Sa Prize

Life rolls on, it's inevitable. But that doesn't mean certain developments can't smack you in the face and leave you shaking your head in wonderment.
   Yesterday I saw Dr. Dre pitching Dr. Pepper on TV.
   It wasn't that long ago that I asked whether a 17-year-old kid who'd never known N.W.A. should be allowed to wear an 'Eazy Duz It' t-shirt. I guess I have my answer. If the founder of Death Row records can become a pitch man for Dr. Pepper, all bets are off, anything goes, and the world can devolve into chaos.
   Dre, I know you have bills to pay like everybody else, and I know you've been working steadily as a producer since N.W.A., but come on... Dr. Pepper? What happened to Straight Outta Compton? What happened to the anger and the energy of those days? Has it turned into a house in Brentwood and private school for the kids? If it has, good for you, but bad for the rest of us.
   To tell you the truth, we expected this kind of thing from Ice Cube - what with 'Three Kings' and 'Barber Shop,' and 'Are We There Yet' - but you got to it first. For soda pop. For God's sake, even Billy D managed to shill Colt 45.
   So long, N.W.A., it really is all over now.
      Shootin' everything in sight, tonight's the night to get hyped
      and fight for what's wrong, f**k what's right...
      but before you do, why not have a cool, refreshing Dr. Pepper?