Running from "The Law"

The former mill town of Lawrence, Mass., is a mere 45 minutes from downtown Boston, but worlds away from the city's gold-domed capitol and shimmering skyscrapers. The rough-and-tumble city has been in the headlines a lot recently for basically showing us what would have happened if Stringer Bell from "The Wire" had survived being ambushed and ultimately gone on to become the mayor of Baltimore.

Simply put, Mayor Willy Lantigua of Lawrence is hardcore. The first elected Hispanic mayor in Massachusetts history, he's been mainly a disappointment by any standard except the "badass" quotient. He's frequently spotted in the VIP section of grimy Lawrence clubs like Bali and The Loft - the latter recently cited by police for having "strippers in G-strings selling lap dances and dancing on an outdoor patio and in the windows — attracting crowds of gawkers on the street outside — on two successive nights."

But it hasn't been all harmless fun for Mayor Lantigua; he's under investigation for corruption for a number of incidents from the serious to the mundane. He was the victim of an assassination attempt back in April; he later criticized the police for their investigation and suggested that they were trying to frame Lantigua himself for a crime. Finally he appointed one of his boys - a sergeant -  as Deputy Chief of Police. Gangsters around the city are now known to drop Lantigua's name when cops mess with them. And as in "The Wire," race has been a major factor in all of this; the old-guard cops and firemen that Lantigua has clashed with are mainly white, while Lantigua's base is the more recently-arriving Dominican and Puerto Rican community in the city.

Termanology representing Mass.
with Celtics jacket and "The Town"
bank robbery creepy nun mask

The Honorable William Lantigua, Mayor

What does all of this have to do with music? Not much, except to establish the street cred of Lawrence, Massachusetts's answer to the post-industrial blight affecting urban areas in this country from Baltimore to Detroit. With a mayor that hardcore, any aspiring rappers have a tough act to follow.


Stepping up to the plate is Termanology, a Lawrence native of Puerto Rican extraction who has been steadily rising in the rap game for years. He got his first big break when the legendary DJ Premier produced a track for him in 2006 - the very tight "Watch How it Go Down." Since then, Term has frequently collaborated with fellow Lawrence native (and Exeter alum) Statik Selektah, including on the well-received "Stop, Look, and Listen" with Q-Tip and Styles P and "To The Top" with Cassidy and Saigon. It's been a slow and steady rise, but from where I'm sitting, Termanology looks like the top rapper out of the Bay State today. 

His new single "Uncut," released in April, finds the city's favorite son paying homage to Lawrence (watch for a shout-out to "the Law" with attendant hand sign at 0:30) while enjoying all the trappings of a successful rap career. I think that the club in the closing scene of the videos is none other than The Loft - Mayor Lantigua's favored spot - though I didn't spot him in the frame anywhere.

Politicians, rappers, and strippers - oh my! While none of this is great for the city of Lawrence, a Mayor who likes to hit the clubs is hardly the worst scandal facing the Commonwealth these days. And at least Lawrence is getting some pretty tight music out of their slow and painful decline, following in the path of Detroit rather than its less rhythmically-inclined neighbor Flint. For better or worse, Lawrence is back in the spotlight, as Termanology and Willy Lantigua alike are both very much on their grind.