Survived Early 90s Drug Game in NYC AMA

[truth2you]

Some of you have asked about Alpo/SNITCHING. I have a very different perspective on this than the common shyt you hear from these so-called OGs (think Kevin Chiles) who are still eating off of what they did in the streets and how deep in the game they were or "honorable" they were. Glorifying it like they are the real black/latin versions of Michael Corleone.

Snitching is just like violence/stick ups. If you sign up for the game, you are signing up to be ratted on too, not just dealing with the risk of death/becoming prey. This is part of my message to the youth too who are dabbling in the streets/trying to do their thing out there.

Alpo and people like him personified the game. They were the dudes who had the heart to run up on a rival block dolo busting their guns. Would kill you without thinking, would go to sleep dreaming about the game, and wake up to enjoy it, they lived for that shyt. If you can look at a dude who collected bodies in the game and killed without a conscience, how can you say he was real and a dude who snitched wasn't. They were both just as selfish, all about self-preservation, true sociopaths... Both types ruined lives and, like I've said, the mass murderers were often rats too.

If you sign up for this street shyt you are signing up for a game that has ZERO RULES. The only person making the rules is the White Man and his institutions. And he can change them whenever he feels like it. The only rule that our people abide by out there is that of self-preservation because that's all we can do.

I'm not saying we should celebrate the Alpos/Nicky Barnes of the game. We shouldn't celebrate them OR the big time killers... Both are equally responsible for the destruction and demise of our communities. EQUALLY.

I never snitched but I wasn't wearing a potential death penalty like Alpo was when he turned state's witness. Heavy is the head that wears the crown. The better you were at the hustle game, the more likely it was you'd be put in a situation where snitching was a real possibility. All of these OGs who exploit their reputation in the streets from that era can keep that shyt, they tell the youth to avoid the game but celebrate how "honorable" cats were back then... It's mixed messages and it's counter-productive, that's why they get no respect from me.

It's not even snitching by people you know/connected to, informants are huge now, and they even get paid to set people up who are not in the game!

I remember it used to be a site that exposed who were informants back in the early 2000's, and I would read people who got fukked up from these people, some of the stories were straight foul. The lawyers would know the informants set people up, and they still would charge them, meanwhile the informants were getting paid. Some were still doing violence, and getting away with it. The informants would be old people, young people, different races, just anybody! One of them was getting between $500,000-$1,000,000 a year setting people up, and he was still hustling! They took that site down because they claimed it dangerous to people who may be wrongly identified. The internet was still a new thing for most people, i doubt that shyt would fly today.

 

[Dushane Hill]

How dangerous was the subway back then?

//

How easy was it to get away with killing someone in that era?

 

[Self_Born7]

any NJ stories

 

[Sensei]

Some of you have asked about Alpo/SNITCHING. I have a very different perspective on this than the common shyt you hear from these so-called OGs (think Kevin Chiles) who are still eating off of what they did in the streets and how deep in the game they were or "honorable" they were. Glorifying it like they are the real black/latin versions of Michael Corleone.

Snitching is just like violence/stick ups. If you sign up for the game, you are signing up to be ratted on too, not just dealing with the risk of death/becoming prey. This is part of my message to the youth too who are dabbling in the streets/trying to do their thing out there.

Alpo and people like him personified the game. They were the dudes who had the heart to run up on a rival block dolo busting their guns. Would kill you without thinking, would go to sleep dreaming about the game, and wake up to enjoy it, they lived for that shyt. If you can look at a dude who collected bodies in the game and killed without a conscience, how can you say he was real and a dude who snitched wasn't. They were both just as selfish, all about self-preservation, true sociopaths... Both types ruined lives and, like I've said, the mass murderers were often rats too.

Alpo, wasn’t no guerilla killa from my understanding, in the presnce of certain dudes he would be humble. for example when he heard with his own ears Wayne Perry wanted to kill him, Alpo did nothing, this was out of Alpo’s own mouth he did with FEDS magazine.

I’m not trying to advocate drug dealing or playing the streets in any way, but you have to have some kind of rules in order to become organized and for a team to function as a unit. I know you went and said LA gang banging shyt is corny but what really set you and your crew apart when have no rules in your crew and just ran wild with no order(especially when they pitch on the block too, btw LE organizations said LA gangs set the tone for crack enterprise through out the country), you said it yourself you know how valueless a black/latino’s life was when you could get killed for giving the wrong dude dap?

I know it’s a difference between talking than how they walking but you can’t give praise to a dude like that.

Alpo wasn’t even the richest dude in Harlem and this is said by some Harlem dudes.

It's not even snitching by people you know/connected to, informants are huge now, and they even get paid to set people up who are not in the game!

I remember it used to be a site that exposed who were informants back in the early 2000's, and I would read people who got fukked up from these people, some of the stories were straight foul. The lawyers would know the informants set people up, and they still would charge them, meanwhile the informants were getting paid. Some were still doing violence, and getting away with it. The informants would be old people, young people, different races, just anybody! One of them was getting between $500,000-$1,000,000 a year setting people up, and he was still hustling! They took that site down because they claimed it dangerous to people who may be wrongly identified. The internet was still a new thing for most people, i doubt that shyt would fly today.

Right many informants have given people cases and criminal offenses they weren’t even involved ,I’m talking regular ass civilians.

 

[Piri Tomas]

How dangerous was the subway back then?

//

How easy was it to get away with killing someone in that era?

The subway wasn't so bad in terms of violence... It was more pick pockets and thieving shorties. At night that could change, especially for a white person who took the train too far uptown lol. But in every era the trains were the preferred means of transportation for all walks of life. It's a democratic institution (despite the rip off fares these days)--homeless to investment bankers sharing quarters.

 

[Piri Tomas]

Alpo, wasn’t no guerilla killa from my understanding, in the presnce of certain dudes he would be humble. for example when he heard with his own ears Wayne Perry wanted to kill him, Alpo did nothing, this was out of Alpo’s own mouth he did with FEDS magazine.

I’m not trying to advocate drug dealing or playing the streets in any way, but you have to have some kind of rules in order to become organized and for a team to function as a unit. I know you went and said LA gang banging shyt is corny but what really set you and your crew apart when have no rules in your crew and just ran wild with no order(especially when they pitch on the block too, btw LE organizations said LA gangs set the tone for crack enterprise through out the country), you said it yourself you know how valueless a black/latino’s life was when you could get killed for giving the wrong dude dap?

I know it’s a difference between talking than how they walking but you can’t give praise to a dude like that.

Alpo wasn’t even the richest dude in Harlem and this is said by some Harlem dudes.




Right many informants have given people cases and criminal offenses they weren’t even involved ,I’m talking regular ass civilians.

I'm not praising Alpo, I think you misunderstood. And I never said he was the richest, basically every major player in the dope game was getting more $$ than Alpo back then. Alpo did have heart on some street shyt though... Keep in mind I grew up on the East side in that era and I was outside. I didn't have to read about it in Feds magazine. I remember everyone ducking on 122nd when he came through busting his guns at some Ricans his people were beefing with. He rolled up alone on their block with two .45s blazing, try to picture that. As for his beef with Wayne Perry... Who had the last laugh? Having an official street reputation is cool, but try thinking about natural life in Supermax.

The same personality traits that made him a good hustler/street survivor made him an exceptional rat. I am trying to communicate to the youth that being on some super thug shyt is one side of the same coin as being an informant. It's dudes looking out for self over all else, and having no remorse/regrets when they take a life, either by the gun or by leading to someone else's incarceration.

I never said the LA gangs weren't making money (btw who the hell quotes the Feds? A Fed in every city will say his NEGROES are the worst/baddest to walk the face of the earth, that's how they talk about us). I don't have any direct experience with their street culture. That's why I asked as an open question why beef used to pop off in that era from someone who was out in LA in that era.

From the outside looking in, it seemed like they were less money-oriented and hierarchical than us. Like a lot of violence popped off over beef between neighborhoods that had nothing to do over competition for corners/drug markets. In NYC when people went to war it was over prices/stores, nobody would drive to another hood just to settle a beef if there was no $$ behind it.

The only thing that enforces "rules" in the streets is the threat of violence. People don't stay in line based on honor, they do it out of fear. Take it from someone that actually lived that life. That's why someone fukking up the crew's money would get beat to within an inch of his life or worse... Everything was about sending messages.

 

[Piri Tomas]

any NJ stories

Nah, Jersey was another world. Uptown dudes getting money would buy houses out there, but I never moved out there. As for the hoods, there wasn't much overlap. I think they had more trouble getting that good work so a lot of them would make the drive uptown to transact.

 

[Luken]

do you watch power?

 

[Piri Tomas]

do you watch power?

I tried. It's not for me.

 

[Sensei]

Delete

 

[Sensei]

I'm not praising Alpo, I think you misunderstood. And I never said he was the richest, basically every major player in the dope game was getting more $$ than Alpo back then. Alpo did have heart on some street shyt though... Keep in mind I grew up on the East side in that era and I was outside. I didn't have to read about it in Feds magazine. I remember everyone ducking on 122nd when he came through busting his guns at some Ricans his people were beefing with. He rolled up alone on their block with two .45s blazing, try to picture that. As for his beef with Wayne Perry... Who had the last laugh? Having an official street reputation is cool, but try thinking about natural life in Supermax.

The same personality traits that made him a good hustler/street survivor made him an exceptional rat. I am trying to communicate to the youth that being on some super thug shyt is one side of the same coin as being an informant. It's dudes looking out for self over all else, and having no remorse/regrets when they take a life, either by the gun or by leading to someone else's incarceration.

I never said the LA gangs weren't making money (btw who the hell quotes the Feds? A Fed in every city will say his NEGROES are the worst/baddest to walk the face of the earth, that's how they talk about us). I don't have any direct experience with their street culture. That's why I asked as an open question why beef used to pop off in that era from someone who was out in LA in that era.

From the outside looking in, it seemed like they were less money-oriented and hierarchical than us. Like a lot of violence popped off over beef between neighborhoods that had nothing to do over competition for corners/drug markets. In NYC when people went to war it was over prices/stores, nobody would drive to another hood just to settle a beef if there was no $$ behind it.

The only thing that enforces "rules" in the streets is the threat of violence. People don't stay in line based on honor, they do it out of fear. Take it from someone that actually lived that life. That's why someone fukking up the crew's money would get beat to within an inch of his life or worse... Everything was about sending messages.

Naw Feds will definitely not say their negroes in the city are worst because they have no affiliation with the hood out there and they work other cases in different states,their not going to be assigned to one state all their life especially when they are finish wrapping up a case their cover is done.And that site is not based in LA.


What I’m saying is that being a rat does have its drawbacks ,because yes there are stories of Alpo going at some cats but he backed down on many occasions.Alpo like you said wasn’t the richest and many cats didn’t want to deal with him because they probably picked up something funny from him. As far as taking a life means looking out for self, I would ask what do you think of jackas coming at you and your team or someone being a snake trying to take you out to get in high position, sometimes a making dudes flatline does have to put down ,so I guess if you killing for the wrong reasons like Alpo you can say look out for self.You and your team having shooters in your hood and not putting them to use when cats were extorting your spot means you wouldn’t kill for the right reasons.

As far as Perry’s outcome I never vouched for the dude he was fool for dealing with Alpo,I’m just going to let it be known,that ratting does have its drawback.

And as you said from the outside looking in that’s what it seems but there were many big name dudes from LA and yes believe it or not they pushed more than cats in NYC, why do you think they had keys for cheap.Ever think many of the killing was over drugs, for example the beef between 2 gangs called the Coast jacked a gang called Florencia is over a lick of taking keys.

Any way you talking to a cat that’s been on the block on both coast, (although in different games)and yes there is pettiness everywhere ,just because nikkas petty and wild about something don’t mean everyone is like that . You even said nikkas got clapped at for giving the wrong dude dap. You have gangs and crazy shyt everywhere,that don’t mean cats don’t make money.Why you think there is gangs in Kingston and but yardies move weight.

 

[Piri Tomas]

Naw Feds will definitely not say their negroes in the city are worst because they have no affiliation with the hood out there and they work other cases in different states,their not going to be assigned to one state all their life especially when they are finish wrapping up a case their cover is done.And that site is not based in LA.


What I’m saying is that being a rat does have its drawbacks ,because yes there are stories of Alpo going at some cats but he backed down on many occasions.Alpo like you said wasn’t the richest and many cats didn’t want to deal with him because they probably picked up something funny from him. As far as taking a life means looking out for self, I would ask what do you think of jackas coming at you and your team or someone being a snake trying to take you out to get in high position, sometimes a making dudes flatline does have to put down ,so I guess if you killing for the wrong reasons like Alpo you can say look out for self.You and your team having shooters in your hood and not putting them to use when cats were extorting your spot means you wouldn’t kill for the right reasons.

As far as Perry’s outcome I never vouched for the dude he was fool for dealing with Alpo,I’m just going to let it be known,that ratting does have its drawback.

And as you said from the outside looking in that’s what it seems but there were many big name dudes from LA and yes believe it or not they pushed more than cats in NYC, why do you think they had keys for cheap.Ever think many of the killing was over drugs, for example the beef between 2 gangs called the Coast jacked a gang called Florencia is over a lick of taking keys.

Any way you talking to a cat that’s been on the block on both coast, (although in different games)and yes there is pettiness everywhere ,just because nikkas petty and wild about something don’t mean everyone is like that . You even said nikkas got clapped at for giving the wrong dude dap. You have gangs and crazy shyt everywhere,that don’t mean cats don’t make money.Why you think there is gangs in Kingston and but yardies move weight.

Honestly, brother, a lot of the stuff you're saying comes off as someone who got their information straight from magazines/the internet. I'm not saying you weren't in the streets, but none of what you're saying resonates with my era.

Every cop/federal agent working cases in a city will say they dealt with the toughest cases/gangsters. It's the same mentality that OGs have when they brag about how "nobody did it like my city!" Cops/the feds are the biggest most powerful gang there is.

In terms of LA gangs "exporting" their business model, maybe in smaller towns on that side of the Mississippi, but how can you say they brought game to the East Coast when the business model in NYC didn't really change from the 60/70s dope game when Crips were just a social club in Cali? The only thing that changed in my era is that there were more people trying to get money in the streets and the competition got even more brutal.

I never said there weren't big time hustlers on the West Coast. What I said is that I don't understand that "gang" culture. It seems like the gangs out there got involved in the drug economy in the 80s but that they also killed over beefs that were decades old, predating the drug game--e.g. we don't mess with that neighborhood, dude shows up on the wrong block wearing the wrong colors.

The difference in NYC is that we had gangs in the 70s/early 80s who did stab/shoot each other over rivalries, not drug beef. These gangs disappeared when the crack era made everyone want to get money--that's when "companies" took over, brands... with bosses, lieutenants, soldiers, pitchers, etc. Killing someone over a rivalry that wasn't about money directly wasn't part of the street life in NYC.

My comment about shaking the wrong hand and ending in a beef went like this--if a dude thinks another dude is trying to kill him--jealousy, he wants his store, whatever--and you shake his hand, he might see you as working with the guy to set him up, holding his enemy on a security tip, or he just wants to send a message that it's not safe anymore and he'll start dropping dude's people. It was still mostly tied to beef over the drugs.

Petty violence is inevitable when everyone is strapped to either protect territory/rob people. If you can kill for business, soon you'll start killing over everything... even someone looking at you the wrong way.

The fact that you think it was straightforward--like there were good and bad reasons for killing people--shows me you get a lot of your street perspective from The Wire/rappers. Alpo probably thought he had to kill every single person he killed. The fact that he was quick to the guns made him a formidable presence. There is no respect in the street, just fear. You're either getting people money or you're scaring them into complying... People don't do anything out of love/respect out there, any street dude who is honest to himself knows this.

As for the extortion point, I already explained this. If you're watching the Wire/listening to rappers you will think that the game is all bang bang shoot em up. Not in my era, we wanted to make money. If there was a store that had a set clientele, cheese lines around the block and we had that work, we had to make a MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL arrangement with the locals. Yes, this meant paying a percentage.

Most people in the game back then (or in any era) were not killers, not why we got into it. Tens of thousands of dudes were selling dope/crack in the late 80s early 90s in NYC. If they were all catching bodies the death toll would have been at least 10K annually instead of 2K.

You pay a local crew that has a bunch of killers on their roster, you don't even have to go out there and muscle up to stop the intruders, you have outsourced that shyt. And they don't abuse their power because they know if they start doing that they're not useful anymore. We all made business arrangements, you watch too many movies/TV shows if you think it was all about running up on blocks and taking over.

 

[Piri Tomas]

To anyone reading this thread, it seems like the general demographic is very young/getting a lot of information from The Wire and other popular culture sources. So I'll put it to you like this. Most of the big time hustlers had more of a Marlo mentality (plus a willingness to snitch if they had to) than anything else. There were no stick up kid's with a heart of gold. Killers killed callously and without remorse/thinking.

I wasn't a big time hustler. I never made it past middle management and that was for a reason. Your heart had to be extra cold to make it to the big time status back then.

 

[Sensei]

Honestly, brother, a lot of the stuff you're saying comes off as someone who got their information straight from magazines/the internet. I'm not saying you weren't in the streets, but none of what you're saying resonates with my era.

Every cop/federal agent working cases in a city will say they dealt with the toughest cases/gangsters. It's the same mentality that OGs have when they brag about how "nobody did it like my city!" Cops/the feds are the biggest most powerful gang there is.

In terms of LA gangs "exporting" their business model, maybe in smaller towns on that side of the Mississippi, but how can you say they brought game to the East Coast when the business model in NYC didn't really change from the 60/70s dope game when Crips were just a social club in Cali? The only thing that changed in my era is that there were more people trying to get money in the streets and the competition got even more brutal.

I never said there weren't big time hustlers on the West Coast. What I said is that I don't understand that "gang" culture. It seems like the gangs out there got involved in the drug economy in the 80s but that they also killed over beefs that were decades old, predating the drug game--e.g. we don't mess with that neighborhood, dude shows up on the wrong block wearing the wrong colors.

The difference in NYC is that we had gangs in the 70s/early 80s who did stab/shoot each other over rivalries, not drug beef. These gangs disappeared when the crack era made everyone want to get money--that's when "companies" took over, brands... with bosses, lieutenants, soldiers, pitchers, etc. Killing someone over a rivalry that wasn't about money directly wasn't part of the street life in NYC.

My comment about shaking the wrong hand and ending in a beef went like this--if a dude thinks another dude is trying to kill him--jealousy, he wants his store, whatever--and you shake his hand, he might see you as working with the guy to set him up, holding his enemy on a security tip, or he just wants to send a message that it's not safe anymore and he'll start dropping dude's people. It was still mostly tied to beef over the drugs.

Petty violence is inevitable when everyone is strapped to either protect territory/rob people. If you can kill for business, soon you'll start killing over everything... even someone looking at you the wrong way.

The fact that you think it was straightforward--like there were good and bad reasons for killing people--shows me you get a lot of your street perspective from The Wire/rappers. Alpo probably thought he had to kill every single person he killed. The fact that he was quick to the guns made him a formidable presence. There is no respect in the street, just fear. You're either getting people money or you're scaring them into complying... People don't do anything out of love/respect out there, any street dude who is honest to himself knows this.

As for the extortion point, I already explained this. If you're watching the Wire/listening to rappers you will think that the game is all bang bang shoot em up. Not in my era, we wanted to make money. If there was a store that had a set clientele, cheese lines around the block and we had that work, we had to make a MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL arrangement with the locals. Yes, this meant paying a percentage.

Most people in the game back then (or in any era) were not killers, not why we got into it. Tens of thousands of dudes were selling dope/crack in the late 80s early 90s in NYC. If they were all catching bodies the death toll would have been at least 10K annually instead of 2K.

You pay a local crew that has a bunch of killers on their roster, you don't ever have to go out there and muscle up to stop the intruders, you have outsourced that shyt. And they don't abuse their power because they know if they start doing that they're not useful anymore. We all made business arrangements, you watch too many movies/TV shows if you think it was all about running up on blocks and taking over.

Lol at cops will say that their gangsters were the biggest and baddest ,yea right, they have vested interest in proving they they baddest,miss with the Cops and FEDS being a gang,

The link I gave you weren’t cops they were FEDs why in the world would you think FEDS would want brag about a city when they AREN’T assigned to one city their whole career.What you said is false.

I’m not talking about HOP/Heron im talking about crack ,in general they mastered that ,guess where the first arrest records of crack are from,It’s also known they mass distribute sherm.Besides what makes you think there wasn’t Heron out there too in the 70, you need to keep in mind that the heron was all over in the 70s in very ghetto.You’re not going to act as if the dope dealers in NYC that were from 60s/70s lasted toward the 80s you know damn well they were out of commission by then.

What you need to understand is that gangs in LA were just regular hood business that doesn’t mean the big timers didn’t branch off and got with a real money making operation when they made it big time. As you said your own the outside looking in what makes you think they weren’t drug organizations ever heard of 3rd World ,Whitey Enterprises, Etc these were all drug crews that went back to the early 80s, and got taken down by Feds in the early 80s.These dudes did have structure,and many came later on.

I never watched the Wire in my fukking life, can’t stand the show either I’ve seen hustlers first hand,respect is fear yea but how do you expect nikkas to respect you when you got one dude extorting you ,what about the next cat to come along? Seems to me you don’t know when to use your firepower, your story don’t add up, you say not every body was a killer back then but you also talk about earning your respect through fear, how you going to be respected but can’t kill when need be?How you going to get extorted and you gotta answer to the boss? I know bullshyt when I see it.

Only reason I used that reference to Alpo is because he said it himself out his own mouth,that Wayne Perry said he wanted to kill him right in front of him and Alpo didn’t even state his name,matter of fact there is an interview of him saying it online,what good is it if you are a killer but can’t put the murder game down when need be?, how you dudes gonna take over a city when you let when group of jackas extort you? And for the record it wasn’t just NYC dudes hustling in DC,it was cats from all over doing they thing, I know because of fam there, Miami,Detroit,La cats, Yardie,Salvadorans,etc..

You’re making a lot of assumptions especially when you when never hustled there or know people from there, you say it’s no honor amongst thieves but want to give props to snitches like Alpo. You’re talking about the streets but want give your local crew of Harlem nikkas one up on every body. It looks to me you still glorifying shyt.

How about this what you did on your block as how you got down you can’t speak on every nikkaa.

 

[Piri Tomas]

Lol at cops will say that their gangsters were the biggest and baddest ,yea right, they have vested interest in proving they they baddest,miss with the Cops and FEDS being a gang,

The link I gave you weren’t cops they were FEDs why in the world would you think FEDS would want brag about a city when they AREN’T assigned to one city their whole career.What you said is false.

I’m not talking about HOP/Heron im talking about crack ,in general they mastered that ,first arrest record of crack were in LA,It’s also known they mass distributed heron,Besides what makes you think there want Heron out there too, you need to keep in mind that the heron was all over in the 70s in very ghetto.You’re not going to act as if the dope dealers in NYC that were from 60s/70s lasted toward the 80s you know damn well they were out of commission by then.

What you need to understand is that gangs in LA were just regular hood business that doesn’t mean the big timers didn’t branch off and got with a real money making operation when they made it big time. As you said your own the outside looking in what makes you think they weren’t drug organizations ever heard of 3rd World ,Whitey Enterprises, Etc these were all drug crews that went back to the early 80s, and got taken down by Feds in the early 80s.These dudes did have structure,and many came later on.

I never watched the Wire in my fukking life, can’t stand the show either I’ve seen hustlers first hand,respect is fear yea but how do you expect nikkas to respect you when you got one dude extorting you ,what about the next cat to come along? Seems to me you don’t know when to use your firepower, your story don’t add up, you say not every body was a killer back then but you also talk about earning your respect through fear, how you going to be respected but can’t kill when need be?How you going to get extorted and you gotta answer to the boss? I know bullshyt when I see it.

Only reason I used that reference to Alpo is because he said it himself out his own mouth,that Wayne Perry said he wanted to kill him right in front of him and Alpo didn’t even state his name,matter of fact there is an interview of him saying it online,what good is it if you are a killer but can’t put the murder game down when need be?, how you dudes gonna take over a city when you let when group of jackas extort you? And for the record it wasn’t just NYC dudes hustling in DC,it was cats from all over doing they thing, I know because of fam there, Miami,Detroit,La cats, Yardie,Salvadorans,etc..

You’re making a lot of assumptions especially when you when never hustled there or know people from there, you say it’s no honor amongst thieves but want to give props to cats like Alpo. You’re talking about the streets but want give your local crew of Harlem nikkas one up on every body.

How about this what you did on your block as how you got down you can’t speak on every nikkaa.

Haha okay, so you're a global hustler, got it... You happen to have fam everywhere, you were on the streets witnessing how everyone got down in every hood, okay.

Internet thugs like you crack me up. Anyone reading this dude's responses can see exactly what we as an older generation need to debunk/speak out against. This kind of posturing and fukkery... Dude deals in cliches.

Who said anything about taking over? The drug game is an ecosystem. If everyone was a boss/killer/taking over no money would be made at all. You're right, what you're describing isn't even The Wire. It's more like a 1st person shooter videogame. fukk outta here with that bullshyt.

I never hustled with Alpo, the fukk are you talking about? There were Alpos in every major city. My point was that you can't say he didn't embody the game for being a rat. You're turning it into some sort of Alpo vs. Insert West Coast gangster argument that I couldn't care less about.

The old dope crews were the framework the younger crews followed be it crack or dope. And believe it or not, some of the dudes who started back then were still around by the time crack hit. In fact some real big figures in the game.

As for extortion crews, I'm not going to keep returning to this point. Being a drug dealer did not make someone a killer and vice versa. Paying a violent crew allowed business-minded dudes with access to work to keep their hands clean. These extortion crews were like muscle for hire. There's a difference between arming your people to trade shots in the event of unforeseen circumstances (which you had to plan for) and expecting them to go out hunting for rivals. That's another skill set.

You are watching too many movies and listening to too many dishonest rappers. We all did what he had to do to survive. I keep it authentic, I never said I was a tough guy or a kingpin. I'm talking about the way it was. Go somewhere else with that hood legend "this is how real nikkas did it" nonsense.