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And why Schoolly D's name turns up in his "manifesto."
While absent-mindedly scrolling through the gigantic, chilling “manifesto” released by Norwegian mass-murderer Anders Behring Breivik, I was surprised to come across the name of Philadelphia gangsta rap pioneer Schoolly D (the document uses the alternate spelling, Schooly D). As it turns out, this part wasn’t written by Breivik himself; it comes from a semi-infamous semi-academic 2003 essay by American political commentator/linguist John H. McWhorter called “How Hip-Hop Holds Blacks Back.”
In it, he quotes lyrics and rails against “hip-hop’s bloody and sexist lyrics and videos and the criminal behaviour of many rappers.” Schoolly’s classic “PSK What Does It Mean,” gets special attention, of course. The piece was included without its headline but with the byline, as if McWhorter was some sort of contributor to the overall manifesto. This is not the case, of course, but only the essay’s parting blow — “Hip-hop creates nothing.” — seems to have been excised.
Strange bedfellows, eh Mr. McWhorter?
As for Breivik, he includes his own rants on hip-hop as a gateway drug.
I personally know of more than 50 individuals who started with hashish and marijuana as a direct result of the hip-hop mentality. Many of these went from light drugs to heavier drugs such as amphetamine and even heroin. I personally know that more than 20 individuals, from my “hip-hop community”, have become severe drug addicts and some of them are probably dead today. I estimate that of the 20 000 drug addicts in Norway, approximately 30-40% have initially been significantly influenced by the hip hop mentality.
Stranger still is Breivik’s weak “the music made me do it” excuse for his own troubled youth.
I remember my active years in the hiphop movement as a continuous and intense orgy of misconduct, manifested primarily through tagging and piecing. During my two most active years at the age of 15 and 16, I estimate that myself (Morg), Richard (Spok) and Jon Trygve (Wick) inflicted property damage (through bombing raids - “tagging”) of approximately 2 million Euro combined of which I inflicted aprox. 700 000. The three of us were the most active of a loosely distributed “tagger force” numbering approximately 1000 at the time. This was during a primary peak of Hiphop, in 1994-1995. I estimate that the numbers of taggers have been reduced substantially since then and hover at around 200 individuals today in Oslo.
Breivik’s meticulous delusion led him to believe that his massive, anti-Muslim, typo-laden manifesto would eventually become a bible of sorts for other right wing nuts. So, like any megalomaniac, he offers a solution to the supposed hip-hop problem.
As for the fate of the hiphop industry; banning it altogether is not the optimal solution as it would cause overwhelming short term outcry and it would eliminate positive aspects as well. However, I believe significant restrictions in the rights of media companies which will include censoring negative and destructive lifestyles. An alternative is to limit such marketing to future “liberal zones”. Certain positive aspects of the hiphop movement should be allowed to survive such as break dance and positive genres of the music as long as it positively influences the self confidence of European youths and only if it can be re-defined as a European tradition and not portrayed as a ghetto/ethnic/multiculturalist lifestyle.
It is beyond all doubt that the political obstacles to solving these core issues are so comprehensive and enormous that only a revolution (initiated by a military coup) would present a climate where these issues can be properly addressed and solved.
I don't know what to say to such psychotic bullshit. A military coup to restrict access to "dangerous" music? "Fuck this guy" doesn't begin to cover it. (There's already been at least this one response from the Oslo hip-hop community.) It is interesting that Breivik, unlike McWhorter, wouldn't sign off on the idea that "hip-hop creates nothing." Good to know this guy who went on a rampage shooting children at a summer camp thinks breakdancing is okay.
RELATED: A firsthand story of survival at the Labor Youth camp. My heart goes out to the survivors, the mourners and everybody affected by this tragedy.
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