Gangsta Rap

by Benjamin Zephaniah

  Top of the Pops was the most important music programme on television. Many pop bands’ greatest wish was to appear on the show because of the exposure it would bring and the sales it would generate, but it was also seen by some as the place that represented the worst elements of pop music culture. Bands with the best-looking kids would have pride of place, alongside bands that brought with them the most formulaic dance routines or, even worse, a whole troupe of wriggling navels. The hand-picked audiences always consisted of the most clean-cut white kids, with a few token funky representatives from the ethic minorities thrown in, and the bands were made to mime to the songs.

  Miming brought about some of the most embarrassing moments of the programmes. Some people even mimed to songs that they had never sung, either because the original singer was a session singer, or because the original singer just refused to go on the show. Some bands made a point of refusing to do the show, especially the bands who wanted to project a rebellious, independent or alternative image and thought that going on the show would damage their credibility.

  The Positive Negatives called a meeting in the music shop on the subject. It was time for the meeting to start but Tyrone had not yet turned up so they decided to start without him.

  Ray was the prime objector. ‘Marga Man,’ he pleaded. ‘I don’t think we should be doing this, this is not us, this is rubbish. Can’t you get us on MTV or something like that? We want some television that’s more street.’

  Marga Man knew that convincing Ray was going to be difficult. ‘MTV are going to start playing de video, and dat’s cool for reaching foreign parts, but there’s nothing like appearing on Top of the Pops for getting to de British kids. Tell me, do yu know how many concerts yu would have to do to reach a million people? Dis programme reaches millions of kids, doing dis programme once is like doing a thousand concerts. Yu gone to number nine wid very little mainstream publicity, dis will tek yu to another level.’

  ‘The programme stinks,’ said Prem. ‘It’s for babies.’

  ‘The programme pays,’ said Marga Man.

  ‘It may pay,’ said Ray, ‘but you can’t deny it Marga Man, the programme doesn’t matter when it comes to rap music.’

  ‘Are you joking?’ Marga Man laughed. ‘People die to get on it.’

  ‘And people die on it,’ said Prem.

  Tyrone entered the shop. He wasn’t in a hurry, and Ray noticed. ‘Tyrone guy, you’re late man, where you been?’

  ‘Sorry man, had to pop into the Positivity Centre,’ Tyrone replied calmly.

  ‘What you doing there?’ Asked Prem.

  ‘I just had to do something.’

  ‘What?’ asked Ray.

  ‘Nothing much. What’s happening here?’

  ‘Do you want to do Top of the Pops?’ asked Ray.

  Tyrone answered without hesitation. ‘I don’t mind.’

  After much debating Ray came up with a compromise. ‘OK. This is what I suggest. No dance routines, no dancing girls, and no miming, we do the programme using an instrumental backing tape but we must do the vocals live.’

  Marga Man checked with the producer of the programme at the BBC and was told that it was fine. Rap groups and some of the heavier rock bands had played live in the past, as had some of the more soulful artists who really could sing. It was a matter of insisting.

  After appearing on the programme the next week the band found it very difficult to move around their own area. Kids would bring other kids to look at the houses where the local rap heroes lived. They were being asked for autographs on the streets, but more importantly, their parents began to give them some respect. Ray’s father tried not to show it but he was quietly pleased to see that his son was making a name for himself, although he was still no closer to Ray.

  When he could, Marga Man would drive the band around, in order to save them from being seen too much on the street. They began to use taxis to take them to the Positivity Centre and the recording studio, and they were now all equipped with state-of-the-art mobile phones. Radio airplay was one thing – it was great for the band to hear their tune being played in public places – but their appearance on Top of the Pops meant that the public could now match the voices with their faces. Positive Negatives had arrived. Kids wanted to dress like them, kids wanted to sound like them, and graffiti in praise of the band began to appear on trains and inner-city walls nationwide.

  Chapter 10

  Live at the Rex

  The week after the band appeared on Top of the Pops they really did hit the top of the pops. ‘War Cry’ stayed at number one for four weeks. The record company was happy, the boys were happy and Marga Man was happy, but not happy enough. He knew that the band could not wait too long before releasing an album, so to the record company’s delight Marga Man got the band recording in the studio even as they were still riding the high of the single.

  They recorded thirteen more tracks. Marga Man had pushed them to the limits of their performance, and Ray made sure that they drew on all their experiences from their short lives to write the raps. The result was ‘Collective Security’, a hard-hitting, lyrically-crammed, angry album, that had nothing positive to say about anything, yet still had listeners admiring the band’s lyrical skills. The album had tracks on it that dealt with being in school, being out of school, leaving home, street fights, boredom and being locked up in a police station. Marga Man employed a local artist to do the artwork for the CD sleeve, which was approved by all.

  The record company gave a release date, but the release of the album was going to be different from the release of the single. Now the band were known, now people were waiting for the beats, and doubters needed to know if they were a one-hit wonder, or if they could sustain the quality of the first single over another thirteen tracks.

  The day after the record company announced the album’s release date, Marga Man turned up at the studio to see the band.

  ‘Right,’ he said, as the band sat around him in the control room in the circular configuration which was now automatic. ‘I have an idea for de release of de album.’ He paused. ‘Your first live gig.’

  The boys checked each other optically and nodded positively, as did Bunny.

  ‘Now I’ve been checking out de scene,’ Marga Man continued. ‘On de date of de release we could get de Brixton Academy, we could get de Dominion Tottenham Court Road, we could get de Marquee, de Scala, or de Hammersmith Palais, but we not doing none of dem. Your first gig is going to be right here, in Stratford, at de Rex. Yes, man, mek dem come to de East End, record company, press, everyone man, mek dem come to us. We call de shots now.’

  * * *

  And that’s the way it was. People were not only waiting to hear the album, they now also wanted to know if the band could pull it off live. Due to the album and the gig being promoted concurrently, the band were now taking up large amounts of room on billboards on the streets. They were still spending lots of time in the studio but now they were practising for the live show.

  There was no room for second takes, they could no longer refer to the words on paper. It all had to be memorised. They soon learnt that they could not simply perform standing still like they had been in the studio; they now had to fill a large stage and learn how to control their breathing so that they didn’t resort to shouting or just burn out. This was getting physical. Ray came up with the idea of going through an exercise session before they began rehearsals, consisting of press-ups, sit-ups, running on the spot, jumping jacks, stretches and martial arts-style kicks and punches. He had also come up with a motto for the band which was quickly adopted and even managed to make it on to the sleeve of the CD. Let wordy great minds think alike, sweet Hip-Hop be our guiding light. When they said the motto they would stand in a circle and touch their fists, and if Marga Man and Bunny were around they too would join in.

  * * *

  On the day of the gig, none of the band members could hide their nervousness. It was noticed by all their families, many of whom were going
to attend the concert. Prem’s older sister had planned to go with three of her friends, Tyrone had given a backstage pass to Sam and a couple of his close relatives, although it seemed like his whole extended family were going – at least those that were under thirty. But it wasn’t until Ray was leaving his house that afternoon for the sound check that Kori asked him if she could go.

  ‘Of course you can go,’ Ray said. ‘I think you can still get tickets at the door.’

  ‘No,’ said Kori. ‘I’m your sister. I wanna go with my two friends Lizette and Thara, they’re your biggest fans.’

  ‘Are you one of our biggest fans too?’ asked Ray with a big grin.

  ‘Yeah,’ she replied, placing her hands on her hips and kissing her teeth. ‘I think you’re wicked. Now can we get on the guest list or what?’

  ‘Yeah, OK.’

  ‘And can we have backstage passes?’

  ‘Yeah, OK. Mum,’ Ray shouted back into the house. ‘Do you wanna come to our concert?’

  His mother made her way to him. ‘No thanks, I don’t think I could take all that loud noise. But good luck anyway.’

  ‘Thanks Mum,’ Ray said, turning to leave.

  ‘Why don’t you ask your father?’ said his mother.

  ‘Because I don’t want to,’ replied Ray. ‘Any time I try to tell him what we’re doing he doesn’t care, so I don’t think he’s gonna start caring now.’

  ‘You could be wrong,’ said his mother.

  ‘I wish I was,’ said Ray, walking away.

  The band met at the music shop and then went on to the Rex with Marga Man. At the venue they began to sense how great the task ahead for them was. Although they had been to the Rex before they had only seen it from the dance floor when it was full. When they stood on the stage and saw the size of the large empty hall, it was hard for them to imagine that later that night the place would be full of people who were there for one reason – to see them.

  They watched as the massive PA system was wired in and lighting people went about their business. Then Bunny arrived. He went behind the mixing console and they did their first sound check. After each of them had their levels checked by shouting ‘check one, two’ into the microphone, they performed ‘War Cry’. It was strange performing to a large empty hall, but they really used up the space they had on the stage, and it was beginning to feel good.

  After the sound check Marga Man and the band went to an Indian restaurant on Romford Road. All the food that they ate was given compliments of the manager.

  When they arrived back at the Rex, Marga Man drove slowly past so that the boys could see the people waiting to go inside. The queue seemed endless, and ticket touts were looking for trade. A couple of policemen watched quietly, not letting anyone know that there were two vans full of geared-up police two blocks away.

  Marga Man drove the boys round the corner to the stage door, but even there people were waiting. A security man moved a plastic bollard that was strategically placed to reserve a parking place for them and within seconds they were out of the car and through the stage door. In the dressing room they changed into the clothes they were going to wear on stage – they were all dressed differently, but the colour they had agreed on was brown.

  The hall was pumping to the hip-hop that was being played over the PA system, in contrast to the dressing room, where, semi-insulated from the sounds in the hall, the boys laughed and joked to cover up the tension of waiting for their call. Marga Man would come to the dressing room every fifteen minutes to make sure they had their drinks and were happy, but it wasn’t long before he came to tell them to prepare for action.

  The boys began to walk around the room like athletes getting ready to compete. Ray began to shadow box as if limbering up for a fight, Tyrone began to get serious, and Prem went through a series of deep breathing exercises.

  The next time Marga Man entered it was with Skelly from Deaf Defying Records.

  ‘This is it,’ said Skelly. ‘Go for it, lads.’

  ‘Go rock de people,’ Marga Man said, stretching his clenched fist into the centre of the room.

  The boys gathered around, and reaching out and touching fist they all shouted, ‘Let wordy great minds think alike, sweet Hip-Hop be our guiding light.’

  ‘Your public awaits you,’ said Marga Man.

  ‘Let’s do this,’ Ray said, as Marga Man and Skelly led them out of the room and towards the stage.

  As they neared the stage the music got louder and the heat became more intense. People they had never seen before touched them as they passed by, wishing them good luck and telling them to go for it. Without seeing the crowd the boys could feel the excitement. Marga Man stopped them behind the stage curtain.

  ‘Wait here. Your mics are in place. As soon as I announce yu, hit de stage. I’ll be right here if yu need me. Make a joyful noise, your public awaits you.’

  Marga Man walked on to the stage and immediately the music stopped. Before he even spoke the crowd clapped, and when the clapping stopped there was silence.

  ‘Dis is de night yu have been waiting for. Dis is a night yu will not forget. Tonight yu are witnessing de future, because tonight yu are seeing de first live performance of de best hip-hop band in de land. Yes, people, put your hands and hearts together, and focus your minds, because yu are about to be charged wid de wonderful sound of Positive Negatives.’

  The crowd went absolutely wild; the clapping was overtaken by whistling, chanting and other guttural sounds. The boys hesitated as if savouring the moment, but then when they walked on stage everything went up another level. Willing the crowd on even more, Ray took his microphone and said, ‘We’re Positive Negatives and we wanna hear ya make some fucking noise.’

  Having been given permission by X-Ray-X the noise of the crowd increased once more, and this time, just as it seemed the energy level had reached its peak, the beat kicked in. The first thing to hit was a heavy bass note that vibrated through all the bodies present. Then the band began to rap, starting altogether on the chorus.

  Chorus:

  We are the Positive Negatives

  We live the Hip-Hop philosophy

  So if you wanna live

  You gotta know not to fuck with we,

  We come out of the East

  Where we are not ethnic minorities

  So just leave us in peace

  We are the immoral majority

  Ray:

  My name is X-Ray-X

  So be careful how you flex

  My name may be really short

  But the meaning is complex,

  I used to freestyle in me bedroom

  But me daddy got me vex

  The teacher kicked me out of the classroom

  Now I’m rapping in the Rex

  Tyrone:

  My name is Pro Justice

  Yeah Pro Justice that is me

  And I’m the only person that

  I ever want to be,

  Like the sugar in your coffee

  And the sugar in your tea

  As long as you don’t stress me

  I’m your lovable sweetie

  Prem:

  They call me Prem de la Prem

  And I like to rap with them

  We started off in Stratford

  But we’ll reach Jerusalem,

  Because we’re full of raw ambition

  So remember when I say

  We are rappers on admission

  So we’ll see you in Bombay

  Chorus:

  We are the Positive Negatives

  We live the Hip-Hop philosophy

  So if you wanna live

  You gotta know not to fuck with we,

  We come out of the East

  Where we are not ethnic minorities

  So just leave us in peace

  We are the immoral majority

  It wasn’t a rap that appeared on the album, but one written specially for the night as a way to introduce themselves. When that rap was over, the crowd hardly had a ch
ance to applaud before the second track kicked in. Ray spoke over the first few bars of the beat.

  ‘Wanna introduce you to my man Bunny doing the mix over there.’ He pointed to Bunny at the back of the hall. ‘And I wanna thank you all for buying this next jam, this one dedicated to the enemy of the youth, this one called “War Cry”.’

  And so the beats continued, relentless, and the themes got stronger and stronger. The boys loved the big stage, they strutted up and down it as if they lived there. Not an inch of it was left uncovered. Soon they found themselves performing at ease without having to think too much about the words, they knew they were made for it. Non-verbal communication took over, each one knew where the other was going, each one knowing exactly when to take the lead.

  The set lasted for an hour and a half, and they finished by performing a rap called ‘Eastside Story’, which Ray dedicated to his hero Tupac Shakur, calling it a rap about thug life on the streets of east London, and the crowd loved them even more.

  The boys left the stage, leaving behind a crowd that just didn’t look like they were ready to go home. As Marga Man followed them to the dressing room, he stopped them.

  ‘Yo, listen.’ They could hear the crowd shouting for more. ‘Your public needs more,’ he said.

  The boys turned round and went back on stage, delighting the crowd with another hard-hitter called ‘Parental Guidance’, about the censorship of musical recordings and television programmes. When they did manage to leave the stage and make it to the dressing room, they were physically exhausted, but mentally high. By the time the band had showered and changed, a large crowd was waiting outside the dressing room. When the signal was given, Marga Man let them in. Kori and her friends were amongst the first in, but the crowd included members of Prem’s family, Tyrone’s family, record company people and school friends, all bestowing heaps of praise upon the band. Sam made a quick appearance to congratulate the boys and thank Tyrone for the backstage pass, then she disappeared.