America's Top Player

Chapter 74 Hip-Hop Culture
At seven o'clock in the evening, Leon drove to the Bremont area of the Bronx accompanied by Phil.

More than 80 percent of the residents here are black, which is unique even in the Bronx, the area with the worst security in New York.

"Fxxk, are we in Nigeria?" Phil complained while driving, and he never stopped talking all the way.

Li Ang joked, "Just drive and don't stop until you reach your destination! An old, white guy in a suit and tie like you will be stripped to his underwear as soon as you step out of the car."

Hearing what they all said, Cardi B couldn't sit still.

She tried to explain that the black people living in the Bronx were a group of upright people, friendly people, and people with integrity.

In short, they are kind-hearted in nature.

The current situation in the Bronx was caused by the capitalists in Manhattan, not far to the south.

Leon and Phil smiled at each other and could only respond with "Yeah, right, right".

The purpose of their trip was to discuss the acquisition of Lion's Nest Radio.

At Leon's suggestion, Elsa offered a generous reward of $90. This amount of money would definitely not be enough to buy a radio station of the size of Lion's Nest in the s.

After the new millennium, the market for gangster rap has become increasingly sluggish, and the size of Lion's Den Radio, which is based on gangsters, has been shrinking.

In its heyday in the 90s, it was one of the top community radio stations in the Bronx, with over active listeners each week.

Cardi B also grew up listening to Lion's Den Radio.

According to her, the owner and DJ of Lion's Den Radio, Marcus "The Wizard", is a gentle man.

He has participated in the production of BIG's album and is also a battle MC.

But he has no talent as a rapper. In 2002, he confidently participated in a TV show called "Freestyle Friday", but was beaten badly by a young Chinese man who wore his hat backwards.

Until now, he doesn't allow anyone to mention the name of MC Jin, a Chinese boy, in front of him.

The "office building" of Lion's Den Radio looks very large, if it can be called an office building.

This is actually a huge abandoned factory.

During the wave of industrialization in the 19th century, the Bronx was transformed from an agricultural area to an industrial area under the guidance of the New York City government.

Attracted a large number of workers and illegal immigrants.

Today, with the decline of American manufacturing, most of the factories here have long been deserted and turned into painting boards for street graffiti enthusiasts.

As soon as he entered Lion's Den Radio, the first thing that caught Li Ang's eye was the huge gang graffiti covering the walls.

A huge red five-pointed star is particularly eye-catching.

Cardi B excitedly let out a strange cry, "This is a symbol unique to our Bloods gang. The five-pointed star represents love, truth, peace, freedom, and justice."

Li Ang almost laughed out loud when he heard this explanation. "Exclusively for you? This mark can't be interpreted by just anyone."

He wanted to tell Cady that the final word on the mark lay not in the Bronx, or even in the United States.

But considering that Kadi's education level is almost down to her postnatal education, I decided to give up.

After climbing an old concrete staircase, they met DJ Marcus.

In the wasteland-style broadcasting studio, Marcus was wearing headphones and speaking passionately into the microphone.

"Bullshxt! West Coast rap is all Bullshxt!"

"You dare stand in front of me and say Tupac is greater than Big? You're gonna get shot, Nico!"

"Suge Knight is a venomous snake! A villain who only knows how to shoot from behind!"

DJ Marcus didn't notice Leon and his group at all, and seemed to be arguing with a West Coast music fan.

"what?"

"You said you were a white man?"

"Are you some clown copying us black people by wearing oversized jerseys like Eminem?"

"Shxt, stop wasting my time and get out of here!"

Marcus angrily cut off the connection with the audience, and only then did he notice Leon and the others. "You are..." he was about to say, but was hugged by Cuddy.

"Marcus~Aha~Long time no see"

"Wait." Marcus seemed at a loss in the face of the girl's enthusiasm. It took him more than ten seconds to react. "Are you Xiaoka?"

"When I saw you last, you were still a little girl. Now you are a big girl."

When talking about "big", Marcus deliberately took a closer look at Cuddy's butt. "You are already a mature black girl!"

The two of them really knew each other, so the next thing would be easy.

Li Ang came up behind Kadi and whispered, "Mr. Marcus is still on the air. Let's talk after his show is over."

"No, the people on the mic today are all idiots!"

After saying that, Marcus cut off the radio signal.

"Are you Li Ang, the boss of Apocalypse Music? I've heard your songs. Let's sit down and talk."

Everyone sat down on the sofa, Marcus poured each person a glass of whiskey, and they drank while chatting.

Phil looked at Marcus's record collection on the bookshelf and exclaimed, "WTF? You have so many out-of-print records of Master Katz?"

Marcus' eyes lit up. "You, a white guy, actually know this?"

"Do you think I'm an outsider? These records should be worth a lot of money now."

There are many theories about the origins of hip-hop, but there is little dispute as to who popularized this niche music popular in the Bronx and spread it to the United States.

On the evening of July 1977, 7, two thunderbolts struck from the sky.

One struck a substation near the Hudson River, and the second knocked out a power line.

A major power line was also severed when a circuit breaker tripped.

In order to reduce the load, the power supply company decided to protect itself by cutting off power.

An hour later, New York's largest power generator was shut down, plunging the city into its darkest hour.

It was in this endless darkness that the ancestor of hip-hop music was born.

Americans, who are in the abyss of the seventh financial crisis, have their evil genes ignited by darkness.

The poor, homeless and thugs whose businesses had gone bankrupt took to the streets and smashed, looted and burned with impunity.

This major power outage completely stimulated the "zero-dollar shopping" gene of black people. In this incident, more than 550 police officers were injured and as many as 3776 suspects were arrested.

1616 stores were looted, more than 1000 fires broke out across the city, and economic losses amounted to $3 million.

In this large-scale zero-dollar shopping event, there is a black man who always sticks to his original intention of music.

He did not rob the store of cigarettes, alcohol, or electronic products, and did not even take a penny of money.

He looted a large quantity of musical equipment.

This man is Curtis Fisher, the "Master of Kaz" who created the hip-hop music that is popular all over the world.

Listening to Phil's moving description, Cuddy felt a tear well up in her eye. "What did he do wrong? He just stole some music equipment for his ideal."

"He didn't hurt anybody."

Marcus also showed a shocked expression. He didn't expect that the old white man in front of him knew more about the history of Bronx hip-hop music than he did.

Li Ang also secretly gave a thumbs up.

Although Phil is greedy for money and lustful, he is a typical scumbag old white man.

But he has one advantage, which is his strong spirit of academic exploration.

His knowledge of music history is as great as his understanding of the female anatomy.

(End of this chapter)