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- <text id=93TT0869>
- <title>
- Jan. 11, 1993: Trigger Happy
- </title>
- <history>
- TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1993
- Jan. 11, 1993 Megacities
- </history>
- <article>
- <source>Time Magazine</source>
- <hdr>
- THE WEEK
- SOCIETY, Page 14
- Trigger Happy
- </hdr>
- <body>
- <p>A Seattle rap concert spawns a frightening shoot-out
- </p>
- <p> Rap musicians at their best use their art to create a
- hyperspace of rhythm and verbal bravado, where anarchy reigns
- at times and society's downtrodden rise up. Savvy listeners
- understand that rap is simply dramatic musical theater, not a
- call to violence. Unfortunately, after rapper Ice Cube's concert
- in Seattle, hundreds of fans ignored the difference. During the
- concert the fire-breathing Cube whipped up the audience with
- raps describing racism, police violence and gunplay. As the show
- ended and the crowd of 1,400 streamed into the street, isolated
- fistfighting erupted into a general melee. At least five gunmen
- pulled off 60 shots, wounding four people and resulting in nine
- arrests. Many blamed Ice Cube for inciting the crowd with his
- lyrics and taunts. On the other hand, in a society where teens
- routinely pack illegal weapons, blaming the disturbance on song
- lyrics seems to miss the point.
- </p>
-
- </body>
- </article>
- </text>
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