FNV Special Editorial:
DO G's REALLY MAKE THE WORLD GO ROUND?
March 31 1997
 The other day myself, and a few other industry kids including Epic Records
promotion rep Will Strickland, KMEL Radio mix co-ordinator Glen Aure and
Crystal..President of Street Wize promotions to name a few were chilling at the
Water Front Restaurant in San Francisco engaged in a deep discussion
regarding the current state of hip hop... We were speaking upon all the
negative publicity surrounding hip hop as a result of Biggie's death and
we were trying to figure out how to flip the script.. Will noted that the
first thing the hip hop community needs to do is get rid of some of these
gangsta talk show hosts.. We thought about it.. and agreed that Will had
a point.. We gotta step it up and embark on a mission similar to the one
taken by C. Delores Tucker.
After all, a lot of the violence in my 'hood' is the result of all these
kids watching Geraldo.. He's the king pin.. He's the Don of the gangsta
talk show hosts.. As I sat there thinking.. I recalled all the times that
Geraldo, a well known articulate and respected journalist had resorted to
violence or issued a threat of violence to solve his problems.. I
recalled him getting into it with the Ku Klux Klan during one show.. If
memory serves me correctly he got his nose busted up.. and he walked
around showcasing his injury like it was a medal of honor.. . He put it
down and let folks know if you step to Geraldo in the wrong way.. he's
down to squab with you.. After all Geraldo don't play that.. Take a step
back and think about it.. doesn't it seem like every show this respected
journalist talks about how he's ready to put a foot up some one's ass...
He's always talking about how he's ready to confront OJ.. And I hate to
say it there's been numerous shows in which Geraldo's guests were on the
verge of mixing it up.. So we gotta get him off the air.. Geraldo
Rivera..The Big Don of The Gangsta Talk Show host has influenced a whole
generation of kids to be violent..
Geraldo unfortunately is not alone... He's got a female counterpart..
Jenny Jones. She's the Queen Bee.. She's the gangsteress of talk show
hosts. Already Ms Jones has got one death under her belt. Remember she
was the one who help set the stage in which a controversial situation
would explode.. She took some kid who was homophobic and put him on the
same show with a gay admirer.. The result was the gay admirer being
killed by this homophobe after the show.. Myself, Will and the rest of
the crew that was chilling at the Water Front recalled how after that
incident there seemed to be an increase in the violence and hate crimes
directed at gay people.. We are almost certain that this was the result
of The Jenny Jones Show..
Now underneath all that we have some other major gangsta talk show
hosts..including former Queen Bee.. Ms Ricky Lake, Richard Bay, Montel, Jerry Springer and a few others who I can't name.. These folks are all
guilty of showcasing violence to the easily influenced minds of America as the best
way to resolve conflict.. They're basically tell you to act ignorant and
resort to violence on national TV... Look I know for a fact that all
these 'gangsta' rappers like 2Pac and Notorious BIG used to watch these
talk shows all the time.. . All of them were sweet church going kids who
grew up adhering to the concept of peace and harmony. It wasn't until
they started seeing these violent outburst on all these talk shows that
they realized that a civil discussion was not the correct way to handle
your problems.. When you got a difference of opinion you get buckwild and
start handin' out beat downs.. If you do a really good job.. you may wind
up on the Jenny Jones or the Geraldo Show as a guest.. After all they
need explosive volatile people to help set things off...If you're really
violent and enjoy mixing it up.. You might even get your own talk show..
Yesterday I left a couple of messages on WC's answering
machine..because I wanted to check something out.. I'm almost sure that
when he, Ice Cube and Mack 10 of The Westside Connection got together
and wrote the song 'Gangsta's Make The World Go Round' they were inspired
by all these gangsta talk shows.. I know Cube to be a brilliant brother
so I'm sure he drew the same conclusions as we did while chillin' at the
Water Front.. You see we do indeed know that Gangstas do indeed make the world
go round.. That's why after we get rid of these gangsta talk shows we're
gonna start coming down on all these gangsta actors and actresses..
First on the list is Marlon Brando.. The God Father.. The original Don
of the Corleone Crime Family.. This fool won an academy award for being a
straight up gangsta.. Him and his gangsta side kick Al Pacino got all
these kids to run around wearing all these expensive Italian gear and got
all these urban kids to adapt gangsta names like Nas Escabar and
Wu-Gambinos.. Let's look at the facts.. a few years ago HBO ran a whole
special where they showed all three Godfather movies.. soon afterwards..
all these kids began running around rappin' with Italian gangsta names..
They all tried to imitate Marlon and Al.. The hell with these gangsta
actors.. They're ruining America.. There are a lot of folks like Vanilla
Ice who accuse Suge Knight of strong arming people.. If this is true..
and mind you I haven't spoken to Suge personally.. I am willing to bet my
bottom dollar that if he did indeed do some dirt it was only after
watching how gangsta actors like Marlon Brando got busy in these gangsta
movies like the God Father or Good Fellas or Leaving Las Vegas..
Lets talk about some other gangsta rappers.. We can start with Mr. Brad
Jordan aka as Scarface and a member of the Geto Boys.. Now I've met Mr.
Jordan on a couple of occasions.. I know for a fact that he did not take
his name because he bears scar on his face.. He has no scars.. I'm
telling you he became Scarface after watching Al Pacino get busy in
Scarface.. All of Mr. Jordans gangsta lyrics are the result of him
watching this movie... I can just feel it in my bones.. There's another so called
gangsta rapper who bares the name Terminator X.. who is with the radical
rap group Public Enemy. Now I may be wrong..but I almost sure
Norman Rogers adapted his name after watching another gangsta actor..
Arnold Swartznegger.. In the movie Terminator doesn't Arnold knock off a
couple of cops? If not in that movie I'm sure there are others in which
he does... Trust me folks Arnold, Van Demme, Steven Segal and Sylvester
Stallone are all gangsta actors who's gratuitous violent behavior have
laid down the building blocks for today's 'gangsta' rap music. Look at
this way, Arnold and Sylvester get paid millions of bucks each flick by
kicking dat ass, knockin' fools out and occasionally killing a soul or
two.. They've set a perfect example by laying out a formula for today's
gangsta rappers on what they need to do to get paid...
Hey let's be real about things and give credit where credit is due..
long before you had all these gangsta rappers shooting videos of
themselves in jail.. you had gangsta actor/ singer Elvis Presly getting
loose.. Did you ever see the movie Jail House Rock? Elvis started all
this glamorizing of prisons.. Him, Clint Eastwood and Steve Mc Queen...
Of course the real godfather of all this gangsterism is one of America's
favorite sons.. James Dean.. Long before 2Pac came along acting ill.. you
had James Dean being the rebel without a cause...
And lets not talk about the drive bys.. Before I go jamming up these
gangsta rappers or even today's gang bangers.. I gotta give major props
to all those old black and white gangsta films from the 50s and 40s.. You
remember all the old Al Capone movies.. Them fools was doing drive bys on
the regular.. I was talking with some LA gang members the other day and
they told me Al Capone used to run a school back in the days that
specifically showed inner city kids how to get down while driving a car..
Oh yeah, kinda related to the subject are gangsta actresses... Before you
get mad a rappers like Lil Kim and Foxy Brown for dressing in a revealing
manner.. remember they got their cues from gangsta actresses like Cher
and Farah Fawcett to name a few.. Didn't Cher get on some awards show a
few years ago wearing see through pants that revealed a big ole tattoo on
her butt ? Heck if she can do it and get paid.. Why can't Lil Kim be
depicted squatting in a poster wearing a leopard skin g string? And
remember long before Foxy Brown started highlighting her boobs.. Farah
Fawcett was getting down and letting things jingle in the hit show
Charlie Angels.. If you can have a cop running around getting paid for
showing cleavage why can't Foxy Brown?
And don't talk to me about these female gangsta rappers having bad
attitudes and being vulgar in their music...Not when we have gangsta
actresses like Rosanne Arnold clocking duckets for getting ill...
We decided to take a close look at all the gangstas around us... We
have gangsta talk show host, gangsta actors and actresses and we also
have gangsta Presidents who have really made this world go round..
Remember a couple of years ago when we had a conflict in the Persian
Gulf....wasn't it President Bush who talked so eloquently about us going
over there to kick some ass.. Look if the President says its alright to
go kick some ass why can't todays rappers?.. Bush was a straight up G.. He
was all about making people bow down.. especially when we the US came to
their town.. Lets look at this carefully.. the whole Westside thing came
from our former Presidents... Like Franklin D Roosevelt.. Where is the US located? In the West..right?
What country goes around and checks all the other countries for not
bowing down to our way of thinking? What country is the defender of
'Western' civilization? That's right you got it...the US of A.. Yo! long
before Ice Cube threw up his first W.. US Presidents like FDR were out yelling
'Westside for life..'
The whole East/ West Coast war ain't nothing new.. Heck in the 40s
during World War II there was an East/West Coast War.. I hate to say it
but the West side made the East really bow down when we dropped that
atomic bomb on Hiroshima.. We had to let fools know.. . when you come to
our town bow down or we'll be bring the ruckus.. Didn't the US beat down
a whole bunch of Japanese and send then to internment camps during that
whole East/West World War II.. Think about it kid... Ice Cube didn't make
all this west side stuff up.. He read his history books.. Props to him
for learning his lessons... I'm certain that's why the brother did that
song 'Gangstas Make The World Go Round..'. He clearly understood the
significant role violence plays in our day to day lives..
Look, here's the point I'm making... Gangterism is as American as apple
pie.. We as a country have long held up, paid and honored the rebels and
criminal elements within our mists.. Remember the fascination we had with
mafia leader John Gotti.. There have been 3 made for tv specials about
this crime boss... America loves its crooks... It has long made heroes
out of those who do wrong.. Notoriety is the name of the game.. In other words violence was here and very much a part of pop culture long before 'gangsta rap'.
We have long used violence as a means to solve our problems... This
attitude has originated from the very top with our Presidents who have no
problem using 'force' to defend the Westside... and has trickled down to
our kiddie shows. If you don't believe me just sit down and watch the
Power Rangers.. Are those kids sitting there talking about conflict
resolution or are they out there kickin' ass? When I was coming up.. I
used to check out Superman, Batman, The Green Hornet and Ultraman..Heck even Bugs Bunny has been known to put a foot off in an ass or two.. All
them kids used to make their loot by knocking fools off... Superman
showed me I could even take a couple of bullets and still get in dat
ass... So you get the point...
In conclusion, me my boy Will Strickland, Glen Aure and our girl Crystal
have decided to get down with this whole crusade to get rid of all this
gangsterism.. While C Delores Tucker focuses on the rappers we'll be
locking horns with gangsta talk show hosts, gangsta actors and actresses
and of course these gangsta presidents... Wish us luck cause we have
serious battle on our hand....
Let Us Know What You Think
Written by
Davey D
c 1997
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