Ever wondered what it’s like to be a Crip?
A friend arranged for me to interview Savage, aka C-Ducc – a member of the notorious Los Angeles street gang; a big fellow who looks as if he could easily wrestle a bear. “How did Crips come about?”
“It stands for Community Response In Progress. We were neighbourhood activists – protectin’ the neighbourhood from police brutality.”
“Which branch were you in?”
“99 Mafia.”
“Which means?”
“It’s where I grew up. 99th Street and Main. On the west side of South Central L.A.”
“How’d you join?”
“I got jumped in. They beat me pretty good. My teeth went through here below my lip.” Savage pointed at a mini-Frankenstein scar below his left lip.
“What did they have you do for them?”
“At first I was just a BG – Baby Gangster – so I was stealin’ stuff like car stereos, car parts, and bicycles.”
“How old are BG’s?”
“Young teenagers.”
“That’s the youngest division?”
“No. There’s the Pee-Wees. Kids, six to nine year olds. They don’t get jumped in. They were just born in the neighbourhood. They can ask to be jumped in though, which shows heart and respect.”
“When you graduate from the BGs what do you become?”
“A gangbanger. Like fifteen to twenty-one-year olds.”
“What else is there?”
“There’s party crews and there’s Ogs.”
“What’s a party crew?”
“A party crew is a bunch of gangbangers that don’t dress gangster. They wear nice clothes, go to clubs, and find white girls to recruit.”
“What do they have the white girls do?”
“They use ‘em for money, and cars, and to do drive-byes. ‘Cos they’ve got no records, they can buy guns and cash cheques. Wherever they work, like at a supermarket, they’ll give us free stuff. The main purpose is for sex. They feel loved ‘cos so many guys are with ‘em – until we don’t need ‘em anymore, then we tell ‘em to get out.”
“When they’re all used up?”
“Yeah.”
“An OG is an original gangster, right?”
“Someone who’s twenty-five to thirty can be considered an OG. They’re bin-there-done-that. They don’t hafta gangbang no more. They can lay back and give orders to the younger generation.”
“Let’s go back to the work you put in for them.”
“I used to spray paint neighbourhoods, and rival areas. Enemy neighbourhoods like East Side 9th Street, East Side 40 Ounce Posse, and South Side Posse Bloods – Crips’ sworn enemies.”
“What happens if you’re a Crip gangbanger and you come across a Blood?”
“You’re supposed to say ‘Wassup cuzz.’ That’s automatic disrespect. So’s maddoggin’ – lookin’ at them for more than three seconds.”
“It’s not a KOS [Kill On Sight] situation then?”
“It depends. There’s usually a fight. If there’s guns there’ll be a shootout.”
“When you graduated from BG to gangbanger what were your duties?”
“Gangbangers are obligated to represent the neighbourhood. If you don’t, you’re a busta.”
“Busta?”
“B-U-S-T-A, like Busta Rhymes. That’s someone who claims the neighbourhood but won’t stand up for it.”
“What kind of stuff did you do as a gangbanger?”
“I won’t implicate myself.”
“That’s understandable.”
“The craziest stuff gangbangers get up to is killin’ people – drive-bys, shoot-outs. It has to be real serious though.”
“For what kind of reasons?”
“Disrespectin’ the neighbourhood. Sayin’ shit like, ‘Fuck your neighbourhood. Fuck your dead home boys.’ Or if we catch rivals spray paintin’ our names out. That means they wanna kill you. My name used to be crossed out everywhere ‘cos I was a bully. Always takin’ things and disrespectin’ people. I’ve always been big for my age.”
“What about the drug scene?”
“The BGs transport the dope, and drop it off with the gangbangers and Ogs who sell it. They’re supposed to give money back to the community, but they use it for cars, clothes and guns.”
“What do you think of Tookie?”
“He was a co-founder of the Crips. It’s sad that they had to kill him. Back in the day, he was about negativity, but he turned positive. He’s one of the reasons for the Blood-Crip peace treaty.”
“Can any race become a Blood or a Crip?”
“If you’re raised in the neighbourhood – white, Asian, it don’t matter – you can join ‘cos you grew up there and you know what the gangs about.”
“What about getting out of the gang?”
“I’m recognised as what I was when I was a teenager. I can’t escape that identity.”
“Isn’t that a mental thing?”
“No. There’s things you do which earn you enemies for life. I’d hafta to leave the State to get out, but my family’s here, my kids and my mom.”
“What happens on the streets, after you get out, if you run into an enemy?”
“I guess it’s the first one who can pull out the gun fast enough. It’s hard to walk away, ‘cos that’s who I am.”
“What Crip tattoos do you have?”
“Here’s a Crip throwin’ up an M for Mafia – not Mexican Mafia.” Savage displayed the Crip on his right forearm. “Here’s my name C-Ducc.” Duck has been tattooed with two C’s because Crips never use C-K which spells Crip Killer. “Here’s 99 on my shoulder for 99th Street, and the MCG on the back of my neck stands for Mafia Crip Gang.”
“What are the Crips wearing these days?”
“The fashion currently is blue and grey – navy or royal blue. We have blue bandanas hangin’ from our left pockets. Bloods put red ones in their back right pockets. We’ll wear sports clothin’: yellow, brown, and green – except red. A true Crip will wear nothin’ but blue and grey with no kind of red in it. Pants are dickies: industrial clothes like maintenance janitors or farm workers wear. These days companies are catering to gang bangers, makin’ clothin’ that’s fashionable to the urban community.”
“What slang’s used?”
“Stuff like shizznit – shit – that’s the shizznit, meanin’ it’s good. You could say, ‘That shit is off the heezee for sheezee. Heezee is hook, and sheezee is sure; so I’m sayin’, ‘That shit is off the hook for sure.’ It’s somethin’ real good. If someone’s a mark or a busta – it’s terminology for disrespect.”
“What music do Crips listen to?”
“It’s mostly gangsta rap. West Coast Underground. There’s Crips makin’ music: Brotha Lynch Hung, C-Bo, X-Raided. They were makin’ music in the earlt nineties when Crips and Bloods were evolving, and they’re still puttin’ music out. Then there’s the mainstream Crips: Snoop Dog, and WC, Jayo Felon. The Bloods are also puttin’ music out: DJ Quik, The Game, and Mack 10. There’s the Samoan Bloods, Boo-Yaa Tribe.”
“You’ve given me a fascinating insight into Crip culture. I appreciate you spending the time to do this. Before I finish up, is there anything you’d like to say for the Internet, kind of summing up what we’ve discussed?”
“Yeah. If you’re not down for ass whups or bullet holes, you have no business bein’ in a gang. I’ve also got an RIP. Give my love to the homies that are dead and gone: Crazy-C, Little Cub, and Smoker.”
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