By A Negro And A Keyboard

I recently had the pleasure of attending an elementary school assembly, held to honor students who had distinguished themselves academically and/or behaviorally during their latest marking period; truly a blessing to see in an inner-city community.

During the event, there was a segment known as “Caught in the Act,” celebrating students for acts of kindness in their classrooms that were observed by the school’s administration, yet unbeknownst to the child. As the principal belted off the student names and their deeds, such as helping their teacher wipe down the chalkboard or sharing their chocolate chip cookies with another, the room was electrified by the sound of proud parents cheering on their babies. Then it happened.

“Next, we would like to honor (Student X), for reporting a classroom thief.” In an awkward moment of about 5-7 seconds, the room silenced, eventually ending with light applause, then continuing on to the next honoree. As I sat there, I could do nothing more than shake my head, because that momentary pause by the crowd had exposed the hood’s ugly secret: the concept of snitching. This child, despite doing something morally correct, was looked upon for a moment with disdain. How could this be the case for a 7-year old?

Snitching is certainly not confined to any one group of people, however, in the Hip-Hop community it has taken on a new life; reaching an apex in 2004, with the very controversial Stop Snitchin’ campaign in Baltimore, culminating in a uniquely ignorant DVD, with a number of street urchins making non-veiled threats of violence to individuals that they believed were sharing their personal matters with the authorities. The film even featured Denver Nugget Carmelo Anthony talking reckless about the topic; furthering the film’s popularity. Funny enough, as this movement opened the door for a lot of t-shirt sales and the like, it also closed the door on a lot of on-going investigations at the time, as the talk got a little too tough.

Over the years, the reputations of many Hip-Hoppers have been made or broken on the premise of snitching. Artists such as Diddy, Shyne, Lil’ Kim, Foxy Brown, 50 Cent and Rick Ross, among others, have either been elevated to the highest-ends of street credibility or cast into the shadows of irrelevance and YouTube parody. Of all these figures and their stories, there is none more polarizing than that of the self-proclaimed King of the South, T.I.

Building a career on his image as a street-smart “dope boy”, fresh out of the drug “traps” in and around the Bankhead Court Apartments in Atlanta, Clifford “T.I. (P.)” Harris has reached a level of stardom few rappers ever see, including acting, music and film production and fashion design. Throughout numerous quarrels with other performers, such as Ludacris, Lil’ Flip and Shawty Lo, T.I. was able to come away with his tough-guy reputation fully intact; often even getting respect from these artists after their issues had been quelled.

Befitting his ‘hood credentials, T.I. also maintained a lengthy rap sheet, with numerous arrests for violations including narcotics possession and distribution, illegal firearm possession, assault, and driving with a suspended license, among others.

Ironically, it would be around 2006 that T.I.’s impeccable thug credibility would start to take a turn for the worse. His close friend Philant Johnson was murdered in his presence, as gunfire was opened up on T.I.’s entourage. After this event, T.I.’s mindset had essentially changed, moving from the hustle-and-bustle of the drug trade to more reflective songs, such as Live in the Sky. Next, in a very un-Hip-Hop move, T.I. opted to take the stand in trial of the individual charged with Johnson’s murder. The whispers of T.I. being a snitch had now begun to surface.

Making things worse, in October 2007, T.I. would be arrested on gun possession charges, after being set up by his bodyguard and ATF informant, Corey Williams, to purchase $12,000 worth of firearms, clearly a no-no, with T.I.’s felony history. Now, not only was T.I. being called a snitch, but he was also running with snitches. Almost 3 years later, T.I. would yet again be directly linked to another federal informant, this time being his Grand Hustle protégé, Cedric “Alfamega” Zellars, who, according to the smoking gun, has papers proving his “cooperation” with the DEA.

In 2009, despite facing up to 20 years for the aforementioned ATF charges levied against him, he managed to receive an eyebrow-raising sentence of a mere one year and a day in prison, for which he served less than 10 months (3 of those in a halfway house). Not bad in the face of doing two decades.

As most of us know, throughout T.I.’s most recent trial, sentencing and prison term, public opinion on how T.I. got such a lenient deal has been firmly rooted in the belief that he followed in the footsteps of his bodyguard and artist, and “cooperated” quite a bit. Even other artists like the famed instigator, 50 Cent, have chimed in with their unfavorable thoughts about T.I. and his alleged work with the Boys in Blue.

One might wonder if T.I. could ever come back from such a heavy blow to his street cred. Many observing his transformation after Johnson’s death might actually be compelled to care for him more now, seeing a more human side, and if the informant allegations were ever proven true, possibly even praise him for providing information to the Feds in order to solve crimes.

The primary question that one would have to pose in the case of T.I. specifically or of anyone in a similar situation is: what exactly denotes snitching? For example, if God forbid, someone shot your closest loved one, and you knew who did it, and reported it, would that make you a snitch?

I am of the personal opinion that there is a strong difference between snitching and witnessing. To me, being a snitch would denote that a person was complicit (‘hood translation: involved) in the act about which they are now yapping. At that point, the only reason someone would be telling is to save their own skin, like Cleon in Dead Presidents. However, if an individual witnesses a crime, and doesn’t inform the police, that’s just asinine, and that person or their loved one might be the next one to get their wig split.

The world will likely never have a full answer to what information, if any at all, T.I. could have given to legal officials. For all we know, he could have simply had a hungry lawyer that ate the case, and it will probably be this uncertainty about any alleged snitching that allows T.I. to remain in his position. Regardless of how his story pans out, the fact will remain that as a culture, we simply have to impress upon our own folks that it is not ok to indulge in a lifestyle that promotes lawlessness and silence about the very matters that tear the life out of our urban communities.

I hope the little girl at that school assembly keeps on believing that very idea.

Recklessly Yours,

A Negro and a Keyboard

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