I grew up in a small town which had two claims to fame – a huge amount of geriatrics and a really big waterfall. Even here, amongst the pensioner specials and odd lost tourist, my school had kids who were cool and kids who were not. When I was 14 rap music hit my radar and I realised there was a thing called cool. I wasn’t it.
If you went to a school normal enough to have these two phenomena you will know what I’m talking about. The cool kids were easy to identify – they hung out in groups, showed no respect, they were fearless, they got in fights, they wore big hoodies and low slung jeans, they walked a certain way, they talked a certain way and they modelled themselves on being “gangsta.” The not cool kids, aka me, paid attention, got good grades and tried to do their homework.
One of the coolest kids in my school was Justin. Justin was a celebrity because he was huge and everyone was too scared to do anything but admire him. I’ll admit, Justin terrified me. He had white eyes which popped out of his brown skin like a cartoon cobra and you would find them watching you across the hallways at uncomfortable intervals. Justin’s school career didn’t last long – he stole Mr Payne’s cellphone. He got caught, Mr Payne on a rare stroke of genius decided to call his stolen phone. It rang in his classroom, not on his desk as he had left it, but in Justin’s bag. Justin got suspended, then he brought alcohol to the school Valentine’s Dance and got expelled. Of course, his celebrity status went through the roof with all this, but he couldn’t really enjoy it as he was longer allowed on the school property.
When I think about school or popular culture I realise we have made being gangster or rebellious look cool. Teenagers don’t try be Mark the accountant – most of them are wear their caps backwards, give attitude and try to be “cool”. Rappers glamourise life “in the hood” and people follow them.
A part of me understands it; there’s something about the gangster lifestyle that is attractive. I think it’s the friends and community they have. We all want people who are loyal to us, willing to fight for us, support us and be there when we need it. This different kind of life is intriguing because it’s outside of the conventional mainstream life a lot of us feel is our inevitable end.
There’s a problem with this whole thing though – while we drop our gangster lines and save hip hop songs on our phones in an attempt to be cool, we create a false allusion of a life which in reality looks a lot more like this:
– Always looking over your shoulder wherever you go.
– Never being able to show weaknesses and often feeling paranoid because someone may be after you.
– Throwing up while waiting for a rival gang to show up, knowing a fight is inevitable, and it could be fatal.
– Knowing you could be thrown in jail anytime.
– Feeling afraid of what you say because the wrong thing at the wrong time could get you a bullet in your head.
– Living everyday knowing that the people you love are not safe.
The gangster life isn’t cool, a joke or something to admire. It’s dark, it’s heavy and it’s very difficult cycle to break out. 2Pac in his famous song ghetto gospel says:
“Before we find world peace
We gotta find peace and end the war in the streets.”
Maybe it’s time to stop making gangster cool and instead think about the life style it promotes?
I don’t know what happened to Justin and I shudder to think about how many people’s futures are affected because they get caught up in being cool or the wrong crowd. Hey, for me, I’m all for making my own cool. This version is based on good values and smart decisions. It’s based on eternal promises and being the best you can. You say you a gangsta? That don’t impress me none.