Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Are Rappers Targets?

In light of the Yung Berg drama I felt compelled to ask this question..."are Rappers Targets?"

Random violence against rappers is becoming commonplace since I've been following rap music and the culture. There has been numerous attacks, of course the infamous 2Pac & Biggie murders but other than them we've had far to much violence.

Rappers like Beanie Sigel, Camron, Max B, Spice 1 & Fabolous have been shot. Rappers Yung Berg, Trick Daddy, Papoose, Tyga & 50 Cent have been physically assaulted. T.I, Snoop, Shyne, Remy Ma, Lil Kim, Foxy Brown, Prodigy & Cassidy plus more have been arrested and done jail time. Mystikal, C-Murder, Pimp C (R.I.P), Ras Kass, Styles P & Flesh-N-Bone spent long periods of time in jail (all have been released). Lil Wayne, DMX, B.G, 50 Cent & Young Jeezy have/had drug charges. The Game, Tony Yayo, Da Brat, Foxy Brown, Jay Z, & Styles P have been arrested for assaulting others. Busta Rhymes, Nas, T.I & Birdman among others have/had weapons charges. Maino & Saigon are what we would call "jail niggas" they spent more time in jail than they spent free. Both spent almost theyre entire teenage years in jail. Rich Boy & Gucci Mane have justifiable homicides under theyre belts. Whats my point? Are rappers targets for criminals and law enforcement? Some arrests are justified some are not and some of those assaults are justified others are not. But do people care? I mean to hear a rapper got shot Isn't front page news anymore, hearing one got arrested is as common as the sunrise, so I am going to try to sort through this.

First things first arrests prior to becoming a rap star will be ignored (this eliminates certain people). Lets talk first about murder cases. Snoop Dogg, C-Murder, Beanie Sigel (on trial for attempted murder). These are just a few. Beans' case is easily eliminated he was attacked by robbers at gunpoint. In defense of himself people got shot so I guess its somewhat justified. Snoop was supposedly in a shootout wit "rival gangsters" and allegedly killed a young boy, he was found not guilty. C-Murder was convicted of murder. A murder he says was pinned on him because of his stage name...get it? "C-Murder". All 3 are gangsta rappers. They rap about murder so why is it hard to believe they have or would commit one? When I ask "are rappers targets?" I also mean are they targeted by the police as well.

The Game, Lil Wayne & DMX are the most arrested rappers these days from DUIs to assaults to gun possession to animal cruelty these dudes cant catch a break. Are they being harrassed or are they just stupid? I would argue a bit of both. You would have to be stupid to keep getting arrested for the same thing. If the cops know you are stupid of course they wanna catch you in the act, I'm sure they'd like nothin more. I mean shit they rap about violence and brag about coming from violent communities so thus they must be violent people. Lil' Wayne & DMX are junkies (heavy usage of various drugs) how hard could it be to catch a junkie with coke? Especially a celebrity junkie, can't be that hard. A mixture of police harassment and they're own stupidity is at play here.

Getting shot is a rite of passage these days but its a shame cops blame the victims in these cases more than the shooters. Fabolous, Cam'ron & Beanie Sigel were shot during robberies (Cam'ron a carjacking). Neither man cooperated with police. Cam'ron was arrested for refusing to cooperate. Stupid? Yep Cam'ron is a dumbass but he's following a dumbass street code.
In another blog I talked about the difference between snitches and victims. Cam'ron was a victim, but he behaved like a perpetrator and was treated like one. Beans, Fab & Cam WERE targets of violence. Rich rappers in urban cities shining...surely they new better, but to protect the macho image they have they had to "be in the hood" and people have to see them to vouch for them and enhance their street credibility. I can see it now... "Hell yeah my nigga Fab was round here the otha day, he a real ass nigga!" and so the thirsty assailant waited for Fab to come back so they can take his jewels. Thats an easy set up.

Rapper Scarface is always in his hometown and hasn't been attacked because he doesnt wear gaudy jewelry. Problem solved right? Put pride to the side and stop wearing shiny shit and flossing your money around struggling folk and you will not be attacked..simple enough right?

So are rapper's targets? Yes, rappers are targets but only because they make themselves targets. Nobody said you had to chill in the hood. The point of getting rich is to leave the hood!! Leave and stay gone. Who is gonna fault you? Somebody who can't get out themselves? Stop doing dumbass crimes when you know the "hip hop cops" is watching, plotting, waiting for you to fuck up and plaster another mugshot on tv for viewing audience. You can call it harassment but when you make it so easy why shouldn't they arrest you? The easiest way to make a short name for yourself if to fuck over somebody the more well known the better.

Like I mentioned before, fools cant wait to catch a rapper with their guard down. Chain snatching, beat downs, robberies all happen when people looking to cash in on another persons fame. Rapper Tru Life told BEEF (the dvd) he robbed famous rap group Mobb Deep at gunpoint. Truth is he and his goons robbed some little known affiliates of Mobb Deep. So why lie? You still arm robbed some rappers. Point is he was tryna discredit Mobb Deep and add stripes to himself.

If little known rappers do it what do you think Jon Doe's gonna do? An African rapper snatched 50s chain...why? Who knows but I bet he got more attention from that than anything else he does in his life. Sometime that 15 mins is all you need to be seen.

Ironically it was 15 mins of fame that created the huge financial cash cow known as 50 Cent. Through beefing with bigger better known rappers like Jay Z, Ghostface and Raekwon (of Wu Tang Clan), and of course Ja Rule. 50 Cent was put in the limelight and he took advantage. Others however fall by the wayside and copycat chain snatchers take theyre place as the flava of the month.

Publicity comes from high profile artists going through trials and tribulations. Rappers are targets for those who starve for attention. Whether they are writing "tell-all/expose" books (like video hoes...I mean chicks), beating them up, arresting them or attempting to make your bones in the industry at their expense. Attention is usually the common denominator. Rappers are targets but they drew the target on themselves by partaking in foolish acts with no thought of consequence on their lives or public image. So when rapper's whine about aggressive policing, "haters", golddiggers I must remember they did it to themselves.

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