The Mystery Man

So the LA Times was duped?

I'm not sure I buy it, but we can run with it for the moment. The question is who is this character that was at the center of Philips story?

Jimmy Sabatino.

A simple Google search will give you this in depth account of who he is and what his past activities have included.

In short he is a con man. Or should we say con kid as he perpetrated most of his crimes as a teenager and saw his imagined world crumbling by his 22nd birthday.

How did this young man pull of his cons? I couldn’t have written a better answer myself, so I’ll leave it to Robert Andrew Powell, the man responsible for the above story:

"He simply asks for things, and people simply give them to him.”

The question remains, how did this kid insinuate himself into a shooting of 2Pac and how did a reporter, Philips, miss the fact that he has a long history of lying to achieve his goals?

Within the Hip Hop industry you hear talk constantly and usually it’s all just rumors. Trusting whatever someone is telling you is about as foolish as believing that executive tell you he is going to make you the next star. Seeing is believing. Talk is cheap.

Sabatino claims he attended the 1995 Grammy awards with Biggie? Really, how is it that someone rolling with possibly the greatest rapper of all time has never been heard of by anyone in this business? His name has never appeared anywhere in any relation to activities within the scene – and as big as it may seem, it isn't that big at all, someone would be shouting this kid out or calling him out for the lame that he is.

Even to his credit he could have been trying to get his music industry hustle on – but who wasn’t in New York in the early and mid 90s? But like the Powell piece illustrates, this guy is a talker, which ironically means he could have probably succeeded in the industry where fast talk will move you up the ladder faster than a number 1 hit. But it still involves work, and every indication points to Sabatino just wanting the attention without the blood, sweat and tears.

Philips either didn’t do any homework or completely bought this kids story like so many others have. Except he can’t be allowed to accept a story on face value, he is supposed to be reporting facts so why didn’t he question Sabatino’s involvement? I mean really, not to repeat myself or anything, but all he had to do was type dude’s name into Google – what appears?

"Con Kid"

"The Great Pretender"

If I, an almost graduated, wet behind the ears, green as can be aspiring journalist can find reason to question the claims of this kid their isn’t an excuse for the LA Times to have not.

Someone didn't do their homework.