I don't normally listen to rap music, but 50 Cent hit home with the song "Wanksta." While he can't come close to the poetic talent of Tupac, his words did make me think. Most of us know someone that we can identify with when the chorus is spoken. Let me tell you about three types of men that you can find in any neighborhood.
"Say you a gangsta, but you never pop nothin'say you a wanksta, and you need to stop frontin'"
How many of us know someone who puts up more front than a candy store with no customers? Some of you may call him a "wanna be", but I think the term "scared to be" may fit better. He's really a punk and is afraid of just about everything, so he tries very hard to make everyone fear him. This is the bamma who really wants people to believe he's pumping, so he works his minimum wage job in another neighborhood. He is quick to tell
everyone how hard he is and drops names of his supposed boys whenever he feels threatened. All the youngins in the neighborhood show him respectto his face, anyway; they know he's a punk and call him one as soon as he walks past. None of the women in the neighborhood will give him the time of day; the only attention he gets is from teenagers. The word on the street is that he has about four babies with these young girls that he keeps fooling into bed. Yes, it's true that he did a little time, but it was for beating up his girlfriend, not for armed robbery like he said. Someone should tell him that his mama said that she is going to put him out for real this time if he doesn't get his act together.
"Go to the dealership, but you never cop nothin'"
Someone this good at making up excuses should have been writing those sorry notes from home that Juan Epstein used to give Mr. Kotter. If a woman with blurry vision gets involved with a man like this, she'll soon develop 20/20 vision after realizing that every sentence starts with, "Uh, babywould you mind?" This brotha can never drive because his car is always in the shop, or getting detailed (so he wants us to believe.) If you go to dinner with him, you better bring money
because when the check comes, he's gonna say that he forgot his wallet. He gave you his pager number because he says he's never home anyway. The truth is that he lives with his baby's mama illegally because if the housing people found out he was there, they would all be on the street.
"Been hustlin' a long time, and you ain't got nothin'"
This is the saddest story of all-- the has been
hustler. This is the man that is old enough to have
kids in junior high school, but he still hangs out with 16 year olds. You can see him just about any day talking on the pay phone, wearing baggy pants, with braided hair. He needs to get a job, but it's hard to get a job when you keep the "just got out" look. If you know him, you know that this bamma was the man when he was in school. He had a nice ride, always had money to party on, and all the females wanted him. Now, he is nearly homeless and riding the bus. What happened? While the rest of us grew up, got jobs and stopped partying, he must have been stuck in a time warp. He was still standing on the corner, still slanging, but had nothing to show for it. A 30 year old that is in and out of jail for selling coke doesn't attract a crowd like a 17 year old that seems to have it all. Playing the game for 15 years didn't win him a
thing. It's time for him to retire.
published on Urbndour, April 2003. Copyright protected
