“I’m about to double up I mean triple up / Watch a pimp get his bitches up / Two teardrops that’s a double-homi / But ever nigga with ‘em ain’t really catch a body.”
–Tony Yayo “Tattoo”
Another week, another dumb ass rapper tattoo. This week’s fuckery comes courtesy of Yung LA. Readers often say they want more positive news. Yet when we cover a rapper donating to a good cause or speaking on politically relevant events, those stories get less than one fourth of the views your typical Gucci Mane ignorance does. You say you want substance. We don’t believe you, you need more people. And it’s not just here either. You can look at the charts and watch the same thing happen.
The Top 10 Hip Hop/R&B Songs In The Country, Based On Radio Play And Sales:
1. Nicki Minaj “Moment For Life”
2. Lil Wayne f. Cory Gunz “6 Foot 7 Foot”
3. Jamie Foxx f. Drake “Fall For Your Type”
4. Trey Songz “Love Faces”
5. Keri Hilson “Pretty Girl Rock”
6. Chris Brown “No Bullshit”
7. Trey Songz “Can’t Be Friends”
8. Rihanna f. Drake “What’s My Name”
9. Waka Flocka Flame f. Wale & Roscoe Dash “No Hands”
10. Rick Ross f. Drake & Chrisette Michele “Aston Martin Music”
For the life of me, I can’t seem to find all of the positive songs. And now back to Yung LA, because for a story so damned ignorant, this had a lot of layers.
LA Ink
First, Atlanta has clearly undergone a transformation from the days of Freaknik. Through a rather myopic, Hip Hop view of the ATL, many of us outsiders only see a lot of snapping, trapping and bouncing. But the Soulja Boy, Travis Porter, Yung LA crowd isn’t just a blip on the radar. Atlanta has been eclectic. Andre 3000 and Big Boi were dressing weird as hell back in high school. They’re current looks are actually tame compared to how they looked back in the days. And the same can be said for Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse. Do the Dungeon Family members put better lyrics behind their weird costumes? Yes. While none of the young artists above have shown any real staying power, they all individually represent a growing contingent of fans interested in various, eccentric sub-genres of Hip Hop. We may not like them, and we may not like what they represent. But they support their favorite artists through legal music purchases and buying tickets to their shows. That’s a lot more than you can say for our generation right now.
Second, the pink duck in question is actually the logo for Duct Tape Entertainment. I’m not going to pretend to know the whole back-story nor waste time figuring it out. Yung LA’s a grown man with a damn duck on his face! There’s really no questioning the fact that LA’s ink looks exactly like the Duct Tape Entertainment logo. The only problem is that LA apparently isn’t part of Duct Tape Entertainment, which makes this even more of a fail. Even if LA, Alley Boy and the rest of Duct Tape were as tight as Lil Wayne and Birdman, this would be a bad look.
Third, after we all stopped laughing at LA, there’s the issue of this man possibly needing some serious psychological help. Any decent tattoo artist will tell you drinking and inking don’t go together. Aside from the questionable judgment that comes with walking into a tattoo parlor shitfaced, alcohol thins the blood, which can lead to premature fading of your tattoo. Yung LA should only hope he’s lucky enough to have that tattoo fade. This issue is even worse because LA was drinking what appears to be lean. So at some point, dude will emerge from his codeine-induced haze only to realize he got a logo of a label he’s not signed to on his face for life. This incident could easily be a cry for help. When was the last time you heard a story about a rapper and codeine that had a happy ending? Pimp C and DJ Screw are most likely dead because of their use of lean. A mix of lean and a few other choice drugs landed T.I. back in prison. Last year, even Z-Ro caught a felony drug possession charge for his love of the purple stuff.
Tattoo You
Finally, In a context much larger than LA, this also points out the issue of how so many rappers and their young fans are influenced by prison culture. Be it getting teardrops tattooed on their faces, cornrows or sagging pants. By all accounts, Yung LA is from the suburbs–Thomasville, Georgia to be exact. There hasn’t been a murder in Thomasville since 2001, so I’m going to go out on a limb and assume young Leland hasn’t had to kill anyone on the mean streets of Thomasville, thus requiring his teardrop tattoos. I was born in Flint, Michigan. And there’s really no need to scream “I’m from the hood,” when the 35 homicides in 2010 (seventh highest in the nation) and the fact that 26.4% of the population is living below the poverty line say it better than I ever could. But just about anyone with the slightest bit of common sense from a similar environment weren’t trying to emulate prison inmates and/or Lil Wayne, as Yung LA can be seen doing prior to getting his ink. We were trying to better ourselves or get the fuck out of that negative environment. So when I see someone who had a single in the top 50 wearing Brian Pumper jewels and putting a duck tattoo on his face while drinking lean, I can’t help but wonder why he would throw away a perfectly good opportunity to never have to live in the hood.
Man I feel you but you can’t tell these young niggas nothing, they know it all already…BUNCH OF SMART/DUMB NIGGAS RUNNIN’ AROUND HERE if you ask me!
Even Dunwoody, my whitewashed suburb, has had a murder in the last year…Thomasville…..wow.
Don’t know y’all *kanyeshrug*
a lot of these niggaz are from the burbs. meaningless tattoos the bigger picture is don’t support this wack shit.
thomasville aint the burbs. its a neighborhood in the city of atlanta. similar to how bankhead is. ur confusing it with thomasville in southern ga
Just like Kirkwood, Adamsville, Ben Hill, Pittsburgh or Cabbage Town… To name a few. My face card 100… Ha.
exactly
I’m done with this sh*t. Rap. Hip-Hop. Mainstream music as a WHOLE – I’m DONE with it. Sh*t makes ABSOLUTELY no sense anymore. When will the masses WAKE UP?! When will we go back to the essence and elements of Hip-Hop? When it’s too late? F*ck this guy, f*ck mainstream record labels, f*ck the powers at be who continue to showcase us as the same jiggaboos who danced and sang for them back in the day – f*ck all of that…thank god I produce my own music otherwise I would’ve shot myself in the head by now.
amen brother
“Yet when we cover a rapper donating to a good cause or speaking on politically relevant events, those stories get less than one fourth of the views your typical Gucci Mane ignorance does.”
..where did they get you from Omar?you got flow!good article….
Preach brother, PREACH. I’m so tired of these ignorant, irresponsible and sadly uneducated rappers setting a horrible example for kids who listen to rap music. I blame the parents as well but the rapper themselves carry a much bigger portion of the blame because they influence and touch so many lives at any given time. I’m glad I got good enough sense to not follow behind every dumb azz rapper who says something negative or illegal is cool (like you said, that they probably never even did), thank my Moms for that one. Anyway good read I enjoyed it and am proud that there are similar thinkers out there… big ups..
Fuck nigga need to kill hiself. And who the fuck took the time to read some long-winded article on this debacle of life!? Die nigga, die.
4 niggaz that can read.
well how bout you go take a stroll through Thomasville, Georgia! dis dat live fast,die young mentality
no murders since 2002. yeah really dying young, huh.
yo that top 10 list is 95% wack
aston martin music is the only song on there i could listen to all the way thru
im not even a rick ross fan but he has the best song of the 10
I’m from the burbs and never would I say that I wanted to be from the ghetto. Dudes are ridiculous. Half the people saying their from the “hood” aren’t just as the article says for this dumb shit. I have never bumped radio in my whip ONCE. Radio is complete trash and so are all these artists.
Oh Yeah, Old School Hip Hop 4 life.
great article! i hope to see more from this writer.
At first I wasn’t feeling this. But then it got better after each point proven. Great article. What you said about getting out the hood and actually hitting the charts is a problem in the Hip-Hop community. Alot of rappers just seem to be wanting to get caught up in a hustle or wake up with a random ass tattoo on their face. Lol.
this is a great point man. the problem is that dudes that come from the hood/rougher parts of the country that do make it onto the charts get stuck between a rock and a hard place right quick. Their labels and some of their fans want them to look and feel like they’re still in the hood so they feel this need to continue to act like they’re there so they do this dumbass stuff like fake tear drop tattys. Its a shame.
Very well written and I can honestly say that i feel Omar Burgess on this article. There’s a whole lot of bullshit that society’s trying to feed us. the REAl people can differenciate the nonsence, but I’m one to admit that I never thought I’d ever see Hip Hop dwindle to the level that it is in now. The total lack of respect for the culture, the lack of respect for the history, and the over-whelming love for the dollar has these new niggas tricking worst than whores. If I had a dollar for every time I hear a rapper say, “I’m just getting that paper” I’d be a millionaire by now. These dudes dont have ANY love Hip Hop music, but rather love the perks that come with being involved w/the music.
When I talk to these youngins, I TRY to make them understand the importance of EMBRASING the culture and being one with it. There are aspects of Hip Hop that are dying, like when was the last time you heard a Dj scrathcing on any rappers album that wasn’t from the East? Again I’m not down with the region bashing, but there are some facts that somehow always seem to remain. I pray for our culture, and pray that the ignorance will deminish sooner than later. Sorry for the sermon, but I’m really feeling this article…..
Stop! Thomasville is a public housing community on the south east side of Atlanta aka Zone 3. It is not the suburbs and like all other pj’s in the “A” it was torn down so it no longer exist. You are correct about the rest of your article but you may want to do a better research job in the future. By the way, I’m from the “A”, Zone 6 to be exact. There is a thomasville in south Georgia not to far from florida and that may be what your murder rate number come from. Thomasville the project off moreland ave is far from a soft place. It was one of the rougher areas of Atlanta. This does not justify young La though process though. Again, im from East Atlanta and both Gucci and LA are some fools.
East Atlanta Zone 6 to Decatur
Well said my fellow Atlien. Omar Burgess is a horrible writer. He needs to do better research and check his sources before ever writing again in his life. Burgess comes as another misinformed elitest nigga from up north.
So, he’s still a wack corporate cookiecutter mc. If you can him an mc. Flows like constipation like 80% of the shit coming out the south in the last years. And yes I’m from Hattiesburg,MS. so don’t get it twisted thinking it’s just some yankee shit on the south. If you kept it with the real ATLiens, hip hop wouldn’t be in this mess. Nah but you wanna follow these flossin show and tell nan nutta niggaz. they all show no substance or real talent other than gettin over stage fright.
And all you little fuck clowns nowadays with your metrosexual homo mohawk wearing skinny jeans looking like your young crew has man orgies instead of keeping it true to yourself and somewhat masculine make me laugh…daily!haha!…you wonder why us true hip hop heads from the nineties still bump our shit is cuz you are NEVER bringing anything new and fresh to the limelight.I would punch this fruitcake just for having that faggotass tat on his face,smack his face with a Smif n Wessun cd/Alkaholiks cd and tell him to man up fool!…fuck yall gayass little buttboys nowadays with everyone homo-thugging way too much like it’s cool.peace
co-sign^…them lil skinny muthafuckas be thinking they tuff as hell too, lil hoe ass niggas…man i swear i would punch the shit out this lil nigga in the chest so hard that his shoulders will touch.
single best article i have ever read on hiphopdx
This is the golden era for the fake, ignorant , and shameless. It seems like niggaz are standing in line waiting for their chance to embrace negative stereotypes.
I couldn’t agree more.
35 homicides a years and your from the hood? nigga i’m from Venezuela where 35 murders are seen every weekend, so you know shit about steetslife, even the whitest boy in a city can school all u nigga hood wanna be
DEFINITION OF A DUMBFUCK.
HE AINT BRAGGING, HE’S STATING THAT IT DOESNT MATTER HOW MANY PEOPLE DIE AROUND YOU, JUST CAUSE YOU WALK OUT YOUR DOOR IN THE HOOD OR WHERE EVER YOU SHOULDNT CARRY A MURDER STATISTIC AS A FUCKING NECKLACE YOU SHITFUCK
TAYLOR GANG BITCHHH
its not a competition you fucking monkey. God damn ingrate.
give this dude omar a raise. or a more prominent role on the site. Instead of just covering the story and moving on to the next one he penetrated deeper into the issue, and I have a lot of love for that. Good article
second
this article is filled with played out arguments and an obvious bias against people doing what they want, even if it isn’t “traditional.” Who gives a shit if this guy as a tattoo on his face or any other part of his body? I honestly don’t understand why the Hip Hop community is in a state of shock over body art lol.
Why does stupid shit like this end up to be some pseudo-philosophical study on society? lol these are the real questions that need to be answered..
this is a super well written article especially the intro about people bitching about wanting substance.
sick article man, a great read
Wow. You’ll believe anything. SMFH.
Enjoyed the article. What it comes down to is that 90% of hiphop fans are ignorant, and only 10% have a clue. Everytime I say Waka Flocka is garbage, there’s 9 idiots that say he’s great and that I’m just a hater. And that Top 10 song list is the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever seen.
if ur embarassed by the list, then people like you and all other “real hip hop fans” need to stop boot leggin music and actually buy it. Just sayin….
^real talk.
You’re absolutely right. I download almost all my music. However, I’ve been 2 shows already in 2011, and last year I went to 8 shows. And the only people that don’t think that list of songs is garbage are 18 and under. I can remember when a hiphop chart might consist of DMX, Jay-z, Ludacris, Nelly, Outkast, Eminem, Snoop, Busta. I realize these artists are past their prime, but they had talent at some point. Drake, Nikki, Waka, I mean come on, you have to know that that shit is trash.
Young Leland clearly has some problems, but let me clear something up. First of all, there’s a lot of talk on here about DX’s journalistic integrity. I’ve been reading this site for over 8 years now, and sometimes I wish y’all muhfuckas would just Google some shit before you write it. LA is from Thomasville PROJECTS in SE Atlanta, far from Thomasville, GA, aka Redneckville, USA, which is closer to where I grew up.
Secondly, that lean is a motherfucker, man.
LA is a good dude. I wish him much luck in the future……and a smooth and speedy tattoo removal process.
Omar Burgess you’re a horrible writer and have no credibility. Yes I’m calling you out. You don’t know about Atl at all. Thomasville isn’t a surburb of Atl. It’s the projects located in zone 3. Also Yung LA shout Leland valley. That’s the hood also. As a native of Atl I’m embarrassed that coons like Yung LA rep the city. That’s just stereotypes. Next Omar do better research and check your sources. An educated person would know their facts before writing an article.
I guess the writer of this knows nothing about Atlanta, because Thomasville, which was torn down not to long ago is or was far from the suburbs. That was one of the many violent, drug flooded housing projects in Atlanta, which have all been torn down now with the exception of I think old forth ward, there reforming the inner city so that all the white folks and blacks with money can move back in close to down and mid town. Any how the writer must have mistakenly Googled Thomasville, Ga which is the country; way down close to Florida in south Georgia, where hiesman trophy winner, ex New York Knick Charlie Ward is from. L A is from Thomasville Projects in South East Atlanta in Zone 3. For those that doesn’t know what zones are, here in Atlanta the police department break down the city into 6 jurisdictions. Zone 1 is north west Atlanta- Bankhead, simpson rd., vine city, the bluff, and where the AU center is located, reped by Ti, Shawty Lo, Kilo Ali etc. Zone 2 is North Atlanta you probally will never hear out of a rappers mouth because that’s the rich area- buckhead, midtown, where all the fags and real housewives are. Zone 3 southeast atlanta- summer hill, mechancisville, Pittsburgh, thomasville, 4 seasons and many more, reped by La, young dro, big gee, etc. Zone 4 is south west Atlanta bordered on the south by metro cities east point and college park, known as the S.w.a.t.s put on the map by outlast, goodie mob, and the rest of the dungeon family, also repped by rocko, yung joc, and Polow the Don who’s record label is titled Zone 4 Inc. Zone 5 is probally the most historic of them all being that is home of Martin Luther King Jr., ebenezer Baptist church, the royal peacock, auburn Ave. The neighborhood will mostly be called 4th Ward or sweet auburn. repped by young jeezy, slick pulla. And Zone 6 is east Atlanta border on the east by Decatur- edge wood, and Kirkwood is repped by Gucci mane, youngbloodz, b.o.b, OJ juice man, and ghetto mafia.
please watch this video, funniest shit ever….http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLgrViqYAlk
Dis nigga done typed a whole essay
Nigga pls..keep it short, when u make a comment that long no body cares to read.We aint in university over here, its just a bloody web site!!!!
nice post man, thanks for the insight on rap-culture in ATL
thanks a lot for the information…some of us care to know about places other than where we’re from..dont let retarded people dictate what you write…
please watch this video, funniest shit ever, Rap Battler Cries…..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLgrViqYAlk
(since everyone else is having fun picking the author apart) Cornrows come from West Africa, not the hood or prison. If you’re black and think braids are a sign of someone being ghetto, you should learn your history and stop being scared to question American (white) cultural standards.
One African-American president doesn’t erase racism