Ski Mask Way: Rap Crimes & Hip Hop Culture

Rappers Aid in Minimizing Gun Crime

In the face of controversy surrounding police cooperation and snitching, here's a story on how a five-year-old program in Baltimore City is working to curtail gun crime.

The Precision Youth Power Program was started in 2002 as a program to help at-risk youth value education and professional development. The program has now turned into a vehicle to assist the U.S. Attorney's office get the word out on gun crime.

Members of PYPP have begun recording several hip-hop public service announcements to inform viewers about Maryland Exile, 'a unified and comprehensive strategy to combat gun crime that combines local, state and federal law enforcement efforts; community action and revitalization; and public awareness.' Artists' lyrics will warn about the automatic jail time that awaits felons who carry guns, or use guns in violent crimes.

In a city that is infamous for drugs and guns, this is a bold move on the part of the participants of this movement, many of whom still live in the same neighborhoods where trouble led them to PYPP. But if these young people are willing to take the issue of gun violence and crime to the airwaves, perhaps it will be an effective way to get the attention of its target market, just in time for the usually crime-ridden summer.

And hopefully, the attention of the national media.

Meet Jarrett Carter

Hello, all. My name is Jarrett Carter, and I'm a 26-year old freelance writer/publicist based in Baltimore, MD. If you are a fan of ProHipHop.com, then hopefully you've seen some of my 62 cents on the various topics about hip-hop marketing and business. If not, here's an intro.

Education - Morgan State University, B.A., English/Journalism (Class of 03') Towson University, Candidate for M.S., Communications Management

Bylines - Baltimore Sun Newspaper, upscale Magazine, ESPN SportsNation, BlackSportsNetwork.com, AllHipHop.com, BleacherReport.com

You can also catch me as a regular poster on several message boards and blogs around the Internet. For my day job, I work as Asst. Director of PR at my alma mater, and I also run my own communications firm. You can check out my firm at www.cartermediaenterprises.com.

Enjoy the first post. It's about rap and guns, but not what you might expect.

Peace.

Smoking Gun: NYPD's Rap Files & 50 Cent

The initial inspiration for Ski Mask Way was the NYPD's hip hop dossier from which The Smoking Gun posted excerpts back in '05.

Though The Smoking Gun reminded us of their contributions to hip hop history by claiming that Cam snitched, given that Cam and 50 have been going at it regarding snitching, it's surprising that they failed to mention the similar finding that 50 Cent also reported attacks to the police.

Rap Lyrics News Placed in Crime File

In further validation of this blog's premise [whatever that is, it's still under discussion], Complex pointed earlier this month to a NY Daily News piece concerning Al Sharpton's attacks on rap lyrics that was placed under Crime File.

But I have to admit, it's looking pretty shady along Ski Mask Way.

Ethan Brown Helps Clear Up Stop Snitchin' Confusion

Wow, I have been seriously sleeping on Ethan Brown, author of Queens Reigns Supreme: Fat Cat, 50 Cent, and the Rise of the Hip Hop Hustler and the upcoming Snitch: Informers, Cooperators, and the Corruption of Justice.  What can I say?  When I first heard about Queens Reign Supreme I didn't know anything about Mr. Brown and I assumed that any book on such a topic would include more fairy tales, as did From Pieces to Weight.

I'm also guessing that I was in one of my "not reading hip hop blogs" phases when Queens Reign Supreme came out and when Brown's blog launched cause what I've been reading today fits the mass of evidence on view better than anybody else I've read.

In particular, I was taken by the following breakdown:
Just as hip-hop has adopted a pathetic frat boy pose it has also provided myth-laden portrayals of what goes on in streets and in the criminal justice system. I’ve written this before but it bears repeating over and over again: the sentencing guidelines for drug related crimes established during the 1980s crushed any real “code of silence” on the streets (as did the rise of the crack trade which democratized the drug business and therefore put individual hustlers out on the streets who didn’t adhere to any specific code). Yes, witness intimidation still exists but there is no iron-clad code of silence out there. And by pledging allegiance to a code of “ethics” (as Cam put it) that does not exist, rappers look extraordinarily foolish. Chuck D famously said that hip-hop is the “CNN” of the black community but rap these days is more like Fox News.

I will say that his comments about M-1 partially miss the mark.  Brown states that M-1 "didn’t make a single coherent argument" when he appeared on Fox News.

Actually, M-1's argument was quite coherent but totally in the wrong frame.  M-1 entered an argument that was inspired by pop stars not talking to cops and discussed it as if everybody was talking about the interplay of revolutionary politics, race and poverty.  Yes, it's connected and folks are trying to take it there, often in a rather superficial manner, but anyone mentioning Cop Watch in such a discussion is not in the same room with the rest of the folks on camera.

I don't know about now but, in the 90s, Copwatch was primarily an anarchist, radical leftist project that developed autonomous groups organizing citizens watches against police brutality at demonstrations and in heated community settings.  It's an amazing tale and very important to democracy but that's just not the conversation M-1 dropped in on at Fox.  He's doing more of a parallel universe type approach, though I doubt he recognizes that he's the one that set that up.

In any case, I'm glad I finally got on to Ethan Brown and I'm sure you'll be hearing more about him soon, both at Ski Mask Way and ProHipHop.

Thanks Rafi.

Dead Prez Talks Snitching on Fox News

Dead Prez's M-1 on Fox News

M-1 discusses Stop Snitchin' as a "code of the streets" and breaks down the view of sectors of the black community that feel that the police are inherently against them.  Unlike Cam'ron, who's basically a clown, M-1 puts it in a believable context grounded in a radical political perspective.

The Smoking Gun Claimed Cam'ron Snitched

The Smoking Gun claims that Cam'ron snitched because he talked to police:

Giles--who is listed as "compl," or complainant--got into a "verbal dispute" with about 15 black males "while at basketball game" in August 1999. After the perps knocked him to the ground, Giles was kicked in the head and groin. Giles was debriefed by police at Bellevue Hospital, where he was treated and released.

Yeah, I see it now.  "Officer, there were 15 but I took them all on before slipping and falling on some trash.  Did I mention they were all young, black males?  That's right, officer, a whole pack of young, black males wildin' out.  You know how they do."

Snitchin' or tellin' tales?  You be the judge!

60 Minutes Investigates the Stop Snitchin' Movement, Interviews Cam'ron

60 Minutes - Stop Snitchin' Pt. 1

Pt. 1 looks at the sad case of Israel Ramirez and Busta Rhymes, the scar on Killa Cam's arm and the fact that snitching is bad for a rap star's business.

60 Minutes - Stop Snitchin' Pt. 2

Bottom line for Cam'ron, any form of communication with cops equals snitching and that's a self-serving philosophy that does nothing to address the criminal activities of the cops or the needs of the community. As Rizoh put it, a "spineless...campaign".

Ski Mask Way - Rap Crimes & Hip Hop Culture

50 Cent - Ski Mask Way

Ski Mask Way has been a long time coming.

Though I have many motivations for starting Ski Mask Way, I primarily hope it will be a platform for exploring the multifaceted nature of crime in the hip hop community.  Rather than walling it all off as a rap thing, I consider criminal activity to have become a key element in hip hop today, an element that permeates the lyrics and lifestyles of many contemporary artists.

However, this approach is less about attacking hip hop purists and more about opening up an opportunity to look at crime in a cultural context.  But that doesn't have to be yawn inducing, for example, check out the Ski Mask Way video that inspired the title of this blog.  Fun, huh?

I find the video disturbing but really strong.  Although one could claim it romanticizes crime, I think it has a far more realistic tone than most rap videos.

In any case, we're off.  If you want to join the fun, write me:
clyde(at)prohiphop(dot)com

Update:
You know, I think I gave Ski Mask Way a catchier introduction in its previous incarnation as Criminal Arts.