Weed Carrier Lives Matter
Memphis Bleek falls on hard times
Internets,
I can’t abide the fact that Memphis Bleek has less money in his checking account than I do (albeit by like $29).
I put things in cardboard boxes for a living and then apply a strip of clear packing tape to the boxes’ seams to make sure nothing slips out during transit–I’m supposed to be broke. Memphis Bleek is arguably the greatest weed carrier of all time.
I say arguably because a search for the phrase greatest weed carrier of all time turns up an article in which Consequence is declared the greatest weed carrier of all time, on A Salute to Weed Carriers, an obscure blog to which I’ve contributed, intermittently, for over 10 years now.
In 2013, Combat Jack asked Consequence how he felt about having been declared the greatest weed carrier of all time. Consequence objected to being called, a weed carrier, in part because he said he doesn’t actually carry anyone’s weed for them. “How can I be a weed carrier,” he said, “when my cousin gave me a record deal?”
Memphis Bleek seemed similarly dense when informed–on another episode of the Combat Jack Show–that he’s considered one of the greatest weed carriers of all time, right up there with Spliff Star and the aforementioned Consequence. If anything, he said, he was the weed supplier.
In an article on A Salute to Weed Carriers, it’s argued that Consequence is the greatest weed carrier of all time because he was able to transition from being Q-Tip’s weed carrier in the mid to late ’90s to being Kanye’s weed carrier in the ’00s, thus ensuring the safety of the stash in two separate, distinct eras of hip-hop–the equivalent of if, say, Lil Cease started rolling blunts for Rawse. Admittedly, I’m hard pressed to think of an analogue for what Consequence has been able to accomplish.
But I’d argue that there’s just as strong a case to be made for Memphis Bleek, if only for the scene in Fade to Black in which he offers to bring Jay Z a blooming onion from Outback Steakhouse. Bleek didn’t shrink from his job responsibility just because he was being filmed for a major motion picture, because he understood that making sure that Jay Z had access to delicious chain restaurant appetizers was more important than his image. And is that not what being a weed carrier is all about, sacrificing for the greater good?
It was announced the other day that Memphis Bleek has filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy. In documents obtained by Bossip, as legit a news organization as Al-Jazeera (and also owned by Arabs), it’s revealed that Bleek only has $100 in cash. He lists $274,000 in assets, including a house in New Jersey, a Chevy Impala, his wedding ring and $2,000 worth of clothes–hopefully not Rocawear. But he owes $350,000, mostly on the house, but also on the Impala, back taxes and municipal fines from a court in New Jersey.
He only made $5,113 in the first three months of 2016 (he filed back in March), which, if my math is correct, is roughly the equivalent of $10.65 an hour wage for an employee working 40 hours a week. Here in Missouri, where the minimum wage is still like $8, that’s legit straw-boss status. You could work at McDonald’s for 20 years and not make that much, if you can’t get bumped up to shift leader. It should also be pointed out, to Bleek’s credit, that it’s getting increasingly difficult to lock down a single job that will put you on the schedule for 40 hours a week.
Memphis Bleek made $15,747 in 2015 and $16,960 in 2014, so it’s not like he just fell on hard times. Nor is his situation improving. He’s on pace to earn $14,645 in 2016. People in states where the minimum wage was increased to $15 an hour are pulling down twice that. And that’s just part of the reason why it’s such a tragedy that Hillary Clinton won the Democratic primary.
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Bleek’s bankruptcy filing was the part where he was asked to list any support he receives from family and friends. That part was left blank, meaning that he hasn’t received any money at all from Jay Z for at least the past few years, but possibly since as far back as when Jay arranged for “Dear Summer” to appear on 534 back in ’05, which I’d imagine is the source of the bulk of any royalties Bleek continues to receive at this point. That song popped up on my Discover Weekly a few weeks ago and I let it ride out, so I’m doing my part. Et tu, Jay Z?
If Jay can’t see fit to cut Bleek a check for a few hundred grand, the equivalent of $5 for the rest of us, then maybe at the very least Bleek can interest him in a selection from the Jack Daniel’s Grill at T.G.I. Friday’s.
Take it easy on yourself,
Bol
Originally published at tinyletter.com.
