NO, RAPPERS ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO LEAVE THE HOOD!
In the week following the tragic murder of Nipsey Hussle, his fellow rappers have been going on tangents about leaving the hood for fear of being killed. Coward talk. The exact opposite of what Nipsey stood for. Included in this coward talk has been rappers who, ironically, compare themselves to Tupac Shakur. These rappers are so ignorant and passive that they don’t even realize Nipsey’s murder has sparked something revolutionary in Los Angeles. Rival Crip and Blood sets have been embracing one another, and making plans to keep Nipsey’s vision of the reduction of gang violence a reality.
Singers can leave the hood, Jazz musicians can leave the hood, but rappers CAN NOT. The very moment you call yourself a rapper, you have assigned yourself a duty. You are now a spokesperson for the streets, and the greater community that you come from. Why? Because Hip Hop IS the streets. This isn’t the time for nuance, and I’m not talking about non-Black rappers, or Black rappers who are so white-identified mentally that they don’t connect with us. I’m talking about the culture. The culture that is dwindling as we speak due to Gentrification.
“They’re telling me now that I’ve made a little money, I have to move. No one’s ever trying to deal with (the hood). They’re just moving away from it. So we’re gonna have more stars coming from the ghetto, but they’re gonna move.”
- Tupac, 1994
Nipsey Hussle did exactly what a rapper is supposed to do. He rapped about making improvements to his neighborhood, owned businesses, hired people from the community (including felons), and invested in the education of Black children. Most important, he didn’t denounce gangs. Instead, he invested in the rap careers of members from the Rollin’ 60s Crips he was apart of. He left no one behind, didn’t turn his nose up, and never said “we all have the same 24 hours.”
If you rap about the environment that you live in and how it isn’t right, you have a duty to do your part in changing it, AND also making sure no politicians or opportunistic activists try to come in and take credit for the changes you make for your community.
“I’m A$AP Rocky. I did not sign up to be no political activist. I wanna talk about my motherfuckin’ lean, my best friend dying, girls, my jiggy fashion and my inspirations in drugs. I live in fucking Soho and Beverly Hills. I can’t relate.”
- A$AP Rocky, 2015
The statement above is the anti-thesis of what Hip Hop originally stood for. How did we get to the point where grown ass men make such statements without any fear of repercussions? Why do rappers feel so safe being sellouts? Is it entropy at work or are rappers vetted by industry heads at the beginning of their stardom to keep revolutionary ideals at bay?
“I’m not saying I’m going to change the world. But I guarantee that I’m going to spark the brain that will (…) I don’t know how to change it. But I know if I keep talking about how dirty it is, somebody’s gonna clean it up”.
- Tupac, 1993
Nipsey Hussle was that person Tupac was talking about in 1993. What’s sad is that it took so many years for a rapper to take the initiative (props to Jay-Z, but his transition to who he is now came late in his career).
If you are a rapper who wants to leave the hood due to fear of being killed, leave then and stop rapping about us. You can’t rap about killing people while simultaneously scared of being killed. But honestly, being killed isn’t what’s scary. Being killed while doing something positive is what scares rappers. If Nipsey could come back from the dead today he wouldn’t say ‘Damn I wish I would’ve left y’all niggas behind’. No, he would tell us to shut the fuck up with that “leave the hood” mindset and pick up the baton to finish the race. THE MARATHON CONTINUES!
