I’m a grown man who enjoys the company of beautiful women. There are times when I’ve done so in the closest thing to paradise on earth, the gentlemen’s club. Strip club in common vocabulary. It’s been a part of birthday celebrations. It’s been the keystone of bachelor parties. And the best thing about it was, you had a few drinks and got attention from a gorgeous woman and all you had to do was shell out a few dollars. My man Gov used to
live by the sixty dollar rule, making that the cash limit for having a good night at the club.

But there’s been a recent trend that has somewhat soured the experience for some cats who go to the clubs. The first time I ever saw it was when I was up in Carousel, this spot off of the West Side Highway in Manhattan. This white guy with a neat combover and a L.L. Bean ensemble pulls out a wad of singles and proceeds to shower this busty blonde who he’d been fawning over all night with the money. So it was no shock that she wound up leaving with him later on. That was the first time I ever saw anyone “make it rain.”

Now, rappers are obsessed with the whole idea of going into a strip club and bombarding dancers with dollar bills. And the concept has gone from a rare show of affluence combined with arrogance to it being a necessity for some dudes who seek some measure of fame. The BMF crew was legendary for this, sometimes letting $500 and up worth of singles fly wherever they went. But they had a method to their madness which I’ll get back to later. The thing is, the logic behind MC’s doing this always escaped me. Maybe I’m just too cynical. But if you are sitting up there, claiming ‘you don’t need these tricks’ and ‘a chick will never get a dollar outta me’, what sense does showering a stripper with singles make?

Doesn’t that shatter your image somewhat? I was actually watching the “Make It Rain” video with a ladyfriend and as she looked at Lil Wayne with the cash in hand, she said plainly, “Maybe dude needs to make it rain to distract ‘ol girl from lookin’ at how dirty he looks.” Now that’s her opinion…but is she far off the mark?

There are some guys now who go into clubs, ‘make it rain’ and expect the moon and stars from dancers. One of my ex-girlfriends who used to dance told me, “Sure, we’ll take the money. That’s the whole point. But that doesn’t guarantee that I’m letting you do whatever you want with me. I’d just look at that as payment for fantasies fulfilled. ” I’ve seen some guys literally hit the ATM machine and get money just to make it rain so they can look cool. They tap into rent money. With the BMF, they got paid to appear at clubs and kept a piece of the money while letting the rest get showered on the strippers.

While it’s all about fun, one shouldn’t lose their mind. Things like this do have their drawbacks. Look at Adam “Pacman” Jones and the horrible situation in Las Vegas. He had almost $82,000 on him when he got into a brawl that led to a bouncer being shot and paralyzed. Making it rain can lead to jealousy from others and can make you a mark for trouble. As farfetched as it sounds, think about it: there are a lot of envious people out there who would go to no lengths to have what you have even if they’ve got to take it from you. We’re not too far removed from days where stick up kids would lay in wait for you outside of strip clubs in the hopes of getting paid.

I hope that the whole fad of “making it rain” just disappears because no one wants the downpour of disappointment afterwards. And the drama.

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Chris also drops some jewels on Curtis & Curtis over @ Stray Shots From The Smoking Section on King-Mag.com. Go. Read. Comment.

Stray Shots

Alice in Chains-Facelift

Cali Agents-Head of the State

Cali Agents-How the West Was Won

The Coup-Genocide & Juice

VA-DJ_Teknikz-Georgia_Power_4_(The_Grand_Hustle_Story)

Dutch – They Say I Died[Dead In The Streets]

Eurogang-The_Gangs_All_Here_Pt.2_(Hosted_By_Rephan_And_S.A.S)

D.L Hughley – Notes From The G.E.D. Section (2004)

Slave – Just a Touch Of Love (1979)

Stray Shots