In 1988 during a Boogie Down Products/Public Enemy concert a fight broke and a young man in the audience was killed. Already effected by the previous murder of his friend and DJ, Scott La Rock, KRS-One sprung into action and assembled a group of the biggest rap stars from the east coast. The name? 'The Stop The Violence Movement', performing the hit single 'Self-Destruction' in 1989.
'Self-Destruction' was, and still is a classic rap track with a definite message, an excellent beat, and an interesting hook. With rappers like Heavy D, Doug E. Fresh, and Public Enemy teaming up with now lesser known artists Delite, Daddy-O, and Just-Ice to name a few, this song exploded onto the scene and caused a ground swell of emotion at the time. Mainly dealing with the idea of violence in general, the song also targets the idea of 'black-on-black' crime, a central theme of the 'Conscious Rap' movement of the day.
One year later, spurred on by greed and envy, the 'West Coast All-Stars' arrived with, 'We're All In The Same Gang'. Produced by Dr. Dre, it is a pretty bare-bones beat and featured a now forgotten Michel'le singing the hook;
Don't you know we've got to put our heads together?
Make the change 'cause we're all in the same gang
Now, as you can probably tell I enjoy the first song over the second, both musically and in message. When listening to 'Self-Destruction' I can feel the history and the mood behind it. An event sparked the telling of a story that was years in the making, black-on-black violence was tearing a community apart and portraying the young black male in a most negative light, as Heavy D says in the song;
They call us animals
Uhnn uhnn I don't agree with them
"I'll prove them wrong"
But right is what you're proving them
The problem with rap music rears it's ugly head in "We're All in the Same Gang". The song could technically be considered a sort of glorified P.S.A, along the lines of "This is your brain on drugs" the classic Astar War Amps P.S.A. from the late 80's, and this one from Pee Wee Herman. Unfortunately this song simply furthers the idea that to be black one has to act 'hard'. What right do Dr. Dre and MC Ren have to say stop the violence? None. They were members of N.W.A. (Niggas With Attitudes) and 'pioneers' of the gangster rap movement, that this song should essentially be about abolishing. Take these lyrics;
Yo, we're not here to preach because we're not ministers
We're tellin' it like it is 'cause Ren and Dre are like sinister
Why, in a song about ending violence do we still have people rapping about how sinister and tough they are? Yes, it would be hypocritical to have these two violent artists 'preach' to the youth about ending violence, but that is my point, don't put them in the song!
Then we have Eazy E headlining a song about ending violence, a man who 2 years prior to this song rapped;
Straight outta Compton
Is a brother that'll smother yo' mother
And make ya sister think I love her
... And
So what about the bitch who got shot? Fuck her!
You think I give a damn about a bitch? I ain't a sucker!
After he throws down some lyrics about people dying because they are not tough enough for the streets and how he's so hard that he can't 'preach' to you, he ends this disaster of a song by saying;
Take notes from Easy-E, the violent hero.
Come on now. Am I the only one who finds this frustrating.
Now head lining 'Self Destruction' we have Public Enemy, a group that could just as easily be
classified as violent. The distinction for Chuck D has always been the idea of violence as a last
resort, and not for snatching gold chains or robbing purses in the streets, but for achieving a
higher level of life for his brothers and sisters through organized political upheaval. Whether or
not you or I agree with his message isn't the point, the real point is that the story he tells does
have a message.
On a side note I would also like to mention the presence of Stetsasonic in this in this song.
I was introduced to them recently and I like their addition to 'Self-Destruction' very much. They are primarily remembered for performing with a live band, and dealt with dark subjects using uplifting lyrics. Check out the song A.F.R.I.C.A. if you can, it's a little cheesy and raw, but enjoyable.
Also on a personal note, I am 50-50 with the inclusion of Ice T on the west coast track. I have always felt while listening to his music and reading his interviews that Ice T tends to me more of a story teller. Two years after the release of 'We're All in the Same Gang' Ice T and his rapcore group 'Body Count' would wind up in a lot of hot water over the release of the single 'Cop Killer'. Ice T stated that the song was political in nature, but he had actually written it from the view of a fictional character, "I ain't never killed no cop. I felt like it a lot of times. But I never did it. If you believe that I'm a cop killer, you believe David Bowie is an astronaut." As an adult, I personally think that the song and the album are both fantastic, because I can understand what is happening, but would I let a 6-16 year old listen to it? Probably not.
On a lighter note, here is Ice T in the 1984 cult classic, 'Breakin'. Ice T can now be seen beating up retarded children every week on the Emmy award winning series; 'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit".
If you have never seen or the songs here they are, and you can make up your own mind.
'Self-Destruction' by The Stop the Violence Movement
'We're All in the Same Gang' by The West Coast All-Stars
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