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[[Image:Nicolai Gedda.jpg|left]]
{{mergefrom|Underground Crips}}
The [[Sweden|Swedish]] [[tenor]] '''Nicolai Gedda''' (born [[July 11]], [[1925]]) is a famous [[opera]] singer and recitalist. What he lacks in Italianate tone and ''[[squillo]]'', he amply compensates for in versatility, with more than sixty roles to his credit, ranging from [[Rameau]] to [[Shostakovich]]. Having made some two hundred recordings, Gedda is said to be the most widely-recorded tenor in history.
The '''Crips''' are one of the [[Los Angeles, California]] [[gang]]s. The Crips are mostly identified by the blue color worn by their members and the gang is largely composed of [[African American]]s. The gang has an intense rivalry with the [[Bloods]]. What was once a single gang is now a loose network of "sets" around the [[United States]], and rivalries between sets of Crips can be as intense as their rivalries with other gangs.
Gedda was born in [[Stockholm]] to a Swedish mother and a Russian father, who sang bass in a Don Cossack choir and was cantor in a [[Russian Orthodox]] church; he grew up bilingual and learned English, German, Italian, and Latin. Gedda began his professional career as a bank teller in a local bank in Stockholm. One day a wealthy client overheard him speaking about his desire to sing professionally, and offered to pay for his tuition to study with Karl Martin Oehmann, a well known Wagnerian tenor from the 1920s who also discovered [[Jussi Björling]].
==History of the Crips==
In 1952, at the age of 27, Gedda made his debut at the [[Royal Swedish Opera]], performing the role of Chapelon in [[Adolphe Adam]]'s ''Le Postillon di Langjumeau''. In this same year he also performed the role of Nicklaus in [[Jacques Offenbach|Offenbach]]'s ''[[Tales of Hoffmann|The Tales of Hoffmann]]'' and the tenor role in ''[[Der Rosenkavalier]]''.
The Crips were formed by [[Stanley Williams|Stanley "Tookie" Williams]] and [[Raymond Washington]] in [[1971]], after the two became fed up with random violence in their neighborhood.
After an audition in Stockholm, he gained the attention of conductor [[Herbert von Karajan]], who took him to Italy. In 1953, he made his début at [[La Scala]] as Don Ottavio in ''[[Don Giovanni]]''.
The Crips became popular throughout southern Los Angeles as more and more youth gangs joined it; at one point they outnumbered non-Crip gangs by 3 to 1. In response, some of the besieged smaller gangs formed an alliance that later became the [[Bloods]]. Some of the most notorious Crip ''Sets'' (subgroups of a bigger gang) include LA's Rollin 60's Crips (Westside Rich Rollin 60's Neighborhood Crips), [[Watts, Los Angeles, California|Watts]]' Grape Street Crips (who wear purple as opposed to blue), [[Long Beach, California|Long Beach]]'s Insane Crips, and [[Compton, California|Compton]]'s South Side Compton Crips. There are also Asian and Samoan sets.
In 1954, he made his [[Opera Garnier|Paris Opera]] debut in the tenor role in [[Carl Maria von Weber|Weber]]'s ''[[Oberon, King of the Fairies]]'', and was given a permanent contract for several years. In 1957, Gedda made his [[Metropolitan Opera]] début in the title role of [[Gounod]]'s ''[[Faust (opera)|Faust]]'', and went on to sing 28 roles there over the next 26 years, including the world premieres of [[Samuel Barber|Barber]]'s ''[[Vanessa (opera)|Vanessa]]'' and [[Gian Carlo Menotti|Menotti]]'s ''The Last Savage''. Gedda made his [[Royal Opera House]] [[Covent Garden]] début in 1954 as the Duke of Mantua in [[Giuseppe Verdi|Verdi]]'s ''[[Rigoletto (opera)|Rigoletto]]'' and has since returned to sing Benvenuto Cellini, Alfredo, Gustavus III in ''[[Un Ballo in Maschera]]'', Nemorino and Lensky.
In addition to his opera performances, Gedda cultivated an active parallel career as a recitalist, with a large repertoire of French, German, Scandinavian, and Russian artsongs.
The Crip gangs have branched out throughout the [[United States]] and even internationally. Due to the loose network of territorial gangs, there are significant differences between the various [[clique]]s. Even in Los Angeles there are new gangs with Crip affiliations emerging.
A singer of unusual longevity, Gedda has been active well into his late 70s; in May 2001 he recorded the role of the Emperor Altoum in [[Puccini]]'s ''[[Turandot]]'' and the role of the High Priest in [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]'s ''[[Idomeneo]]'' in June 2003.
While there have been bloody rivalries between the Crips and [[Bloods]], a [[peace treaty]] was recently negotiated, the treaty being largely based upon the ideals laid forth by original Crip founder [[Stanley "Tookie" Williams]] in his "[[Tookie Protocol For Peace]]" ideals. Though violence levels have been reduced somewhat after the conclusion of this peace treaty, gangland killings and warfare still persist in heavily gang-controlled areas.
They are known to feud with [[Chicano]] gangs. The Crips wear blue to easily identify each other. One suggested origin of the selected color is traced to [[Washington High School]] in [[South Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California|South L.A.]] where blue is the school's main color. They can be identified several ways : the color blue which has already been mentionned. They wear blue bandannas or rags and British Knights tennis shoes. They use the letter "c" in place of "b" in writing in disrespect for Bloods. They call each other "Cuzz" or "Blood Killas".
*[http://www.nicolai-gedda.de/ Unofficial Nicolai Gedda fan website]
[[Category: Modern1925 street gangsbirths|Gedda]] ▼Contrary to popular belief, there is no ''one'' "crip gang", even in Los Angeles, but rather a conglomerate of street gangs who identify themselves as "Crip" sets, many of which do not get along. The most intense gang rivalry in Los Angeles is actually between two Crip gangs, the Rolling 60s Neighborhood Crips and The Eight Tray Gangster Crips.
[[Category: LosMale Angeles historysingers|Gedda]] ▼
[[Category:Swedish opera singers|Gedda]]
===Origin of the name "Crips"===
[[Category:Tenors|Gedda]]
There have been many different explanations for the origin of the name of the gang. Suggestions include, "Crazy Real (or Ruthless) Insane People", "Community Revolution (or Restoration) In Progress", a misspelling from "[[Tales from the Crypt (movie)|Tales from the Crypt]]", a shortening of the word "cripple", from "crib" avenues ([[Cul-de-sac]]s), etc. The true origin of the name appears to be lost in myth and these may all be [[Folk etymology|folk etymologies]].
One possible explanation for the name is in the book ''[[Do or Die (book)|Do or Die]]'' by journalist [[Leon Bing]]. She reports that the name came from an early incident involving an incipient form of the gang. By this account, a young man with a physical [[disability]] was part of a group that attacked an elderly [[Asia]]n woman. The woman, who had limited command of [[English language|English]], attempted to describe the young man to police as "crippled", she instead called him "a crip".
==Crips, hip-hop, and C-walk==
The popular [[hip-hop]] [[dance]], the [[C-walk]] (Crip-walk), was originated by Crip gang members. Some fans do not realize the seriousness of the dance, however, as Crip members assert that it should never be performed by non-gang members. The dance is meant to spell out one's set as an insult to rival gangs. Some high profile [[rap]] artists such as [[Snoop Dogg]], [[Spider Loc]] and the deceased [[Eazy-E]] are affiliated with the Crips. Snoop Dogg has said that he is a Crip on many songs since 1999, as well as making references on his earliest albums. He is a member of the [[Long Beach, California|Long Beach]] Rollin 20s Crips. Snoop Dogg rapped on a remix of fellow Crip [[WC]]'s single "The Streets", a song which is primarily about the C-Walk and the fact that it is a dance for Crips only.
==Crip affiliates==
*[[Daz Dillinger]]
*[[Eazy-E]]
*[[Kurupt]]
*[[MC Eiht]]
*[[Orlando Anderson]]
*[[Nate Dogg]]
*[[RBX]]
*[[Snoop Dogg]]
*[[WC (rapper)|WC]] a.k.a. Dub C
*[[Xzibit]]
*[[Spider Loc]] (Grape Street Crips)
==See also==
*[[Banging on Wax]] (CD)
*[[Gang Signals]]
==Reference==
* Bing, Leon (1991). ''Do or Die: America's Most Notorious Gangs Speak for Themselves''. Sagebrush. ISBN 0833584995
*[http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/crip.htm Snopes Urban Legend] – The origin of the name Crips
*[http://www.dc.state.fl.us/pub/gangs/la.html LA-based gangs] – An overview of LA-Based Gangs
▲[[Category:Modern street gangs]]
▲[[Category:Los Angeles history]]
[[de:Bloods und Crips]]
[[fr:Crips]]
[[ja:Crips]]
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