TROUBL

  Though it seems most Hip-Hop promotes ‘watered down’ anthems, we must remember Hip-Hop originated as social commentary.  While CNN spotlights the likes of Rev. Al and Armstrong Williams, TROUBL spotlights modern day sociologists, Hip-Hop artists, in particular.  Hip-Hop artists provide the social commentary that is on point and accessible to us.  Weezy spits his social examination on The Carter III.

I was watchin T.V. the other day right
Got this white guy on there talkin bout black guys
Talkin about how young black guys are targeted
Targeted by who?
America
You see, one in every 100 Americans are locked up
1 in every, 9 black Americans are locked up
And see what the white guy was trying to stress was that
The money that we spend on sending a motherf**ka to jail
A young motherf**ka to jail
Would be less to send, his or her young ass to college (heh)
See, and another thing the white guy was stressing was that
Our jails are populated with drug dealers
You know crack, cocaine, yeah, stuff like that
Meanin due to the laws we have on crack cocaine and regular cocaine
The police are only
I don’t want to say only right, but shit
Only logic by riding around in the hood all day
And not in the suburbs, because
Crack cocaine is mostly found in the hood
And um, you know the other thing is mostly found…
You know where I’m going
But why bring a motherf**ka to jail
If it’s not gonna stand up in court
Because this drug ain’t that drug
You know level 3, level 4 drug, shit like that (heh heh)
Mmm hmm, I guess it’s all a misunderstanding, and um
I sit back and think well shit us young motherf**kers,
You know, that 1 in every 9
We probably only selling the crack cocaine just because we in the hood
And it’s not like the suburbs
We don’t have the things that you have
Why? I really don’t want to know the answer, but uh…
I guess we just misunderstood uh, yeah
You know we don’t have room in the jail
Now for the real motherf**kers, the real criminals, you know
Sex offenders, rapists, serial killers, shit like that
Don’t get scared, don’t get scared
I know you saw one them sex offenders papers
Don’t trip, he live right on the end of your block, mmm hmm
Yeah, that nigga live right down the street from you
Sex offender on a level 3 drug, convicted, ex-con, yeah, check him out
And what you got, you got daughters, son, what you got?
Yeah, well you know what (coughing) (that’s the good weed)
You know what? I have a f**kin daughter
You understand me? And, why the f**k would you bring my neighbor
To jail just because the reason why he live next door to me
Ain’t the reason why I live next door to him
Mean that, he didn’t rap his way to my f**kin neighborhood
He sold crack cocaine to get to my neighborhood
You move him out, bring him to jail for life
And then you move in a sex offender, heh heh heh
They giving me a paper, heh heh
Is that a misunderstanding, cause I don’t understand it

-Lil Wayne (The Carter III)