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They are designated as a National Historic Landmark and a California Historical Landmark. The Watts Towers (“Nuestro Pueblo”), located in Watts, are 17 interconnected sculptural structures that were made by local resident Sabato (“Simon”) Rodia, an Italian immigrant construction worker and tile mason, between 1921 to 1954. A trap house is where drugs are sold/made. We passed several “trap houses” while driving through the hood. We also drove past the houses where many of Compton’s rappers grew up – Easy-E, Dr. Dre’s security while Dre was filming a commercial nearby for Straight Outta Compton. Tam’s Burgers is the Compton takeaway spot where Suge Knight was charged with murder last year after allegedly driving over Terry Carter, a former business partner of Ice Cube, after being barred by Dr. They broke out outside Tom’s Liquor after news broke that the officers accused of beating Rodney King were acquitted. The intersection of Florence and Normandie Avenues in South Central is where the 1992 Los Angeles riots started. The spot below is one of the places where 2Pac used to hang out, chill and practice his raps – Los Angeles based street artist Jonas Never painted it a few years ago. James showed us around a variety of landmarks and historically important spots. We saw numerous prostitutes and pimps walking down the street as we drove through, and supposedly it’s a different world at night. James wasn’t just talking things up either to make the area seem more “edgy”. It’s where you go for prostitution and where Hodari used to sell drugs. Figueroa Street, for example, is known for its “ho-stroll”. We were told many stories about the history of the various parts of the hood that we visited, and what various areas were known for. Some of it is politically charged, some of it trying to convey another message of some sort, and some of it just art. There are some nice big homes up here and the view is fantastic – nothing like the stereotypical image of the hood. The first stop on the tour (which doesn’t always take the same route or take in the same sights) was Baldwin Hills which is in South Central and is where you live if you’re in the hood and have money according to James. In either case, the aim is the same – to show people the hood as the guide knows it, and teach everyone on the tour something new. James said there are generally 2 kinds of people who come on these tours – those who think that the “thug life” is glamorous and those who genuinely want to learn more about the hood. When I raised the topic with James, he responded that it was good that people were starting to be interested in a part of Los Angeles that had long been neglected by just about everyone. However, it’s not like I could safely get a bus to the area and stroll around by myself. For the people who live in the hood, this is life.Īt times as we stopped the car, got out, took a few photos and hopped back inside, it did feel like we were being disrespectful to the people who live here.

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Despite the fact that you’re in no way racist and that it sounds wrong if you don’t say it and censor yourself, bottom line is you can’t say it, and you don’t. I have a full awareness of the pro and cons of “ghetto/slum tourism” and appreciate the fact in being able to visit the hood, take a look around, and leave, I was in a particular position of privilege. It’s that same feeling that any white hip-hop fan has when rapping along to their favourite tunes and the “N” word pops up. I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be an excellent idea to actually give them the opportunity to actually go to some of these places that the rappers are talking about? Not only go there but be safe and be able to jump out and take pictures in Compton and South Central that they can take back home with them?Ĭoming up with an angle for this article was quite difficult. In the words of Hodari, when asked by Hollywood Reporter why he started these tours: Hodari runs the tours with a few friends of his – I, along with a teenage hip-hop fan and his mum from Boston, were driven around by Hodari’s friend James, a Compton born and bred boxer.

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Hodari Sababu, stepfather of rapper The Game, runs a company called LA Hood Life Tours, which gives people the opportunity to drive through the hood with a local, learn about the area, and see some of the places referenced in all of those West Coast hip-hop songs, and of course, the movie Straight Outta Compton. I grew up listening to hip-hop, and coming of age in the 1990s meant that there was a lot of West Coast hip-hop involved. LOS ANGELES | Visiting “The Hood”, and Compton and South Central (called South Los Angeles today) in particular, is one of the many reasons that Los Angeles was on my list of cities to travel to for a long time.