AN OPEN LETTER TO JR WRITER & THE DIPSET
BY IVAN SANCHEZ
Writing about the exploitation of the hip hop culture is nothing new to me.
But it's usually me questioning the unethical behavior of record label executives, rappers continuing to brainwash the culture with taglines like, "snitches catch stitches" or so-called MC's mic-controlling their way through another bullshit tale of how gangster they were last week when they bodied a few bootleggers.
Sounds good when you spit it in the studio but in real life it turns out like this - A 32-year old man named Carlos Thompson (Dipset muscle) orders 13-year-old L'mani Delima to murder 15-year-old Phoenix Garrett for selling bootleg Dipset CD's.
It doesn't get anymore gangster than that people - Another black mother standing over the coffin of her baby boy.
How gangster… Right?
It seems Dipset takes the saying, "There is no such thing as bad press…" to heart.
Whether they're trying to convince us that their Bloods, even though they live in million dollar homes or Cam'ron personally telling the world on 60 Minutes he wouldn't rat on a serial killer even if he lived next door - to bad Jeffrey Dahmer didn't hear about that sooner - They never seem to fail us with their ingenious food for thought.
The latest incident of self-inflicted harm on hip hop comes compliments of JR Writer's latest video on You Tube titled, "On His Grind - Part 2.
"
JR Rider on His Grind Meets JDL of Cold Crush
In the video a clearly
disheveled JDL of the Legendary Cold Crush Brothers plugs the shit out of JR Writer as one of the greatest Mc's alive. In
the background you can hear a laughing crew of cronies - most likely some of the same cats who would send a 13-year-old to shoot a 15-year-old for selling
JR's CDs bootleg - enjoying the exploitation of one of hip hop's trailblazers.
Apparently it's extremely comical to laugh at a pioneer of hip hop in his darkest times, even if he is directly responsible for opening doors for your music all over the globe.
The video was sent to me by an understandably shaken DJ Disco Wiz who asked me, "Why do these young cats feel it's necessary to exploit JDL like that?"
"We reach out to these young dudes all the time to show them love. Who the fuck are they to treat a legend that way? Don't they understand that it can just as easily be them in ten years? How would they feel if they were put out there like that in their time of need?" he continued.
I couldn't answer any of his questions, but I thought back to a conversation we had in Joe Conzo's apartment a month earlier.
While Conzo autographed a few copies of his visually historical book, Born in the Bronx, for me, he and Wiz got into a discussion about showing JDL tough love in hopes of bringing him to the realization that he needed to want to get better before he could get better.
Joe went on to tell us that his mother helped JDL get into a program to help him battle his disease with drug addiction.
Never having met JDL personally I couldn't help but feel a deep rooted compassion for the brother. Not only because he provided the soundtrack to my life as a backdrop while growing up in the Bronx. But because he was a human being and I had sympathy for his struggle and plight.
When these cats rhyme in a glorified manner about the struggle I immediately understand that they've never survived it - never witnessed it. I'm brought to this conclusion by the fact that those who've experienced pain and suffering would never glorify it or exploit it as a way to make a fast buck.
I simply can't respect their words when they feel forced, fake and fabricated for the sake of elevating their street credibility.
I wonder if JR Writer was laughing for the sake of following his crews lead or if he simply felt no empathy for the visibly sickly JDL.
I remember watching one of my closest friends Terrell use every ounce of strength he had in his 125-pound frame to fight the cops off when they came to take custody of him and his brother. It was a result of his mother, one of the most beautiful black women I've ever seen, become a victim of the crack rock.
Terrell's mother not only lost her job as a nurse, her car (one of the few nice ones in the neighborhood) and her apartment - but she lost a mother's most precious commodity - her children.
Terrell was fifteen-years-old at the time and when I saw him several years later he looked at me with the same empty expression he had on his face after being handcuffed and dragged away that day. He looked at me as if I had betrayed him. It's a look you never forget and a pain that never heals.
I'm a part of the hip hop culture though so I'm supposed to sit idly by while the younger generation continues to make a mockery of everything hip hop was supposed to be. I'm supposed to turn my head - pretend I don't see what I see. Cover my ears and pretend I don't hear what I hear.
Sweep it under the rug and stick it in the back of the closet - after all we're not supposed to air our own dirty laundry right?
Nah man, fuck that…
I've stood over the coffins of to many friends to pretend it's OK. I've watched too many become addicted to the drugs we sold to one another to get rich quick. Watched to many of my boys kill each other with the same guns we sold to one another.
For those reasons I can't stay silent…
I don't blame hip hop for all of society's ills - I blame hip hop for not doing more to fix them.
I don't blame hip hop for every kid who walks the wrong path - I blame hip hop for not doing anything to alter his path.
I don't blame hip hop for JDL's dependency on drugs - I blame them for not doing anything to uplift the brother when he needs them most.
I blame hip hop for not paying him back for the many years of blood, sweat and tears he put into this culture. I blame hip hop for not having his back now the way he had their back when people said hip hop wasn't here to last… It was only a fad - here today and gone tomorrow.
I blame hip hop for not giving a fuck about itself… I blame hip hop for not giving a fuck about itself… I blame hip hop for not giving a flying fuck about itself…
And I challenge JR Writer, the Dipset Crew, G-Unit, Terror Squad and every other crew to do something about it.
I challenge you all to try to give a fuck for once in your lives!
Ivan Sanchez is an author, youth advocate and motivational speaker.
He can be reached at Ivan@isanchez. com
Return to Davey D's Hip Hop Corner
BY IVAN SANCHEZ
Writing about the exploitation of the hip hop culture is nothing new to me.
But it's usually me questioning the unethical behavior of record label executives, rappers continuing to brainwash the culture with taglines like, "snitches catch stitches" or so-called MC's mic-controlling their way through another bullshit tale of how gangster they were last week when they bodied a few bootleggers.
Sounds good when you spit it in the studio but in real life it turns out like this - A 32-year old man named Carlos Thompson (Dipset muscle) orders 13-year-old L'mani Delima to murder 15-year-old Phoenix Garrett for selling bootleg Dipset CD's.
It doesn't get anymore gangster than that people - Another black mother standing over the coffin of her baby boy.
How gangster… Right?
It seems Dipset takes the saying, "There is no such thing as bad press…" to heart.
Whether they're trying to convince us that their Bloods, even though they live in million dollar homes or Cam'ron personally telling the world on 60 Minutes he wouldn't rat on a serial killer even if he lived next door - to bad Jeffrey Dahmer didn't hear about that sooner - They never seem to fail us with their ingenious food for thought.
The latest incident of self-inflicted harm on hip hop comes compliments of JR Writer's latest video on You Tube titled, "On His Grind - Part 2.
"
JR Rider on His Grind Meets JDL of Cold Crush
In the video a clearly
disheveled JDL of the Legendary Cold Crush Brothers plugs the shit out of JR Writer as one of the greatest Mc's alive. In
the background you can hear a laughing crew of cronies - most likely some of the same cats who would send a 13-year-old to shoot a 15-year-old for selling
JR's CDs bootleg - enjoying the exploitation of one of hip hop's trailblazers.
Apparently it's extremely comical to laugh at a pioneer of hip hop in his darkest times, even if he is directly responsible for opening doors for your music all over the globe.
The video was sent to me by an understandably shaken DJ Disco Wiz who asked me, "Why do these young cats feel it's necessary to exploit JDL like that?"
"We reach out to these young dudes all the time to show them love. Who the fuck are they to treat a legend that way? Don't they understand that it can just as easily be them in ten years? How would they feel if they were put out there like that in their time of need?" he continued.
I couldn't answer any of his questions, but I thought back to a conversation we had in Joe Conzo's apartment a month earlier.
While Conzo autographed a few copies of his visually historical book, Born in the Bronx, for me, he and Wiz got into a discussion about showing JDL tough love in hopes of bringing him to the realization that he needed to want to get better before he could get better.
Joe went on to tell us that his mother helped JDL get into a program to help him battle his disease with drug addiction.
Never having met JDL personally I couldn't help but feel a deep rooted compassion for the brother. Not only because he provided the soundtrack to my life as a backdrop while growing up in the Bronx. But because he was a human being and I had sympathy for his struggle and plight.
When these cats rhyme in a glorified manner about the struggle I immediately understand that they've never survived it - never witnessed it. I'm brought to this conclusion by the fact that those who've experienced pain and suffering would never glorify it or exploit it as a way to make a fast buck.
I simply can't respect their words when they feel forced, fake and fabricated for the sake of elevating their street credibility.
I wonder if JR Writer was laughing for the sake of following his crews lead or if he simply felt no empathy for the visibly sickly JDL.
I remember watching one of my closest friends Terrell use every ounce of strength he had in his 125-pound frame to fight the cops off when they came to take custody of him and his brother. It was a result of his mother, one of the most beautiful black women I've ever seen, become a victim of the crack rock.
Terrell's mother not only lost her job as a nurse, her car (one of the few nice ones in the neighborhood) and her apartment - but she lost a mother's most precious commodity - her children.
Terrell was fifteen-years-old at the time and when I saw him several years later he looked at me with the same empty expression he had on his face after being handcuffed and dragged away that day. He looked at me as if I had betrayed him. It's a look you never forget and a pain that never heals.
I'm a part of the hip hop culture though so I'm supposed to sit idly by while the younger generation continues to make a mockery of everything hip hop was supposed to be. I'm supposed to turn my head - pretend I don't see what I see. Cover my ears and pretend I don't hear what I hear.
Sweep it under the rug and stick it in the back of the closet - after all we're not supposed to air our own dirty laundry right?
Nah man, fuck that…
I've stood over the coffins of to many friends to pretend it's OK. I've watched too many become addicted to the drugs we sold to one another to get rich quick. Watched to many of my boys kill each other with the same guns we sold to one another.
For those reasons I can't stay silent…
I don't blame hip hop for all of society's ills - I blame hip hop for not doing more to fix them.
I don't blame hip hop for every kid who walks the wrong path - I blame hip hop for not doing anything to alter his path.
I don't blame hip hop for JDL's dependency on drugs - I blame them for not doing anything to uplift the brother when he needs them most.
I blame hip hop for not paying him back for the many years of blood, sweat and tears he put into this culture. I blame hip hop for not having his back now the way he had their back when people said hip hop wasn't here to last… It was only a fad - here today and gone tomorrow.
I blame hip hop for not giving a fuck about itself… I blame hip hop for not giving a fuck about itself… I blame hip hop for not giving a flying fuck about itself…
And I challenge JR Writer, the Dipset Crew, G-Unit, Terror Squad and every other crew to do something about it.
I challenge you all to try to give a fuck for once in your lives!
Ivan Sanchez is an author, youth advocate and motivational speaker.
He can be reached at Ivan@isanchez. com
Return to Davey D's Hip Hop Corner
