They Shoulda Never...

THEY SHOULDA NEVER GAVE YALL NIGGAS MONEY!

Words: Streetz “The Living Legend”

…So the other day I was flippin the channel and I came across the BET “We Gotta Do Better Awards” (also known as the Hip hop awards). It was once again (minus the freestyle) another ghetto whack affair that makes the hip hop culture and our race look WEAK! Now that I got that out, last week was crazy as T.I became the latest black celebrity to get bagged. This time for buying machine guns… not 45’s, not 9mm’s, MACHINE GUNS!! Now that he had priors, he could face 20-30 years in jail or more. These series of events over the last few weeks leads me to one conclusion: We as a race cannot leave the ‘hood’ elements behind, no matter what type of status we obtained.

Disagree? What about Michael Vick? His career was all but set in stone, he was the toast of ATL, had endorsements for YEARS, and threw it all away to fight dogs in his crib… OJ, who got away with murder once, fcuks around and runs up on cats with his memorabilia that he didn’t own anymore…all to that _______<++insert any rappers name here, who constantly gets bagged for having marijuana on them, in their car, a random pistol, etc etc etc. What’s REALLY good?

I wonder if it is just publicity stunts at first, to keep up a certain “street cred” image with the public to sell what some of these rappers say in their lyrics, then I hear quite possibly the MOST gangsta rapper out (Styles P) say he NEVER wants to go back to jail. If he’s saying it, then I know it truly isn’t “cool to be locked up”. Some cats, like Akon, made a career over incarceration, but is it REALLY worth it? I bet if you ask him jail is the last thing he wants to see. Is it even the fact that a lot of these dudes got famous early and never broke out of their bad habits? Maybe they think they will never get caught? I don’t care what you say, for a dude like T.I.P., who has a movie coming out with Denzel, Records going platinum, and nothing but opportunity ahead, to risk throwing all of that away just to stack an arsenal that would make them Columbine kids blush, is STUPID period.

I’ve never claimed to be a gangsta or had a crazy rough life, however I still remember the drug dealers and such telling us to stay in school, because their life isn’t for us. I still remember them same cats talking about “making it” and giving that life up. Some weren’t fortunate to see the next day. Others grew out of that life and were able to get a legal hustle poppin. So if you are so hood, and you got OUT, why do the things that you know will put you back to square one? Why throw away the result of the grind to lean on the EXCUSE of being a product of your environment? The same dudes who call you a G and say you are Keeping It Real are the SAME dudes who will have taken your place while you sit in jail, wondering What if?

Whether they like it or not, these men are role models to our youth. To the kids without dads. To the kids with a full family. To the neighborhood hustler and the around the way dozier. We all root for you when you come out our hoods and make it. Some of us will hate on you openly, but still respect you for giving us hope of a brighter future. I won’t make the same asinine argument some people say that blames “Hip Hop Culture” for this decline in behavior amongst blacks. There have been art forms and artists who have gone against the grain for centuries. They inspire creativity and invoke a feeling of encouragement in youth. Nothing wrong with that. However it does start with family. It continues with education. It ends with common sense. T.I. Hold your head, and straighten it out once you are freed. Remember who you represent and remember the bigger picture. We all need to be our brothers’ keeper. Our sisters’ keeper. We got to do better yall.

"Every famous nigga that get arrested is not Nelson Mandela"

-Huey from "Boondocks"

Streetz

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