[Severian]

Originally Posted by SuchFriendsAreDangerous

wtf are you talking about Pac was gangbanging the fuck on his records??

Yeah, but I already went over this. My take is that Pac balanced his violence with a poeticism and thoughtfulness that resulted in the creation of a greater artistic statement. YG, not so much (at all).

And I already said Pac and BIG did this shit before (along with countless others, of course, but we're talking about Pac, so Pac it is) ... And even with the help of insanely intelligent and socially motivated songwriting, he wound up fucking DEAD. So did BIG. Both of them had layers in their music that — intentionally or otherwise — elevated what they were doing to a higher plane, but they're fucking dead, dude!

As I said before, it's up to the rapper/artist of any kind what the message is going to be. If YG, or anyone, wants to follow in the footsteps of the golden era gangstas, he's allowed to make that decision. But he should be prepared and willing to meet the same end.

what, are you naive enough to believe kids will join gangs or commit violence because of some mediocre YG record? hahaha that his hilarious

Uh, yes. Obviously, I am that "naive." Although I don't think it's naïveté, since this kind of thing happens all the fucking time. Art imitates life imitates art. You work at a school. I've worked at a school. You were a dumbass kid once, I was a dumbass kid once. You know how stupid and impressionable kids are. How is it unthinkable that stupid impressionable kids will be influenced by pop music? It happens constantly. It's almost a guarantee.

Even if nobody does "join gangs" or "commit violence" as a direct result of this shitty inconsequential YG album, YG is still choosing to use his influence this way, which makes it more likely that someone will. Again, why do that? Again, how hard is it to NOT play with fire? To NOT take the chance?

i think you are out of your league and you should have left the mic where you dropped it.

I'm not out of my league because I don't come from fucking Compton. I'm not out of my league because I don't have an up-close, intimate knowledge of gang rituals and behaviors. I lived through the '90s. I am entitled to have an opinion about this. I'm not spouting bulkshit rhetoric here. I'm arguing in favor of discretion on the part of musicians when it comes to highly volatile issues that potentially have very real ramifications and consequences for everyday people.

You're not listening to me.
I've already stated that I'm being a bit of a hypocrite here, since I do happen to be a fan of 2Pac and BIG (and NWA ad Eazy, Wu-Tang, and blah blah). So, yeah, my entire stance on this one is full of holes because of who I am and what I've listened to, and what I liked in my youth.

But here's the thing: I love that stuff today because I loved it when I was 13. I grew up with it, but far away from the real-life dangers and socio-cultural fallout of the culture that produced this stuff. In this, I was lucky!

If thirty-something me heard Ready to Die for the first time in 2016, I'd think it was really goddamn inappropriate, but I heard it when I was a young impressionable kid, living a pretty easy life with my academic parents in our suburban Pacific Northwest home.

As an adult, when I see this kind of ultra-overt gang culture promotion, it makes me concerned. I have a different perspective than I did when I was young. I worry about kids. I worry about gang violence. Tell me, is this really so unimaginable to you? YG's not simply "hood repping," he's Blood repping. The Game's Streets of Comton accompanied a documentary about the neighborhoods he came from, where the fallout caused by gang violence was shown as a destructive force for everyone in those streets. There was, for lack of a better word, a "moral" to the story. There was a deliberate attempt to educate white middle class bitches like me about the realty of living in a place where the color of your shirt can get you killed.

There's nothing like that going on wth YG's Still Brazy. Even if there is some depth to the lyrics at times, that cover is essentially a piece of gang propaganda. You can argue with me about it all day, but that's literally what it is. It's using YG's name and face, and combining it with absurdly blatant Blood imagery for marketing purposes.

It's saying "I'm a Blood, buy this album that I have essentially turned into a piece of Blood paraphernalia!" and as a result, you can't buy the album without supporting gang bullshit. That's tacky and irresponsible in my opinion, which I'm allowed to have. I am allowed to not be tolerant of anything that encourages violence, and I don't "need" to respect it because it's a culture. That's taking PC to a warped new level. It's taking the "art has the right to art!" argument to a disgusting and self defeating extreme.

Note: I am not saying YG shouldn't be *allowed* to do this. I'm not saying it should be illegal. I'm not saying it's inherently wrong or immoral.

I'm just saying I think it's fucking disgusting. I'm saying I do not like it. I'm saying that I wish YG had not decided to do this. I'm saying I think it's a wholly negative thing. That's all.