In the aftermath of the tragic shooting at Chop Suey Jan. 4, many eyes have been drawn to the 206Proof forum, a message board where Seattle’s hiphop community promotes itself and pontificates on issues related to the scene and hiphop in general. 206Proof is probably the best place to gauge what’s on the minds of members of this city’s hiphop producers, MCs, DJs, promoters, and fans.

Below is a selection of some pertinent observations from the 206Proof thread about the shooting and what its possible ramifications will be. All comments [sic].

D-SANE:

“this shit has gotta stop”
People been sayin' that shit for 25+ years....it ain't NEVER gonna fuckin' stop. That's life, and if anybody thinks that this corny ass "Stop the Violence" shit is gonna stop anything, think again. Do like me....buy a bullet proof vest, some guns and try to avoid the shit as much as possible. I didn't go to the show tonight for a reason, because I had a bad feeling. I told Kountry [the show's promoter] the same thing earlier today and that he better be careful tonight.

djnphared:

Damn, all i can think about is the million times ive been in that hallway, and how thats where I always stand at shows, tonight was supposed to be the millionth and one, and probably coulda been my last, i would've been RIGHT THERE in the hallway

I made the right fucking decision tonight and I kinda feel guilty because someone else didn't make the same decision and paid the ultimate price for it, and another is hanging on to his life

M SEA:

I think i'm done with hardcore rap shows.

D-SANE:

All I know is that they got the story all twisted up over there on that SLOG bullshit. The Central District and SOUTH END are at war right now and have been for a while. But we all already knew that. Or did you think that all these Southcenter shootings and CD shootings were random? Nope. Get a clue idiots.

This has nothing to do with the music and is just a random act of violence. If it would've happened in the Dick's parking lot....are you gonna blame it on Dick's cheesburgers???? GTFOHWTB

D-SANE:

I think Chop Suey will survive this, but they're probably gonna pull the plug on all Hip Hop related events for a while until the dust settles. I mean realistically, Chop has been in business for a long time and haven't had any major problems until now so the city has no grounds for that type of action. Damn shame...Chop Suey was a vital venue for our already fragile Hip Hop scene.

djnphared:

I regret that I will never be able to make peace with 29-E, I hope that Prez pulls through so I don't miss that opportunity a second time. Life is way too precious, and way too real sometimes. Cherish what you have, and live every moment like it's your last, and forget the petty differences you may have with the next man. Don't live with darkness around you, begrudging every little thing in life, it's not worth it, it's just not worth it.

RIP

Mack Long:

Sounds like we're gonna have to turn this Stop the Violence show @ Studio 7 on Monday into a memorial.

djdevj:

Just got back from the hospital. Kountry is still there and so is D Pitt. Trama is about to be released. He is thinking he was the original intended target, but there's no way to know that for sure.

Now for the bad news...

I'm gonna keep it real kids. This isn't official in any way, but I'm going to say that I don't think Black Prez made it past surgery. We talked to the staff and the liaison nurse's official word was-"until we can speak to the next of kin-all I can tell you legally is that he is in critical condition. If he had gotten better we could tell you, but in a situation like this, we can't say anything until the next of kin have been notified." When we asked about surgery, all they could say was that he entered surgery-but couldn't say if he even came out of it. Considering that if Prez came out of surgery at all, his condition would have been upgraded from critical to at least serious, and we could have been informed of that...

joey t:

...I'm wondering what laid the groundwork for this, every tragedy has a story behind it and from what i am reading it is more then the usual Southend v C.D. beef, especially if it was a white shooter.

I'm admitedly a bit paranoid but i have been to the chop twice in a span of less then a month and both times there was violence surronding the show, and one thing was very strange about both incidents.
both of them involved external antagonist, (I.E. someone coming from outside of the show to start some shit and a fight breaks out).
from the sexual harrasser guy who came out of nowhere to get clapped with a chair,
to the gay guy trying getting knocked out at the freeway show,
there was even a construction worker trying to fight my homeboy once (dropping N bombs a plenty),
hell mtk was in line and some giant tranny tried to pick a fight with him.
and now this,
I always get the vibe when i go to chop like the other clubs and business don't want us around down there and i can't help but wonder how far they will go to get there way...

joeydefone:

just read throught the Slog thread, and can't even believe how many fucking ignorant dipshits there are in this city. The FUCK is wrong with people? How can some of them justify the hate that spews from there mouth without a goddamn clue of what they are actually talking about. And they call hip hop the problem. Ignorant ass motherfuckers like them are the problem. Perpetuating sterotypes on what they have heard rather than experienced. People die and they try to find a way to villainize a culture as a whole based on a part of it. shit doesn't add up.
You know a lot of this is based on something as simple as musical preference too. They don't like the music so they

Logics —S.A. General:

I am fuckin speechless. Fuck music. Me and Prez is on some fam shit. I was with 29 and Prez yesterday at southcenter for half the day before the show. The sad part is that Me and Prez was makin shirts to give out at the stop the violence show tommorrow. The thing that absolutely kills me is that 29 really wanted me and element to do this track for him. He got locked up shortly after that and I actually seen him for the first time again yesterday. He was a very chill dude. No hatred in em at all about the proof/Seattle shit. That's because prez was instilling in em to get his hustle on and he was determined to get a better name in this city. Us outta towners is hard to try and come up out here (especially in seattle) because of the big mixing pot of artists but even worse because in situations like this, when somethin like this happens you have no family that can visit you. Its just so fucked up because you never know who can go next, I went from seein this dude 29 yesterday, giving him some free gear because he absolutely had no money, sharing drinks with em at the chop suey bar, now I gotta read bout em in the paper. Its fucked up

Logics —S.A. General:

From a direct source. It was all over someone "who had got robbed" before and he called in someone (not handling the issue himself) and the shooter knocked on the back door and let the shots go. The person with the initial beef got a stool broken over his face. End of story.

ak:

This is what the infamous "they" wanted and "they" got it. Everyone who has ever said Hip Hop is dangerous got proof for 2009 that Hip Hop is still a threat. This is the bull shit that sets everyone back whether it's born out of the music or not, whether it's over beats or drugs this happened at a hip hop show.

I still can't believe it but at the same time it's time we take responsibility. Am I my brothers keeper? What the fuck is all this for? Why are we making music, is it for this? What are we doing to stop this from ever happening again? These are the questions we needed to ask before this happened.
If all that comes out of the proof for this shit is a memorial and posting messages of condolence then fuck it, this whole forum is bull shit. let's stop talking about stopping this shit and actually do it.

Djnphared:

If you really stand by the belief that this had nothing to do with the music, then you won't let this affect your decision to go to shows or whatever have you. If this happened at a QFC, I'm not going to sit here and wonder what the grocer community needs to do to make sure this never happens and how we as grocery buying people can help the community. Knuckleheads are EVERYwhere.

If anything, the security EVERYWHERE needs to be stepped up, and promoters need to be concious of overcrowded bills that encourage revolving door attendance. It's not safe to have "shifts" of patrons throughout the night

Suge White:

I don't think anybody believes it has NOTHING to do with the type of crowd that was there. that's just some fantasy shit, the crowd/music/culture is a reflection of a larger problem. The dude didn't hear a song and decide to start shooting. There was a long progression of events that lead that person to be at the club with a loaded gun in a mind state to be capable of doing that. Just like there was a long progression of events that lead to the other kid robbing someone. Both series of events lead to people getting hurt last night. It wasn't directly related to the artist performing but it was wasn't a random act of violence either.

Suge White:

Blaming security is kind of silly IMO and maybe that's because I worked security at that club. But when people want to hurt other people they can do it especially with guns. I've opened that same door a million times in the past and nobody ever started shooting.

Hip hop does have to start to own up to the glorification of the violence. It's been real muddy whether art was imitating life or vice versa for a long time. A lot of younger people have been inundated with violence from MANY media outlets their whole life and they are fucked up because of it. Is Hip Hop solely responsible? Not even close but we aren't innocent either.

djnphared:

I personally chose not to go and DJ for Fatal because I knew the type of people that go to this show and I didn't want to deal with any drama, so for me, I saw the lineup, interpreted the people that would attend, and decided I didn't need to be there. But at the same time, that decision had nothing to do with the fact that I felt someone was going to be brainwashed into firing inside of the venue.

E.Proportions:

We just need smarter fuckin people. Handle your personal vendettas and business outside of shows and away from concert goers. We're all tryin to stack feddi in this recession and the last thing we need is another obsticle to clog the cash flow.

D-SANE:

You guys act like this shit started yesterday. It's been goin' on for YEARS and isn't going to stop anytime soon. These problems start at HOME and are a reflection of societal ills, not Hip-Hop music.

Where were all of you when we were holding peace rally's in Westlake like 9yrs ago after some shit like this happened??? Did that make it stop? Did anybody care? No.

gatsworth:

this is seriously heartbreaking. i agree that doing some symbolic kumbaya shit to make all involved feel like they've 'done something' is idiotic- but to just sign off the fate of what we do in this town, to allow town funk (even generations old town funk) to control this scene, is the most passive thing of all.

all this insane violence just from the last year has touched all of us somehow. this shit just hits home on a new level because despite what those bitchmade slog-flies have to say about it- doing shows, being a part of hiphop in this town is one place i've always felt safe. of course it's hiphop and you have to be on point for weird shit but somebody just came into that hallway so many of us have loitered in before and opened fire. 3 active participants in making music in this town shot. one dead. prez' status bad. i'm not from fucking mayberry by any means but this shit has me fucked up.

if we love this, we have to think of how to keep it

D-SANE:

You guys want to make a real difference in this world? Go work with some at risk youth or somethin'. Cuz all the security in the world can't stop things like this from happening, it's not the music that's causing it, it's broken homes and misguided kids perpetuating this shit.

M SEA

Honestly i think getting into too much detail wouldnt be a good idea because of the attention this forum is getting right now, but i can say that there were at least 15-20 people there, and we came up with some really solid ideas of how to prevent something like this from happening in the future.

I think one thing we can all take from the meeting and these events is that we all have to take a strong responsibility for what happens in this scene, be it as an artist, promoter, security, writer, even as a fan. People need to understand that nobody is condoning this kind of shit and that we were all there tonight to do something positive about it. We want people to feel safe and comfortable coming out to local shows. While some of us know this as an isolated incident, alot of people won't see it that way, and we have to be on the offensive to educate people that this is not who we are BEFORE they make their assumptions. Otherwise we're just stuck on the defensive from the start.

djdevj:

Some positive outreach work wouldn't hurt either. On some preventive medicine type ish. No marches or anything, just step up our part in the community. Help today's kids from becoming tomorrow's asshole with a gun starting shit in the club.

And yes I know it sounds corny.

joey t:

this is at least the third hip hop show i can think of where the police were marked as "warning" the club owners or promoters that the show should be stopped due to possible gang activity.
another significant show was the E40 show that was cancelled due to this tactic.
to no end the police will use this tragedy as an opporunity to justify this move, but my question to all the promoters, etc on here is
have you been getting calls like this on all your shows or just specific ones?

M SEA:

The biggest thing right now is to keep doing your thing. Keep it moving.

ae.kae.ae:

the purpose of the meeting was to have a sincere, adult discussion about a tragedy that has touched every single one of us in one respect or another in an effort to hopefully develop one united voice—not because we are trying to necessarily mount a media blitz or are fearful of some sort of City driven attack but because, honestly, it is our fucking responsibility.

this story could catch on like wildfire in the media or could fade away instantly—fine, whatever. the mayor could try to use this event to hinder seattle hip hop or he could ignore it in favor of the next snow storm—obviously. in the end, it is up to us to actually give a shit about what goes on in our community, hold each other accountable, and lift a hand here & there to actually make a difference.

bigkountry:

I would never in my life think about putting on a show that i knew something like this would happen at . I Wouldnt promote a show i knew people would die at especially my guy 29-e and get injured at like prez did and if i knew this was gonna happen i wouldnt of been standing close to the hall and wouldnt of ran back to prez when i heard the shots. If people dont know the truth about what happend they shouldnt report on it out of respect . 29-e and prez were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I ran torwards the shots so if someone wants to say i knew this would happen....they have issues

D-SANE:

Well since Kountry doesn't want to explain, and it has been brought up numerous times in the media reports, I will explain where I believe the source of this rumor is stemming from.

On Saturday afternoon, Kountry was sending out his promo txt msgs about the show. I replied back to one of them and said (jokingly) "You better wear a vest tonight...it could get ugly." He replied back "Why do you say that?" I explained to him that there is a war raging between the Central District & the South End and since there were artists on the bill who are affiliated with those areas, there could potentially be some problems. I wasn't saying that there was definitely going to be problems, just the possibility. I told him..."Don't stress out about it, just stay on your toes and keep your eyes open tonight." These artists perform shows all the time around town without incident, but in light of the recent CD - South End turmoil (which Kountry is not familiar with), I suggested a little more caution than usual. Mostly because of the location of the club (Central District). I was more worried about some of the people from the CD doing a drive-by on the place than anything actually happening inside or around the club.

Immediately after the shooting, Kountry apparently made some comments to some IDIOT affiliated with The Stranger. One of which that was taken out of context was the comment about how he had supposedly been "warned not to proceed with the show," which is a LIE. Kountry must have mentioned my commentary to the Stranger guy and it was interpreted as a warning to stop the show. How this has turned into "Police warned him...blah, blah, blah" I don't know. IT'S NOT TRUE. It was a simple comment from me basically telling him to exercise a little more caution than usual that night. Why he mentioned my commentary to the Stranger guy, I don't know, but they put a spin on it and here we are now.

In the end, this had nothing to do with the CD - South End war.