An astonishing half of all gangsta rappers who profess to be “street smart” and “ghetto ready” were born rich and grew up in upscale neighborhoods where nobody goes hungry, gunplay is unheard of and “ho’s” aren’t your female friends, they’re high-priced call girls who charge your rich daddy $500 an hour for love sessions until your mother finds out and smacks him over the head with a custom-made golf club.
That’s the word from French sociologist Dr. Maurice Delacourt, who found in a study of 647 up-and-coming and established hip-hop stars who billed themselves as “gangstas” that only 310 grew up poor, and only six of those lived in households with incomes below the poverty line.
“A full 337 of the rappers were raised in upper middle class families with incomes exceeding $100,000 a year,” the Paris-based scientist told me in an exclusive interview for my new book, Everything You Know Is About Half Right.
“They lived in fine homes, attended the best schools and slept in warm, comfortable beds. They always had good food on the table, plenty of money in their pockets, and substantial discretionary bank accounts given to them by their wealthy parents.
“They didn’t learn hip-hop on the streets. They picked it up watching TV. That doesn’t mean they aren’t talented. Many of them are quite talented, and some of them, like 50 Cent, are geniuses.
“It simply means they’re like every other celebrity out there. They’ll say or do anything to make a name for themselves, stretching the truth about about their backgrounds included.”
Not surprisingly, the hip hop stars who really did grow up poor on the streets have the shortest careers – but not because they run out of things to rap about.
“All too often, like rap legends Tupac Shakur and Biggie, they’re cut down in cold blood by rivals, or they succumb to substance abuse,” Delacourt says.
