HipHopWired Reports
Gang life used to be a means to bring together Black men and form a type of Brotherhood. Although prejudged as something negative and only bringing trouble, the origination of the Bloods and the Crips wasn't based around violence, but more of an outlet to build family relations.
These days, gangs have been a catalyst to crime and increased violence within the community as the youth, whether due to ignorance or immaturity, have used their affiliations as a way to intimidate those that are outside of the set. Gangs have sporadically popped up across the country leaving chaos at their footprints.
As a Crip of the old school, Snoop Dogg caught up with DJ Green Lantern to speak on the current status of gang life and how it has transitioned drastically from what it was initially.
“Me personally, I feel like if you banging outside of California, stay there cause if you come back to California where it originated at, we have different sets of rules and regulations that don't apply to you n*ggas and you will become victim of circumstances
“I'm proud, but at the same time, I'm disappointed because there's no understanding. It's cool to be in a gang, it's cool because gangs breed love and family and friendship. A lot of people don't understand the positives of being in a gang. If there's no understanding or explanation of why this gang was created, what's the origins of this gang, the rules and regulations, then it becomes a disappointment.”
Feeling as though many are heavily influenced by the media, many are feeding into the visuals portrayed on the television or movies and are allowing others to infiltrate their thought process to give them false representation of being in a gang.
“I feel like a lot of these guys watch TV and they see it, then a couple of guys come from out of town and they brainwash them and they get em and they just gangbangin' for no reason. When we was doing it, we was brought up in it. We understood the rules and regulations. We were there for the foundation. We knew why we were getting involved and knew the consequences. These youngsta's that's in it right now don't understand the consequences. They don't realize that their life is on the line every five minute.”
The rapper also spoke on reppin' sets in Hip Hop and how some artists may need to watch how much they expose themselves when they are on music videos and on the Internet.
“Then, when you find a young rapper who takes on the gangbang mode, who ain't from California, and he goes to California, and some real n*ggas ride up on him from the other side, it's like ‘N*gga, what you was claiming? We done already did our YouTube research on you and all that. You flaggin that sh*t and you ain't really a real one?'”
Without naming particular rappers, Snoop stated that there are certain rapper flaggin sets in different areas of the country, but will be quickly approached when they arrive in California. Without particular badges and documentation from people on the West Coast, some of these rappers have landed themselves in hot water once they touched down into the state.
“I've always expressed on songs that if you come to L.A., you need to come get at a couple of people, I'm one of them. If you don't get at me, you're in trouble.”
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