BlackPerspective.net
Discussing the Diaspora as seen through an internal Black lens
Boyz In Da Hood - Duce
September 11th, 2007
The boys in the hood are always hard
Come talkin that trash, we’ll pull ya card
Knowin’ nutin in life, but to be legit’
Don’t quote me boy, cause i aint said shit
If you grew up on 80’s Hip Hop (like I), or are any kind of Hip Hop connoisseur or rap historian, you know this to be the hook to Eazy-E’s rap classic Boyz In D a Hood.
From ‘88 forward music would never be the same; especially rap. The Staight Outta Compton and Eazy Duz It albums blew the lid off; and from there infatuation with gansta posturing would ensue. Mostly from NWA carbon copies who lack the imagination and creativity of NWA and the cutting edge magic that made their storm onto the scene revolutionary - not to mention the utter lack of talent. There’s nothing revolutionary, or the least bit entertaining about saying the same thing on album after album for 20 years; hence why your more likely to catch me listener to Hip Hop music from rappers who came out 15 to 20 years ago rather than rappers that came out 15 to 20 weeks ago.
This sound began youth culture’s foray into gangsta-thug romanticism.
Actually, the explosion started with Easy E’s group NWA’s release of Straight Outta Compton in 1988 that went platinum in with virtually no radio or video play; and the album that Boyz In The Hood appeared on, Eazy Duz It came out latter that year; but was all apart of the same opening salvo. And for technical accuracy the first version of Boys In The Hood really came out on the 1987 NWA and the Posse album, but that album wasn’t very successful and it was the Eazy Duz It album that made the single a classic.
In 1991 rookie film writer and director John Singleton brought us the movie Boyz N Da Hood
I don’t know if John Singleton ever specifically said he got his name for the movie from the song, but he doubtable did when lead NWA MCee, Ice Cube (the actual writer of the song Boys In Da Hood that Eazy performed) also played the main gangster in the movie. Cubes presences in the film lent it great credibility. I can attest to that myself, as when I first saw a commercial for it I was think some thing like “hell yeah, thats gonna be real with Ice Cube in it!
This was in the days before those of you who mostly know Cube for creating and starring in comedy and family films such as Barber Shop and Are We There Now. This is when Cube was the biggest and baddest thing in the hardcore rap game, at a time when he had explode on the scene with all the excitement, fanfare and gangsta reverence 50 Cent later would a few years ago.
I have mixed feelings about what these works of art have contributed; but more positive than negative. As to not make this post any longer I’ll direct you to the NWA section of this post for some explanation. Maybe I’ll do a post later on why these original works were a good thing; and how it was the aftermath that’s been so horrible. One might say that there’d be no aftermath if not for the originals, but I could make a strong argument that the originals were necessary and needed.
Both the albums and the movie exposed an undercurrent of a world that most outside of it were scarcely aware of, and a loud us to here from the people that lived it, mostly unfiltered and from an authentic standpoint.
Like everything in American culture, it all got bastardized and commercialized and turned to shit. We went from raw, authentic, youthful expression to sensationalism and soulless imitation; but we had to have this picture painted and point of view heard.
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4 Responses to “Boyz In Da Hood - Duce”
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Yobachi Boswell is creator and publisher of BlackPerspecitve.net. I’m a writer, activist and political watcher based in Nashville, Tennessee. I’ve also been know to do some spoken word and MCing in my day.
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“gangsta rap” used to mean something but now it has turned into something completely different. It is a rehash of things that were said better and with more heart primarily for commercial purposes. That isn’t to say that i don’t enjoy the modern artists sometimes but I agree that the positives from the late 80s and early 90s have somewhat vanished. I don’t think rap can ever really get back to that place and I wish that it could.
Well, Natalie, Hip Hop has never stopped being what it was, it’s just that commercial rap dominates the scene, but real Hip Hop has kept going; just without popular fan fare.
It’ll probably never outright dominate like it once did, but with the rap music genre losing market shares at an even greater rate than t he rest of the music industry the last few years, because it has lost its edge and creative lead that drew people to it; and with Common having the number 1 album last month - there’s a foothole and real possiblity of it regain a stronger place in the greater culture.
I think the difference is the purpose, NWA didn’t know they would make it this far. In fact, the group split when the big record labels came in waving money to produce more controversial music. It was art because it was a story about what was relevant to them on the west coast: gangs, police brutality, and poverty.
Now kids are giving big contracts just to shuck and jive, with no social commentary or responsibility. It’s not a matter of bringing their experience to the game, it’s more about my hustle, and how much money I can make. That’s the determining factor between art and crap. Half of these rappers, don’t even live the life they glamorize, and wouldn’t know what to do if they were locked in jail for a day over a traffic warrant.
The second problem is that music today embrace negative stereotypes, as if it’s something to be proud of. Even more sad is that they let other races define them by such stereotypes. Girls embrace being called the b-word, and h-word, as if it’s cool. Black boys allow white boys to refer to them as the n-word; not realizing their is truly a double connotation.
Sorry I can go on and on, this not my blog.
I think you described the issue well. I got into some of those same points in the link to my commentary on NWA. It’s all purpose less, pointless and devoid now.
But go on if you’d like. I’d love to hear more. That’s one of the major reasons I post, I like the dialogue.