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Growing up in East Oakland in the mid-1980s, P. Frank Williams remembers getting a first-hand glimpse of Too $hort’s early beginnings as a rapper while riding the AC Transit along Foothill Boulevard. He is an iconic artist with his own street signs.
“When I was 13 or 14, I saw Two $ Short on the 40th bus,” recalls Williams. “At this time [International Boulevard] It was called East 14th. Too Short came on the bus with his radio and he was rapping and selling tapes. ”
Nearly 40 years later, Williams is an Emmy and NAACP Image Award-winning producer and journalist who has built a career writing and producing articles about hip-hop artists such as Too $hort. .
Williams attended Roosevelt Middle School in Oakland and graduated from Oakland High School before attending San Diego State University and eventually Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He started his career as a journalist, los angeles times freelance for hip hop publications like XXL magazineAppointed editor-in-chief later originhip-hop’s preeminent publication throughout most of the ’90s and ’00s.
Williams’ list of television and film credits is long and includes major production roles in projects such as the investigative biography miniseries. who killed tupacBET series american gangsterParamount Movies Wu: The Story of the Wu-Tang Clanand documentary Hustler’s Ambition About rapper Young Jeezy.
his latest project hip hop murder, He executive produced the film, which humanizes the victimized artist while taking a macro-level look at the recent epidemic of violence in the hip-hop industry. The show was created by 50 Cent and producer Mona Scott Young. love & hip hopOver eight episodes, the series delves into the murders of artists Pop Smoke, XXXTentacion, King Fong, Magnolia Shorty, Chinks, Soulja Slim, Mo3 and FBG Duck.
Williams said he was first confronted with covering the reality of death in the hip-hop community. LA Times About the tragic death of NWA founder Eazy E from HIV/AIDS in 1995. This experience was a key moment in understanding the impact his words had on the national stage. He later wrote his story on the cover of the November 1996 issue. originabout the death of Tupac Shakur.
“When I saw people reading my articles, there was a tremendous sense of accomplishment,” Williams said. I was blessed to be able to do journalism.”
The Bay Area hip-hop community is no exception when it comes to lives lost to violence. Pittsburgh-born artist Jacka was shot dead in Oakland in 2015, and Richmond rapper Tay Way was also killed in gun violence in 2020. Recent deaths include Los Angeles rapper PnB Rock (September 2022) and Houston. In the wake of group Migos’ native his takeoff (November 2022), the hip-hop community once again faced questions.
“I come from a time when people were already dead. By the time I got into hip-hop, music and the street were connected,” Williams said. “There is organized violence, educational problems, and poverty. [bigger] Conversation about guns in America. It’s not just us, but we are part of it. ”
Williams suggested that some of the violence could be due to how rap artists were perceived. Some just wanted to get the party started. However, with the rise of social her media, today’s artists tend to be concerned with their own image and post pictures of themselves wearing jewelry and other flashy possessions.
“There’s a bullseye on the rapper’s back,” Williams said. “In the past, rappers were heroes.
In the hip-hop community, the concept of “check-in” is used by rappers to notify a respected hip-hop artist in a particular region when they visit a new city, keeping a close eye on them and providing guidance while they are in town. means to receive An area to be avoided so as not to cause harm. But Williams said doing so would not guarantee the artist’s safety. “I don’t know if checking in really does anything. Most of the time, in situations like this, it’s the people in your own city who kill you,” he said. I think there are a lot of
So what does Williams think can be done to stop the violence?
“I wish there was more conversation among black Americans about gun violence and conflict resolution,” he said. “Not only in our music, but in the context of the whole country and the world.”
During our conversation, Williams also spoke about how older rappers intervene more, how younger rappers express themselves on social media, and how they interact with each other in moments of conflict. He also stressed the need to be coached on both.
“We write about too much death and destruction and negativity in music,” Williams said. “And you grew up in the neighborhood, so I don’t think you can necessarily blame artists for seeing a big gun because they’re only writing about what they’ve seen, right? I’m going to try to find a way to balance things a little more.”
in the meantime hip hop murder It’s timely and gives us more insight into rap’s most promising artists we lost too soon, but it’s not exactly a show Williams would want to continue.
“I’m very grateful that the show is on the air, and I hope it’s prevention-oriented and solution-oriented,” he said. “But I don’t want to do 100 episodes.” Hip hop murder.”
“Hip Hop Homicides” airs every Thursday at 9pm on WEtv.
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