The incarceration rate for Black men in the “land of the free” is nearly five times that of whites and more than double that of Hispanics. Boxed into drug-saturated ghettos with limited opportunities and failing public school systems, illegal activities are sometimes the only way to keep food on the table and presents under the tree at Christmas.
As a result, one out of every three Black boys can expect to go to prison in his lifetime. Knoxville native son Blac Tape Papah was that one out of three. A product of the America’s unforgiving city streets, he is an ex-hustler and an ex-con.
After spending much of his life on the other side of the law and serving eight years in prison, he put his testimony to music on grimy 2021 street album 32 Seasons. Never forgetting his confinement, the album’s title alludes to the number of seasonshe saw pass while incarcerated.
Now on the heels of his sophomore project 2920: The Double Back Edition (referring to how many days he served), his simmering new single “Send It” is currently making much noise.
“My music is raw, gritty, uncut,” Blac Tape Papah describes. “I can’t paint no other picture because I haven’t lived any anotherlife. When I do start living like a rich rapper, I can present different music. But right now, all I can give is what I lived.”
Born and raised in the city’s East Side housing projects Austin Homes in an area known as “Gun Zone,” Blac Tape Papah was bred to be a hustler. As a youngster, he watched his mom get it out the mud by making a dollar out of 15 cents. Early on during his adolescence, he was an avid athlete. Excelling in boxing, football and basketball, he put his extracurricular activities to the side around age 13. He became affiliated with the local gang and started selling drugs.
“Momma is a hustler. That’s where I get if from,” he contends, “but I got tired of Momma having to do for me so I picked up my own slack…I was bred different.”
During the same time that he jumped off the porch, Papahdiscovered rap music as a release. One of his friends had a makeshift studio made up of a computer, recording software and a microphone. For fun, Papah and his crew would record themselves rhyming over beats.
“Music always was a part of the culture. We always loved music,” he divulges. “It gave us a way to get something off our chest. I always knew I could rap because I always had a story to tell.”
He didn’t take music seriously until about 10 years ago. But unfortunately, his career got cut short after an intruder came into his home and lost his life as a result. When the police came to investigate the incident, they found a boatload of drugs in his house. Papah got indicted and sent to prison for the next eight years.
Before going to the penitentiary, he had never been in jail for any long period of time. Aside from brief stints in juvenile correctional facilities, it took a few years to get adjusted to his new life. “After being homesick, you move in prison like you move on the streets,” he explains. “I just had to change the way I hustled.”
He walked out of the penitentiary a free man on December 26, 2020. Never forgetting his past, he adopted the moniker “BlacTape,” code for smuggling illegal contraband into prison. As soon as he got home, he started dropping singles left and right.
He built up his name in the industry with bangers such the sensual “Perk Sex” featuring Alexus Angel, the hard-edged “Touchdown” with MBMG Fly Rich and the heart-pounding “Str8 N.” And within only seven months of coming home, he dropped 32 Seasons on July 4, 2021.
“Ever since I got out, I hit the ground running,” he explains.
Now with his latest ep “Cartel Trafficn” hosted by OG Biggs Rankin, Papah has proved to be a real factor in the music world. Go stream “Cartel Trafficn” and follow Blactape Papah on Instagram at @blactape_papah.