Old Stuff

Once in a while I’ll try to post old stuff I’ve written that may be worth a read. The following is a column I wrote for the student newspaper at Saint Louis University in Baguio City, Philippines back in 2001 sparking several mixed reactions and hard looks from many.

Just this past week while I was sitting in class, I found the words “Thug life- Westside till I die ” scrawled in black ink on my desktop. It made me laugh thinking that some educated Filipino kid was running around with a permanent marker and passing himself off as the successor of the late Los Angeles rapper 2Pac. Somewhere in the back of my mind I also had the feeling that this kid never experienced life on the west coast of the continental United States. I may be wrong but seeing at least one desktop or wall in every classroom tagged with rap lyrics or artists’ names, I do have my doubts. Although we never see it, and it may appear amusing, I’d have more respect for the guy if he spray painted “Pinoy Pride, Purok 5, Brookside til I die” all over the walls.

During my four years in college two hip hop songs stand out in my mind: Westside and Summertime in the LBC. Westside was a party anthem in Baguio and everyone knew the lyrics even if they could not relate to them. Everyone bobbed their heads and rapped along about their so-called “niggas in incarceration… sisters in the county building… and Westside love for all the ghetto children” while giving shout outs to Ice Cube, Eazy-E, Ice T and Too Short- some unknown heroes for many in the city. Summertime in the LBC was embraced by those that insisted LBC stood for Little Baguio City, the Philippines SUMMER capital. The song talked mostly about “blazing weed” and cruising to the spot in lowriders. Take the lowered ’64 Chevy Impala back to Long Beach California, in Little Baguio City we cruise to the spot in a jeepney or Tamaraw FX.

Clothes best describe one’s personality. We always associate true hip hop fans with old school sneakers or boots, baggy pants and oversized shirts. Around town I see sports jerseys of US teams, T-shirts with prints like the “Parental Guidance- Explicit Lyrics” seal, the Wu Tang Clan logo, 2Pac’s face and his west coast hand sign, or Snoop Dogg sporting his afro or braids. Regular faces we also see printed on shirts are Seattle’s Kurt Cobain, Jamaica’s Bob Marley and Cuba’s Che Guevarra. Will we ever see the face of Joey Ayala on a T-shirt? Will a Barangay Ginebra basketball jersey ever become a teenage “must have” and finally replace popular LA Lakers jerseys?

SHADY- adj. 1. giving shade 2. full of shade 3. [colloq.] OF QUESTIONABLE AND UNCERTAIN CHARACTER OR PERSONALITY. Eminem claims he is “the real slim shady”. The real slim shadys are the kids we see here who try to dress like him, talk like him, and get the same haircut like him… in short, they want to be Eminem. There is some uncertainty in the personality of a white rapper who wants to be black. What more with a Filipino who wants to be a white rapper who wants to be black? Who is the real slim shady now?

I’m not saying that we should stop listening to the music that we choose or patronize everything that is pinoy; I’ll admit that my formative years in the states have caused me to be more American that Filipino. We should just make it a point to remember our roots. Impress people with what you can share from your true self; don’t impress because you can rhyme as fast as the guys from Bone Thugs –N- Harmony in your 2nd/3rd language which is English.