Intelligent Hoodlum

混亂的皇后區(qū)一直就是一張繁殖硬核說唱的巨大溫床。Kool G Rap，Nas，Cormega，Mobb Deep，Big Noyd……對于Hip Hop歌迷而言談到Queensbridge這些名字應(yīng)該都會直接閃現(xiàn)，但也許Tragedy Khadafi（另有藝名Intelligent Hoodlum）不一定會出現(xiàn)在每一個人的名單上?？墒悄闳粽媸遣徽鄄豢鄣腍ip Hop head請不要忘記還有那么一個為自己取名“悲劇”的戰(zhàn)士??！
 
職業(yè)生涯的開始：
 
Tragedy本名Percy Chapman，同當(dāng)時大部分的黑人孩子一樣，出生并成長在政府提供的所謂公共計劃房屋，在那樣壓抑，危險，骯臟的環(huán)境中，小Percy甚至沒能感受過父愛，一直是由母親一人撫養(yǎng)。但好在一直有音樂的陪伴，并在他八九歲時，自然地接觸到了剛剛誕生的Hip Hop，而真正對他產(chǎn)生影響的卻是在1985年，Percy聽到了當(dāng)時也僅17歲的LL COOL J的debut，同時也是說唱界經(jīng)典專輯――“Radio”??！從此小Percy就決定了自己要要成為的就是一名rapper！他為自己取藝名Jadeski，與另一藝名叫Hot Day的DJ組成一個叫The Superkids的二人組，1986年他們自己已經(jīng)完成了一些原創(chuàng)的歌曲，并吸引了同是來自皇后區(qū)的制作人DJ Marley Marl的注意！當(dāng)時的Marley Marl已經(jīng)混出了名堂，自己成立的Cold Chillin’唱片公司已經(jīng)是人才濟濟，初步成立了一支叫Juice Crew Allstars的團體，并依靠Marley的制作才華，已在當(dāng)時的Hip Hop界只手遮天！Marley看中了這位藝名Jadeski的少年，并挖他進了自己的唱片公司，讓他成為了Juice Crew Allstars的一員。就這樣Percy Chapman開始了自己正式的饒舌生涯！
 
鐵窗生涯:
 
加入了Juice Crew的Percy取藝名為Tragedy并很快參與進了Marley Marl自己的首張專輯“In Control Volume 1”的制作中。作為嘉賓MC出現(xiàn)在“The Rebel” ,“Live Motivator”兩首歌中。但他卻出人意料地在這張唱片發(fā)行之前就被關(guān)進了監(jiān)獄，當(dāng)時的他年僅16歲。而原因是他涉嫌犯有搶劫罪。他在Elmira監(jiān)獄服刑兩年多，而正是著兩年多的服刑經(jīng)歷改變了年輕的Trag，同時也影響到了他日后的音樂，甚至使他自己獲得了又一個藝名……
 
在被稱為全美最糟糕的州立監(jiān)獄的Elmira監(jiān)獄里16歲的Trag遭受到的境遇可以想象 ，他形容自己在里面必須變成一匹狼，因為你的任何物品甚至生命都可能被奪走！而你反抗，戰(zhàn)斗，他們就會敬畏你，你也就能融入他們。在那樣殘酷并現(xiàn)實的環(huán)境中，尚未成年卻堅強的Trag意志獲得了更多的磨練，他進入了不曾想象過的世界，不同的獄友都給予他不同的啟示與靈感，Trag回憶說有一個比他大2，3歲的的獄友對他影響是最大的，他教會Trag在那樣的環(huán)境中“how to eat to live instead of living to eat”。他影響Trag用新的眼光去認識世界，去認識自己種族的歷史，與此同時Trag也開始閱讀一些關(guān)于黑人運動領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者如Martin Luther King, Jr.以及Malcolm X的書籍，而那個對Trag產(chǎn)生深遠影響的人由于入獄前的幫派背景以及常戴著眼鏡，被Trag私下稱為“Intelligent Hoodlum”。而Intelligent Hoodlum也就是日后Tragedy發(fā)前兩張個人專輯時所用的藝名！
 
Intelligent Hoodlum時期：
 
經(jīng)歷了兩年多牢獄磨練的Trag獲釋后并沒有回唱片公司，他選擇了進入社區(qū)學(xué)院進修，目的是想要獲得更多的知識以及加深對黑人歷史的了解。他依舊喜愛Hip Hop，但此時的他已經(jīng)不再打算繼續(xù)自己的職業(yè)音樂生涯了！而正是在這段事業(yè)空白期的積累使得日后他可以在debut中寫出超越年齡的有思想的歌詞！而Trag再次拿起mic是一直到遇見了當(dāng)時在紐約混得有聲有色的白人DJ——Joe Fatal,兩人在一次活動中認識，Joe Fatal說服了Trag，讓他重回說唱圈。不久，在Marley Marl的幫助下，戴著眼鏡，20不到卻已有服刑記錄的Percy Chapman將自己藝名改成Intelligent Hoodlum簽在了A&M唱片公司。1990年，這個經(jīng)歷了涅磐的Intelligent Hoodlum發(fā)行了自己的同名專輯,由Marley Marl負責(zé)全部制作，而當(dāng)時年輕的Large Professor也參與了其中兩首的制作。1993年發(fā)行第二張個人專輯“Tragedy: Saga of a Hoodlum”（本人至今沒有聽過也就不加祥述，但似乎可以和第一張有得一比，甚至有評論這張里I.H.的表現(xiàn)更牛X）。而在這張以后I.H.整整蟄伏了8年…
 
Tragedy Khadafi時期：
 
這之間的空檔，藝名再次被改為Tragedy Khadafi，開始與更多藝人合作，并幫助了許多當(dāng)時出色的新人，包括為初出茅廬的Mobb Deep做顧問，而且就是他發(fā)掘并帶出了著名團體Capone-N-Noreaga，CNN在97年發(fā)的硬核大經(jīng)典“The War Report”中就得到了他的大力幫助。而他的個人事業(yè)卻一直沒見起色，本來以Tragedy Khadafi名義發(fā)的個人專輯“Against All Odds”原定99年發(fā)行，最后竟然還拖了兩年才姍姍來遲，但依舊的高質(zhì)量仍然使得這張遲來的專輯成為公認的地下經(jīng)典。并且Trag的個人活動也頻繁起來，2003年“Still Reportin”2005年“Thug Matrix”而在2007年發(fā)行了新專輯“The Death of Tragedy”。
 
Percy Chapman IV (born August 13, 1971, in Queens, New York, USA), known by his stage name Tragedy Khadafi, and formerly known as Intelligent Hoodlum, is an American rapper and producer who hails from the Queensbridge Housing Projects in Queens, New York,[1] who helped spawn other hip hop artists such as Cormega, Mobb Deep, Capone-N-Noreaga, Nas and many others both through production and influence. His name is a reference to the former leader of Libya, Muammar Gaddafi.[citation needed] According to an editorial review on Amazon.com, he was responsible for coining the term &illmatic& in 1988, nearly 6 years before Illmatic, multi-platinum rapper Nas's debut album.
 
He began his career as half of the duo Super Kids, along with DJ Hot Day, releasing the single &Go, Queensbridge& in 1985. It was this output that caught the attention of Marley Marl, who produced in 1986 the duo's next single &The Tragedy (Don't Do It)&, with Chapman also being made a junior member of the Juice Crew alongside artists such as Big Daddy Kane, Kool G Rap, and MC Shan. In 1987, he appeared as MC Percy in the B side of the 12& &Juice Crew All Stars& and also on the last Super Kids single, &Hot Day Master Mix&.After a conviction that year (he was only 16 years old) for robbery charges followed by serving time in the Elmira Correctional Facility, Chapman became a Five Percenter and began working under the alias &Intelligent Hoodlum&.
 
Chapman continued to record throughout the remainder of the 1990s. One of his last recordings as Intelligent Hoodlum was the title cut for the motion picture soundtrack of Posse, a Hollywood Western that told the story of an African-American gunslinger posse. This song marked the end of Chapman's overt focus on Conscious hip hop, Black history and political commentary in his verses. Working with Capone, Noreaga and Mobb Deep, recording &L.A L.A& a response to Tha Dogg Pound's &New York, New York&, Intelligent Hoodlum then began working under the name Tragedy Khadafi in 1997.[3] He also worked on Capone-N-Noreaga's debut album, The War Report, on which he actually appears more on the album than Capone. When the latter returned to prison, Noreaga severed ties with Tragedy. In 1998, Tragedy formed the group Iron Sheiks along with his lifelong friend, Michael Butler a.k.a. Imam T.H.U.G., who was also from Queensbridge, releasing an EP, which contained the underground classic &True Confessions&.
 
Khadafi's third album, Against All Odds, was scheduled for release in 1999, but conflict with his label stalled the release, finally being released in 2001, which was also the first appearance of emcee HeadRush Napoleon, who continued to work with Tragedy on future recordings. On the album, Tragedy dissed Noreaga and accused him of stealing his rhyming style on tracks like &Crime Nationalist& or &Blood Type&.Noreaga kept the animosity going with his track &Halfway Thugs Pt. II.&This was followed by Still Reportin'... in 2003. In 2005, he released Thug Matrix independently and also released an album as a member of the group Black Market Militia. Khadafi's latest releases, Blood Ballads and Thug Matrix 2, were both released in 2006.
 
He also starred in a documentary known as Tragedy: The Story of Queensbridge about his life and his struggles, growing up, his being a junior member of the Juice Crew, the numerous times he was incarcerated, and the toll a hard life has on a poor African-American child growing up without a father and with a mother addicted to heroin.
 
On December 27, 2007, Tragedy was convicted of selling narcotics and sentenced to a maximum of four years in prison. Although originally scheduled to be released on January 21, 2011, Tragedy was granted early parole, and released on June 23, 2010.