Rap Industry VS Justice

The rap industry is like an earthquake shaking up social media.”The YNW Melly homicides,  6ix9ine racketeering charges and snitching, and Meek Mill and Jay-Z fighting for better, more fair criminal justice charges have made headlines in recent weeks. So much has happened in the rap industry in the past couple of months, and it’s just getting started.

The blowing up artist YNW Melly just recently turned himself in for two homicides he committed. He claimed that his two friends, Anthony Williams and Christopher Thomas Jr, were killed in a drive-by. According to TMZ, “YNW Melly tried hatching an elaborate scheme to trick cops into thinking his buddies were killed by someone other than him” (TMZ) Many speculate that the reason he turned himself in is because of all the attention around his song called “Murder on My Mind” which allegedly details the story on how he killed his friends and staged it as a drive-by shooting. Since exploding on the  hip-hop scene, YNW Melly drew more and more attention, and because of it, he is being prosecuted for something he did before he was famous. When asked about the issue, student David Rothstein from Hall High School stated “Once rappers blow up, they are more vulnerable to charges before they get famous. A lot of stuff depends on their past”.This is a perfect example of how past grievances by YNW Melly affected his current and future status.

6ix9ine was a recent rapper who got caught for racketeering charges in November 2018. So much has been said about him since he has gotten locked up, including accusations about him snitching. 6ix9ine is also putting his family in grave danger for snitching on many people in the Nine Trey Gangster gang. The Washington post  stated “Troubled rapper 6ix9ine and five other men were indicted Monday on racketeering and firearms charges, according to a federal indictment alleging that the rapper was part of a violent gang that operated as a “criminal enterprise.” (Bethonie Butler) But if he snitches on his gang and what they had done his 68 years of prison could be changed due to helping the police. A student of William H. Hall High School said “Probably people will do a lot for the money,and many rappers say a lot of things they do that can be real from selling drugs and bringing gangs to shootings.” (Nefari) According to 6ix9ine’s songs, he raps about selling drugs and gang shootings where he made millions from it. It is seen that he was aiding the gang by giving them a ton of money to commit crimes.  He also paid someone to shoot at another rival gang rapper who goes by the name Chief Keef.

Recently a rapper named 21 Savage was caught by ICE for having arrived legally in the U.S.A. at the age of seven. But his VISA was not renewed after age 15 making him an illegal resident of the U.S.A. Due to his popularity, the ICE had picked up on him, he was arrested during the Oscars ceremony where he was nominated for two awards. The Guardian stated that “Because he has lived in the US so long and has immediate relatives with legal status, he can seek to challenge the removal procedure via an immigration judge.” Hall High student, Jason Cramer stated , “It’s because they got clout.” (Jason Cramer) It’s true because they have the popularity he has drawn in more attention on his current situation.

Despite all the negative stories about rappers committing crimes and being prosecuted, good things also came out. Jay-Z and Meek Mill launched a prison reform organization, but not just them. Many other famous people including co-owner of the 76’ers, Robert Kraft, and co-owner of the nets. The organization they are creating is to help people, and look into their criminal cases to see if they can reduce the sentence time or if they were wrongfully incarcerated. CNN reporter Lisa Respers France stated  “REFORM Alliance, an organization that aims to reduce the number of people serving unjust parole and probation sentences” (Lisa Respers France) “They want to help people who can’t do anything about the situation they are in”. Nabeel Gulaid, a student from Hall High stated “Because many of them are getting more attention because they publicitize their drug use and brings them to the attention of law enforcement.”” This is a true statement because sometimes it could be a bad thing, but in this case, it’s a good thing that’s occurring in the rap community  

Stay tuned for updates because these headlines are far from over in fact this is just the beginning.