Enough is enough

This post is addressed to journalists who like to raise their voices about subjects they obviously don’t know a lot about.
Since Deshaun Holton aka Proof passed away on April the 11th, a lot of ink has been spilled about the talented rapper.
On the one hand, a lot of people expressed their compassion and pain towards a whole hip hop community. On the other hand, some big mouthed journalists, whether they were from Detroit or not, presented a rather distasteful and wrong image of the rapper better known as Proof and of the circumstances of his death, bringing the emcee and hip hop culture into a very negative light.
Those journalists probably have no idea about how hurtful their words are. Some of them obviously don’t care as long as they manage to get a good salary from their boss.
My point is: talk about subjects you know about, but keep your dirty mouths shut about things you are totally ignorant of. Moreover don’t condemn rap music for the drama that happened with the loss of Biggie and Pac. Don’t call artists « hypocrites » when their music reflects a reality you are not familiar with.
I stumbled across an article recently and I found it very disrespectful towards emcees who make a living out of their raps.
It is always so easy to judge things that happen in ghettos when you live very far away from them, in a comfortable house, all facilities and five cars at your disposition. It is easy to condemn killings that happen on a daily basis in a place you have never been to. Survival is a foreign word to you, yea, we guessed it right.
I didn’t grow up in the Detroit ghetto, nor did I live in Compton. However, I have lived in a European ghetto for years and the place where I live right now could be pictured as a zone too. I have been into rap music and hip hop culture for years, being introduced into rap music by Mc Hammer in 1992.
The music I listen to and that I review refers to an every day reality. Hip hop was born from the rage of black people being oppressed by the government. The conditions of living in an American ghetto, no matter if you’re black, white, of Hispanic or Asian culture are very harsh.
It is very hard to survive there, as the music often points in out. Rappers have to deal not only with the harsh conditions of living, but also with local and national rivalries. Their lives are often put in jeopardy because of label rivalries and jealousy.
The ghetto is a jungle where the rule is often « kill or get killed », as local Detroit emcee Pace pointed it out recently.
I’d also like them journalists to be very cautious about the words they use regarding the circumstances of Proof’s death.
Stop calling Deshaun Holton a « murderer ». You were not here when the drama happened. Of course, you might object that I wasn’t there either. True. But I don’t pretend to know the truth about what really happened. The only witnesses were people from the Bender clan, the person Proof shot first.
It looks like the whole argument was much more complicated than a « King of Detroit argument ». A lot unofficial information tends to prove it anyway. Don’t judge. If you were in a tricky situation such as Proof’s the day of his murder and you felt your life was in danger, you’d probably shoot too.
Don’t blame the music for being the mirror of a daily ghetto reality. Don’t call « hypocrites » people who are more real than you will ever be in your entire life.
Talk about whatever subject you want to, but inform yourself before spreading your usual nonsense worldwide.