Since birth, Hip Hop has been faced with negative connotations and slander. Gang bangers, thugs, violent words, are just a few phrases that many throw around to give my culture a bad rep. Over time I would hope to see progression and growth but it seems like we’re still in the same place we started in.
Last night a friend and I were able to attend the TI concert at Irving Plaza in midtown New York. What we planned as a fun and enjoyable night on the town turned into a scene from a horror movie. The crowd was very diverse; Whites, Blacks, Asians, of all ages. To my surprise the medium age for the crowd their was about thirty-five, and older. I was a very small fish in a pond of sharks. Since I’m pretty small, my friend and I decided to kick it towards the back of the venue, and use the steps of the VIP area, as a stool so we could see the stage. Like most concerts we waited for hours to see TIP come out. Doors opened at 7 o’clock PM, yet ten o’clock rolls around and there is still no TI.
The music stopped, and there was a change in DJ. A few minutes later above me I hear gunshots but it blended with the music so I had just assumed it was base from the music that was playing, when all of a sudden I hear footsteps running. So I’m thinking…man some drunken people went and got into a fight. When I hopped on the step of the VIP to take a look at the stage I see people ambushing the stage, running to the exit, and even worse running in my direction towards the back exit. My friend grabs me and we run towards an exit but we are trapped in the middle of a stampede.
Since the door was congested we were pretty much at a standstill for one point and time. My friend peaked her head out of one exit and saw a man with his face covered in blood. At the point she started screaming “we gotta go, we gotta go” and then a man came to the main floor and started shooting again right in front of us. At this point I was scared to leave, scared to stay. Thankfully my friend was able to make her way through and drags me out along with her.
Blessed, and thankful that no bullets hit me, I give God all the glory. As I walked outside I stood with others watching the chaos occur. The ambulance and the NYPD quickly rushed into the venue once it was empty, taking people who were hurt out on stretchers, and trying to block off the roads. It was reported that the shootings occurred because of beef between Brooklyn rapper Troy Ave and another party. Three people were injured and unfortunately one man actually died last night. (Rest in peace) I find it ridiculous that this venue did not have metal detectors, and on top of that failed to complete pat down’s or do any type of security check as I entered the venue. That should be mandatory for events like this.
Legends lost- Tupac and Biggie were the most tragic and impactful deaths in the Hip Hop culture. Regardless if you’re from the east coast or west coast their deaths were a loss that we all took as a community. It’s obvious that New York is not the breeding ground for Hip Hop as it use to be in the 90’s but after witnessing last nights behavior I am begging to worry about progression in our community.
In the late 80’s early 90’s there was a Stop the Violence Movement that KRS1 had created to address violence in the hip hop community. To push the movement they created a song entitled “Self Destruction” that featured versus from some of the biggest stars during this time period like Heavy D, Public Enemy, MC Lyte, Dougie Fresh, KRS1, Kool Moe Dee, and a few others. Today the African American community has came along way as far as success in this country, but unity in our culture has always been a problem. We need to demand a call to action. The Stop The Violence Movement was great for the culture back then and is something that I feel like should be reborn to help Hip Hop in it’s time of need.
Stop the Violence!
“when it’s shot who’s to blame?”
“Headlines, front page, and rap’s the name”
“MC Delight here to state the bottom line”
“That black-on-black crime was way before our time”
-MC Lyte
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