Rhyme & Reason (1997) - full transcript

[ Men Hooting ] Basically... You know what I'm saying ?

Basically,
and shit, Wu-Tang,
we like this, man.

As far as the music go,
you got your
watered-down niggas,

then you got
your happy-go-lucky niggas,

then you got
your hard-core niggas
and your underground niggas.

Basically, it's all drug blocks.
Everybody's selling they dope
on they block.

What we sayin'
to y'all is like this:
We got our shit sewed up.

So don't try
and come on our block
sellin' your synthetic shit,

'cause you
gonna get blowed up;
it ain't happenin'.

♪♪ [ Scratching ]

♪ Just another day's gone down Everybody, throw your hands in the air !



Come on, come on !
Busta Rhymes...
♪♪ [ Rapping ]

♪♪ [ Rapping ]

♪♪ [ Continues ]

♪ Personal hip-hop ♪ Rest assured

♪♪ [ Rapping Continues ]

♪ Teacher, teacher
don't try to flash ♪

♪ Busta Rhymes
got a pretty cool place ♪Right on !

♪♪ [ Continues ] ♪ Word

♪♪ [ Rapping ] ♪ No, no, no

♪ Now it's detention
Now it's suspension ♪

- ♪ Tried makin' the rounds - ♪ It's down

♪♪ [ Continues ]

[ Rapping ]♪ She's goin'
Where's the party ♪

- ♪ I hate this relationship
to talk ♪
- ♪ Teacher



♪ What the teacher told me
does not compute ♪

♪ Okay, I'll tell ya
I'm the new school ♪

♪♪ [ Continues ]

♪ Just another case
of bad old P.T.A. ♪♪ Uh, uh, uh, uh ♪

Check it out ! Ha !

[ Man #1 ] There's not one issue that takes place in this nation...

that hip-hop hasn't addressed yet.

[ Man #2 ] There's nothing wrong with somebody who's not black...

seein' the sufferin' that my people been through and acknowledge that...

and come along with us.

[ Man #3 ] Hip-hop is an expression of people that ain't got it goin' on.

[ Man #4 ] It's what we see daily and what we're doin' daily;

that's what rapped about.

[ Man #5 ] Yo, I mean, this is a new music where I can just say whatever I want on a mike ?

[ Woman ] Freedom to create what your heart feels.

[ Man #6 ] Makin' rhymes doesn't mean you're a hip-hop artist.

[ Man #7 ] This is really the voice of the young generation.

[ Man #8 ] Whatever I have to do to keep the hood goin' strong, best believe I was there.

[ Man #9 ] If hip-hop didn't exist, I'd probably still be sellin' drugs.

[ Man #10 ] They're not respecting the love of the rap music.

[ Beeping ] They're respecting the money that it generates.

[ Man #11 ] Because they make rap records and happen to be bad people don't mean rap is bad.

- You gotta listen to this shit to understand it. - Rapper's delight.

- With these rhymes... - Makin' music... - Black...

- Hip-hop. - Break dancin'. - Families.

- Black music. - Graffiti. - Parents.

- Freestyle. - The ghetto. - Culture.

[ Man ] Call it rap. [ Woman ] But it's all hip-hop.

Hip-hop is like a vehicle.
You can use it to go anywhere
you want to go.

Yeah, that's what hip-hop is.
It's the way you dress;
it's your style.

You know what I'm sayin' ? Some wear braids in the East.

Some wear
the curls back in the day.
Some used to wear the top fade.

It's about the culture you live in.

It's not just saying, "Yo, I do hip-hop." You gotta live it.

'Cause hip-hop is how you walk,
live, dress, act, see, smell,
fart, shit, fuck.

You know what I mean ?
It's all that right there.

Everything we do. Like if I
hand this to him, I'm gonna
hand it to him hip-hop style.

I'm gonna go like this.
I wouldn't just go, "Here." [ Laughs ] Hip-hop.

You know,
I'm gonna do something
that make it hip-hop.

I don't give a fuck what it is.
I'm gonna put the hip-hop
twist on it.

[ Pras ] Everybody got different slangs.

You got the Brooklyn slangs; you got the West Coast;

you got the Down South, like the Goody Mobs, all that.

So it's a culture,
and we're all part of it.

We all got our own type
of slang.

It's like talking
your own language.

Word up. I heard they had a hip-hop slang book.

And they had words
in there like "b-boy,"

"b-girl," "fresh,"
"chill."

We ain't used them shit since
we was, like, nine years old
out this motherfuckin', man.

[ Chattering, Laughing ]We don't even be saying
"cool it" no more.

[ Chattering, Laughing
Continue ]

If you say "what's up"
to somebody and they say,
"I'm chillin' the fresh way,"

motherfuckers'll look at you
like you're from another planet
or somethin', man, word up.

♪♪ [ Scratching ]

Well, when you discuss
the history of hip-hop,

uh, you gotta understand
that hip-hop has many starts.

Hip-hop had a start in gospel;

it had a start in jazz; it had a start in blues,

rock and roll, disco.

Hip-hop.

Hip-hop is a culture,
the mother of four or five
different elements,

like rap, scratching,

break dancing and graffiti.

♪♪

Rap is something
that's being done.

Hip-hop is something that is being lived.

A rap artist can be anybody from anywhere,

but you've got to visit the Bronx.

Period.

Wherever you are in life,

wherever you wanna be, you
will always be a rap artist,

until you visit the South Bronx.

Look at the projects. Look at the people.

See the environment that hip-hop started in.

Go to 123 Park...

and just stand there...

and imagine the birth of a culture...

happening in this very spot.

Hey ! Hey ![ Chattering ]

The Bronxis hip-hop.

Graffiti, break dancing,

MCing and DJing all came from the Bronx.

Yo, where we're standing right
here, this is a historical place
in hip-hop.

This is like where
it all began pretty much.

The godfather of hip-hop,
Kool Herc, used to live right
here in this building, 1600.

And he used to give jams right here in this little park. You know what I'm sayin' ?

Plug up to a light pole,
or get, like, electricity
from one of the windows...

and just play
right out here.

This was back in 1974.

Yeah, I was hip to New York
hip-hop. You gotta give props
where props is due.

They originated it.

Anybody that doesn't
believe that is trippin'.

You know, see,
I know niggas in the Bronx,
they sparked it up.

But, you know, it traveled
from project to project.

And they just spread it,
and now it's bigger than ever,
and it's gonna get bigger.

Ghetto kids didn't really have
the money...

to learn how to play instruments
or take singing lessons,

but they found a way,
regardless, you know.

Because the spirit was still
telling them to make
some things.

So it's like they just used
whatever was around,

whether it be a turntable
or a little nasty mike
and some old, dirty records.

♪♪ That's how the whole thing starts.

DJs are the ones who started this hip-hop thing.

Back when my man Kool Herc,
Grandmaster Flash, all them
in the Bronx, you know.

It was like radio shock waves
with new styles of scratching
and stuff...

This is one of the original instruments of hip-hop.

Us DJs would, like,
go nuts and try to learn
how to do those cuts.

Howie T might do
a new scratch on this record.

He did this one scratch.
He went like...♪♪

He did that.
When he first did that,
everybody was buggin' out.

And then, like,
Mixmaster Ice did this scratch.

He did that.

And then, obviously, DST
freaked everybody out on Herbie
Hancock stuff when he was like...

♪ F-F-Fresh
Fresh ♪

♪ F-F-F-F-Fresh ♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

And early, the first DJs
in the Bronx would spin
the records,

and they would only play
the breakdown of the record.

They would play...
Every record breaks down.
♪ Get down

And it breaks
into just the beat
and the drums.

♪♪ [ Interrupted Vocals ]

♪♪

These are break beats.
You know what I'm sayin' ?

And a break beat
can be anything
from any kind of record,

any kind of music,
be it classical,

be it soul, jazz, pop,
rock, anything.

It's any record that has
a breakdown beat in it.

So, Flash
and people like that...
Grand Wizard Theodore...

would spin these records, but
they would only play the breaks,

and people would dance over the breaks in the record,

and these were called "break dancers."

[ Man ] Back then, everybody that I knew that really had mad flavor...

in b-boying or poppin' used to be a hard-core criminal.

Popping came along, and it made a difference in my life.

You're too busy learning how to windmill than to rob and steal,

and, you know, you're too tired to fight after you done battled somebody...

and took all your aggression out on some dancin', you know.

[ Mr. Animation ] Hip-hop ain't no easy game to play.

If you ain't got no style, hang it up, sit down.

My characters make people enjoy themselves...

with how I move my body and everything like that.

So I feel it's a part of fun, poppin' and breakin' and makin' people laugh.

[ Chico ] It's not just a hype thing,

something that we're just into just to make money.

It goes way deeper, deeper than that.

[ Lil' Caesar ] You know, they say, well, breakin' is not hip-hop, you know ?

[ Chuckles ] Come on. If breakin' wasn't hip-hop, you know,

they don't know the history.

Breaking means to me that it's a way of expressing myself,

getting my anger out there, you know, instead of going out there...

and smoking or fighting, you know.

I go to my own little world, and I just express myself through breaking.

I dance, you know, and get creative.

I'm just spinning, and I feel like I'm flying.

I'm flying in the air, man, you know, and just... I'm free.

- ♪ Yeah The only reality is now ♪ - ♪ Come on

♪ But when I say free
back... ♪♪

The origins of graffiti go way past hip-hop.

That goes back to World War II
when, I mean,

soldiers was writin'
"Kilroy was here"
and stuff on the walls,

and, you know, people
were just making statements.

Here, it was just about gettin' up.

You wanted to write your name in as many places...

for as many people to see it so you'd be known.

Graffiti is one of
the most beautiful
art forms in the world.

You know, I'll be lookin' at
some of the stuff Picasso
be doin',

and I'm like, well, Picasso
ought to had to be there...

to understand what
you doin', you know.

But then brothers' graffiti-ing they're givin' you firsthand...

what they're seein' every day in the hood, you know.

They're bringin' the news to you.

Brothers shooting dice. They have dice there.

They have the trains comin' by. All in one tag.

Graffiti art
means getting out...

what a lot of people
can't get out, you know.

It's like expressing
beauty, color,

excitement, drama.

It's everything
like music.

I just love the blend
of the music.

I remember I was
groovin' to this sound,
and it was Jackson Five.

And this DJ was actually keeping this one part in the record...

on and on and on,

and then the guy was on the microphone just doin' that same stuff Muhammad Ali did.

♪ Let me see your hands
flow like this ♪

♪ Let me see your hands
flow like this ♪♪

[ Ice-T ] The rapper would say, "You know what ?

He's good, but, by the way, I'm kinda fly too. And I'm all this and I'm all that."

The girls would scream.

The next MC said, "I have to outdo this person."

And the only way
to outdo somebody
usually is by boasting...

or outboasting 'em
or trying to insult them
in a cool way.

And that's where
the battles started.

♪ So bring the drama
when you're coming
Best believe I'm down ♪

♪ The golden child
just arrived straight
out the Chi-town ♪♪

♪ Hi-ho, Silver, nigga
'cause I'm comin'
like the Lone Ranger ♪

♪ Danger, danger, Dr. Smith
The human torture chamber ♪

♪ A lyrical
bastard child buck wild
straight from the penal ♪

♪ I'm foul
Deep 'n' deadly is my style ♪

♪ Straight out the gate
a thoroughbred, runnin'
like the Feds, never scared ♪

♪ From these streets
quick to bust
a motherfucker's head ♪♪

When you're first starting out, you know what I'm sayin',

it's more natural to just
freestyle, 'cause that's how you
start developing your own style.

You know, if you're
an MC for real,
you can freestyle.

You know, you don't have to be
elaborate with your freestyle,
you know what I'm sayin',

but people know if
it's written or not.

Some people
say they're freestylin',
and they be sayin' some stuff...

which you know you can't
freestyle that well like that,
except a few people that can.

♪ Now check it out, because
I'm serious and I'm dope ♪

♪ Oh, my God, and I can
freestyle without a quote ♪♪

♪ Funk battle
That fool's fatter ♪

♪ MCs with their
chitter-chatter ♪

♪ This microphone
won't even matter ♪

♪ Craig Mack's like
a funk robotic super-sick
psychotic MC who got it ♪

♪ New season inside the season
crushin' MCs for
no apparent reason ♪♪

♪ MCs want to battle
but it makes no sense ♪

♪ To test the abstract
shahid ♪

♪ Phife dog
and Consequence on my left ♪

♪ Style is so, so def
And when it comes
to rhymes and styles ♪

♪ I got 'em by the pile ♪

♪ I'll represent it in a minute
'cause I'm
G Tray Deee ♪

♪ Here to set it off and step up
on the M-I-C ♪

♪ And let you know, Long Beach
yeah, that's my city ♪

♪ Come down here
and we'll never show pity ♪♪

It's a personal thing
to me to freestyle.
You know what I mean ?

But, you know, when you're
trying to get onstage
and show off...

like you can
when you really can't...

you're kickin' all kind
of bullshit words... you get
caught out there, you know.

I've got caught
out there a lot of times,
just sayin' a bunch of nothin'.

That's why I tell all
my artists: "If you don't feel
like freestylin',

Yes,
I am a true MC.

Y'all thought I was about
to kick a little somethin',
didn't ya ?

What's up ? Yo.

♪ Focus the camera
so I can slam a phat rhyme
down your esophagus ♪

♪ Who's dropping us
This is the lyrical
imperial Fat Lip ♪

♪ Chillin' with my fools
No, we not no Blood or Crip ♪

♪ I don't gang-bang
I don't sling no "caine" ♪

♪ But I got these rhymes
when I kick 'em off
the brain ♪

♪ I maintain
These rhymes I will sustain ♪

♪ Don't try to mess
There ain't no shit
you would gain ♪

♪ I'd bust your ass in the know
lookin' at me ♪

♪ Open the windows
check out my clothes ♪

♪ I got the Nike
I'm not Spike Lee ♪

♪ But I do the right thing
On my nuts you might swing ♪

♪ But that's all right
'cause I kick the shit
Keep it tight ♪

♪ Yo, bust that shit
It's dynamite
So I blow it up ♪

♪ Listen to the West Coast shit
Nigga 'bout to throw it up ♪

♪ About the pass the shit
to my man Suave ♪

♪ So do what
you gotta do, nigga
Represent L.A ♪

♪ Yeah, comin' up
on stage two ♪

♪ 'Bout to represent to you
I got my man Slim here Tre ♪

♪ And he's about to bring
this shit on your way ♪♪

Yo, Slim.
[ Laughing ]

Come on, Slim.
[ Shouting ]

♪ Too many niggas trying
to perp my lifestyle
romance it ♪

♪ I was kickin' gang when
y'all kids was break dancin'
Overlords ♪

♪ So why you wack niggas
ain't dead ♪

♪ Probably because my aim
is over niggas' heads ♪

♪ East Coast, West Coast
I played the whole map
and bounced ♪

♪ You got a Benz but live
in your mom's house ♪♪

So the key...
And the key to
a good rap is like,

it doesn't only rhyme,
but it's, like, clever.

Are you being clever
with the rap ?

And also, good rap music
doesn't need a beat.

♪ My repertoire is militant

♪ The last days with the Blood
is we're dealing with ♪

♪ The Johnny Blaze
grab your pistols ♪

♪ Teflon megabombs
and heat-seekin' missiles ♪

♪ Time to go to war
Shit's official ♪

♪ The Mic Stalker
Only few can understand it ♪

♪ The Skywalker that be
leapin' over planets ♪

♪ Pain
Got that ghetto blood
in my vein ♪

♪ Spreadin' through my kin
Confess my sins and blame
society for unawareness ♪

♪ Fuck the president
He don't represent
the ghetto resident ♪

♪ Recognize, fool
within the black hole
there's a jewel ♪

♪ The revolution
been in effect
Pull up your shoes ♪

♪ Utilize your third eye
It be him or I now
Choose who gotta die ♪

♪ Him, every time
the Ticallion Stallion
Now, hold on ♪

♪ Like diamond stud medallions
and so on ♪♪

[ Laughing ]Whoo ! Whoo !

Between '75 and '85,
you had to have juice.

You had to have had political power in the culture of hip-hop...

to grab the mic,

to step out onto the cardboard and break-dance...

or even do a piece.

You had to be known
in the community.

- ♪♪ [ Scratching ]
- ♪ Radio, TV

♪ And even the press
Say, what's the meaning
of V-A-P-O-R-S ♪♪

A really important part of hip-hop,

I say,
is Mike and Dave from...

you know, they used to be
with the Crash Crew...
and Afrika Bambaata.

He brought, like, unity to the people...

from the Bronx, Manhattan...
brought them together.

You know, bringing 'em
into like...

They used to have, like,
Zulu Nation meetings, like,
on Thursdays or Wednesdays.

You know,
God Bless the Dead, Malibu,

God Bless the Dead, B.O.,
and stuff like that.

This is, like, one of the first fliers I ever collected.

Kool Herc,
Whiz kid, Disco Prince,
Whipper Whip and Dot-A-Rock.

Then you got the classic battle
of all time,

is Coldcrush
versus Fantastic Five.

Now, here's
an actual flier...

of the Rooftop.

That was a club uptown
where everybody'd go,

from the hustlers
to the strugglers.

Now, this is when
I started to evolve
as a good beatbox.

You know what I'm sayin' ?
You have Rob Bass before
he came out with a record.

EZ Rock, Darrow C.
And look at me.

See me there ?

In the beginning...Run-D.M.C.

Yeah, we was...We was tryin' to be...

We was Run-D.M.C.
all over the place.

Actually, they were callin'
us the female Run-D.M.C.
at one time.

So we were like,
"Oh, my God, they sayin'
we're the female Run-D.M.C."

And we also lived
in Queens.Yeah.

Yeah, so... Yeah.We used to go back and forth
like that style, like Run-D.M.C.

We looked up
to them a lot.

And back at that time, in the
pioneering days, it wasn't
about money.

Nobody came out
to get paid.

We used to spend
more money than we made
to come out and play.

It was a lot of hard work, you
know, to bring all them speakers
and all that equipment out.

But we just did it
for the love of hip-hop,
just to play music.

♪♪

Back in the days, the party was everything.

You would go from block to block to block, battling each DJ or each MC,

and that's how you would gain your reputation.

Oh, yes, you can catch an occasional block party here and there.

Sometimes you do see it, like the old days.

♪♪ [ Rapping ]

[ Chattering ]

[ Ice-T ] Rap is the music of hip-hop,

or the vocal delivery of hip-hop.

But hip-hop
is a full-blown culture.

[ Grandmaster Caz ] Rap was more party-orientated back then.

We talked about partyin' and havin' a good time.

♪ Pickin' niggas, niggas in the pocket, pocket ♪[ Chattering Continues ]

♪ You wanna get down if you can suck it ♪

♪♪ [ Rapping Continues ]

♪ Break the ball, get down
break the ball ♪

♪♪ [ Continues ]

♪ Yeah ♪ ♪♪ [ Scratching ]

From what I see, hip-hop on the West Coast started like 1982.

And so-called "gangsta rap"
started the same time...

because those were
the first records that really
made it out here, you know...

Ice-T and Schooly-D, actually.

Schooly-D had the recordPSK out at the time, and Ice-T hadSix In The Morning.

And these were the only records
we were playin'...

because, you know,
they were sayin' things that
we could relate to, you know.

Early West Coast rap.
I would rap about tryin'
to party.

I did records like
"Doggin' the Wax,"
"You Don't Quit."

My boys were sayin', like, "Ice, man, why're you rappin' about parties, man ?

We don't go to parties.
We robparties."

You know what I'm sayin' ?
So I'm like,
"Yeah, that is true."

'Cause while they were havin'
a hip-hop scene in New York,

we were havin'
a gang scene.

Due to the fact they called themselves a gang, people called this gangsta rap.

Violence is part of that lifestyle, so you have to rap about it.

Yo, this is where
I got stuck.

[ Man ] No shit ?Yeah, and I got stuck
way up here.

If a kid is in a gang,

then he raps
from the perspective
of a gangbanger.

But what if the kid sells drugs ? He's rapping from the perspective of a drug dealer.

What if the guy's a pimp ? He'll rap from the perspective of a pimp.

When you rap, basically you rap to another rapper.

What a Gangsta Rapper says is:

"You, listener, I will shoot you in your motherfuckin' face."

He forgets about the rules.

He forgets about the theory;

what's right and wrong; message versus non-message.

It is reality rap in its truest form,

because you take out all the barricades.

It's very direct... taking rap to its most real form...

and just rappin' it,
just not giving a fuck.

♪ Oh, yeah, yeah

♪♪ [ Continues ]

They talk about
money, dope,

ho's, cars, guns.

What else ?
That's reality.

There's violence
everywhere.

It's a murder committed
in every city, state,

country, continent, everywhere.

I just talk about what the motherfuckers is really doin'.

California streets is full of all that shit I just named.

Can't help but to talk about it.

♪ We in the war zone
In the war zone
Where your gun, nigga ♪

♪ Show 'em where you from, nigga Ridin'-ass young nigga
Arsenal equip ♪

♪ Hot enough to scorch with the double fours
on the hip ♪

♪ Rollin' with the force He's out to catch a body ♪♪

As far as gangsta rap is concerned, they talk about what they know.

Just as we can't hold it
against the people
from New York...

They have their crews. You know what I'm sayin' ? And it's like the same thing.

And it's the family-based thing. You know what I'm sayin' ? It's misunderstood.

I'm not thuggin' for me. I'm thuggin' for my family.

I pay all the bills.
You know what I'm sayin' ?

I feed my whole family.
Wrong or right, I do it.

And I can't stop.
You know what I'm sayin' ?

If thuggin' is gonna make me
a million bucks,

'cause it just got me
platinum, then that's
what I got to do.

As far as the music,
all it was...

was guys from the West Coast using different elements of music...

that guys from the Northeast wouldn't touch, like funk.

The West Coast sound, to me, was like a Moog keyboard,

a lot more funk-type stuff with
a lot of hand claps for snares,

you know, a lot of whiny,
high synthesizer-type things.

And because of the tempos
and the mixture of the music,

I think that music was more relevant to more black people inside the United States.

♪ We puttin' it down

♪ From block to block
the scandalous town ♪

♪ From crooked cops
to dope shops all around ♪

♪ Shit-hot ho's to six-fours and strawberries ♪

♪ Hood's tight like Fort Knox or like the military ♪

♪ Attitudes Don't even try it
Tech nines... ♪♪

And the fact that you could do this, and sooner or later, these records started sellin',

just sayin' whatever
we wanted to say ?

It was great.
It was like God
came and said,

"Here's something
that you can do."

Now, when we started, and when we signed our first contract in 1982,

you could count
how many rap groups had...

contracts, signed contracts,
with companies.

And major record companies
was not taking chances
with rap music.

It was the small independent
companies that would give
rappers a chance.

After 1985, hip-hop and rap made a split.

Graffiti art and break dancin' no longer became...

viable means of expressing this piece of the culture.

Rap became the viable means
of expressing this piece
of the culture,

and it was only because...

corporate America...
"Massa"...

deemed it important.

"Oh, we could make some money
pressin' up these records.
So, let's go."

Rap is big business now.

Now record companies aren't
even concerned about the
vinyl and stuff like that.

They talkin' about
CD sales and everything,

but if it wasn't for vinyl,
there wouldn't be any hip-hop
music.

These record labels, man,
is just "shysty."

They don't care
about the artist.
You know what I'm sayin' ?

They let the artist do
what he wanna do, they want...

"Yeah, act silly."
And, you know,
"Yeah, do it for me."

You know, they get
a certain percentage.
Man, we get kibbles.

We don't...
You know what I'm sayin' ?

That's played out.

The first record company, they robbed me blind.

I didn't know no better.
I'm 17 years old.
You know what I'm sayin' ?

I'm makin' a record.

I'm comin' from $20 a week
allowance, till all of a sudden
somebody gives me $1,000.

And I'm like, you know,
saying, "This is crazy."
But that's all I got.

The record companies are
basically like a merchant bank.

You know, they loan you money,
and they want their money back
with fat interest.

And the conditions of your contract...

are basically like the conditions of your loan.

I love the fans, you know,
and I love making music,

but the people
in the middle... Whoo !

It's like the middlemen,
they just...
[ Groans ]

Everyone welcomes you
into Jerusalem.

Then later, they scream,
"Crucify him."

So, people are
always hypocritical,

especially when you're inside of an industry...

called the record industry.

You have to always stay conscious and in reality.

You can't ever believe your own hype,

'cause those people will build you up to Superman,

only to find out
that you...

♪ Garbage man
[ Laughing ]

The record business is exactly what it is...

record... business.

And you have
to take care of both.

I got into it just wantin' to make music. You know what I'm sayin' ?

I didn't really give a damn about the business part of it.

I was trustin' people,

trustin' that they would handle my business the way it was supposed to be handled.

And you get fucked
like that.

So you gotta be on top
of your own business.

Don't trust no managers,
no record company execs,
nothin' like that. Know it.

Basically, every young,
little motherfucker can rap,
so we...

All they wanna see is,
"Well, where's your
two hit singles ?"

They gon' put that out,
you might go double-platinum,
and then next time...

They gon' make
four million off of you,
you're gon' be broke.

You come out
with your next album.

If it flops, they gon'
get rid of you and find
the next motherfucker.

"Where'syour
two hit singles ?"

It's music
and it's business...

and, you know what I'm sayin',
I have to find a fine line
in between all of it.

It's cool; I just make sure
I take care of my business.

I accept all the pros and cons
of my record label,

but I try to enjoy my art
and do the best I can.

In this business,
90% of artists...

don't know when they're
supposed to get paid,

how they're
supposed to get paid...

or how much they're
supposed to get paid.

You can ask a new artist, "How much is a point worth ?" or what a pointis,

and they can't answer the question; they don't know.

But they can tell you
how much a Mercedes costs.

And, you know, the business wanna roll with it,

so they fork money into it
or simply be out of the game.

So it's a give-and-take
and you just gotta know
what's actually goin' on...

and the sacrifices
you actually makin' spiritually,
mentally and emotionally...

when you're messin'
with the music.

I'm one of the few rappers...

You know, I got...
I've had six consecutive
gold records...

and never had a record
on the radio...
none of my music.

♪♪

The first time I heard
my record on the radio,

I was mopping a floor
in Brooklyn
at a day-care center.

Fifteen dollars every time
I mopped and waxed this floor.

In the middle of the street,
her and her girlfriend
jumped out of the car...

and was, like, runnin'
all around the car.

She's telling everybody
on the street..."That's me on the radio !"

"My song's on the radio !"

I could not believe I was on
the radio. And I'm, like, "Get
in the car !"

So that's a big deal,
'cause you be home
from high school...

with little kids
or whatever...

you be home
listenin' to the radio...

Paco from 92 KTU
and KIIS-FM Red Alert
and them...

They cuttin' up records
and stuff, and then to hear
your record cut up...

You always wonderin',
"What are they gonna do
to mine ?" It was crazy !

That was the best time
of my life right there.

The first time we heard
our stuff on the radio,

that was, like,
like, four years ago.

And, um... You know what I'm sayin' ?

I can't really go back and say how we felt, 'cause it was so long ago.

You think about how many
listeners you got out there.

You got, you know what I'm
sayin', millions of people
out there.

So you thinkin',
"They're playin' my shit !"
You know what I'm sayin' ?

You think everybody
heard this automatically.

You call your boys...
"Did you hear me on the radio ?"

"No."
"You didn't hear me ?"

Something
you've worked for...

You can't believe you're on
the radio right after Run-DMC
or just before LL Cool J.

I was like... I just remember the feeling. I didn't even smile.

It was just more like, "Damn. I did it."

That, basically, led to
the demise of my mopping job.

[ Man Laughing ]

♪♪ [ Beats ]Ahhhh ! Okay ?

♪ Check it out, y'all
Check it out, yeah ♪

♪ Y-C, uh, I set it off
Check it out one time, oh ♪

♪ It won't stop

♪ Hey, yo, it's "E" to the "X"
and rough rhyme flexin'
Yeah ♪

♪ Yeah ♪ Check it out, check it out

♪ In the East it's always all throat, no teeth ♪

♪ I'm the least concerned how many niggas you burn ♪

♪ I extinguish your flame
and take aim at your brain ♪

♪ Given ligament pain and
have you walkin' wit' a cane ♪

♪ Money and fame
You got your fuckin' self
to blame ♪♪

The struggles today
is different.

It's not as hard
as it used to be when
we started ten years ago,

when you had to convince
motherfuckers that...

this shit sells...
rap sells.

♪ Money, money, money

♪ You're so good to me ♪ Moneymaker

♪ Big money, money, money ♪ You gotta know the moves of the moneymakers ♪

♪ You got to have the mind of the money-takers ♪

♪ You gotta know the moves of the moneymakers ♪

♪ You got to have the mind of the money-takers ♪ ♪ Money, money, money, money ♪

This is the first Redman album.

This is the crossover.
This is the biggest record
EPMD ever had.

Number-one album.
Same thing with this one.

Number-one LP,
Unfinished Business.

Hit brothers with
"So What You Sayin',"

bust 'em up with
"The Big Payback"
and all that.

I just got
my platinum joint.

I'll have to
prop these up.

Know what I mean ?

Say, Willie.
First Brooklyn nigga
to go platinum, you know.

It's all good,
livin' in the hood.

Got my gold joint
for the Juicy.

Old joint, you know.

[ Man ] Straight from Brooklyn.

Straight out the hood,
a nigga did good.

Yeah, we really haven't
checked recently, like,
how many records we've sold.

Aside from the money, when you in a club in New York,

you throw on one of my joints
just to see the kids go crazy,
start dancin' hard and smilin',

♪♪

[ Combs ] grabbin' the girls... that's the payday right there.

♪♪

Looking at people that have made it in the business, you know...

Quincy Jones,
people like that.

That's my mentor right there,
because he started at
a young age, the same as I did,

and he's still doin' his thing
and havin' fun with it.

It ain't about
who has the flyest car
or who has the most jewelry.

You know ?
It ain't about that.

[ Stewart ] It's very important for me...

to not lose sight of how I started...

and keep my background as a DJ, throwing parties.

That's always had a lot to do with my success. It's how I initially got in the business.

It's how I met a lot of people.

The parties are kind of an intricate part of the business.

We had a party for Delinquent Habits...

because we wanted people to hear their album.

They came to me from Sen Dog of Cypress Hill.

People that love music... artists and people that are really into it... stick together.

They'll support you if your stuff is true, no matter what label you're on...

or what coast you're from or whatever.

♪♪

♪ Check it out, now, hey, hey True style's hard to find ♪

♪ I'm sick, r-real sick It's time to go for mine ♪

♪ See, I remain unphased with shit so funky ♪

♪ You can bite for days My shit remains crunchy ♪

♪ Good with my own style droppin' dat ♪

♪ Lookie-loos all hawkin' but I'm stoppin' that ♪

♪ You's a c-copycat Now watch me take you
to the hill ♪

♪ Eyes peeled lookin' for fighters
in the big bad world ♪♪

[ Stewart ] It's important to get the press out and get them involved.

That's how you get the buzz going.

♪♪

[ Announcer ] Orlando's Buena Vista Hotel plays host this week...

to rap music's premier convention, Jack the Rapper.

Prominent artists, along with young hopefuls,

are arriving from all over the country to rub shoulders with industry heavyweights,

perform and attend lectures.

Although the convention promoters are calling this a family affair,

security has been elevated.

But local sheriffs do not foresee any problems.

Snoop Dogg's gonna be out here.
You know, everybody.
I've seen Kid already.

I got his autograph. That's a great thing, right ? [ Laughing ]

Get those nice autographs,
everybody that you see.

It's people like
Jack the Rapper himself...

who takes time out and
spends money to bring us
all up in there.

They got different energies
from all over the world.

Everybody's tryin'
to do their music,
and we kickin' it.

It's show time ! Jack the Rapper was important when I was comin' up...

because there was a lot of people that wanted to be exposed to the industry...

and this was an avenue
where they could network.

A lot of stars were found there and a lot of things came out good.

You learn; they have panels; they have good shows.

It's a great event to be at.Show. Look at that.

It hurts me to see young
guys get a record deal,

the first thing they go out
and buy is a Mercedes,

some rings, some jewelry
around they neck,

and they live
in an apartment.

When I first started
in this business I had
an ulcer after a year.

I couldn't understand
why my clients were making
millions of dollars...

and I had more money
in my bank account
than they had in theirs.

♪ The hype's got me
I knock 'em out the box
and out socks ♪

♪ 'Cause when I come around niggas skate like the rocks ♪

♪ My block's hot So gimme all you got ♪

♪ When I'm done rockin' I'll leave you all
doin' the bus stop ♪

♪ When I die, my ashes
Flip my coffin backwards ♪

♪ Blow shit up
like the Fourth of July
with half sticks ♪

♪ And on and on to the break
of Rae Dawn Chong ♪

♪ I'm killin' you softly
with this song
with this bomb ♪♪

♪ Kickin' flows
harder than the music ♪

♪ So you fill it in your head
Then your chest ♪

♪ Then you pass it
to the next ♪

♪ They give 'em
the five mic checks
and all due respect ♪

♪ Please fill it up
and check the antifreeze ♪

♪ 'Cause Keith Murray
drops mad degrees ♪♪

Jack the Rapper's really for
people that need to get on,
to pass out demo tapes...

"This is my group."
Whoop-de-whoop. Boom-boom.

Lookin' for management,
lookin' for deals, whatever.

That's what
Jack the Rapper's about...
for people gettin' people on.

Who did the music
on the album ?Eric Sermon and Redman.

W-What type ? Is it,
like, some funk shit ?Cosmic slop funk.

Some new shit.

This is about keepin' it real.
As you notice, I'm out here
doin' my own thing.

I ain't large.
I ain't up in the hotel room
havin' people pass out my shit.

You got the
original article right here
passin' out a tape.

That's realness.
And I'm gold !

Great time outside
at the pool party !

Bad boys representin'
Puff Daddy !

Bad boy.
You know what I'm sayin' ?

Big
fuckin' wit' y'all ?

Yeah, we got Big, we got Craig
Mack, we got Mary J. Blige. Yeah

She comin' out
with new shit, huh ? Yeah.

[ Woman Yells ] Bathroom !
[ Man ] What's goin' on ?

Bathroom ! Right here !
She's goin' too !

She's 18.How old are you ?

Twenty-two.Ooh.
Where you from ?

From L.A.L.A. ?

Baby, why you got
to pick in my drink ?
It ain't even like that.

It's your birthday !
It's your birthday !

Go further.
Go further.
Go further.

Whoo-oooh !See you
at the show !

Hey, hey ! No, no, no.We need some more
contestants, man !

Hey, go to our show.
Go to our show at 2:00.

Man, throw it down
on the ground !

You gotta make that shit
hit the ground !

Come on with it, baby.Hey, what's up with tall baby ?
You do that shit ?

[ Announcer ] The Jack the Rapper music convention...

held at the Disney-owned Buena Vista Hotel concludes tomorrow.

The word among local insiders is that management is concerned...

about the behavior of some of the conventiongoers.

Guests at the hotel not expecting the Jack the Rapper convention...

have been relocated to nearby hotels.

Buena Vista hotel officials are not commenting on reports of vandalism.

[ Man ] There wasn't really nothin' goin' on for young people,

so we just brought a system out there and told everybody we was havin' a pool party.

That's how it started.

[ Man ] DJ red alert ! [ Whistle Blowing ]

[ Whistle Continues ]

[ Man On Megaphone ]
Technical foul ! You !
Bring that ass here !

I'm comin' ! [ Man ]
You first !

Hey, my man !
You first !

[ Chattering, Shouting ]

You first !

Hey ! Hey !

You first !

♪ I'm gon' freak it
like this ♪♪ I'm gon' freak it like that

-♪ I'm gon' freak it
like this ♪ -♪ I'm gon' freak it like that

♪ And I'm gon' freak it like this ♪

♪ Well, I'm gon' freak it like that ♪

♪ Gon' freak it like this ♪ I'm gon' freak it
like that ♪

♪ Not like I bust caps
with rough raps
Unless I just accept that ♪

♪ Flip scripts and bust caps
off with the quickness ♪

♪ I'm wicked
with the propaganda ♪

♪ And hot damn
I got more props than
that fox, Samantha ♪

♪♪ [ Continues ] [ Announcer ] Police cruisers surround...

♪♪ the Buena Vista Palace Hotel.

- [ Sirens Blaring ]
- ♪♪ [ Continues ]

♪♪ Deputies say the emergency response team was on hand...

♪♪ to head off any trouble at the Jack the Rapper urban music convention...

♪♪ going on inside the hotel.

♪♪ [ Man On Megaphone ] Look like they were, uh, waiting for a riot...

♪♪ or some type of war was gonna go down.

♪ I'm gon' freak it like this ♪ I'm gon' freak it
like that ♪

♪ I'm gon' freak it like this ♪ I'm gon' freak it like that ♪

[ Police Radio Dispatcher, Indistinct ] All units, please respond.

♪ I'm gon'
freak it like that ♪

♪ I'm gon' freak it like this ♪ I'm gon' freak it
like that ♪

♪ Yeah ♪ Word up ♪

[ Glass Breaks, Microphone Feedback ] [ Man ] Go ! Go !

[ Woman On P.A. System ]
Officers ! Wait a minute ![ Shouting, Sirens Continue ]

[ Man ] Come on, fellas. [ Woman Continues On P.A.,
Indistinct ]

They called
the riot squad in, man.

Snoop came on,
calmed things down,

but otherwise,
the riot squad
came in, man.

Besides all that negative junk,
I thought it was pretty phat
and everything, you know.

[ Boy Continues ] Everything was cool. Once a year people have some fun.

Yeah, I hope there's
gonna be one next year.
I'll definitely be back.

I think people are people.

Because they make rap records
and happen to be bad people
don't mean that rap is bad.

Whatever you do, you do.

Don't try to be no thug. If you a thug, be a thug.

If you a nice guy like myself, be a nice guy. I don't care what people say about me.

I'm doing what I love to do. There's people who respect me.

I respect every individual I come across.

Who that ? Mike ?

Yeah.Where you been, man ?

Workin' hard, cousin.Don't front.
He was locked up.

No, no, no.Don't front. Don't front.
[ Laughing ]

[ Heavy D ] Especially in hip-hop, you wanna have people around.

Then you can vibe.

Without them sayin' anything, if they knockin' or they bobbin' their head,

you know you onto somethin'.

[ Engine Revving ]

The most gratifying thing about all this is the respect I receive from people...

when I just walk down the street...

the love that they show me, the appreciation and the fan mail that I get,

when people let me know that I inspire them to better themselves.

[ Heavy D Laughing ]
I want to introduce you
to our fellow officers.

They always take care of us
during these functions.

[ Heavy D ] Every year I try to do something where I come from.

I put on basketball games; I sponsor boxing tournaments.

This was the first annual "Nuttin' But Love" cookout.

All right,
who gon' start this up ?What y'all wanna do ?

Let me get back a little.I'm goin' to the diner
over here !

Lemme have
the gas can.Who gon' crank that up ?

What y'all wanna do ?I'll tell you right now,
there's gas all over this shit.

So, who gon' be
G.I. Joe ?

How much insurance
you got on you ? Nothin' ? Nada !

I'm gon' put
a million dollars...

Boom ![ Motor Starts ]

[ Heavy D ] It's just for the community. Kids love it.

People come from all over. They love it. It's in my hometown.

We had tons of food. Crowded. Everybody came.

LL came; Mary J. Blige came; Naughty By Nature.

You know, a lot of people showed up, so it was phat; it was hot.

I love it all.

I love the people, the autograph signin', you know.

I-I'm blessed in every aspect of what I do, so ain't no sense in me fakin' you out.

I love it.
I'd have been doin' somethin'.
I was bound to be famous.

♪♪

♪ 'Cause I'm a super female That's called Shante ♪

♪ And I like Hurricane Annie I'll blow you away ♪

♪ Whenever I'm in a battle Yo, I don't play ♪

♪ So you'd best go about your way
and have a nice day ♪

♪ Shante I'm... I'm... I'm... ♪

♪ I'm Shante I'm... I'm... I'm... ♪♪

♪♪ [ Continues ]The evolution
of women rappers...

definitely started
in the Bronx.

First there was a group called
The Funky Four Plus One More,

and that one more was a female
by the name of Sharock.

Sharock.
I was in love with this girl.
I thought she was the best.

She had a real good,
clean voice.

Powerful, strong,
but still sexy and ladylike.

She had good rhythm.

And then there was The Sequence Girls,

who came along with Sugar Hill Gang Records.

They were actually the first female group on wax.

And of course
you had Salt-N-Pepa,

who came along and came out with the first platinum hit for a female group.

We've been able to endure
a lot of hard times...

because we do care...
care about each other,

but, um, she makes it fun.

[ Giggles ]
This girl is crazy.

Um, we've always found it,
um, our duty as,
as female artists...

We're about
tellin' the ladies...

I think, just to tell
the females not to give them
so much to talk about.

Some of the young ladies
have to become themselves,

have to learn
how to stop being what
a man wants them to be...

and start realizing
who they are and what they are.

If they wanna wear
the short skirt,
the baggy jeans,

do whatever it is
they wanna do.

When guys say, like,
"bitch" or "ho,"
it don't bother me...

because for the simple fact...
one, they not talkin'
about me.

Where I'm from...
the west side of Chicago...

we could see our homegirls and
be, like, "What's up, bitch ?
Shut the fuck up. You stupid."

It's all in fun.
It really depends on
how you say the shit.

You know when somebody's
sayin' it wrong or when
they're tryin' to be derogatory.

And some
autographed pictures...

for all you bitches.

And if you a bitch...

It's just like "nigga."
The same thing.
People just take it differently.

That shit turns me off.

If you a lady, you need
to act like a lady.

You can act like a lady
and still have skills rappin'.
You know what I'm sayin' ?

But when you start that old
wanna be like a nigga...

and hats and baggy jeans
and boots...

It's just a turnoff to me.

[ Da Brat ] Why ? That's they life. This is mine.

They don't like me to say "bitch," "fuck," "nigga" and "ho." That's me !

This is how I kick it.
This is how I live.

I'm just tryin' to be
straight real. I ain't
tryin' to come sugarcoated.

I'm just tryin' to put it down
the best way I know how.

I'm not really big on that,
'cause I happen to think...

that if we hold the women in higher respect,

then the women who have the children of these men who call women "bitches" and "ho's"...

will treat their children with more love and will raise up stronger individuals.

My experience is,
it has been hard to find...

a female to work with...

that I'm really diggin',
you know.

Out here on the West Coast
there's not that many females
that get into rap.

They're all nine-to-fives,
you know.

Rome wasn't built in a day.
The world's not gonna
change overnight.

Come here, Santi.
Come here.

Look in that camera,
smile and say "hi."

My name is Santineesh.

Who am I ?Uncle Heavy.

Gimme a kiss.
Bye.

[ Chuckling ]

[ Santineesh ]
Hug me again, Daddy ! [ Man Laughing ]

Daddy ! I got you !
I got you !

[ Interviewer ] What kind
of vibe do you like to
create in the studio ?

[ Santineesh
Screaming, Laughing ]When I'm in the studio...

Yo, D.O. Yo !

Gag her.
[ Laughing ]

At its best, hip-hop music can grab the nation by the neck...

and make people realize
what's goin' on.

It's a voice for the oppressed
people that, in many other ways,
just don't have a voice.

We didn't know nothin' about
no West Coast, Philly, Jersey
until rap came.

Then we started communicatin'
and just bein' one.

It's the nigga news.
We speak...

I could tell people in New York
what I'm goin' through...

from my experiences as
a Los Angeles young black man,

and they can speak from a New York young black man, what they goin' through.

You have guys who are rappers
who are from the ghetto...

and the stuff that they say is stuff that they live every day.

These are their lyrics.

After growin' up here...

and seein' my man
that lived upstairs
gettin' killed,

and then
my brother shot...

That showed me what type
of world this shit is.
You know what I'm sayin' ?

[ Nas ] The most time I feared about livin' here...

was when I was young, when I couldn't defend myself from shit was goin' on,

'cause it was older niggas
doin' shit.

It was a big world,
I was young...

and all I had was my moms and my brother, you know, my younger brother.

So all I did was just
handle myself to get to
a position where I could say,

"I'm gon' hold my ground.

"I'm old enough to control my destiny...

and not to be bullshitted by no bullshit niggas no more or nothin'."

I been thinkin' about goin' back to school...

because, I mean, my knowledge is limited right now.

There's a lot of things that I don't know about that I could take advantage of...

as soon as I learn about it.

I'm not a big drug dealer...

with 25 years on my head.

I sing rap records...

and I can make my bread.

I'm not a doctor
or lawyer,

but I'm 21
with a start.

You know, as far
as messages go, what I'm
tryin' to get across...

I'm tryin' to get across,
like, several different things.

You know what I'm sayin' ?

Like, for instance,
there's one side of me...

that's totally for the preservation of black youth,

because we're dyin' at a rapid rate.

The numbers of dyin' youth is increasing, like, daily in our neighborhood.

Look, I can't stand the ghetto.

A lot of rappers, you know, they run around... "Yeah, I'm from the ghetto !"

I live in the ghetto.
The ghetto don't live in me.
This is an ill situation.

We have been put here for a cause.

We have been put here to die.

That's genocide, man, and that's the bottom line.

If I had the chance
to live with a stream
flowin' through my backyard,

you think I wouldn't ?

We're not here just because we wanna be hip and fly.

It wasn't our choice
to come to the ghetto,

so I'm not stayin' true
to the hood.

I'm stayin' true
to the people inthe hood.

I don't want my kids to grow up in the environment I grew up in,

so I moved out.

I send my kids to the good schools, away from the fucked-up shit,

because I didn't have that opportunity when I was a youth.

I didn't have no choice. I had nowhere else to go. I had to stay there.

But I know what I did to get here,

and all them nights I spent in the studio, rappin' and writin',

it was all me.

You try to help your homies out.

I hook niggas up. If you know how to rap, I'll try to get you a deal.

I'll work with you in the studio.

But it's not a form of going, "I got paper. Here you go... 1,000, 2,000, 5,000."

That's what brothers expected.

You have to learn who your true homies are and shit.

You got the jealous homies that
don't wanna see you come up;

you got the player haters;
you got the crooked females
who wanna set you up.

Then you got the niggas in general who just roll around...

looking for niggas, period, to jack.

I don't put my city down. I love Compton to the fullest.

But with me bein' a father,
a businessman,

me stayin' in Compton would mean me havin' to deal with the same situations...

as I dealt with as a teenager.

I moved out to the community where I could walk out my front door...

and wouldn't have to see gang-writin' and shit like that,

because I lived in that shit
all my life,

and I figure, if you can you might as well, to better yourself and your future family.

[ Barking, Snarling ]

You can't have
this out-of-control dough...

and stay in the same house
you grew up in.

It's impossible;
you gonna get licked
sooner or later.

You ain't gotta, you know,
move from California,

but you get a million dollars
and your mama been on
Section Eight all your life...

and she been livin'
in apartments all her life,

you ain't gonna stay there.

[ C-Style ] There's always gon' be people that don't like me...

because they think I'm doin' too much or showin' off,

but still, even the ones
who do be players,

them be ones who was friends
from a long time ago.

So really, when they do talk that kind of stuff and all that...

I shine it on, but I still talk to 'em...

and let 'em know I still got a lot of love for 'em, regardless of how they playin'.

I still live in my same neighborhood.

Still do the same thing,
still wear the same clothes.

I don't wear no costume.
What I come to a concert with,
that's what I wear on stage.

We're just fortunate
that a lot of people
bought the records.

It's great, but we still
the same people.

We make our music for
the kids around the block.

We still live in the projects;
we still keepin' it real.

As you see, it's mad peoples
right here, right now...

that's just wit' us, 'cause
this is how I been before
this rap shit came off.

You know
what I'm sayin' ?Word up.

So therefore,
you see our chamber.

We're gettin' high;
niggas got beer.[ Laughing ]

Know what I'm sayin' ?
Niggas is still watchin'
they back from the cops.

But it's all real !

Nobody fuckin' wants to live
in the ghetto.

The best thing you can do
is get out and get your family
up outta there.

Interviewers'll come over and say, "You don't live in a black community."

Well, where is "the black community" ? Where do white people live ?

White people live wherever the fuck they want to live.

There is no "black community," there's a poor community,

and I'm not tryin' to live in no fuckin' poor community.

I been makin' records 14 years, and movies.

I should not have shit ? Would that make you happier ?

What in the fuck did they think we was stealin' for in the hood ?

When I was in South Central,
we used to look up
at these hills.

This was my goal,
to one day get out
of the ghetto.

The best thing I'm doin' for my community is showing them...

that a brother like myself, without givin' in to the Man, can make it,

and that means
theycan make it.

When my friends
come up here they say,
"This is inspiring, Ice,

'cause you did it with your hat turned back, tellin' America to kiss your fuckin' ass."

Interviewers'll come over and say, "Well, you got a big house,"

and I'm like, "Just say I got a big housefor somebody black, you racist motherfucker."

I look at it like this:

When I was in the hood
we were sellin' drugs;
we was robbin' and shit.

The community wasn't really by our side.

There wasn't no shit where they was likin' us. Nobody liked us in the area.

We had to eat;
my daughter had to eat;

so we was doin' what we
had to do, no matter what
"the community" felt about it.

After I left the drugs alone and started doin' the music shit,

then all of a sudden the community's, like, "Yeah, he's doin' good now."

It seemed like
fake love to me.

You ain't had no love for me
when I was fucked up and I had
to sell drugs to live,

so why have more fuckin'
love for me now 'cause
a nigga's doin' good ?

My real niggas
is by my side;
that's all I need.

I think me hustlin',
sellin' drugs,

it schooled me
to the streets a lot.

I learned a lot.

I learned there's
some things you can do
and some things you can't do.

Sellin' drugs forever
is something you can't do.

You cannot do that.
You will eventually die
or go to jail.

That's a fact.

I was up in Harlem World,
Union Square, Latin Quarters.

I was up in there like this...
sneaky, razor blade in my mouth
and shit, you know.

When you young,
you'll do anything.

Mesc tabs up in my system,
cocktail cigarettes,
dust, blunts and shit.

I went through that whole phase.
Lived life fast
and lived it quick.

But, you know,
there ain't no...

When I got the knowledge
of myself and shit,
I was able to adapt...

and calm things down.

Then when I had my first seed
the nigga woke up.

Life is more
than just about me.

I got generations
to bring forth.

Basically, Cypress Hill used to hang out in front of right here.

You know, getting fucked up.
You know, drinking beers
and shit, talking shit.

Then, you know, we get
to rhyming and shit.

I smoked B-Real his
first joint right down there
on that tree right there.

So we used to come chill
right here 'cause we used
to could, like...

you could hide from the cops
right here and get high.

[ Sen Dog ] But in '85, there was a big weed drought.

And '86 was the year that crack came in,

and everything changed.

Crack really
just ripped an asshole
out of the neighborhood.

I mean, all the...
even the drug dealers...

that had all the cars,
you seen them get smoked.

And it was like a siphon.
Like, anybody who fucked with it
just got sucked in.

[ Man #1 ]
No, that's incriminating !
Don't do that !

[ Man #2 ]
That on TV...

You know what ?
You're gonna have to change
your style.

This ain't it. You're fallin'
outta control.

My brother is
putting me out.

[ Chuck D ] The crack movement came out...

and a lot of people that even vibed on crack, the music was faster.

You know, the environment, much quicker.

And the commentary kind of went
to the tempo of the effects
of the drugs,

and political rap
and conscious rap...

tried to make people look at what they was doin'.

And if they was doin' things
in a negative way, try to look
at it in an unhip way.

Try to make it unhip
or unfashionable.

All of a sudden,
all these anti-drug records...

started comin' out of the...
out of the hip-hop scene,

where it's, like,
if you're on crack,
you know, like,

um, Brand Nubians, um...

Grand Puba was talkin'
about it, you know.
♪ Slow down

So, now, if somebody tell you,
"Yo, man, we getting ready
to smoke crack,"

you look at 'em crazy, like,
"Nigga, you're gonna smoke
crack ? That shit is wack."

[ DJ Muggs ] Shit ain't changin', man.

It's just gettin' worse out here, if anything.

That's just the part of everyday life, man. It ain't...

It ain't nothing shocking us, surprising us. It's just like...

a lot of motherfuckers will stop and look at it and be like, "Whoa."

Walk by it. Well, that's, you know, same old thing.

See it every day.

[ B-Real ] I sold it, and I've seen what it does to people,

and I kind of got a bad conscience about that.

♪♪

♪ The world is full
of thugs, hustlers
Big Willie mobsters ♪

♪ I kill rappers on the records It's my job to separate
the real from the fake ♪

♪ So I reveal the truth and break it down
on a wax plate ♪

The Lords of the Underground try to, you know, express, like,

the funny side, the good side,
or, you know, out of the normal
of the hood...

that people don't really
talk about, because we always
hearing about the negative.

But we try to talk about the positive sometime.

♪ All you pseudo tough guys end up dearly departed ♪

♪ As a young juvenile I started ♪

♪ Learning from some older dudes From the pimps
to stick-up men ♪

♪ And back then you had to know the rules ♪

♪ The peer pressure, it can get you knocked or locked up ♪

♪ Or laid the fuck out upon a stretcher ♪

♪ This world is full
of thugs, hustlers
Big Willie mobsters ♪

♪ I kill rappers on the records It's my job to separate
the real from the fake ♪

♪ So I reveal the truth and break it down
on a wax plate ♪♪

Y'all like
Michael Jackson ?

[ Kids Together ] Yeah ! No !

You don't like Michael Jackson ?
Why not ? No !

'Cause he grab his crotch
too much.He grab his crotch too much ?

[ Kids Laughing ]

Y'all like Whitney Houston ?[ Together ]
Yeah !

Y'all like Biggie Smalls ?[ Together ]
Yeah !

Y'all like Wu-Tang Clan ?[ Together ]
Yeah !

Y'all look up
to your mom and dad ?

[ Together ]
Yeah ! No.

- Oh, boy, I heard a "no."
- Me.

You don't look up
to your mom and dad ?

Well, you know,
you have, you know,
some cases like that.

Some kids don't. Now I ain't gonna get into that...

that young man's reason why,
but most of the kids say,

yeah, they look up to them,
and that's important.

My mom and dad, sometimes,
you know what I'm sayin',

they would get on
a fella's nerves, you know,

when I wanted to do things
that I wanted to do.

But now that I look back
and see how they raised me,
I saw that they was right.

Y'all may not understand it
right now,

but when y'all get older,
y'all gonna see what I mean.

Your mom and dad, man,
those are definite role models,
I think.

She was just
a single black mother,
and she gave me...

You know,
she didn't let nothing,
no obstacles stand in her way.

She overcame every obstacle.

You know what I'm sayin' ?
My mother owns my company.
She owns Bad Boy.

You know,
that was my gift to her.

She was the only one
that was always there for me,
no matter what.

Yeah, my mother is
the closest one to me,
you know?

She gave me everything
I always wanted.
You know what I'm sayin' ?

Christmastime, I had it all,
and my friends didn't.

She just gave you everything that was in style. She made sure I had it.

Some things I couldn't get, but the things I did got, I was real happy for.

When the rest of the world is crazy, I know that I can come home and everything is cool.

And that's what makes you
want to take a chance.

But a lot of people
who don't have that,
that type of support...

And I feel sorry,
you know what I'm sayin' ?

That's one part of my strength.
It's the fact that
no matter what happens...

if this industry
falls in love with me...

or decides that they
no longer love me,

and they want to get rid
of me, you know...

those people will always be
in my corner.

When you talk about my mom, it's beyond words.

[ Spice 1 ] She just did everything, you know.

I love her for that, man.

[ Spice 1's Mom ] He was on the Saint B's basketball team.

And this is, uh, break dancing.
This is how he started.

I think that was
just before rapping.

He was actually in high school
on this one.

He's about 17 years old.

I go on some video shoots
with him.

I was very proud of this one,
because his sister
was in it also.

That's his sister,
and that's Spice 1.

[ Spice 1 ] Every time we go somewhere, if we got a concert, and she wanna come,

I have, like, 12 or 13 of my homeboys surrounding her with straps.

Nigga, don't let nobody touch my mama.

[ Spice 1's Mom ] Oh, I worry about his safety a lot.

A lot of things has happened to him.

He's been shot at, harassed.

When he was little, we thought
he was gonna be a preacher,

because he carried a Bible around all the time, had his name on it.

Well, he is a preacher,

only he does it through his rap.

He's been promising me a house since he was a little boy,

and I had no idea how
he was going to buy it,

but now I know.

All of our heroes
were killed off:

Martin Luther King,
Malcolm X, uh, uh, JFK.

So I grew up having heroes that were the local drug dealer,

pimps, the pushers, the... the... the guys with the dough,

the guys who were riding around in the Sevilles and Cadillacs, you know.

Guys who were flashing the hundred-dollar bills, the number runners.

The whole thing about hip-hop
was to wear the...
the gold chain...

and, you know, to dress like the street hustler.

[ Nas ] The nigga'd tell about... he got on a Rolex watch and all this shit.

Now, without finishing school,
going to college...

or just starting a business
or something,

you want to wonder how
you get that Rolex watch.

And that's the part of it. That's the mystique...

that leads you to want to be where he's at.

I rap. I try to get money here.
You know what I'm sayin' ?

But as far as everybody else in the community my age,

they probably gotta get a job at McDonald's.

And then they mind is just like mine, where they really working at McDonald's, saying,

"Damn, I want better
than this."

But you can ask 90%
of the people that's involved
in hip-hop music...

what they would be doin'
if hip-hop didn't exist,

and I can guarantee you
it won't be positive.

[ Chuck D ] Sometimes the reachin' and the showin' off...

with the Lexuses and the Big Willie-ism...

That's cool for some,
but, you know,

it's a nightmare to most
because 99 out of 100...

don't achieve
that particular dream.

So our particular dreams
have to be rooted
more to reality.

And people talk about
keeping it real, but you gotta
make it real first.

[ Ice-T ] I mean, I'm an ill individual.

I mean, if you really get off into me, man, I'm like... I'm ill.

I'm, like... All I watch
is horror movies and shit.

But I've kind of, like,
learned to control
my negative side and turn...

I've turned it a very...
I'm a very peaceful,
calm individual.

I don't wanna hurt nobody,
so I kinda, like,

send that energy I used to have
that was static,

that I used to act out...
I put that in my music.

It's like, once you've been a criminal,

and you've been out there, and you've felt the... the excitement...

and the adrenaline rush
of that life,

you're intoxicated forever.

But I know the way I'm living now.

I... I respect this life too much.

I would never take a risk like that, because anything I went after now,

it would have to be
like a million and up.

If I put a score down like that, somebody's probably gonna end up dead.

And I'll probably be on the run for the rest of my life.

But I still got the skills,
and I know I can...

I'm more of a...
I'm more of a crook
than I am a rapper.

I know that.

[ Chattering ] [ Woman ]
Here you go.

That's the way you like it. That's right.

They're golden brown.I really did yours
the same way, dear.

You know what I like ?

Can I get some furniture
to work with ?
Some furniture.

Here you go, baby.

If I wasn't in the music business, what kind of game I would be in ?

I'm not gonna let you know
what kind of game I would be in.

That's for me to know and for you to find out.

Yeah, I was into other stuff, you know, but...

there came a time when
I got a reality check,
you know,

when something happened
to me, so...

After that, when it happened,
you know, I decided that
I knew I better do this,

or, you know, I might not be
able to do nothin' no more,
period.

- [ Gunshot Fired ]
- I got shot.
- [ Gunshot Fired ]

- I was confined to a wheelchair
for, like, a year-and-a-half.
- [ Gunshot Fired ]

Yeah, well, I mean,
you know, I talk about it.
I was shot nine times, you know.

[ Gunshots Firing ]

It ain't no surprising thing.

It happens in every ghetto. Somebody get shot or somebody get killed, you know ?

[ Gunshot Fired ] ♪ What's your angle Rectangle or triangle ♪

♪ As my truth is spread drains you of your power ♪

♪ The death angel strangles you like a weed ♪

♪ Chokin' the helpless flower You cower ♪

♪ You feel the power of the final shower ♪♪

Do I ever carry a gun ?
Yeah, no doubt. ♪ Here comes the rain again

[ B-Real ] Well, at first I couldn't believe it, you know.

You know, like, goddamn, you know, I got hit. I'm hit.

I think I knew I was doin' so much wrong,

that I knew I was goin' straight to hell.

♪ Causin' new emotions

It ain't something that I'm proud of. It's something I had to do...

because of the situation I was in...

shootin' at, being shot at.

♪♪

I'd never get on camera
sayin' no shit like that, home.

I ain't fen to answer
nothing like that.

Say, we down South.

Hustlin', we gotta be strapped
because it's just like that.

You never know
when a player hater
gonna run up on you,

try to take what you got,
you know what I'm sayin' ?

Yeah, I roll around with a gun every day now because of the situations...

that I had to deal with
when I used to gang-bang...

and the brothers who won't
let you live that shit down.

Me being a rapper, I'm basically just giving you the real. I seen everything.

So that's what makes me speak like I speak.

And that's what makes me bring the music like I do because I been there, you know.

I belonged in gangs. I went on drive-bys.

[ Gunshots ]

[ Tires Screeching ]

So, it just all has to depend
on the situation, you know ?

If somebody threatens you,
you gonna kill him.

♪ Here is something
you can't understand ♪

♪ How I could
just kill a man ♪

♪ Here is something
you can't understand ♪ ♪ How I could just kill a man

♪ Here is something
you can't understand ♪

♪ How I could just kill a man ♪

♪ Here is something
you can't understand ♪

♪ How I could just kill a man ♪

♪ Here is something
you can't understand ♪

♪ How I could just kill a man ♪

♪ One time tried to come in my home ♪

♪ Take my chrome I said, yo, it's on ♪

♪ Take cover, son or you're assed out ♪

♪ How do you like my chrome Then I watched the rookie
pass out ♪

♪ Didn't have to blast out But I did anyway ♪ [ Chuckles ]

♪ Young punk had to pay
So I just killed a man ♪

♪ Here is something you can't understand ♪

♪ How I could just kill a man ♪

♪ Here is something you can't understand ♪

♪ How I could just kill a man ♪♪

You gotta listen to this shit to understand it.

Rewind it
three and four times.
Listen to it, you know.

Then maybe you'll get
a little notion
of where we're comin' from.

[ Newscaster ] Charlton Heston spoke out today against gangsta rap music...

that is aimed at the police.

Heston claimed that the violent content of the lyrics...

has a negative influence on American values.

[ Mack 10 ] That's where white America pisses me off at.

See, Arnold Schwarzenegger can kill a whole fuckin' police force in his movie,

but the minute Mack 10 talkin' about shootin' one police or something,

they wanna take my record off the shelves.

Some of us didn't even graduate from high school,

and we makin' seven figures, you know what I'm sayin' ?

It's hard for you to swallow, if you went to Harvard or Yale...

all your motherfuckin' life, and you ain't makin' but $50,000 a year.

And a motherfucker like us can make a million a year.

You know what I'm sayin' ? That's hard for you to swallow.

Put it like this.
NWA was not a prophet.
You know what I'm sayin' ?

When they was talking about
"Fuck the Police," and one time,
was doing this and that...

I mean, I sat there,
and I said, "Hell, yeah."

But the average white American,
if we... if we gonna
have to generalize,

they say,
"Why... Why would they think
such a thing ?"

You don't really have
any love for 'em, you know ?

I ain't never seen no cop
gettin' no cat out of a tree.

Now I live in
a nice neighborhood, the cops
are different over here.

They're like,
"Hey, how're you doin' ?"

Sendin' me
Christmas cards and shit.

It's just
a little different, but
average kid in the streets,

he's never had a cop
help him.

So the attitude is:
Fuck the police.

♪♪ [ Scratching ]

[ Police Siren Wails ]

[ Man ] In the neighborhoods, most of the time, it's the same cops.

And they know what's goin' on around there.

And they see you, if you somebody that they been seein'.

You know what you're doin'. They know what you're doin'.

They see you, and you see them.

You know, you know, it's on.

[ MC Eiht ] When you live where I live, and if you just black, period.

Like they say, it's a routine.

A black man in a fancy car, you gonna get pulled over.

You're gonna get asked
to step out your car.

You're gonna get your car searched.

No probable cause, no reason, no whatever.

It just happens. It's just routine.

The same crime element
that white people
are scared of,

black people
are scared of.

The same crime element
that white people fear,
we fear.

So we defend ourselves from the same crime element...

that they scared of,
you know what I'm sayin' ?

While they waitin'
for legislation to pass,
we next door to the killer.

We next door to him, you know, 'cause we up in the projects,

where there's 80 niggas
in the building.

All them killers that they're lettin' out, they're right there in that building.

But it's better just 'cause
we black, we get along
with the killers or something ?

We get along with
the rapists 'cause we black
and we from the same hood ?

What is that ?
We need protection too.

This is why we rhyme,
and this is our reason.

You know what I'm sayin' ?
We live this life.

I got copper friends.

But now I'm makin'
proper ends.

My illegal drug money.
What's going on ?

I don't hate all cops.
I hate certain cops.

You know what I mean ? [ Man ] I hate cops. They hate us.

We got beef in the West Coast.
We got beef in the East Coast.
We're police.

Hey, the big police,
the biggest motherfucking gang
out this motherfucker with guns.

The other day,
you know what I'm sayin,

I wear my one pants leg down, one pants leg up.

We were in Chicago, and one of the security guys,

you know, he came at me, all sayin':

"Either you roll
your pants leg down,
or you keep both of them up."

I thought he was playin', but he got all... all up in my face.

We just performed.
Why you even sweatin' me
like that ?

"Well, it's a gang thing."
All up in my face, though.

You know what I'm sayin' ?
That's not even necessary.

Now, if I was to punch him in
the shit, I'd have been wrong.

You know what I'm sayin' ?
But I kept it cool,
you know what I'm sayin' ?

Not tryin' to be rude
and all that, I said,
"Money,

could you please just get
out of my face, 'cause I'm not
rollin' my pants leg down."

Respect is a really high thing
in the black community.

And once somebody
feels disrespected,

that's when
the issue arises.

Cops need to learn
how to talk to people.

[ Police Siren Wailing ]

[ Mack 10 ] Wasn't botherin' nobody. Wasn't no other cars around.

The cop that pulled me over just wants me to keep my wheels on the ground.

And he said, "I could impound your car now, but I ain't gonna trip right now."

So I said, "All right, then don't trip right now. Give me my break then."

It ain't nothin' but a hydraulic ticket.

I don't worry about it.

He just wanted to pull me over 'cause he was a asshole.

[ E-40 ] I can feel it right here, man. It's real.

♪ Every year about this time ♪

Every year about this time, it's a...

There's always a dark cloud that lingers over the city. ♪ There's someone like me

And I'm here to preach about it. Look here.

♪ Every year about this time
I get to diggin' up
old school memories ♪

♪ That I keep stored in the back of the head
and the back of my mind ♪

♪ That I always seem to find when I'm marinatin'
with my impulse ♪

♪ Slappin' bones and drinkin' wine
Just come home from Quentin ♪

♪ And all I know is strained and grind ♪

♪ Time, no gang be honest either ♪

♪ White-collared crime or, uh, hookin' up bones ♪

♪ How can I make some sort of dividend ♪

♪ How can I get my mathematics How can I get in
where I fit in ♪

♪ How can I get in Get goin' ♪

♪ Every year about this time

♪ They lock us up and throw away the key ♪♪

I'm gonna come out there
and listen, okay ? Rap is just like country music.

'Cause you get to express yourself.

You know ? ♪ I left my heart in Arizona

Something, you know what I'm sayin' ? It's just the same thing.

It's like a stress reliever.
You know what I'm sayin' ?

Just like the little
Chinese balls that
you roll in your hand,

and what have you,
to relieve the...
relieve the stress.

We rappin' it
on the microphone.

We're spittin' all over
the popper-stopper.
Feel me ?

♪♪

I run into older people
of all colors.

They don't understand it. They just think it's all bad, which a lot of it is.

We don't give a damn.
But a lot of it is good too,
playboy.

When fools didn't even think it was gonna happen,

me and my Uncle St. Charles,

T-Shop, B-Legit...
we all had confidence...
Sugar T.

We all had confidence
in ourselves.

And we kept it goin'. You know what I'm sayin' ?

Legal dope. We homegrown, man.

I feel good
about bein' homegrown.

[ Dupri ] I think the move that hip-hop is takin' now...

What I see is that the artists are gaining more control of the business aspect.

They're doin' a lot more of their own production, you know ?

I mean, I don't really know how many days it's gonna take.

I'm sayin', I just know
we gotta get a joint.

You know, a lot of artists are starting managements.

♪ Is there a heaven for a gangsta
Grew up in the ghetto ♪

♪ Raised by a killer T.R.U. across my stomach ♪

♪ Your neighborhood thug nigga trying to make it out
this fucked-up environment ♪

♪ We niggas die trying to make a dollar out of fifty cents ♪

♪ The ghetto got me crazy I smell daisies ♪

♪ But I can't die tonight My old lady pregnant
with a baby ♪

♪ Tupac said there's a heaven for a G ♪

♪ But I wonder if there's a resting place for killers
and gangstas like me ♪♪

[ Master P ] Independent, black-owned.

We're from the hood, and we take what we made about the hood...

and show people from the ghetto that you can have something.

You can be successful, if you put your mind to it.

We're about being
the next biggest entourage,

independent, successful
record company in the world.

Not the United States, the world.

[ E-40 ]
We used to sell tapes
at grocery stores,

liquor stores, barbershops,
uh, beauty salons,

tire shops,
whatever, however,
and it took off from there.

Well, I mean, you know
what I'm sayin' ?

It's all good, you know,
that... that we out here
doin' our thing.

I mean, I'm real pleased.
I mean, we've been
workin' hard.

I've been workin' hard
all my life, you know what
I'm sayin', tryin' to do it.

You know what I'm sayin' ?
Tryin' to get this job done.

So, I mean, the... the...
the idea that we are now here
is good.

I mean, we still have
a long way to go though.

You know,
'cause I'm tired of goin'
into the fuckin' record shops...

and the rap section bein'
all the way in the back
of the fuckin' store.

And you gotta go through there, and the section is about five feet wide.

Gonna continue to be in the back of the store until everybody...

steps up and starts doin'
different shit.

We do have to start owning,
like, a pressing plant,

or having your label run
so professionally to where...

you can acquire other companies.

Like get into publishing, get in the synchronization, get into cues on film.

The asset of the business, as
opposed to a physical check.
You want to own something.

Rap now is
a $3-billion-a-year industry.

Black-owned labels aren't being intimidated anymore, you know.

There's, uh... Russell Simmons
has always been out there
with Def Jam,

and Sean "Puffy" Combs, uh,
you know,

with Bad Boy Entertainment,
you know... they're all
doin' their thing.

Bill Bellamy called me and told me the jam of the week. He called me today.

You know what I'm sayin' ?
We have no mainstream play.

We don't have those resources.
We gettin' no Z-100s.

What's up with VH-1
and all that ?

The minute it's gone,
it's on, dog.

There's records out here,
they burnin', and then
Ernie's sayin' them,

the black stations
about to pull up...
pull off of this shit.

Puffy's real tight.
That's my boy.

He look out for me,
you know what I'm sayin' ?

Took me off the streets.
Gave a nigga a chance. [ Puffy ] That's cool.

Yo, Leon. I don't like
the way you're treatin' me
on me gettin' my second halves.

That shit is bullshit.
Yo, bust... Yo, yo, yo, yo,
bust your asses...

to-to... and ask me
for Method Man or Method Man.

When y'all asked me to use that,
you told me you had
the Marvin Gaye sample.

You asked me
to play the shit over.
I'm not payin'.

Nor am I involved
in any of that shit.

Okay, well, y'all need to pay
on what y'all need.

I'll go back in the studio.
You know, just pay for me
to go back in the studio.

Yo, and tell me
exactly what you want.

Be exact.

People who represent, like, the establishment, they are threatened by hip-hop.

And they are threatened
by intelligent, articulate
black people,

who happen to represent,
you know what I'm sayin',

the poor people,
you know what I mean,
the have-nots.

When I first started in rap, you know, a lot of people said,

that... that rap was just a fad.

It would never last, or it'd just be around for a couple of years,

and then it's over.

But, you know, it's been goin' around for a long time.

And... And, I mean, you even have
major, major rap artists
retiring, you know ?

Like... Like, for instance,
we're getting ready to go into
the retirement of Too Short.

♪♪

The almighty Xzibit comin' down
from the liquid squad,

killin' that Too Short,
you know what I'm sayin',
retirement party.

♪♪

It's like a whole bunch of people and shit here.

♪♪

Yeah, we in the house
of my man Too Short's party,
you know,

hanging out with all the players and all the fly ladies, you know.

- [ DJ Scorpio ] It's all good.
- Comin' back from way back
into the day.

Straight from the East Coast right here in California.

[ Young MC ] It's kind of sad to see him retiring,

but I feel good for him because I know he had a real good career.

He did a lot of good things for
rap, and he helped influence me
and a whole lot of other people.

So, I just wanna
let that be known.
And peace, Too Short.

I think it's a damn shame,

for a young man so great,

to wanna leave
this illustrious business.

So, brothers and sisters, we're not gonna let this great young man retire, are we ?

[ Kurtis Blow ] Even with all of the success and progress...

that hip-hop has made throughout the last 20 years,

it has been with,
you know, some great cost.

Uh, lives have been lost,
careers have been forgotten.

[ Q-Tip ] I've been losing a lot of people lately.

[ Stammering ] It's at a alarming rate.

It's sad, you know what I'm sayin' ?

I lost five people...

in the past four months.

I don't care who you are.

Fuck, if y'all niggas
are playing all that
hard-core shit, stop it,

'cause y'all niggas
have kissed your mama
before, man.

Y'all niggas have been
in vulnerable states where
y'all niggas have cried.

'Cause if... 'Cause ain't
none of y'all niggas
out there ironmen.

You know what I'm sayin' ?
And if you say that,
you're lyin'.

[ Q-Tip ]
I have faith that people
are gonna wake up, man.

I really do.
I have that faith.

[ Female Reporter ] It's been two days since the shooting that left...

recording manager Shug Knight injured and Tupac Shakur in critical condition.

Metro says Shakur and Knight were driving to a club...

following the Tyson-Seldon fight.

A car pulled up alongside Shakur's BMW,

and gunshots rang out.

Police are looking for a late-model white Cadillac,

last seen speeding southbound on Colbalt Lane.

Meanwhile, family, friends and fans of the rap singer...

surround U.M.C., wishing they could share...

their messages with Shakur.

I'm one of his biggest fans,
and I love him so very much.

And I don't want Tupac to get shot.

I don't... I don't want Tupac
to get shot no more.

[ Male Reporter ] Breaking news to tell you about.

The rapper Tupac Shakur died in Las Vegas.

He died, apparently, this afternoon in a Las Vegas hospital.

You might remember he was shot... [ Fades Out ]

Pac was a prophet.

He knew things...

that none of us see yet.

And he put it in his music.

His only release was his music.

I rolled with Pac. We came up together.

And Pac ain't never let me roll with him,

to pull no gun
on no black man.

Pac wasn't no gangster.

Pac was a soldier.

[ Applause ]

We all should work together
to try to get more unity
within rap.

And... And... And I see that
happening, for the most part.

I see a lot of rappers
doin' duets with each other
from the different coasts.

East Coast, West Coast
together, like that.

East Coast and West Coast
get down together...

and make it happen,
you know what I'm sayin' ?

In Queens, New York,
they speak nice.

These are
all-town gangsters.Right, right.

I'm gettin' sassed.
Ow !

I can't dis the whole East Coast. I got homeboys, you know, from the East Coast.

I... I... I can't... I mean,
everybody in the East Coast
don't hate Mack 10.

I don't give a fuck.
I got down with MC Eiht.
That's my nigga.

That's West Coast,
you know what I'm sayin' ?

And it's blowin' up over there,
you know what I'm sayin' ?

The East Coast, West Coast shit
is stupid,

'cause how am I gonna beef with
a nigga who ain't got nothin'
and I ain't got nothin' ?

When these... When these other
motherfuckers got everything,

and nobody's beefin' with them.

And nigga's quick to pull out
a gun on you, wants me,
I'm a shoot that nigga.

I'm gonna kill him.
And when the cops come,
he gets scared.

How the fuck are you scared
of him, when you ain't scared
of him ?

So that shit don't really
add up to me and shit.
I deal with mathematics.

If you got a problem
with somebody,

you got a problem
with that individual,
you know ?

Square off with him.
Don't go dissin'
a whole fucking coast.

Go and spread the love.
East Coast and West Coast.

That right there settles
everything. There's no need
gettin' us involved.

You know, you don't see niggas
fightin' and robbin'...

and killin' and shootin'
over this here, you know
what I'm sayin' ?

When niggas get together
with this here,
it's all about peace.

And that's
what we're tryin'...Ain't nothin' wrong.

East Coast, West Coast.We get into our vibe
that we...

This ain't crack.
This is weed.

We smoke weed, 'cause
when we smoke weed, we breed.
All right ? Yo.

So, it's more than just
knowin' your block.

Know your state,
East Coast, West Coast.

There's seven continents
out there.

And there's, you know,
hundreds of countries.

Education is key,
because it tells people...

what to look out for
and how to prepare themselves.

Economically, you know, we can't talk about more black jobs...

without black businesses.

Everybody's not fortunate enough to be a doctor or lawyer, you know ?

Everybody doesn't complete
four years of college,
you know ?

It gives you something else
to do, and it is a job,
straight up.

[ Man ] It's bringing in a lot of niggas out of the ghettos.

It's a power force, you know what I'm sayin' ?

And anytime you get black with a power force...

and a gang of money generatin',

then it's gonna scare.

Close to your spirit,
Close to your soul. Black.

Not being scared of who you are. And step out and express.

Grandmaster Flash, Kurtis Blow and them passed the torch to us.

Also, Run DMC, LL Cool J had it.
Passed it on with Rakim.

Public Enemy,
Boogie Down Productions.

They took it on, pass it on.
You got E.P.M.D. comin' out.

Then you got your
Tribe Called Quest comin' out.

And then the West Coast
caught some at the same time.

They catchin' it with Ice-T.

He grew a part of it.
He's runnin' it now.

The torch is goin' on
to the next one that goin' on.

Hip-hop is an element
that was created...

by the youth from
the street, you know ?

And we gonna continue
to express that truth...

and that expression,
that youthful expression.

[ Pepa ]
I'm just tryin' to see
what it's gonna be like...

in the year
two-thousand-and-something.

'Cause it's... it's always
changin' constantly, you know ?

Everyone's comin' up with a new style, new music.

It's a... It's adult music as well now. More.

But it's still a kid's music,

so it's something for the kids to enjoy and call their own still, so...

Like for my son to grow up
in the hip-hop, you know,
that would be cool.

♪ Never one to chitter-chatter
I'd rather make you phatter ♪

♪ And all that matters
is how we scatter ♪

♪ That's right, I spray
with the words I say ♪

♪ Be it night or day
Never no time to play ♪

♪ Up in the morning
and out to school ♪

♪ 'Cause I'm cool
Mama ain't raisin' no fool ♪♪

♪ As I combine all
the juice from the mind ♪

♪ Heal up, wheel up
Bring it back ♪ ♪ Come rewind

♪ Powerful impact
from the cannon ♪ ♪ Boom

♪ Not braggin'
Try to read my mind ♪ ♪ Just imagine

♪ Vo-cab-u ♪ Lary's necessary

♪ Went diggin' in to ♪ My library

♪ Oh, my God ♪ Oh, my God

♪ Maybe mine's
too close to want me ♪ ♪ To Tosh

♪ Oh, Oh ♪ All over the track boss ♪

♪ Oh, pardon me ♪ Oh, as I come back ♪

♪ Back in the day On the boulevard Olympic ♪

♪ We picked up routines
because it was fit
It was I, Phifer ♪

♪ See my super soul
rubbin' at the bumpers ♪

♪ Hey, yo, Tip Do you recall where
we used to mark walls ♪

♪ [ Indistinct ]

♪ Where we at ♪ Nashville in the house
Check it out ♪

♪ Where we at ♪ Tennessee in the house
Check it out ♪

♪ Where we at ♪ Nashville in the house

♪ Here we go, yo
Check the rhymes, yo
Here we go, yo ♪

♪ Check the rhymes, yo
Here we go, yo
Check the rhymes, yo ♪

♪ Check it out ♪ Check it out

♪ And, Nashville
check the rhymes, yo ♪♪

[ Audience Cheering ]

- Everybody put a peace sign
up in the air.
- Raise your hand !

Put that shit up high.

I want y'all to say, "We need peace," in rhythm with us.

♪ Say, we need peace Come on ♪

♪ Say, we need peace Come on ♪

♪ We need peace Put your hands high !

♪ Tribe Called Quest We got ♪♪ Peace on our side

♪ Busta Rhymes comin' We got ♪ ♪ Peace on our side

♪ The Fugees got the score We got ♪♪ Peace on our side

♪ One love, one love, one love
one love, one love ♪

♪ One love, one love, one love
one love, one love ♪

♪ One love, one love
one love, one love ♪

♪ One love, one love
one love, one love ♪♪

I know that hip-hop
is the representation
of this oppressed culture,

and I will represent that
till the day I die.

[ Film Projector Rolling ]

And don't ever shoot
a documentary without
the Lost Boyz and Dogg Pound.

It just won't happen.
That's why I'm glad Miramax
did this film, you know ?

Back in the day,
biting used to be a crime.

You know how many bites
of Snoop there is ?
There's mad bites of Snoop.

Snoop's the original.
You can't bite him. He's dope.

Onyx is the original,
but everybody wants to change
their voice now...

and rhyme like this.

Onyx is the original.
They're dope.
You can't front on them.

And we went through that same
experience early in the game,

but, I'm sayin',
we realized that, yo,
you know what I'm sayin' ?

The best way to do something.
That's powerful, ain't it ?

[ Chuckling ]
You know what I mean ?
Hold it in, baby.

The best... The best way
to do something
is to do it yourself.

If I make enough money,
I'm outta here.
You understand what I'm sayin' ?

Because I've lived
in the ghetto all my life.
I've been here and done that.

And there's a bigger world
out there. There's a lot
of shit to get, and I want it.

Check all the honeys out though.
You gotta get this on the movie.

This is a movie, baby.
You see that right there ?
They're filmin' right now.

The making of Rhyme and Reason.

And squeezin'.
[ Chuckles ]

Uh, the critics out there
can basically, like,

kiss my ass straight up
because they know nothing
about what goes into this.

They're just people
with a nine-to-five...

behind a fuckin' typewriter
and a CD player,

listenin' to it
and critiquing it.

"Bring The Noise" was on
the "Less than Zero" soundtrack.You're Dr. Dre.

And, uh... And, uh,
that's part of the clip, right,
you could use, right ?

I'll be Dre for a day.
Dre day.

This is what you call
a Biz Markie breakfast.

You pour the Crispix
in the bowl.

Right ?

You get a whole bunch
of sugar,

'cause I'm a...
I'm a junk-food junkie,
everybody.

Everybody got this on film ?

Still got it on film ?

You pray.

♪ Because I'm true to this rap ♪

Now.

You rock, and we bouncin'.
We still bouncin.

I dare say, I wanna thank
your mother for givin' you
a butt like that.

You know where the bathroom at ?I had... I had to go
to the gym and did this.

[ Chattering ]

You had to have had
political power...

in the culture of hip-hop
to grab the mike,

to step out
onto the cardboard
and break dance.

Watch the light.[ Glass Shattering ]

Yo, radio's very important.
Very, very important.

You know, airplay,
to be heard.[ Phone Ringing ]

[ Man ]
How do you experience...[ Ringing Continues ]

Everybody in this motherfucker
got a dark thing to him.

Some of y'all motherfuckers
do some things you don't want
me to know about, right ?

But on my album,
I'm doin' it all,

and I'm lettin' you
know about it, you know
what I'm sayin' ?

It ain't about...
When you journey my shit,
you need flashlights.

You wanna enter my mind,
you need flashlights.

You want to enter my realm,
you need flashlights.

'Cause it's dark over here.
Word.

And that's about it.
We be back.

♪ Even though phat LPs Can make a nigga Gs ♪

♪ Real hip-hop ♪