The Story of Gangstalicious

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The Boondocks episode
“The Story of Gangstalicious”

Gangstalicious, Riley's favorite rap idol
Original airdate December 11, 2005
Season no. 1
Episode no. 6
Production no. 107
Director Seung Eun Kim
Writer(s) Rodney Barnes
Aaron McGruder
Guest star(s) Mos Def
DJ Pooh
Sway
James Arnold Taylor
Kym Whitley
The Boondocks - Season 1
November 5, 2005March 19, 2006
  1. The Garden Party
  2. The Trial of R. Kelly
  3. Guess Hoe's Coming to Dinner
  4. Granddad's Fight
  5. A Date With The Health Inspector
  6. The Story of Gangstalicious
  7. A Huey Freeman Christmas
  8. The Real
  9. Return of the King
  10. The Itis
  11. Let's Nab Oprah
  12. Riley Wuz Here
  13. Wingmen
  14. The Block Is Hot
  15. The Passion of Reverend Ruckus
Season 2

"The Story of Gangstalicious" is the sixth episode of the Adult Swim animated television series The Boondocks. It originally aired on December 11, 2005

[edit] Plot

The episode begins with a notice.

The following is a completely fictional work of satire. Any similarities with actual rappers is totally, completely, coincidental.

Also, I ain't dissin' nobody's city, or region, or... whatever geographic affiliation you got. I love everybody.

Seriously. I really don't want any of you niggas running up on me at the club. I don't have no crew, and they don't pay me enough to hire bodyguards. I know how ya'll niggas do. It's just jokes, man.

Dictated. Not read.

The management.

Riley's favorite rapper, Gangstalicious, is shot (again) while performing a concert in Woodcrest. Gangstalicious is singing his new song "I Got Shot", when three men suddenly rush the stage and shoot him. Because everybody initially believed this to be a part of the act, forty-five minutes pass until an ambulance is finally called.

A self-proclaimed "street soldier", Riley makes it his mission to get to the hospital to help Gangstalicious by any means necessary. After feigning accidents and injury fail, Riley tries drinking orange juice straight from the carton — an action Granddad Freeman utterly detests. As punishment, Granddad makes Riley ride his bike to the store to buy some orange juice, but specifically threatens him against going to the hospital.

Regardless, Riley heads straight for the hospital and meets Gangstalicious, who is bedridden. Gangstalicious becomes severely anxious when Riley informs him that no officers or security guards are protecting his room. Upon double checking, Riley discovers three men asking about Gangstalicious at the hospital's front desk. The three men see Riley sneaking around and try to talk to him, but Riley is able to flee back to Gangstalicious' room. The two escape and jack a car, but not before a close call with the three armed men whose poor aim allows a successful getaway.

A chase ensues. Riley and Gangstalicious are caught when they run into a line of cars stopped at a red light on a one-way street. They are taken to a remote location, where Gangstalicious is stripped, bound, and blindfolded, in preparation for what appears to be a brutal gangland murder. However, the leader of the three men, Lincoln, approaches Gangstalicious and suddenly proclaims his love for him, kissing him passionately on the lips. "We could have had a life together, man!" he exclaimed. The three men then back up and open fire, emptying their clips in his direction. However, every single one of the shots misses Gangstalicious, who then scurries away. Riley faints and later walks home.

[edit] Cultural references

  • The documentary the boys watch at the beginning of the episode, "Gangstalicious: Resurrection", is a parody of "Tupac: Resurrection".
  • Gangstalicious's song "Thuggin Luv" could also be seen as a parody of Tupac's song "Thug Luv" or 50 Cent's early single "Thug Love" which featured Destiny's Child singing the hook, as does Gangstalicious' version.
  • Gangstalicious, while talking to Riley in his hospital room, quotes Jules Winnfield from the movie Pulp Fiction — a character who was played by Samuel L. Jackson. Jackson voices a recurring character on the show, Gin Rummy.
  • The scene where Gangstalicious' kidnappers shoot every round in their guns at him and miss can also be seen as a reference to a similar scene in Pulp Fiction.
  • During one of his attempts to injure himself, Riley falls down the stairs and yells "My shoe!". This is a reference to Eddie Murphy's 1983 stand-up act, Eddie Murphy Delirious.
  • Some incidents in the episode could be seen as allusions to actual rappers: the point where Gangstalicious is kissed by an alleged former associate in the drug gang can be seen as a parallel to the infamous Birdman/Lil' Wayne kiss.


Preceded by
A Date With The Health Inspector
The Boondocks episodes Followed by
A Huey Freeman Christmas