I've been reading a book on the history of organized crime which has been one of my strange passions since I read
The Godfather my junior year of high school. In fact, I would guess that not many people have the same favorite book and movie (the novel and
Part One). Anyways, the best part of the book is that it talks about all of the different organized crime groups around the world besides the Mafia, which is the most famous. In the book, mafia is defined as "hostility to law and its ministers." When reading this definition it is easy to see how much of the rap community relates to mafia culture. Racial profiling and other unneccesary prejudices rightfully have lead to a contempt to not only police, but the whole legal system, which is quite unfair to minorities. The connection between the Mafia and rap lead to the one of my favorite rap ideas, the Wu-Gambinos. Originally created by Raekwon after a (supposed) meeting with Carlo Gambino, the Wu-Tang Clan all adopted mafioso names, among their many other aliases. This development produced a mother load of great rap along with a dynasty for the Wu. Their raps about street life (which they had experienced) and family (which they were) was a major influence that you can still see today. Lastly, the Wu-Tang Clan is awesome.
Street Cred
