Real Talk

by James “Cashtro” Brinkley

Hip-hop, hip-hop and more hip-hop is the cure if you blindly think that Rap music can’t help you in your toughest moments in life, then like the late great Notorious B.I.G. said, “Your Dead Wrong”. We all have someone we love that is locked up but do we really know what is one of their many forms of therapy in the Bing? You guessed it Hip-Hop. I myself can confirm this being a living example to this testimony. The lyrics and beats in our cultures’ music is truly therapeutic. It helps us brothers in the bing focus, stay strong, feel free, motivate, reminisce and plan for the future. Also, with all of the extra time we have to listen to our cultures’ music, we are the best critics, especially when 9 out of 10 rappers are talking about our lives not theirs. Hey, I’m just being real, which is one of the foundations of Hip-Hop…Real feelings, real good times and real bad times.

Welcome to “Da Bing View” where we will keep it real with Hip-Hop, our people and our culture. I am your host, Cashtro the Young Don, reaching out to you, “Live from the Bing”. In this very first article of Da Bing View, I feel it’s only right that we shout out some of the MC’s in the game who we in the Bing feel have truly spit on the mic what its like to be in Da Bing. My first shout goes out to Ghostface. Back in the 90’s he spit about being here and what you see when you first come thru. On “Ironman” allow me to quote, “190 mix with baby oil and shit/ya mans in the kitchen stacking ice picks”. Wow that was classic only someone who been in the Bing would know about the 190 and baby oil. Next, I gotta give a shout to Beanie Sigel for his tribute to the bing on “The Reason”. He touched on more of the mental things and emotional things you go through being in the Bing. I quote, “Them outsiders is a motherfu@#er/ without a letter from a muthafu@#er/ it ain’t even about the cheddar from a muthafu@#er.” Wow that was real, only someone who been to the Bing would know what its like not getting any mail. And last but not least I must shout out Jay-Z for his testimony on Reasonable Doubt, which in itself is a very important word to anybody in the Bing or fighting a case. Jay-Z assisted by Too Short on “In the Life & Times of Shawn Carter Vol. 2″ spoke on the snitch factor. I quote, “Them crackers up there bleaching ya dome your leaking/ who would have thought you get pop one time and rat. Snitching is the worst thing a man out there in the game could do/ once a rat, always a rat.” Only someone who had to deal with a ratting ass co-defendant could have spit it like that. Wow this was heartfelt.

Send in your questions, comments and complaints, etc. for Da Bing View to Cashtro@hiphopgivesback.org. In the meantime stay strong, stay blessed and stay real.

God bless you and yours.

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Cashtro The Young Don

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 23rd, 2008 at 12:00 am and is filed under A View From Da Bing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.