Not Quite Straight Outta Baghdad

Somehow, some way, someday / We're gonna burn this bitch down for what they did in Abu Ghraib / Somebody, somewhere, say something / I've tried myself and I haven't changed one thing.

"A lot of people hear my lyrics and hear the anti-Bush, antiwar lyrics and assume that I'm a terrorist or I hate the country," says Rancho San Diego rapper Timz. "That's not the case. I was born here in San Diego, but my parents were born in Baghdad."

Timz, 21, graduates next month from USD with a degree in business administration. He says he will spend his immediate future concentrating on music. Last Friday at El Cajon's Crystal Ballroom, he performed at a release party for his first CD, Open for Business.

Timz works part-time at his father's liquor store. On March 1, two employees of an El Cajon liquor store were executed. Like Timz's family, the victims were Chaldean.

"That rocked our community. It showed how strong of a community we are. There are about 20,000 Chaldeans in San Diego. We have the second-largest Chaldean community after Detroit.... A lot of people don't know the difference between Iraqi and Iranian. They lump us into one big group of Bin Ladens and Saddam Husseins walking around.... After 9/11, a few people came into my dad's store and gave him a hard time. If they were drunk and they didn't have enough money [to buy alcohol], they would say stupid things to my dad and his workers."

There's still a whole lot left that needs to be addressed / Like all of this talk that Timz hates the U.S. / Wait a minute, Timz hates where? / Homey, I was born and raised here.

"I am a U.S. citizen, but I do have a problem with the people running it and running it into the ground. The scariest thing is what's going on in Iran right now. They are standing up for themselves, and they aren't backing down. I don't want to see this nation get hurt again like 9/11."