I was giving it some thought, and I came up with some reasons. First of all, I just wanted to put reasons why Dago wont make its mark. Mind you, I'm not stating facts, its just my own opinion.
1. San Diego rappers are not humble enough to make a statement for the masses. Most of the rappers out here are coming from the gangsta point of view, and if thats not the genre you rep, you are thought of as square and probably wont get the street support, which leads to my next point.
2. Crossover appeal is necessary. One word. Nick Cannon. He made it and never reps Dago prolly cause he dont wanna get pidgeon holed into this or that category, and his street credentials are irrelevant to what he tryin to do.
3. The San Diego scene is playing catch up. We have experiences and stories to tell, and during the time when these stories were the most shocking and interesting to america and to the world, we never had a voice.
4. We have the lil brother complex. It seem like we are in the shadow of L.A. and we are, but we seem to alienate ourselves from the major market up the road by takin a anti L.A. attitude. Also alot of people from here have low self esteem in our city and dont have the confidence that Dago would ever do any thing. Look at how many Raiders fans we have here and the attitude toward the Chargers, Padres, etc.
5. We are so goddamn divided. Man, my name aint Southeast Unite for nothin! We are divided along racial lines, then as niggas, we divided by gang politics, because as a crip, youre confined to this small area on the west side of town with no room to stretch your legs, and as a blood, you got sets that would all want nothing else than to be the illest set in Dago, even at the expense of other blood sets. The bloods have always tried to distinguish theyselves from one another from the gitgo startin with the color. Skyline is the traditional red, but Lincoln Park decided to be green, Emerald Hills and O'Farrell Park went with grey, and the 5/9 Brims can be found wearing burgundy lots of times, and also you got the distinction of Skyline and Lil Africa as piru gangs which some other bloods as well as some pirus consider a seperate faction from the blood car. Now in every town that has major gang activity, is this the status? Also, the biggest rivalry in the town is the Skyline East Side Piru-Lincoln Park Blood funk. So in a town divided by crip and blood, you get blood on blood. Then you got snitches, and the politics and some flare ups within your own set, so theres alot of division all the way around.
6. Alot of San Diego rappers cant seperate the rappin from the streets, and some cant seperate reality from rappin. When we have the opportunity to have the streets ear, we should give the people enjoyable music. I might be overlappin my points but this is from the dome fuck it. I know you cant please everybody all the time, but the music was made for people to vibe and be good for the soul. Now its like some music will literally make somebody get they head tore off, and we can do alot of good things with the music. I know that if some of these rappers would admit that unity is a good thing and gang hoo ridin is perpetual ignorance, alot of wounds could be healed. And some of these rappers try to use the mic as a propaganda machine, to try to make themselves or there area seem like the meanest, which works if thats the consensus, but can backfire if its spreading falsehoods. Also I see this more often here than anywhere else, like people hear specific turf bizness in the songs, like what set is against what, which I hardly hear in other places, and if I do, it dont register. But I dont know, we just might change the game and make it doing it that way.
7. Hustle. Man these niggas gotta go get it, yadidimean? Man listen to the pioneers and they stories of determination, it is never easy. And wit us already with a disadvantage, we cant afford to sit on our ass and wait for a miracle.
Why I think Dago can blow.
1. Dago has a story. The Dago story is a good history lesson for the world to hear. I mean Dago is full of migrants who come for different reasons, but there is culture in the town. New York is known for pan pizza, Chicago deep dish, Louisiana gumbo, Philly cheese steak, and I feel San Diego should be known for the rolled taco! Man there is so much to be proud of in San Diego, like summer time year round, the beach year round etc. Fam Bam on the weekend. The women, the sports on all levels, even the street history, if thats what you take pride in, cause the roots of the gang culture run deep in Dago, second to one place only, where the b's and c's originate... yall get my point.
2. The originality. There is definitely a unique sound coming out this way, and that is intrigueing to fresh ears. I remember seeing the new regions pop on the scene and processing the new accents and slang, and Dago put some new words and sayings out there.
3. Timing. Hopefully all of these circumstances happened for a reason, and the West will get some attention along with the rest of the west.
I could go on and on but I want to know what yall think.
1. San Diego rappers are not humble enough to make a statement for the masses. Most of the rappers out here are coming from the gangsta point of view, and if thats not the genre you rep, you are thought of as square and probably wont get the street support, which leads to my next point.
2. Crossover appeal is necessary. One word. Nick Cannon. He made it and never reps Dago prolly cause he dont wanna get pidgeon holed into this or that category, and his street credentials are irrelevant to what he tryin to do.
3. The San Diego scene is playing catch up. We have experiences and stories to tell, and during the time when these stories were the most shocking and interesting to america and to the world, we never had a voice.
4. We have the lil brother complex. It seem like we are in the shadow of L.A. and we are, but we seem to alienate ourselves from the major market up the road by takin a anti L.A. attitude. Also alot of people from here have low self esteem in our city and dont have the confidence that Dago would ever do any thing. Look at how many Raiders fans we have here and the attitude toward the Chargers, Padres, etc.
5. We are so goddamn divided. Man, my name aint Southeast Unite for nothin! We are divided along racial lines, then as niggas, we divided by gang politics, because as a crip, youre confined to this small area on the west side of town with no room to stretch your legs, and as a blood, you got sets that would all want nothing else than to be the illest set in Dago, even at the expense of other blood sets. The bloods have always tried to distinguish theyselves from one another from the gitgo startin with the color. Skyline is the traditional red, but Lincoln Park decided to be green, Emerald Hills and O'Farrell Park went with grey, and the 5/9 Brims can be found wearing burgundy lots of times, and also you got the distinction of Skyline and Lil Africa as piru gangs which some other bloods as well as some pirus consider a seperate faction from the blood car. Now in every town that has major gang activity, is this the status? Also, the biggest rivalry in the town is the Skyline East Side Piru-Lincoln Park Blood funk. So in a town divided by crip and blood, you get blood on blood. Then you got snitches, and the politics and some flare ups within your own set, so theres alot of division all the way around.
6. Alot of San Diego rappers cant seperate the rappin from the streets, and some cant seperate reality from rappin. When we have the opportunity to have the streets ear, we should give the people enjoyable music. I might be overlappin my points but this is from the dome fuck it. I know you cant please everybody all the time, but the music was made for people to vibe and be good for the soul. Now its like some music will literally make somebody get they head tore off, and we can do alot of good things with the music. I know that if some of these rappers would admit that unity is a good thing and gang hoo ridin is perpetual ignorance, alot of wounds could be healed. And some of these rappers try to use the mic as a propaganda machine, to try to make themselves or there area seem like the meanest, which works if thats the consensus, but can backfire if its spreading falsehoods. Also I see this more often here than anywhere else, like people hear specific turf bizness in the songs, like what set is against what, which I hardly hear in other places, and if I do, it dont register. But I dont know, we just might change the game and make it doing it that way.
7. Hustle. Man these niggas gotta go get it, yadidimean? Man listen to the pioneers and they stories of determination, it is never easy. And wit us already with a disadvantage, we cant afford to sit on our ass and wait for a miracle.
Why I think Dago can blow.
1. Dago has a story. The Dago story is a good history lesson for the world to hear. I mean Dago is full of migrants who come for different reasons, but there is culture in the town. New York is known for pan pizza, Chicago deep dish, Louisiana gumbo, Philly cheese steak, and I feel San Diego should be known for the rolled taco! Man there is so much to be proud of in San Diego, like summer time year round, the beach year round etc. Fam Bam on the weekend. The women, the sports on all levels, even the street history, if thats what you take pride in, cause the roots of the gang culture run deep in Dago, second to one place only, where the b's and c's originate... yall get my point.
2. The originality. There is definitely a unique sound coming out this way, and that is intrigueing to fresh ears. I remember seeing the new regions pop on the scene and processing the new accents and slang, and Dago put some new words and sayings out there.
3. Timing. Hopefully all of these circumstances happened for a reason, and the West will get some attention along with the rest of the west.
I could go on and on but I want to know what yall think.
