So if you haven't heard... last night there was a shooting at Chop Suey. Rest In Peace 29-E. 1st Black Prez, who was hosting last nights show (pictured to the left) is still in the hospital in critical condition, Trauma from Black Senate was also shot once in the arm and in the leg. Prayers for the victims, and for their friends and family.
I got the news last night... couldn't sleep so i stayed up looking at blogs, forums... tryna find out more details. The Stranger of course has a blog... before the news even came out with details there were nearly 50 comments from readers ready to blame Hip Hop for the shootings. This isn't isolated to last night... as long as i've been doing music in Seattle whenever a shooting happens even in the same neighborhood as a Hip Hop night the music gets blamed. I had this to say on the Stranger's blog:
"Music... reflects reality for some and is a hammer that shapes reality for others. The question of "is this shooting related to hip hop music?" should not be the question your asking.
Hip hop started out in the South Bronx in the 1970's by black & latino youth who took what they had and used it to change the world. The elements of DJ'ing, breakdancing, emceeing and graffiti art were unified and called "Hip Hop" by a guy named Afrika Bambataa who helped unify the gangs in a neighborhood that was so tore up it was referred to as "Planet Rock"
You might not know this story, because over the last 30 years Hip Hop has been assimilated and become Pop Culture... the architects of a movement (Hip Hop) that was founded on Peace, Love, Unity and Having Fun... might not be who you associate with Hip Hop anymore.
One could argue that Arnold Schwarzenegger is as Hip Hop as a lot of these clowns rapping on TV today... but nobodys blaming any killings on The Terminator. The mainstream, pop culture, it makes these rappers the same way it made him, they are manufactured by an industry Hip Hop does not control... and if you don't fit the mold you don't have a chance within that machine. google the movie "Before The Music Dies" this is not a conspiracy theory
So when you blame these shootings on Hip Hop, it feels like a slap in the face to everything positive that we do. And what's really important to us? as emcees? As protectors of true Hip Hop Culture?
Is that right now, here in Seattle, funding is being cut from the programs that actually help the youth in our community. There's less alternatives for positive things that youth can do when they get out of school. I work at an alternative high school in the southend right now, where THE SCHOOL doesn't have funding to hire an arts teacher, and the students need an arts credit to graduate.
In the last few months i know over 10 kids that have been shot. None of them were at a concert.
Police brutality is a huge issue in our neighborhoods. No matter what age you are. We do not feel like they are there to protect us.
It makes sense to me why a child growing up in this environment would turn to a gang. It has nothing to do with Hip Hop.
We live in the same conditions that Hip Hop was created in, and you are not helping by blaming the music.
Criminalizing the youth doesn't help either. I think we have youth right here in Seattle that might be falling through the cracks, that are brighter than Afrika Bambataa was, that have so much to offer the entire globe.
What can you offer these youth?
that should be the question..."
And i wake up with the same questions i had last night... and the ones that have kept me up every night since returning to Seattle late November. Over 10 youth murdered in a few short months... CD to Southend. i work with youth that know every single one of em. People in my city refuse to see the issues we are facing... like they are refusing to see we exist. I take the bus from Henderson to Jackson... from a high school to an afterschool program working with youth who have the same issues... in need of the same attention and guidance... that are terrified to even step foot in each others neighborhood. I remember being 15 not thinking i would live to see 18. I know what's going on with them because i am them... if my mom didn't pack us up and leave Seattle when i was 16 i really don't think i'd be here today. and i've never been gang-affiliated. that was just from living in my neighborhood and going to school. Hip Hop was born in the midst of these same type of conditions and the person credited with calling our culture "Hip Hop" is also credited with spearheading a gang truce in a place where it seemed impossible. I don't know what to do but keep working with the youth... hoping something sinks in. The fact is nobody can save you, but you... i don't know what it's gon take to stop the violence. The OG's from both sides seem to be scrathing their heads the same way i am... wanting the shit to cease. All i know is change comes from within... my people...
"and the killing is senseless
embedded so deep we see ourselves and feel tension
there is no redemption i could see in a gunfight
when both sides are dying in the same genocide
willie lynch still applies
we fighting over little differences
the same year obama was named president?
our slave mentality has never been more present
then our babies in the C.D. and the Southend
some claiming shadows of housing that's since been demolished
from when the beef started
and we couldn't stop it then
i work in em now, but i remember when i was in high school
we were being lied to
wondering who wasn't gonna see it the next day
now i'm 28, never thought i'd see 18
never thought we'd still be facing the same things
i can't help but blame me
and i know the police started it
but just by being here i feel like i'm a part of it
and a part of me dies everynight in the southside
and a part of me dies everynight in the central
i don't want revenge
i am bleeding within
the pain cripples my pen
cause i can't save a single one of them
it's on you..."
-- my verse off an upcoming collab with Silver Shadow D
Peace, for real.
"Rest 'O Me Dayz" - Gabriel Teodros & Khingz
(check the 2nd verse)
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6 comments:
truth.
see you tonight fam.
When people claim that hip hop music is to blame for shootings, to me it screams ignorance. These people don't listen to hip hop, they can't get past all the brown faces. They blame violence on skin tones and use hip hop as an excuse. Seattle is a place full of culture and full of ignorant assholes.
Our president elect is black and it's amazing, but shit goes down and people point fingers or turn their heads and ignore. No one is stepping up where poverty lies.
I'm typing this with one hand as I nurse my 5 month old daughter. Will things be different when she is grown?
Will people still die from police brutality, or die because the SPD don't show up when called from the wrong neighborhood? Will she live full of fear?
Gabriel, you do amazing things.
School art and music programs get cut, creativity and compassion get lost.
There's so much to be said about these shootings, where does the real problem lie? NOT in hip hop music.
Thank you for what you do.
gabe tell me what i can do to help out in anyway i have a lot art background and the killing not because of hip hop i don't know the reason i have never lived in a neighbourhood in american so i really can't say all i know is i want to help
Hey Gabe,
it's folks like you that make a difference, and even if it's not so clear now, the future is bright...
thank you, for all you do.
really insightful commentary. thank you for sharing
thank you gabe. well said- much love brother.
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