Thug Life Army

Over the Years we have seen Hip-Hop and rap music evolve from a voice for those who were silenced to the marketing machine we see rolling over and crushing everything in its path today.

Depending how you look at it one of the most successful campaigns targeted at the hip hop community has been the relentless promotion of the 40 oz. Over the years as we have listened to various rappers promoting 40's in their music or on our televisions and we assume that the 40 oz is just part of the "Hip-Hop Culture", but as we look at the history of malt liquor which dates back to the 1940's we come to the conclusion that at some point the 40oz directly targeted the African American community by infiltrating the culture and music.

That point came in the 1960's during the Civil Rights Movement and as emerging untapped African American Market was discovered. After studies found that African Americans were the biggest consumers of malt liquor, thus began the advertising campaign that infiltrated and eventually saturated hip hop culture.

Though over the years the controversy surrounding the health risks of the 40oz to the African American Community has been somewhat forgotten or swept away, in recently listening to the song "Dreams" by rap artist The Game where he depicts himself writing rhymes while drinking a 40 oz I felt the subject needed to be re-examined.

Though we would hope that just because a rapper is promoting or using the product that kids would be smart enough to see that maybe it is not the best decision for them. We also know that some kids are willing to follow their hip-hop, rap, sports, whatever kind of idols anywhere even if it means to an early grave.

This is an older article but I think it really displays the "Conspiracy of the 40oz". This article is found on africa2000.com .

“For years there have been (largely unsubstantiated) allegations circulating within the African/Black community about those notorious 40 ounce malt liquors as a deliberate chemical warfare attack against our people, in particular young brothers.

We are well aware, and there is widespread published evidence to confirm the point, that the residual damage being done by young, and not-so-young, Black men, high on a 40 oz. or some other devilish potion, armed with a handgun, knife, stick or brick, and set upon his own community with an attitude that the life of his brother African ain''t worth much.

Mainstream (white-controlled) media has been quick to dismiss our allegations of the 40 oz. as a supercharged killer-brew-badness booster that was further fueling the mayhem. One might recall one particular ABC 20/20 program which clearly documented the problems that were being linked to consumption of high-alcohol content malt liquors. One of the main points of the program was that inner city liquor stores (the number of which is provocative enough) were selling the 40 oz. to underage purchasers. Despite an impressive investigative analysis of the 40 oz. culture, the TV segment concluded with a summary dismissal of the concerns of Black activists who proclaimed the marketing of malt liquors to inner city residents as a conspiracy. The commentators poopooed the suspicion with a smirk and a five second throwaway repudiation.

For years I also was convinced that malt liquors, in particular the 40 oz.'s, were a deliberate attempt to wreck havoc on predominantly young Blacks, Chicanos (Hispanic, Latino, Puerto Rican, etc.), Native Americans and poor whites -- the ''collective unwashed'' of America's population.

After having researched the subject for an extended period, I would like to share information from eight articles I have collected that should convince any skeptic that the 40 oz. manufacturer is indeed guilty of gross offense. Parts of the information I present demonstrate that this is a deliberate scheme, perpetrated in part because of corporate avarice and partly because of government "national security interests."

For those who don''t like to sweat the details, this evidence seeks to address the following points about malt liquors:

1. the ingredients, kept secret, are intended to produce maximum physiological effect;

2. the particular alcohol content is known to aggravate chronic health problems that plague Blacks disproportionately;

3. well-deliberated marketing strategies target Blacks and other ethnic minorities;

they can easily be proven to cause sperm-related fertility problems and genetic birth defects;

4. they have been acknowledged as an ideal vector for the administration of chemical warfare agents;

5. 40 oz.'s are packaged so as to produce a maximum of ''bang for the buck'' and advertised as such.”

Go to the site HERE and read the related articles.

Additional Source Information HERE