The Last Ones Left – Chapter 1: "Hello Brooklyn!"

I once spit a line that went like this:

"Young man, don’t let ignorance stand in ya way/ Why hate Nas just ‘cuz you’re a fan of Jay?/ You can like both/ But in this Titanic rap shit, which one do you think would put you in his lifeboat?..."

I was commenting on the ignorant and stupid way people choose shallow reasons to rep someone or something, even if it’s not to their own benefit. Or people who diss one thing, just because they choose to rep something else. Sometimes, we don’t even have to choose, but we’re led to believe that not choosing or not repping makes us less cool. I don’t rep many things because I don’t choose to attach myself to something that doesn’t love me as much as I love it, but I do rep people in general; I’m a fan of humanity, and a proponent of the human experience. I’m about the everyday truths that make up life outside of all the glitz and glamour that cloud our minds. Don’t get me wrong, I’m up for the glitz and glamour at times because I like my fun to happen in every way possible, but for the most part, I rep the have-nots, and the haves who struggle just to achieve some semblance of peace and happiness. This is what I’m from, and what I deal with every day. This is why I don’t rep New York like many of my peers do. I won't rep a New York that I soon won't be able to afford, a New York that wants me, and those like me, gone. I don’t rep the “Sex and the City,” “Friends,” trendy, aren’t-we-so-fabulous?-version of New York that even cats who claimed to be about the gritty struggle a few moons ago, now rep hard. This isn’t to say that I don’t enjoy a fabulous night out a few times a month, but it doesn’t define me, and it doesn’t distort my image of the gross class division that exists in New York.

Sometimes I think that even my associates forget that among all of the happening events, boutiques, and lounges, there are folks in Brownsville, Mott Haven, Jamaica, Harlem, Melrose, and other hoods that are barely eating. Not on some “I’m bumming meals off of my artist friends, and I can’t afford a car, but still I have money for weed, and cool t-shirts” shit. I’m talkin’ about folks who can’t get their kids on the bus in the morning b/c they can’t afford half-fare, and folks who will have no television to watch for a while when all the tvs go digital next year and families who may look normal but are very close to living on the street. This is in New York, not Africa or Indonesia or South America, so stop rapping about these other fucking places, and indigenous people, and human rights violations; you got enough material right here in the Apple. These things are happening even in your trendy neighborhood. For example, I’ve been to a coupla nice, hipster parties in Bushwick. Cool lofts and all that. But I also toured the neighborhood while apartment shopping, and I was introduced to blocks that look like 1970s South Bronx. The standoffish Hasidic Jew landlord, not much older than 22, acted like he was doing me a favor by showing me his hellhole apartments. I saw potential tenants walk up to the building, and leave before he arrived. This is also the neighborhood that "AM New York" wrote an article about eating the least vegetables in New York. Funny, I thought trendy people who live in cool (read: false sense of security, lots of young white people) neighborhoods pride themselves on eating lots of veggies, not much meat? Isn’t that an indicator, along with vintage t-shirts, bar/lounges, and too much scarf-wearing, of how good and cool a neighborhood is in New York? (Is this the point where a knowledgeable Brooklynite trys to tell me that I’m describing what is probably East New York, not his/her beloved Bush-burgh neighborhood?). My point is not to disparage Bushwick, my point is that the folks not eating veggies, or anything organic, healthy, and expensive, are probably the ones with money for kool-aid, Little Debbie snacks, and generic cereals, but not much else. They are right alongside, and under the noses of, the trendy New Yorkers so proud of their nabe. Actually, they won’t be alongside them soon as gentrification pushes them out; but I digress. I eat my veggies and whole foods and all that shit, but I rep for the folks who eat what they can afford, who live like they can afford to live. They are the ones who need a voice, who need representation. To that end, I have been inspired to start this series, called “The Last Ones Left,” about a place I have come to love, a place I wasn’t born at, and used to hate when I was younger – The Bronx.

I have been accused of being anti-Brooklyn. If you know me, and you know how to read between the lines, and not just above and below, you would know that that’s ridiculous. I had my heart set on moving to BK last year b/c I’d already lived in multiple locations in the Bronx and Manhattan. I wanted to try out BK, b/c I perform there often, I’ve worked there for the past coupla years, I love some of the energy, many of my friends live there, and it would make things easier for me as far as networking goes. Calling me anti-Brklyn is really just a clever way of saying that I shouldn’t bring up any rational, factual, contrary information when someone I know (almost always a Brooklynite since I’m a young black artist, and if you know N.Y. you know that most similar types live in BK) talks bad about (almost always with ignorance) the Bronx. I’ve heard folks talk about they won't eat Bronx food, that they won’t drink the water, that the girls are young, stupid, with babies, every place is dirty, no one eats healthy, etc. Funny, I drink the water every day, along with some quite healthy food, I’ve lived in very clean spaces, I’m quite healthy, and I know lots of young, dumb, baby-having chicks in other boroughs. Most of the time, my point is not to defend the Bronx, but as you guys know, I hate ‘experts,’ and when someone talks about a place I live and do a lot of things at, like they know of what they speak, I just correct them. Often the easiest way to show them their error is to make a comparison, usually to BK, in my experiences. I’ve heard “everyone’s killing everyone” in the Bronx. My life has only been threatened outside of the Bronx. I've heard blacks and hispanics, a bad stretch away from being a have-not themselves, talk so dirty about other blacks and hispanics, and families, and hardworking people who live in the Bronx. It's sad that various media influences have led some people to believe that they are truly superior to their own bredren. It's sad and it's pitiful.

I really think that trashing the Bronx is just a convenient way for people to feel good about themselves by trashing those who are seemingly less fortunate. That’s really, really corny. These people know that the Bronx is not the only place with problems, but it’s the easiest, quickest way to sound snarky while trying to pump themselves up. The Bronx does have a lot of problems, some problems that don’t exist in other areas of the city. But a lot of what people think are myths. My Bronx includes a wonderful state park, a break from all the fake-ass people, beautiful families, lots of green space, good restaurants. And as far as just feeling real to me – Bronxites are the last ones left. The Bronx aint full of transplanted out-of-towners (they’re scared, of course), and too-cool-for-school artists with stars in their eyes. The Bronx doesn’t make me gag looking at people trying way too hard to be cool. Yeah, we might have a higher concentration of have-nots, but that’s fine. Because we want what we can keep, what's real, what’s valuable. We don’t want to be defined by folks outside of our culture. The part that kills me that most is that I know rappers who talk much shit about the Bronx (where hip-hop started, no?), and will give you tons of pseudo-intelligent or so-called cleverly ignorant reasons why they are right to feel like they do. These are rappers who consider themselves hip-hop heads, true rappers, who do it for love and love the culture. Bullshit. Hip-hop will always be intertwined with struggle. Struggle, and being a have-not, is what bore hip-hop. I don’t even think many of these people know what they are rapping about. They need to re-evaluate their lyrics, and see if it matches their lives, and real life. That’s all I’m gonna say about Bronx-haters. The rest of this series will be devoted to positive energy, and love for the Bronx. And love doesn’t mean everything will be painted in an adoring light. But I point out flaws b/c I got love, and I hope things will change one day. I’ll always have love. Even if I move to Brooklyn next year, which is very possible. As far as The Boogie, like ‘Pac said in “Life Goes On” –“my niggas, we the last ones left!”

I'm StarPower, and I approve this message.