Vince Staples recently got candid about his days "gangbanging" in Long Beach while growing up, and the emcee told The Guardian that he was drawn to the lifestyle because he had a taste for violence.
"I started gangbanging because I wanted to kill people. I wanted to hurt people. There's no reason: it's a bloodthirst. The same reason people join the army: because they want to kill. A lion doesn't make an excuse to kill anybody, he does it because he wants to."
After personally living the street life, Vince criticized classic flims like Boyz N The Hood and Menace II Society, "I don't know who benefits from that s***. You've just seen lowriders and Dickies suits and n***** Crip-walking. That's tap-dancing, that's coonery. Nobody's told the real story."
The "Norf Norf" emcee also explained his viewpoints on gang culture, which Staples compared to the Boy Scouts.
"If you live in Long Beach, gang members are going to be your friends regardless. You don't get 'sucked into' being an American, for example, you live there! Gangs are just part of southern Californian culture, they've been there since the late-1800s; the gang culture sets up the schooling, the little-league sports... What are the Boy Scouts? A group of people with a name who do stuff together. It's just when it become illegal that it becomes a problem."
Source: The Guardian
