An Inclusive Litany

2/7/94

From a press release issued by Capitol Records to promote Gangsta Lean, the debut album by DRS (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels):
DRS's album, Gangsta Lean, is a slice of the average day in the hood and insight into the mind of the endangered young black male. You can't be soft in the world DRS talks about. That explains the song "Mama Don't Raise No Punks." This song is about a nigga who "doesn't care about dying" for what he believes in, whether it be his right-hand man, his mama, or taking out some other nigga for messin' with his woman. It's a humorous take on the gold-digging hoochie who, even though she is out spending her man's ends ($$$), is also out watchin' his back. "Hell Yeah" she's down for her nigga, down to be his partner and hold his glock (gun) or yayo (dope). Down to give it up when he grabs the back of her head and says "Make It Rough" for me tonight. Not only do the DRS men play ball hard and talk hard, they also knock the boots [have sex] with the same ruff neck attitude.

That attitude is also conveyed in "Strip," a song about what is called "Sexual Aggravated Assault" for the white-collar individual, but for the black man is always called rape. It's about a girl who decides in the middle of the act or after sex that she either doesn't want to give up the poom-poom anymore or that she never did want to give it up, making it rape. DRS states in the song that it's not about those who were legitimately raped but about those who lied. There are a lot of innocent men locked up because some girls, for whatever reason, change their minds.

This hard-core debut is like a CNN, or rather an "RNN" (Real Nigga News), for the world. If you walk away from this "broadcast" without having gained some insight into what it's really like in the hood, then you missed the whole muthaf***in' point. And that may be the worst crime of all.