Dear Rappers
The irony is priceless here...
via Reuters:
Rapper Gucci Mane has been sentenced to 12 months in jail for probation violation.
The sentence was handed down Thursday (November 12), according to the performer's lawyer.
Mane pled guilty to assault in 2005 for attacking a nightclub promoter. Last September, he was sentenced to a year in jail for failing to fulfill his court-ordered 600 hours of community service. He was incarcerated until March.
To me, this letter shouldn't have to be written. But the past few years in terms of high-profile incarcerations have been unbelievable. It's like the early 2000's when shootings and getting shot were the cool thing to do. Prison automatically gives you credibility and pretty much assures you that about 200 hood folk will be printing your name and picture on a t-shirt saying 'FREE (insert rapper here)'.
That being said, why is that a good thing? Let's say for all intents and purposes, that as a rapper living a 'gangster' or 'hood' (sounds weird typing it, doesn't it?) lifestyle adds to your appeal. Wouldn't you want to be a good rapper, and NOT go to jail? I mean, rappers, for God's sake, some of you guys are going to prison for the dumbest reasons. If it isn't Wayne tossing a Gucci bag with a gun in it off his tour bus, then it's Remy Ma beating some chick up at a club. If it's not Prodigy, it's Mystikal. If it's not T.I., it's Gucci Mane or Tony Yayo or City Spud or B.G. Seriously, rappers, get your business together. What kind of message does this send about hip-hop? That we're a genre full of jail birds? (dumb rapper voice) Oh it's okay to go to jail if you're a rapper. You can just cut a deal, do community service and release music right after I get out (/dumb rapper voice). There's so much wrong with that mode of thinking, yet we subscribe to it when we buy your albums and wear 'Free Yayo' t-shirts.
Newsflash. Jail isn't cool!! Neither is what comes with it. We were all fooled when we saw Gucci Mane in this PSA. He's learning a valuable lesson now though: parole is no joke, especially when you rap about openly selling drugs...