God bless the Dead: Part 2 – Fat Pat

Up for today is the second installment of the God bless the Dead-series. Today’s feature is H-Town Legend and original Screwed Up Click Member Fat Pat.

2. Fat Pat – All Eyez on the Fat Gangster

You have educated, well spoken gangsters that seem too reasonable to be G and then you got the hyper-sympathic funny Go-to-Guys  like Fat Pat. Born in Houston, on December 4, 1970, Patrick Lamark Hawkins, was an original member of DJ Screw’s Screwed Up Click and Dead End Alliance. But even more so a certified street legend in Houston’s infamous South Park-neighborhood.
Trying to touch on Pat’s legacy is almost impossible to describe with words.
Pat wasn’t most notable for his music, but more for his personality, just being a real street dude, staying real to the game and it’s rules. His grind, his style, his swag – that’s what made him such an important figure for Houston’s diverse scene.

A lot of rumors surround the death of Patrick Hawkins, most of them connected to the drug game – they all proved to be wrong, when DJ Screw shed light on the mystery, when bein‘ interviewed back in 1999.

Pat in fact was killed by a Austin, Texas drug lord named Weasel, being part-time concert promoter. One day Pat and Screw performed in Austin. Weasel video taped the show and sold bootlegs of it on the streets. When Pat confronted him with the claim, he denied it. Pat wasn’t too pleased with that and the two got into a bad argument which was solved without bad results though. Soon after Weasel got robbed and thought Fat Pat was to be blamed for it. To „solve“ the problem, Weasel invited Pat over to his place in Austin, claiming he wanted to pay him for the tapes. Well, things turned out different and Pat got shot by Weasel over the robbery.

And once again a key figure got killed, for keeping it real. For going there without no protection. Like a man. Getting killed for it – within the blink of an eye.

The saddest thing about it all is, that he never saw the big success of his debut-album Ghetto Dreams, as he was killed February 3, 1998. Ghetto Dreams was released March 17, 1998. The album achieved to reach the No. 5-spot on the US Rap-Charts. Moving 20.000 units in it’s first week, eventually reaching sales of 60.000 units. Independently.

Long gone, never forgotten – we mourn him with his own song – we miss our G!

God bless the dead: Hip Hop’s obsession with Death Part 1: Seagram – Man of Honor

It’s obvious: death is the superior way to stardom for every artist. But there’s no culture that’s as obsessed with death and tragedy as Hip Hop. People love rappers. They love producers and executives. But they worship martyrs. And no matter if they died fighting for their beliefs or not: any Hip Hop casualty turns into instant hero.

Let’s sum up the real tragic deaths Hip Hop had to suffer from, in a series starting with:

 

1. Seagram – Man of Honor

 

Rap has always involved tons of braggadocio on honor, respect and all those values we’ve learned from watching Goodfellas, The Godfather and Scarface. But when the chips are down – most cats simply fold. Seagram Miller didn’t. Seag was signed to Rap-A-Lot Records, back in the days. A label that was known to clown around. But his street cred ran way deeper than that.
His signing to Rap-A-Lot was due to a friendship with Houston-OG Ganksta NIP, who was infatuated with the realness Seagram brought to the table. Not only as a rapper – but as a person. He was one of those guys, nobody would have thought to be as deep in the streets as he was. Member of the 69 Street Villains, an East Oakland gang that was infamous all over town, he’d seen it all. And he displayed it within his raps. And even more: his lifestyle. When he and his comrade Gangsta P where at the Oakland Twomps-area in the early morning hours, on July 31st, 1996, a stranger opened fire on the two. Seag then jumped in the line of fire, protecting his long-time friend from the bullets, being shot numerous times – fatally.

It’s haunting, he got killed in the same Dark Roads he named his first album after. And even more tragic, he set exampled for manhood and honor by living his lyrics. Not by being gangster, but by reflecting the downward spiral of street life and gang affiliation.