Small Town Hating Is Beyond Real

Up & coming rapper Doe B from Montgomery, AL was shot & killed early Saturday morning.  He was 22 years old.  He was signed with rapper T.I.s Grand Hustle record label and was starting to make some noise within the music industry.  Unfortunately, his life was cut down way too early for him to even begin to realize his potential within the music industry.

I used to go to college in Alabama & I am very familiar with Montgomery, AL especially the club in which he was killed in.  The club used to be named the Rose & has had a long history of violence.  But the details about the club, the city of Montgomery, or even Doe B are not the main points of this article.  The main point of this article has to deal with haters, particularly those whom reside in small towns or cities.  Every city regardless of how big or small is jam packed with people who do not want to see others make it out & become successful, it just seems that this hate is often amplified to another level when a person on the verge of making a serious name for themselves comes out of a relatively small town/city.  I didn’t know Doe B personally, I’ve never met him, so I can’t comment on what his life may have been like in Montgomery prior to him starting to make a name for himself on the national scene.  I can only assume that his current rise to the level of success he achieved thus far prior to being killed was probably related to issues he may have had with haters, enemies, or whomever simply because he was on the verge of doing something bigger than most in his small town had accomplished that far.

Currently I live in a relatively small city where there is a somewhat big hip hop scene.  Nothing big on the scale of New York, LA, Miami, ATL, or Houston…but there exists its own hip hop culture full of so-called local celebrities & what not.  I’m fairly active in keeping up with this local hip hop scene to a certain extent and the small town hate is beyond real.  Everybody wants to be the man or woman who blows up on the national scene first thereby not getting behind those whom have real genuine talent to actually make a name for themselves.  Instead they prefer to tear each other down.  This isn’t just in the realm of hip hop, this is in the realm of anything that has to do with anything that falls up under the “urban” umbrella of business or creativity.  People would rather for someone to be constantly held down versus coming together to uplift & promote for fear they will not be the first to make it.  As I stated earlier, this isn’t just a small town issue, but it is often amplified 10 times stronger when these dealings take place in small communities.  Fortunately for as long as I’ve been living where I currently reside at, I’ve yet to hear about anybody being killed that is within the hip hop community, but sad to say, if someone from the local hip hop community were to begin to make a huge name for themselves, they probably would experience a lot of problems.

Where I live at now, rapper Pastor Troy used to attend college out here, started rapping, went to ATL & blew up from there.  The people who are originally from the city I currently live at basically hate Pastor Troy.  Most of them have a strong hate for the guy simply because he started rapping in their city, made some connections with local people who helped him get started in music, then Troy relocated to Atlanta where his chances of getting discovered were 1 million times better…got discovered, made a big name for himself…now those in my current city all got caught up in their feelings because they felt “left behind” to a degree.  So now every time I check in with the hip hop community via Facebook or wherever and Pastor Troy’s name is mentioned, all I tend to hear or read is how people “wish this nigga would show his face in this city” or “this nigga isn’t welcomed here…his ass will get ran up outta here with the quickness.”  I hear this stuff & I’m like WHY???

All people who rap have aspirations of becoming the next super star of rap yet many fail to realize they lack talent & more importantly, the ambition to see their goals through the ups & downs of pursuing a career in music.  Small town minded people often have the aspirations to become the big fish in a small pond.  They can’t fathom leaving the small pond & entering the giant lake or ocean (ATL, NYC, LA, etc) & realizing becoming the next super star in hip hop requires real work well beyond getting behind a microphone & rapping.  So when a person like Pastor Troy comes along and realizes in order for him to attain his goal of becoming a real name in hip hop that he MUST move to Atlanta GA where the real movers & shakers of hip hop live, the small town/small minded haters of his former city can’t comprehend that & deem him as a sellout who is leaving them behind.  Reality is, Pastor Troy was just doing what was best for his career at that point in his life.  Hanging out in small towns with small minded people will not open doors for you.  The money is not coming to find you there in most cases, you have to go to the money.  But these local jokers can’t & simply refuse to understand that…so they sit on the sidelines hating.

Currently there is a rapper in the city I live in who is starting to make somewhat of a name beyond the city we currently live in & I can almost guarantee that if he gets discovered and makes a name on the national scene in hip hop, he will experience the same level of hate that Pastor Troy received.  I’m just hoping he doesn’t receive the same level of hate that ended Doe B’s life tragically.

Rest In Peace Doe B.