Beef Jerkin

I moved to LA from Oakland, Ca a little more than a year ago in 2008. When I first arrived, I saw maybe one kid wearing bright skinny jeans and a skateboard hanging around the bus stop. Now I see am seeing clusters of kids all over, who are now recognized as “Jerks.” From the beginning, it was clear to me that this style and new music sound that was sweeping LA was eerily similar to what I have witnessed with SF bay area youth during the hyphy movement. There was a “punk rock” sub genre of hyphy, where youngsters would move and talk gangster rap, but dress punk rock (chains, bright colors, form fitting pants & shirts, mohawks), started by then high school musicians, The Pack. I instantly paired the two, saying to myself, “Jerkin’ must’ve started at a Pack concert!” One night I was “Gigging,” a bay area dance that involves random motion, and someone even mistook ME for a jerk. IT was then that I became irritated with this new unoriginal trend.

But I would soon find out I wasn’t the only one irritated by this Jerk movement, sparked by rap duo The New Boyz radio hit, “You’re a Jerk.” On September 11, a producer who works with the Pack played me an unreleased track, titled “Swagger Jackers” by the Pack, calling out the New Boyz on their unoriginality. While I haven’t been able to get a hold of the track (it’s actually a cool song), I did stumble upon this madness on YouTube, confirming that there is a situation between these two camps:

Apparently, Stunnaman of the Pack is spearheading the anti-jerk movement. My sources tell me he has called out the New Boyz in all sorts of media, and in person in their hometown of Victorville, Ca in real “King Kong” fashion, but after watching this, I wonder if it’s really worth the hassle. Sure, the Boyz might have imitated the Pack some. I was always told that “Imitation is the greatest form of flattery,” meaning these guys were probably fans of the Pack at one time. These folks should be getting together on tour or something more constructive that will help BOTH groups do well in the current hip-hop arena (where they both don’t command much respect from older listeners).

Too Short, who was instrumental in the success of The Pack, inspired countless artists who emulated his “out of the trunk” sales model as a part of their record label strategy. If Too Short took issue with anyone who sold music out of their car, or said the B-Word like him, he would be at odds with an entire industry. That is to say, everybody borrowed a bit from Too Short, but he welcomed it because he must have known that nothing beats an original.

My sources tell me that The Pack has moved to LA to record their next album. At the rate this fairly new “beef” is cooking, however, there might be a tragedy before there is a celebration. I plan on uncovering the real issues between these ctas and trying to see if there isn’t some common level of respect between these camps who, as I said before, should be touring together. Or at least telling the story..

Here’s Lil B of the Pack’s diss song towards the New Boyz

Also, here is our JERKIN story on PRX

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