Pirus And Crips: A Short Story

The documentary Crips and Bloods: Made in America (2008) focuses on conditions and causes of gang violence in Los Angeles, California, as well as the history and background of the main gangs that reside there. The information in the film is compiled from interviews of past and present members of the Crips and Bloods, which are the two main gangs that contribute to the violence in the area. The interviewees explain how the gangs work and the conditions under which these people live daily. There can be parallels drawn from the film to Elijah Anderson’s article titled “The Code of the Streets”, published in 1994, that discusses violence in terms of gang and criminal activity.

The decade of hip-hop is what some may call it. Tupac, Naz, Biggie Smalls, as well as other artists, were major contributions. Not only for the people who are trying to find their footing, but Buck as well. Throughout the book various lyrics were embedded in order to create a better understanding for its readers. In addition, this book is based upon a 90s lifestyle within Philadelphia, which included drugs, gang activity, crime, hip-hop, and havoc. Malo was directly in the center of everything, the girls, the fights, the guns. His experiences shed light towards what it’s like to as an African American individual living in or near the hood. Not everyone realizes what people go through while living there, but now it gives some readers an image of what goes on. Though times have changed, not all previous feelings

To gaze into the lyrics of both Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur is like living in the ghettos of New York City where violence never stops. Both of these artists grew up seeing and living a life filled with violence. Gunshots and drive-byes, death and murder were a daily occurrence. Although the lyrics of both artists are simply telling their life stories and how hard it was to grow up in their “hoods” they contain vulgar, hateful, and sexual verses that send the wrong message to their listeners. Whether these listeners are teens or adults, white or black, they are continually sending notions of hatred and fear through their lyrics and actions. Ultimately,

He speaks with such emphasis when delivering these raps, leaving no doubt as to the purpose or meaning of his lyrics. Throughout both verses, Mos Def pulls no punches while speaking about pertinent issues in modern urban society. Things such as drug use, police behavior, and government spending are critiqued with an almost confrontational vocal tone, as if his experiences and opinions have formed and anger about the current direction our society is headed in. Mos Def’s rapping about socioeconomic problems are very controversial, because some people have not been exposed to the things that he raps about and thus may not understand (Perry). However, he raps them so confidently and with such stress that no one can deny how strongly he feels about the subject matter. Similar to the beat of “Mathematics”, Mos Def’s lyrics also bring about a sense of conflict. His flow is certainly not structured perfectly- as the pace speeds up and his words become more serious and pronounced as the song progresses. This was done intentionally to give the piece its harsh tone and send a clear challenge to its listeners- to stop sending society in the wrong

When Tricia Rose speaks to the concept of “hip hop wars” in her writing, she is referring to a broad range of different conflicts that are taking place in all areas of hip hop. In the introduction to her book, she begins to explain her multitude of concerns surrounding certain topics in hip hop. She begins by saying that the most financially successful hip hop has become a way of caricaturing “black gangstas, pimps and hoes” (p. 1). She goes on to explain that homophobia, hypersexism, antisocial behavior, and violent tendancies seem to have become defining characteristics of hip hop as a whole. Essentially, Tricia Rose’s definition of hip hop wars can be summarized as: the pushing and pulling between the forces of good and evil within a movement that has begun to develop undesirable qualities. She offers an array of critical analyzations in support and in opposition of hip hop.

Throughout the song, Tupac gives an inside look on the social problems affecting African-Americans and suggests possible solutions. In the first stanza of the song, Tupac first talks about how certain social issues are linked together; he makes a correlation between his skin color and being poor. Tupac says “I'm tired of bein' poor and even worse I'm black.” Then he explains how poverty causes crime by saying “My stomach hurts, so I'm lookin' for a purse to snatch.” And finally, he demonstrates the relationship between police brutality and race by saying “Cops give a damn about a negro? Pull the trigger, kill a nigga, he's a hero.”

Masculinity in the Hip-Hop culture has been redefined repetitively as the genre grows in popularity. Created in the late 70’s, Hip-Hop was started as an outlet for residents of urban communities to express them and have fun through the music. As Hip-Hop grew into the 80’s and 90’ the genre also evolved as the artist began to voice what was going on in their day to day lives and in their communities; Hip -hop became a form of storytelling. Being that a lot of Hip-Hop artist had street, and gang related backgrounds, their music would reflect their past lives that were violent and controversial. Despite their brave and unapologetic storytelling, the era of ‘gangster rap’ set the standard of what it meant to be masculine in the

After many mixtapes and nearing the edge of household name status, Maryland rapper Logic drops his first album. In this album is a song titled Gang Related. This song tells the story of what environment and household he grew up in. His brother is in a gang and sells cocaine to his father in front of him. Logic's mother is in an out of mental institutions, all the while logic is growing up and trying not to get shot when he walks outside. With drugs and gangs all around him, it is quite amazing that he got out and become a famous rapper. Gang Related also has a core message of stopping the violence, which leads to a question, is this song about his story or a message about ending the violence?

In his short overview of the origination of the Sugar Hill Gang in the mid 1970’s, the author makes it apparent the hip-hop grew out of necessity due to lack of funding in the art programs in New York City school system. This neoclassical movement of the mid 1970’s grew like a wildflower that sprouts through the cracks of a modern day concrete jungle.

The popular gangster rap music that also glamorized the violent yet ‘rewarding’ lifestyle of being a gangster growing up in South-Central Los Angeles. A couple years after this trend has sort of died down, school shooting have started

NY State of Mind”, another incredible song by Nas, expresses a form of rebellion against what he believes is unjust. He truly promotes the idea of fighting back and revolting as he states, “Time to start the revolution”, within one of his verses. He encourages people to step up and advocate to eliminate the gruesome conditions that unfortunately exist in the ghetto regions of New York. Hip hop music, like this, has worked to create political activism that calls countries like the United States to actually do something about the serious issues people face when residing in priority neighbourhoods. Lines such as, “I think of crime when I'm in a New York state of mind” capture the attention of various nations and display the realities of the people

The documentary Crips and the Bloods: Made in America tells the dramatic story of the perpetual gang violence that runs the streets of Los Angeles, California. Gaining an inside look at how and why this violence is continued, the video focuses on the individuals that are affected by the gangs. Families are torn apart due to endless murders, children are taught to hate and act violently towards their neighbors, and people lose their soul to the gangs that they call their families. Of course every person must make a choice to engage in this sort of life, but sometimes these people are put into situations where there are no other options. In order to further think about what has caused and maintained the violence in the LA area, we can look towards Agnew’s General Strain Theory and the Labeling Theory.

As thorough and rewarding as Bradley’s close reading can be, it is this sole focus that becomes problematic in Book of Rhymes. He stays on the surface, privileging the discussion of linguistic elements over cultural impact. He begins his wordplay chapter with an anecdote about a friend who disapproves of the misogynistic and violent elements of the Notorious B.I.G.’s lyrics, a qualm addressed by Bradley in a customary manner: “It’s not what he’s saying, it’s how he’s saying it” (86). Bradley is partially correct; how he’s saying it is the aesthetically appealing aspect of hip hop, the reason millions of people around the world enjoy the music. But what he’s saying is the more compelling aspect. The environment that produced the attitudes reflected in hip hop, the source of Biggie’s misogyny and violent imagery, must be given its proper treatment in order to understand rap music on deeper levels than the beauty and complexity of its poetic structures.

(But would not confront a nigga and jack a nigga if he bucked at your crew and stole from them)

He explains on how violent his life was and how he had to survive. In the song he mentions “ The projects is full of bullets, the bodies is droppin” showing that where he