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I play the streetlife, because there`s no place I can go
Street life – it`s the only life I know
Street life – and there`s a thousand parts to play
Street life – until you play your life away
– Street Life, Randy Crawford.

In 1995, a really interesting movie came out called Kids, which profiled young people growing up in the streets of New York. With its graphic depictions of sex and drugs, it was a pretty controversial film, initially earning itself a NC-17 rating. Although directed by Larry Clark, it was written by Harmony Korine at the age of 18.

Harmony is now slated to work with James Franco on a new film about female gangs in LA. They are apparently hoping to film an actual gang fight. It`s currently being labelled as a documentary style art project. The picture at the beginning of the article is a still from the work in progress. Of course I immediately thought of another great movie from 1988 called Colors, about legendary street gang rivals Bloods and Crips in LA. The jailhouse scene reportedly used actual gang members incarcerated for the following scene.

Coincidentally, Gawker has an article profiling the murder of Hip Hop legend Notorious B.I.G. What`s really interesting here is that a prime suspect is a former corrupt member of the C.R.A.S.H unit – the same anti-gang unit profiled in Colors, portrayed by Sean Penn and Robert Duvall. Just recently released from prison over a bank heist, the suspect; former high school track star, David Mack has removed all ties to the LAPD and is now a fully fledged Blood gang member.
Truth is indeed still sometimes stranger than fiction.

You may also want to check out:
Crips and Bloods: Made In America
Russian Prison Criminals & Their Tattoos