Blue Flags and Red Bandanas

I write this while listening to the inspirational rhymes and beats of the likes of G-Unit, Bun-B, Lil Wayne, and Snoop Dogg. These word wizards just have that certain panache when it comes to describing the nuances of thuggery, hustling, and gang life in general. They have the ability to romanticize a curb stomping or slinging crack in an alley in a way that very few can. Their music manages to make things that shock and appal regular people seem commonplace, cool, and masculine. The question that I hope to answer through the course of my blogs asks: is there a certain bit of old school masculinity, hidden amongst the violence and illegal activities, in gangs and individual thugs?

By old school masculinity I am referring to the widely accepted masculine qualities outlined in Kipling’s Stalky & Co. that were touched upon in an earlier blog.

“I keep a blue flag hanging out my backside but only on my left side, yeah that’s the Crip side” from Snoop Dogg’s, Drop it Like it’s Hot.

“Red bandana in my back pocket, I’m for real” from The Game’s One Night.

One such masculine trademark outlined in the Stalky Model is a close-knit group of friends. Thugs show incredible loyalty to their fellow gang members, so much in fact that they are willing to kill for their partners in crime. A lot of it has to do with the safety in numbers idea that is vitally important in a world of competitive drug trafficking and territorialisation. Part of being in a gang is knowing that someone will be there to cover your back in a time of need. Essentially this is an extremely masculine environment. Large groups comprised of (mostly) males work together to achieve a common (but criminal) goal, and in the process form loyalties and friendships with their gang and learn a deep hatred for anyone who wears the wrong colour or sells something on the wrong block.

“Took two drags off the blunts, and started breaking down the flag/The blue is for the Crips, the red is for the Bloods” from Wu Tang Clan’s, A Better Tomorrow.

Another trait that common gangsters have in common with Stalky and his gang is a shared or coded form of speech. Gangster rap is so laden with slang terms and created language that it is often difficult to even decipher. Real life street thugs who more often than not aren’t black millionaire rappers still share their own esoteric speech. More than likely it comes in the form of drug related dialogue, the part of their lives that they share and are passionate about. Grams, ounces, pounds, chronic, smack, ice, the list goes on.

When you look at the idea of a group of males forming friendships and working towards a common goal, sans violence and crime, it has the appearance of a wholesome masculine thing. Like Scouts gone bad. When breaking it down to its most simple level those thugs and their mates out there who are usually “known to the police” have something going that relates directly to model masculine ideologies. There are still many more aspects of the model to be analyzed, but this was a good a place as any to start, and now to stop.

-SS