Now That's Pimpin'

"If a ho don't have no instruction, she's gonna be headed for self-destruction, nam sayin?." - Kenny Red (American Pimp)

I'm not going to lie, when I saw the title "American Pimp" on my TV screen I thought I was in for some hilarious Katt Williams stand up routine that I would eventually fall asleep watching- god was I wrong. I still got to see a pimp, in fact, I got to see a bunch of pimps and ended up staying up for another hour and a half. "American Pimp" is a relatively old documentary that focuses on pimps in and before the 1990's. It might sound kind of cliché, but those were the days when pimpin' was pimpin'. Seriously. I expected the movie to show all the crude ins and outs of an apparently corrupt industry; however, I was left with my mind blown wide open actually feeling good about the whole thing.

Pimps weren't always gun toting drug dealers who trafficked girls on craigslist. Back in the days of Curtis Mayfield, pimps were shockingly scrupulous and took good care of there girls without guns or addicting them to drugs. The pimping profession was treated like any other career; the macks dressed up in fly suits every day and took care in everything they did. Pimps were idolized and respected for getting girls out of desperate situations. What really surprised me in this movie was the caring relationship between pimps and hos. The girls loved their man even though they were just dollar signs to a pimp. This chemistry is something you have to witness to conceive, which is why I highly recommend watching this movie.

Apart form a pretty sick cameo by Too Short the movie does a great job of changing your perception of pimps and reminiscing on what the game used to be like. It seems as though everything was just purer and more honest back in the day. You can form your own impressions from the movie, but now I figure pimpin' really wasn't that bad back in the day and it damn sure wasn't easy. If you are too lazy to rent it somewhere, all nine parts should be on YouTube. Enjoy.