E H T F O N IO T A N I M A X E THE TION, L A F C O I N R O O I T A, R E C XAMINA R A “A HISTHISTORICAL MEA C N N I O S S ERATI C R A “A DRUGS, C N I S C MASS I T , N I S G O L U S O R C R P D I T A W D N POLI A WAR ON D N , A T C , T U C D O ONDU C P CN S OP S O I HI I H M M P E I P C H E I L C F H O O I P L F NS O EE PO L S E N H T L H G E U O H TH RG TH D L O U T O R H TOLD MT USIC.” MUSIC.”
THE SET UP From its start, the art of Hip-Hop music has not only defined our countries generations, it has don so by reporting on social and criminal injustices in America. Referred to as the “Black CNN,” Hip-Hop music, throughout the past 40 years, have been reporting all of societies major issues and complex policies that remain to this day. Whether it is the subject of brutal and biased policing, over-crowded jails, marginalized neighborhoods, public education, and the imbalance of economic wealth — it has been holding up a mirror to the world casting a dark reflection of the state of our country.
Rappers are the voice of poor, urban African - American youth, whose lives are dismissed or misrepresented by the mainstream media. Hip-Hop music, with its African roots, has become an American art that reflects itself and the times in our country in profound ways. A country at war with itself, is also at war with Hip-Hop. The music in 2022 has transcended race and class; it has become intertwined with the American Dream and the Amerikkkan Nightmare. America vs. Hip-Hop, will trace in chronological order the defining events of the music as it pertains to criminal justice, the connection between
federal & state law enforcement, mass incarceration, social justice reform, and public policy. These singular events defined the music, and how Americans have categorized race and American exceptionalism.
You can’t have Hip-Hop without the War on Drugs and vice versa. This sprawling anthology will outline in sweeping detail — the Hip-Hop stars, American gangsters, and law enforcement agencies that were intertwined in a narrative that strangely connects like a puzzle starting in 1980 to present day.
PART ONE: 1980-2005 As we rolled into the 80’s, NYC saw the decade open with its worst year of crime in the city’s history, with over 1800 homicides and 710K reported crimes. Things would get much worse, however, as Fat Cat Nichols’ outfit flooded Queens with drugs and The Supreme Team had arrived. Meanwhile, on the left coast the collapse of the Black Panther Party had left a power vacuum in Oakland where 21yr old Felix Mitchell became the Bay Area’s youngest drug kingpin. Meanwhile in Los Angeles, Freeway Ricky Ross – with the help of the CIA, would introduce crack to the streets of LA. By the mid 80’s. the crack epidemic was in full effect on both coasts, birthing the hip-hop gangster. By the late 80’s, Kenneth ‘Supreme’ McGriff, Gerald ‘Prince’ Miller and the Supreme Team, ruled the streets of Queens. As hip-hop hit mainstream, it wasn’t difficult to see East Coast rappers using them as inspiration, from fashion to personas – everyone wanted to be ‘Preme.’ Things would begin to change, however, after the brazen murder of NYPD Officer Edward Byrne. The NYPD would
form TNT, aka the Tactical Narcotics Team, to take down any drug crew in New York. Meanwhile, as the crack era was in full bloom on the West Coast, the first seeds of gangster rap were beginning to sprout. As the 80’s became the 90’s, hip-hop was getting bigger, badder & angrier. After the beating of Rodney King, rap groups like NWA started putting their rage into their lyrics & the verdict in King’s case acted as kerosene. The East & West coasts would collide in ‘94, when Tupac Shakur was robbed & shot entering Quad Studios. This rap rivalry would turn deadly serious when Shakur would be shot & killed in ‘96. Las Vegas after an incident with a Crip gang member. That wasn’t the end of the violence, however, as 6 months later East Coast superstar Biggie Smalls would be gunned down leaving a party in Los Angeles. It’s alleged that Suge Knight contracted the hit using dirty LAPD officers who were on Death Row’s payroll.
This would open a door to the massive corruption inside LAPD at the time, where officers were robbing banks, drug dealing, committing civil rights atrocities & much, much more. The Rampart Scandal was splashed across the nation’s newspapers & led to the US Justice Dept.,taking over the embattled police department for 5 years. Officers David Mack & Rafael Perez, suspected in the Biggie Smalls murder, were sent to prison for other crimes.
Meanwhile, Suge Knight’s Death Row Records was tied to almost 20 killings in the LA area. Violence was up in East Coast hip-hop circles, with shootings in front of NY radio station Hot 97 involving Lil Kim, Foxxy Brown, 50 Cent & The Game’s entourages. After prison, ‘Supreme’ gets into the hip-hop game, buying into Murder Inc Records. Meanwhile, the NYPD, DEA & FBI form the ‘Rap Intelligence Unit’ in NYC to watch hip-hop stars in the city and investigate their ties to crime.
PART TWO: 2005-2022 Suge Knight gets out of prison, but Death Row Records, the Bloods affiliated record label, is being investigated by law enforcement for everything from murder to drug & arms trafficking. Several Death Row affiliates, including Buntry McDonald, Hen Dog Smith, Scar Daniels. & Big V Buchanan are murdered during this time. It isn’t long before Death Row is raided by the ATF & files for bankruptcy. As rumors swirl of police involvement in the murder of Notorious BIG, his mother Voletta Wallace sues the city of LA and the LAPD for wrongful death. One week into the civil trial, LAPD is found to be hiding hundreds of pages of evidence inside its Robbery/Homicide Division. The judge rules a mistrial & fines LAPD $1.3 million. All these factors lead to a massive coverup of the murder that exists to this day. Meanwhile on the East Coast, the murder of aspiring rapper E-Money Baggs leads to the arrest of Kenneth McGriff. As the DEA investigates Murder Inc. & their ties to ‘Preme,’ the Eastern District of New York indicts the record label. Irv & Chris Gotti of Murder Inc. would beat the rap, but
‘Preme’ would not, being sentenced to life in prison for several crimes. Meanwhile, up & coming rapper 50 Cent is shot 9 times on orders from ‘Supreme’. The hip-hop world is rocked again as Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC, is murdered in his recording studio. After recovering from gunshot wounds, 50 Cent forms G-Unit, a rap collective that would include Compton rapper The Game. A beef arises between the two that would eventually involve The Game’s manager Jimmy Rosemond, aka Jimmy Henchman. Things led to an assault on Rosemond’s 14yr old son & the murder of G-Unit affiliate Lowell ‘Lodi Mack’ Fletcher. As hip-hop becomes a global superpower, the first hiphop cartel would arise. The Black Mafia Family was founded in Southwest Detroit by brothers Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory and Terry “Southwest T” Flenory, and by 2000 had established cocaine distribution sales throughout the US through their LA-based drug source and direct links to Mexican drug cartels.
An incident at an Atlanta club between BMF and Anthony ‘Wolf’ Jones, an associate of Sean ‘Puffy’ Combs, would lead to Jones’ murder. In ‘05, Big & Little Meech would be indicted & sentenced to 30 yrs a piece for drug trafficking. The government’s next target was Jimmy Rosemond, allegingthe rap mogul was as a drug kingpin on the side of his music company & he was arrested in ‘10. Rosemond was convicted & sentenced to 7 life sentences plus 2 more after Henchman was charged & convicted of murdering Lowell Fletcher during the 50 Cent/Game beef.
As rap enters the 2010’s, gangs have fractured across the US, leading to an explosion of the murder rate in Chicago & across hip-hop. On the West Coast, gang member and rising hip-hop superstar Nipsey Hussle is gunned down in front of his Compton clothing store. Meanwhile back East, Chinx Drugs is murdered in Queens. Rapper Bobby Smurda and the GS-9 Gang go on trial & Takeshi69 becomes hip-hop’s first federal informant. It’s not just violence that takes the lives of rappers - the opioid epidemic seeps into hip-hop as Mac Miller, Juice WRLD & Lil Peep are all lost to drug overdoses.