Ambitions as a ridah,krazy, hold your head, tradin war stories,hearts of men ,life goes on. There’s so many ...the most influential rapper of all time...dudes been dead 25 years and his name still rings bells....

I just realized California Love was swiped from an old Joe Cocker song.

For some dumb reason I thought they actually came up with that keyboard riff themselves. Like that would ever happen in rap.

Most rap songs are complete rip-offs of other songs, for years you will think they were being original until you hear the original version come on the radio, and many times you find out the shit actually came out before you were even born. I can't tell you how many times this has happened, it's a big WTF moment.

Don't get me wrong, a rip-off can sound really good and you might even like it more than the original if it's done right, problem is that's becoming more and more rare these days.

Pac ain't the GOAT for nothing. What he accomplished in such a short amount of time was simply extraordinary. I have so many favorites but his Me Against The World album was what really convinced me of his genius. Songs like Temptations, Death Around The Corner or Heavy In The Game will forever live on as timeless wonders in my book.

I know a lot of people who would agree with you. It can be a huge letdown if you're not aware of how many of those songs are made lol

Wow, I thought Dr. Dre invented that beat.

https://gangsterreport.com/court-te...e-committee-for-unauthorized-name-usage/

The rapper Rick Ross was forced to pay 3 milions to Gangster Disciples because said that he was in the gang in his song.

Comparing the current power of any criminal organization in the USA to a criminal organization in Mexico is apples and oranges really. Mexico's a structural mess and the law enforcement and military over there are an underpaid joke. Even a comparison with Italy is quite off. Sure there's corruption in Italy, and plenty of it as well, but Mexico's a whole different ballgame. The country basically allowed to sit back and watch how cartels took over entire swaths of the country. Such thing is basically impossible in the USA and it will never happen in Italy either.

That because the cartels have the money to bribe every level of society, from the cops from army officers to the most powerful politicians and anyone who wants to oppose them doesn't have the power to do it.

They have the money to do this in Mexico, because a lot of elements of the society are completely underpaid and everything from law enforcement to the army is in fact completely powerless. In the USA such thing would never happen, regardless of how much money the local criminal element has.

Comparing American gangsters to gangsters in Mexico is greatly unfair. It would actually be more fair to compare America to Italy. Italy is considered a 1st world nation, Mexico is more like a 3rd world shithole. Beautiful country, culture, delicious food, but a shithole nonetheless.

Too much money to do,the Mexico is the dirty face of USA.Too long border,the narco-capitalism doesn't stop in front of nothing.

the only comparison is with italy of the 1980s and early 1990s

Even then, as bad as Italy got in those days, and it got pretty damn bad, the sheer scale of the mayhem organized crime in Mexico is responsible for is unprecedented. Things happen over there, even in public, that are straight out of an apocalyptic horror movie that would get banned from theaters.

yes, but it was done in europe in a 1rst word country, the 'corleonesi' even wanted to destroy the pisa tower, to say and they attaccked monuments in rome, milan and florence

Yes but lasted from 1992 to 1993 while the Mexico situation started in the 1980s when Felix Gallardo created the first cartel federation,after Capaci bomb the State war against Riina almost disbanded Cosa Nostra. There can't be a comparison Italy and Mexico are like apples and oranges.

Back in the days LCN offered services to the people starting with booze as well as drugs, gambling, prostitutes, smokes etc. as long there is the demand for those things there will be a black market.

I think one thing to point out is today's LCN lacks charming and charismatic figures. Seems like they're all a bunch of thuggish knuckle draggers now. Don't get me wrong the Mafia needs those types too at times, but they also need those smooth, polished characters who can charm and finesse their way into beneficial partnerships. People used to go to the mob, now they go to their victims and only know how to strong-arm and force their way in on people. In Italy people from almost all levels of society seek out mob bosses for favors, it used to be that way here.

I think the very opposite is true.
The alleged irrelevance of contemporary American LCN has been soapboxed for decades now. And clearly exaggerated.

Although it’s undeniable that we won’t ever see a resurgence to pre-RICO levels of power, most of what we see when we cut through the above mentioned “mainstream mindset” confirms the surprising relevance and influence of present-day LCN.

Considering the amount of arrests, setbacks, takedowns, informants, etc. the fact that the American LCN is agreed to be among the main criminal subcultures in the American Northeast is very telling.

Its eclectic and adaptive nature has proven successful despite the constant attacks coming from the government.

Few reporters and researchers dare to challenge the “status quo” rethoric that paints the Mob as a decadent freak show. But those who do are often proven right.

Anna Sergi comes to mind as one of them. People laughed at the idea that Buffalo still had any trace of an even semi-structured activity, yet we now know that LCN activity in that area is not as “dead” as expected. According to many, the ports of NJ and NY should have been completely Mob-free since the late 90s. We know that’s not the case.

Smaller crime families were predicted to be defunct by now. Yet the Colombos, Philly and even the DeCavs are still around. Licking their wounds and limping, sure, but not gone.

Many scolded those who suggested that zips would still be interested in setting up shop here, but Sicilians get busted quite regularly, as recently as 2019. And Ndrangheta connections pop up often as well.

We were told that no young blood was being made. But all indictments show a fairly decent amount of younger people involved. Ceremonies have been held in almost all families in the last decade. And when the books are closed is because the family chooses to.

As is usual in academia/media/government, when the so-called “experts” are proven wrong they proceed to appropriate the new truth without ever admitting they were wrong in the first place. Or simply refuse to change their minds and double down on their flawed theories.

We know crime families’ hierarchies have opted for a more subtle governance. Guys with “old school” charisma seat in every panel.
We know that the connections between the US and Italy have been strengthen in the last decade. Despite obvious set backs.

Considering the technology, LEO manpower, and the many other challenges faced by current era wiseguys, their dynamism and variety of activities prove (once again) how their “death” has been largely exaggerated.

The Mob’s main adversary is its own mighty past. People keep comparing this generation of mobsters to their forefathers but it’s an unfair comparison given how much society has changed since then.

All of the other, newer, criminal organizations don’t face this issue.

And whatever you do, DON'T drink the water.

Mexico still is a great country for tourists, European people are still going there for the vacation.

Yes but if you go out the turistic zones you risk to be robbed or killed that dont happen in Italy.

Unfortunately tourists have been caught in crossfires between rival gangs. It's rare, but it happens. Said gangs are often very low-level. The cartels don't go around targeting tourists and local thugs that would target tourists risk getting kidnapped and having their face sliced off on camera. A lot of tourist establishments operate on cartel money. Less tourism, means less turnover, means less opportunity to launder money. They sure as hell don't want to scare off tourism.

In spite of its flaws, I agree that Mexico is a wonderful country with a very unique culture and history, fantastic food and in general extremely welcoming and friendly people.

lasted a decade, from the early 80's to the early 90's, in this period there were the wars between nco and nf in campania, the corleonesi in sicily and de stefano-tegano vs imerti-condello in calabria with thousands of dead and in plus many politicians, policemen, judges, journalists killed and terrorist-style attacks

M2W, I'd say you're right. I'd also say that during those times the Italian situation was more organized than Mexico, in that they targeted specific individuals who in some way or another ended up on their shit list. It wasn't just wanton violence on any and everyone just to scare the shit out of everybody.

Mexico is all fun and games until you get off the beaten path.

Then you become a picture on a missing person flyer.

Mexico is the result of what happens when drugs are illegal and the gangsters end up with more money than the government and more firepower than the military. I actually think the Mafia in Italy has the same or almost as much power and influence. I mean, just look at all the people in Italy from nearly all levels of government and business over there who have been tried or convicted of Mafia collusion. The difference is that the cartels use brute force and savagery, and money of course, while the Mafia uses silent infiltration and subversion. In other words they worm their way into those positions and partnerships and no one knows until the indictments come down and arrests are made. I'd say that Mexico is a bit worse though.

Yes but only in the 1992/1993 the mafia dare to challenge the Italian State andcwas almost disbanded,unlucky after this,politicians, policemen, judges, journalists was still killed but are an exception not the rule.
In Mexico still today journalist was killed.

I think it's rather immature and small-minded to judge the power of the Mafia in Italy by whether or not they're still killing judges, politicians, bankers, police, journalists, etc. Just because they're not leaving corpses everywhere doesn't mean that they don't have huge power and influence within the political and business spheres of the upperworld, as is evident by numerous investigations, arrests, and dissolution of several local governments due to Mafia infiltration. A crime syndicate doesn't have to leave decapitated bodies on the streets and bodies hung under highways to be powerful or a force to be reckoned with, the cartels are just loud about it.