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Re:Blow up: how half a tonne of cocaine transformed the life... by daodedickinson on Saturday May 11, 2019 @08:59PM (#19889426)
>Do you have to be a neurological outlier to undertake this sort of project?

Yes.

>I’d love to hear from a smuggler to hear how they manage psychologically the huge downside risk of being caught.

I would recommend the first seven or so Jay-Z albums.

"I had to hustle, my back to the wall, ashy knuckles Pockets filled with a lot of lint, not a cent Gotta vent, lot of innocent of lives lost on the project bench Whatchu hollerin? Gotta pay rent, bring dollars in By the bodega, iron under my coat, feelin braver Doo-rag wrappin my waves up, pockets full of hope Do not step to me - I'm awkward, I box leftier often My pops left me an orphan, my momma wasn't home Could not stress to me I wasn't grown; 'specially on nights I brought somethin home to quiet the stomach rumblings My demeanor - thirty years my senior My childhood didn't mean much, only raisin green up Raisin my fingers to critics; raisin my head to the sky Big I did it - multi before I die (nigga) No lie, just know I chose my own fate I drove by the fork in the road and went straight"

https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/jayz/renegade.html

"Now all the teachers couldn't reach me And my momma couldn't beat me Hard enough to match the pain of my pops not seeing me, SO With that distain in my membrain Got on my pimp game Fuck the world my defense came Then Dahaven introuced me to the game Spanish Jose introduced me to cane I'm a hustler now My gear is in and i'm in the in crowd And all the wavey light skinned girls is lovin me now My self esteem went through the roof man i got my swag Got a volvo from this girl when her man got bagged Plus i hit my momma with cash from a show that i had Supposedly knowin nobody paid Jaz wack ass I'm geting ahead of myself, by the way, i could rap That came second to me movin this crack Gimme a second i swear I will say about my rap career Til 96 came niggas i'm here Good-bye...

Good-bye to the game all the spoils, the adreneline rush Your blood boils you in a spot knowing cops could rush And you in a drop your so easy to touch No two days are alike Except the first and fifteenth pretty much And "trust" is a word you seldom hear from us Hustlers we don't sleep we rest one eye up And the drought to find a man when the well dries up You learn to work the water without workin thirst til die YUP And niggas get tied up for product And little brothers ring fingers get cut up To show mothers they really got em And this was the stress i live with til i decided To try this rap shit for a livin I Pray i'm forgiven For every bad decision i made Every sister i played Cause i'm still paranoid to this day And it's nobody fault i made the decisions i made This is the life i chose or rather the life that chose me"

https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/jayz/december4th.html

Re:Blow up: how half a tonne of cocaine transformed the life... by GreeniFi on Saturday May 11, 2019 @11:22PM (#19889913)
Great answer. Thank you. I’ve never read any Jay-Z lyrics and had always - I see wrongly - assumed they had little to tell. I see a night spent reading hip hop lyrics ahead of me!
Re:Blow up: how half a tonne of cocaine transformed the life... by logicx24 on Saturday May 11, 2019 @09:16PM (#19889480)
Listening to Illmatic also describes this experience really well. I hate commenting on the "authenticity" of gangster rap music, as my life is so incredibly far away from the things they discuss, but Nas gives some of the grittiest descriptions of a life spent in crime.
Re:Blow up: how half a tonne of cocaine transformed the life... by selimthegrim on Saturday May 11, 2019 @10:00PM (#19889637)
I think Freddie Gibbs and Vince Staples have played against type here and really engage in metacommentary rather than glorification. It's a heartening trend in rap.