Da Rap Game
Music Can Be Money or Murder
by
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THE SET UP! In Hot Springs, Arkansas there were two rival groups of rappers. Jalil Jackson, Kamafloge, and D.J. Wite were the best rappers uptown on Walnut Street. Magik-1, P.G. and 2Gun were the best rappers downtown on Spring Street. Jalil and P.G. were best friends from elementary. Jalil stayed independent because there were no major producers, plus he knew the business side in music. P.G. got signed to Magik-1 Records because he thought he had clout. Magik-1 would sign local artists to his label. Then when the money came in he wouldn’t pay anybody. Jalil knew this, but P.G. didn’t. Jalil and P.G. shared two cordless microphones with receivers until P.G. got signed. Uptown and Downtown were competing to get a major record deal with Spa Town Records who has the power to put artist’s music in stores, plus they’ll shoot you your own video to promote your album and five thousand dollars in cash. Jalil was looking for his microphones, but he forgot that P.G. had them. He called P.G. The phone rung twice, but he answered. Jalil said I need those microphones and the receivers. P.G. said you can get them but my car on flat at the car wash in front of Indiandale Apartments. Jalil said well I’m coming to get them because I need them for rehearsal. P.G. said come and get them, I’ll be here. Jalil said bet, I’m on my way. P.G. said o.k. Before Jalil hung up, P.G. asked why don’t you go ahead and sign with Magik-1. Jalil said nigga, are you fucking crazy? He not gonna pay you. He gonna do you like he did everybody else. P.G. said naw he gonna pay me. Jalil said “whatever!” I’m on the way and hung up. He went back in the room where D.J. Wite and Kamafloge were and told them he was going to pick up the microphones and receivers. Kamafloge asked you want me to ride with you? You know how shady them niggaz are, ya heard me? Jalil said naw I got it, I’ll be back. D.J. Wite said, watch your back. Jalil said bet, I will and left out the door. Meanwhile, P.G. was fixing the flat on his car. He called Magik-1 at his apartment in Indiandale and 2Gun was there to. P.G. told Magik-1 he was staying until Jalil come because he was going to give him his microphones. Magik-1 asked, Jalil coming around there? P.G. said yeah he on the way right now. Magik-1 said bet and hung up. He told 2Gun, Jalil coming to the car wash, and said if you want your revenge, you better get it now. 2Gun said yeah you right. He was rolling a blunt, but he stopped. He reached under the couch and pulled out a .380 and a .9millimeter. Magik-1 went and got two black jackets with hoods on them, two black bandannas and said let’s go. They left out the door around the corner to the car wash where P.G. was. He had on a white shirt and blue pants and was having trouble with the flat looked up and saw Magik-1 and 2Gun. He asked why y’all dressed like that. 2Gun said because it’s chilly out here. P.G. said it’s not that chilly out here or I would’ve grabbed my jacket. He asked Magik-1 did he bring some weed. Magik said naw I left it in the apartment. P.G. said I’m going to get it because I want to smoke. Before he left, he told Magik-1 and 2Gun when Jalil come, give him the microphones and the receivers out the trunk. 2Gun said yeah I’ll give it to him, saying it in a funny way. P.G. took off jogging around the corner to the apartment. Seconds later, Jalil pulled up in his white Cadillac Deville and saw two people dressed in black standing beside P.Gs. car, but he couldn’t see their faces because they had their backs turned toward him. Jalil got out the car and asked why do it take you so long to do something? As he got closer he noticed the men act like they didn’t hear him. Jalil asked do you hear me. Magik-1 and 2Gun turned around pointing pistols at him. Jalil put his hands in front of his chest, yelling “Wait!” as they started shooting. “POW, POW, BANG, POW, BANG, BANG, POW”. Jalil was shot four times. He was hit in the left shoulder, two in both hands, and one in the right leg. Magik-1 and 2Gun ran after they shot him. There was a white guy around at the Shell store on the phone that heard the gun shots. He hung the phone up and was going to help Jalil. He saw how he was rolling around on the ground hurt. He went to him and was trying to comfort him. Jalil was moaning and groaning telling him to call an ambulance. The white guy said o.k. I will. A couple of minutes later, P.G. showed up asking, what happened? Jalil said you set me up nigga! P.G. was trying to explain, No! No I didn’t. Jalil said YOU A MUTHAFUCKIN LIE! Don’t say shit to me! Minutes after, the ambulance and two police cars showed up. The white guy was showing them where Jalil was. The paramedics got out with a stretcher to put him on it. His body, fingers and leg was burning because of the gunshot wounds. The paramedics put him on the stretcher and in the ambulance. As they were trying to talk to Jalil, he really couldn’t say anything. He figured that he and P.G. had their differences. He just couldn’t figure out why he would try to kill him. All Jalil was thinking about was “REVENGE!”
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Da Rap Game (Synopsis)
This is a story about a teenager named Jalil Jackson, who was influenced by his older brother to be a rap artist. He had to find out through experience that being a rapper wasn’t easy as he thought. Everybody around him was involved in music including his child hood friends, P.G., D.J. Wite and Nina Ross. When Jalil was in Junior High School, he became friends with another teenager from New Orleans named Kamafloge. He’s described as a loyal friend and a deadly enemy.
If he and his friends are threatened, he would quickly eliminate them. Jalil was challenged in free style battles. If you win, you’re respected. If you lose, you’re disliked.
He had a lot of bad experiences with school, jobs, and financial problems, but he still took a risk that other teens wouldn’t do to put money in his pocket. When he was stable with money, he put everything he had into his music.
An executive producer from New York came to Hot Springs, Arkansas to put a talent show together to search for new talent. Jalil entered and was labeled as the best rapper in Hot Springs.
He tried to do any and everything in his power to get a record deal. After sending demos off to major companies and never heard from them again, he stayed independent and put his own music out, selling it on the streets getting recognized for his talent.
Jalil was approached by another group of rappers to sign a contract with them. After refusing to sign, he was attacked and almost killed. Kamafloge retaliated against ones responsible for the attack the street way. A serious rap battle was started on the streets and in music between uptown and downtown to compete to get a record deal.
After recuperating from his wounds, Jalil came back stronger and exposed the people who tried to kill him in his music. Music can be money if you sell it, but it can be murder if the wrong person gets jealous of you. There are a lot of people who want to be rappers, but they don’t know the business side of it. Without knowing the business, you’ll get cheated every time, so this novel is explaining the difference between being signed to a major label and staying independent. It also explains how best friends can become worst enemies in misunderstandings. This is the truth about rap music. This is what some rappers go through before becoming rich and famous.
About the Author
Joe Young A.K.A Black Male was born in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1977. He grew up in Hot Springs, but was moving back and forward from Arkansas to Marion Louisiana as a kid. He got use to both environments and was getting educated in school and on the streets which was a good thing because a High School diploma is a powerful tool to have.
On the streets you learn what to do and not to do. His Dad died in 1990, and he had to decide what to do on his own to survive. There are seven kids on his Dad side which three have died. He graduated from Hot Springs High School in 1997. He got a welding diploma in 2000. On his Mom side, he has six Brothers and one Sister who deeply protected her before her passing in 2007. He has a lot of Nephews and Nieces older and younger than him, some who really support him. When one of his Brothers started doing rap music that influenced him to do it to. He wrote his first song called “Lord have mercy”, He kept writing and produced his first album called “Da world belongs 2 Da Black Male” which sold 231 copies on the streets. His second album, “Da B.O.S.S a.k.a Blacassassin that sold 339 copies, and a compilation called Spa City’s Most Wanted that sold a 153 copies. He and another artist are working on his fourth album called Life of a B.O.S.S that’s going in stores. Now he finished a novel called Hood Stories, A fictional story about street life in Hot Springs that everybody can relate to. When “Bangin in Little Rock” came out, they showed the violence and drug selling that black men did. In Hot Springs, they were doing the same thing and no one got to tell their stories, so his novel gives you an idea of what was going on in Hot Springs, Arkansas. His second novel “Da Rap Game” deals with what rappers go through. He has two diploma's. A High School and welding diploma.