The artist Spice 1, a major playa on the West Coast, was shot last week while sitting inside his Cadillac Escalade. He suffered a collapsed lung and was taken to the hospital. Of all the reports I can find, it seems that he is going to make his way out of this one.
Seeing Spice 1 drop like that really hit me hard. I am about the same age as Spice, and I feel like we grew up together. Every year, he would put out an album and always mention his age: "I'm 22 with a motherf*cking beer belly. Some say I'mma a OG already". I didn't have a beer belly, but I could relate.
His other songs and ablums included titles such as: AmeriKKKa's Nightmare, 187 Proof, 1990-Sick, Immortalized, and Spiceberg Slim. I listened to this brother's music more than anyone else in the country. That's saying alot, since I listened to hip hop every single day. Powerful hip hop is a strengthener and a motivator, and highly reflective of the amazing power of black men to be strong and overcome, whether we are in the street, the classroom, the basketball court, the penitentiary or the White House. Black men are powerful, that's why America fears us so much.
Even though I was a PhD student and he was dealing with a different reality, I understood his psyche that came through in his music. Lyrics like "If them n*ggaz catch you slippin then yo ass is gone." remind every black man that your enemies are always watching. Someone, somewhere, is always waiting and hoping to send you to prison. If you are in the wrong place, at the wrong time, doing the wrong thing, you could get dropped in a heart beat. I knew that, not just while trying to navigate the traps of white america, but also while trying to break through the challenges of black america. As a black man, the odds are stacked against you, but if you are strong, you can restack the odds in your favor.
Then, the young players get older, and eventually, rather than rapping as a young G, Spice started rapping a true OG. When I met Method Man at ESPN, I meant to ask him how Spice was doing, since I almost felt like he was a friend of mine. Method Man and Spice did some joints together back in the day. Spice also got up with Tupac, C-Bo, MC Eiht and some other talented brothers.
I have long considered Spice 1 to be one of the most creative and talented artists I've ever seen. He's right up there with Tupac, Nas, TI, and Dr. Dre when it comes to bringing a genius to the game that other people cannot replicate. Yeah, he had the hard stuff like C-bo, 50 Cent and all the other gangsta rappers, but I could pick up Einstein-like intelligence in his lyrics. Also, his genius flowed through in his ability to passionately and honestly articulate his experiences and stressors in life. In other words, the boy was cold!
So, when I heard he got shot and might be dead, a part of me died too. As we were growing up together, I knew that the day would come when one day the game was behind us. I also knew that because Spice did not have mainstream status, alot of other people wouldn't be able to understand why I respect his style so much. That's cool. All I can say is that anyone who has not had a chance to hear some of this brother's stuff, you're definitely missing out.
Get well Spice, and keep the game tight.
13 comments:
he's good baby i love spice lucky he wasn't strapped a couple life's would'a been taken, were was his metal?
I know what it feels like to be shot, being that in 2002 I was shot 8 times in a attempted car jacking. I don't remember seeing no cameras filming a hip -hop video, nor was it a movie. This was real, And God has a way of reminding you how short life can really be. I am a big fan of yours Spice1 And I wish you a very speedy and complete recovery. Now is the time To give God his PROPS!!!
keeping it racist, with YourRacistWebsite.com!
Yeah, yeah, yeah, as soon as a rapper gets shot everyone wants to jump on his nuts and say how influential he was. Gimmie a break people, Spice 1 is garbage. He had about 1.5 good songs and thats being generous. Yeah the man is creative but you gotta be to be an emcee. I mean come on, whoever wrote this piece is out his flippin mind. Nas? Pac? Ive been in the game for a long time now, and anyone who knows anything about hip-hop will tell you that Spice 1 had is time to shine, but that time has come and gone. I wish the man a speedy recovery, but next time remember that the trigga gots no heart homie!
Dam pimpin, you sound like an angry white man! By the way - I didn't go to law school, sorry. I got a PhD instead, which is much harder than 3 years of socratic bullshit.
Get over your notion that a person's form of expression implies their intelligence level. But then again, you are a U.S.H., so your ignorance is understoond.
THIS IS A LESSON LEARNED FOR ALL THOSE SO CALLED STREET DUDES THAT JUST GOT DEALS AND THINK THE THEIR TIME IN THE STREET IS OVER
REMEMBER..... YOU ARE EASIER TO GET YOU ARE MORE VISIBLE NOW
YOU SHOULD BE MORE ALERT THAN EVER BEFORE THE STREETS ARE ALWAYS WATCHING AND THEY NEVER SLEEP
BLAKOKE
All I'm saying is that once a rapper gets shot or killed everyone in (or a fan of) the rap game is quick to say how dope that rapper was. In Spice 1's case, he was never dope. His biggest song came off the M2S soundtrack. Seriously? Cmon on now. I know that this is simply my opinion but you cant deny that. So anyone who wants to talk about gettin off someone's nuts just think about that. The facts dont lie. Dope rappers sell records thats why they are dope. Spice didnt sell shit so get off the man's nuts because he was sittin in his whip probably doin some shit he shouldnt have been doin and got his ass shot. Let's not glorify rappers for what happens to them, lets glorify them for the music they produce, the records they sell, and the legacies they leave behind once all is said and done.
No disrespect to the brothers who took the time to comment here, but I can say this....I always thought Spice was dope. He didn't have to get shot for me to appreciate his work. He is a brilliant poet, and has strong creativity that makes him deserving of the mad respect he gets on the West Coast.
He has always been my favorite rapper, even though he fell off a lil bit toward the end. But then again, young cats might see it differently, since I am the same age as Spice. I've met Method Man, Lil Wayne, TI and Tupac, among others. There is talent in all generations. Meth and Pac both recorded with Spice for good reason, because he is that good. The same thing goes for C-Bo and E-40.
Some people might not agree with me, but I have always thought Spice was as good as any of those other brothers on the list. He just only got a little bit of main stream shine, but some rappers in the mainstream suck. Like, I never liked Nellie that much. So, being on the radio alot doesn't mean sh*t to me one way or the other.
That's truth. Agree or disagree, opinions are respected one way or the other.
I can respect that Dr. Well put. I just thought you were another one of these bandwagoners. You know, those who ride an emcees nuts once he gets shot. Thanks for the article. Sometimes we just need a little bit more insight into why an author is taking a particular stance!
Respect back at you Eric. I agree. People tend to revere artists when they die. For example, I loved Pac alot when he was around, Biggie too. But since they died, it's like they rose to some kind of God-like level, as if no one dare even compare themselves to Biggie and Pac.
Don't get me wrong, they were both bad brothers. But the truth is that there are dudes out here who are just as talented, some of them even unsigned. In fact, the unsigned artists are usually the ones who are the best, since the ones who rise to the top of the game are overcommercialized (Jigga is an example - a great artist, but he runs around acting like he's one of the Beattles and what not)...I have nothing to say about Diddy, except that man hasn't made a good record since Biggie was alive. I hope he sells a lot of perfume.
I'm not into hero worship, but I am into giving respect where it is deserved. Biggie and Pac were the Malcolm and Martin of Hip Hop, but it's time for the next generation to leave their mark. It's hard to leave your mark if you spend all your time being afraid of somebody else's legacy.
Peace
Respect back at you Eric. I agree. People tend to revere artists when they die. For example, I loved Pac alot when he was around, Biggie too. But since they died, it's like they rose to some kind of God-like level, as if no one dare even compare themselves to Biggie and Pac.
Don't get me wrong, they were both bad brothers. But the truth is that there are dudes out here who are just as talented, some of them even unsigned. In fact, the unsigned artists are usually the ones who are the best, since the ones who rise to the top of the game are overcommercialized (Jigga is an example - a great artist, but he runs around acting like he's one of the Beattles and what not)...I have nothing to say about Diddy, except that man hasn't made a good record since Biggie was alive. I hope he sells a lot of perfume.
I'm not into hero worship, but I am into giving respect where it is deserved. Biggie and Pac were the Malcolm and Martin of Hip Hop, but it's time for the next generation to leave their mark. It's hard to leave your mark if you spend all your time being afraid of somebody else's legacy.
Peace
Not good. I met Spice-1 a few years back in all places, Jackson, MS. To think some punk ass mofo would do this to him. You gotta be a pussy to yank some metal on Spice-1. Someone needs to find out who did this and someone needs to come up missing.
Spice-1, if yer watching, Be well son and we'll be looking out for ya.
Me and Spice-1 in Jackson, MS
i really never heard much of Spice 1's music. I heard his name a lot in various circles within hip hop. Its sad for anyone to get shot; the world is a little too confortable with violence like its not a big deal for people to get shot and killed. That effects families forever (even the gun-man's).
Biggie took the infamous quote and styled it by saying "you're nobody til somebody kills you" (i think) but its true. Biggie, Pac, Big L, Big Pun, ODB, Freaky Tah, J-Dilla and unfortunetly a whole host of other hip hop artist are all talented but are given more respect when they die or get killed. But that happens in every aspect of life...people say good things about others at funerals. Shit, i mean even people who quit their job and leave to another on good terms get mad respect ex-post-facto. Even people who generally nobody liked still get a lot of compliments and well wishers at their funerals. Dilla Dawg is probably my favorite producer and has always been up there in my book with No ID, Rza, Dre, Premo, Timberland and etc. However, since his death I admit, I've appreciated his work more and maybe its because he is not making beats any more and after maybe the next few years when all the new beats he's made for Ms. Badu and other artist come to surface, we won't hear anything new by him any more and that's what makes the old stuff sound so much better I guess. Kind of like the market in supply and demand; their stuff becomes collector's items in a way and makes people listen to it in a whole different light.
I'm saying all this to say that, although i've never been the person who jumps on the bandwagon after an artist dies (in fact i don't think Pac or Biggie are the sickest ever. i LOVE them no doubt and their lyrics and deliveries are too too sick but they've never been my favorite.) Can i say that i feel like they didn't have enough time to fall off?? Personally, i don't think they would have but Biggie did 2 classic albums within 4 years roughly. Then again so did Wu-tang, so if Rza would have died in 97 or 98 he'd easily go down as the best producer ever.
All i'm sayin is that I understand why people do give dead poets more props than if they were alive.
-Gilead
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