A rapper named Loco from Virgina Beach caused quite a commotion.. Why? (Virginia Beach: how much, theatre)

[urza216]

"In Virginia Beach, b**ch, we ride till we die, Then we drink and get high and let the bullets fly" -rapper Loco in the song "Shots Fired"

"Crackheads on their bike with a forty in their hand, I f**king love this place, You gotta see to understand" -rapper Loco in the song in the song "I'm From VA"

These words were said by this guy: Locoâ„¢ on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads

What do you think of those lyrics?

He also wrote a song called "Virginia Beach Cops" which can be still heard on his MySpace if you scroll down to the second non-default song player. There's nothing in the song that hasn't really been said in other anti-cop rap songs before. And yet it caused a huge sh*t-storm that, coming from the Chicago area, seems almost unbelievable to me.

Wow.Is the Hampton Roads filled with a bunch of cranky old whitebread conservatives or something? Cranky old whitebread conservatives who aren’t big on First Amendment rights, I might add. I ask because the folks interviewed in this news report and the author of this front page news article sure seem to be.

I'm really not trying to diss Hampton roads or anything. After all, why would I? Your area bred one of my favorite rappers. I'm just curious. And this website seemed like the perfect place to follow up on this curiosity..





YouTube - Loco's Channel 13 News Coverage




Beyond the other 4-letter word, this rap is about hate
© February 22, 2007

The Virginian-Pilot

Remind me again. How much do we pay our cops?

Whatever it is, it's not enough. Especially not in Virginia Beach. Especially not this week.

The Beach Police Department is appalled about a rap song called "Virginia Beach Cops" that's gaining traction on the Internet.

It's got an infectious beat [1]. And a virulent message.

Simply put, the song expresses a strong desire to kill cops. Beach cops.

Frankly, it's chilling. I'm not going to tell you how to find it. The song's already had a couple thousand hits too many. [2]
The rapper, who calls himself "Loco," opens his number with the sounds of gunfire and sirens. [3] He then launches into lyrics about - I'm paraphrasing here - an arrest on Laskin Road.[4] Real or imagined, the rapper telegraphs his displeasure with the officer.[5] The words go something like this: He wanted to "pop you in the face and make you lose your life," "see your... body on the 13 News," and "meet the Grim Reaper while I'm pouring my beer" and "you got your family waiting for you but you're not coming home." [6]

No, the lyrics don't rhyme without all the profanities. Sorry. You'll have to use your imagination.

The Virginia Beach Police Department is taking this message of hate seriously.

"We can confirm that officers are being made aware of the music and the potential threat," spokesman Rene Ball told me Wednesday.

Loco mentions his mother in the song, so we can assume he has one. [7] If I were her, I'd start by washing his filthy mouth out with soap. The song is dripping with profanity. Sure, that's rap, and Lord knows, rappers aren't aiming their product at people like me. Still, "Virginia Beach Cops" has more than its share of language. It features one foul four-letter word 72 times.[8]

Yup, I counted. The things I do for you readers.

Anyone can record a song. Thanks to the Internet, anyone can distribute one, too. [9] What's disturbing is that this "entertainer" claims he's played legitimate venues. The NorVa, for instance.

I talked to Bill Reid, president of Rising Tide Productions and one of the owners of the Monticello Avenue music hall. He said he'd never heard of Loco. [10] He insisted that - despite a notice on Loco's Web site earlier this week - the rapper isn't booked at the NorVa in March.

Reid checked and said it appears Loco might have been on stage one night in December as part of a group that opened for Tech N9ne.

No one recalls Loco or what he sang, [11] but they're sure of one thing: "Virginia Beach Cops" wasn't part of the repertoire.

The NorVa hires off-duty cops for extra security when needed, Reid said. He said he checks with the police before booking edgy national performers. [12] If the cops say artists have attracted rough crowds elsewhere, Reid doesn't bring them to Norfolk. That's happened about 10 times, he said.

Glad to hear it.



[1] Yeah, I agree! Oh wait, was that supposed to be negative? Never mind.

[2] Now the song has been deleted from his page. A song he put up last October from his new album has over 46 thousand hits. Congratulations.

[3] Don’t look into that that too much. Sound samples are often used in rap songs to set the mood, nothing more, nothing less. Although in case you hadn’t noticed, police proudly carry pistols on their side. So if you want to speculate on something even the rapper probably didn’t have specified in his mind, who’s to say those weren’t the sounds of sirens and cops firing their guns? Especially when it is my understanding that this very news article was written just a week after a Virginia Beach cop shot down an unarmed man in the street.

[4] Actually the second verse says nothing about an actual arrest. In fact, the verse ends with him saying that he had nothing on him so the search was pointless.

[5] When you’re slammed against the wall without warning, have a gun pulled on you and have hands slid up and down your thighs, ass and genitalia, I personally think “displeasure” is an understatement.

[6] Yeah, they go “something” like that. Actually, every single one of those quotes were either from the first or third verse and not the second verse where he “launches into lyrics about an arrest Laskin Road”. In other words, not a single one of those quotations were in the context of “expressing displeasure with the officer” who harassed him that particular night on Laskin Road. Either your understanding of song lyrics is very poor or you’re being intentionally misleading.

[7] What the **** is THAT supposed to mean?

[8] Is this including the chorus as more than once?

[9] I know. It’s a wonderful thing, isn’t it?

[10] And now he’s the most well-known rapper in Virginia. Congratulations.

[11] Rapping is not singing. Rapping is rapping (or “spitting” as it’s informally called).

[12] National performers? What’s that got to do with anything?

[13][13] Buddy, it’s quite arguable that as a genre, rap music’s claim to fame was the song “**** The Police” by NWA. During the last rap show I attended, a rapper was “on stage insulting cops” in between two of his songs. And in a complete different act, another rapper said in one of his songs “Every cop should be beaten like Rodney King”. To expect rappers never speak disdainfully of law enforcement is like expecting country-western musicians to never wear cowboy hats. It sounds to me like you’re asking club owners to be very particular about what rappers they allow to perform.

[14] That’s exactly what they said about “**** The Police” by NWA in the 1980s. (“And when I’m finished there’s gonna be a blood bath of cops dying in LA”) And the song has gone down in history as being the only song to be taken all the way up to the Supreme Court for the free speech issue of “whether or not it’s okay to yell fire in a crowded theatre”. And just for the record, the rap group NWA won the case. And they then went from being local cats in Los Angeles to a national sensation that is still listened to today.

[15] I think the key words in the club owners mind were “potential public safety problem” not “insulting cops or waxing poetic about killing law enforcement officers”. In other words, club owners are always concerned about getting shut down and can be very nervous about what kind of crowd a performer may attract. However, a journalist’s concern about a rapper’s lyrics is going to have nothing to do with whether or not a club owner pulls the plug on a show. And time has proved this to you..

[Spazkat9696]

The idea of glorifying the murder of anyone police officer or not is just wrong IMO.

[urza216]

Originally Posted by Spazkat9696

The idea of glorifying the murder of anyone police officer or not is just wrong IMO.

It's not glorifying anything. It's expressing anger with violent imagery.

Since when is a cop-killing rap song worthy of a front page news report and TV coverage? Why was it for Loco's song "Virginia Beach Cops"?

[urza216]

Btw, I accidently deleted the end of the news article (although my footnotes are still there).

---------------------------------------------------------

Club owners have a responsibility for the acts they book. If someone's on stage insulting cops or waxing poetic about killing law enforcement officers, that's crossed a line. [1] It isn't art anymore; it's a potential public safety problem.[2]
"I'd pull the plug on anything like that," Reid told me.[3]

I hope everyone would.

[Coconut1]

Virginia Beach is a very conservative and nasty place, IMO. Is this "Loco" free to express his views? As long as their within the law. Is he a piece of trash? Absolutely.

It'll be Heaven send when he finally ODs on whatever illegal substance you know he's taking, or when he messes with the wrong person because he's a big bad tough guy. Garbage like this is never something to be admired or enjoyed.

[urza216]

Originally Posted by Coconut1

Is he a piece of trash? Absolutely.

Wow.. That's a helluva name to call a fellow human being. You don't seem like someone who knows a whole lot about "good values". That's how some of the worst atrocities in history have been carried out: Fellow human beings being thought of as "pieces of trash".

[nycricanpapi]

Originally Posted by Coconut1

Virginia Beach is a very conservative and nasty place, IMO. Is this "Loco" free to express his views? As long as their within the law. Is he a piece of trash? Absolutely.

It'll be Heaven send when he finally ODs on whatever illegal substance you know he's taking, or when he messes with the wrong person because he's a big bad tough guy. Garbage like this is never something to be admired or enjoyed.

Why is he a piece of trash? Just because he expressed how he feels about the police please Sometimes cops think they can get away with things just because they are cops... Look at the case of sean bell... look at the other cases....

[Va4Ever]

Originally Posted by nycricanpapi

Why is he a piece of trash? Just because he expressed how he feels about the police please Sometimes cops think they can get away with things just because they are cops... Look at the case of sean bell... look at the other cases....

Im almost certain he's not a law abiding citizen who hasnt had atleast one brush in with the law BUT with a name like "loco" I'm pretty sure cops will mess wit u. if u hang wit a bunch of low lives on the corner doing nothing what do u think cops think of you? I'm sorry but if u look and fit the part then dont b so appalled when u get approached by a cop.

You are right about sean bell and those other cases but more often than not you dont see or hear about that on a daily basis. So basically this debate about good cop/bad cop can go either way but if your looking for trouble oh trust me when I say trouble will find you.

[Coconut1]

Im almost certain he's not a law abiding citizen who hasnt had atleast one brush in with the law BUT with a name like "loco" I'm pretty sure cops will mess wit u. if u hang wit a bunch of low lives on the corner doing nothing what do u think cops think of you? I'm sorry but if u look and fit the part then dont b so appalled when u get approached by a cop.

Exactly.

And I know more about 'good values' then that low life will ever know. There are other ways to express yourself. You don't need to brandish gun photos, talk about killing people or things of that nature.

Have some class, have some respect and have some dignity.

[Nebat]

It's always funny how the media while attempting to decry these types of things always ends up being free publicity for the artist in question. If someone truly doesn't like what they are hearing, don't give it any attention or listen to it and it will eventually go away or you'll forget about it. Example for me, I had never heard one Lady Gaga song ever, and never planned to. Then Donny Osmond freaked out over her Telephone video. Well, out of morbid curiosity I checked it out and now can't get that song out of my head! And I've seen the video probably a dozen times. All thanks to Donny Osmond! Crazy!