Conversations About Street Culture

It sounds like a pervert, you know what's funny. No matter what girls says, it's gonna sound like a pervert. Why why that's just because that's what men are thinking. Yeah, that's not because that's what men are thinking. Because I didn't think. I didn't think what she said was. I didn't think yeah, it was like jump back on it and write it again. Yes, you know, but I got y'all right because this what I was thinking about. What

I want to talk to you all about. It is um Today somebody was on Twitter and they were talking to me about Fat Joe and there's some brothers from a movement. The movement is called the FBA Foundational Black America Um. It's a movement that focuses on black people that are the descendants of you know, slave the slave trade to America, to this part of the continent, not the southern part right here, right um, and the movement

targets the needs of those people. So it's a really dope movement created by Tarkna Sheet Tarika's um really smart dead hidden colors, super super dope dude, like really smart, really researched, really well. Um. It's also a branch of a d o s right. America can descend it a slaves and the movement is pro black, but it's not like black all black. It's like this specific niche, which is fine, right um. But it was something that was

bothering me, and a dude was asking me. He was like giving Fat Joe ship and he was like, you know, you're the type of person that left Fat Joe say nigga. And I'm like, yeah, I don't think I've ever been bothered with Fat Joe saying nigga. You know. He was like, yeah, see that's the problem. You know, he's not one of us, And I'm like, what do you mean one of us? Like, you know, where are you from? He's like, oh, you're gang banging on me. And I was like, no, where

are you from? Like in the country, not not not like cripping where you're from, like not glasses low cripping where you're from, but like where are you from? But it hit me and that's what I want to talk to you about. So these ideas, right come from the street. Like I was talking to my dad. My dad was born in forty seven this year, he'll be seventy five years old, and I was asking him, do he does he remember when the term nigga became like a term

of endearment. He was like, did your generation started that? Said, before your generation? If somebody said nicked to you, if he was a white person, for sure, that was sucked up. If a black person called you and Nike, it was mad at you, like nigga where my money? And it was it was meant to be, you know, fucked up. He was like, he remember Richard Pryor using it, you know as a kind of a segue, right, But it wasn't a term of endearment until my generation, right, which

is eight s and up. And he was like, yeah, like regular black people don't talk like that. That ship is the streets. And I'm like, I thought about it. I was like, you know what, He's right, like the streets and that's where the cultural break happens, right, because the same thought about hip hop, right, hip hop isn't black, Well it is black, but hip hop before anything else is street. It's the street urban perspective, culturally, like us

looking out of a window. And I did a pot on this about hip hop before, but it was important because it's getting to a place to wear. How do I say this where the everyday black person feels like they have entirely too much say about what's going on in the streets. And the Internet made that happen, you know, social media made that happened to where a lot of the lingo that we started, you know on the corner, you know, has been adopted by all of Black America.

You gotta realize Slain come from the street. I mean he put sling in the records, right because hip hop come from the street, the street urban. Um we're talking about Hurt Kirk was a graffiti artist, you know, I mean he was tagging on walls. It's illegal. He's a criminal, right, Um. They were talking about somebody earlier than him, right, because it's multiple forefathers. When you start talking about hip hop.

They were talking about uh disco King Mario, who was from a gang called the Black Space in New York and the Bronx, the gang members criminals. I mean, so all of this culture, you know, comes from the street. And I realized what was bothering me about him? What? What? What it was was he was telling me he was an accountant, and then you know, he didn't grow up in the hood, but he's a black man. And I'm and I'm thinking to myself, like, well, what the funk

make you think you should have any right? And who uses the time niked as a term of endearment. That's something that people that grew up in my lifestyle came up with, actually me and my generation. And that's when I'm starting to have this disconnect, you know what I'm saying, like, if if a movement can isolate itself from all of black people as a whole and like, Okay, I'll represent this niche of black people, then what would the funk

would make him think that? I'm not gonna be like, well wait a minute, If that's it, then I've represent the streets. Nigger has become it's hip hop. I mean, it's become like a part of culture. Got white people, like the kids that are into hip hop or into that culture, they say nigga and it doesn't mean for them like oh you're a nigga. They're like, oh, this is my boy, this is my nig Yeah you got the kids. Yeah, they they don't even care. They don't say it. Like I said, it's in the zone. So

but then they say, okay, well it's not nigger, it's nigga. Right, So where did that become where it's like because I remember I too was like, okay, well it's not nigger. I don't you guys are calling each other niggas. So so so this and this is what I want to say. So first off, no ceilings, glasses low, I got my dog Asia, I got my people read right here, forel me doubling up. Y'all know are we doing this? We're about to really shift this ship in the overdrive. Right.

So that's my issue, right because that's black people's question. The average black person is like, well, nobody that's not black should use the term nigga. And I'm thinking, like, no, nobody's not streaked. She used the term nigga, So then I can't say and I never said nigga until I started doing hip hop, start hanging with I didn't say nigga.

I didn't say. I didn't say, you start hanging with the ni street I had, Like my lingo came from what I saw on TV or what was gonna be most people's experience as far as how they take in hip hop, and then you have the actual culture itself. Now, let me define hip hop right. Hip hop is urban street culture, right, densely populated, crime written neighborhoods. So it's a level of poverty to go with that oppression of

being black. It's not just black, it's a level of poverty that's needed in the vicinity to create this culture. Because a black man in Beverly Hills can be oppressed. He can be poured over and sweated and be rich. It's wealthy athletes that are oppressed right now today by the NBA as far as when it comes to them raising levels of success. But the poverty part is what forces the culture out. I mean, it's the connection of both. And so when this attorney who grew up in his nice,

middle class neighborhood. And he was like, yeah, well I'm black, And I'm like, well, I don't think you really should have saying who uses the term nigga? You're not street a matter of fact, you shouldn't be using the term using it. Yeah, I mean, well, I mean, so he is using it unless he listens to music, because his partner is walking outside the house, if he's in the middle class neighborhood, unless they listen to the rap songs white kids in middle class suburbian I mean, but I

can't see him sitting like, you know, somewhere. What's up, nigga. I mean, you're an attorney. He's an attorney. Why are you this is my life, like right, my dad, you know, nigga. When I was like, yeah, nigga, my older brothers, nigga. You feel so, but baby, baby, he did come from that. But he said he didn't come from He said he grew up in the middle class black experience and he's an attorney now. And I just thought to myself, like, why the funk would you think you would have say

over who says the word nigger? And I thought about it, right, because maybe he feels like Okay, white people used it negatively about Black people that were slept, but all them black people was poor, no pressed black people, you feel me like, So again we go back to the same thing that's forcing culture. So urban street culture is what

hip hop is. Densely populated, crime written neighborhoods. The culture that's developed there in those communities, Watts, Compton, those communities, the Bronx, you know, I mean the places in the Bronx where it's like that, the places in Brooklyn, Queens, Cleveland, all of these densely populated, crime written neighborhoods. The culture that that type of oppression and poverty forces is what we call hip hop. Right that that's that's the flavor

of the month. Unless you're a young kid that's playing the fucking sacks and now you're making jazz because a terrorist terrorist it forced terrorists to he responded and made jazz, but he still produces hip hop. Right, street is crime. Mean, street is crime. But if you know somebody is a street nigga, you're criminal. So to be street is crime. To be in the streets as you're where the crime is. See like a lot of these terminologies, And I said

this on another podcast as well. Like when people say I'm outside, that means you're where the action is, where shootouts are happening. It doesn't literally mean really, I never when I say I'm outside, I'm saying i'm outside. No, that's not Again, there's a real term. Again there's so who said that. That's what that means. I'm a street nigger and I created the term. This is culturally, it's so it's the new we active, like we active doesn't

mean like I'm jogging. But I'm just laughing because we always say we are, like when you use a little kid like or go outside, and I'm not. We outside is the combination. That's what I'm saying. I'm outside. We outside? That means we're looking for the action? Does it literally mean domain? When I did post we outside, I was looking for the action because I'm outside and as heat. Yeah, and was looking that's action, not the action. You're right,

You're right. I wasn't active. He was looking for the turn up to me. Yeah, not like like yeah you were going to Yeah. It was in theory like what the function would be, but not really where you would be. So you're not going to function. The function is a neighborhood gathering where you guys go to in the middle class part as a party, a function. Right from the streets, we go to functions, right, I went to a couple of functions, of course you have and you see how

functioning it functions. Yeah, it functions, it functions. It was function So that that was the thought I was having. So the term streaked is crime, right, crime written streaked don't mean like the pavement where the lines are marked outside. It means the crime written communities, right like crime crime where crime is happening that street. A street nigga is

a criminal. The term, like I said, real nigga was created as a as an achievement for somebody who was a street nigga, because if you was a street nigga, you wasn't trying to be a doctor. You gotta remember like terms like doctors, lawyers, attorneys, those are great terms in America. And if you're like caught up in crime in these densely populated crime written neighborhoods, those things don't look obtainable, you know, doctor, lawyer. So do you create

you know real nigga. That that's the elite term. But that's the problem. Why doesn't it look obtainable, Like, well, that's the point of oppression and poverty. It's a blinding thing. It's a it's a real limiting thing, you know, like you gotta think humanity, Like Russia is gonna always be for Ukraine, they're right next door to each other. Russia worst enemy can really never be America's too far. They can have a cold war that they never fought because

it's too fucking folks. Wan't be doing all them fly bars all the time. You can't stick at war all the time, like you gotta put some troopers dead take It would take too much energy and work and it's too dangerous. China right now, the worse enemy is Taiwan. And I hold up y'all doing too much with America. I mean, remember they worse enemies for a while was Japan. It was close. People beef with what's in the vicinity.

Real beasts are within the vicinity. You know, if you if you look at most El Salvadorians, they don't they beef with Mexicans. Yeah, I mean again, it's kind of common, right, It's it's like, um, you you fight who you're close to, especially poor people, because it's limited resources. But the point I was making will us. He kept asking me, why was I so comfortable with Fat Joe using the N word? And I'm like, I've been to where fat Joe is from.

Fat Joe is from the streets where that's how people talk. My question to him, even as a black man, why the funk are you asking me? Who should use them? Where you should be asking me? But somehow these middle class, wealthy black people feel entitled to have us say in this street culture, you're not a criminal. You shouldn't even be talking like this. You should be an outstanding citizen for our kids to look and say, I don't have to be glasses or you know this guy, I can

be doctor Dick fore me like that's the option. But somehow, at the at the elite level of middle class, because of hip hop the music, people have lowered their standards. It was like, you know, you could have a dude. He's like, oh, I got a good job, as you know, the FedEx manager you know what I mean. He's like, oh, yeah, I was at work eight hours. They real nigga ship. No it's not bro, it's actually real manager ship's real manship,

real fathership. Like you don't why are you allowing the concentrate right of of urban struggle to be your pinnacle like you have it. It's weird to me because even the whole complete movement has adopted America as part of their slogan, like like people wanted from None of us is proud Americans. We fucking hate America like you enslaved us and it's fucked up. I have figured out a way to be like, yeah, we built this country, which I think is dope to have claim is something you built.

I can never be That's why I'm saying, but I could never be American because you know, it's like my dad. My dad could never be like like, uh, you could have all the conservative views, but because racist white people as conservatives in his mind is like, yeah, I can't. That's how I feel about America, like I can never claim somebody that don't claim me. So wait, so you're saying that since he doesn't understand it, he shouldn't say it or have a say, so who says it? That's

my issue? My issue is what would make him think it's okay to ask me? First off, why do you think? Honestly? It's more cringe e to me when African people say nigga. Then when says like when I hear like, let's say like like the comedian, like the comedian uh black Michael Blacks would sounds Yeah, it's like that should be cringe e. Yeah. I haven't really um talked too many Africans that say

that because you know why, that's not where they're from. Yeah, they say that it's sad because they've been around us. Middle class black people said, because they've been around us, because they heard it. It's not something that was like shared amongst the black community. We're not going to the black elite opportunities and they walk around like, what's up, nigga, that's not a commune black thing. Yeah, I'm not from a middle class from middle class, but I just didn't

grow up in important poor community. I just didn't. Yeah, best of both worlds. I mean yeah, because I went through you know, where did you grow up at? Um? Everywhere? Where's your main place of growing up? You were starting to become impressionable Asia impressionable in the valley Um, Yes, but no, I mean I lived awhere, I lived off I lived off figure on a hundred and ninth. I've lived Gardina, So what junior high elementary, junior high high school,

junior high high school. Where'd you go? Where you go to high school? At Palm Dell Palm? Yeah it was. But the thing is is we I lived in the valley. We're from Guardina, and my mom she I wanted me to go to school in the valley because she went. She got busted out there when she was in school, bust the taft to Yeah, you know, she went to Grant, went to Grant and I kicked out and then I got sent to Granada Hills and I finished Granada Hills.

Granada Hills considered like a worse school than Grant. Granada Hills was like Granada Hills was actually a mixture of people because they got bust a lot of I had a lot of friends from Watts, from the West Side, like over there by Hamilton's. They were getting bused to my school, a lot of them. Like you know, the culture. Yeah, it was a mixture. We had Indians, whites, everybody had their own little clicks. But it was weird to me. And like he asked me, why was I comfortable with

Fat Joe saying nigga? And I'm like, because Fat Joe grew up in the streets that we grew up in. Like, that's the point. Like my homeboy Mando from my gang, right, My homeboy Mando from seven Street, right, Mando grew up with us his whole life. He was adopted by you know, forgive me for telling his private business, but I don't think he you've seen him, you would know it's different. But he was adopted by the matriarch family of my neighborhood since you know, months old. So he's a nigga

the whole time. He's everybody nigga. That's how everybody around him talk. Yeah, nigga. This then the third nigg feel me. This is how it works. So when you grow up with us, that's why you become whatever we are because culturally we become the same thing. That's how we talk. That's how my mother talked, That's how my daddy talked. This is how my people talk. This is how the neighbors talk. There's some neighbors who didn't, but most people talk just like this. I mean, hill coaches at school

talk like this. Said that nigga, get the hell up out of here, and nobody told the principle because that's how the Nigga's talk. So I just wanted to get your opinion if y'all can even understand what I'm saying, Like, like, the ownership of the term, the ownership of that culture is the streets more than it's just black. You know, there's poor people that grow up with us and and pick up right with us. Feel me that are you know this this is might be the I hate to

say this, I literally hate I severely dislike it. But I may relate to a person that grew up next door to me. That's a that's ah. Let's say if he was Cuban, right, he grew up next door to me, I may relate to him more than a black person in Beverly Hills. Like my relation of that person to be a police oppressing us somewhere. You and Beverly Hills going to this nice house and me going to you know,

Watson and my dad are Compton. So yes, we can relate there, But every other struggle, feel me, outside of those oppressions, it's going to be a disconnect because poverty is not there. Meanwhile, the same Cuban person next door to me is gonna get oppressed with me. He's going to be as poor as I am because we live next to each other, so culturally we create the culture together. Excuse me, Like, like we create the culture in these places,

you know, the bad English. The slang is created by us because of the lack of educational opportunities and how we want to speak. I mean, if we had fantastic schools, it wouldn't be as much slang. Or if the slang has become trendy, it's become aware of even you know, talking caption, you know, just texting like it's it's the thing to do, you know, as far as like the slang,

but um, it makes a lot of sense. Like I know, for me, Um, I didn't necessarily grow up in the hood, but of course I have family that grew up in the hood. But me just moving from l A coming up to Um the valley area, there are certain parents that I would just fall naturally be more drawn to Um versus say another parent you know that's been from that area for forever, Like we just wouldn't connect. Like my you know daughter's friends her parents are white, Like

I just didn't connect with them. Like it just was like okay, well I always end up finding a black berry, Like you know, we just have more in common. So and yeah, it was just it makes sense. That's how

I how I grew up. Some I'm more comfortable being around what I'm used to being around as far as like I remember, um, saying bitch was like a no no for me, like I was not my friends like what bitch And we used to look at people wrong, you know, like why they calling each other bitches and ship and then was the girls that was they was from the hood, like you know what I'm saying, and it was calling each other bitches, and me growing up it was like like me and my friends, we didn't

do that, you know. So now I say bitch like it's just water. It's like you seasoned right by that poverty.

But it's mainstream though it's so popular. But I'm gonna tell you it is right, But that doesn't mean culturally it didn't belong to somebody, right, And then so imagine if so let's say right, because that is very much something that that poor black extreme women, you know, poor street women came because pretty much if you in the streets, you grew up wherever whoever in your community, you can't

control it. But you know, bitch, right, bitch, bitch, bitch, and it's like, okay, now you got it right, you got the flame. Imagine somebody not culturally tied to it telling you how to talk. That's oh, I'm a woman. It's a white woman saying I don't like you saying the word bitch around me, or I don't like you saying the word bitches, like bitches not for this ain't for you. And that's my point. It's a tough it's a tough debate, right, and but that's how I feel altogether.

But it's like for you to be asking like are you street? What are your qualifications in the street? But where do we but where is it to where? Okay, this man that came from a middle class he's an attorney and he can have you know, some type of influence. Where do we take accountability? And say, okay, maybe you know we can help the street, Like why is it okay to just be ignorant? Like the term isn't ignorant. It was, it's not it's not a lack of knowledge

of what the word stand for. It's of a willingness to control. But that's how he's looking at it. Well, that's the point he's ignorant, right, and and it sounds crazy because lord knows an attorney or middle class person can't be ignorant. I don't know, man, But again, you just don't know. So you could think we don't know that that we used to call black people as slaves

or as a we don't give a fuck. Took ownership, like we decided that, you know what if these things are not possible to obtain right rooted in this oppression and poverty because it is severe and it and it goes back to that Samet mar Luther King quote, Uh, you can tell a man to pick himself up by his bootstraps, but it's a cruel jest to tell a

bootless man to pick himself up but bootstraps. Right. So yeah, we could look at everybody that come from those environments where I come from and say, well, you could make it if I made it. It's some people don't have boots, just not there. That's why we're supposed to take care of each other. Remember, the ghetto wasn't created for us. It was created for Jewish people. We just took over.

It was created for Jewish that's what it was made for. Well, actually a Jewish it's actually considered part of that ship. There was the first people in the game. Remember we didn't have a place in America. The first projects probably

wasn't for black people. Most likely, if you're looking up, it won't be probably be for like somebody that's not an English white person because they you know, the English white person is super oppressive to Italian Irish, I mean, um, Spanish, Spaniards, you know, darker you get, it's gonna get tougher to be that type of pressure. So it was just a weird conversation and he felt like he had said, I'm

fat jealous from the streets. You know, this man from the fours Projects, like, you know, he grew up with motherfucker's that's how they talk. Now, I'm not saying everybody from other communities shouldn't accept it. I'm saying if Fat Joe, if the people of Forest Heelers that grew up in his community was saying you shouldn't say it, he wouldn't be saying it. He would have respected they mind because them is his loved ones and cultural you know, confidant

and people. He would have been like that. But they accepted it. Now the world don't need to accept it, but don't ask another street person accepted. Because I got a homeboy name Mandough, that's my nigga. Now, I'm not saying you gotta expect Mando to same nigga. You just don't gotta talk to Mando. But if you call yourself, thank you for the triple my homeboy that grew up with me. Just because your skin looked like my skin,

that don't mean enough. Just because our grandmother was oppressed the same way, you know, great great great grandmother was oppressed the same way, That don't mean enough. This nigga right here starving with me. Every day we ate together. The same sound was broken in half shared it. Mando gave me my first auncer Sean when I couldn't get my own. Hey man, get you some money. You thank you for the talk to him crazy and tell me about Oh you know what are our great great great

grandfathers went through nigga. Your great great grandfather could have been a house nigga. Nigga could have been on the porch nigga screaming at my grandfather. This nigga right here, we starved together. This my nigga. Let's see, that's where I mean you can have you know, somebody out you know, a young you know some people and you don't know that. Okay, this person is grew up with me. You know what

I'm saying. He's from the streets. So yeah, he running around here saying, nigga, can you have another group or some niggas? That's like, why this nigga running around here saying nigga? Now they start tripping on them on him because oh, he ain't supposed to be saying that. And yeah, I think about it because of the one of our friends. They don't say it with us, but they know for some reason, or they won't say it in front of because because it's not because maybe that person ship is

not legit. Like I'm not saying that they're not legit like that. Maybe they was always choosing to say it as a way to refer, you know, to to y'all bond or you know whatever. He whatever she thought was going on. But Momie, ain't gonna he gonna say it in front of anybody, and you're gonna have to say something to him because this is how he talked. Got it.

That's what I'm saying. You could be somewhere and they don't know this, and now they're gonna flash on you on y'all because you're They're like, you're taking up for him and he don't look like us. Most likely that's not what's happening in the street. And if you go to the street. I can go to a street in Houston, if it's the street, they're gonna see him and talk to him and they can be like, Okay, it won't

even be a question. It only starts being a question when you don't understand how it could happen because you're not from the street, or you from somewhere where there are no poor other people besides black poor people. And that probably is just very rare. Maybe in the Midwest. There's some places in the Midwest where you know, it'll just be poor black people. They got poor white people. I mean, you know, it's like it's always a different

culture or race that grow up in poor places. What I'm saying, even if it's a few so you don't hear other street rappers or hip hop artists like Fat Joe says this, Nobody is scared of fat Who the fuck is Fat Joe? Fat Joe can run the fat like anybody else. I don't gonna fuck what they say. I mean, it's not about that. I understand because he's street and on street, and I understand where you're from. I've been to where his projects or I see the dynamic of who lives there, so I understand how that

can happen in and that's important within context. Street people created that term of endearment the way we use it. Yes, those street people were black, but they were not just black. They were streaked black people. My dad hates that I use it, that nigga use it. He black. He hate I use it. I wish y'all just throw the way a word not that is ours. Y'all just keep saying brother or whatever y'all say, and he look nigga or now you want to and that's how they use niggah.

So that's my point I'm saying. It's like if we nish culture, it's going to keep missing what I'm saying, And that's why I'm at what I'm like, Well, I think we just started really determined who could say what. Like I've been this way about hip hop. I've been super protective over the last five six years of hip hop, Like, no, that person is not hip hop. That person is not hip hop. That person is not hip hop because we

gotta leave something for the streets. Like I'm not saying you can't listen to the music and enjoy it and it influence you to make the music. But that don't mean you're making hip hop. You could just be a rapper. M hip Hop is a very specific culture. Rap is just the language what I'm saying, the way we talk, the way we deliver the culture. But rap can be employed and used to deliver any message. Fucking Joe Biden could write a rap about being the president and it

could be a dope rap. I don't mean just because he's wrapping it hip hop. And that's what I'm saying, Like, just because you're black, you know, it doesn't make you entitled to slang. It doesn't. But when you're black, in say, I mean, this is why America's corporate America, and you have you know, you're representing for all the black people. So if someone comes in there there saying nigga, everybody's

looking at you like, oh my god. They they're not gonna say if they said, if they said that, you're supposed to find them not nigga. To me, but you could be, you know, in a work environment or something, and you just hear this person, a person cubicle, he's wrapping a song, like yeah, get my nigga singing that, my nigga, my niggas. But then you supposed to tell him, hey,

don't do that. But when you start talking to the streets, no way, Why are you supposed to tell him don't do that when he's he's in his cubicle and he's wrapping the song. It don't matter, Like that's the point, that's that's so? Is that okay? So would that be okay for the attorney of the middle class to be like, Okay, yeah, you don't have a right to say that, because now now you have more of a claim to it than

he does. Got it. But you're saying when you're trying to tell another person from the streets, right said like what if you can, you shouldn't be read, you know, I mean, that's why you know he's upset. And I could tell he's an attorney. I could tell you grew up in the middle class neighborhood. I could tell everything about him, how he's talking to me. I can see it. He told me he was and I'm like, well, why are you trying to tell somebody from where we from

to say, nigger, who do you think you? We cut your ass up? Fuck you up? And then they'll think it's like when you're taking another person's side. No, this is somebody coaturally who say he just because because hip hop and hip hop is not a black things. It has it has black roots from the street. It is not created by the fucking doctors or no fucking attorneys

or no motherfucking nothing. Them people is listening to jazz and top level great R and B. Then't the same people that had sucked up ship to say about hip hop. It wasn't just white people who as ships sucked up said about hip hop. It was elite black people that protested in w as existence who called it it wasn't music. It was upper level black preachers. It was a lot of people that wasn't from the environment to understand how poverty helped us form this music. Right, And that's just

really important when you think about it. The difference between something just being black culture and something being street culture. This true makes sense really is because street culture, I don't know street culture. You know what I'm saying, Like I don't even try. You know what I like, but you do know it, and you know some stuff you pick it up. I picked it up and being a

product of two crypts and and they just was. And then my grandma was just really from the streets like they were really, so I had to, you know, you had no choice but to be like, okay, this is what it is. Active and yeah, they activated, they activated, So I had no choice that batter. That's funny. Yeah, my parents said in Game Bang. Nobody directly in my family, but the game bang gang banging. It's not. It's not a gang. Banging is just banging. But gang members just

l a street culture. It's not anything different. Every street nigg in l A is the same. If you're a criminal in l A, you do the same ship. For the most part, my homie always be joking my boy ja you all glasses? No man, you know you'd be pushing gangs and ship. I'm from seven Street. I'm not an advocate for all gang members. But what I'm telling you is he's like, oh, that's not right. I said, j you you a street nigger. He's like, yeah, but

that's different. What's different if somebody was about to shoot me somewhere and you got a gun. You ain't gonna be like you know what glass is, dunk and let me call the police and reported to the proper authority. You don't call the police. Neither you would do a crime to advance your agenda either. The only difference is you not aligned with a bunch of men that are do the same and you are technically because you align

with me. If you would do crimes with me, if we was going somewhere, nikka did something you felt we need to get off, and we get off together. Nigga, We are a game, So a game member is directly related to doing crime. Like if you're a member a group of a group of people that commit crimes to advance their agenda, that's all it is. By definition, a group of criminals are together. Mm hmm. So every individual member a gangster is just a street nigga. I have

some I have so many crip questions. Just tell me, let me so, okay, this whole you know, crips, bloods, right, my whole thing is this? Why is there so many crips or hoods within a crip? Like why isn't it that or when did that start? Because when I was looking at the video, it was like, Okay, we had crips and we have bloods. Then all of a sudden, we had these different hoods. Are these different neighborhoods? Why why couldn't it just be crips and bloods? Because poverty

does the same exact thing. It's like when you go to Nigeria and you say, why are you know how many ethnicities there is in Nigeria, how many different languages there is in Nigeria and they all Nigerians. If you go over there and be like, oh, y'all just Nigerians. They from different tribes, they talk different, they eat different. It is culturally different because poverty creates invisible barriers, and then you think culturally it's unique here, Like I'm from

a hundred and seventeen street. We think it's culturally different when you cross Imperial and get to a hundred and fifteen street, And that's crazy because that's that's right there. Like that's how poverty works. Poverty and oppression forces you into small boxes. Most people from where were from never been to the beach. You're right, you are absolutely right, Like they have never went to the beach, They have never crossed because you don't want to run into white people.

You kind of know how people be, and you'd be worried about it. And the world is a scary place. When you pour you you you bounded to where you're from because it's the safest thing that you know. That's how the mental fortress that poverty and oppression is. It's way more elite than you could ever imagine, way more tricky and crafty and and real. What I'm saying when I talk to certain homies, they don't even see nothing

else for their life. I mean, it's like a computer, you know what I mean, that's in a safe moment. And it's crazy because it's like I don't I can't believe that. Yeah, And that's the point, Like if you're not there every day to kind of understand it, it doesn't even seem realistic. You ever watch Stranger Things, Yes, okay, the ghetto is the upside down, mm hmm, it's right there,

but it seems like it's not real. It don't even seem real, like you like think about the world, like hip hop is not about being relatable, it's about being a journey into another life, another world, like the Upside Down the upside down just looks like, you know, Hawkins, the middle school, but I mean that the community and all of that. But when you go to the upside there, you realize this is different. Mhm. It's darker. It seems like there's monsters, but the monsters got the same purpose.

Like there's a belief that the monsters want something worse. Y'all in the town, y'all working with them. Y'all opened up, y'all opened uhuh, they opened the ghetto right there when when she sent uh because uh one and he went through the wall and all that, and they opened up. Y'all opened the motherfucking door to the ghetto. Their monster's mother fucking with nobody at first. Their monsters was over there, and they minded their motherfucking business that you opened up

the door and they came out. They came like, what's going on? Who are y'all? You gotta watch it? Well, I don't know, Age, I don't know if you really did you watch it at all? None of them. That's how the the monster popped up, Like who the fund is? Y'all? The monsters wasn't trying to get through We was trying to get to them. Hawkins was trying to get to them, and they was like over there. But now they're like, okay, y'all,

motherfucker's tripping y'all sending motherfucker's up in here. Motherfucker's tripping this nigga one party telling us how fucked up y'all? This many motherfucker's fake. They think about it. That's cube. If you grew up listening to the ice Cube your whole life, what would you think of white people? They are not to be trusted? And so what if one what if one is the ice CUBEO the upside down? He telling all the monsters the uh what's the big one?

What they call him the mind Flair? What if? What if? What if? What if one is telling the mind flair right the big Spider who's supposed to be the main person. What if one is telling the mind flat man and motherfucker's is fucked up over there and Hawkins over there up up they call this to ups like that? What if they call him that man that ship? People fuck up? Look at their motherfucker you see what they look how

they see me over here? The mind flare like all the bitch ass niggas it's own perspective is important with all of these conversations. Perspective is everything, and and it's weird that, you know, we don't accept that. It's just weird, you know, I mean, we don't want to give everybody their own perspective. We feel like everybody should have the same perspective, no matter how ridiculous that is. Mm hmm. What other the cript questions did you ask? All right,

so I got one. Mind might be a little silly, but yeah, so it broke up into mid seventies. Okay, So the flag, I mean the the flag red rag, the rag right, so that represents crip, cripping or bledding. Right. So now like I have some pants that is cripping, I have a shirt that's like black, Like, how is that? Or how do you feel or how do gang bangers feel seeing people that aren't banging wearing the colors like your fan Oh it's a fanatic. Well, I just want to know why the flag on the left side laid

that up. I don't know. The nigs came up with that ship just one day, just one day, and it just happened. It wasn't a lot of intellect about gang banging, so that was something that had to happen, you needed to wear it on the left side. Well, remember pre seventy five, that just didn't exist. Colors didn't exist. That's what wouldn't exist, none of that. It was just these were the crips and these were the Bloods. They weren't even the Bloods. It was just the crips. Bloods became

a union of everybody who didn't want to be a crypt. Yeah, there's guys who was like, yeah, I'm not fucking with what they got going on. We're gonna do our own things. And those guys united and became the same type of ship anyway, Oh no, we're Bloods ship. You're all the same now united and became this. So it was people who the Bloods came about because they wasn't down with that chip that that that Raymond and and took he was trying to push there was like, now we're gonna

keep doing our own thing. And at that point, you know, if you reject the advancement of you know, a movement what I'm saying it's gonna be, you know, you're gonna have trouble. When they dealt with to trouble how they wanted to, they stood up for their self, and they found other communities that wasn't with the program and they united and kind of became what we know as bloods or pie rules. Okay, what what else? What's the other

gript question? Well, okay, so this whole initiation thing. Um, you know how they say like, um, you have to shoot somebody's they'll do yeah with the whole um having the car off, I mean the lights off, and that's not true. Okay. Now the fighting, So is it do you have to fight to get into the gang or is it just something where it's like I grew up in this hood and I'm a part of this. A lot of people are born on the set. That's normal.

I'm saying that standard. Some people fight. If you was really born over there and you get put on any way, they will never do you like a stranger. They really just so they really be fighting, Like, oh, ranger in today's Tom, he don't get beat up bad to be put on the hood. Yeah, they're going to beat him up because he's a stranger. So they're gonna really see

what he's about. And they just want to use their power incorrectly because they're not used to using it anyway, So they're gonna apply a real type of physical force to that person because he's a stranger. There's no love. They don't know his mama, they don't know his daddy. They're just fuck him up. So because they sucked him up, Okay, so there's no there's okay. Now you're a part of

the game because we sucked you up. Like that's it. Yeah, if you're willing to get beat up to be one of us, that's a early initial sign that you want to be one of us. You're willing to get beat up. Is there ever like anyone where it's like, nah, you we don't. You can't be a part of his life for it, you know, a crip or just you know, like the thirties aren't. Notoriously, a lot of their g homies are trying to cut off. But then they got

young homies that are um. Most gangs are trying to expand they know I'm saying, is there ever somebody that wants to be a part of Yeah, where they're like there's people have been denied. It's not often, but people have been denied. Why is it not often? Though? Like I think that that would be my only problem with the culture. It's it's way too assessible for anybody, right And then I mean because sure you would think something that represents everybody with you would be really more selective

about who that person is. So does your gag the game comes over your family? Where's the line drawing here? What do you mean? Game come over your family? So there may be decisions or things that you have to make where you have to um choose your family or the gang, Like what kind of decisions that? Like? What? What? Like? For example, Okay, I was just watching something I can't remember when I was watching, but the guy basically, um, oh,

good for us. I was watching the movie Good Fellas, so you know how he had to basically um go into the witness protection or whatever because he was gonna tell because they were going to come to kill his family and everything. What does that? Is there a limit there? Like? Is it like, well, I joined this gang so I know that my family can get killed or I don't quite know what you mean? And black gangs most of the times, nobody's gonna kill your family. They're gonna kill

your mom. They know your mom or your dad. They just don't like you. But um, there's really a moment you have to choose your gang over your family. Nobody's gonna beat up your dad and like, stand by, watch us beat up your dad. What I'm saying, it's not like that everybody in gangbanging mothers and fathers are really

respected in l A street culture. Like it's not like, you know, there's like a huge that's not cool, like your mom has to be on drugs or some crazy eazy But for the most part, if your homies really know your parents, they respect your parents. Like it's it's a lot of respecting gangs. It's not simple, you know what I'm saying that it has to be some kind of fraction and how they see other people. Like maybe if your mom is on drugs, then disrespect could happen.

Your father is on drugs, you know, they don't respect themselves, then things could go back in the streets. So I get like the whole fighting thing. You know, it's sure you're gonna be in fights, so they're gonna start you

right up. I'm just saying I get it, Like it's about respect fighting like I mean, but the gun violence, the shooting, the killing, Like where is it to where just as a human you're like, okay, we gotta stop killing, Like why is it where it's like, okay, there's drive bys or there's all of these things where it's like why do y'all have to kill or why does it have to be so drastic, Like, I mean, well, that's a humanity problem. Biden and and the government literally just

did a press conference where they killed the leader. Right. They made sure to let you know he was Ben Ladden's boss. They just like yeah, And he thought he was gonna get away from it, but we showed him and we gunned him down, We dropped, we did a fly by on him and his people, and blah blah blah, and we got at him. And now he knows he can't mess with America or what's going on with Russia and Ukraine, or or China doing the military exercises on Taiwan.

You know, it's it's not a problem just in our community. This is a humanity problem. So wait, why do you feel that it's so hard for like, if you are a part of the gang whatever, like it's so hard for you to walk away. You can't walk away, right, Sure you can, you can do whatever you want. You're grown as man, But why would you that's like your cousin is read and he was like, okay, we're not cousin. No,

I'm gonna walk away. Or like somebody grew up with and being friends with your whole life, what are you walking away from? Like you don't have to be a criminal, you can. Nobody's going to talk about Like most people don't move leave. People get good jobs, Like nobody, you got that good job, throw away your job and come funk up with us. Oh you got a good job, you mean, and you can help somebody else get a

good job. But that might be for the older but the young the younger generation of kids, Yeah, they're not telling them, oh yeah, you don't need to go to work. I mean, you don't need to come kick it at the in the hood. They're saying, oh, yeah, we need to link because we, you know, want to do some drugs and some some pills or get high or something like that. I don't think, really don't. I think for the most part, if you really grew up with somebody and you got a good job, nobody like, man, you

need to funk that. Go don't go to work today, come throw your life away with me. That's just not really how it works. If you're a stranger, they want to test out how real you are. And that's why strangers from different communities have no business going to stranger communities to get put on. That's just ridiculous what I'm saying. If you don't know people here, what do you think you're doing? What I'm saying, That's why that's how they do strangers. They like, you ain't from overious or we

don't care what you've got going on. You need to pull up and put in your hours because you ain't gonna you ain't a day one. But if you really from that community for real, I mean, nobody's going to give you a hard time because you got a great job. Or he got a good job, you're gonna punch on him. No, he's like, oh been and they got that job. He'll be feeling most of the time, he'll feel more pressure to be a part of whatever is going on than they will be putting pressure on him. Nobody. But you

gotta call off work and come to the meeting. So it's just really um some heads where it's just beef on site, Like because somebody died, I mean somebody died, and if somebody's brother somebody's sister and this is their little cousin. And this is your best friend, and his older brother got killed and these are the guys that did it. This is his cousin. Like if if somebody you know, never would happen. But if somebody's shot Britain, you've seen their cousin. I don't know if you'd better

to contain yourself the same. Maybe you don't put out a gun, but you might rust a bit. So it's all the same thing of just the human experience. What do you value your life for throwing away your life over if you don't have If your life don't have much value, you may throw it away for a lot

less than somebody who has a lot. More like, if you have a a card is worth a hundred and fifty thousand dollars or fifty thousand dollars or sixty three and pola, and somebody steals your car and you don't have insurance, I mean maybe you tripping a little bit more than a person who got they being stolen and got great insurance and get another one tomorrow. I mean,

poverty is is a very restrictive place. You know that that poverty and oppression is a very restrictive place, and you know, you want to protect your assets, your greatest assets, and sometimes in that world it's like it's your reputation and maybe your greatest asset when you come from there. You don't have a great job that pays ninety thousand. Nay, you ain't taking care of all your kids are the best of your ability or to the best way it can.

Your baby mama tripping because you don't got enough money for all of the silly stuff that she wanted to do. So it will drive you crazy and you will be some ship. And so yeah, the gangs, um, it was more like put together like how the Black Panthers was to protect the communities and to be able to help to empower that. I think that's a rough idea, but you gotta remember the Black Panther Party was started by adults.

Crips were started by children. For he was for me you're talking about you know, um ry Me was born in fifty three. He started the Crypts in sixty nine. He's sixteen years old. A lot of those guys too, were on Red Devil pills in middle schools or something. Red Devils are like, uh, it's like an upper ship. Yeah, and a lot of people was doing those type of

pills in the in the sixties. In the seventies, I listened to an interview on keV Max podcast Shout Out to the o Jehomie keV Mac got a Wtube channel, and he talked to took his wife and she was saying how all of them was popping red devils in middle school. This is in the sixties, So you know, that's the that's the that's the mind that Foster gang man, I mean the way y'all see it. So it wasn't necessarily completely thought out correctly, but it's not anywhere as

restrictive as you could imagine. It's a very open idea. It can be defined as very you rules, everybody kind of set their own rules. The only consistent rules are rules with them being a criminal. You can't tell the you can't snitch, right because as a criminal, they forced you to be accountable. Like you can't get out of accountability. You lose all reputation. If because it's all still a

masculine sport. It's a proof of masculinity. So it's like the man who willing to be the most accountable is the most respected if you're gonna stand up and fight and go to jail and deal with your own cases and you're not gonna tell you get respect. People think it's about oh, you through your life away or you committed a feeling, that's to respect. No, if you are willing to be accountable for what happens, that's where you get your respect. It's all a it's all the machieves,

most sport. I'm saying, proven who is a man just happen to be poor people. So you know what I'm saying. It ain't really too many other things you could do. I don't think um they expected to be to blow up the way that it did. I mean, it's all over the United States, but I do see more. It's more bloods now or it was more cool to be a blood than it was a phase where I think a little way was popping that day. That was a thing. But now it's more crypts, a ton of crypts so

Texas and Texas. It's a lot of crips. I mean, it's been a lot of crypts since the eighties. It's a lot of crips. So, but I don't have a proper count of crypts and bloods across the country. I know, I've been a different hoods a crown across this country. I've been a different hoods around the world at this point. So I mean the cript and blood part don't really mean anything. It's really the community itself that comes together.

Mm hmm. Like, you know, they may have grape streets in New Jersey, but they got different grape streets sets. These guys are from this There's a Mexican grape street and a Black grape street. So watch video Grape is the original gang over there. Yeah, watch video Grape and a lot of the older black dudes like Haunch Grape some of the more famous and popular names, or we'll watch video Grapes. They got w VG tattoos because that was the game. My gang is CV one one seven

or seven street watching hung seventeen street. Watch my older homies is just like that too. They from a content video the Mexican Uh So, some of my older homies is my Black homies and some of my older homies Lonely Rabbit, they are Mexican. You know, at that time you grew up with each other. So y'alls from the same game, y'alls from the same poverty. As streets. Back to the Fat Joe part. Like, you know, some of my homies talk like that they grew up with them,

they grew up with us. They raised me so what I look like Oregon with an attorney that grew up in middle class. About how me and my niggas came up thugging and starving together. It's a waste of time. I'm not gonna argue with us about that. You gotta be from the streets to even understand. Good looking out for tuning into the No Sellers podcast. Please do us

a favorite, subscribe, rate, comment, and share. This episode was recorded right here on the West coast of the USA and produced by my homeboy A King for the Black Effect Podcast Network and I Heart Radio. Yeah