East Oakland Street Life, Prisons, Police Helicopters, Cointelpro & Eazy E In part 2 of our one on one with MC Hammer let’s us know about his connection to the streets. Folks outside the Bay Area saw the Jeanie pants and the Typewriter walk dance and figured Hammer was some sort of softy who could and should be dismissed. Folks in Oakland knew otherwise. Hammer is no joke. His old crew, the High Street Bank Boys were more than notorious. Hammer talks at length about the types of steps he took to pull his homeboys away from street life and the challenges it presented. His actions by default became a full scale prison to work program. He explained how it was this sort of activity that eventually led to him going bankrupt. Hammer spoke at length how the police along with some outside enemies tried to undermine his efforts and spread a nasty rumor about him buying OPD a police helicopter. He emphatically refutes the claim and talked about thetype of corruptions that had gone on within the police department and how many officers were upset because he was providing opportunities for guys they wanted to see locked up. We spoke at length about Cointelpro and how many of the other independent movements including Luke in Miami, James Prince in Houston and Eazy E in LA all saw themselves under fire at the same time. He spoke about the early attempts these young black entrepreneurs made to consolidate their resources and create a major distribution channel. It was at that point that the helicopter rumors surfaced and Luke came under fire for obscene material. James Prince and Rap-A-Lot records became the object of a federal investigation. Hammer gets deep with this aspect.. Lastly he talks about his close friendship with Eazy E and how the two had a lot in common because of their street background.. Less