AFRICAN-AMERICAN SERIAL KILLERS
By Calvin Neal
John Douglas, former FBI agent, model for the "Silence of the Lambs,"character Jack Crawford and the father of the FBI's Behavioral Sciences Unit, and former behavioral science colleague, Robert Ressler, in their book, "Sexual Homicide Patterns and Motives", describe a serial killer as being a "white male, 25-35 years of age, can be of high or low income, average to high intelligence, usually married, with a career." That description doesn't leave many people out. Seems pretty general, for an expert. Only one of the African-American serial killers that I profile even had a girlfriend. Though people think that black serial and spree killers are rare, they will be surprised to learn what I have discovered in only 8 months of research. Dating back as far as 1965, African-American serial killers have operated and although some cases are still in the news, most are only known in the area where the crimes were committed; but we need to know that any one of these men could be your next-door neighbor. They go on to expound that victims of serial killers have no profile and are chosen at random. Most of these killers chose a prostitute, that's the profile, and were familiar with some of their victims. They continue that serial killers fantasize about the murders until fantasy is no longer sufficient and murder is committed, saying also that the majority of serial killers have a history of sexual or physical abuse. In none of the cases I have studied, have I found any instances of prior abuses. And with child abuse being as subjective as it is, one man's discipline is another man's abuse.
THE ATLANTA CHILD MURDERS
You will notice the obvious omission of Wayne Williams, the so-called "Atlanta Child Killer." I am working on a separate paper on Williams and the Atlanta case. The following is description of the crimes that I have so far uncovered. Since continued research brings forth more subjects, this list is still preliminary.
CHICAGO
Throughout the 1990's, Chicago was a hot bed of serial killers. In the Englewood section alone, four different serial killers have been identified by DNA in at least 23 murders, 13 that occurred between 1993 and 1999. The FBI and Chicago law enforcement established four separate patterns in the killed, which they labeled "Patterns A-D". In January 2000, authorities arrested Andre Crawford, a 37 year-old newspaper truck driver and charged him with 10 counts of first-degree murder. DNA linked Crawford to seven killings, (Pattern A) and three others that he has confessed to, were unable to be genetically tested, due to decomposition. As of this date, Crawford is still awaiting trial. But who committed all the rest of these murders?
Next we have the case of Gregory Clepper, who in 1996 allegedly confessed toand was convicted of the murders of 12 women, on Chicago's South side between 1991 and 1996. But in 1999, new information surfaced pointing to another suspect in one of the crimes Clepper had been convicted of. Earl Mack, Jr., was linked, through genetic testing, to the killings. And starting on the day of the murder, on May 24, 1994, of still unidentified woman, Chicago police had received numerous reports that Mack had murdered a woman on that day, but authorities did nothing. After further DNA testing, Clepper was tied to only one of the 12 killings for which he was convicted and in May 2001, had his sentence changed to 80 years without parole.
Hubert Geralds was charged and sentenced to death, in 1997 for the killings of six prostitutes. As with Clepper, Geralds allegedly confessed, but genetic testing has tied Andre Crawford to one of the killings that Hubert was convicted of, the killing of Rhonda King. King was found raped and strangled in an abandoned building in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood, on December 21, 1994 .On February 10, 2000, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office vacated Hubert's 6 murder convictions and death sentence and he is awaiting new a trial, following more DNA testing.
Ralph Harris was sent to Death row, in Pontiac, Illinois, for six murders he committed on Chicago's South side, during the early 1990's. It seems to me that Chicago Police and Cook County prosecutors have been more than a little overzealous in their hunt for killers. And a study prepared by the Northwestern University Legal Clinic's Children and Family Justice Center, bears this out. The study, titled" The Problem of False Confessions in Illinois", shows 11 cases in Chicago where "confessions", were thrown out when either DNA or other suspects came into the picture. In four of those cases, the men had been charged with serial murder and released when found.
Listed below are the cases I have documented to date:
BENJAMIN (TONY) ATKINS:
Killed 11 women, all known to be prostitutes or drug crack addicts, in Detroit, Michigan during eight months of 1991. Atkins owns the ominous distinction of being the fastest serial killer in US history, killing 11 women, mostly by manual strangulation, in 8 months. Atkins plead insanity, citing his being forced to watch his prostitute mother turn tricks. Atkins died in prison of AIDS in 1997 at the age of 29.
KENDALL FRANCOIS:
In 1997 and 1998, Poughkeepsie, NY was plagued by the disappearance of several young women, mainly prostitutes. Authorities had many suspects, including 27 year-old Kendall Francois, previously employed as a school janitor and hall monitor. Kendall lived with his parents and sister in Poughkeepsie, in the shadow of Vassar College. On September 1, 1998, police were alerted to a suspect who had just tried to strangle a prostitute. The victim led police to Kendall Francois. Once police detained Francois, he began to give details about the disappearance and whereabouts of the missing women. Police were horrified when they entered the Francois home. It was strewn with clothes, newspapers, rotting food and a nauseating stench. Over the course of the next week, police discovered the bodies of the eight missing women, raped and strangled, scattered throughout the home, in varying states of decomposition. In August of 2000, Francois was sentenced to life in prison without parole, after admitting to killing the eight women found in his home.
WILLIAM HANCE:
During 1977, a serial killer was strangling and raping women in Columbus, Georgia. Authorities received a letter in March 1978, from "The Forces of Evil," who pledged to kill a black woman if the "Columbus Strangler" wasn't stopped. All the Strangler's victims had been elderly white women.The killer had already murdered Karen Hickman and Brenda Faison. On March 16, Irene Thirkield was reported missing, after being seen with a soldier. Military police soon linked Hance and he immediately confessed to all three murders. Hance was executed on Georgia's Death Row in 1994.
POSTEAL LASKEY:
In Cincinnati, Ohio, from October 1965 until December 1966, the city was haunted by a series of rapes and murders. Laskey was charged and convicted in one of the killings and had charges on the others withheld, to be brought in case of Laskey's parole in the future.
MICHAEL TERRY:
Just as Atlanta was relaxing from the capture and conviction of Wayne Williams as the "Atlanta Child Killer," the city was stunned again, starting in December 1985, with the murder of 21 year-old Curtis Brown. Brown was found in Dean Rusk Park, shot in the back of the head, with his pants pulled down and evidence of homosexual activity. In the next ten months, 5 more bodies were found in the same condition, either shot or stabbed. All the gun murders had been linked to the same gun. Informant evidence led police to 6' 4", 300 pound Michael Terry. Like most serial killers, once confronted with evidence of guilt, they confessed. Terry claimed that after having homosexual relations with they victims, they attempted to rob him and he killed them in self-defense. On February 22, 1987, Terry was sentenced to life without parole.
CARLTON GARY:
Carlton Gary, with a near genius IQ, could have been anything he wanted. What he became was “The Columbus Strangler." Between, September 16, 1977 until April 20, 1978, Columbus, Georgia was seized by the reign of an unknown predator who stalked elderly white women, who were raped and strangled in their own homes. The killer always left the same calling card, a stocking or nylon, knotted tightly, in the same knot, around the neck of each victim. But Gary’s murders did not start in Columbus. Gary was a suspect in the rape and murder of two elderly white women, in Albany, New York, in 1970. When arrested, Gary admitted to be at the crime seen, but pointed to his crime partner, John Lee Williams, who was subsequently convicted of one of the murders, mainly on the testimony of Gary. For his cooperation, Gary was convicted of possession of drugs, receiving stolen property and burglary. Gary escaped from the state correctional facility in Janesville, New York on August 22, 1977, make his way back home.
Carlton Gary, who had now raped and strangled 8 women, was ultimately captured as result of another of his crime sprees. In 1978, Gary was sentenced to 21 years for a string of restaurant robberies and began serving his time at a minimum security in Columbia, South Carolina. He again escaped from custody on March 15, 1983. It wasn’t until he was recaptured, in May of 1984, that police finally charged him with the Columbus killings. Gary was sentenced to death in August 1986.
But in May 2001, according to Gary’s attorney, Jack Taylor, recently tested semen samples point to someone other than Gary as the killer. Gary has maintained that his fingerprints were only found in the victims’ homes because he had burglarized them.
In November 2000, Attorney Martin presented a motion to US District Court Judge Hugh Lawson to order new semen tests in the case. The GBI lab had shown that the person who left the semen evidence was a "“weak” or “non-secretor of blood into their bodily fluids. Independent tests conducted on Gary’s semen, by Serology Research Institute in Richmond, California, concluded that Gary was a “strong secretor” of blood into his bodily fluids. “This evidence in and of itself confirms that Mr. Gary is excluded as the person who would have left the semen sample on Ms. Thurmond’s thigh,” according to the motion submitted to Judge Lawson. Coincidentally, or not, the original semen evidence from Gary’s case, cannot be located, so Gary continues to sit on Georgia’s Death Row, in hopes of a new trial. (William Hance tried to use Gary and his crimes as cover for his own. (SEE, WILLIAM HANCE, ABOVE)
HOWARD ALLEN:
Howard Allen and Carlton Gary were operating during the same time frame, with Gary in Columbus, Georgia and Allen in Indianapolis, Indiana. Also with a taste for elderly white women, Allen beat and robbed his victims. Though charged with three murders, Allen was charged convicted, in June 1988, of the robbery/murder of Ernestine Griffin.
CLEOPHUS PRINCE, JR:
A former naval ensign, Prince stabbed 6 women to death in little over a years time, in the Clairemont section of San Diego, California. His first three victims, Tiffany Schultz, (January 1990) and Holly Tarr and Janene Weinhold, (both killed in April 1990) lived in the Buena Vista Garden apartment complex, the same complex that Prince lived in with his girlfriend. Prince left a few calling cards. He smeared blood on the breasts of all his victims and he keep jewelry and even gave a ring from a victim to his girlfriend. But, he also left DNA evidence. After bragging to a friend about doing a mother and daughter, (his last victims, Pamela Clark and her daughter, who were murdered in their Universal City home), Prince was apprehended, tried and convicted of all six murders and is currently awaiting execution on Death Row in San Quentin.
CALVIN JACKSON:
In 1973, Calvin Jackson called the Park Plaza Hotel, in NYC, home. But don’t let the hotel’s name mislead you. As elegant as it may sound, it was a transient hotel and Jackson was just another resident. April 2, 1973 another resident, 39 year old Theresa Jordan, was discovered in her room, smothered. Over the next 18 months, Kate Lewisohn, 65; Mabel Hartmeyer, 60; Yeria Vishnefsky, 79; Winifred Miller, 47; Paula Spanierman, 59; Blanche Vincent, 71; Eleanor Platt, 64 and 69 year old Martha Carpenter were slain. All the victims except Spainerman lived in the Park Plaza Hotel. When Spainierman’s television was found in Jackson’s room, he too, quickly confessed. Jackson, who was given consecutive life sentences, told authorities of acts of necrophilia that he enjoyed and regularly performed on his victims.
AROHN (MALIK) KEE:
I don’t even know what to say about this one, crazy fool. Arohn Kee’s murders can be traced back t 1991, when he raped, strangled and stabbed to death 13 year old Paola Illera, who lived in the same building as Kee at the time. NYC firefighter Fred Zvinys, detailed how he found the still smoldering, charred body of 19-year-old Johalis Castro, September 10, 1997, on top of an East Harlem apartment building. Castro was last seen in the company of Kee. The June 2, 1998 discovery of the raped and strangled body of Rasheeda Washington, 18, in the stairwell of Taft Homes project, in NYC. Though suspected in the killings, police had no evidence. While under arrest on a larceny charge, police obtained a still controversial DNA sample from a cup Kee had used while in custody. Through DNA testing, Kee was linked to the killings of Washington and Illera, and three unsolved rapes. The burned remains of Castro could not be tested for DNA. At trial, Kee gave 2 days of rambling, incoherent testimony making reference to notes he had written on the tee shirt that he was wearing. In December 2000, Kee was convicted and in January 2001 sentenced to multiple life sentences for the murders of Castro, Illera and Washington along with six rapes. He received the maximum sentence on each charge and will serve each sentence consecutively and without the chance of parole. As he was led from the court, Kee looked toward the jury and yelled, “Fuck all y’all.”
EDDIE LEE MOSLEY:
Mosley terrorized Northwest, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with a series of rape-murders, that lasted from 1973 until a judge found Mosley incompetent to stand trial for the murders of Emma Cook and Teresa Giles in 1987 and sentenced him to an undetermined sentence at the Tacachale Center for Developmentally Disabled Adults, in Gainesville, where he has remained for the past 14 years. Mosley had long been a suspect in the string of murders and had frequently been in the criminal justice system. But, he always seemed to be found incompetent to stand trial and housed for a short time in psychiatric facilities, only to soon be released, to resume his killing. Such was his reputation, his was known as "Rape Man," in the area. But although Mosley was never charged in any of the murders, two other men were sentenced to prison, one to Death Row, for Mosley's crimes. Frank Lee Smith was sentenced to death, I 1986, for the May 1985 killing of 8 year-old Shandra Whitehead. Smith died of cancer on Florida's Death Row of cancer in January 2000, only months before DNA testing linked Mosley to the murder. In 1980, Broward County authorities charged and convicted Jerry Townsend of the July 19, 1973, rape and murder of Naomi Campbell, 15 and the 1979 murder of Terry Cummings. After spending 20 years in jail, Townsend was cleared of charges when DNA linked to Mosley to these killings. DNA has linked Mosley to 7 murders and testing is underway in five others. Mosley may soon face a competency hearing, to face charges in these crimes.
Starting in 1973, with an arrest for rape, for which he was found innocent by reason of insanity, Mosley has been in and out of psychiatric facilities. In January 1974, Mosley was sent to the Florida State Hospital, in Chattahoochee, to be released 4 years later to an outpatient facility in Fort Lauderdale, with doctors praising his "“outstanding performances.” From the time of his release in 1979 until his being committed, again found incompetent to stand trial for rape in 1987, to Tacahale Center for Developmentally Disabled Adults, in Gainesville, he was suspected in at least 10 rape/murders. One thing to remember is that the killings always started as soon as Mosley would be released and abruptly stops with his confinement.
Mosley had been at Tacahale again, since 1999, when he was transferred from the higher security Florida State Hospital. But with the release of the new DNA findings, he has been sent back to the facility in Chattahoochee, where he is being re-examined to determine his competency to stand trial.
ANDRE CRAWFORD: On January 28, 2000, Chicago police arrested and charged Crawford with ten killings of women in Chicago's Englewood area, between 1993 and 1999. Crawford confessed and was also linked through genetics. His victims were either strangled or died of blunt force trauma. A one-time Chicago Sun-Times delivery truck driver, Crawford lured his victims to seclude spots with the offer of drugs, the raped and killed them and left the bodies in abandoned building and vacant lots. One of the killings that Crawford has been tied to by DNA, is one previously attributed to "confessed " serial killer, Hubert Geralds. The Crawford revelation brought about the vacating of Geralds' sentences, and hopes of a new trial. Crawford is currently awaiting trial.
TIMOTHY SPENCER:
In the late 1980's, Richmond and Arlington, Virginia, were plagued by a series of killings, dubbed the "Southside Stranglings". Timothy Wilson Spencer became the first person convicted to capital murder, in America, on the basis of DNA evidence. Spencer raped and strangled four women, in their own homes. Spencer died in Virginia's electric chair on April 28, 1994.
ALTON COLEMAN & DEBRA BROWN:
Although his reign of cross-country terror began on May 29, 1984, Alton Coleman’s criminal history dates back to 1973 and includes no less than 6 arrests for raped with one conviction, that resulted in a two year sentence, with the others being dismissed or with Coleman being acquitted. On May 29, 1984, Coleman, using the alias “Robert Knight,”convinced the mother of 9 year-old Vernita Wheat to allow the girl to accompany “Knight” and his wife, Brown, the 15 miles from Vernita’s home in Kenosha, Wisconsin to neighboring Waukegan, Illinois. When they hadn’t returned by morning, police were notified. With interstate flight involved, the FBI was called in. Federal authorities identified “Robert Knight” as convicted rapist Alton Coleman. Over the next six weeks, Coleman and Brown, murdered, raped, assaulted and car jacked their way across five states, from Wisconsin to Kentucky, in a reign of terror not seen since the days of John Dillinger.
On June 5, in Gary, Indiana, Coleman and Brown kidnapped 7-year-old Tamika Turks and her 9-year-old aunt. The 9-year-old was found later that day, beaten and raped but still alive. But Tamika was still missing and from the description supplied by the 9-year-old, Tamika was with Coleman and Brown. Tamika was found dead the next day, raped and killed by someone stomping on her chest. On that same day, 25 year old Donna Williams and her car were reported missing, also in Gary. Her car was found in Detroit, abandoned, but with a fake ID, bearing the photo of Debra Brown. About the same time, Coleman and Brown were terrorizing Detroiters with home invasions and car jackings. On July 11, the body of Donna Williams was found in a vacant house near Wayne State University in Detroit. She had been stabbed and shot twice in the head. They next committed murder in Toledo, Ohio, with the rape and strangulation’s of 30-year-old Virginia Temple, who had befriended the couple and her 10-year-old daughter, Rochelle. From Toledo the duo traveled to Cincinnati, where they killed 15 year old Tonney Storey, who was found shot and stabbed, after last being seen with Coleman and Brown, and 44 year old Marlene Waters, who was beaten to death and her husband seriously injured, when they were attacked in there own home by the pair. Their last murder victim was Indianapolis car wash owner, Eugene Scott, who was found, stabbed and shot four times in the head. Acting on a tip, police in Evanston, Illinois captured Coleman and Brown in an Evanston park on July 20, 1984. Coleman was eventually sentenced to death in Ohio for the Storey and Walters's murders, in Indiana for the murder of Tamika Turks and in Illinois for the killing of Vernita Wheat. He currently sits on Indiana’s Death Row. Brown was sentenced to death in the Ohio and Indiana murders, but her Ohio death sentence was commuted in 1991 to life in prison.
WORD SYNDICATE
Volume 1, Issue 5 SEPTEMBER 25, 1999
PUERTO RICAN NATIONALS FREED
President Clinton’s release of 11 and offer of clemency to 5 other Puerto Rican nationalists, who have been wrongly imprisoned for almost 20 years, has evoked a storm of controversy. 75,000 signatures were sent to the White House, along with pleas from South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, President Jimmy Carter, Coretta Scott King and members of Congress, for the release of the prisoners.
The people in question, members of the Armed Forces Of National Liberation, known by its Spanish acronym, FALN, were sentenced to terms ranging from 35 to 90 years, on charges of bomb making, weapons possession and conspiracy to armed robbery. Bombings attributed to FALN, in New York and Chicago, in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, claimed six lives and numbered close to 130. Yet no one to who clemency was offered was involved in any bombings or other violent acts. Yet until they’re release they’d served between 14 and 19 years in prison.
Now, foes of President Clinton would have you believe that the president has done something unprecedented and released some fanatical terrorists. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Jimmy Carter released 4 Puerto Ricans who had been convicted of a 1954 shooting, that wounded 5 congressional lawmakers, and a fifth that had been convicted of planning to kill President Truman.
Criticism, which has come from many corners, has been the strongest from Republican congressman Dan Burton, of Indiana, and New York Mayor and Police Commissioner Rudy Guilani and Howard Safir, respectively. Guilani’s conspicuous absence from Safir’s press conference, to voice his opposition to the clemency, was attributed to Guilani’s want to “not politicize”, the issue. The very fact that he would say that and in the same breath allow Safir to claim that Mayor Guilani shared his rage that the president would release terrorists, “politicizes”it. There are also claims that Mr. Clinton made this move, in the works since 1993, to ingratiate his wife, Hilary, with voters in New York, in anticipation of her yet-to-be announced run for a Senate seat. But she made sure that was not going to happen when she publicly stated that the offer of clemency should be rescinded.
Could it be that President Clinton continued his habit of doing the right thing, and pissing off Republicans and other to the right? Bottom line is, Bill is the president and I say “big up” to the President. Not only was he totally within his legal parameters, he did the right thing. The sentences for the FALN members were serving were more that some charged today with the same crimes. So Pat Buchanan and Trent Lott, you can piss and moan all you want. I just want an answer to one question. After all parties, Mr. Clinton, his critics, including the FBI, have asserted that the released prisoners had no connection to the bombings, or other acts of violence, WHO DID? Are authorities pursuing someone, or do they even know who did it?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
HALLOWEEN KILLER?
Gerald Turner filed a complaint with the Wisconsin State Labor Department when Waste Management, Madison, WI, refused him employment because of his criminal record. YOU THINK! Turner was convicted in 1973 of the murder of 9-year old trick-or-treater Lisa Ann French of Fond du Lac, WI. To avoid a lengthy court battle and adverse publicity, Waste Management officials relented and agreed to hire Turner.
What a minute! Why ain’t this nut on death row or lifing it somewhere? Now see, this is who the Republicans and other right wingers need to try and keep I prison. Go after him as hard as you have the recipients of presidential clemency and quit being a bunch of crybabies.
SNITCH GOES HOME
16-year old Kerry Tucker can return home now, after a month to realize what she had done. Kerry turned her parents into Takoma Park, MD police for growing marijuana in the home. Although Kerry showed police pictures of the plantswhich led to the home being searched and her parents being arrested, Steven Kupferberg, attorney for the parents, has stated that Kerry had twice told him she wanted to return. Judge C.J. Vaughey, Montgomery County, MD District Court, overruled a court ruling keeping Kerry away from her parents. The parents, Robert Alvarez, who was fired from his post as a senior policy adviser for the U.S. Department of Energy and Kathleen Tucker, a widely known anti-nuclear activist, were charged with having 69 marijuana plants growing in the house.
This is a damn shame. Your government and this hypocritical “SAY NO TO DRUGS” shit has gone too far. This isn’t the first just the most recent case of kids turning in they’re parents. I thought that if your family has no food because your parents spent all the funds on coke and heroin and abused or neglected you, that’s when action should be taken. But Kerry’s parents were known as good parents and well respected in they’re work. Don’t let your kids’ end up like Kerry. Talk to them and let them know the truth.
BOMBINGS AT FLORIDA A&M
Two recent bombings, at Florida A&M University, in Tallahassee, appear to be racially motivated. On August 31, a bomb exploded in an administration building restroom. After that bombing a caller used racial epithets and said he “wanted to get rid of” some of the people at FAMU. The second bombing, on September 22, which went off in the restroom of s classroom building, led to an anonymous caller to ABC affiliate WTXL-TV, who said “students at Florida A&M didn’t need a university “ and that this explosion was “just the beginning.”
Now, I don’t know if these bombings are racially motivated or not, time will tell. But I do know that there is some nut in Tallahassee, and brothers and sisters need to watch they’re own and each other’s back. And keep an eye on everybody. Like I said, we don’t know if the person or persons are white or not!!!
HOT SHIT
BLACK GANGSTER-SOUNDTRACK
JA-RULE, 50-CENT, GHETTO MAFIA AND MORE
BLACK HAND ENTERTAINMENT
NO MERCY, NO REMORSE/X-FACTOR
RBX
STREET SOLID MUSIC
CLASSIC LIMITED EDITION
MADE MEN
RESTLESS RECORDS
TURF STORIES
DMX, DAZ, SNOOP, LUNIZ, MORE
C-NOTE RECORDS/RUTHLESS
MURDA MUZIK
MOBB DEEP
LOUD RECORDS
WELL CONNECTED
C-BO, TOO SHORT, DMX, SNOOP
HARD TIMR ENTERTAINMENT
MELVIN FLYNT, DA HUSTLER
NOREAGA
THUGGED OUT/VIOLATOR/PENALTY
GUERILLA WARFARE
HOT BOYS
CASH MONEY/UNIVERSAL
BLAZIN’ JOINTZ
“NATIONWIDE”
X-MOB, B-LEGIT & NITRO
TURF STORIES-COMPILATION
C-NOTE RECORDS/RUTHLESS RECORDS
“PERFECT MURDA”
DO OR DIE
WHITEBOYS-SOUNDTRACK
OFFLINE MUSIC/TVT
“BEATNUTS FOREVER”
BEATNUTS & TRIPLE SEIS
VIOLATOR COMPILATION
VIOLATOR/DEF JAM
“CLASSIC LIMITED EDITION”
MADE MEN
RESTLESS RECORDS
“HEA”
CJ MAC f/ WC & FAT JOE
HOO-BANGIN’/PRIORITY RECORDS
“IN FOR LIFE”
TERROR SQUAD-PUN, TRIPLE SEIS, PROSPECT & CUBAN LINK
MYSTIC/TERROR SQUAD/BIG BEAT/ATLANTIC RECORDS
“YOU AIN’T NO GANGSTER”
50-CENT
BLACK GANGSTER-SOUNDTRACK
BLACK HAND ENTERTAINMENT
REVIEWZ
Thank you, Don Cartagena, for blessing us with ‘The Terror Squad’. Finally, what niggaz have wanted, a whole of album of Armageddon, Prospect, Triple Seis and the much slept on Cuban Link. Along with Fat Joe and Big Pun, this crew of boriqua, is the real shit. “In For Life”, starts off the CD, with Pun, Seis, Prospect and Cuban Link speaking on they love for TS and they’re fellow T-Squadians, over a bangin’ beat from Ron”Amen-Ra”Lawrence. The whole squad is up next on “Pass The Glock”. And everybody gets to shine on his own. Armageddon brings his own phat production on his dolo, “Gimme Dat”. Watch for this boy on the production tip. He also blessed, “Feelin’ This” and “Payin’ Dues”. Prospect with, “ ’99 Live”, Triple Seis and “War”, and my man Cuban Link with, “All Around The World”, show that they all have skillz. But as bright as they shine, don’t forget about the “big men”. Over a JuJu Gigante beat, Pun laces killa lyrics on “Whatcha Gon Do?” And peek the hook. Tight. But the Don takes solo award on a track by The Alchemist, don’t sleep, that will make a nigga break his neck, and streiht murda from Fat Joe. This is one of the best CD’s of the year. Alone or as “TS”, my Puerto Rican niggaz is bringin’ it for the Y2K.
#############################################
New kid on the block, Black Hand Entertainment, has entered the game with a very tasty morsel. “Black Gangster-The Original Soundtrack”, is the first taste of the upcoming movie based on Donald Goines’ classic street tale. The CD features Jigga with his usual tight work on “This Life Forever”, followed by JA-Rule and “Represent” and the Dark Man X with, “The Story”. Other artists include Jane Blaze, Mysonne, Killa, Mac Dre and Freddy Foxx. But the best shit here, even though Jigga, JA, DMX and Killa bring it, is from Ghetto Mafia with “Wanna Be Down”, The horns on this LS-produced track make it bang, and 50-Cent with his banger “You Ain’t No Gangster”. A very good first project and a tight soundtrack. Check it out
WORD SYNDICATE
Volume 1, Issue 4 August 28, 1999
IS CHICAGO BREEDING GROUND FOR SERIAL KILLERS?
This information comes from the Chicago Tribune. I found this to be horrifying: 7-22-99; As Chicago police examine the slayings of 2 more women on the South Side, officials said Wednesday that their search for sexual predators responsible for a series of unsolved homicides and rapes has mushroomed from a search for two men to a search for four. Re-examined DNA evidence from the past several years suggest 4 unidentified killers are preying on African-American women who led similar lifestyles…. 7-27-99; The FBI and Chicago police are offering a $20,000 reward to help capture the serial killers of 11 women on the city’s West Side over the last four years.The killing of 3 dozen women in the last eight years by at least four different murderers on the South Side has forced law enforcement authorities to confront one of the most pervasive myths about serial killers: that they are white, middle-aged and middle-class men who prey on victims much like themselves.
Okay, first, “What the hell is going on in Chicago?” Over forty women have been killed in the last, say, five years, and law enforcement officials know that they have multiple serial killers on the prowl and they can’t do anything, and the killings continue. I know nothing of Chicago, but there are a bunch of SERIAL KILLERS running loose and the only recourse the FBI has is to offer money for the public’s help? Damn, that’s scary! But now, it’s a myth that serial killers are white, middle-class men. And they prey on victims much like themselves; can someone translate that for me? Let’s see Ted Bundy killed women and young girls, Arthur Shawcross killed prostitutes, and John Gacy killed young boys, so who has killed victims much like themselves? Not Jeffrey Dahmer, Dean Corll or whoever committed the Atlanta Child murders. ALL KNOWN serial killers have been white, middle-class men. But now that they have bodies piling up like cords of wood, and the lights shining on them, police and FBI are ready to change the serial killer MO, at least in these cases, because they have to blame somebody. So you can just who imagine who the light will be turned on, right? Black and brown brothers all over Chicago. And I am not making up or exaggerating any of this. Just check out the Chicago Tribune on-line and search the archives as I did, using the above mentioned dates. Y’all know the deal, when they run out of appropriate suspects, they pick us. And whether or not you are guilty, becomes irrelevant once you are arrested in what will be a very high-profile case like that. Shit, ask Wayne Williams. Everybody, including law-enforcement, KNOWS, he was framed. And there is a secret GBI file that states that. So, you don’t have to be guilty to get got. Don’t ever forget that!!!!
STAR OF DAVID CONTROVERSY
It’s a gang sign?
Where else but Mississippi? In Harrison County, MS, school officials forbade a Jewish high school student from wearing a Star of David necklace. Harrison County Sheriff’s office spokesman, Frank Baskett, claimed that the Black Gangster Disciples gang, along the Mississippi Gulf Coast also uses the symbol, a six-pointed star, known worldwide as a symbol of peace. So is Ryan Green, the student in question, in the gang? Of course not! Baskett also when on to editorialize on the family life of young Mr. Green, “He’s never been bar mitzvahed and he’s never been a practicing Jew. I could understand if the kid was actually Jewish. His father has been divorced twice and married to someone who wasn’t of the same faith. You know Jews only marry they’re own.” Hold on a minute. Who in the hell is this ignorant redneck, to make such an obviously ignorant and blatantly racist statement?! Is it an oxymoron to say ignorant and racist? This man is a spokesman for the county sheriff’s office, so regardless to the fact of whether or not his statements were sanctioned by the sheriff’s department, Baskett was not reprimanded or the statements retracted. And once the ACLU showed these hicks what they were up against, they naturally reversed the previous edict. I keep telling you people that racism is NOT on the rise, it’s as alive now as it was in 1963. And if you don’t believe me ask the families of James Byrd, Ricky Birdsong or Sharice Iverson. And since racism is the topic, let’s discuss Buford O’Neal Furrow. This is the neo-nazi asshole that shot up the Jewish community center and killed the US Postal worker in LA. According to Cal State criminology professor Brian Levin, [CNBC “RIVIERA” 8-11-99], organizations such as the JDL, Jewish Defense League and the Southern Poverty Law Center knew of Furrow and his racist activities as far back as 1995. Filmmaker Michael Moore also provide video footage of Furrow, in full Aryan regalia, acting as guard, checking cars, upon entering an Aryan gathering, in Idaho, also in 1995. Furrow told FBI officials that the attack on the Jewish center was “ a wake-up call for America to kill Jews.”
Now if the JDL and SPLC knew about Furrow as far back as 1995 why didn’t law enforcement? Now we all know that if authorities really wanted to stop all these violent racist attacks they most assuredly could. But it seems that the official feeling is that its only minorities, immigrants or gays that are being harmed, so why bother. But let a Black, Hispanic or Gay group organize and engage in paramilitary training, publicly spout hate and commit acts of hate, Matthew Shepard and Joseph Ileto, the way these racist organizations have and you’ll have another Waco on your hands.
So let me say this once more. Racism is here in full force. So remember brothers, it ain’t where you from, it’s where’s your gat.
BLAZIN’ JOINTZ
“WILD PITCH”
RAS KASS f/ XZIBIT, JAH SKILLZ AND PHIL DA AGONY
PRIORITY RECORDS
“GIANT SIZE”
RAEKWON/CREAM TEAM
LOUD RECORDS
“QUIET MONEY (BLOOD MONEY)”
AZ, HALFAMIL, ANIMAL
PLATINUM ENTERTAINMENT
“AIN’T YO AVERAGE”
THE OUTLAWZ
HEAVY-N-DA GAME
“SHIT IZ REAL”
THE LUNIZ, PHATS BOSSALINO, 2WICE
HARD TIME ENTERTAINMENT
“WHERE YA HEART AT”
MOBB DEEP
LOUD RECORDS
“KINGPINS”
JAY MONEY, KURUPT, CROOKED I, TRAY DEEE
19TH STREET RECORDS
“BLING, BLING”
BG f/HOT BOYS & BIG TYMERS
CASH MONEY/UNIVERSAL
“REPRESENT”
JA-RULE
BLACK HAND ENTERTAINMENT
HOT SHIT
BLACK ROSES
YOUNG KYOZ
HEAVY-N-DA GAME
VIOLATOR COMPILATION
BUSTA, MOBB DEEP, LL, CORMEGA and more
VIOLATOR/DEF JAM
GHETTO STREET PHARMACIST
DJ UNEEK
KINGPIN RECORDS
ROOTS OF EVIL
KOOL G RAP
ILLSTREET RECORDS/DOWN LOW MUSIC
SECTION 8
MC EIHT
HOO BANGIN’/PRIORITY RECORDS
OUT OF BUSINESS
EPMD
DEF JAM RECORDS
HWO-HARLEM WORLD ORDER
DJ S&S
LETHAL RECORDS
REVIEWZ
MOBB DEEP has returned with yet another classic.“MURDA MUZIK” finds Havoc and Prodigy at the top of they’re game. Whether in tandem, solo or in collabo’s with homiez, Hav and P drop the usual jewels. “WHERE YA HEART AT”, “SPREAD LOVE”, AND “MURDA MUZIK” just begin to tell the story. They bring in homiez Cormega, Noreaga, Nas and The Infamous Mobb. Noyd only gets down on one track,“THE STREETS RAISED ME”, but check him out on the VIOLATOR COMPILATION. Kool G Rap spits flames with his “offspring” on “THE REALEST”. I don’t know who the originator of gangsta rap was, but it was either Kool G Rap or Ice-T. And I ain’t even tryin’ to hear no Schooly-D shit. (Sorry, Darius) And we can’t forget they’re other guests, Raekwon, Lil’ Kim, 8-Ball and Lil’ Cease. And its time Hav was recognized as one the top producers in the game. Phat, grimy, streiht NYC beats backing Prodigy’s venomous, pinpoint darts. And look for solo projects from P and Noyd soon. If you don’t like the Mobb, youse a bitch. But for the rest of us, the wait is over.
**********************************************************************
Heir apparent MEMPHIS BLEEK has finally stepped into the arena, and his debut project is aptly titled, “COMING OF AGE”. Jigga’s young lieutenant from Marcy, does not disappoint. Bleek shines on “WHO’S SLEEPING”, “YOU A THUG NIGGA” and “MEMPHIS BLEEK IS…”which features a phat beat from Swizz Beatz. And shows he can hold his own with Nore, Beanie Siegel, Da Ranjahz and of course Jay-hovah. But check the young gunz on “MURDA 4 LIFE”, with Bleek and Ja-Rule. That muhfucka there is bangin’. And with tight beats from Irv Gotti, J-Runnah and Dark Half of Da Ranjahz, we have a winner ladies and gentlemen. If ya find a flaw in the CD, then you just hatin’. He just may be the “chosen one”. Looks like him and Ja-Rule got ganked for the 5 mics.
WORD SYNDICATE
Volume 1, Issue 3 JULY 24, 1999
SEVEN SLAIN IN ATLANTA MURDER/SUICIDE
Seven members of a SW Atlanta family were found slain when the sole survivor, an 11-year old boy, ran to a neighbor’s, after hiding in a closet for more than eight hours, bleeding from a gunshot wound.
The boy, Santonio Lucas, lost in this massacre, his mother, Deleane Briskey, and siblings, Torsha Briskey 16, Craig DeCarlo Briskey 15, David Antonio Lucas 13 and 9-year old Antoine DeAndre Lucas. A 10-year old sister, Jalisa Lucas, was not in the home at the time of the killings. Also found were Essie Hugeley, sister of Deleane Briskey, and the alleged killer 39-year old Cyrano Marks, who was identified as the common-law husband of Ms. Briskey. Marks is said to have slain the family and turned the gun on himself. Police say Marks used Santonio as “his human shield”. Authorities are attempting to find out how and why. Let’s also hope that this young man gets all the love and help that is needed.
MARINES FACE COURT-MARTIAL FOR REFUSAL OF VACCINE
Two U.S. Marines are facing court-martial for they’re refusal to take an Anthrax vaccine, administered by USMC (UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS) doctors. Corporal Abel R. Wenning, 22, of Georgia and 20-year old Private Eric Myers of, Elbert, CO., could be sentenced to up to six months in the brig and a bad conduct discharge for refusing orders.
With all that we know about the US government and medical experimentation, especially on enlisted men, its good to know that not all these military guys are just gung-ho robots. I don’t know if that is they’re reason for refusing the vaccine, but much respect to Myers and Wenning. SOME OF US ARE WATCHING THIS VERY CLOSELY.
THE BOONDOCKS
Peep a dope new comic strip, The Boondocks, by a young brother named Aaron McGruder. It’s about some young kids from the ‘hood that move to the ‘burbs. The young character Huey is tryin’ to “stay a thug, but he finds himself listening to Lauren Hill.” Support the young brother. The shit is funny as hell, and I think he’s got something here. And, although I could be wrong, I think this brother had his strips in The Source. McGruder’s comic strip can be found in most local newspaper, you know, Detroit, Atlanta, Chicago, New York, Philly, LA, etc. And let him know that you dig the funnies!
ARIZONA JAIL LETS ANOTHER ONE GO!!
Allen C. Brown, 37, jailed for killing his girlfriend, 37-year old Carol Buvik-Arnold, by stabbing her more than 100 times, was mistakenly freed on July 6, but the error was not discovered until July 12. This is the fourth incident of this kind at the Pima County, Arizona Jail in the past 16 months. The county prosecutor, Barbara LaWall, is pointing fingers at the sheriff’s office and Sheriff’s Captain Paul Wilson is pointing at the court. AIN’T THAT SOME SHIT!!!!!!
NEW MURDER CAPITOL?
After descending from 1993 until 1998, Detroit’s murder rate is on an upswing. In 1998, the city of Detroit recorded 429 homicides, which ranked Detroit sixth in the nation, at a murder rate of 42.9 killings per 100,000, ahead of New York and Chicago but far behind Gary, Ind., who led the nation with 67 murders per 100,00. Detroit so far this year has over 250 homicides, on course to top the 500 mark. Wayne County prosecutor John O’Hair has accused Detroit Police Chief Benny Napoleon of not giving enough attention to the increased murders. Napoleon said that he would “not be baited into fingerpointing” with O’Hair. But he added, “There are factors beyond police control even, if we had 2,000 homicide investigators.
RACISM AIN’T ON THE RISE, IT NEVER WENT DOWN
First we had this fool Benjamin Smith, the racist coward who killed two and wounded nine, over the Fourth of July weekend, and then killed himself, now we have two white supremacist siblings, 31-year old Matthew and 29-year old James Williams. The Williams’ are being held in Shasta County, CA, after being arrested on theft charges for allegedly purchasing speed loaders with the credit card of one of two gay men killed in a hate crime, suspected to be committed by the brothers. They also allegedly have ties to the Church of the Creator and other racist groups. I’m sick of hearing that “racism is on the rise”. The crippling of a black military man in San Diego by Neo Nazis, the murder of an African in Denver by skinheads, the brutal and well publicized dragging death, in Jasper, TX of James Byrd. It can’t and won’t stop until we stand up and make ourselves heard. REMEMBER WHAT MALCOLM SAID!!!!!!!! And tell Matthew Hale that wearing a suit doesn’t make him any different than those assholes that wear the sheets.
BLAZIN’ JOINTZ
“FAST LANE
Mob Figaz f/ C-Bo
West Coast Mafia/Get Paid Ent.
ALLUSTRIOUS
Mobb Deep
Loud Records
CALIFORNIA STREETS
L-Jay
Kingpin Records
CHI-TOWN’S FINEST
Twista and the Speedknot Mobsters & Ms. Toi
Platinum Entertainment
WORLD’S MOST DANGEROUS
Ja-Rule f/ Nemesis
Murder, Inc./ Def Jam
SOPHISTICATED THUGS
Bootleg f/ Ras Kass
Relativity Records
THUGS LOVE STORY- CHAPTER I, II, III
Kool G. Rap
Illstreet Records/Down Low Music
THE MURDERERS
Ja-Rule f/ Black Child & Tah Murder
Murder, Inc./Def Jam
HOT SHIT
DON’T BE SAPRIZE
Road Dawgs
Noo Trybe Records
THE ART OF STORYTELLING
Slick Rick
Def Jam
TOP DOGG
Snoop Dogg
No Limit Records
REVIEWZ
All right, we know that C-Murder stole 2Pac’s style, but the thief happens to be P’s brother and have the No Limit stable behind him and no one will say it, but the nigga can’t flow. Which brings me to “Venni, Vitti, Vicci”. Am I the only one who notices that Ja exudes 2Pac’s spirit? And this ain’t no tryin’ to sound or be like Pac shit. You can feel that thug spirit all through his 5-star debut. Listen to the lyrics of “We Here Now” or “Suicide Freestyle”. Feel the concerns of a father on “Daddy’s Little Baby”. Experience ‘Thug Life” with “World’s Most Dangerous” featuring Nemesis, “Murda 4 Life” featuring that young star, Memphis Bleek, and listen and feel Black Child, Tah Murder and Ja on “The Murderers”. If you think these niggaz is studio-thugs, try ‘em. Producers Self and Murder, Inc. head, Irv Gotti are on top of they’re game. But the production prize goes to Erick Sermon for his beats on “E-Dub and Ja”. E-Dub freaked his verse and that guitar lick is killin'. Ja-Rule niggaz, IT’S MURDA!!!!
This is a review of the debut CD from Mob Figaz, but first I’m gonna go on a rant about you bitch niggaz sleepin’ on AWOL Records. Freddie “T” Smith, AWOL Chief, has assembled a very talented group of Northern Cali rappers and an in-house production team that will give Puffy’s boys a run for they’re money. And when I say that I’m not instigatin’, I’m just asking for respect due. The roster includes C-Bo, who just started his own label, West Coast Mafia, Marvaless, Killa Tay, Pizzo, Laroo, Lunasicc, and Lil’ Ric. Check out Tay on his “Mr. Mafioso”, the boy got skillz. And the producers, One Drop Scott, BC, Killa Tay, Pizzo and BC, just to name a few, come wit the real shit, NO SAMPLES. QUIT SLEEPIN’ NIGGAZ!!
Now, “C-BO’s MOB FIGAZ”, gives a chance for y’all to check out out some talented young thugs, with tight street lyrics and some bomb beats. AP9, Hustlah, FedX, Macka and Ridah, (Mob Figaz), I first heard on C-Bo’s “Til My Casket Drop”, and I was drawn because of the voices and hooked by the lyrics. “Armageddon” and “Fastlane” featuring C-BO, “Tailor Made” and “New Beginnings” are the crowning jewels of the CD. But others, like “Without My Five” and “Mob Fashion” are definite gems. With sample-free production from One-Drop Scott, “Lev” Berlak, Moe Stewart, JT Tha Bigga Figga and DJ Daryl, you need to go buy this and the AWOL collection
