Stop Snitchin'
Rapper Cam'ron: Snitching Hurts His Business, "Code Of Ethics"
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Stop Snitchin'
In Full: CNN's Anderson Cooper reports on how the hip-hop culture's message not to cooperate with the police in any way has undermined efforts to solve murders across the country.
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Rapper Cam'ron On Snitching
Rapper Cam'ron tells Anderson Cooper there's never a reason to help the police. He says he is so against the authorities, he wouldn't even turn in a serial killer.
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Cooper's Reporter's Notebook
CNN's Anderson Cooper talks about the conflicting messages conveyed through hip-hop culture and how record companies are doing little to address these concerns.
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Cam'ron, a.k.a. Cameron Giles (CBS)
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Geoffrey Canada (CBS)
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Rap star Cameron Giles, known as Cam'ron or "Killa Cam," got shot in both arms in 2005. The shooting occurred in front of members of Cam'ron's entourage, but to this day, neither they, nor he, have cooperated with police.
Asked why, Cam'ron tells Cooper, "Because with the type of business I'm in, it would definitely hurt my business. And the way that I was raised, I just don't do that. I was raised differently, not to tell."
"If I was shot, I would want to know who did it. I would want the guy to get caught," Cooper remarks.
"But then again, you're not going to be on the stage tonight in the middle of, let's say, Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, with people with gold and platinum teeth and dreadlocks jumping up and down singing your songs either," Cam'ron says. "You know what I'm saying? We're in two different lines of business."
"So for you it's really about business?" Cooper asks.
"It's about business but it's still also a code of ethics," Cam'ron replies.
Asked if he thinks there is any situation when it's okay to talk to the police, Cam'ron tells Cooper, "Yeah, definitely. Say 'Hello, how you feel, everything alright?' Period."
"That's it?" Cooper asks.
"There's nothing really to talk about with the police, I mean, for what?" Cam'ron says.
"If there's a serial killer living next door to you, though, and you know that person is, you know, killing people, would you be a snitch if you called police and told them?" Cooper asks Cam'ron.
"If I knew the serial killer was living next door to me?" Cam'ron asks. "No, I wouldn't call and tell anybody on him. But I'd probably move… But I'm not gonna call and be like, you know, 'The serial killer's in 4E.'"
If you think Cam'ron is kidding, he’s not. Maintaining street cred sells record – just watch his movie "Killa Season," or his rap videos, and you’ll quickly learn about his drug-dealing past. He wears it as proudly as his jeweled chains.
In a recent video, which was viewed more than a million times on YouTube, Cam'ron engages in what has become a standard attack on a competitor rapper’s brand. He accuses rapper 50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, of being a "snitch" for allegedly cooperating with a police investigation.
"You don't need someone destroying you when your own people are the worst messengers possibly," Canada says. "And this is what black people in America have not come to grips with. If we had a bunch a people in robes saying this stuff, there would be a movement all over America to shut this thing down. That it's young black millionaires, we are doing nothing."
Cam'ron acknowledges that he is a millionaire and drives "a couple" of Lamborghinis. On the streets of Harlem, he is idolized. A few years ago when he started wearing pink clothing, kids in inner city schools across the country started wearing it too.
"Whatever they dish out, we eat it up," a teenager named Victoria tells Cooper. "They could dish out the nastiest thing in the world, but we still will eat it up."
Cooper met Victoria, Alex, Derrick, Darnell, and Tess through a church-based organization called Uth Turn. They’re 14 through 19 years old, and they told 60 Minutes the "stop snitchin'" code doesn’t just apply to rappers.
"A snitch is a tattletale, a rat, somebody who goes around telling other people business instead of minding they own," Alex tells Cooper.
Asked if he believes that, Alex says, "Yes.
"Anybody who comes forward and talks to the police about something they witnessed, a murder or a crime, are they a snitch?" Cooper asks.
"Yes… It's a crime, remember, in our community, to snitch," says Tess.
Most of these kids had witnessed at least one violent crime but had not helped the police identify the culprits. Victoria saw someone get shot a few years ago; she says she was scared to talk to the police then, and she wouldn’t identify the shooter if the same thing happened today.
Asked why, Victoria says, "Because that's the rules."
Produced By Andy Court and Keith Sharman
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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See all 578 CommentsPlease do not judge a book by it color, ALL police are NOT bad. We have bad apple in that segment of officials like we do everywhere else. Most police are dedicated individuals who have genine concern for their fellowman.....
He declares he is a real chicken by stating ""I wouldn't call and tell anybody on him %u2014 but I'd probably move" to the question what would he do if he found out he's living next to a serial killer. bock bock brawwwk!
No street creed there.
please try and be fair here. He may be very talented. Have you heard his "music" Mr R'hink. Don't judge his music against his apparently being an idiot until you hear him sing/ you may like his beat even if you don't like his message. Now come on, be fair, don't judge him, I am sure he wouldn't judge you...
Rap used to be about speaking up against sin and trying to be about society. (Queen Latifah, Public Enemy, et al, had some thought provoking stuff.) What the hell is rap about these days? Not the same thing; not when dweebs like Cam'ron see fit to act solely out of self-interest; not caring who may be slaughtered because he doesn't see fit to give a ***.
"street cred". Give me a break.
At least Cam'ron is being honest. So many in our Country are not when they sit back and let other people hurt innocent lives. Oops, I meant Cameron - not Cam'ron, his street name. Mustn't mix the street name with the real name. Kinda like street cred vs real cred. One's phony; the other isn't... funny, that - does he really have EITHER?
Thank you for the article, CBS.
With luck the media will also show people who do put their "cred" at risk. Whistleblowers, Samaritans, et cetera...
Trust me where he lives the police probably don't care who got killed. They only investigate if it is black on white crime. We are both from Mississippi we know that! Just look at Miss's history. That nickle you want to send, place it on a good ethical education for yourself!
Stop telling on yourself, you have been to the "black community", for what I don't know.
Your comments and dialect is very convincing.
Second, Cam'ron is living a surreal life- he's rapper, gets paid money off his "gansta" image and 60 minute is nothing but another stage for him. Let something happen to that precious lil' child of his, and then see what he would do... In fantasy it's a lot easier to talk about than in reality being about it.
If anything, a majority of the minorities wouldn't report a crime due to the fear of it coming back on them- a real fear issue not a social fad of being "hard".
Finally, as I see it- there are really only 3 types of peoples...Cool, A**holes and Wierdos/Sickos. And Hhusted, you and Cam sound like y'all fall in the middle category. Dead in the middle.
What has happened to the saying,"If you can't do the time don't commit the crime". Why do we wonder why every black dominated hood, is prone to crime,its because of trash talking idiots like this, that spread nonsense and brainwash our society. I weep,though there is very little i can do, but i will start by making sure that idiots album is not in any of my kids collection, or anywhere in my house.
What has happened to the saying,"If you can't do the time don't commit the crime". Why do we wonder why every black dominated hood, is prone to crime,its because of trash talking idiots like this, that spread nonsense and brainwash our society. I weep,though there is very little i can do, but i will start by making sure that idiots album is not in any of my kids collection, or anywhere in my house.
What has happened to the saying,"If you can't do the time don't commit the crime". Why do we wonder why every black dominated hood, is prone to crime,its because of trash talking idiots like this, that spread nonsense and brainwash our society. I weep,though there is very little i can do, but i will start by making sure that idiots album is not in any of my kids collection, or anywhere in my house.
What has happened to the saying,"If you can't do the time don't commit the crime". Why do we wonder why every black dominated hood, is prone to crime,its because of trash talking idiots like this, that spread nonsense and brainwash our society. I weep,though there is very little i can do, but i will start by making sure that idiots album is not in any of my kids collection, or anywhere in my house.
What has happened to the saying,"If you can't do the time don't commit the crime". Why do we wonder why every black dominated hood, is prone to crime,its because of trash talking idiots like this, that spread nonsense and brainwash our society. I weep,though there is very little i can do, but i will start by making sure that idiots album is not in any of my kids collection, or anywhere in my house.
What has happened to the saying,"If you can't do the time don't commit the crime". Why do we wonder why every black dominated hood, is prone to crime,its because of trash talking idiots like this, that spread nonsense and brainwash our society. I weep,though there is very little i can do, but i will start by making sure that idiots album is not in any of my kids collection, or anywhere in my house.
What has happened to the saying,"If you can't do the time don't commit the crime". Why do we wonder why every black dominated hood, is prone to crime,its because of trash talking idiots like this, that spread nonsense and brainwash our society. I weep,though there is very little i can do, but i will start by making sure that idiots album is not in any of my kids collection, or anywhere in my house.
their 'street credibility'"
"Street Cred"- More like Street Crud.
This guy promotes the protection of criminals because of some BS "code of ethics"? Obviously he has no children who have ever been molested or shot down by drive by drug/gun gangsters.
When I was a kid the neighbourhood kids & I had our cool club house in a strip of woods next to one kid's house. We plotted, planned & defended our club house untill we were called in for dinner. Then came the fateful day when we moved on to high school, college, careers, marriage, children, responsibilities. The club house now only exists as a childhood memory.
This whole "gang mentality" is just a sad bunch of little boys who refuse to grow up & be men. Real men don't need to be part of a club house gang. Real man stand as individuals & take care of their families by feeding, nurturing, teaching & loving them. Not by being "bad boys" strutting around trying to take over "the turf".
Oooo you "own" the turf. Big whoop. Puh-leeeze! Pull your pants up from around your ankles, buy a belt or pants that fit, & get a life that doesn't require you to every day proove how stupid & childish you can be.
This threat is made even if a person never snitched. The best way not to be targeted is to be like lil kim--don't see, hear or say anything--because the other part of the story is--snitches are expendable. They get killed by gangs, or others, and dirty cops often will be the ones to set a snitch up to be killed--after all, when they have no use for them anymore--who cares? Even police do not respect snitches.
Actually it just describes the all too true reality of the streets and originally was just underground street poetry set to music for other blacks. It was whites that, upon how fascinated suburban white children were with rap--parlayed it into a billion dollar industry. Rap will esixt whether it makes the big bucks or not--because it is describing a very real life experience--keep in mind that most black teens do not have the money to pay the price for CDs, it is white teenagers that support the industry (70% of people who buy rap are white) It is all about the money--but what you should also realize is that many of the things in the rhymes are TRUE and that should upset you--that this is/was their life. People rarely choose the lives they lead in the ghetto--but like with most circumstances--they work with what they have. If they are all out for themselves, the may sell drugs or hustle and not care who they hurt--in this way, they have a lot in common with a politician who says and does anything (like send our kids to wars based on lies) to keep the power and make money. The only difference is--one is doing illegal stuff and the other is doing similar stuff but they say it is legal.
Hopping down the ignorant trail
HIPity HOPity -- The Jungle Bunny's on His Way!!!
Please do not judge a book by it color, ALL police are NOT bad. We have bad apple in that segment of officials like we do everywhere else. Most police are dedicated individuals who have genine concern for their fellowman.....
Posted by winchester59 at 07:57 AM : Apr 20, 2007
Unfortunately, the good ones are quite rare in the ghetto.
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