Rap ‘N Real Life
(The Politics ‘n Between)
By. Ron “Mr. Kane” Alexander
Dallas, Texas
Now the discussion at hand is a very important topic involving many rappers! “Rap N’ Real Life”, the title is self explanatory as you may see. What led me to discuss this is for you to determine who’s doing what, compared to who’s not doing anything. You see rappers get misunderstood all the time! Some of them intentionally say things to leave audiences in an absolute state of curiosity or confusion, and some of them actually do some of the things they chose to mention.
I’ve got a few questions for you; do you think it is at all possible your favorite rapper is out there living the exact lifestyle they claim to live? Do you think they actually have time to do the things they claim to do? I guess it all depends on who (and what) your rapper is, and whatever is being discussed. Let’s move on to rappers like “Rick Ross” and his situation. Now, myself as an artist I respect his music and skills. He probably (more than likely) has a very large fan base. His first album (Port of Miami) as I know now is certified platinum, led by singles like (Hustlin) and (Push It To The Limit), which are pretty much detailed about big time dealing! Now, if I’m not mistaken, a recent discovery towards this guy’s prior identity made headlines not to long ago! Matter of fact, somebody had actual proof of Mr. Ross’s back ground in which had something to do with being an ex-correctional officer. Once the discovery was made, Rick Ross denied all accusations until proven to be true. The music industry today is seriously a lot more entertainment than it was almost 16 years ago! Me, personally, I would have found it a lot easier to just mix my real life situations and experiences into my music!
Now I’m not sure whether or not Rick Ross surely thought or even knew anybody was going to find out! A lot of real Hip Hop heads, find lyrical content (especially his) very hard to believe due to his prior occupation. Don’t get me wrong, there are several rappers (especially successful ones) that choose to play the narrator role, or might have even done as they claim in their lyrics. But bottom line, it’s really all simple logic because it’s kind of impossible to run around saying your still pushing major work, packing major heat, and doing major crimes but still somehow find time to stay in front of the camera 24-7. (Impossible) Nothing against anybody, but I’m just trying to keep it 100% plus. There are certain rappers who claim to have done “time”, or claim to have been shot or arrested in some sort. Now me personally, being where I am now, I can honestly say that I know what it’s like to be around murderers, robbers, jackers, and hustlers all day. Due to the fact that I am one of them, I’m still a hustla at heart and my hustle game don’t stop, but it’s just time for me to grind in a totally “different aspect!
Now let’s take “T.I. and his situation for example with the assault rifles and machine guns. There’s a lot of curiosity behind his plea deal, but truly you do have to ask yourself “what the hell was he really thinking”. It is understandable that his homie was murdered a few weeks before, but still, a strange situation for someone of his caliber to even be in. I respect his music, and his word might (or might not) even be good as well! He mentioned details about his plea deal in a magazine article about him getting 3 federal years, and community service for such a vicious crime! Plus, he’s a convicted felon too! Let’s say, if I was in a similar situation like his, with that many guns, I probably would have ended up getting 40 or more years. But still, you really can’t assume or judge a persons situation until you either know for a fact what actually happened. Some say that he was set up, some even say he snitched! But there was a very valuable point he made during his interview about his plea deal being detailed on paper. He basically told the world to go ahead and take it beyond your assumptions and find out what really went down. I guess the court figured since he is so relevant in today’s music, that maybe he could be the one who’s capable of leading the influence of youth now-a-days. And by locking him up for a million years, maybe they figured the youth would try and walk in his foot steps. Who knows!
Now lets move on to a different artist. “50 Cent” for example, the entire world knows the guy was shot, and supposedly no one knows why! Huum. I’m more than quite sure he himself knows the reason behind it! That’s my opinion. Stories similar to his are very much like stories that intrigue the fans. But once a lot of other rappers started to use the same type of story, and then reality starts to get a little watered down. And that’s part of the reason why the game is changed to this day.
There are too many people telling similar stories that are alike! Supposedly, 50 Cent mentioned in an interview about him going to prison, but come to find out he only did 6 to 9 months of Boot Camp. Please don’t claim to have done time if you haven’t done several years up. Sometimes people choose to take whatever they want and roll with it! But, it never fails, because the truth always comes to light regardless of who you are. Same with “Young Jeezy’s” situation! When ever he dropped “Thug Motivation 101”, due to his explicit drug content, the feds decided to investigate him. Come to find out, nothing was proven, and most of what Jeezy talks about are from past experiences. Word is the dude does have street credibility! Plus, it’s also said he had strong ties with a powerful criminal organization that took a hard fall several of years ago.
So there’s a point and time to where you sometimes have to be smart about what you say and do, and he’s one of the very few who wised up. What goes behind the scenes in Rap Music sometimes now-a-days are unbelievable? It’s not very hard to detect the rappers who deliberately do things to either get attention or try and boost up their images. There was a “real point in time” to where beefs and real violence did exist behind the scenes. Not to say that it doesn’t now, but it was “way more realer then”. Tupac and Biggie, of course both of them died in an era which “beef” meant a lot more than just microphone battling! These 2 here had 2 different coasts at war behind what the 2 of them chose to believe in. Sad to say, both of these great rappers were murdered due to multiple gin shot wounds. And what happened to them, is nothing you could consider “fake” or “made up”. These guys lost their lives, as well as many other artists. “Big L”, a skillful M.C. out of Harlem, New York was gunned down in his own hood. Many believe that the cause of his death was displayed by his own brother. And “Jam Master J”, from “Run D-MC”, from my knowledge was a good guy who never really bothered anyone. He too was gunned down in his own hood of Queens, New York, and nobody at all knows the real reason behind it. That just goes to show you that sometimes you never know what really goes on behind the scenes, and at the same time the media could only portray a certain portion of what people do with their lives. But that’s only until something tragic happens.
Every body does have a personal life. Let’s take the Legendary “Pimp C” for instance. I grew up listening to UGK, and whenever I came to the discovery of Pimps death, I was sort of confused. I’ve never known or acknowledged him to have been unhealthy or to have had any major addictions. It really hit me by surprise, whenever they said he overdosed on syrup. And you already know people are going to always come up with their own conspiracy theories. Same thing about DJ Screw, and the deaths of Fat Pat, Big Hawk, Big Moe, Proof and many others. Another example is “Busta Rhymes, and the death of his body guard in which was shot to death in front of his own eyes as he claims. Many criticized Busta for choosing to remain silent about the whole ordeal. Strange ain’t it? You never really know what goes on behind the scenes.
Same with Foxy Brown, in which she was released from prison last year for threatening and assaulting her hair dresser, or someone of that nature in a beauty salon. I don’t know if you remember a rapper from in between the early to mid 1090’s by the name of “Chi-Ali”. He was featured on America’s Most Wanted for multiple murder and robbery charges. This dude has major time right now, but still, no one knows the real reason behind what led him to do what he did. You have some rappers who rap about doing gangsta sh#t, and never before experienced it. That is, only some of them. The big difference between rap music now, and back in the day is the fact that today it’s more of a business. It’s entertainment now! Back then there really were rappers getting hurt for the things they expressed. The images they chose to portray! But don’t get it twisted; you do have some talented artists that really keep it 100% to what they rhyme about. Like Ludacris for example. Dude has a crazy sense of humor, and knows how to have fun with his rhymes in which appeal to millions. And on the other hand, you got rappers like “C-Murder who gets stereotyped because his name. C-Murder just recently got released from prison after “supposedly” linked to killing a teenage kid. And after his release, another murder case came up in regards to him because of his name. Some do have it rough out there, so always remember one thing! “How you portray yourself is how you display yourself”. Whatever I give to the world through my music, you better believe it’s going to be 100% me and my own personal situations as well as things I’ve witnessed and might be provoked to do!
This has been another ConvictedArtist exclusive, 09 style, I hope you all enjoyed this topic because there is a lot of seriousness behind it. And be sure and find out what ever it is you feel you need to know about your favorite artists. “Tales Frum Tha Metrosection”, coming soon!