression. It was a way for us to do everything we could to be in business and try to leave the poverty that most of us lived in.

I remember when I was young, and I would hear from some of the old heads talking about, Should I Shorty, you ain't got to have everything? Why are you always angry? Everything doesn't have to be confronted with aggression. So I understand the mindset and the way of thinking when it comes to a street individual. My hometown is Kenosha, Wisconsin, and it has never been anywhere close to Chicago when it came to violence until recently. If you were to look at Racine and Kenosha Wisconsin now compared to what it was when I was growing up, it's polar opposite. Even though Kenosha is a small city, we still had organization and structure without getting into too much detail. We also had street organizations, as we do now, and things were handled from time to time. But again, when I reflect on the current situation, it almost feels like there's no more code or morale; it's just about who can smoke who. I feel like as I get older, I get a tad bit wiser and start to gain that true understanding. the type of understanding that wakes up a man when he sees and hears a grown woman cry, screaming her son’s name.

If I could change anything, I would change the fact that rap music has almost become a place to become a gangster. When I was growing up, it was more of a place to get away from gangster realities. Now I can say I do have my qualms with some people; I don't get along with everybody. In this rap business, we do make some enemies or have people that we disassociate with. but that doesn't mean we have to go and pistol up. I guess in my mind, anybody who reads this can kind of understand the way I feel about the current state of rap music and those involved. What I'm saying right now doesn't apply to everybody, but it does apply to many. And with that, I'll leave you to enjoy your Friday, and please come back and enjoy another read on this blog on Monday. God bless you, love!

Major "Rap Influences" we have lost to violence

Tupac Shakur: September 13, 1996 - Notorious B.I.G. : March 9, 1997 - XXXTentacion: June 18, 2018 - Nipsey Hustle: March 31, 2019 - King Von: November 6, 2020 - Pop Smoke: February 19, 2020 - TakeOff: November 1, 2022 - and a whole lot more... Visit their YouTube's, play their music and keep them alive! RIP