1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:21,079 Speaker 1: Disgraceland as a production of Double Elvis. The stories about 2 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:25,439 Speaker 1: the Wu Tang Clans the Riza are insane. At the 3 00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:28,800 Speaker 1: age of nine, he was hanging around junkies and dealers, 4 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:32,879 Speaker 1: perverts and sex workers in Times Square, and by his 5 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:36,199 Speaker 1: teens he was selling diamondbags of weed to day traders 6 00:00:36,240 --> 00:00:39,840 Speaker 1: on Wall Street. His first shot at a music career. 7 00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:43,680 Speaker 1: It backfired, plunged him back into a cycle of poverty 8 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:47,080 Speaker 1: and violence that he was so desperately trying to escape. 9 00:00:47,880 --> 00:00:50,720 Speaker 1: He sold harder drugs in Ohio, where he was involved 10 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:53,320 Speaker 1: in a Christmas Eve shooting that landed him in a 11 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:57,520 Speaker 1: fight for his life. And this all happened before The 12 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:01,880 Speaker 1: Riza made great music, some of the most definitive hip 13 00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:05,480 Speaker 1: hop music of all time as mastermind of the groundbreaking 14 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:08,959 Speaker 1: Wu Tang Clan. Unlike that music I played for you 15 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:12,160 Speaker 1: at the top of the show. That wasn't great music. 16 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:16,640 Speaker 1: That was a preset loop for my melotron called Jackie's 17 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:22,000 Speaker 1: Beach Party MK. One. I played you that clip because 18 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:24,600 Speaker 1: I can't afford the rights to Black or White by 19 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:28,320 Speaker 1: Michael Jackson. And why would I play you that specific 20 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:32,760 Speaker 1: slice of chemon cheese? Could I afford it? Because that 21 00:01:33,319 --> 00:01:36,840 Speaker 1: was the number one song in America on December twenty fourth, 22 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:39,959 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety one, and that was the day that the 23 00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:44,760 Speaker 1: Rizza was arrested and charged with attempted murder. On this 24 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:50,760 Speaker 1: episode Dimebags Party, hard drugs, a Christmas Eve shooting, an 25 00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:55,480 Speaker 1: attempted murder, and Wu Tang clans the Rizza. I'm Jake 26 00:01:55,560 --> 00:02:30,960 Speaker 1: Brennan and this is disgrace. Slamm. The glue Sniffer stood there, drooling. 27 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:37,080 Speaker 1: His speech was slurred, eyes half closed. It's a pathetic bastard. 28 00:02:37,639 --> 00:02:41,840 Speaker 1: Harmless though, but he was important, important to nine year 29 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:45,320 Speaker 1: old Bobby Diggs, the boy the world would later know 30 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:50,280 Speaker 1: as the Rizza, and the Young Rizza aka Young Bobby 31 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:54,320 Speaker 1: here was equally important to the glue Sniffer. The glue 32 00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:57,800 Speaker 1: Sniffer was older, so he could buy Bobby a ticket 33 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:00,280 Speaker 1: for the R rated movie that Bobby wanted to see, 34 00:03:00,919 --> 00:03:04,000 Speaker 1: and to reciprocate. In addition to the dollar fifty it 35 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:07,280 Speaker 1: costs for a ticket, Bobby handed over an extra buck 36 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:10,960 Speaker 1: to fund the glue Sniffer's junkie lifestyle. It was a 37 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:15,840 Speaker 1: win win, but still two fifty two dollars and fifty 38 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:18,880 Speaker 1: cents didn't come easy. You ask your mom a stupid 39 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:21,120 Speaker 1: question like hey ma, you got twenty five cents, and 40 00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:23,679 Speaker 1: you get the same answer every time. Well, I don't 41 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:26,560 Speaker 1: even have good sense. So it was a big deal 42 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:28,120 Speaker 1: for a nine year old to put a couple of 43 00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:30,120 Speaker 1: bucks in the hands of a junkie and Times Square 44 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:33,560 Speaker 1: and trust that he'd returned with a movie ticket. Bobby 45 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:36,480 Speaker 1: hustled to raise that kind of toe, delivering papers and 46 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:39,760 Speaker 1: shoveling snow. He was relieved to see the glue sniffers 47 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:42,760 Speaker 1: stumble back and hand over the ticket, and then the 48 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:46,440 Speaker 1: pathetic bastard hobbled off to get what he wanted heroin, 49 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:50,800 Speaker 1: which here in Times Square and nineteen seventy eight was 50 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:55,600 Speaker 1: easy to find. In nineteen seventy eight, New York City's 51 00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:58,840 Speaker 1: Times Square had what you wanted, especially if what you 52 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:03,120 Speaker 1: wanted was filthy and depraved peep shows, live nude girls, 53 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:05,760 Speaker 1: porn movies twenty four to seven. And it was more 54 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:08,320 Speaker 1: than just perverts. It was also junkies, like I said, 55 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:11,000 Speaker 1: nodding off in dope, dust and coke, all just a 56 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:14,240 Speaker 1: handshake away. It was stick up men, their pistols pressed 57 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:16,400 Speaker 1: it to your waist, Give me everything he got, young 58 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:19,320 Speaker 1: blood and the sex workers. They got all your money too, 59 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:23,800 Speaker 1: they just took it with honey instead of piss. But 60 00:04:23,920 --> 00:04:26,880 Speaker 1: Bobby Diggs didn't want any of that. He didn't want 61 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:28,719 Speaker 1: to get off, and he didn't want to get high, 62 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:32,080 Speaker 1: at least not for now. Fuck triple X. He wanted 63 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:36,040 Speaker 1: a triple feature of Kung fu movies. As soon as 64 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:38,600 Speaker 1: Bobby stepped off West forty second Street took a seat 65 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:41,839 Speaker 1: inside the Deuce, one of Times Square's grimy movie theaters, 66 00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:46,719 Speaker 1: he was transported. The projector came to life, and the 67 00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:49,479 Speaker 1: title cards hit the big screen. The Fury of the 68 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:53,160 Speaker 1: drag Master of the Flying Five, Death kind of Shaw 69 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:58,599 Speaker 1: VERSUSO Tang personally Gordon Bleu, the Brother's Law, the choreographed flights, 70 00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:03,400 Speaker 1: the costumes, their dialogue, and the cover the Sabarai. The 71 00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:08,080 Speaker 1: films were fantastical, mythical. Even the all day experience took 72 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:11,719 Speaker 1: Bobby to another world, in another universe, so far away 73 00:05:11,839 --> 00:05:14,479 Speaker 1: that for a couple of hours he could forget about 74 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:20,800 Speaker 1: the outside world. Like the projects. In Brooklyn's Brownsville neighborhood, Bobby, 75 00:05:20,920 --> 00:05:23,960 Speaker 1: his mother, and his siblings crammed into a small apartment, 76 00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:28,440 Speaker 1: four brothers sharing two twin beds in the same clothes. Yo, 77 00:05:28,520 --> 00:05:30,400 Speaker 1: do you wear those pants yesterday? And they better not 78 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:32,320 Speaker 1: to smell like in nuts because I'm wearing them today. 79 00:05:32,839 --> 00:05:35,360 Speaker 1: And outside on the streets, you had a plan three 80 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:38,839 Speaker 1: steps ahead. Brownsville was the kind of place where dudes 81 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:41,560 Speaker 1: jumped you just for standing in the wrong spot, and 82 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:43,560 Speaker 1: if you were caught with some change in your pockets 83 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:46,760 Speaker 1: or nice kicks on your feet, kissed that shit could buy. 84 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:50,280 Speaker 1: When Bobby's mom fell behind on rent and they were evicted, 85 00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:54,560 Speaker 1: that was actually a blessing in disguise, because that's how 86 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:58,919 Speaker 1: Bobby's family ended up in Staten Island. Staten Island was 87 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:03,320 Speaker 1: different from Brooklyn, less hostile turf to navigate. Bobby's odd 88 00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:06,400 Speaker 1: jobs brought in some cash enough to ditch school each 89 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:08,320 Speaker 1: week and go to Times Square and watch a new 90 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:11,799 Speaker 1: Kung Fu movie. In a four years span alone, Bobby 91 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:14,520 Speaker 1: must have seen two hundred of them. He also bought 92 00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:17,640 Speaker 1: a pair of Technics turntables and then a microphone and 93 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:21,480 Speaker 1: a cheap drum machine. Hip hop was the pulse of 94 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:23,839 Speaker 1: New York at the time, at least it was to 95 00:06:23,839 --> 00:06:27,200 Speaker 1: Bobby and his cousins Russell and Gary. Didn't matter if 96 00:06:27,279 --> 00:06:30,520 Speaker 1: hip hop began in the South Bronx. Now it permeated 97 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:33,720 Speaker 1: every borrow, from block parties on the street to Mister 98 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:37,320 Speaker 1: Magic's Rap Attack radio show on the air, Grandmaster Flash 99 00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:39,960 Speaker 1: and the Furious five Busy b Dougie Fresh Cool mo 100 00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:43,560 Speaker 1: d e pm D. Bobby, along with Russell and Gary, 101 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:47,600 Speaker 1: formed their own rap trio as teenagers all in together 102 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:50,159 Speaker 1: Now they called themselves when they dreamed of hitting the 103 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:52,920 Speaker 1: big time and leaving life in the projects in the dust. 104 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:56,480 Speaker 1: But there was no money in dreams. The money was 105 00:06:56,520 --> 00:07:01,360 Speaker 1: in reality. The reality was the streets. The streets had 106 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:05,840 Speaker 1: a lure because the streets had dollars, more dollars than 107 00:07:05,880 --> 00:07:08,320 Speaker 1: you could make pushing a fucking shovel up a driveway 108 00:07:08,320 --> 00:07:10,280 Speaker 1: in the snow. And once he made a little bit 109 00:07:10,320 --> 00:07:12,920 Speaker 1: of that money and saw what it got you, he 110 00:07:13,040 --> 00:07:18,480 Speaker 1: only wanted more. From where he sat in Zakody Park, 111 00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:22,160 Speaker 1: he could see the yuppie coming and that uptight ass 112 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:25,800 Speaker 1: clenched power Walk product in his hair and pleats in 113 00:07:25,840 --> 00:07:29,240 Speaker 1: his pants. The New York Times Stock Exchange didn't break 114 00:07:29,280 --> 00:07:33,520 Speaker 1: for lunch, but around noon on weekdays, floor traders spilled 115 00:07:33,560 --> 00:07:37,000 Speaker 1: out onto the street. They needed fresh air, and they 116 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:39,520 Speaker 1: needed a break from shouting at the big board, and 117 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:43,240 Speaker 1: they needed something to chill him the fuck out weed. 118 00:07:44,280 --> 00:07:46,800 Speaker 1: Bobby had what they were looking for. They didn't care 119 00:07:46,840 --> 00:07:49,200 Speaker 1: that he was a teenager. For Bobby, it was easy 120 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:51,480 Speaker 1: money and it sure beat getting up at the ass 121 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:54,680 Speaker 1: crack of dawn to deliver papers. And the yuppi slipped 122 00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:57,520 Speaker 1: you a bill, and you handed him the dimebag bill, 123 00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:02,680 Speaker 1: dinbag bill, dinbag bill. Dineback, and Bobby did it so 124 00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:05,280 Speaker 1: many times that it became rope. But he got a 125 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:08,920 Speaker 1: little too comfortable. Unlike the game of chess unfolding on 126 00:08:08,960 --> 00:08:11,440 Speaker 1: the table in front of him in the park, Bobby 127 00:08:11,440 --> 00:08:15,760 Speaker 1: didn't plan three steps ahead. Blue lights, sirens, NYPD swarm 128 00:08:15,800 --> 00:08:18,760 Speaker 1: in the park with guns drawn, cold steel snapped tight 129 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:23,800 Speaker 1: around Bobby's wrists, arrested, thrown in a holding cell for 130 00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:29,000 Speaker 1: selling weed, but fortunately let go after a day or two. Unfortunately, however, 131 00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:32,840 Speaker 1: the whole incident wound up on Bobby's permanent record. But 132 00:08:32,880 --> 00:08:36,920 Speaker 1: Bobby was busy thinking of other records, hip hop records. 133 00:08:37,160 --> 00:08:40,320 Speaker 1: With his turntables and some borrowed gear, namely a four 134 00:08:40,400 --> 00:08:43,079 Speaker 1: track recorder and a roll in nine h nine drum machine, 135 00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:46,680 Speaker 1: Bobby assembled a makeshift studio in his apartment, and next 136 00:08:46,679 --> 00:08:51,080 Speaker 1: to kung fu, making music was Bobby's obsession. He was 137 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:55,120 Speaker 1: also thinking about surviving and providing. In nineteen eighty eight, 138 00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:58,600 Speaker 1: when Bobby was nineteen, his mother left New York for 139 00:08:58,679 --> 00:09:01,640 Speaker 1: Ohio with most of his siblings, leaving Bobby behind to 140 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:03,920 Speaker 1: take care of his little brother in the family apartment. 141 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:08,480 Speaker 1: Bobby's dimebag hustle wasn't always enough, so they stole food 142 00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:11,599 Speaker 1: from convenience stores. They got bye on ramen, and we 143 00:09:12,480 --> 00:09:14,920 Speaker 1: there had to be a better way. Maybe it wasn't 144 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:18,200 Speaker 1: a question of dreams versus reality. Maybe it was as 145 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:22,920 Speaker 1: simple ast changing your reality, willing something new into existence, 146 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:26,160 Speaker 1: like the feeling Bobby gut when he stepped inside the 147 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:30,480 Speaker 1: deuce and was transported to another place entirely. Maybe he 148 00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:34,360 Speaker 1: could do that with music. He started by creating a 149 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:38,760 Speaker 1: new persona for his musical pursuits, called himself Prince Rakim. 150 00:09:39,360 --> 00:09:41,960 Speaker 1: The guys he was making music with followed suit. His 151 00:09:42,040 --> 00:09:46,080 Speaker 1: Staten Island friend Dennis Cole became Ghostface Killer, named after 152 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:48,720 Speaker 1: a character in one of Bobby's beloved Kung Fu movies. 153 00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:52,240 Speaker 1: Kung Fu also inspired the name of one of Bobby's 154 00:09:52,280 --> 00:09:56,360 Speaker 1: cousins Russell Jones, who now went by Old Dirty Bastard. 155 00:09:56,880 --> 00:10:00,880 Speaker 1: But it was Bobby's other cousin, Gary Grise, a formidable 156 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:04,120 Speaker 1: threat on the mic who called himself the Genius and 157 00:10:04,120 --> 00:10:07,640 Speaker 1: who would later become the Jizza, who got Bobby thinking 158 00:10:07,679 --> 00:10:12,439 Speaker 1: about something else. Numbers, not the number of dimebags he 159 00:10:12,559 --> 00:10:15,040 Speaker 1: sold that week, and not the number of dollars he 160 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:21,200 Speaker 1: owed and rent. Supreme numbers as in supreme mathematics. A 161 00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:25,880 Speaker 1: principle of the five Percent Nation aka the Nation of 162 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:30,520 Speaker 1: Gods and Earths, an offshoot of Islam that empowered and 163 00:10:30,679 --> 00:10:34,880 Speaker 1: inspired hip hop culture in the nineteen eighties. The five 164 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:38,800 Speaker 1: Percent Nation believes that black people are the original people 165 00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:42,920 Speaker 1: on planet Earth, black men being gods and black women 166 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:47,160 Speaker 1: being queens. They also believe that only ten percent of 167 00:10:47,160 --> 00:10:49,679 Speaker 1: the people in the world know this, but that they 168 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:52,800 Speaker 1: deliberately withhold that knowledge from eighty five percent of the 169 00:10:52,840 --> 00:10:57,240 Speaker 1: world in order to wield dominance the remaining five percent. 170 00:10:57,640 --> 00:11:00,400 Speaker 1: The five percent Nation are the ones you know the 171 00:11:00,440 --> 00:11:03,120 Speaker 1: whole truth and are determined to spread the word to 172 00:11:03,160 --> 00:11:07,440 Speaker 1: everyone else. Gary was a five percenter. Gary was one 173 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:10,440 Speaker 1: of the smartest dudes Bobby knew, so Bobby became a 174 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:15,600 Speaker 1: five percenter too, and a believer in supreme mathematics. The 175 00:11:15,679 --> 00:11:19,400 Speaker 1: numbers helped you understand how humanity in the universe are connected. 176 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:25,120 Speaker 1: Each number had meaning. For example, the first number, the 177 00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:30,040 Speaker 1: number one, is knowledge. You get to look, listen, assess 178 00:11:30,120 --> 00:11:33,559 Speaker 1: the situation. And this was not new to Bobby. He'd 179 00:11:33,600 --> 00:11:36,679 Speaker 1: been doing the knowledge, as they said, for years, all 180 00:11:36,679 --> 00:11:38,640 Speaker 1: the way back to his Brownsville days when he had 181 00:11:38,679 --> 00:11:42,320 Speaker 1: to calculate every step he took. He also recognized that 182 00:11:42,400 --> 00:11:45,760 Speaker 1: sometimes he didn't do the knowledge, like in Ziccote Park 183 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:48,600 Speaker 1: when the cops came down on his weed hustle. And 184 00:11:48,679 --> 00:11:51,920 Speaker 1: what did Bobby Diggs know now? That he wanted not 185 00:11:51,960 --> 00:11:55,560 Speaker 1: only to survive, but to thrive, to get above the 186 00:11:55,600 --> 00:11:58,559 Speaker 1: bullshit going down on the streets, to make hip hop 187 00:11:58,640 --> 00:12:02,880 Speaker 1: music not just a dream but a reality. Bobby believed 188 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:05,680 Speaker 1: in himself, and if he believed in himself and believed 189 00:12:05,679 --> 00:12:08,520 Speaker 1: in the power of the five percent nation, he was 190 00:12:08,600 --> 00:12:12,120 Speaker 1: confident that he could realize his goals. He just wasn't 191 00:12:12,160 --> 00:12:36,000 Speaker 1: sure if the streets would actually let him go. Nineteen 192 00:12:36,080 --> 00:12:39,800 Speaker 1: ninety one was a landmark year for hip hop. A 193 00:12:39,880 --> 00:12:43,400 Speaker 1: tribe called Quest released The Low End theory, Public Enemy 194 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:47,360 Speaker 1: Drop Apocalypse ninety one, The Enemy Strikes Black, and Dela 195 00:12:47,440 --> 00:12:51,000 Speaker 1: Soul beat the sophomore slump with their brilliant Dela Souls Dead. 196 00:12:51,880 --> 00:12:54,360 Speaker 1: It was also the year then NWA became the first 197 00:12:54,480 --> 00:12:56,400 Speaker 1: rap group to hit the number one spot with an 198 00:12:56,440 --> 00:12:59,680 Speaker 1: album on the Billboard two hundred who. One month after 199 00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:04,160 Speaker 1: Enda made history in July nineteen ninety one, Bobby Diggs 200 00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:07,840 Speaker 1: or should I say Prince Rakim released his debut single 201 00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:11,400 Speaker 1: on Tommy Boy Records, the same label that Dla Soul 202 00:13:11,480 --> 00:13:15,200 Speaker 1: was signed to. But that single, Ooh I Love You RAKKINI, 203 00:13:15,679 --> 00:13:19,440 Speaker 1: a clunky boast of sexual conquests over a Stax record sample, 204 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:23,760 Speaker 1: had little in common with Dela. In fact, it had 205 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:26,040 Speaker 1: more in common with some of ninety one's other major 206 00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:28,800 Speaker 1: hip hop stars, such as Tone Loak and MC Hammer, 207 00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:32,199 Speaker 1: who the hip hop had saw as wrap pop hybrids 208 00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:36,240 Speaker 1: that lacked authenticity. That was the problem with Ooh I 209 00:13:36,240 --> 00:13:40,400 Speaker 1: Love You Rakim. It wasn't authentic. It was the product 210 00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:43,080 Speaker 1: of years of hard work on Bobby's part, a dedication 211 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:45,439 Speaker 1: to his craft as a beat maker, a songwriter, and 212 00:13:45,480 --> 00:13:48,640 Speaker 1: an MC. His ability to network and connect with the 213 00:13:48,679 --> 00:13:50,760 Speaker 1: right people in the right place at the right time, 214 00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:53,760 Speaker 1: and his hustle, a hustle that he had learned on 215 00:13:53,800 --> 00:13:56,520 Speaker 1: the streets and was now applying to the music industry. 216 00:13:57,160 --> 00:14:00,840 Speaker 1: But the hustle failed, and it wasn't entirely Bobby's fault. 217 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:04,120 Speaker 1: Tommy Boy Records passed on the songs that reflected Bobby's 218 00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:07,559 Speaker 1: gritty reality and instead went for the novelty track. They 219 00:14:07,559 --> 00:14:09,760 Speaker 1: put him in a top hat in tails in the 220 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:12,839 Speaker 1: music video, and they tried to make Bobby something he wasn't, 221 00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:17,040 Speaker 1: and the whole thing bombed. The single, the video in 222 00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:22,280 Speaker 1: Bobby's buddy music career. Now Bobby was right back where 223 00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:26,200 Speaker 1: we started. No record deal, no prospects in the music industry, 224 00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:31,760 Speaker 1: no prospects period, and he needed money bad. So Bobby 225 00:14:31,800 --> 00:14:33,760 Speaker 1: had no choice but to go back to the only 226 00:14:33,800 --> 00:14:37,720 Speaker 1: other thing he knew, hustling drugs on the streets. But 227 00:14:37,840 --> 00:14:41,200 Speaker 1: the streets had changed. A group of ruthless drug dealers 228 00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:44,360 Speaker 1: from Brooklyn had set up shop in Staten Island's Park Hill, 229 00:14:44,880 --> 00:14:47,920 Speaker 1: and they weren't selling dimebags of weed. They were moving 230 00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:51,320 Speaker 1: a shit ton of crack cocaine, which was currently plaguing 231 00:14:51,360 --> 00:14:54,800 Speaker 1: the projects of New York City and beyond Not only 232 00:14:54,920 --> 00:14:57,120 Speaker 1: was this group of dealers the biggest game in town, 233 00:14:57,760 --> 00:15:01,280 Speaker 1: they were also the toughest. The body count that piled 234 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:04,040 Speaker 1: up in park Hill, which locals were now calling kill 235 00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:09,080 Speaker 1: a Hill, made that clear. Bobby wasn't an idiot and 236 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:11,680 Speaker 1: there was no way he could compete, which gave him 237 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:15,440 Speaker 1: an idea. If he left New York he went to Steubenville, Ohio, 238 00:15:15,600 --> 00:15:18,120 Speaker 1: where his mom and other siblings lived. He could be 239 00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:21,240 Speaker 1: a big fish in a little pond, run circles around 240 00:15:21,240 --> 00:15:24,720 Speaker 1: those Midwest jokers and make a killing, even if it 241 00:15:24,800 --> 00:15:28,040 Speaker 1: meant selling a drug that killed his own people. Crack 242 00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:31,320 Speaker 1: destroyed lives of ripped families apart. Bobby knew what he 243 00:15:31,360 --> 00:15:35,200 Speaker 1: was getting into, but he also felt that given the circumstances, 244 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:39,200 Speaker 1: he had no choice. A few months later, in the 245 00:15:39,240 --> 00:15:41,720 Speaker 1: fall of ninety one, Bobby bought a one way train 246 00:15:41,800 --> 00:15:44,880 Speaker 1: ticket to Ohio. He boarded the train with a briefcase. 247 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:48,760 Speaker 1: Inside the briefcase where his five percent Nation lessons book 248 00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:52,120 Speaker 1: a gold chain he could hawk for quick dough product 249 00:15:52,200 --> 00:15:57,360 Speaker 1: to sell in a twenty five caliber pistol. Ohio came 250 00:15:57,400 --> 00:16:01,400 Speaker 1: as advertised, Bobby sold drugs. Bobby made money, and Bobby 251 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:04,200 Speaker 1: tried not to think about the moral ramifications of his actions. 252 00:16:04,880 --> 00:16:08,760 Speaker 1: Company helped his cousin Russell Jones aka Old Dirty Bastard, 253 00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:11,720 Speaker 1: and his Staten Island buddy Dennis Cole's aka Ghost Face 254 00:16:11,800 --> 00:16:14,600 Speaker 1: Killer joined him in the hustle and on the trip. 255 00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:18,840 Speaker 1: But in Ohio they're all seen as outsiders, and they 256 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:21,880 Speaker 1: attracted the anger resentment of local dealers who felt like 257 00:16:21,920 --> 00:16:24,880 Speaker 1: their turf was being invaded. And it seemed like every 258 00:16:24,880 --> 00:16:27,760 Speaker 1: time they made a chunk of cash, something bad happened. 259 00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:32,120 Speaker 1: Dirty got pinched, ghosts got shot. It was, as Bobby 260 00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:36,080 Speaker 1: later said, a cycle of non success and the math 261 00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:41,440 Speaker 1: just wasn't adding up. Bobby was thinking about this as 262 00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:43,640 Speaker 1: he sat behind the wheel of his sister's car in 263 00:16:43,720 --> 00:16:47,360 Speaker 1: a traffic light in Stupenville. He was also thinking of, oh, 264 00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:49,560 Speaker 1: what she told him when he left that evening, You 265 00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:52,840 Speaker 1: better not fuck my car up. It was Christmas Eve 266 00:16:53,120 --> 00:16:55,280 Speaker 1: and it was late, and he waited for the light 267 00:16:55,360 --> 00:16:59,200 Speaker 1: to turn green. He was driving two girls home, just friends. 268 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:03,320 Speaker 1: Them was Ghost Girl, at least that's what Bobby thought. 269 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:07,160 Speaker 1: Then another car pulled up alongside them, four guys inside, 270 00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:10,200 Speaker 1: all looking at Bobby and the girls, but one of 271 00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:13,399 Speaker 1: the dudes was bugging out, his eyes wide with rage, 272 00:17:13,880 --> 00:17:17,560 Speaker 1: and Bobby knew that look. It was a look that said, yo, man, 273 00:17:18,080 --> 00:17:20,920 Speaker 1: you got my girl in your car. And the dude 274 00:17:20,960 --> 00:17:23,439 Speaker 1: was outside, now out of his car, and he stormed 275 00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:25,320 Speaker 1: toward Bobby, and he put his foot into the door 276 00:17:25,320 --> 00:17:27,719 Speaker 1: of Bobby's sister's car. And the dude wanted to know 277 00:17:27,720 --> 00:17:29,640 Speaker 1: what the fuck his girl was doing in a car 278 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:32,320 Speaker 1: with some other dude from New York, so he kicked 279 00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:35,679 Speaker 1: the car again, and Bobby panicked, not just because he 280 00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:37,919 Speaker 1: promised his sister he wouldn't fuck her car up, but 281 00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:40,600 Speaker 1: because he was outnumbered. He put his hand to his belt, 282 00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:43,199 Speaker 1: felt his pistol. He wasn't going to use it, not 283 00:17:43,280 --> 00:17:46,240 Speaker 1: unless he absolutely had to. He just wanted to make 284 00:17:46,280 --> 00:17:49,280 Speaker 1: sure it was still there. The dude banged in the 285 00:17:49,280 --> 00:17:52,240 Speaker 1: car window and the girls freaked out, and one of 286 00:17:52,280 --> 00:17:55,439 Speaker 1: them screamed, they've got guns. Just go go, just go, 287 00:17:55,600 --> 00:17:58,560 Speaker 1: just go right now. Bobby didn't check to see if 288 00:17:58,560 --> 00:18:00,720 Speaker 1: the light had changed. He took foot off the brake 289 00:18:00,760 --> 00:18:04,240 Speaker 1: pedal and slammed it down on the gas. His adrenaline 290 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:07,479 Speaker 1: searched and the engine roared, The wheels squealed, and Christmas 291 00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:10,320 Speaker 1: lights strung up on houses outside flew by like melting day, 292 00:18:10,359 --> 00:18:13,359 Speaker 1: low crayons, and Bobby looked into the rear view, no 293 00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:16,480 Speaker 1: one behind them, But he couldn't be too careful. He 294 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:19,080 Speaker 1: didn't spend years learning how shit worked on the streets 295 00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:20,440 Speaker 1: in New York to come all the way out to 296 00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:24,159 Speaker 1: fucking Ohio and drop his guard like some herb He 297 00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:28,080 Speaker 1: drove around, he parked, killed the lights, he turned them 298 00:18:28,119 --> 00:18:30,400 Speaker 1: back on, and drove around some more, and he told 299 00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:33,840 Speaker 1: the girls to chill the fuck out, and finally, hours 300 00:18:33,920 --> 00:18:37,800 Speaker 1: later he drove them home. The street was a dead end, 301 00:18:38,080 --> 00:18:41,720 Speaker 1: and the neighborhood was quiet Christmas Eve kind of quiet, 302 00:18:42,200 --> 00:18:45,600 Speaker 1: children nestled all snug in their beds, visions of sugar 303 00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:49,000 Speaker 1: plums and all that shit. And Bobby watched the girl 304 00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:51,320 Speaker 1: walk up to her front door and get safely inside, 305 00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:54,760 Speaker 1: and he was about to pull away when suddenly a 306 00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:59,159 Speaker 1: pair of headlights came on across the street. An engine rebveed, fuck, 307 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:02,680 Speaker 1: those dudes were waiting here all along, and the other 308 00:19:02,720 --> 00:19:05,560 Speaker 1: car sped towards Bobby's shots rang out, and Bobby hit 309 00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:07,960 Speaker 1: the gas and peeled away, but it was a dead end. 310 00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:10,840 Speaker 1: More shots, and Bobby turned the wheel and tried to 311 00:19:10,840 --> 00:19:13,680 Speaker 1: maneuver his way out. His sister's car crashed up onto 312 00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:16,320 Speaker 1: the sidewalk and the other car closed in, and Bobby 313 00:19:16,359 --> 00:19:19,520 Speaker 1: reached for his twenty five pure instinct, pointed the pistol 314 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:22,919 Speaker 1: through the open window and fired. He racked the slide, 315 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:25,960 Speaker 1: aimed one more time, and again pulled the trigger. The 316 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:29,480 Speaker 1: gunshots woke up the neighborhood. Lights flew on, faces pressed 317 00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:32,639 Speaker 1: against windows, Sirens wailed in the near distance. It was 318 00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:35,600 Speaker 1: to Cody Park all over again. But this time it 319 00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:39,119 Speaker 1: wasn't yuppies and dimebags of weed. This time it was 320 00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:41,760 Speaker 1: one guy shot in the thigh, another guy grazed by 321 00:19:41,760 --> 00:19:44,840 Speaker 1: a bullet, and Bobby Digs from Staten Island, sitting in 322 00:19:44,880 --> 00:19:49,280 Speaker 1: a Jefferson County jail cell, awaiting trial for attempted murder. 323 00:19:54,760 --> 00:20:02,119 Speaker 1: We'll be right back after this. We're we're where At first, 324 00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:05,879 Speaker 1: it wasn't attempted murder. At first, Bobby was offered a 325 00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:09,000 Speaker 1: plea deal for his role in the shooting, which left 326 00:20:09,040 --> 00:20:12,480 Speaker 1: one person shot in the thigh. After all, he'd acted 327 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:15,280 Speaker 1: in self defense and there were four of them and 328 00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:19,439 Speaker 1: only one of him. Sixty days he could do that time. 329 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:22,479 Speaker 1: But once the prosecution discovered that Bobby was not a 330 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:25,760 Speaker 1: local guy, but from New York City, that plea was 331 00:20:25,800 --> 00:20:28,560 Speaker 1: no longer on the table in the eyes of the 332 00:20:28,600 --> 00:20:31,920 Speaker 1: Ohio authorities. Bobby Digs and the guys he hung around with, 333 00:20:32,280 --> 00:20:35,400 Speaker 1: guys like old Dirty Bastard and Ghosts face kill him. 334 00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:38,639 Speaker 1: It could be part of a larger operation, maybe an 335 00:20:38,680 --> 00:20:41,840 Speaker 1: operation that was spreading its wings far beyond its New 336 00:20:41,920 --> 00:20:46,399 Speaker 1: York base, bringing guns and drugs into their communities. And 337 00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:49,000 Speaker 1: who knew how deep it all went. And that was 338 00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:53,080 Speaker 1: the thinking on behalf of the prosecution. It was attempted murder, 339 00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:58,200 Speaker 1: which meant eight years behind bars. They wanted to bury 340 00:20:58,320 --> 00:21:01,159 Speaker 1: Bobby Diggs, just like the those four guys wanted to 341 00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:03,520 Speaker 1: bury him under the cover of darkness on Christmas Eve. 342 00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:07,320 Speaker 1: But Bobby wasn't going down that easy. Even though he 343 00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:11,120 Speaker 1: was struggling. He struggled with knowing he was disappointing his mother. 344 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:13,600 Speaker 1: He struggled with the fact that his own sister had 345 00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:16,240 Speaker 1: to put up her life savings ten grand to cover 346 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:19,080 Speaker 1: his bail, and he struggled when he learned that his 347 00:21:19,119 --> 00:21:23,720 Speaker 1: girlfriend was pregnant with his child. That struggling was all 348 00:21:23,800 --> 00:21:27,480 Speaker 1: he knew, and the prosecution, the judge. They hadn't seen 349 00:21:27,520 --> 00:21:31,920 Speaker 1: the things he'd seen, experienced what he'd experienced, and they'd 350 00:21:31,920 --> 00:21:34,600 Speaker 1: never pay off a glueseniffer just to see a fucking movie. 351 00:21:35,119 --> 00:21:37,919 Speaker 1: And they weren't smarter than him either. They couldn't do 352 00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:40,840 Speaker 1: the math like he could. So when Bobby took the 353 00:21:40,880 --> 00:21:44,400 Speaker 1: stand to testify, he thought of the ten supreme numbers 354 00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:49,440 Speaker 1: and how they could help him. One knowledge, What did 355 00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:52,720 Speaker 1: he know? He knew how he was seen by the cops, 356 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:56,560 Speaker 1: the prosecuting attorney, and the judge as a threat, as 357 00:21:56,600 --> 00:22:01,560 Speaker 1: a menace to society. Two Wisdom. Once you've got knowledge, 358 00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:04,760 Speaker 1: act upon what you know. He told the jury that 359 00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:06,560 Speaker 1: he was not the person they all said he was. 360 00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:09,480 Speaker 1: He wasn't a bad person. He was a young man 361 00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:14,800 Speaker 1: who made some bad decisions. Three Understanding. After you act 362 00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:18,680 Speaker 1: upon what you know, you've got to truly understand it. Yes, 363 00:22:19,119 --> 00:22:21,359 Speaker 1: he understood what got him in this situation in the 364 00:22:21,359 --> 00:22:24,520 Speaker 1: first place, which meant he could also understand how not 365 00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:28,640 Speaker 1: to get into the situation again. Four. Culture the way 366 00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:31,240 Speaker 1: of life. After you know something and act upon it 367 00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:34,600 Speaker 1: and understand it, only then can you live it. This 368 00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:36,919 Speaker 1: culture of drugs and guns may have been the culture 369 00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:40,000 Speaker 1: he came from, but it wasn't his culture. This was 370 00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:45,520 Speaker 1: not his way of life. Five power aka truth. He 371 00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:47,280 Speaker 1: told the jury had hurt him, to know that he 372 00:22:47,280 --> 00:22:50,480 Speaker 1: had hurt another human being. That was the truth, and 373 00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:55,520 Speaker 1: truth is power. Six Equality. You must be equal in 374 00:22:55,600 --> 00:23:01,240 Speaker 1: all aspects of one's true self. Seven God, perfection, g 375 00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:05,120 Speaker 1: the seventh letter of the alphabet. Seven colors in the rainbow. 376 00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:09,760 Speaker 1: Seven notes on the musical scale. Eight build to elevate 377 00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:12,800 Speaker 1: the foundation of knowledge. In order to build positivity, you 378 00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:16,920 Speaker 1: must eliminate all negativity. His past was negative, his future 379 00:23:17,119 --> 00:23:22,520 Speaker 1: was positive. Nine Born to be, to exist, you're born 380 00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:25,680 Speaker 1: first in the womb. You're born a second time mentally 381 00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:30,240 Speaker 1: through the understanding of supreme mathematics. The day he testified 382 00:23:30,359 --> 00:23:33,440 Speaker 1: was April twenty third. Take the two in the three 383 00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:36,480 Speaker 1: from twenty third add them to four for April the 384 00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:40,840 Speaker 1: fourth month. That's two plus three plus four, which equals nine. 385 00:23:41,119 --> 00:23:44,640 Speaker 1: The ninth number is born Today. He was a new 386 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:49,159 Speaker 1: person ten, which is actually zero because you are the 387 00:23:49,160 --> 00:23:52,000 Speaker 1: one standing on the left side of a zero, and 388 00:23:52,040 --> 00:23:56,280 Speaker 1: that zero is a circle. A cipher. Bobby knew about ciphers. 389 00:23:56,440 --> 00:24:00,000 Speaker 1: Groups of mcs standing in a circle freestyling and working together. 390 00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:03,320 Speaker 1: He knew that there was strength in the cipher, the bond, 391 00:24:03,560 --> 00:24:06,439 Speaker 1: the completion of all three hundred and sixty degrees, one 392 00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:09,040 Speaker 1: hundred and twenty degrees of knowledge, one hundred and twenty 393 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:11,399 Speaker 1: degrees of wisdom, and one hundred and twenty degrees of 394 00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:15,399 Speaker 1: understanding to complete the circle from knowledge to understanding and 395 00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:22,320 Speaker 1: back again. Bobby concluded his testimony and returned to his 396 00:24:22,359 --> 00:24:25,159 Speaker 1: seat at the defense table. The jury stood up and 397 00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:28,800 Speaker 1: exited the courtroom, and two hours later the jury returned 398 00:24:29,119 --> 00:24:31,840 Speaker 1: and Bobby stood up to hear the verdict read. The 399 00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:35,399 Speaker 1: foreman spoke on the charge of attempted murder. We the 400 00:24:35,480 --> 00:24:41,520 Speaker 1: jury find the defendant, Robert Diggs, not guilty. Bobby felt 401 00:24:41,520 --> 00:24:44,320 Speaker 1: a weight lift from his shoulders. He turned to face 402 00:24:44,359 --> 00:24:47,480 Speaker 1: his mother. She had a sober look on her face. Boy, 403 00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:51,040 Speaker 1: she said, this is your second chance. Don't mess it 404 00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:55,240 Speaker 1: up and don't look back. Bobby did the knowledge. He 405 00:24:55,320 --> 00:24:59,040 Speaker 1: quit smoking, quit drinking, quit dealing dope. He fused the 406 00:24:59,119 --> 00:25:01,120 Speaker 1: lessons of the Street with the lessons of the five 407 00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:04,240 Speaker 1: for centners. He memorized the one hundred and twenty questions 408 00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:07,159 Speaker 1: and answers that unlocked the keys to life. Who is 409 00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:10,760 Speaker 1: the original man? The original man is the Asiatic black Man, 410 00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:13,160 Speaker 1: the Maker, the Owner, the cream of the planet Earth, 411 00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:16,480 Speaker 1: the father of civilization, the god of the universe. And 412 00:25:16,600 --> 00:25:19,880 Speaker 1: who is he? Bobby Diggs? He was a new person 413 00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:22,600 Speaker 1: He was as the teachings of the Five for Centers 414 00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:27,000 Speaker 1: taught him, born anew, but not as Prince Rakim. Rakim 415 00:25:27,200 --> 00:25:30,920 Speaker 1: was the past. Rakim was negative. Bobby had to work 416 00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:34,200 Speaker 1: on that positive build his new persona would have purpose 417 00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:38,040 Speaker 1: and intention, and it would be simple, just three letters. 418 00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:42,560 Speaker 1: First was R in the divine alphabet. R stands for 419 00:25:42,760 --> 00:25:46,399 Speaker 1: rule or ruler, and to rule is to control righteously. 420 00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:50,679 Speaker 1: Z is the last letter in the divine alphabet, representing 421 00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:54,720 Speaker 1: the final step of consciousness and standing for zig zag zig, 422 00:25:55,080 --> 00:25:58,080 Speaker 1: which represents the three sixty trip from knowledge to wisdom 423 00:25:58,119 --> 00:26:02,720 Speaker 1: to understanding and back again zig zag zig. And A, 424 00:26:03,240 --> 00:26:08,400 Speaker 1: of course is Allah, the supreme being original man. R 425 00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:16,080 Speaker 1: z a ruler, knowledge, wisdom, understanding, Allah the Rizza. The 426 00:26:16,160 --> 00:26:19,600 Speaker 1: Riza then envisioned a cipher, a cipher that actually worked, 427 00:26:20,040 --> 00:26:22,919 Speaker 1: unlike the cipher of poverty and violence. He'd been trapped 428 00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:26,640 Speaker 1: in the cycle of non success. The only way out 429 00:26:26,840 --> 00:26:29,400 Speaker 1: was to make a new cipher, a new circle, a 430 00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:33,280 Speaker 1: circle of power. The strongest, most powerful circle was a 431 00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:35,840 Speaker 1: group effort. And this ship was bigger than you. You 432 00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:37,760 Speaker 1: needed a group of guys who had your back, and 433 00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:40,840 Speaker 1: you had theirs. And let's call it a clan. That 434 00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:44,560 Speaker 1: wasn't just knowledge, that was wisdom and understanding. A whole 435 00:26:44,600 --> 00:27:10,679 Speaker 1: three hundred and sixty degree trip zig zag zig. The 436 00:27:10,720 --> 00:27:13,960 Speaker 1: New York Field Office was busy for a Friday morning. 437 00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:18,600 Speaker 1: The coffee machine hummed non stop, phones were ringing off 438 00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:21,600 Speaker 1: the hook, and the agent sat at his desk and 439 00:27:21,640 --> 00:27:26,119 Speaker 1: took a sip of coffee. It was lukewarm. Weak. In 440 00:27:26,160 --> 00:27:30,119 Speaker 1: all honesty, the coffee sucked. The agent hoped that it 441 00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:32,000 Speaker 1: would make up for a lack of taste with an 442 00:27:32,040 --> 00:27:34,960 Speaker 1: abundance of caffeine to get him through the stack of paperwork. 443 00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:38,240 Speaker 1: Sitting on his desk, he picked up the first memo 444 00:27:38,320 --> 00:27:42,440 Speaker 1: on the stack, Federal Bureau of Investigation, written in all 445 00:27:42,520 --> 00:27:45,920 Speaker 1: caps at the top, fought so bold the coffee should 446 00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:49,280 Speaker 1: take notes. The date below the heading was August fourth, 447 00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:52,160 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety nine, and the memo was just a few 448 00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:57,480 Speaker 1: days old. The agent began to read two New York 449 00:27:57,920 --> 00:28:02,760 Speaker 1: from New York case number two eight one f dash 450 00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:07,560 Speaker 1: N y dash n E W title Wu Tang Clan. 451 00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:12,520 Speaker 1: The agent paused Wu Tang Clan, the hip hop group. 452 00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:15,239 Speaker 1: He was a little surprised to see their name, but 453 00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:19,200 Speaker 1: not shocked. The FBI had a heart on historically for 454 00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:23,640 Speaker 1: musicians in the counterculture Bureau agents before his time monitored 455 00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:26,560 Speaker 1: Hendrix and The Grateful Dead and Janis Joplin, and this 456 00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:30,040 Speaker 1: probably wasn't any different. Rap music, in particular, was a 457 00:28:30,040 --> 00:28:32,760 Speaker 1: hair across the ass of many a white collar prude. 458 00:28:33,119 --> 00:28:37,760 Speaker 1: He continued to read synopsis request to open a new 459 00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:42,080 Speaker 1: case on above captioned matter details. Information was received by 460 00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:45,120 Speaker 1: the New York Police Department about criminal activity being conducted 461 00:28:45,120 --> 00:28:48,240 Speaker 1: by members of the Wu Tang Clan organization on Staten Island. 462 00:28:48,800 --> 00:28:51,800 Speaker 1: The detectives have documented in their case files that the 463 00:28:51,840 --> 00:28:55,360 Speaker 1: Wu Tang Clan or WTC, is heavily involved in the 464 00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:59,680 Speaker 1: sale of drugs, illegal guns, weapons possession, murder, carjackings, and 465 00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:03,680 Speaker 1: other types of violent crimes. Information developed by the detectives 466 00:29:03,720 --> 00:29:07,320 Speaker 1: determined that the WTC has purchased numerous guns from the Steubenville, 467 00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:10,280 Speaker 1: Ohio area. At least one of these guns has been 468 00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:12,680 Speaker 1: identified as the murder weapon in the killing of A. 469 00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:17,360 Speaker 1: Robert Johnson aka Pooh on Staten Island on twelve thirty 470 00:29:17,520 --> 00:29:21,239 Speaker 1: ninety seven. Johnson was an associate of the WTC who 471 00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:23,240 Speaker 1: had a falling out with the group, and is believed 472 00:29:23,240 --> 00:29:26,000 Speaker 1: that his murder was ordered by someone within the WTC. 473 00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:32,920 Speaker 1: This murder case remains unsolved at this point. Seven years earlier, 474 00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:35,920 Speaker 1: when Bobby Diggs was born anew as the Rizza. When 475 00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:38,800 Speaker 1: he made his triumphant return to Staten Island, having just 476 00:29:38,920 --> 00:29:42,280 Speaker 1: dodged eight years in the pen, he thought he put Steubenville, 477 00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:46,720 Speaker 1: Ohio long behind him. He was wrong. The shooting put 478 00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:49,560 Speaker 1: him on the radar, not just in the Midwest, but 479 00:29:49,600 --> 00:29:53,880 Speaker 1: in New York. Lawyers talked, and so did cops. Detectives 480 00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:56,720 Speaker 1: never shut up. They like to connect the dots and 481 00:29:56,760 --> 00:29:59,160 Speaker 1: tie one thing to another. Call up a guy they 482 00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:01,040 Speaker 1: knew in the next day over and see if the 483 00:30:01,080 --> 00:30:03,360 Speaker 1: extra piece of one puzzle fit into the missing piece 484 00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:06,600 Speaker 1: of another, see if their hunch was true. And it 485 00:30:06,840 --> 00:30:11,400 Speaker 1: was true, the Rizzo was planning something big, real big, actually, 486 00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:14,360 Speaker 1: but not a drug deal in crime syndicate. It was 487 00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:16,719 Speaker 1: a hip hop group, the kind that no one had 488 00:30:16,720 --> 00:30:19,840 Speaker 1: ever seen before, a group so big they weren't just 489 00:30:19,920 --> 00:30:22,920 Speaker 1: a group, They were a clam. The Wu Tang Clan 490 00:30:23,480 --> 00:30:26,960 Speaker 1: a collection of MC's from Staten Island in Brooklyn, guys 491 00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:29,560 Speaker 1: who were all stuck in their own cycles of non success, 492 00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:32,680 Speaker 1: Guys who needed to bond together to make something greater 493 00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:35,560 Speaker 1: than any one of them. Friends and cousins like ghost 494 00:30:35,640 --> 00:30:38,960 Speaker 1: Face Killer an Old Dirty Bastard, and Gary Grice aka 495 00:30:39,080 --> 00:30:43,920 Speaker 1: The Genius aka the Jizza, Corey Woods aka Raikon the Chef, 496 00:30:43,960 --> 00:30:47,760 Speaker 1: and Jason Hunter otherwise known as Inspected Deck You God, 497 00:30:48,040 --> 00:30:51,440 Speaker 1: method Man, Master Killa. Some of these dudes already had 498 00:30:51,440 --> 00:30:54,680 Speaker 1: their alter egos from the streets. Others got their names 499 00:30:54,680 --> 00:30:58,120 Speaker 1: from Rizza's favorite kung fu movies. The name Wu Tang 500 00:30:58,240 --> 00:31:01,520 Speaker 1: came from those movies too. The Wu Tang sword style 501 00:31:01,560 --> 00:31:03,440 Speaker 1: had fucked with. Dudes in the rhymes of the Wu 502 00:31:03,520 --> 00:31:07,800 Speaker 1: Tang Clan were unfuckiable. Their tongues were their swords, and 503 00:31:07,840 --> 00:31:11,160 Speaker 1: they honed their swordsmanship not in Staten Island, but in 504 00:31:11,240 --> 00:31:14,080 Speaker 1: Sha Lin. More of a state of mind than a 505 00:31:14,120 --> 00:31:17,680 Speaker 1: physical realm, the Wu Tang Clan built a new world 506 00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:20,920 Speaker 1: into which they could escape from the world they knew, 507 00:31:21,040 --> 00:31:23,360 Speaker 1: just like the Riza used to escape into the Deuce 508 00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:27,040 Speaker 1: movie theater back in the day. But make no mistake, 509 00:31:27,560 --> 00:31:32,200 Speaker 1: this was an escape, not a fantasy. Riza made them 510 00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:34,640 Speaker 1: all promise, give me a few years of your life 511 00:31:34,800 --> 00:31:37,880 Speaker 1: that will not only be successful, will be famous, will 512 00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:39,600 Speaker 1: be so rich that we'll never have to go back 513 00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:41,840 Speaker 1: to selling drugs in the streets or stealing food from 514 00:31:41,840 --> 00:31:45,080 Speaker 1: the neighborhood market. We'll take the hustle to Jin. The 515 00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:47,360 Speaker 1: rest of the clan put their faith in their leader, 516 00:31:47,640 --> 00:31:52,000 Speaker 1: and the Riza delivered. Wu Tang Clan became a worldwide phenomenon. 517 00:31:52,640 --> 00:31:55,240 Speaker 1: But at the New York office of the FBI seven 518 00:31:55,360 --> 00:31:59,120 Speaker 1: years later in nineteen ninety nine, the origin story of 519 00:31:59,160 --> 00:32:01,440 Speaker 1: the Wu Tang clan and didn't look like an innocent 520 00:32:01,480 --> 00:32:04,960 Speaker 1: meeting of musical minds. And never mind the group's platinum 521 00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:08,320 Speaker 1: first album or their four times multi platinum second album. 522 00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:11,400 Speaker 1: The Feds knew a front when they saw one. The 523 00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:13,840 Speaker 1: bureau memo that the agent with the Shitty coffee was 524 00:32:13,880 --> 00:32:17,040 Speaker 1: reading classified Wu Tang as two to eight one F, 525 00:32:17,520 --> 00:32:22,320 Speaker 1: which is FBI speak for a major criminal organization. Wu 526 00:32:22,400 --> 00:32:25,880 Speaker 1: Tang was a clan all right, from the FBI's vantage point, 527 00:32:26,280 --> 00:32:30,480 Speaker 1: a clan of organized crime. The agent took one last 528 00:32:30,520 --> 00:32:33,640 Speaker 1: sit while he read the final paragraph on the page. 529 00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:36,480 Speaker 1: The detectives are seeking the assistance of the FBI in 530 00:32:36,520 --> 00:32:39,239 Speaker 1: the US Attorney's Office to further their case, along as 531 00:32:39,280 --> 00:32:42,720 Speaker 1: to package the numerous crimes committed by the WTC organization 532 00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:47,200 Speaker 1: in the form of federal charges in rico prosecution. The 533 00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:50,320 Speaker 1: agent picked up the receiver of his desk phone and paused, 534 00:32:50,920 --> 00:32:55,320 Speaker 1: we go prosecution. This wasn't run of the mill bureau paranoia, 535 00:32:55,840 --> 00:32:58,120 Speaker 1: and there was plenty of juice for the squeeze here 536 00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:01,800 Speaker 1: and if what he was reading was this was just 537 00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:05,240 Speaker 1: the tip of the iceberg. The agent punched in a 538 00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:09,080 Speaker 1: number and the line rang. A voice answered, and the 539 00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:13,600 Speaker 1: agent spoke it was his opinion that the Bureau should 540 00:33:13,600 --> 00:33:17,680 Speaker 1: approve the NYPD's request and begins surveillance of the Wu 541 00:33:17,800 --> 00:33:23,960 Speaker 1: Tang clan immediately. I'm Jake Brennan in this episode of 542 00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:41,720 Speaker 1: Disgraceland is to be continued. Disgraceland was created by Yours 543 00:33:41,760 --> 00:33:45,120 Speaker 1: Truly and is produced in partnership with Double Elvis. 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