New York Rappers Talk Their Worst Summer Jobs
By Phillip Mlynar, Wed., Aug. 4 2010 @ 9:00AM
Comments (5) Categories: EL-P, Fat Joe, Featured, Joell Ortiz, Phillip Mlynar, Prince Paul, Tanya Morgan
Image via Darrell Bell
Hip-hop is the world's most brazenly capitalist genre of music. If Jay-Z's not talking about playing Monopoly with real cash, then Kanye West's tweeting about the cherub-motifed Persian rugs and golden goblets he's just scored at Fishs Eddy. But while certain rotund rap types would have you believe they were running extensive criminal enterprises before they decided to pursue a career in rhymed verse, the truth is more mundane. Most rappers suffer the rite of working demoralizing dead-end jobs while attempting to jump-start their careers and clock up music industry cash, whether it's the Wu-Tang Clan's Method Man greeting tourists at the Statue of Liberty, Biggie bagging groceries at a Met Foods supermarket, or Kanye's mush-mouthed rapping friend Consequence ringing up monochromatic sweater vests at GAP. So when Fat Joe--who just so happens to have released a new album last week--opened his heart to us about sweating it out as a security guard one summer at a sneaker store, we decided to round up a whole batch of New York City's hardest-working rappers--including Prince Paul, El-P, Joell Ortiz, and Tanya Morgan's Von Pea and Donwill--and ask them to talk about their old temp-job blues. Their wretched stories are below.
My reply: Most people I know (including myself) have worked in 'dead end' jobs - in factories, in grocery stores etc. It makes me wonder why they should be exempted from paying their dues as far as the workforce is concerned.
Fat Joe
"I worked at Flavor Shoes, on Fordham Road in the Bronx. It was the worst job I had. I wasn't dealing with peoples' smelly feet--I was more or less security. I was a big guy, so they made me a little security guard. I always caught kids, cause I used to boost myself so I already knew how to catch 'em. I'd look for certain moves, like this guy's really not gonna buy this $100 pair of sneakers. We also used to play spades and whoever lost used to have to go and walk to get the food.
The worst thing about working there was I realized that with bosses, there's a way to work with employees where you don't have to do it in a nasty way and enslave your workers and be mean to them, like we're all a team and do it together. I hate when I walk in a grocery store and the guy screams at his employee. You don't have to do it like that. There's a right way, we can all get it done. My boss at Flavor was like that, yelling all the time.
I only worked there for two days. I told my moms I was going to change my life and be a good guy, but then I was watching the videos they was playing in the store and the Big Daddy Kane video where he's shooting the pool, "Smooth Operator," came on. I saw that, quit my job, and went to hustle, took it to the streets."
My reply: Try telling *that* to my supervisors at work. Though funnily enough, I actually agree with what Fat Joe has to say. There is a right way and a wrong way to deal with employees, and the 'wrong' way is to deal with them in such a way that it is demoralizing to the employee.
Joell Ortiz
"My worst job--and I've had a few of them--was loading trucks for UPS. My back was destroyed! I did all the lifting properly, but it still doesn't help. They have the nerve to say you have to load the boxes into the truck a certain way because of the route, and then you gotta scan them all and make sure that it's for your truck. If it's not, you have to walk them to another truck.
I worked there for a week then I quit. What happened was, this guy goes, 'This right here is your trailer.' I'm looking at it, it's empty, and I see the conveyor belt. He goes, 'I want at least 800 scans a night.' So that's a scan and a load per box, and there's 800 boxes. I was working the graveyard shift, from like 11 p.m. at night until 7 a.m. in the morning. So he goes, 'That's all I need, those 800 scans.' It's 11 p.m., so I get to it, and the first two days there I finish at 4 a.m.. I call him over, I'm hype, I'm proud, I'm showing him my work ethic. He goes, 'That looks nice. How many did you do?' I looked at my scanner and go, '1,012.' He goes, 'That's perfect, come with me.' I walk over with him and he points to another empty trailer and says, 'Do the same thing.' I walked out of there! You do your work and you only get more work? Come on!"
My reply (to Joell Ortiz): We've all been through this - we finish our job and we are given more to do. It is like that with Australia Post. But, mate, you've only lasted 1 week. Try working like that for 20 years (if you last that long, that is).
Prince Paul
"Everyone knows about Pos and Dave [from De La Soul] working in Burger King as they made a song about it ["Bitties In The BK Lounge"], but I worked at McDonalds at one point. And a lipstick packing factory. I've had about 15 different part-time jobs. The worst was at a nuts and bolts factory. I had to sort out the shavings from the bolts. It was always all greasy and there were flies about everywhere. I also worked at Nationwide Construction, who also made nuts and bolts. You could say I was pretty savvy about them at one point. I could have probably started my own nuts and bolts business..."
My reply: Can't help wondering if (after 20 years of working in the same job), I've become so 'savvy' at it that I wonder if I could become one of my employer's competitors by starting up a mailing house of my own, or at least become the manager in my place of employment.
Comments (5)
dawn says: very interesting I enjoyed it
Posted On: Wednesday, Aug. 4 2010 @ 5:32PM
Reply: So did I - it shows that some rappers are just as 'human' as the rest of us, and actually pay their dues in this 'thing' we call 'the economy' or 'the workfoce' (though by the sounds of it, not as much as what many other people have done).
Fakt Cheka says: "We also used to play spades and whoever lost used to have to go and walk to get the food. I only worked there for two days". Fat Joe is such a liar.
Posted On: Wednesday, Aug. 4 2010 @ 10:29PM
Reply: Some people have all the luck, and can afford to quit after 2 days. Either that, or 'Fakt Cheka' is right in calling Fat Joe a 'liar'.
Anonymous says: Once they're finished with their lame as rap careers, they'll wind up doing the same thing!
Posted On: Thursday, Aug. 5 2010 @ 8:56AM
Reply: It is possible that their 'dreams' of becoming a star may be shattered, and then they are faced with a choice of returning to a 'boring job', returning to 'hustling' or continuuing to pursue career success in their desired profession.
Watusi says: Didn't these losers crawl out of the womb comitting crimes?
Posted On: Friday, Aug. 6 2010 @ 11:38AM
Reply (to Watsui): Interesting how this article challenges the stereotype of rappers being 'street hustlers' and career criminal - might it not be possible that they might have been in 'legitimate' employment as well?
gasfacevictm says:
Fat Joe and Joell Ortiz are two fat lazy out of touch retards. Fat Joe talking about how he used to clock dudes moves and they played spades to see who would go get lunch and his boss was alway screaming, then he turns around and says he worked there for 2 days. IDIOT.
Reply (to Gasfacevictim): Well, it sounds like alot has happened in those two days he has been there then, if that is true. And it might not have necessarily been in that job itself, where the boss screamed at him. It may have been in other jobs, or he may have witnessed employees in different jobs being yelled at by their bosses. And I sort of agree with him - it is sort of embarrassing watching an employee being told off in public (be it in front of coworkers, or members of the public). Not only embarrassing to the employee, but to others who witness the incident and don't know what to say. And it's also embarrassing to the boss too, because a boss who yells at someone in front of others degrades himself (or herself) because he/she is losing his/her cool (or, in Asian terms, 'losing face').
Joell Ortiz acting like you're supposed to get some reward for doing your job after you load a truck and finish early. You're paid hourly moron, of course you will get more work after that.
Reply (also to Gasfacevictim): I am in 'two minds' here - that is the reality of the job, and the 'reward' is being given more to do when you are being paid an hourly rate. Unless, of course, Mr Ortiz is doing piecework (and how many people do that these days?)
So, when I read this article, it reminded me of how most people have 'paid dues' in some way or another. A boring, 'dead end' job doesn't require much education or 'brain power' (cognitive competence) - but the price you pay is that it is 'back breaking' and/or 'mind-numbing', and probably doesn't pay all that well either (unless you are in a trade union of some sort, and thus in a better position to 'bargain' for better pay and conditions). Another 'price' you pay is that you get a boss that may have his or her moments (where you get yelled at even), or co-workers which are just as bad (if not worse). But 'boring jobs' still pay the bills.
And while 'hustling' and crime may look lucrative to those who have never been there, being able to make lots of money from crime is very risky - you may risk getting caught by the cops (and a jail sentence), and often your 'partners in crime' won't carry the can for you, bail you out, or help you in any way.
And, while being an artist (doing 'visual' art, dancing or making music) and making money for it sounds great, you may be a 'starving artist' for a long time before you enjoy any financial or career success in your endeavours. While I am a Heavy Metal fan (rather than a rap fan), I personally know many Heavy Metal bands and artists who spend alot of time recording, writing songs, performing in smelly pubs, putting up with obnoxious patrons, having to pay for time in the studio or venue they are using, and risking being 'booed' off stage (or worse). And many years of this before they finally release an album or single that gets any airplay. What's more, is that I have know many musicians having to work in 'dead end' jobs before they can afford to quit and do something they are interested in.
The article also highlights how people have 'dreams' and what they have to do in order to pursue them, and how they have choices in how they pursue them. The choice for musicians (including rappers) is that they can either work in a legitimate job, and make money that way but be bored (before they finally make enough money to strike out on their own); or risk it as a criminal (whether they are caught and prosecuted by police, or get themselves hurt or even killed when they do engage in crime). Or they can pursue their careers from 'scratch', focusing entirely on their chosen careers - they can, in the meantime, choose to make money some other way (and put food on the table) or to 'starve' while doing something you love.
But, many heavy metallers are prepared to 'pay their dues' and work hard in their chosen profession before they do earn an income from their music, which enables them to keep going with their music. They also know they have a choice between doing boring work or making music (but knowing it will be a long time before they finally do make any proper money from that music).
However, they also know it's not just about they money either, it's about all the 'side benefits' that come with being a performer: doing what you love, getting admiration from fans (both locally, nationwide and internationally), the applause during your opening number (especially when the flashpots go off), seeing people having a good 'headbang' or 'air guitaring' to your riffs, getting a mention on the radio or TV (or even airplay), the cameraderie between the band members (or members of other bands) and/or fans, and (if you're a guy) being able to 'pick up chicks'. The list is endless.
And if that is your chosen profession and reward, then you have to decide on how you are going to pay your dues in the meantime - and this applies to rappers, as it does to any other artist or musician.
Comments (5) Categories: EL-P, Fat Joe, Featured, Joell Ortiz, Phillip Mlynar, Prince Paul, Tanya Morgan
Image via Darrell Bell
Hip-hop is the world's most brazenly capitalist genre of music. If Jay-Z's not talking about playing Monopoly with real cash, then Kanye West's tweeting about the cherub-motifed Persian rugs and golden goblets he's just scored at Fishs Eddy. But while certain rotund rap types would have you believe they were running extensive criminal enterprises before they decided to pursue a career in rhymed verse, the truth is more mundane. Most rappers suffer the rite of working demoralizing dead-end jobs while attempting to jump-start their careers and clock up music industry cash, whether it's the Wu-Tang Clan's Method Man greeting tourists at the Statue of Liberty, Biggie bagging groceries at a Met Foods supermarket, or Kanye's mush-mouthed rapping friend Consequence ringing up monochromatic sweater vests at GAP. So when Fat Joe--who just so happens to have released a new album last week--opened his heart to us about sweating it out as a security guard one summer at a sneaker store, we decided to round up a whole batch of New York City's hardest-working rappers--including Prince Paul, El-P, Joell Ortiz, and Tanya Morgan's Von Pea and Donwill--and ask them to talk about their old temp-job blues. Their wretched stories are below.
My reply: Most people I know (including myself) have worked in 'dead end' jobs - in factories, in grocery stores etc. It makes me wonder why they should be exempted from paying their dues as far as the workforce is concerned.
Fat Joe
"I worked at Flavor Shoes, on Fordham Road in the Bronx. It was the worst job I had. I wasn't dealing with peoples' smelly feet--I was more or less security. I was a big guy, so they made me a little security guard. I always caught kids, cause I used to boost myself so I already knew how to catch 'em. I'd look for certain moves, like this guy's really not gonna buy this $100 pair of sneakers. We also used to play spades and whoever lost used to have to go and walk to get the food.
The worst thing about working there was I realized that with bosses, there's a way to work with employees where you don't have to do it in a nasty way and enslave your workers and be mean to them, like we're all a team and do it together. I hate when I walk in a grocery store and the guy screams at his employee. You don't have to do it like that. There's a right way, we can all get it done. My boss at Flavor was like that, yelling all the time.
I only worked there for two days. I told my moms I was going to change my life and be a good guy, but then I was watching the videos they was playing in the store and the Big Daddy Kane video where he's shooting the pool, "Smooth Operator," came on. I saw that, quit my job, and went to hustle, took it to the streets."
My reply: Try telling *that* to my supervisors at work. Though funnily enough, I actually agree with what Fat Joe has to say. There is a right way and a wrong way to deal with employees, and the 'wrong' way is to deal with them in such a way that it is demoralizing to the employee.
Joell Ortiz
"My worst job--and I've had a few of them--was loading trucks for UPS. My back was destroyed! I did all the lifting properly, but it still doesn't help. They have the nerve to say you have to load the boxes into the truck a certain way because of the route, and then you gotta scan them all and make sure that it's for your truck. If it's not, you have to walk them to another truck.
I worked there for a week then I quit. What happened was, this guy goes, 'This right here is your trailer.' I'm looking at it, it's empty, and I see the conveyor belt. He goes, 'I want at least 800 scans a night.' So that's a scan and a load per box, and there's 800 boxes. I was working the graveyard shift, from like 11 p.m. at night until 7 a.m. in the morning. So he goes, 'That's all I need, those 800 scans.' It's 11 p.m., so I get to it, and the first two days there I finish at 4 a.m.. I call him over, I'm hype, I'm proud, I'm showing him my work ethic. He goes, 'That looks nice. How many did you do?' I looked at my scanner and go, '1,012.' He goes, 'That's perfect, come with me.' I walk over with him and he points to another empty trailer and says, 'Do the same thing.' I walked out of there! You do your work and you only get more work? Come on!"
My reply (to Joell Ortiz): We've all been through this - we finish our job and we are given more to do. It is like that with Australia Post. But, mate, you've only lasted 1 week. Try working like that for 20 years (if you last that long, that is).
Prince Paul
"Everyone knows about Pos and Dave [from De La Soul] working in Burger King as they made a song about it ["Bitties In The BK Lounge"], but I worked at McDonalds at one point. And a lipstick packing factory. I've had about 15 different part-time jobs. The worst was at a nuts and bolts factory. I had to sort out the shavings from the bolts. It was always all greasy and there were flies about everywhere. I also worked at Nationwide Construction, who also made nuts and bolts. You could say I was pretty savvy about them at one point. I could have probably started my own nuts and bolts business..."
My reply: Can't help wondering if (after 20 years of working in the same job), I've become so 'savvy' at it that I wonder if I could become one of my employer's competitors by starting up a mailing house of my own, or at least become the manager in my place of employment.
Comments (5)
dawn says: very interesting I enjoyed it
Posted On: Wednesday, Aug. 4 2010 @ 5:32PM
Reply: So did I - it shows that some rappers are just as 'human' as the rest of us, and actually pay their dues in this 'thing' we call 'the economy' or 'the workfoce' (though by the sounds of it, not as much as what many other people have done).
Fakt Cheka says: "We also used to play spades and whoever lost used to have to go and walk to get the food. I only worked there for two days". Fat Joe is such a liar.
Posted On: Wednesday, Aug. 4 2010 @ 10:29PM
Reply: Some people have all the luck, and can afford to quit after 2 days. Either that, or 'Fakt Cheka' is right in calling Fat Joe a 'liar'.
Anonymous says: Once they're finished with their lame as rap careers, they'll wind up doing the same thing!
Posted On: Thursday, Aug. 5 2010 @ 8:56AM
Reply: It is possible that their 'dreams' of becoming a star may be shattered, and then they are faced with a choice of returning to a 'boring job', returning to 'hustling' or continuuing to pursue career success in their desired profession.
Watusi says: Didn't these losers crawl out of the womb comitting crimes?
Posted On: Friday, Aug. 6 2010 @ 11:38AM
Reply (to Watsui): Interesting how this article challenges the stereotype of rappers being 'street hustlers' and career criminal - might it not be possible that they might have been in 'legitimate' employment as well?
gasfacevictm says:
Fat Joe and Joell Ortiz are two fat lazy out of touch retards. Fat Joe talking about how he used to clock dudes moves and they played spades to see who would go get lunch and his boss was alway screaming, then he turns around and says he worked there for 2 days. IDIOT.
Reply (to Gasfacevictim): Well, it sounds like alot has happened in those two days he has been there then, if that is true. And it might not have necessarily been in that job itself, where the boss screamed at him. It may have been in other jobs, or he may have witnessed employees in different jobs being yelled at by their bosses. And I sort of agree with him - it is sort of embarrassing watching an employee being told off in public (be it in front of coworkers, or members of the public). Not only embarrassing to the employee, but to others who witness the incident and don't know what to say. And it's also embarrassing to the boss too, because a boss who yells at someone in front of others degrades himself (or herself) because he/she is losing his/her cool (or, in Asian terms, 'losing face').
Joell Ortiz acting like you're supposed to get some reward for doing your job after you load a truck and finish early. You're paid hourly moron, of course you will get more work after that.
Reply (also to Gasfacevictim): I am in 'two minds' here - that is the reality of the job, and the 'reward' is being given more to do when you are being paid an hourly rate. Unless, of course, Mr Ortiz is doing piecework (and how many people do that these days?)
So, when I read this article, it reminded me of how most people have 'paid dues' in some way or another. A boring, 'dead end' job doesn't require much education or 'brain power' (cognitive competence) - but the price you pay is that it is 'back breaking' and/or 'mind-numbing', and probably doesn't pay all that well either (unless you are in a trade union of some sort, and thus in a better position to 'bargain' for better pay and conditions). Another 'price' you pay is that you get a boss that may have his or her moments (where you get yelled at even), or co-workers which are just as bad (if not worse). But 'boring jobs' still pay the bills.
And while 'hustling' and crime may look lucrative to those who have never been there, being able to make lots of money from crime is very risky - you may risk getting caught by the cops (and a jail sentence), and often your 'partners in crime' won't carry the can for you, bail you out, or help you in any way.
And, while being an artist (doing 'visual' art, dancing or making music) and making money for it sounds great, you may be a 'starving artist' for a long time before you enjoy any financial or career success in your endeavours. While I am a Heavy Metal fan (rather than a rap fan), I personally know many Heavy Metal bands and artists who spend alot of time recording, writing songs, performing in smelly pubs, putting up with obnoxious patrons, having to pay for time in the studio or venue they are using, and risking being 'booed' off stage (or worse). And many years of this before they finally release an album or single that gets any airplay. What's more, is that I have know many musicians having to work in 'dead end' jobs before they can afford to quit and do something they are interested in.
The article also highlights how people have 'dreams' and what they have to do in order to pursue them, and how they have choices in how they pursue them. The choice for musicians (including rappers) is that they can either work in a legitimate job, and make money that way but be bored (before they finally make enough money to strike out on their own); or risk it as a criminal (whether they are caught and prosecuted by police, or get themselves hurt or even killed when they do engage in crime). Or they can pursue their careers from 'scratch', focusing entirely on their chosen careers - they can, in the meantime, choose to make money some other way (and put food on the table) or to 'starve' while doing something you love.
But, many heavy metallers are prepared to 'pay their dues' and work hard in their chosen profession before they do earn an income from their music, which enables them to keep going with their music. They also know they have a choice between doing boring work or making music (but knowing it will be a long time before they finally do make any proper money from that music).
However, they also know it's not just about they money either, it's about all the 'side benefits' that come with being a performer: doing what you love, getting admiration from fans (both locally, nationwide and internationally), the applause during your opening number (especially when the flashpots go off), seeing people having a good 'headbang' or 'air guitaring' to your riffs, getting a mention on the radio or TV (or even airplay), the cameraderie between the band members (or members of other bands) and/or fans, and (if you're a guy) being able to 'pick up chicks'. The list is endless.
And if that is your chosen profession and reward, then you have to decide on how you are going to pay your dues in the meantime - and this applies to rappers, as it does to any other artist or musician.
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