"I observe so many homies getting three strikes, tossed in jail, swear the pen right across from hell"

As Virgo season continues, we here at The Hip-Hop Reading Rainbow are choosing to celebrate by swooning over Dream Hampton, although every season is perfect for that. Thanks to And It Don't Stop, edited by Racquel Cepeda, who recently had hilarity to tweet about the VMAs, this article exists alongside so many other beauty-full ones. As usual, I have pulled my favorite passages, though this time I have actually located the original article in its entirety. You're welcome.

from Dream Hampton’s Hellraiser for The Source (1994):

“To suggest, as many do, that Tupac should be ‘responsible to his legacy’ in some ways simplifies that legacy. But to suggest that Tupac’s interpretation of this legacy should fit some romantic ideal of ‘the movement’ is to deny reality specificity. Tupac’s childhood-those years underground, aboveground, the years when his disillusioned mother began smoking crack-is as much a part of his legacy as the black leather jackets and clenched fists.” (138) 

“Pac practices some of his new lyrics on Big over blunts and Hennessey. I videotaped the exchange with a brand-new camera Pac purchased.

The phone rings and again Pac is required to defend himself. Two nights earlier he’d dropped by NBC studios to watch Snoop’s performance on Saturday Night Live. I’d seen him backstage, but hadn’t noticed the pasty white-girl following him around by the tails of his leather coat. I was standing there talking with Malika Shabazz, Malcolm X’s daughter, when Pac rushed by and gave us hugs. 

“Is that Madonna?” Malika whispers as Pac walks away. I jump to his defense, “Are you buggin’? Pac wouldn’t be caught dead with that bitch.”

Then they emerged from Snoop’s dressing room, Madonna’s hair dyed jet-black, her eyes red from chronic. I just kinda stood there with my shelltops in my mouth.

It’s not that they were intimate at all, even though the outing earned them a ‘Couple Made in Hell’ insert in the Enquirer. It’s just that we got that treasonous feeling sisters get when they see a brother with a white girl. Not to mention white-girl culture vulture.” (144)