1997. Coolio talks gang violence, crack made it worse, he shares stories

[00:00:00][applause] >> Welcome back.

[00:00:05]>> [applause] >> That seems that lyric seems that you're really using the music against violence now. What what's going on?

[00:00:14]>> Well, I mean I I never was one to really advocate violence on records and you know, that's never really been my steelo and how I do things. So, I'm originally from a group called WC in the Mad Circle and the mad was m a a d instead of m a a d m a a d like Mothers Against Drunk Driving, but it was Minority Alliance for Anti-Discrimination.

[00:00:35]And basically what we stood for was trying to uplift people and and try to do music that that lifts the self-esteem and you know, that's what I've been doing on my own for the past three three albums and you know, I'm just trying to you know, I'm trying to make a difference cuz I have I have seven children and I don't want to see >> Seven children?

[00:00:54]>> I don't want to see I don't want to lose any of them.

[00:00:57]>> So, when you hear a story like this little Stephanie, how does it affect you as a dad?

[00:01:02]>> You know, I've been It's funny, but I've been hearing those stories for 20 years. I mean I'm from Los Angeles and I lived in it with it and I even participated in it for a time in my life and um it's it's really you know, there's been a gang problem in LA actually for about 20 years. I mean gangs started over 40 years ago, the first real street gang in LA and things have gotten progressively worse since then, but I'm going to tell you the thing that changed things drastically was the introduction of crack cocaine to our neighborhoods and it it took it to another level and it's it's you know, it's never been the same since.

[00:01:45]>> I agree with that. I've watched it and tracked it. I tracked crack since 1984 at least. But what changed you personally? What made you as a man? I'm talking about before you were a big star. What change what got you out of the gangsta life?

[00:01:59]>> Uh I I need to I knew these two two guys who will remain nameless for obvious reasons, but they um they were killers.

[00:02:08]And they they would they would kill anything.

[00:02:11]You know what I mean? They they kill a they kill a man as fast as they kill a roach.

[00:02:16]And they you know, I was I saw we walking down the street one day and a a little dachshund came walking up came running up to the gate barking. I mean, he's protecting this house. And he couldn't get out. He couldn't harm us.

[00:02:28]And he just, you know, one of the guys he just pulled out his pistol and he he shot the dog. You know, um I've seen them do a whole bunch of crazy things and I never really I I never actively participated in any of the killings, but I was there.

[00:02:43]You know, and I saw it and I real you know, after after seeing it a couple of times, I realized I didn't want to be like that and that if I if I you know, I actually had to be with them now because they kind of ran the neighborhood and if you didn't participate, you became a victim. So, it was kind of you know, I wasn't the only one I got caught up in in that time. You know, there was a lot of people. Um that's mostly the reason why kids I'm going to just in case you guys don't know, the reason why why children join gangs is because it's part of belonging.

[00:03:15]I mean, sometimes especially like a lot of you have one child or maybe two children and if they're young and they don't have anybody to protect them, you know, they they become victims, you know, and after a while you get tired of getting your lunch money taken and you get tired of people chasing you home.

[00:03:32]So, you you try to protect yourself and you join a gang so so that you can have some form of protection. At least that's how it is in Los Angeles and I'm telling you it's really like that. Those kids a lot of kids they don't join gangs because they're bad kids or because they really want to join a gang. It's it's pressure.

[00:03:48]>> What would motivate someone in a gang though to shoot a dachshund or more profoundly to shoot a 4-year-old child.

[00:03:56]Well, where's the where's the manliness in that?

[00:03:58]>> Well, no, there's no manliness in it.

[00:04:00]It's It's just that everybody thinks that these people are just crazy or something like that, but if you if you grow up like Okay, a lot of these kids now are being raised by the state basically. They go to juvenile hall when they're 8 years old. Um >> That's right.

[00:04:17]>> They're in and out until they're 18, 25 years old. And when they get out, they've been basically raised by the state.

[00:04:24]They know no love. And when you know no love, then you can show no love. They don't care about nothing because they don't know how to love anything because nobody's never loved them and they don't know what real love is.

[00:04:36]>> Are you pessimistic for the future?

[00:04:40]>> Well, you know, I wish I could be, but um you know >> Is it going to get worse or better?

[00:04:46]>> Yeah, I mean I I want to be optimistic actually, but you know, I'm I'm more pessimistic than anything because things aren't changing.

[00:04:55]Nobody's doing anything. This This law they just passed um >> The injunction?

[00:04:59]>> Yeah, the injunction um that's that's going to stop it for a while and you know, what what it's going to do actually is start taking away more people you know, people's constitutional rights and you know, I understand if I you know, I lost No no, I know how you guys feel so you guys don't think I'm just talking.

[00:05:16]I've lost at least 10 It was 14 of us. We started out as 14 of my friends that we all hung together. We went to school together. We played together. We did everything together.

[00:05:27]It's only five of us left.

[00:05:30]>> Alive?

[00:05:31]>> Alive. It's five of us. It's It's probably maybe two in jail, but the rest are all dead. And you know, I stopped gang banging at a real early age and these were all my friends. We didn't gang bang. We all were going to school. We all were trying to trying to do something with our life, but they got killed anyway.

[00:05:48]You know, so I you know, I lost family members to gang violence. I mean, you know, cousins and and stuff like that. And so I I understand how you feel, ex- believe me, but the injunction is is you know, that's that's not it's it's unconstitutional and it's it's not just affecting gang members, it's affecting everybody that lives in that area. And and it's it's not right, but you know, I understand that people feel like they got to do something.

[00:06:19]>> Got to do something.

[00:06:20]>> But I mean, it's been like I said, it's been 40 years. They should have did something 20 years ago.

[00:06:27]And and now what they got to stop doing is putting these young these kids in jail. They got to come up with some kind of alternative thing to to do when when when you got a kid that's going in the wrong direction.

[00:06:39]They got to come up with something else because juvenile hall is not cutting it.

[00:06:42]That's just teaching them how to be worse.

[00:06:44]>> We'll meet the young lady who spent 8 and 1/2 years at Folsom and other places, other prisons. We'll meet the district attorney who disagrees with Coolio. I love Coolio. I love his music. I disagree with him on the injunction. I think that you got to try something somehow.

[00:06:57]>> [snorts] >> We'll talk more with these families who have lost so much so grievously.

[00:07:01]Rap against the reign of terror continues. Stay tuned, folks.