by Cyndi » Apr 18th, '06, 21:23
April 16 - Detroit Glock City - Benzino Paid Detroit Rappers To
Fuck Up Shady Camp
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> Detroit is unlike any other city in America, whether it is the
rap scene or in its culture. The city that brought the automobile
and the Motown sound to the rest of the world fell on desperately
hard times in the last quarter of the 20th Century in both
areas. "The Big 3" car makers got knocked down a peg by Japanese,
Korean, and European automakers, and Motown Records abandoned
Detroit for greener pastures in California as NYC, the West Coast,
and the Dirty South eclipsed Detroit as the new center of urban
music and culture.
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> The result was a people constantly on edge economically and
socially, and a rap scene with no infrastructure or mentors to guide
it on an artistic path. The hip-hop game became an extension of the
drug game and both were strictly underground. It was cannibalistic
with every man for himself... no cooperation and no rules! Art
always imitates life...
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> In the late '90s, a bit of light was shone on the Detroit musical
scene with the opening of the Hip Hop Shop on West 7 Mile road by
clothing czar Maurice Malone. Here heads could come and battle in an
atmosphere unknown up until that point. An atmosphere where the art
was the only important thing, not which crew of ballers you were
being backed by. Here is where Proof and Eminem honed their skills
and D-12 made their pact that whoever made it out first would pull
up the rest of the crew. After years of struggle and countless MC
battles, Eminem was discovered by the legendary Dr. Dre and the rest
is history as depicted in the smash hit movie 8 Mile. But with
success comes problems, and Detroit is the wrong place to have
problems.
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> Soon after the success of Eminem and D-12, the D's hip-hop
community gained hope. As a matter of fact, many expected that the
glory days of Motown would return, this time with the beat of bass
drums and scratches, and that Detroit would blow up. It never
happened and this caused the green-eyed monster known as jealousy to
rear its ugly head among crews who were suspicious they were being
left behind unjustly by the new rap reps of the Motor City -- namely
Eminem and D-12.
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> The scene has devolved back to the scene of days past, where open
warfare is commonplace. The streets say it's on. Proof's killing was
not suprising considering the atmosphere that exists in the hood. In
a little over a year Detroit has seen many of its top lyricists get
dropped in yet to be solved murders. The list reads like a who's who
of the Motor City hip-hop scene. Blade Icewood and Wipeout (both
were paid homage in the John Singleton's Four Brothers movie which
was set in Detroit) were gunned down in separate incidents, along
with two of their associates. Eminem's prot