Bling Bling
What is ‘Bling Bling’ and more importantly what is the relevance to everything that glitters ain’t gold? Well to make sense of it we will keep the characters anonymous and simply refer to the main character as ‘BB’ from Conway, S.C.
BB (not to be confused with BB King and there is no relation in any way), was the type of everyday guy who you would just go to hang out with, party, and do what young folks do – pay attention to the opposite sex. What makes BB memorable is none of the mentioned reasons for association; but, rather all of the head scratching moments later down the road realizing how much you learned from a guy 'In da hood' who never finished high school nor ever saw the light of day in anyone’s college campus. And what was BB’s theme that always stuck? ‘Everything that glitters ain’t gold,’ which has so many applications, even today. And this was coming from a guy ‘In da hood’ during the late 80’s and early 90’s when ‘Bling Bling’ took off and had its hey day.
Oh, but BB was smart and wasn’t buying into it hook line and sinker and there was no WOKE movement then. Instead during that era there was the ‘Self Destruction’ theme with well known artists such as Queen Latifa and a host of others. Now, back to BB. Well BB would hang out virtually every weekend, and if not every other weekend for sure at the club and, often, get so inebriated that he would not know how to make it home. Stand up guy huh? Well BB would only engage in this conduct on Saturday and/or Sunday evenings because Sunday and Monday were his designated days off. And where did BB work? Burger King (Really!) – and since the last time running into BB his tenure was 12 consistent years at the same Burger King location. Anyway, BB had been offered management roles so many times at Burger King it was literally ridiculous; but, he never accepted such an offer, instead after almost being forced to do so, he accepted a shift leader position. Why no management? BB liked the flexibility that came with being just a crew member or shift leader which allowed for the party lifestyle in which he engaged.
What’s more impressive is that you would never know that BB, in the late 80’s and 90’s, had a 700+ credit score, never owed anyone a dime, his ‘hoopdy’ which he bought for $500 was transformed into a dream car, for that era, equipped with new upholstery, a new race engine, a custom paint job, Michelin low profile tires and new wheels (no spinners – sorry folks). More to the point, BB had a hidden retirement plan flush with cash which he never talked about and more liquid cash in the bank than you would ever expect from a party cat 'In the hood' who would get drunk out of his mind to the point he would not even know how to make it home. How did BB accomplish all of these feats? Perhaps the reasons are many; but, one reason for such was that BB always lived by the rules: one of which was, again, 'Everything that glitters ain’t gold,' so BB would never fall for the nightlight and party traps with women -- often the product of imagination brought on by way too much ‘Gin and juice.’ Instead, BB knew the reality of hard work, perseverance, and keeping your ‘Head on straight,’ in the process.
And as to the 80’s and 90’s era the pitfalls were many, which as previously mentioned always began and ended around the opposite sex. But even then that era was different. Can we get a show of hands of those entering early adulthood (18-21) during the late 80’s and early 90’s? For those with your hands up you probably know where this is going. Men have always had their evaluation systems for women as women have had for men. And young men, always, seemed to gravitate to the ‘Dimes’ if you know what I mean. But the ‘Dimes’ were different in that era. Ever heard of The Real Roxanne? Roxanne Shante? UTFO with the ‘Educated rapper - who rapped about his interactions with 'Dimes?' Today’s generation would probably nod in the negative. But in that era, men sought after the ‘Dimes’ then, as they do today, but the ‘Dimes’ then were smarter and understood how their mating decisions affected not only their immediate lives but the next generation. So in short guys were not getting anywhere with with ‘Dimes’ if they could not show, during their five minutes of fame: Their life and economic potential, character, intelligence, and as was an accustomed saying during that day – his ‘Vocabulary.’ In short, if you could not demonstrate some intelligence in speaking, from the time you opened your mouth, up to about 3-5 minutes of passing time – your goose was cooked. Women were smarter then. And there was no woke, no millions flowing "In da hood,’ no one knocking down the doors to Harvard and Yale, no diversity-equity-and inclusion, no ESG, virtually no access to the fortune 500 and, certainly, unheard of access to the Fortune 100. None of that. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. But by and large women were smarter then, and the next generation was poised to be even smarter. But then something happened along the way – it's called post Y2K. Things changed dramatically following the start of the 2000 era and even more so following September 11, 2001. Somewhere along the line it became more about what other people were doing and less about what one was doing to better himself and his community. What was the cause of this drastic shift? Perhaps the reasons there are many; but, hypothesizing -- one of the key, if not the key element was – the current generation of 2000 somehow became disconnected from their elders. And things began to flow downhill from there. As the saying goes: Shit flows downstream/downhill.
Reversal of Fortune
Somewhere along the way, the 2000 era fell victim to the trap to which BB would not i.e. ‘Everything that glitters ain’t gold’ and subsequently the Y2K generation began dismissing the role of elders and the invaluable knowledge-experience contained in their being, and instead opted for the idea of ‘Glitter,’ and ‘Bling Bling.’ Things have not been the same since. And here is the irony. Today’s Black minority environments with music and entertainment have literally made 100’s if not 1000’s times more than during the 80's and 90's yet the quality of the Black community is many times worse, today, than it was in the ‘Old days,’ as the younger folks would say. How much did Run DMC earn, which are legends (and trendsetters) in the rap and pop genres, during their hey day in comparison to say just one artist like ‘Lil Wayne' today? You can’t even truly compare them as from an earnings standpoint Run DMC would look like chronic welfare recipients in comparison to someone like ‘Lil Wayne.’
Times change. Things change. Music changes. People are expected to grow and develop (preferably for the better). But some things in life were never intended to change such as the role and relationship with elders and youth. And he who seeks to uproot that structural life ordained order of life will at some point fall victim to the consequences of the same and pay a heavy price for doing so. You cannot and will not find any ethnic group or race of people anywhere on planet earth at any point in time since man’s existence on earth, where man has been able to prosper and grow as a [sub]group of people without the natural order and relationship of elders and youth. Say it ain’t so! Illustrate just one example. Just one. This is where the Black community has fallen victim to the fool’s folly and has paid a substantial price for doing so. And to the extent the Black community in interested in change -- meaningful change, it had better remember the applicable laws one of which learned from BB: ‘Everything that glitters ain’t gold.’ And the other: never seek to disturb the natural order of elders and youth; but, rather wholeheartedly embrace the same as your own existence is dependent upon doing so.
The moral to the story. Harvard and Yale attendance is for the few and far between; but nonetheless knowledge, valuable life knowledge, is around us everyday – if we look for it and understand how to adjust our lens to find it. Again, in the 80’s and 90’s women understood that much – even women men referred to as ‘Hoodrats’ or ‘Car booty girls’ were smarter then. Even they knew then not to fall for the ‘Bling Bling’ and as such the ‘Hoodrats’ then would mate and have offspring with the intellects and nerds, as often referred to, even while preferring the everyday romantic physical pleasures of the ‘Thugs.’ So what do you think the 'Dimes' were doing, mating with 'Thugs'? Guess again. Indeed even the ‘Hoodrats’ were smarter. And this fact about the ‘Hoodrats’ can be substantiated via real life examples or at least one real life example having an offspring relationship of the same – via a ‘Hoodrat’ who was smart enough in her mating choices to mate with an intellect, with which she herself never saw herself as being in a longevity relationship therewith; but, nonetheless considered how having such a relationship could advance prosperity, opportunity, and growth for her offspring. And here is how you know she must have been really smart or very stupid. She never sought a dime from that offspring relationship i.e. no paycheck from daddy baby. There is a lot that the hood today can learn from the hood of yesterday, while at the same time understanding its own state of unrest, with which it is puzzled, which has been set in order thousands of years before this generation: The role and relationship between elders and youth. For life, development, and opportunity has little to do with where one was born or lives but rather his outlook on life and those he has around him who possess the knowledge and experience critical to his success. And of course his eargerness to learn, for as the saying goes: When the student is ready to learn a teacher will appear.