I recently went to a Hopie show at FatCity where I had the pleasure of meeting a memorable character named Anthony. This kid was a trip. A motherfucking trip if I ever tripped in my life. I met him at the bar before the show. It was about 10:21pm and the show hadn't started so my girls and I were chillin in the back scoping out the scene, right? Out of nowhere here comes this guy, slurring and laughing, smelling like too much alcohol at too early in the evening. He introduces himself to me and taps my drink with his.
Two minutes later his friend George, who looks like freakin Doogie Howser, comes up next to him and introduces himself to my girls. At first we're like who are these guys? So we started making small talk and I notice that Anthony has a tattoo on his collarbone. Peeking out from under his shirt I see thin lines of script:
"In God We Trust"
Now, I believe that a tattoo says a lot about a person. The fact that he had it on his collarbone, a place where he (and the rest of the world) could see it on daily basis showed some signs of confidence. It showed that he wanted to make a statement.
"I believe in God," he says when I ask about it. "I'm Catholic but I don't practice anymore. I just know that there's a God and I trust him."
For myself, those four words conjure up a different image: money. All of a sudden I project onto Anthony my own personal issues surrounding finance and business. My stance and voice become aggressive, but not threatening. I am judging him by my own experience with money.
"Cash rules everything around me," I say as he nods his head.
"Me too. Don't you know I'm gangsta?" Anthony replies, popping his collar. Shellie and I immediately look at each other and laugh.
"Dude, you're wearing a sideways hat."
At this point, bundles of people have filtered into the room creating a conversation buzz. This causes my new friend to step closer to me so that I can hear him. I've never liked the smell of alcohol and sweat so I politely put my hand on his shoulder and push him a step back. I have lost interest in him.
Flash forward about 45 minutes later. Anthony is sitting center stage as Bambu is introduced. He's hella drunk and making out with this white lady who didn't look like she was enjoying it too much. It was really funny cause then her two friends had to come and save her, like, WTF?! What are you doing with this guy?! But Anthony don't care, so he gets up on the stage! And this isn't the only time this cat gets on there. When Jacka came out, Anthony was up there sticking out like a sore thumb. Bobbin' and swayin' with MobFigaz like he was one. Little Filipino guy and Doogie Howser wearing a Lacoste golf shirt smoking a blunt up on stage with Jacka. The funny thing is no one on stage did or said anything. The party just went on and Anthony had the freakin time of his life.
Now he can run back to Concord and tell all his friends how cool he is. I love it.
---
"Conscious is self-conscious. I like being in places where I don't have to worry about the clothes I'm wearing or if my drink makes me look cool. I could just be chill, be myself."
-Arjay, when asked what the "conscious" in "conscious hip hop" meant to him. Thanks for the drink, baby.
No comments:
Post a Comment