Guns and hip-hop seem to go hand-in-hand like peanut butter and jelly, but instead of being a match made in heaven, guns and hip-hop are a match made in hell.
The underlying gun culture in hip-hop isn’t anything new and has been around since the beginning of what critics call “gangsta” rap in the late ’80s.
DETAILS: SHOTS FIRED- Literally! Tyga’s Tour Bus Gets Hit With Bullets!
After the news broke YMCMB rapper Tyga’s tour bus was shot up and his female protege rapper Honey Cocaine took a hit, flashbacks of news headlines surrounding the deaths of Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac plagued my memory.
The events leading up to the shooting stemmed from Tyga yelling at a fan with loud gunshots ringing in the background, serving as a back-track as he aired out his haters.
Challenging the guys who had a problem with him to meet him outside, Tyga and his entourage became the targets of a barrage of bullets.
But what’s most disturbing about these series of events is Tyga’s exhibition of an excessive machismo persona with gunplay ringing as a subliminal “shoot’em up” style taunt.
What was Tyga thinking?
Did he think he was going to “shoot the one” with his enemies after the show with gunplay ringing while he rants?
The reality of the situation is many rappers have gotten famous over their war stories of guts and glory, but over the past 5-7 years, the gun talk has simmered down considerably.
Not to say that it’s gone, because we have the “King Of The South” rapper T.I.’s jail time and the death of Cali Swag District rapper M-Bone’s death as case studies that “live by the gun die by the gun” mentality is still in full-effect.
Over the past decade, rappers like 50 Cent, who made his whole career based off of getting shot 9 times and living to rap about it, brought the thrill of the streets to the iPods and CD players to millions- but at what cost?
Black males are 14 times more likely to be killed by another black male. In places like California, the national statistics show that 84 percent of black males who are victims of homicide were killed by GUNS.
Surprised?
Well, you shouldn’t be. It’s the harsh reality we’ve come to accept subconsciously.
I totally understand the constant threat to rapper’s lives as they travel from city to city. I get it. Rappers have enemies, they feel unsafe, so they carry guns.
I personally feel uneasy about people carrying guns, but I realize our second amendment gives us (Americans) the right to bear arms, but it’s the flaunting and perpetual acts of irresponsible gun violence that bothers me.
Rappers need to be a little more mindful of how gunplay affects the impressionable young teenagers who idolize them.
And they also need to remember that just because you’re a rapper, you’re not invincible.
If you talk smack you could get clapped back – fame or no fame.
It’s all fun and games until a beloved rapper gets killed, but we ALL should stop thinking about the rappers and think about the invisible teens who live and die by the gun and don’t get the chance to rap about it.
F*ck gunplay, try word play.
