Thug existence: bill Bratton tells the fact about rap - long island put up

So invoice Bratton known as rappers "thugs." What's not actual?

Biggie Smalls, Tupac Shakur and Jam grasp Jay have been all shot down in their best — young black men slain thanks to the gangsta, "pork"-fueled lifestyles.

On the radio Thursday, Bratton used the "t" work while discussing Wednesday nighttime's violence at Irving Plaza. He must have time-honored he'd immediate an avalanche of concern.

The Atlantic's David Graham, for one, sniffed that "a white guy from Boston may still likely avoid 'thug.' " should you "put a lot of people in a crowded, hot area," Graham suggested, "you're going to get occasional fights."

Gun fights? Sorry, they're much more likely at a concert where the tune celebrates gun violence — which become Bratton's point.

If the police commissioner's guilty of stereotyping, it's handiest as a result of rap artists and their hangers-on traffick in that stereotype.

sure, rap can spin transcendent glory out of 'hoods the place lifestyles is nasty, brutish and brief. NWA belongs in the Rock and Roll hall of fame, and Jay Z earned his riches reasonable and rectangular.

No, now not all of the lyrics embrace violence, misogyny, drug use or gang tradition — but an awful lot do. And artists and fanatics too often can't separate stage personas from precise life.

Wikipedia has a web page committed to murdered rappers and an additional for rappers who've killed. once-promising rapper Bobby Shmurda now sits on Rikers Island looking ahead to trial on conspiracy, murder, drug and gun fees. This month, two of his GS9 crew had been found guilty on related costs and exceeded long prison sentences.

A rapper and two others got shot Wednesday, and a bodyguard killed; the commish connected the dots. That's his job: Bratton's supposed to be incensed at a murder in "the usa's safest massive city" — and speakme for new Yorkers of all races when he confronts the motives.

Raging at his use of "thug" obscures the undeniable fact that a different young black life changed into taken whereas, with the aid of the grace of God, others have been spared serious damage. Black lives count number to invoice Bratton. That's good policing.