Thursday, September 11, 2014

80 Blocks




From Tiffany's


In 1979 (I was 8 years old) a documentary which was directed by Gary Weis and depicted gang life in the South Bronx was made. The documentary was called 80 Blocks from Tiffany's (which is the distance from the iconic jewelry store and the South Bronx) I just recently watched it and it is erie to see the mentality the youths in the "clubs" had. When you watch it you can see the decay,the lawlessness and despair that encompassed the entire area. The film centers on 2 "clubs" The Savage Nomads and the Savage Skulls. We meet members and they tell us their stories and they love they have for their "brothers"  You see the burned out abandoned buildings.  You meet members with names like "Fly" and "Crazy Joe" who seem quite at home in front of the camera. One of the most compelling parts of the movie is that the neighbors are resigned to the fact that the "clubs" are there to stay and some even sing praises of how they "protect the neighborhood" The documentary can be seen (broken into parts) on Youtube.  Youngins and Oldheads watch this and compare and contrast to what we have going on in our cities today.






Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Let me put you on.

Did you know

 
Everyone knows that Jay Z got his start with Jaz O. Everyone knows that at some point Jay Z started " hanging with Kane" (Ether verse) But did you know that it was Jaz O who unknowingly set it all in motion? Did you know Big Daddy Kane decided to take a onetime rival's star pupil under his wing? In a interview he did last September Kane describes the meeting

“Jaz-O was more popular than me in Brooklyn before we had deals and I couldn’t have that. I’ve always wanted to battle Jaz. Fresh Gordon wanted me to do a mixtape with Jaz. So Shirt Kings asked me to do it and I was like ‘If there could be a battle.’ He [responded] ‘Yeah, yeah yeah.’ So I’m [thinking] finally I get to battle Jaz. So I go there and Gordon tells me nah. I just want ya’ll to do a tape together. We were already there so I’m like ‘Alright cool.’ And Jaz was cool. He was [real] cool. Jaz [asked] ‘Yo, do you mind if my man rhymes on it?’ I’m like aight. We all did it. Afterwards on the ride back home, Shirt Kings was like ‘Jaz isn’t with EMI anymore. We’re trying to get him a new deal. You think you could [help out]?’ And I [responded] ‘To be honest with you, I kinda like the skinny, light skinned nigga better. Can you plug me with him?’ And that’s how me and Jay got cool and we started rocking.”
Full Interview is here 
http://weuponit.com/2013/09/30/big-daddy-kane-talks-meeting-jay-z-and-why-he-wanted-to-help-him-early-on/

Looking for the

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