Dumbo NYC

Notes from the DUMBO, Brooklyn NY neighborhood


D-Nice True Hip-Hop Stories: Homeless Emcee

March 6th, 2009

D-Nice.com’s True Hip-Hop Stories posts great shorts of hip-hop artists. One titled, “The Homeless Emcee“, posted yesterday, is an amazing story of one homeless rapper talking about his life and times in Dumbo. D-Nice captures the emcee’s view of hip-hop and how it saved him throughout his life, and the choices he’s made to stay up. Some tidbits from the documentary:

On old Dumbo:
“Before all this shit was Dumbo, this was the Docks. You couldn’t pay police to come back here and I used to sleep back here. Walk across bodies and all that dumb shit when I was 11.”

On the new Dumbo people:
“70% of them ignore you, like you don’t exist, unless it’s dark of course and you’re walking behind them and all of a sudden they know you’re there. Another 15%, they be disrespectful, don’t know they can get their shit twisted real fast. The other 15% is cool, them the ones that actually take time out and listen and stop and treat you like a real person.”

Check out D-Nice’s videos, all on-point and tells great stories.


True Hip-Hop Stories: The Homeless Emcee from D-Nice on Vimeo.

Filed in Dumbo People, Dumbo in Media at 12:13 pm
View Comments
  • vinegerhillgold
    I've been helping this gentleman out with money advice and basic moral support for the last 2 years. I've helped him get identification a job at the bakery down the street, invested in a bicycle for him to be a messenger in Manhattan. Nothing has worked. He keeps comming back with some story/excuse or another. He's in and out of jail for one reason or another. On the one hand I feel like I should try to help him get on his feet so he can see the worthiness of helping himself but then there comes a point when you need to man up or get out. I think he's a lost cause but maybe I'm not patient enough. I hope he finds someone who is because my door is shut!!!
  • Bob
    No BL...some of us are quite capable of defending ourselves when attacked is all. : )
  • BrooklynLove
    What - does calling out chicken s**ts offend you Boberoo?
  • Bob
    Oh please.
  • BrooklynLove
    And if you have to own up to that statement face to face you'll be openin your legs too tough guy.
  • What's amazing to me is that he has 7 kids. I'd like to meet the women or woman that would open up her legs for that crackhead. Maybe his kids all have ashy crack lips like him.
  • And here all this time I thought he was just some dude asleep on those Front St steps in between Jay and Bridge.
  • dumbostreets
    Actually, I find that smaller cities tend to be less friendly than NYC.

    NYC is made up of neighborhoods, has more pedestrians, and more public spaces -- it is not a relatively small urban transit zone amidst a vast paranoid suburb.

    Speaking of Minnesota, I think Minneapolis might have a higher per capita crime rate.
  • fafafooey
    this is nyc, where ignoring people on the street is the norm... move to minesotta if u want kind greetings from strangers
  • Gold(en) Gun
    Well I hope Ashy Larry uses this 15mins to help pay for his 7 kids!
  • 15%
    No one is getting twisted from this skinny little crackhead.
  • Peter
    Crackey is back!!! She's standing outside with Smokey right now.
  • un named
    why does this piece of crap think he's worthy of any kind of respect from regular working people? Someone explain to him that until you become worthy of respect, you get none. Right now he's just a walking advert for contraception.
  • This was pretty moving. But, it sounds like he chooses his life. Maybe he blames society for it and his past unfortunate history. But what he doesn't understand is that he is the only one truly in control of his destiny.
  • Kung Fu Master
    You think you're big and bad but there's always someone out there who can kick your ass. Hopefully you'll meet that person one day soon. Or get a job and stop asking people for handouts. What a concept!
  • Yahweh or the HIghway
    i often have thoughts of committing random acts of violence when the folks I ask for change ignore me as well. people need to realize that they are one step from possibly being assaulted when they ignore me.
  • dumbostreets
    He's talented... but I don't fault passerby's for avoiding him.
  • DOT
    Thank you for posting this dumbonyc. This piece is excellent. It's hard to describe the emotions I felt after watching. On the one hand, I feel sympathy for him. He's had a rough life... no mother, no father, no home, no structure. On the other hand, I'm angry at his choice to do nothing. He has the potential to get his life in order but lacks the motivation and that's sickening to me.

    As for his presence in DUMBO, it amazes me that he was actually here before everything changed. I see this guy all the time and wondered why he picked this neighborhood to lurk... well there you have it.
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