"Wilding"

I miss a lot of things about old NYC but ohhh, how i DON'T miss walking down a street, and noticing a herd of thugs coming my way like a cloud of trouble. Being a teenager meant that you were always a target even in your own neighborhood. seeing these groups forced a fast morbid decision. knowing that to turn and run virtually guaranteed a long hard chase, and to not run meant a possible beat-down and mugging, but maybe a reprise for NOT running. oddly enough, i made it through more then one of these roving packs of marauders simply by lowering my eyes and pretending that they didn't bother me. sometimes that got you enough respect to save you from getting surrounded.

as a matter of fact, like the above link, i have been surrounded more then once. one time it was actually my friend Ages fault. we were hanging out on a stoop on summer night and a group of guys walk by on Broadway. we were up a side street so they didn't notice us. Ages, for some unknown reason, thought it was a good idea to yell the name of our crew at them, NBC. well, suddenly they all ran at us and quickly surrounded us. apparently, they had been LOOKING for us over a graffiti beef and their job had been done for them by my friend. long story short, i wouldn't let them take my headphones, and my friend Ages was mouthing off to them. so one thing led to another, well, heh heh, actually, they said they were the "Stick Up Kids". that name was robbed from a gang starr song at the time, and i couldn't resist saying "so you guys S.U.K.!!". surprise surprise, I got sucker punched and jumped. but like other experiences in my life where i am outnumbered by so many, i found a quick way out by ducking low and punching through the line. when there are more then 8-10 guys trying to fight one guy, what happens is they get in each other's way and can rarely figure out who is who, if the underdog moves around a lot. so, i moved a lot. Especially if it's on a stoop and they can't circle around and fan out. i got a good hit on about 4 of them, but also a few good lumps on my own head and face before i backed away, swinging and kicking and got out of the scene. that crew never got the drop on us again.

in talking about "Wilding" and crews, i'm not going to pretend i was never part of it myself. i certainly was no innocent in this. i was "wilding" once or twice with my own crew. i found out for myself, that being on the giving end of that phenomenon was much better then the receiving (in the 80's in NYC it was labeled "Wilding" by the media). it was basically kids, in groups, losing control. or i should say TAKING control. i remember walking down Broadway with a large group of pretty angry down trodden guys. mostly from the projects on Amsterdam and Columbus above 91st street. these guys were on a mission to show everybody who was in control (seeing as how, their whole lives, it HASN'T been them). i remember watching people just melt away on the sidewalk. newspaper stands being attacked for all the candy and magazines, almost being pushed over by several guys. i remember garbage cans being emptied on cars and tires being slashed. being somewhat future minded, i tried to stay with the group but didn't do any of the really crazy stuff, just so you know :) it was chaos. i guess, you could even say it was revolution in a micro form. whatever it was, however you defined it, it was NYC.

This is kind of what it was like when the city was so rough and tumble...kids with no options, cracking under pressure. losing it..on everyone, and everything. maybe they've been smacked around their whole lives, told what to do, insulted. now they have a bunch of friends, now they're gonna make people pay.

check out these crazy kids in Paris. check out the French and how tough they are! tell me you don't want to kick their little frenchie asses by the end of the video.

justice stress (official video)
by 75_prod