hustling the flow (7.21.05)

Wanted to say, Im a memphis nigga. But all thing memphis
at like the cut suspposed to be. see below as a point of order.

I have been living in Atlanta for some time now, ever
since I matriculated at Morehouse College eons ago.
However, I am originally from Memphis. To this day,
I claim Memphis as home because it was where I was raised.
Everything from Payne’s BBQ to Jack Pirtle’s chicken, hot
Tamale men and everything else the city has to offer,
defines as well as describes me. I still call folk ‘Jones’ and
use man (pronounced main) after every sentence as if
it were punctuation.
Now to the point. I had the chance to listen to the
Hustle & Flow soundtrack the other day. It was cool,
but it was not what I was expecting. Sure, it had
songs by 8-Ball and MJG and Al Kapone, but in my eyes,
it did a disservice to the movie. Now there is nothing wrong
with the tracks by T.I., Juvenile, Mike Jones, Paul Wall, or
Boyz N Da Hood, but none of these folks are from the
crib—flip town, one-town, the bluff city.
Memphis music cannot be replaced by music from
other places because there are no other places with that
sound. This is consistent from my side of town (South Parkway)
to East and North Memphis. And I am not talking about
music made by tender jones from New York who uses
the city as a billing to his rap name.
I love Memphis to death, and I don’t understand why
a movie about hustling in the streets of Memphis did
not have all Memphis artists. Why aren’t Three 6 Mafia,
Play Fly, Gangsta Blac, Tom Skeemask, Project Pat, Yo Gotti,
Skinny Pimp or the Taylor Boys on the soundtrack? Then there
is Lil Emmit and Carlito, II tone, Criminal mane, DJ Squeeky,
Mr. Litt and Tela. Where are they?
Although I haven’t seen the movie yet, I know I will appreciate
seeing the cut on the big screen. I just wish they had put
more of my homeboys on the soundtrack.--torrance stephens