While watching Percy Chapman giving brothers pounds and representing hardcore for the media crews at Manhattan's Light Wisdom, and Sound, I realize Intelligent Hoodlum, aka Tragedy, is no different than other brothers from around the way. His short, stocky frame makes aisles through mounds of people with his distinctive swagger, signifying he is a no "Hollywood-illusion" brother. In fact, he looks like a hoodlum, his "Tragedy" tag an accurate reflection of his raw verbal artillery skills. Trag even emits "thug vibes," but the shadiness of his eyes and connivery in his voice are all smoothed out by one ironic highlight: his intelligence. Tragedy's wisdom, veiled in the heavy funk rhythms of hip hop music, shines bright in the form of lessons derived from his personal pitfalls. He used his verbal to guide the prophetic "lost sheep," yet don't confuse him with a preaching brother in a double breasted suit and red bow tie, hawking beanpies. To the contrary, Trag is the kind of man your mama raises a brow to, the cat cold lamping with his boys on the corner. A hoodlum indeed. Pick any ruthless thug and Tragedy rivals him in treachery. He's stolen, been shot at, wil'ed, and sold drugs. But before you dismiss him as "just another nigga," heed the knowledge of this converted street disciple.

Tragedy: We on?

Yeah, this here is o-fficial. What you gonna say?

I'm a talk to you about some things.

Anything you want to say to let people know what's up?

Yo, this is Tragedy talking to Tragedy. 'Tragedy, kid, you gotta do what you gotta do yo. You gotta work hard, word up.' I gotta say that to myself, 'cause sometimes I just be wanting to party and run around with girls and all that.

Do you feel you're at where you want to be right now?

Everything comes with time, preparation, and conditioning. But I just feel like this has to be my circle. On the real, I really feel like that.

Didn't you go to prison?

Yeah, I did a bid. But I didn't stay in that camp though.

For what?

Armed robbery. One time I was in the bus with my man, and we was laughing at how we was on our way Upstate to a maximum state prison and I had a song out on Marley Marl's In Control, Volume One. I had a song out on my way to a maximum state prison.

You did a 180 once you got out though, right?

Once I got out, on the strength, I just wanted shit to get turned around. I was like, 'Yo, I can't live like this. I can't be running from the po-lice all the time. I can't be living in this shell, fuck that.' Now I'm a just rob the record industry, but in an orderly business-like manner though. Robbery is something you don't expect to happen; you get taken for yours if you don't expect it to happen. The industry don't expect me to take like that.

How you gonna take them?

By learning the game fully. Knowing that it's not just about show, it's about business. It's show business. With all that, it's gonna coincide with my mentality, the mentality of survival and the mentality of a hustler.

Hustler — explain that.

See, being on the street, you gotta learn how to survive by any means. And the most successful drug dealer — I'm not condoning drugs or endorsing them 'cause I believe that it's poison — is the best business manager; he manages people, and he manages money. Now I wanna be a brother that converts those drug dealers into business men — whatever business, whatever aspect. It about being fly. That's what this civilization in this day and time was built on. It was a time when civilization wasn't based on material values, it was based on moral and spiritual values. Now it's based on material values.



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