While most Americans were celebrating the commencement of another generation of college graduates or maybe they were humbly mourning the loss of loved ones who were in the armed services, there was a section of the population centered in Atlanta reliving the good ‘ol bad days of Freaknic in honor of the ‘going away’ of the king of the south.
For many Blacks, going away to the penitentiary is the equivalent of staying in the dorms of the university. So much that I suggested a few years ago that Blacks should swap the usage of the words to increase their self esteem. Instead of young KeyVaun going to jail his mom should say that he is “on campus at the state college”. We all know that nigga is in jail, but shit just sounds better.
Atlanta partied so hard for T.I. this weekend you might think he was given a farewell speech at the Ebenezer Baptist Church. He might as well have since he is now some kind of martyr. I bet if you asked a ten year old which King he liked more, Martin Luther or T.I. you already know the answer. I don’t blame T.I. for this. I blame myself and all the people that could have said they want more from the people they uphold as heroes.
I think about all the shit that Martin Luther King Jr. got himself into where he should have definitely had a gun under his jacket just to feel 100. MLK Jr. was hardbody supreme. Nobody has the platform that he had and speaks the truth to power the way that he did. Malcolm X was always a pariah, so even when he experienced white muslims and had to renounce Elijah Muhammad, there were no white Americans who would touch his ass with a ten foot stick. MLK Jr. was the dude that white let come into their house.
Until MLK Jr. started to rail against the military industrial complex he was safe. The government used MLK Jr. to keep the negroes in check after they merc’ked Malcolm X. MLK Jr. kept the negroes peaceful and passive after JFK and RFK’s murders. Right after that heroin started to find its way into the ghetto in a major way. I wonder if the Vietnam War was a power play for the control of opium trading? Anyhoo, my point is that after heroin filled up the center city streets J. Edgar Hoover’s bosses no longer had a need for MLK Jr. to keep the disenfranchised masses in check.
I’m not putting this drop on the X spot to disparage T.I. That ‘Superstar’ (remix) was one of my 2007 faves. For all I know T.I. might be the coolest, funniest dude of all time. But when you call yourself the modern day Malcom X Martin Luther just because it rhymes, and not because you give that 101% of yourself, you actually destroy the memory of those heroes to people that haven’t had a chance to experience them OGs.
The same way every two-bit despot is called the modern day Hitler by a politician. Hitler was bad as fuck and killed a grip of people. Don’t negate his destruction by comparing him to another less qualified sociopath. And don’t negate Malcolm X and MLK Jr’s hardbody status by comparing yourself to dudes you will never be like. I feel for this guy T.I. and the whole (tech) nine but its not like he came into this rap shit lyrically similar to Paris or Chuck D.
T.I. came up telling us that you could convert your drug money into entertainment success. He has no ‘Letter from a Birmingham Jail‘ in his catalog. He hasn’t created anything as thought provoking as the ‘Ballot or the Bullet‘. He’s a cRapper. Let’s not lose our perspective party people.
music provided by Nah’Right
I was in Georgia for most of January and February and I thought this fool was going away THEN… enough already. Provided T.I. reads some books in the joint, it’s cool he’s only doing short time but the delusions of radical grandeur are absurd.
Re: MLK, I won’t say NOBODY notices because some smartly do but it’s always instructive to see who talks about the Poor People’s Campaign andt the happy hoss candyasses who prefer to remember KIng for passive resistance, voting rights and integration alone.
Waaay too long a story but I was (accidentally) in ATL– on fucking Peachtree!– for smack dab in the middle of Freaknik 1994. I’ll start with “wow” however.
Lastly, speaking of smack, I do think it’s important to question the ghetto heroin conspiracy trope; COINTELPRO we know a good deal about (motherfuck Reagan in Cali too) but I’m hesitant to give the Feds credit for global capitalist hustle that was already there (Bird Lives!) and ain’t gone away since (tho’ the players change up over time).
Too many beers for breakfast, sorry for typos, fam!
Good drop DP– keep the kids thunkin’.
Willis Still,
Good points on the heroin addiction history but I wonder if Vietnam wasn’t a play on controlling the trade routes? Anyhoo…
One of the astute readers at XXL reminded me that RFK got merc’ked after MLK.
Sometimes when I’m blogging after hours I get my timelines all screwed up. Ha, who needs facts when you’re blogging tho’?
DP, you could have left off the TI part but I like how you used that to bring in readers to the greater point you’re making… Good shit as always.
Who’s not to say that the same cabal that was behind the heroin didin’t jump ship to our neighbors to the south for the proliferation of cocaina?
DP,
Real shit, no doubt. Strangely enough, Martin & Malcolm were more similar than not in the final years. Both had begun to move beyond parochial concerns of their respective religious/racial concerns to more broad, yet radical stance. Still, you said nothing of the 1. endless affairs 2. Deacons of Defense (Shock’d the shit out of me) and 3. the questionable outcomes of Kingian Policy, i.e. We don’t own shit. Still good points. I’m not getting away from Hip Hop, just saying that Heroes are ALWAYS created.
P.S. The “THC Influenced Stupor” line from a previous post was genius. Wish I thought of it.
Cool drop.
“on campus at the state college,” I love that one!
T.I. a modern MLK-JR or MX? Puhhlease!
To this day, I remember during the aftermath of Tupac Shakur’s death a kid called the radio station and stated that he felt 2Pac was like a father figure, something like a modern day Martin Luther King Jr. and/or Malcolm X.
At first I laughed at the kid’s ignorance but then thought about it and felt kind of sad. It’s kind of dissappointing that many young cats view MLK-JR and MX legacies in terms of sound bites, videos and movies.
I guess when Jadakiss dons a black beret and leather jacket with Common, Nas and Styles P for the “Why” remix then they’re revolutionary and conscious? That crap makes no sense whatsoever.
This is a really dope drop, fam. You are absolutely right. I don’t expect any of these new dudes to do anything radical to violate them getting their money. Most of these cats are scared anyway not to mention selfish.
This post is brilliant. Dallas came with his Penn game on blast with this one.