Now in (at least) its seventh incarnation, “Break Da Law” is perhaps one of the earliest hip-hop standards. For that fact alone, it’s worthy of more discussion than afforded here. Suffice it to say that this anarchic anthem has achieved folk status as a kind of pre-WorldStar riot song. How fitting then that this latest version actually premiered as a “WSHH EXCLUSIVE.” Returning briefly to the song’s musicological significance, unlike some, I find it difficult to use a word like “ignorant” to describe this call to arms.
Insane? Yes. Injurious? Indeed.
But ignorant? I don’t see it.
If anything, “Break Da Law” is coldly calculated. Just look at how well the above video is edited. It serves as an important reminder that all violence is not by definition ignorant, and the fact that the two words are so often equated in music “criticism” speaks volumes about the pussification of American culture. Perhaps it’s just that I got into Three-Six Mafia around the same time that I got into the Death Wish films, but I’m forced to recall a Charles Bronson interview, in which the character actor describes his first time having sex: “I was five and a half years old, and she was six … I gave her some strawberry pop. I gave her the pop because I didn’t want it; I had taken up chewing tobacco and I liked that better. I didn’t start smoking until I was nine. But I gave her the pop, and then we … hell, I never lost my virginity. I never had any virginity.”
“Break Da Law” is that quote turned to song. It’s America. Stream or download Da Mafia 6ix’s 6ix Commandments mixtape via LiveMixtapes and watch out for the group’s as-yet-untitled forthcoming album, due out June 6.
• Da Mafia 6ix: https://twitter.com/Damafia6iX
• DJ Paul: http://djpaulkom.tv
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