Column:

MU police profile Tupac, rap lovers

By Spencer Engel

Published Sept. 11, 2008

The other night, I was riding down Rollins Road in my black Toyota Camry listening to the polished lyrical flow of the latest Nas album. About halfway down the street, I saw the dreaded red and blue lights of the MU police department flashing behind me. I couldn't imagine what I had done wrong. I was only going 22 miles per hour, my lights were on and I was driving in a straight line.

The cop approached my car and informed me that the two 12-inch subs in my trunk were causing too much commotion. Apparently, MU police cops can issue a noise violation ticket if someone can hear your car noise from 50 or more feet away. I'm sure my speakers were a little too forceful (that's why I bought them) but let's not overlook the bigger issue here. Even though the cop let me off with a warning, instead of a ludicrously steep $150 fine, I was pulled over for one reason: musical profiling.

That's right, I said it. As Jay-Z would say, "It's a hard knock life" for us young rap fans. My little brother, a rock fan, always blasts his Red Hot Chili Peppers in his room back home. I, meanwhile, make sure my UGK songs don't leak too far out of my laptop because I'm pretty sure my mom hates all forms of rap. Even if she doesn't, I don't feel the least bit comfortable playing rap music within 50 feet of her. I would ticket myself if I did.

The anatomy of my rap fandom is straightforward. Basketball, a sport synonymous with hip-hop, has always been my favorite sport and my interest in it peaked in middle school. For most teenagers, middle school also happens to be the period in life when one stops listening to generic radio songs (think Breakfast at Tiffany's) and starts forming one's own musical identity. Because I always played basketball and surrounded myself with basketball players, I naturally took an interest in rap.

My middle school years coincided with the golden era of rap. The Big Tymers, Eminem, Nelly and Dr. Dre all went platinum several times in the late '90s/early '00s with their respective albums. I was hooked to rap and started listening to it more and more. I also made sure my parents never found my Country Grammar CD because I didn't want them to think they were raising a future high school dropout.

It seems like most people older than 35 think rap is the worst thing to happen since the oil crisis during the Carter administration. Any person in that demographic that does like rap either (a) thinks Marvin Gaye's and James Brown's music counts as rap, (b) likes one or two generic hip-hop songs like "Jesus Walks" by Kanye West and "Hey Ya" by Outkast, (c) does it just to be closer to their kids (nice try, but really lame) or (d) awkwardly attempts to "drop it like it's hot" in the middle of a bowling alley, something I had the misfortune of witnessing once.

I can understand why our generation's parents, aunts and uncles don't understand rap. I seriously doubt I'll be listening to my kids' favorite songs in 25 years because I'll want to listen to the music I grew up. My uncle, a fun, social guy who still has the soul of a kid, is repulsed by rap. He grew up listening to Bob Dylan and the Bee Gees so he doesn't identify with Tupac's music. It's understandable. Just don't musically profile me when I'm listening to All Eyez on Me.