Back In The Days

I think the Notorious B.I.G. said it best. "Remember back in the days when my boys had waves, Gazelle shades and corn braids, Honies had the high top jellies, shooting skelly, All my people were friendly, Lounging at the BBQ, drinking brews with the neighborhood crews, hanging on the avenues". Where did all that go? Back then it was fun. Running the streets, chilling with your boys. And you didn't really have to worry about coming home dead or shot up. When we fought the most you would get is cut up. Most of the time it was just straight up fist fights. I really miss the parties. Back then I used to DJ. I remember controlling the crowd with my music. Heads were bopping, people were grinding away. It was fun! You had your thugs up in the spot but they hardly got any play. Back then it wasn't fashionable to be with one. Around 93-94 the climate started to change. The west coast scene started to bump in the NYC. Then everybody in the hood traded in there backpack for a bandanna. Most of the people my age didn't know anything about gangs. But thru the music they were influenced. That's when I started to see the emergence of the bloods and crips in the NYC. And people tell me music doesn't influence the youth. Fast Forward late 90's. Puffy and Bad Boy Entertainment had everything on lock. Former gangsters traded in there bandannas for some bling. Gold wasn't the standard anymore it was stepped up to platinum. Then the dirty south started to emerge. That's when we started losing our black women to the pole. All women wanted to do was shake it fast, watch yourself. Again you tell me music doesn't influence the youth. I retired from DJing in 2000. I don't know if I got tired of doing it or if it was the music that turned me off. They say music is the soundtrack of life. It is. And I think if we get that back in the day feel to it we could influence the next generation in a positive way....................................