...word to David Blaine.

It's almost that time, people.

ATLien ex-trap rapper Clifford Harris d/b/a T.I.(P.) is set to be released from federal custody within the next several months. Appropriately, the 'Net is buzzing with his name again. If you're not familiar with his year-ish prison term for attempting to purchase a mexican village's amount of firepower, then congrats! That means that you actually have a life rife with things of genuine importance. Unless, of course, you're a denizen of the world wide Hip Hop community, & it's surrogate attachment to the World Wide Web, where information is never limited or scarce. & in that case, you know almost every detail of this man's life.


In reality though, none of us truly know what this dude's been through over the past couple of years. A chain of events that more or less began with his best friend/personal assistant Philant Johnson being shot & killed in front of him. An act that T.I. has shouldered the responsibility for. So much so, that immediately following, T.I. apparently decided it was necessary to take matters into his own hands. Or at least take the steps to do so, attempting to purchase said weaponry for speculated retaliation. Fast track to today, with his pending release date from a mid-west federal facility being tossed back & forth between gossip websites & teenage girl's big mouths. After his conviction, but before his "leave of absence", Clifford went balls to the wall on a campaign to change the lives of at-risk young adults, even going so far as to having a reality show geared toward their self betterment. A proverbial road to redemption, as opposed to their obvious roads to perdition.


With being a spectacle, comes backlash. T.I. has been called a snitch, bitch & everything in between since his relatively light sentence was handed down. Even some of the "fans" he had turned their respective backs, based on nothing but second hand rambling & mere speculation. For legal insights, though, email Combat Jack. It's always entertaining to read/see/hear all the negative energy hurled at this man out of sheer ignorance, or a half-assed "knowledge" of how the legal system operates. Of all the derogatory slurs thrown around in regards to T.I., who most of these critics have never met, & won't ever meet, "fraud" is my personal favorite. In the last 3 days alone, I've read/seen/heard him called a fraud more times then the requisite "snitch".


Word? What exactly did he do to be labeled a fraud? Please, someone clarify this for me. & really, save the "keep it real" speech for underage pot heads who believe the government is tapping their cell phone & AIDS is only a Black man's disease.


Case in point; Bernie Madoff. He lied, schemed, scammed, shimmied, fanagled, hornswaggled & nigga-rigged his was to a fortune, ruining thousands of unsuspecting lives along the way. Bernie Madoff is a fraud, really though.


Arnold Schwarzeneggar. He lied, mislead, made empty promises, proposed change, ran smear campaigns, all for the sake of becoming California's governor, only to turn around & destroy it's economy, ruin it's job market, punish hard working citizens with layoffs & furloughs, etc. Arnold Schwarzeneggar is a fraud, really though.


Milli Vanilli. God bless the dead one, with their awesome lip-syncing, horrible hair extensions, & those ridiculous biker shorts/sports coat combos, was a fraud, really though.


Dig?


If anything, from my vantage point, he seems to have fallen victim of not being able to make the discernment between real & fake. Although, I believe that now, it's an easier task to accomplish. Prison has a way of enlightening cats beyond their perceptions of themselves. After all, it is intended rehabilitation, & I, for one, think that it works, for the most part. I've said it before, I predict he'll reemerge anew, with a story to tell & a lesson to teach. If I'm wrong, he's a douche nozzle, & deserves every bit of ill will he receives. Somebody's gotta take a stand against negative lifestyles & fabricated realities. So, why not somebody millions of misguided kids, & their equally as misguided parents, listen to?


But, beyond his ordeal, is the fact that so many rap fans take Hip Hop music as some sort of tutorial for life. It's not. Not one iota. Especially the rap dudes who make truck loads of money by pimping their perverted fantasies. In all realness, what they say can be 100% truth, but by no stretch of imagination does that qualify it to be studied, followed, & executed like some sort of history lesson. If I believed everything rappers said, I'd have dozens of kids, millions of ill-gotten dollars & multiple charges on me, from kidnapping to drug trafficking to murder. I used to listen to Eminem heavy. That alone would have had me in a padded room, word to 'Bonnie & Clyde'.


Just because T.I. had some street-worthy lyrics about a lifestyle that he may or may not have partaken in, doesn't make him a role model. Therefore, why does anything he says have any weight? My dad used to tell me all the time, as a kid, "don't smoke cigarettes." He did this, as he...smoked a cigarette. Did I call him a fraud? Was he fake? Or a bitch? Of course not, & this is a man that I've loved all my life. Clearly I'd be hurt if he didn't practice what he preached. So, how is it that a complete stranger, who the only connection I have with is through anonymous music, can hurt me so much with words without any tangible girth? Well not me, but you smell my cologne.


Maybe it's the lack of things the youth have to grab on to, that makes us gravitate towards bull shit, then cry "Bull shit!" when we knew it was bull shit all along. Or maybe, since there are no more heroes, we turn to bright & shiny things, like moths, in hopes of something that's not really there. Entertainment is the biggest optical/auditory illusion ever. Everybody involved in it is no different than David Blaine as far as I am concerned, & I know damn well that nigga can't fly, catch a bullet in his teeth or hold his breath for a week straight, even though I've seen him do all those things with my own eyes.


[tony's note: weezy might prolly wanna get in touch with blaine right about now, & learn the art of invisibility...]

Clifford's Footsteps

Remember when rap star TI became a completely different person? Prior to the murder of his best friend/personal assistant Philant Johnson, & being busted attempting to buy illegal assault rifles, TI was as much a part of the "problem" as every other rapper who raps without conscious. He glorified violence, materialism, genocide, bragged about his criminal activities & made no apologies about doing so. "Trap rap" was the term coined in regards to him, & many other MC's from his region based on their affection & glamorization of the drug dealer lifestyle. TI became the poster D(ope)-boy for the movement.


Suddenly, he had a couple changes of heart, most likely caused by actuality catching up to him in real-time. He found himself being bitten by the frozen snake he found in the woods. His friend died in his arms, his bodyguard sold him up the river, & already being a convicted felon, he was facing a substantial amount of his life being given to the "system" for his criminal charges. His outlook dramatically changed, seemingly overnight. He began lecturing the youth at school across the country, speaking at rallies about the importance of voting, & starred in an arguably successful reality show aimed at rehabilitating misguided kids before it was too late. He made it clear that he regretted what his life had become, & even warned kids about making similar mistakes on a few talk show couches. The album he recorded while awaiting his day of confinement has been hailed as his most successul, & ironically, his most uplifting & positive release. His relese date is in February, & that will be the hour which he proves himself a changed man, or that the last two years of his life was all merely song & dance.


Only a fool sees prison as a respectable badge of honor. That's like bragging about overdosing on heroin, but surviving. Being arrested is one thing-you can get arrested for indecent exposure, public drunkenness, disturbing the peace, etc. But being found guilty of whatever charges, & going to prison (not a holding cell), is reality at it's most intimate. Case(s) in point; my uncle got locked up for drug trafficking, did almost a decade, came home & has NEVER spoken about what transpired, except to say what degrees he'd obtained. My cousin, coincidentally one of the toughest niggas I've ever met, is serving 25 to life for armored car robbery & attempt murder, & within the last few years has found God & is now studying theology. A close friend of mine is doing a several years on an assault charge, & his letters reek of despair, loneliness & regret. Before he got locked up this last time, he made it a point to speak out about how prison isn't where any of us want to be. He was adamant in his disdain. Hopefully, this time will be his last. All three of these men are nothing short of "gangsta", yet it's obvious that prison time has affected them in ways that even a tumultuous street life couldn't.


Every other month, there seems to be another rapper going to jail. The oddity isn't in the fact that they've committed crimes & ultimately had to "pay their debt to society", but that only Clifford Harris has spoken in regards to this being the inescapable result of unwise decision making. I wonder if Lil Wayne will fully utilize his popularity & tell the millions of impressionable teenagers worldwide that, if they don't smarten up, this is what could happen? No dice, I'm sure. That's quite a bit of pressure to put on a man who earns a heavy pay load by being a negative influence.


Rapper Lil Boosie was sentenced to a year over a gun charge, & all he could do was brag about how "it's nothing". Never once did he tell his supporters publicly, "Don't do what I did". He softens the blow by making it appear to be just a stumbling block to be dismissed & forgotten.


There's a rapper in the Bay Area, CA, that goes by the name "The Jacka" who last year, released a mix tape dedicated to the incarcerated. I understand his sentiments, because I truly believe a man's heart can not be judged solely by his instinctive actions, but if you have to do the time, the least we can do is let kids know that it's not a movie, video game, rap fantasy or "time-out". It's punishment, & punishment should be treated as a tool for future prosperity, rather than glorified war story.


I know better than to believe an artist has the responsibility of mentoring their fans, but at least have some decency about it. C-Murder, convicted of murder, hasn't said one thing positive to the "fans" who supported him. His story ends with "live how you get it" or "die by the sword", when some of the youth would take a "think twice about what's important" to heart just as eagerly. I hear people talk about how there's a lack of guidance in our communities, & I disagree. The guidance is there, but it's dispensed from all the wrong people, places & things.


The thing I love about mistakes is that when I get through them, I can share with my people how/why it happened to me & how they can avoid it. & I don't have to take a goody-goody stance & denounce any aspects of life to help a lesson get learned, becaused I lived it. Hopefully more rappers will follow Clifford's footsteps, & educate the youngters to the true nature of voluntary enslavement, tax monies for prisoners & the infrastructure designed to empower failure.


Much respect to the dudes who did their time & came home ready to make a difference. The truth is, we need more cats to show the positive sides of negative situations. In the words of the Real Freeway Ricky Ross, "I'm out now, & it's time to make things happen".