This was originally posted for a small group of friends on Facebook, and I was unsure I would post it here. I do so now after some deliberation. I believe this is something that should be thought about on a broader scale, asking why we glorify ‘thugness’ – whether it was James Cagney during the Great Depression or the ridiculous trope of ‘Gangstas’ today. Was this thrust on us, or do we truly admire evil by our own nature?

I had gotten some pushback from something I had posted previously about not caring for certain types of “music” today – that being Rap and Hip-Hop. It is my belief that this ‘art form’ was created by those who wanted not to improve (or even reflect) the culture, but degrade it. I stand by this, in the midst of strong resistance.

I chose a particularly offensive Rap song to make my point, and this in itself was met with some hostility. If you proceed to the lyrics below be forewarned that they are pretty vile… and I am no stranger to potty mouth.

Finally, to give some perspective, I grew up in the 60’s and 70’s, and I felt the same way about much of the music that began coming out in the late 70’s and 80’s. Discordant, with lyrics that sang about the glory of Hell.

I make no pretense of being an expert in either music or art. I am not. But I do have a pretty good understanding of language and logic, and this is from where I make my observations.

From 14 March, 2020 — The Power of Words and Intention…

This is the completion of something I have been working on this past week. I posted some poetry about love, as well as some lyrics. I am afraid it did not get much interest.

I grew up in what was still largely a human age. We fondly used the terms boyfriend and girlfriend, even into adulthood. It wasn’t yet presumptuous to be heterosexual. Men still liked being men, and women still liked being women, and they both still longed for the completion that the other may bring. It was still romantic to hold hands. We thought drag queens were weirdos, not role models, and our parents were certainly not taking us to see them for storybook hour.

So what turned it all so upside down? When exactly did it become so trendy to hate? To hate anything good or natural? To hate even our own selves? I have had trouble putting my finger on the exact time and the exact cause, but I assure you it was not a natural occurrence. It was cultivated.

I did a Google search on “most iconic rap lyrics” and here is what I came up with. I think I cleaned up all the EFF’s in what I post here (I deleted over half of it). Read however much you want, or can bear, and then skip to the end for my final thoughts and some supporting material(s).

Hit Em Up — Song (?) by Tupac Shakur — 1996
Lyrics…

I ain’t got no mother[effin] friends
That’s why I [effed] yo’ bitch, you fat mother[effer]
(Take money) West side, Bad Boy killers (take money)
You know who the realest is niggaz we bring it to you (take money)
(Take money)

First off, [eff] your bitch and the click you claim
Westside when we ride come equipped with game
You claim to be a player but I [effed] your wife
We bust on Bad Boy niggaz [effed] for life

Cut your young ass up, leave you in pieces, now be deceased
Lil’ Kim, don’t [eff] around with real G’s
Quick to snatch yo’ ugly ass off the streets, so [eff] peace
I let them niggaz know it’s on for life
So let the Westside ride tonight
Bad Boy murdered on wax and killed
[Eff] wit’ me and get yo’ caps peeled, you know, see

Grab ya glocks, when you see Tupac
Call the cops, when you see Tupac, uh
Who shot me, but ya punks didn’t finish
Now ya bout to feel the wrath of a menace
Nigga, I hit em’ up

Check this out, you mother[effers] know what time it is (take money)
I don’t even know why I’m on this track (take money)
Y’all niggaz ain’t even on my level
I’ma let my little homies ride on you (take money)
Bitch made-ass bad boy bitches deal with it!

Any of you niggas from New York that want to bring it, bring it
But we ain’t singing, we bringing drama
[Eff] you and your mother[effing] mama
We’re gonna kill all you mother[effers]
Now when I came out, I told you it was just about Biggie
Then everybody had to open their mouth with a mother[effing] opinion
Well this is how we gonna do this
[Eff] Mobb Deep, [eff] Biggie
[Eff] Bad Boy as a staff, record label and as a mother[effing] crew
And if you want to be down with Bad Boy, then [eff] you too
Chino XL, [eff] you too
All you mother[effers], [eff] you too (take money, take money)
All of y’all mother[effers], [eff] you, die slow, mother[effer]
My .44 make sure all y’all kids don’t grow
You mother[effers] can’t be us or see us
We mother[effin’] Thug Life-riders, Westside ’til we die
Out here in California, nigga, we warned ya
We’ll bomb on you mother[effers]. We do our job
You think you mob? Nigga, we the mother[effin’] mob
Ain’t nothing but killers and the real niggas
All you mother[effers] feel us
Our shit goes triple and 4-quadruple
(Take money)
You niggas laugh ’cause our staff got
Guns under they mother[effin’] belts
You know how it is, when we drop records they felt
You niggas can’t feel it, we the realest
[Eff] ’em, we Bad Boy-killers

LOTS deleted.

Find out who decided — who REALLY decided — to propagate this kind of “entertainment” to the masses, and you will know who the REAL enemy is of this culture.

Click here to download a PDF copy of The Tavistock Institute of Human Relations: Shaping the Moral, Spiritual, Cultural, Political, and Economic Decline of the United States of America.

I was required to post this as well in response to some of the comments I received…

This is from Wikipedia…

“Hit ‘Em Up” is a diss song by hip hop artist 2Pac featuring the Outlawz, a group associated with him. It is the B-side to the single “How Do U Want It”, released on June 4, 1996. The song’s lyrics contain vicious insults to several East Coast rappers, chief among them, Shakur’s former-friend-turned-rival, the Notorious B.I.G., also known as Biggie Smalls. The song was recorded in Los Angeles, California at Can Am Studios in May 1996. Reporter Chuck Philips, who interviewed Shakur at Can Am, described the song as “a caustic anti-East Coast crusade in which the rapper threatens to eliminate Biggie, Sean Combs (Puffy), and a slew of Bad Boy artists and other New York acts.” The song was produced by long-time collaborator Johnny “J” and uses the bassline from “Don’t Look Any Further” by Dennis Edwards and interpolates “10% Dis” by MC Lyte, “Get Money” by The Notorious B.I.G.’s group Junior M.A.F.I.A.. The video, itself described as infamous, includes impersonations of Biggie, Puffy and M.A.F.I.A. member Lil’ Kim.

“Hit ‘Em Up” had a large role in exacerbating the East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry. Following its release, the East Coast rappers insulted in the song responded through tracks of their own. The controversy surrounding the song is due in part to Shakur’s murder in a drive-by-shooting only three months after its release.

The song is widely considered by the American hip hop community as one of the greatest diss tracks ever recorded due to its explicit lyrical content and the seriousness of violent intent by Shakur and his colleagues towards their rivals.

“Hit ‘Em Up” was written and recorded at Can-Am studios in May 1996. For the song, Tupac Shakur recruited the members of the former group Dramacydal whom he had worked with previously, and was eager to work with again. Together, the rappers (along with other associates) formed the original lineup of the Outlawz. The first and third verses are performed by Shakur, while the second verse is performed by Hussein Fatal, the fourth by Yaki Kadafi and the fifth by E.D.I. Mean.

The ferocity of Shakur’s raging vocals, as said by long-time collaborator and producer of “Hit ‘Em Up” Johnny “J”, was entirely authentic. He explained that Shakur was initially fueled by his anger against Biggie and Bad Boy Records for the belief that they had a role in the November 30, 1994 ambush and attack on Shakur. He claimed that Biggie and his crew knew of his shooting and wanted him dead. Shakur used this fury, which Johnny “J” described as “superhuman”, to attack Biggie and other East Coast rappers. Johnny “J” also stated that he had never seen Shakur so angry and that the words he rapped were in no way an act, describing the recording process as the most “hard-core he had ever done.” Although he was very happy with the work he had put into it and the resulting song, Johnny “J” went on to say that he had no desire to work on anything of that magnitude again.

Hit ‘Em Up – Wikipedia

Finally, I posted this too in the comments that followed…

This might help clear some things up. Cardi B, a highly successful rapper, provides some information on the Coronavirus. Gibberish, or thoughtful and poetic? You decide, but it truly sums up the culture of which I speak.

Language alert continues – with a warning below…

0:46 – Warning: Be prepared to have your IQ lowered 30 points