Online, there are 14 tracks by Scoot and Ty of the Young Legends crew. Among the titles are "Homicide," "Want War," "Now It's A War" and "I'm Rich b*tch." "Cannon" is punctuated throughout by gunshots and here are snatches from "Life Getting' Crazy":
"I ball without the jersey and wristband" I play the block like I'm 6-10" Working on my million, living each day like it's my last 'cause niggas are killin'" Camden is where I'm from, and it's the realest / You gotta feel it, motherf*cker, it's the Murder Cap" Life is getting' crazy now / Every day is getting' worse and the day is gettin' shorter now" b*tch, just one shot, I get him murdered."
It sure ain't Fats Waller with his "I don't stay out late / Don't care to go / I'm home about eight / Just me and my radio," or even RUN DMC with their "We are not thugs (we don't use drugs) but you assume (on your own) / They offer coke (and lots of dope) but we just leave it alone." Homicidal hip hop is no more intrinsic to black culture than, say, Miley Cyrus, Honey Boo Boo and the Jerry Springer Show are to white. Who want it this way? Who benefit?
Scoot rapped the above at age 21. For two years before that, he warmed the bench for a division II basketball team in, of all places, Oskaloosa, Iowa, population 11,555 and 93.3% white. Scoot didn't like William Penn University very much. Back in Camden, he ended up in and out of jail for drugs, theft and forgery. Champ only remembers the theft charge, for which Scoot got 20 months. It was just his son being in the wrong place at the wrong time, Champ explains, "He didn't have anything to do with it. The people who did it picked him up, then the cops pulled their car over."
All of Scoot's anxieties, dreams and troubles were emphatically dissolved on November 30th, 2011 when he was shot 15 times by a 27-year-old drug dealer, Daron Trent. Scoot left behind two daughters, Adaiye and Asiya, by two different women.
Champ never went to the trial, "If he got twelve or a hundred years, it's not going to bring my son back."
Most curiously, there's a "R.I.P. Scoot 'Jamaal Barker' Public Figure" FaceBook page with entries from the dead man himself:
October 27, 2012 "
Loving and missing my two beautiful girls adaiye and asiya,daddy watching over you.Mom i love you, your the glue that's keeping this family together while I'm gone. YL/E.O.S/G.M.E keep making me proud i hear yall niggas.
December 3, 2011 "
DADDY'S LITTLE PRINCESS ADAIYE & ASIYAH!! DADDY WILL ALWAYS LOVE YALL. NOTHING OR NOBODY WILL EVER CHANGE THAT.IM NOT GONE I JUST GREW BIGGER WINGS TO PROTECT YOU.
December 3, 2011 "
GETTING MONEY ENTERTAINMENT (G.M.E) WISH WE COULD OF THIS sh*t TOGETHER IT WOULD OF BEEN FIRE. KEEP YA HEAD UP BOYS DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME IM CHILLEN LOOKING DOWN ON YALL.
December 3, 2011 "
YOUNG LEGENDS ..I LOVE YOU GUYS I DIDNT LEAVE YALL I SIMPLY TOOK MY TALENTS TO HEAVEN. SETTING UP A "STU" WAITING FOR YALL TO JOIN ME.
With rappers dropping left and right, there must be so many stus in the beyond, bless us all, blasting the nastiest rhymes. Make sure you wear industrial strength headphones in your coffin.
Champ, "My son was the sweetest kid. If he saw you talking to me just once, he'd do anything for you after that. He helped me with my towing business. My son knew how to get down and dirty. He was a family man. He loved his daughters."
Often, people are the worst judge of what's closest to them, whether it's a parent, child, spouse or hometown, but why should this surprise, since we're also nearly always the worst at assessing our own talents and character.
"All right, Champ, one last question" Do you think old school values can be recovered?"
"No."
"No?!" I guffaw.
"No, nothing stays the same, bro."
"I ball without the jersey and wristband" I play the block like I'm 6-10" Working on my million, living each day like it's my last 'cause niggas are killin'" Camden is where I'm from, and it's the realest / You gotta feel it, motherf*cker, it's the Murder Cap" Life is getting' crazy now / Every day is getting' worse and the day is gettin' shorter now" b*tch, just one shot, I get him murdered."
It sure ain't Fats Waller with his "I don't stay out late / Don't care to go / I'm home about eight / Just me and my radio," or even RUN DMC with their "We are not thugs (we don't use drugs) but you assume (on your own) / They offer coke (and lots of dope) but we just leave it alone." Homicidal hip hop is no more intrinsic to black culture than, say, Miley Cyrus, Honey Boo Boo and the Jerry Springer Show are to white. Who want it this way? Who benefit?
Scoot rapped the above at age 21. For two years before that, he warmed the bench for a division II basketball team in, of all places, Oskaloosa, Iowa, population 11,555 and 93.3% white. Scoot didn't like William Penn University very much. Back in Camden, he ended up in and out of jail for drugs, theft and forgery. Champ only remembers the theft charge, for which Scoot got 20 months. It was just his son being in the wrong place at the wrong time, Champ explains, "He didn't have anything to do with it. The people who did it picked him up, then the cops pulled their car over."
Champ never went to the trial, "If he got twelve or a hundred years, it's not going to bring my son back."
Most curiously, there's a "R.I.P. Scoot 'Jamaal Barker' Public Figure" FaceBook page with entries from the dead man himself:
October 27, 2012 "
Loving and missing my two beautiful girls adaiye and asiya,daddy watching over you.Mom i love you, your the glue that's keeping this family together while I'm gone. YL/E.O.S/G.M.E keep making me proud i hear yall niggas.
December 3, 2011 "
DADDY'S LITTLE PRINCESS ADAIYE & ASIYAH!! DADDY WILL ALWAYS LOVE YALL. NOTHING OR NOBODY WILL EVER CHANGE THAT.IM NOT GONE I JUST GREW BIGGER WINGS TO PROTECT YOU.
December 3, 2011 "
GETTING MONEY ENTERTAINMENT (G.M.E) WISH WE COULD OF THIS sh*t TOGETHER IT WOULD OF BEEN FIRE. KEEP YA HEAD UP BOYS DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME IM CHILLEN LOOKING DOWN ON YALL.
December 3, 2011 "
YOUNG LEGENDS ..I LOVE YOU GUYS I DIDNT LEAVE YALL I SIMPLY TOOK MY TALENTS TO HEAVEN. SETTING UP A "STU" WAITING FOR YALL TO JOIN ME.
With rappers dropping left and right, there must be so many stus in the beyond, bless us all, blasting the nastiest rhymes. Make sure you wear industrial strength headphones in your coffin.
Champ, "My son was the sweetest kid. If he saw you talking to me just once, he'd do anything for you after that. He helped me with my towing business. My son knew how to get down and dirty. He was a family man. He loved his daughters."
Often, people are the worst judge of what's closest to them, whether it's a parent, child, spouse or hometown, but why should this surprise, since we're also nearly always the worst at assessing our own talents and character.
"All right, Champ, one last question" Do you think old school values can be recovered?"
"No."
"No?!" I guffaw.
"No, nothing stays the same, bro."
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