emo thugs>gangstaz

Being born & raised in the real Los Angeles, California (as opposed to cities that are just part of Los Angeles County, no shots), I'm partial to my gangster rap. Always have been. I was in the 3rd grade when my friend Eric snuck Ice T's '6 n da mornin' 12 inch into our class. Yes hetero. That day, we went to his house & enjoyed the smug posturing of Tracy Marrow, the OG. My uncle introduced me to King Tee's music not too long after, before the release of his debut 'Act A Fool', & the day my dad took me to the Slauson Swapmeet to buy N.W.A.'s 'Straight Outta Comptown', & Eazy-E's 'Eazy Duz it', it was a wrap. For those unaware, this is where west coast gangster music was spawned. Every one of those covers had at least 2 things in common. Niggas & guns. Gangsta, indeed. & don't get me started on how slept-on Compton's Most Wanted & DJ Quik are.


That gansta music spead like wildfire. Everybody's city had there own brand of realness to share with the world. & it was all good; every hood has a story to tell. But, let the records show that it started in California, & it looks like it came home to die. The only man I see trying to administer CPR right now is Game. There's only one problem. He's not a gangster rapper. For all intents & purposes, he's more emo-thug than gangsta. Granted, he influenced the Blood nation more than DJ Quik & Mack 10 combined in the 90's, but everybody's a gangster these days. Notice the ratio of rappers to gang-bangers now, versus 10 years ago. 15. Anytime before that, if you claimed it, you had better be living it. Not just throwing on blue or red & gathering every loser you grew up with for your video shoot.


Game's sole purpose is, & always was, to revitalize the west coast by means of what we know. Gangsta music. But, in between willingly putting a whole coast on his back, it seems he didn't learn enough from the forefather's, especially with so much emotion-charged Hip Hop dominating the scenes. Seriously, he would have done major damage had he put on some skinny jeans. Same name dropping, same butterfly tattoo even. It's not even an issue of why or why not emo-rap is popular, it's just that gangsta rap is dead.


Today's Hip Hop fan has evolved from the mindless music fanboy who found excitement in the caveats of hardcore 80's war stories. But, don't tell Game that. He's still hanging with the boys in the hood, driving around aimlessly in his lowriders, & gang banging like this was Little Rock, Arkansas. For the record, Game is as talented as the rest. I like his music, but there's only so much repetition one man can stomach. I couldn't care less about the authenticity of his gang affiliation. It doesn't matter to me if, however comical, he was a pole dancer. [||]? What matters is that, unless you troll the covertly hidden underground scene--which is actually awesome out here, Hip Hop is homeless in L.A. I wouldn't mind a dude taking a stand for the city, or the state, or the coast. A man who's not scared to be a mouth piece, regardless of the hate. But also a man willing to admit that relevance is tethered to what's current, like it or not.


Alas, Game can't save Cali Hip Hop. Neither can Snoop. Not even to sure about Glasses Malone & Bishop Lamont either. Ice Cube even knew that, that's why in the mid 90's, he did what the Clippers need to do-move out of Los Angeles for better opportunity.


Let the 'Nets tell it, & there's no such thing as a regional bias, so this sentence alone could blow my whole theory to smitherens.

Seinfeld's Law

Remember the last episode of 'Seinfeld', where Jerome, Cosmo, Lainey & George "T-Bone" Costanza were arrested for watching the fat guy get robbed & did nothing but videotape it & make "fat guy" jokes?


[tony's note: yeah, don't front like you've never watched it...]


They were charged with breaking the imaginary "Good Sumaritan Law", which made it illegal to witness a crime without making any attempts to stop it. For the sake of the show, it was a means to an end, signifying the last hurrah for the 'Seinfeld' cast & crew. &, it was funny to see the morbidly obese man squeeze his swollen body from that compact car. Not that morbid obesity is comical, but, you smell my cologne.


Now, to parallel that with reality, a 15 year old student at Richmond High School, in San Francisco, CA was robbed, beaten & raped after the school's Homecoming dance last Saturday. Ironically, she was crowned Homecoming Queen. The West Contra Costa Unified School District has had it's fair amount of controversy lately, with a truancy rate of 69%, & last year's homicide total at 19. Investigations at Richmond High have revealed that only a small number of the school's surveillance cameras are operable & numerous fights on school grounds have been posted on YouTube.


So far, for the reported crime, a 19 year old ex-student & a current 15 year old student &a few more kids have been formally charged, with more arrests undoubtedly to come. Which in essence, sounds about right, but considering the fact that roughly 20 individuals participated makes that horrifying event that much more appalling. Reports say that about half of the participants were witnesses who did nothing to aid the girl, & perhaps some even videotaped it on their cell phones. That's more than likely, given America's voyeuristic approach at life. Eerily though, a very similar situation happened recently in Chicago, IL, to a young man named Derrion Albert, which resulted in his brutal, possibly avoidable murder had someone just stepped in. You may have heard about it. Instead, people either stood around, joined in the barbaric activities & recorded the event for prosperity. Perhaps the one good aspect of the paparazzi mob mentality is that criminals are stupid enough to get caught on tape red handed, some even amplifying their idiocy for the camera man.


We've all been there at least once, where we found ourselves in the midst of something that seemed to be going to far, yet waited on the next person to intervene or hoped it would just go away. Maybe it did go away, it probably didn't, but we see what happened in the cases of this young lady & Derrion Albert. No one said anything, which, at the very least leveled the playing field between witness & perpetrator. & if it didn't, it should have. Otherwise, only prison walls, as opposed to mental stability, truly separate the criminals & the civilians.


Currently, California has no laws that makes it illegal for one to witness a crime without at least notifying the authorities. They do have the "accessory" charge, but watching doesn't necessarily translate into "helping", as much as driving the car or signaling if someone approaches. Maybe they should implement such an ordinance. Granted, it wouldn't sit well with the boisterous "no snitching" ethos that shadows the inner-city, but life exists outside of the fabricated world of gangster politics & subversive criminal activity, so it is a possibilty.


The victim was rushed to a local hospital for her injuries, yet the mental scars of "multiple offenders, multiple people raping over [a] prolonged period" will still be fresh wounds even when stitches are removed & bruises disappear.


No shots, but very few things separate the human race from the rest of the animal kingdom. Judging by the news & urban legends, that line dwindles daily. At this rate, jail will literally be just another version of the zoo, if one doesn't consider it that already. That's not to say that all the dudes who ever experience jail are sub-human, but, again, you smell my cologne. We need to take "Love Thy Neighbor" a little more seriously, folks. If "we" don't like/trust the police, & the government is secretly plotting to destroy our shallow existences with hidden agendas & conspiracy theory actualities, than the least we can do, as a race, is watch each other's collective back. This isn't to say that everyone needs to don a cape & become hero's to anonymous prey, but super powers aren't needed to dial 911. How much of a douche nozzle are you really when you don't feel the incessant need to help keep another person safe? Although, I guess that's beyond douchery. That's more like evil, pathetic cowardice. Without dwelling too deep beneath the surface of societal ailment, there's always two sides to a story but usually only a singular outcome.


[tony's note: sorry for the lack of "comedy". i don't find anything funny about this bullshit.]

gone fishin'

Guess what?

I'm on a family vacation!First time ever, road trip & all. My wife's family lives in Louisiana, so we drove from Los Angeles to Shreveport to visit for a week. I've never been on a vacation in my life, so this is a new thing for me. I'm a creature of normalcy & routine. I like to know where my draws are, & that I can walk through the house in them & such. But, everybody needs time to cool their heels every now & then, I guess. You guy's have seven days to miss me, so enjoy yourselves while I'm gone. & don't do anything I wouldn't do.

But first...

I'd like to thank all of you, my supporters, who give me a reason to want to share my thoughts & opinions & snarcasm. I started my blog in January, & honestly, if I didn't have all y'all to write for, I would've stopped a long time ago. I'm deeply appreciative to be invited into your computers & enjoyed ([||] for the fellas) on a regular basis. Sometimes this site is my therapy, & I'm just thankful you guys have the patience, understanding & sense(s) of humor to ride with me. I'm not going to name names, but I know who my folks are. If you think this post is directed to you, there's a good chance it is.

So, even though I'll miss y'all, say a prayer for boy, & don't forget about me. & believe, when I get home, I'll have some stories to tell.

Be cool, & be careful motherfuckers. I'll holler next Monday.

*Btw, it says it on top of the page, but I'll say it again down here;
tonygrands@gmail.com
That's in case you business with me, or just want to chat*
In a minute...