1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:21,040 Speaker 1: Disgraceland as a production of Double Elvis. The stories about 2 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:25,720 Speaker 1: Wu Tang Clans, You God are insane. He was raised 3 00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:28,520 Speaker 1: by the streets of Staten Island, where getting beaten up 4 00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:31,400 Speaker 1: was a right of passage that made you stronger. He 5 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:34,479 Speaker 1: was busted for driving a stolen car and assaulting a 6 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:38,479 Speaker 1: police officer. He dealt crack and narrowly avoided a police 7 00:00:38,560 --> 00:00:41,720 Speaker 1: raid on the apartment building he dealt from. He also 8 00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:45,720 Speaker 1: dealt vengeance. He once broke a guy's jaw and came 9 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:49,239 Speaker 1: within seconds of killing a rival dope peddler. And when 10 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:52,199 Speaker 1: he finally put the violent life behind him, the ghosts 11 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:55,440 Speaker 1: of his past returned to remind him that the streets 12 00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:58,680 Speaker 1: weren't done with him yet. At that point, of course, 13 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:01,640 Speaker 1: You God had moved moved on to make great music 14 00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:04,959 Speaker 1: with Wu Tang Clan, some of the most defining music 15 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:08,520 Speaker 1: of the late nineteen nineties. Unlike that clip I played 16 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:10,920 Speaker 1: for you at the top of the show. That wasn't 17 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:14,400 Speaker 1: great music. That was a preset loop for my melotron 18 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:19,240 Speaker 1: called is This Thing on MK One? I played you 19 00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:21,840 Speaker 1: that clip because I can't afford the rights to the 20 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:25,800 Speaker 1: sign by ace of Bass, And why would I play 21 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:30,160 Speaker 1: you that specific slice of ubiquitous europop cheese. Could I 22 00:01:30,240 --> 00:01:34,480 Speaker 1: afford it? Because that was the number one song in 23 00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:38,840 Speaker 1: America on March thirteenth, nineteen ninety four, And that was 24 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:41,279 Speaker 1: the day that you God's new life as a member 25 00:01:41,319 --> 00:01:44,959 Speaker 1: of a wildly successful hip hop collective was shattered when 26 00:01:44,959 --> 00:01:47,080 Speaker 1: a member of his own family was caught in the 27 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:52,400 Speaker 1: middle of a gunfighter on this episode rights of Passage, 28 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:57,880 Speaker 1: stolen cars, police raids, broken jaws, caught in the crossfire, 29 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:03,800 Speaker 1: and Wu Tang clans you got. I'm Jake Brennan and 30 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:39,119 Speaker 1: this this disgrace Land park Hill, Staten Island, nineteen seventy nine. 31 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:42,960 Speaker 1: He took the beating like he was eighteen years old, 32 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:46,920 Speaker 1: not eight. He knew it was coming. He couldn't outrun it, 33 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:50,000 Speaker 1: couldn't out smart it, and there was always a price 34 00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:53,040 Speaker 1: to pay. And the older kids held him down and 35 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:54,840 Speaker 1: punched him in the chest until he felt like he 36 00:02:54,840 --> 00:02:57,800 Speaker 1: couldn't breathe, and they wailed on his legs so long 37 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:00,919 Speaker 1: and so hard he could barely walk. The beatings were 38 00:03:00,919 --> 00:03:04,880 Speaker 1: a punishment because Lamont Hawkins, the kid the world would 39 00:03:04,919 --> 00:03:07,680 Speaker 1: later know as You Got, was a little punk who 40 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:10,040 Speaker 1: ran with other little punks who liked the perch on 41 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:12,720 Speaker 1: rooftops and chuck rocks at the older kids down on 42 00:03:12,760 --> 00:03:18,000 Speaker 1: the street and so young you God aka Young Lamont 43 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:20,799 Speaker 1: Here learned real quick that if you dished it out, 44 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:23,919 Speaker 1: he had to be prepared to take it, so he did. 45 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:27,720 Speaker 1: He didn't cry, He didn't show them any weakness. He 46 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:31,880 Speaker 1: just took it. Every punch, every slap, every wedgie that 47 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:35,200 Speaker 1: left a shredded pair of hands in its wake. After 48 00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:38,520 Speaker 1: a while, he didn't fear the beatings. They couldn't hurt 49 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:41,560 Speaker 1: him anymore. He was tough now. He could take a 50 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:43,560 Speaker 1: fist to the chest, to the leg or the face, 51 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:47,080 Speaker 1: and everyone knew it too, the young punks he ran with, 52 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:49,920 Speaker 1: the older kids who chased him. He had the respect 53 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:52,960 Speaker 1: of all of them. And when you had respect, you 54 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:55,480 Speaker 1: had a ref People don't fuck with someone with a 55 00:03:55,560 --> 00:03:58,680 Speaker 1: rep His uncle taught him that, and the guys his 56 00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:01,640 Speaker 1: uncle ran with taught him difference between getting beaten up 57 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:05,920 Speaker 1: and getting beatn down. One tuned you up a little 58 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:09,040 Speaker 1: bit and the other put you in the hospital. His 59 00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:14,480 Speaker 1: uncle's friends served up beat downs, knives, guns, bricks, whatever 60 00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:16,719 Speaker 1: it took. One of them robbed a guy on the 61 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:20,160 Speaker 1: street while Lamont, just nine years old, stood by and watched. 62 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:22,839 Speaker 1: And that guy who got robbed took a brick to 63 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:26,279 Speaker 1: his face. It happened fast, and that's how it worked. 64 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:29,920 Speaker 1: You were fast and you were safe. You were slow 65 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:33,400 Speaker 1: and you were fucked. His uncle's guy was fast as 66 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:35,520 Speaker 1: shit pow, and the other dude wabbled like a wet 67 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:37,440 Speaker 1: noodle and hit the ground with a thud. And they 68 00:04:37,480 --> 00:04:40,000 Speaker 1: hit him again, and the bricks sliced open the guy's 69 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:43,320 Speaker 1: face and the blood gushed. One of his eyes rolled back, 70 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:46,719 Speaker 1: and they took what they wanted from money, jewelry, whatever 71 00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:50,239 Speaker 1: they could find. He just lay there on the ground, twitching, moaning, 72 00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:53,440 Speaker 1: looked like he was having a seizure. Blood and foam 73 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:58,360 Speaker 1: oozed from the corners of his mouth. Lamb watched it all. 74 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:01,839 Speaker 1: At first it was shot, but after witnessing a few 75 00:05:01,839 --> 00:05:05,480 Speaker 1: of these beatdowns, it became normal. In his eyes. This 76 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:08,840 Speaker 1: is the way the world worked. Was it perfect? Far 77 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:13,280 Speaker 1: from it? But what was perfect? Back at home, nothing 78 00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:16,560 Speaker 1: was perfect. Lamont's father was a ghost, and his mom 79 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:19,000 Speaker 1: did which he could to make ends meet, but they 80 00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:23,080 Speaker 1: had nothing, and little punks like Lamont wanted something more 81 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:26,120 Speaker 1: than the bare minimum. The streets may out have been safe, 82 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:29,719 Speaker 1: but they did offer other possibilities. You just had to 83 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:34,520 Speaker 1: make your bones first, so you took beatings. You gave beatings, 84 00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:38,240 Speaker 1: and you got stronger. You formed crews. Crews were power. 85 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:42,440 Speaker 1: Cruise made you stronger. First the Baby Bashed Crew, then 86 00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:44,960 Speaker 1: the Dick and Down Crew in middle school, and later 87 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:48,160 Speaker 1: it was the reck Posse in high school. This world, 88 00:05:48,279 --> 00:05:51,800 Speaker 1: these crews, they had a soundtrack, hip hop. It was 89 00:05:51,920 --> 00:05:57,279 Speaker 1: everywhere from boombboxes to block parties, The Treacherous three, Grand Wizard, Theatore, 90 00:05:57,320 --> 00:06:01,159 Speaker 1: and the Fantastic Five, the Coole Crush Brothers. Hip Hop 91 00:06:01,279 --> 00:06:04,280 Speaker 1: was also the soundtrack of the streets which on Staten 92 00:06:04,320 --> 00:06:07,200 Speaker 1: Island in the nineteen eighties were filled with crack dealers 93 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:10,640 Speaker 1: and crack users. You could either be one or the other. 94 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:14,640 Speaker 1: Into a kid like Lamont now a teenager, a teenager 95 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:17,159 Speaker 1: with a single mom struggling to hit the bills, a 96 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:19,599 Speaker 1: teenager living so far below the poverty line that would 97 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:22,040 Speaker 1: make the average middle class American looked like a Rockefeller. 98 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:24,719 Speaker 1: A teenager who had gotten tough and earned a rep. 99 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:29,400 Speaker 1: Selling crack was a no brainer. Crack sales made money 100 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:32,560 Speaker 1: hand over fist. Hundreds of thousands of dollars, all in 101 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:35,560 Speaker 1: an afternoon's work. So what if you were the conduit 102 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:38,840 Speaker 1: to put crack in someone else's hand? Overcoming questions of 103 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:41,680 Speaker 1: morality is really said to do when you're struggling simply 104 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:45,080 Speaker 1: to have nothing. The drug dealers had more than nothing, 105 00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:48,000 Speaker 1: and they walked around with rolls of cash, and they 106 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:50,920 Speaker 1: drove shiny new cars, and they wore fresh new clothes, 107 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:53,720 Speaker 1: and they showed Mamont that he could have the same. 108 00:06:54,560 --> 00:06:57,560 Speaker 1: So Lamont settled into selling crack as easily as he'd 109 00:06:57,560 --> 00:07:02,320 Speaker 1: settled into taking beatings. The first time is the hardest. 110 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:05,400 Speaker 1: Standing in the gate, it has to say. On the 111 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:09,120 Speaker 1: other side of a door, the inside plunged into darkness. 112 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:12,920 Speaker 1: You've got bindles and vials at your fingertips, and there's 113 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:17,920 Speaker 1: a knock from outside. It's loud, anxious, someone's mumbling a 114 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:21,680 Speaker 1: crackhead in need of fix bad. The money comes through 115 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:24,520 Speaker 1: the slot and the door. The bills are crinkled, and 116 00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:28,080 Speaker 1: damn they smell like shit. The fingers pushing them through 117 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:30,920 Speaker 1: the slot don't smell much better. You take the green 118 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:33,520 Speaker 1: and then send the vindal out through the slot, where 119 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:36,640 Speaker 1: those same fucking dirty fingers snatched that bindle like it's 120 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:38,760 Speaker 1: the most important thing on the face of the earth. 121 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:43,360 Speaker 1: And after that first time gets easier. There's another knock, 122 00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:46,200 Speaker 1: another mumble, another pair of fingers shoving another roll of 123 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:50,360 Speaker 1: bills through the slot, and then more so many more. 124 00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:56,800 Speaker 1: Staten Island's appetite for crack was constant tonight. The traffic 125 00:07:56,840 --> 00:08:01,520 Speaker 1: at the door was endless, and the knocking was incessant. Knock, knock, 126 00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:05,560 Speaker 1: cash through the slot, knock, knock, cash through the slot. 127 00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:08,680 Speaker 1: Lamont could hardly keep up, so he sampled some of 128 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:11,520 Speaker 1: the product to take the edge off. He sliced open 129 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:14,400 Speaker 1: a filly, dumped the tobacco out, and replaced it with 130 00:08:14,440 --> 00:08:17,680 Speaker 1: a mixture of weed and crack. But the wooly joint 131 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:21,680 Speaker 1: wasn't helping. In fact, it was making things worse. The 132 00:08:21,720 --> 00:08:24,400 Speaker 1: sound of knocking and of cash sliding through the narrow 133 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:27,840 Speaker 1: slot banged around in his head. The rush just didn't 134 00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:32,320 Speaker 1: stop rushing. His head spun. Something was off, something was wrong. 135 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:35,400 Speaker 1: Even for a busy night, this seemed a little too busy. 136 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:38,240 Speaker 1: Maybe it was just the dope talking, but suddenly Lamont 137 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:40,800 Speaker 1: felt the need to leave. He couldn't shake the suspicion 138 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:43,760 Speaker 1: that he was pushing his luck that something bad was 139 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:47,320 Speaker 1: about to happen, so he closed up shop for the night. 140 00:08:48,920 --> 00:08:51,240 Speaker 1: Lamont walked out of the building and onto the street, 141 00:08:51,480 --> 00:08:53,880 Speaker 1: and he pushed by clients past President in the future, 142 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:58,200 Speaker 1: and then he saw him standing right there, directly ahead 143 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:03,600 Speaker 1: cop NYPD drug squad, maybe T and T, he couldn't 144 00:09:03,640 --> 00:09:07,319 Speaker 1: be sure. Lamont was sure though, that he was fucked, 145 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:09,920 Speaker 1: that he was a sitting duck, that he was stone, 146 00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:12,360 Speaker 1: that he was stupid, that his pockets were lined with 147 00:09:12,440 --> 00:09:15,120 Speaker 1: cash and dope. But the cop just yelled at him 148 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:18,440 Speaker 1: move out of the way. The more cops materialized directly 149 00:09:18,480 --> 00:09:21,040 Speaker 1: behind this one and began to push forward together. What 150 00:09:21,200 --> 00:09:24,800 Speaker 1: was happening. Move out of the way now. Lamont moved 151 00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:27,440 Speaker 1: quickly to his side, and the cop led a group 152 00:09:27,440 --> 00:09:30,120 Speaker 1: of NYPD officers straight up into the building that Laman 153 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:32,800 Speaker 1: had just been selling for him. Juan held a battering 154 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:35,040 Speaker 1: ram in his hands and he swung it forward and 155 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:37,920 Speaker 1: smashed through the door, and the sound was enormous. It 156 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:41,040 Speaker 1: wood splintered into pieces, but one more swing and the 157 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:45,320 Speaker 1: door busted wide open. Lamont watched as the cops stormed 158 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:47,560 Speaker 1: inside and began to grab whoever they could get their 159 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:50,280 Speaker 1: hands on, but they didn't get their hands on Lamont 160 00:09:50,760 --> 00:09:54,600 Speaker 1: because the streets hadn't just made him stronger, they made 161 00:09:54,679 --> 00:09:59,000 Speaker 1: him wiser the streets, though they weren't perfect, and they 162 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:01,480 Speaker 1: never would be. And just because he got away this 163 00:10:01,559 --> 00:10:04,360 Speaker 1: time didn't mean there wouldn't be a next time. And 164 00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:07,000 Speaker 1: there was always a next time, and there would always 165 00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:32,440 Speaker 1: be a price to pay. Like a lot of kids 166 00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:35,160 Speaker 1: growing up in the New York projects in the nineteen eighties, 167 00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:38,280 Speaker 1: Lamont Hawkins liked what he heard when the older five 168 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:43,280 Speaker 1: percent dudes talked. They used words like peace, and they're 169 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:47,480 Speaker 1: all about building up, not tearing down. And they built ciphers, 170 00:10:47,679 --> 00:10:52,040 Speaker 1: bonds and brotherhood, and they gave Lamont hope and promise, 171 00:10:52,920 --> 00:10:55,559 Speaker 1: and they gave him his new name too. They called 172 00:10:55,640 --> 00:10:59,760 Speaker 1: him you God. That's the letter you dash God, as 173 00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:04,520 Speaker 1: in you are God or God is inside you, a 174 00:11:04,600 --> 00:11:08,160 Speaker 1: reference to the five Percent Nations teachings that the original 175 00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:11,040 Speaker 1: Man is the Asiatic black Man, the Maker, the owner, 176 00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:14,080 Speaker 1: the cream of the planet Earth, the father of civilization, 177 00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:17,000 Speaker 1: and God of the universe, to quote one of the 178 00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:19,880 Speaker 1: answers to the Nations one and twenty lessons, that is 179 00:11:20,640 --> 00:11:24,720 Speaker 1: but the letter you is also short for universal in 180 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:30,080 Speaker 1: other words, infinite or comprehensive, meaning that Lamon Hawkins aka 181 00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:33,440 Speaker 1: Universal God, could accomplish anything he set out to do. 182 00:11:34,040 --> 00:11:36,680 Speaker 1: He could hustle if he wanted to hustle, and he 183 00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:41,000 Speaker 1: could rhyme if he wanted to rhyme. But right now, though, 184 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:44,959 Speaker 1: you God needed to find a way out, not out 185 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:47,880 Speaker 1: of the crack game. He did that once already. All 186 00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:50,120 Speaker 1: it took was narrowly avoiding a police rate on the 187 00:11:50,160 --> 00:11:52,640 Speaker 1: spot he was selling from a scare him off. But 188 00:11:52,679 --> 00:11:55,120 Speaker 1: the legit job he took in its place at the 189 00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:59,000 Speaker 1: Statue of Liberty with his guy Clifford Smith aka method Man, 190 00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:05,240 Speaker 1: that was well, that was work, actual work, too much work. 191 00:12:05,920 --> 00:12:07,520 Speaker 1: The small amount of money he got at the end 192 00:12:07,559 --> 00:12:10,760 Speaker 1: of a long shift mopping floors and hauling trash didn't 193 00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:14,760 Speaker 1: seem worth it. So two years later, now seventeen years old, 194 00:12:15,520 --> 00:12:18,439 Speaker 1: you got ditched that legit ship and went back to 195 00:12:18,559 --> 00:12:23,000 Speaker 1: hustling on the streets. And now he was wondering if 196 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:25,840 Speaker 1: the better money he was making slinging dope was worth 197 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:32,240 Speaker 1: all this, standing against a rented Ford Taurus, his hands 198 00:12:32,240 --> 00:12:35,200 Speaker 1: on the hood five oher getting real friendly with the 199 00:12:35,240 --> 00:12:40,080 Speaker 1: requisite pat down. His first mistake was getting pulled over. 200 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:44,559 Speaker 1: His second mistake was driving without a license, and his 201 00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:48,480 Speaker 1: third mistake was driving a car that didn't belong to him. 202 00:12:48,920 --> 00:12:52,080 Speaker 1: Turns out the Taurus had been reported stolen and was 203 00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:54,640 Speaker 1: currently a vehicle of interest in a hit and run, 204 00:12:55,360 --> 00:12:57,120 Speaker 1: which is why you God was out of the car 205 00:12:57,240 --> 00:13:00,840 Speaker 1: getting searched by the police. Thankfully, he had no product 206 00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:02,800 Speaker 1: on him at the moment, but he did have a 207 00:13:02,800 --> 00:13:06,360 Speaker 1: set of brass knuckles in five grand in cash, and 208 00:13:06,440 --> 00:13:08,400 Speaker 1: the cop foiled both and put them on top of 209 00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:12,840 Speaker 1: the car. You God was fucked. He stared at the 210 00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:15,880 Speaker 1: five g's. He couldn't afford to lose that money, and 211 00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:18,760 Speaker 1: the cop would make that shit disappear. Like David Copperfield, 212 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:22,600 Speaker 1: he also couldn't afford to get arrested. He wasn't doing time, 213 00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:27,640 Speaker 1: not now, not ever. You God found strength of his 214 00:13:27,679 --> 00:13:31,640 Speaker 1: five percenter name. He was infinite. He could accomplish anything 215 00:13:31,679 --> 00:13:34,120 Speaker 1: he set out to do, and right now he was 216 00:13:34,160 --> 00:13:37,560 Speaker 1: going to do this. He grabbed the water cash from 217 00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:40,680 Speaker 1: the hood of the Taurus and he ran. He tore 218 00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:44,120 Speaker 1: ass across the basketball court b lined it towards the projects. 219 00:13:44,600 --> 00:13:47,120 Speaker 1: The cop was stunned, but got a sprint on right away. 220 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:49,640 Speaker 1: Look at this pencil dick with a mustache and a 221 00:13:49,679 --> 00:13:52,440 Speaker 1: two pack of day Habit, suddenly finding his inner Carl Lewis, 222 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:55,439 Speaker 1: and the gold rope chains around you God's neck were 223 00:13:55,559 --> 00:13:58,000 Speaker 1: heavy and they wanted to sink him like a stone. 224 00:13:58,640 --> 00:14:01,440 Speaker 1: Not today, though, Today the pair of guccies on his 225 00:14:01,440 --> 00:14:03,280 Speaker 1: feet were going to carry him like the wind coming 226 00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:06,800 Speaker 1: off of the Hudson. His chest burned and the air 227 00:14:06,920 --> 00:14:09,560 Speaker 1: was iced to his lungs, but he wasn't gonna let 228 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:12,040 Speaker 1: them catch him. And there were two cops behind him 229 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:14,520 Speaker 1: now and two more were coming in hot right in 230 00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:18,520 Speaker 1: front of him. Shit, the two in front had him cold. 231 00:14:18,960 --> 00:14:21,680 Speaker 1: That was it lights out, So he juked to the 232 00:14:21,760 --> 00:14:23,920 Speaker 1: left and then he spun hard to the right, and 233 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:26,440 Speaker 1: those keystone herbs bought it and fell to the ground 234 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:29,120 Speaker 1: trying to keep up, and he laughed. As he kept running. 235 00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:31,440 Speaker 1: He felt the surge of adrenaline shoot through him like 236 00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:33,520 Speaker 1: a spike to a vein, and found a higher gear. 237 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:37,360 Speaker 1: He was really moving now. He was the wind, he 238 00:14:37,520 --> 00:14:40,400 Speaker 1: was the air, he was everything, and he was getting 239 00:14:40,440 --> 00:14:43,360 Speaker 1: deeper into the projects where he could finally lose these 240 00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:46,280 Speaker 1: jokers in the crowd, and his feet then tripped up, 241 00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:48,520 Speaker 1: and then a flash were out in front of him. 242 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:51,600 Speaker 1: His face hit the pavement hard, and he looked back 243 00:14:51,840 --> 00:14:53,800 Speaker 1: and some dude hanging out in the neighborhood had stuck 244 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:56,240 Speaker 1: his foot out and tripped You God on purpose. Who 245 00:14:56,320 --> 00:15:00,160 Speaker 1: was this guy rooting for, anyway? Not the underdog, the 246 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:02,480 Speaker 1: guy who was now smothered by a litter of cops 247 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:05,200 Speaker 1: pigpiling on top of him, including the ones he'd left 248 00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:08,000 Speaker 1: in the dust that fake out move. Those guys were 249 00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:11,840 Speaker 1: especially pissed. They went full tyson. They beat You God 250 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:14,520 Speaker 1: with their fists, They kicked him with their feet. One 251 00:15:14,560 --> 00:15:17,480 Speaker 1: went right for the mouth, sent his polished Oxford straight 252 00:15:17,520 --> 00:15:20,200 Speaker 1: at You God's teeth. He knew the cops could knock 253 00:15:20,200 --> 00:15:21,960 Speaker 1: every last tooth out of his head and get away 254 00:15:21,960 --> 00:15:23,880 Speaker 1: with it until he put an arm up in defense, 255 00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:27,080 Speaker 1: and the cops kept bashing away. By the time they 256 00:15:27,080 --> 00:15:29,840 Speaker 1: brought him down to the station, You God was bruised 257 00:15:29,880 --> 00:15:34,000 Speaker 1: and bloodied, relieved of his five thousand dollars too, charged 258 00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:37,080 Speaker 1: with grand larceny an assault on a police officer. He 259 00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:40,040 Speaker 1: beat the assault charge, though, but the other one stuck. 260 00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:43,640 Speaker 1: He did a weekend in the Manhattan detention complex aka 261 00:15:43,880 --> 00:15:46,880 Speaker 1: the Tombs, and got assigned one hundred and fifty hours 262 00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:51,479 Speaker 1: of community service. But before giving back to the community, 263 00:15:52,040 --> 00:15:56,400 Speaker 1: you God had some unfinished business to settle. That's stupid Taurus, 264 00:15:56,960 --> 00:15:59,800 Speaker 1: more specifically, the stupid piece of shit who rented him 265 00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:04,040 Speaker 1: the horse, not enterprise, not hurts. A dude from around 266 00:16:04,040 --> 00:16:06,440 Speaker 1: the way, A dude who worked the streets just like you. 267 00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:09,560 Speaker 1: God did you. God made finding that dude his first 268 00:16:09,560 --> 00:16:12,560 Speaker 1: piece of business. When he got out, Yo, you got 269 00:16:12,600 --> 00:16:15,080 Speaker 1: slipped his fingers through a pair of brass knuckles. You 270 00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:18,280 Speaker 1: read to me a stolen car. Dude barely got two 271 00:16:18,280 --> 00:16:20,880 Speaker 1: words out in response before you got connected those brass 272 00:16:20,960 --> 00:16:24,400 Speaker 1: knuckles to the guy's face. Some float like a butterfly 273 00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:27,600 Speaker 1: and sting like a bee. You got just bash the 274 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:32,360 Speaker 1: motherfucker and fast. If you blinked, you missed it. You 275 00:16:32,400 --> 00:16:35,840 Speaker 1: got hurt. The guy's jaw split in half, his fist 276 00:16:35,960 --> 00:16:39,120 Speaker 1: broke it in two. Dude would never disrespect him again. 277 00:16:40,120 --> 00:16:42,040 Speaker 1: The violence flew in the face of all that peace 278 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:46,000 Speaker 1: talk amongst five percenters, but it was necessary. The game 279 00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:49,920 Speaker 1: was changing. It wasn't just about making money anymore. Things 280 00:16:49,960 --> 00:16:52,880 Speaker 1: would never stay that simple. It wasn't always going to 281 00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:55,120 Speaker 1: be money and bindos back and forth through slots in 282 00:16:55,200 --> 00:16:59,080 Speaker 1: a door. Now it was about respect and about protecting yourself. 283 00:17:00,560 --> 00:17:04,679 Speaker 1: Park Hill had become kill a hill. Bodies dropped, lives 284 00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:08,520 Speaker 1: were snuffed out. Guns trump grass knuckles, and when it 285 00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:11,920 Speaker 1: came to guns, the bigger the better. Some Pansy asked 286 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:13,760 Speaker 1: piece like at twenty two, wasn't going to do shit 287 00:17:13,800 --> 00:17:15,280 Speaker 1: for you? When you had a Tech nine or a 288 00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:17,840 Speaker 1: Mac ten trained out of your skulp. The chrome is 289 00:17:17,880 --> 00:17:20,119 Speaker 1: so shiny you could look at your own reflection looking 290 00:17:20,119 --> 00:17:22,719 Speaker 1: back at you seconds before your brains get splattered all 291 00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:27,040 Speaker 1: over the sidewalk, and hierarchies were always in flux. You 292 00:17:27,119 --> 00:17:29,360 Speaker 1: climb up the proverbial ladder one day, and the next 293 00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:31,600 Speaker 1: day you miss a wrong and fall down to the ground. 294 00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:34,719 Speaker 1: Your chances were pretty good that things would wind up 295 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:39,159 Speaker 1: pretty bad. You got knew this. He knew even his 296 00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:41,320 Speaker 1: fate was up in the air on any given day, 297 00:17:41,800 --> 00:17:44,280 Speaker 1: and he was pretty far up that ladder at this point. 298 00:17:44,680 --> 00:17:47,080 Speaker 1: But he wanted out. He wanted out more than he 299 00:17:47,160 --> 00:17:50,120 Speaker 1: never wanted out before, more than the time he walked 300 00:17:50,160 --> 00:17:53,120 Speaker 1: away from his drug dealing door minutes before the NYPV 301 00:17:53,359 --> 00:17:55,919 Speaker 1: opened it up with a battering ram. He was a 302 00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:58,480 Speaker 1: new father and he wanted to be there for his son, 303 00:17:58,960 --> 00:18:03,399 Speaker 1: I like his own father before him. He talked about 304 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:06,760 Speaker 1: all this with his friend Bobby Diggs aka the Rizza 305 00:18:07,080 --> 00:18:10,080 Speaker 1: on nights when You God went to Rizza's place, listened 306 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:14,280 Speaker 1: to music, made music, and dreamed up big plans. But 307 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:17,280 Speaker 1: walking away from dealing crack wasn't as easy as he 308 00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:20,159 Speaker 1: used to be. He was the guy now one of 309 00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:22,639 Speaker 1: the big dealers in kill a Hill. You hand your 310 00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:25,040 Speaker 1: big dealer spot over to one of these smaller fries 311 00:18:25,080 --> 00:18:27,800 Speaker 1: and then you turn your back and bam, who used 312 00:18:27,840 --> 00:18:29,320 Speaker 1: to say, they're not going to put a bullet in 313 00:18:29,320 --> 00:18:33,399 Speaker 1: the back of your head. Plus, Rizza's concept of a 314 00:18:33,520 --> 00:18:37,000 Speaker 1: hip hop collective called Wu Tang Clan was in the 315 00:18:37,080 --> 00:18:40,359 Speaker 1: very early nineties, still just a concept. It wasn't a 316 00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:45,639 Speaker 1: viable alternative. So You God stayed the course. He stayed alert, 317 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:49,000 Speaker 1: He earned every ounce of respect given to him, and 318 00:18:49,080 --> 00:18:51,720 Speaker 1: even if that meant more violence, and there would always 319 00:18:51,800 --> 00:18:55,440 Speaker 1: be more violence, but especially after You God realized he'd 320 00:18:55,480 --> 00:18:59,680 Speaker 1: then sold a bad batch. Not doing anything that the 321 00:18:59,720 --> 00:19:02,960 Speaker 1: guy you tried to screw him with bad drugs wasn't 322 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:06,200 Speaker 1: an option. He was obligated to make that guy pay, 323 00:19:07,040 --> 00:19:09,080 Speaker 1: just like the guy who rented him the stolen car. 324 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:16,399 Speaker 1: You God was infinite, comprehensive, capable of anything, even the 325 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:22,680 Speaker 1: thing he was about to do. We'll be right back 326 00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:31,240 Speaker 1: after this. We're We're We're nineteen ninety one, New York City, uptown. 327 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:34,760 Speaker 1: The plan was simple. Find the guy who sold him 328 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:37,800 Speaker 1: the shitty crack, give the guy the bag of shitty crack, 329 00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:40,960 Speaker 1: get his money back, and then pop the guy with 330 00:19:41,040 --> 00:19:45,840 Speaker 1: the burner hidden it in his pocket, bing bang, boom pow. 331 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:50,240 Speaker 1: You God finds the guy real fast. He's right where 332 00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:53,399 Speaker 1: you God left him, still slinging that pharmaceutical bullshit on 333 00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:56,320 Speaker 1: the street. This is going to be easier than he thought. You. 334 00:19:56,400 --> 00:19:58,679 Speaker 1: God pulls the pathlinder right up on the curve and 335 00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:01,679 Speaker 1: hops out, Yo, that shit you sold me was garbage. 336 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:04,280 Speaker 1: You need to give him my money back now. Nah, 337 00:20:04,320 --> 00:20:07,000 Speaker 1: The guy says, not true. He's backing up as you. 338 00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:09,280 Speaker 1: God pushes on him, and then he starts to make 339 00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:12,040 Speaker 1: some stupid excuse you. God doesn't want to hear it. 340 00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:15,880 Speaker 1: The money now, asshole. Okay, the guy says, okay, man, 341 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:18,800 Speaker 1: just chill chill out man, and the guy can see you. 342 00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:21,680 Speaker 1: God's coming unhinged, his eyes are bulging out of his head, 343 00:20:21,680 --> 00:20:23,480 Speaker 1: and he's got a peace and he is clearly not 344 00:20:23,720 --> 00:20:27,119 Speaker 1: fucking around. Dude also knows you God's badass rep and 345 00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:30,560 Speaker 1: killer hill. Okay, the guy says again, always with the Okay, 346 00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:33,640 Speaker 1: this fucking guy here, he says, chill out, Okay, chill out, Okay, 347 00:20:33,680 --> 00:20:36,080 Speaker 1: let me go upstairs. Okay, grab the money for you. Okay, 348 00:20:36,520 --> 00:20:38,919 Speaker 1: so you. God gets back in the pathfinder and waits, 349 00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:40,840 Speaker 1: and as he waits, he thinks about how stupid this 350 00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:44,000 Speaker 1: all is, rolling up here in broad daylight, strapped ready 351 00:20:44,040 --> 00:20:46,480 Speaker 1: to murder a dude. He waits some more, and the 352 00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:48,720 Speaker 1: guy's up there somewhere and in one of the apartment 353 00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:50,840 Speaker 1: means you. God doesn't know which one you. God starts 354 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:53,040 Speaker 1: to feel like he's being fooled again. It's that same 355 00:20:53,119 --> 00:20:55,639 Speaker 1: fucking feeling, that feeling of knowing that something else is 356 00:20:55,680 --> 00:20:58,600 Speaker 1: going on, and that asshole didn't dirty not once, but twice. 357 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:01,040 Speaker 1: And then you got hears sigh irons and they're coming 358 00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:04,159 Speaker 1: in fast, and within seconds the pathfinder is surrounded by 359 00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:07,040 Speaker 1: blue lights. It's at that moment that you God realizes 360 00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:10,240 Speaker 1: that motherfucker went up there back up to his motherfucking place, 361 00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:14,720 Speaker 1: not to get money, but the call the cops. The 362 00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:17,760 Speaker 1: NYPD wanted you God to snitch on other dealers in 363 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:22,080 Speaker 1: New York, part of the Tactical Narcotics Team Business or TNT, 364 00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:25,040 Speaker 1: the cops master plan where they ensnared the little guys 365 00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:27,800 Speaker 1: in order to get the bigger guys. But you God 366 00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:31,880 Speaker 1: was no snitch. You God was a vault. They gave 367 00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:34,480 Speaker 1: him one to three years, and he did time, first 368 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:38,240 Speaker 1: at a place called Manhattan House, and then Rikers Island 369 00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:42,439 Speaker 1: and then a minimum security prison called Camp Gabriels. He 370 00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:48,200 Speaker 1: took classes and attended meetings. Anger Management Narcotics Anonymous NA 371 00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:51,119 Speaker 1: was strange at first because he wasn't a regular user 372 00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:53,760 Speaker 1: and thus didn't think he belonged there. But he was 373 00:21:53,880 --> 00:21:56,920 Speaker 1: an addict, and NA helped him see that he was 374 00:21:56,960 --> 00:22:01,200 Speaker 1: addicted to the lifestyle, the status, and the money. When 375 00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:03,920 Speaker 1: he was paroled eight months into his sentence, he left 376 00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:06,000 Speaker 1: feeling like a new man, like he had a new 377 00:22:06,119 --> 00:22:09,399 Speaker 1: lease on life. But when he got back to Staten Island, 378 00:22:09,680 --> 00:22:12,120 Speaker 1: he couldn't be that new man. He was an ex 379 00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:14,840 Speaker 1: Cohn on parole and he had but one place to 380 00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:20,680 Speaker 1: go back to the streets. The hierarchy in Killer Hill 381 00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:24,000 Speaker 1: had shifted once again. Some crew from Queen's was trying 382 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:26,920 Speaker 1: to take over. And this dude they called Uncle told 383 00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:29,360 Speaker 1: you God that he and his three guys couldn't sell 384 00:22:29,359 --> 00:22:33,280 Speaker 1: on their usual spot anymore. That was some bullshit. You 385 00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:36,320 Speaker 1: God went into autopilot. He forgot about the things he'd 386 00:22:36,359 --> 00:22:40,359 Speaker 1: learned on the inside, NA and anger management. He forgot 387 00:22:40,359 --> 00:22:43,639 Speaker 1: about the five percent. He put it all aside. He 388 00:22:43,760 --> 00:22:45,880 Speaker 1: told his guys that they were going to take out 389 00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:50,800 Speaker 1: this Queen's crew. Mass gloves, bulletproof vests to the nines 390 00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:54,960 Speaker 1: tech Nines, that is, and mac Ten's too. They found 391 00:22:55,080 --> 00:22:57,840 Speaker 1: Uncle chilling on the front steps of a park Hill building, 392 00:22:58,160 --> 00:23:02,080 Speaker 1: their building, their hood. Uncle never saw him coming. It 393 00:23:02,119 --> 00:23:05,720 Speaker 1: was four guys against one, four guys with semi automatic 394 00:23:05,760 --> 00:23:09,280 Speaker 1: weapons pointed at Uncle's head. You God wrapped his finger 395 00:23:09,320 --> 00:23:12,280 Speaker 1: around the trigger, He steadied his arm, and they were 396 00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:14,560 Speaker 1: going to make a mess, paint kill a Hill with 397 00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:17,679 Speaker 1: the blood of Queen's. That would send a message. And 398 00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:21,879 Speaker 1: the message was this You God was out. You, God 399 00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:27,280 Speaker 1: was back. You. God was capable of anything, but if 400 00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:30,960 Speaker 1: he was capable of this, of bringing forth death and destruction, 401 00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:34,280 Speaker 1: in all out war. It meant he was also capable 402 00:23:34,320 --> 00:23:39,360 Speaker 1: of the opposite, and this thought gave him pause. He hesitated, 403 00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:44,480 Speaker 1: doubt entered his mind, and then that feeling, that familiar 404 00:23:44,520 --> 00:23:49,280 Speaker 1: feeling once again, that something was terribly wrong, that he 405 00:23:49,359 --> 00:23:52,320 Speaker 1: was pushing his luck. It was the same feeling he'd 406 00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:55,560 Speaker 1: gotten before when he closed up shop, when he stopped 407 00:23:55,560 --> 00:23:58,040 Speaker 1: dealing for the night and walked away immediately before the 408 00:23:58,040 --> 00:24:01,200 Speaker 1: cops raided the apartment, and that feeling when that okay 409 00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:04,639 Speaker 1: motherfucker ran upstairs and called the cops. He thought of 410 00:24:04,680 --> 00:24:09,720 Speaker 1: the five percenters, narcotics, anonymous, his addictions, this cycle, all 411 00:24:09,760 --> 00:24:14,440 Speaker 1: of it for what. He looked around at his boys, 412 00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:17,840 Speaker 1: and they're all waiting for him to shoot first, waiting 413 00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:22,760 Speaker 1: on his orders. Nah man, he said, I'm not doing it, 414 00:24:23,359 --> 00:24:28,840 Speaker 1: not pulling the trigger. He left, went home, took off 415 00:24:28,880 --> 00:24:32,199 Speaker 1: the mask and the gloves in the bulletproof vest, and 416 00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:37,159 Speaker 1: put down the semi automatic. The violence ended here, but 417 00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:41,280 Speaker 1: the dealing, the dealing went on. He couldn't give it up. 418 00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:44,600 Speaker 1: He needed the money, so he kept chopping up and 419 00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:47,360 Speaker 1: cooking bricks of cocaine to put money in his pockets, 420 00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:51,800 Speaker 1: which meant his skain kept absorbing cocaine into his bloodstream, 421 00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:54,520 Speaker 1: which meant he kept failing the piss tests that were 422 00:24:54,520 --> 00:24:57,200 Speaker 1: part of his parole, and he was in and out 423 00:24:57,240 --> 00:25:00,520 Speaker 1: of lock up. Every time he got out, he went 424 00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:04,440 Speaker 1: right back into dealing again. And the streets were always there. 425 00:25:05,320 --> 00:25:08,880 Speaker 1: The streets were going nowhere, and so was you God. 426 00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:13,080 Speaker 1: This was the advice he received from the Riza. The 427 00:25:13,119 --> 00:25:17,359 Speaker 1: streets ain't going nowhere, that's what Rizza said. But Rizza 428 00:25:18,040 --> 00:25:21,320 Speaker 1: Rizza was ready to take this woud tank thing somewhere. 429 00:25:21,960 --> 00:25:24,280 Speaker 1: He told, you got to stop messing around with crack. 430 00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:27,239 Speaker 1: Stop failing the pissed test before they locked him up 431 00:25:27,240 --> 00:25:29,840 Speaker 1: and threw away the key and follow him the shall 432 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:32,879 Speaker 1: in and beyond. The streets would still be there if 433 00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:36,080 Speaker 1: it didn't work out, but with any luck, it would 434 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:39,640 Speaker 1: work out. In the streets would never give you God 435 00:25:39,760 --> 00:26:05,240 Speaker 1: trouble again. There's only one word to describe what the 436 00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:08,159 Speaker 1: nine original members of Wu Tang Clan felt when they 437 00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:13,679 Speaker 1: released their nineteen ninety three debut album Joy. There was 438 00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:16,359 Speaker 1: joy in the music they were making. There was joy 439 00:26:16,359 --> 00:26:20,080 Speaker 1: in the immediate success they were experiencing. Joy and how 440 00:26:20,119 --> 00:26:22,800 Speaker 1: they were embraced and heralded by the hip hop world. 441 00:26:23,680 --> 00:26:26,360 Speaker 1: Mostly there was joy in the fact that they had managed, 442 00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:30,120 Speaker 1: against very great odds, to escape the cycle of poverty 443 00:26:30,119 --> 00:26:34,000 Speaker 1: and violence, in the cycle of non success. They were 444 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:37,760 Speaker 1: no longer running, no longer looking behind their backs. They're 445 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:39,840 Speaker 1: no longer wondering what they'd have to do to put 446 00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:42,880 Speaker 1: food on the table that night. They had purpose, now, 447 00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:46,840 Speaker 1: true purpose, and they put that purpose right in the 448 00:26:46,880 --> 00:26:51,720 Speaker 1: album title thirty six Chambers, let's do the supreme math. 449 00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:55,800 Speaker 1: Take the three in the six from thirty six. Three 450 00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:59,520 Speaker 1: plus six is nine, nine members of Wu Tang, nine 451 00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:03,879 Speaker 1: planet in the Solar system, or three multiplied by six 452 00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:06,720 Speaker 1: is eighteen. And if you take the one and the 453 00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:09,879 Speaker 1: eight and eighteen and add them together once again, you 454 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:14,920 Speaker 1: get nine. The ninth supreme number represents born to bring 455 00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:21,280 Speaker 1: something into existence, something new, something powerful, something like Wu 456 00:27:21,359 --> 00:27:26,399 Speaker 1: Tang Clan's first album. The world responded to that power. 457 00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:30,520 Speaker 1: Wu Tang blared from car stereos and boomboxes from coast 458 00:27:30,560 --> 00:27:33,560 Speaker 1: to coast. But just because you decide to be done 459 00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:36,360 Speaker 1: with something, that doesn't mean that that's something is done 460 00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:40,040 Speaker 1: with you. And before long, the reality of Wu Tang's 461 00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:46,240 Speaker 1: not so distant past came calling back. March thirteenth, nineteen 462 00:27:46,359 --> 00:27:50,000 Speaker 1: ninety four. Wu Tang were in California when You God 463 00:27:50,080 --> 00:27:53,520 Speaker 1: got the call his two year old son, Dante have 464 00:27:53,640 --> 00:27:57,160 Speaker 1: been shot back home on Staten Island two years old 465 00:27:57,520 --> 00:28:01,879 Speaker 1: and caught in the crossfire while playing with his babysitter outside, 466 00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:04,399 Speaker 1: and one of the gunmen actually picked Dante up and 467 00:28:04,520 --> 00:28:07,159 Speaker 1: used him as a human shield, and bullets hit him 468 00:28:07,200 --> 00:28:10,880 Speaker 1: in his kidney, his pancreas in his hand. You God 469 00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:13,919 Speaker 1: caught the next plane back east. He wasn't prepared for 470 00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:16,720 Speaker 1: what he saw at the hospital, his boy laying there 471 00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:20,840 Speaker 1: on the operating table, his chest cut wide open, tubes 472 00:28:20,880 --> 00:28:25,520 Speaker 1: and machines and so much blood. Dante died two times 473 00:28:25,560 --> 00:28:29,159 Speaker 1: on that table, and two times Dante came back to life, 474 00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:32,600 Speaker 1: but his life would never be the same again. He 475 00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:35,960 Speaker 1: lost the kidney, and the nerves and his spine were damaged, 476 00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:39,320 Speaker 1: and the physical and mental therapy that lay ahead was extensive. 477 00:28:40,680 --> 00:28:44,040 Speaker 1: You God couldn't cope with any of it. So he drank, 478 00:28:44,480 --> 00:28:47,320 Speaker 1: and so he got high, and so he ingested whatever 479 00:28:47,360 --> 00:28:51,080 Speaker 1: he could to numb the feeling, feelings of pain, feelings 480 00:28:51,120 --> 00:28:54,040 Speaker 1: of guilt that he wasn't there when it happened, and 481 00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:57,120 Speaker 1: that he wasn't able to protect his son. Was this 482 00:28:57,280 --> 00:29:00,680 Speaker 1: all some sort of sick, cosmic joke. He worked so 483 00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:03,880 Speaker 1: hard to extract himself from all this. He had found 484 00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:06,960 Speaker 1: success so that he could provide for his family legitimately 485 00:29:07,240 --> 00:29:11,280 Speaker 1: and properly. Only for his own child, his two year 486 00:29:11,320 --> 00:29:14,520 Speaker 1: old child, to become collateral damage in the life that 487 00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:17,680 Speaker 1: he thought he'd left behind. And he wasn't out for 488 00:29:17,880 --> 00:29:21,240 Speaker 1: justice or blood. He put that shit behind him. Nothing 489 00:29:21,280 --> 00:29:23,200 Speaker 1: good was going to come from him rolling up on 490 00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:25,400 Speaker 1: the dude to shot Dante, him putting a bullet in 491 00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:29,480 Speaker 1: his head. Now the old You God, Yeah, the old 492 00:29:29,520 --> 00:29:31,960 Speaker 1: You God would have done something. He would have put 493 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:34,880 Speaker 1: that motherfucker in a coma. At least You God was 494 00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:38,160 Speaker 1: too busy drowning in his own misery. Though all he 495 00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:40,640 Speaker 1: wanted to do was to make sure his son was safe, 496 00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:44,920 Speaker 1: and he wanted to get real fucked up. The guy 497 00:29:44,920 --> 00:29:48,320 Speaker 1: who shot Dante didn't know that. The guy knew You 498 00:29:48,440 --> 00:29:52,120 Speaker 1: God's old rep He knew what You God was capable of. 499 00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:55,880 Speaker 1: So that guy feared for his life. He was convinced 500 00:29:55,880 --> 00:29:59,440 Speaker 1: that You God was after him, and soon these suspicions 501 00:29:59,440 --> 00:30:02,480 Speaker 1: were floating from neighborhood to neighborhood. Check him out. You 502 00:30:02,520 --> 00:30:04,440 Speaker 1: God is going to tear that guy up, and better 503 00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:07,240 Speaker 1: watch yourself, my man. You God does not fuck around 504 00:30:08,280 --> 00:30:10,960 Speaker 1: word of you. God's supposed wrath made it to the police, 505 00:30:11,400 --> 00:30:14,360 Speaker 1: and the cops were, as we've covered here already, quite 506 00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:16,880 Speaker 1: familiar with you. God. If there was ever a time 507 00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:19,720 Speaker 1: you God was going to do something stupid, this seemed 508 00:30:19,720 --> 00:30:22,840 Speaker 1: to be it. So they took this threat seriously, and 509 00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:25,640 Speaker 1: they put a unit on him. He was followed every 510 00:30:25,680 --> 00:30:29,280 Speaker 1: step he made, every breath he'd take. They were always there, 511 00:30:29,560 --> 00:30:31,920 Speaker 1: no matter where he was going or what he was doing. 512 00:30:32,560 --> 00:30:37,520 Speaker 1: Unmarked cars, playing clothes, dicks, knock off ray vans, cracked lips, 513 00:30:37,520 --> 00:30:41,160 Speaker 1: sip and shitty coffee from styrofoam cups, eyes peeking out 514 00:30:41,200 --> 00:30:44,560 Speaker 1: from behind yesterday's copy of the Post, and the sound 515 00:30:44,600 --> 00:30:49,680 Speaker 1: of idling engines, CB radio static, crackling newspapers being snapped 516 00:30:49,720 --> 00:30:52,640 Speaker 1: shot in a hurry. His own footsteps echoed when he 517 00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:55,440 Speaker 1: walked down the street. At first, it was just one 518 00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:57,480 Speaker 1: or two of these cops, but after a while the 519 00:30:57,560 --> 00:31:00,760 Speaker 1: numbers seemed to double and then triple, at least in 520 00:31:00,840 --> 00:31:04,360 Speaker 1: you God's head, it did. He was seeing these guys everywhere, 521 00:31:04,760 --> 00:31:07,800 Speaker 1: behind the curtain, in his living room, in the bathroom mirror. 522 00:31:08,080 --> 00:31:10,840 Speaker 1: He even saw them in his dreams. It was enough 523 00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:15,080 Speaker 1: to drive a guy crazy, and it did. There's you, God, 524 00:31:15,520 --> 00:31:17,600 Speaker 1: pacing around in the middle of the street in just 525 00:31:17,640 --> 00:31:21,040 Speaker 1: his robe and his underwear. Timberland's on his bare feet, 526 00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:26,400 Speaker 1: a frightening manifestation of crazy. He got locked up, not jail, 527 00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:33,480 Speaker 1: two weeks in the psychiatric hospital. You God was not crazy. 528 00:31:33,640 --> 00:31:37,280 Speaker 1: He was made to think he was crazy. Just because 529 00:31:37,320 --> 00:31:40,880 Speaker 1: you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not after you and all 530 00:31:40,920 --> 00:31:45,080 Speaker 1: that You God had every right to be paranoid. They 531 00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:48,320 Speaker 1: were after him. They were always going to be after him. 532 00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:52,760 Speaker 1: Who they were varied. Sometimes it was the police and 533 00:31:52,840 --> 00:31:57,000 Speaker 1: other times it was the streets. He knew this ODB, old, 534 00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:01,480 Speaker 1: dirty bastard. He also knew this Utang's resident old school 535 00:32:01,600 --> 00:32:05,800 Speaker 1: r and B aficionado and lyrical wildcard. Was pushed beyond paranoia. 536 00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:09,640 Speaker 1: He was scared. He told everyone he was scared, but 537 00:32:09,720 --> 00:32:13,360 Speaker 1: no one wanted to listen. So Dirty had to get 538 00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:17,640 Speaker 1: their attention. ODB had to make them listen, even if 539 00:32:17,680 --> 00:32:24,520 Speaker 1: that meant setting himself on fire. I'm Jake Brennan. In 540 00:32:24,680 --> 00:32:42,160 Speaker 1: this episode, of Disgraceland is to be continued. Disgraceland was 541 00:32:42,200 --> 00:32:44,760 Speaker 1: created by Yours Truly and is produced in partnership with 542 00:32:44,880 --> 00:32:47,920 Speaker 1: Double Elvis. Credits for this episode can be found on 543 00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:51,560 Speaker 1: the show notes page at disgracelandpod dot com. 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