| Looking over the goings on in the world of Hip-Hop week by week it seems that an inordinate amount of our artists are being arrested on a variety of charges. From sex related crimes to possession and sale of drugs to firearms charges onto murder and other violent crime it seems Hip-Hop’s representatives are constantly hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons. And when compared to other genres of music it seems we out perform many of them with our legal woes – but why is this?
With the reports of ‘Hip-Hop Task Forces’ in Miami and New York it could be argued that those associated with Hip-Hop are being unduly targeted – hence the large number of arrests. This may be the case in some instances and yes; the old problem of crimes such as ‘Driving While Black’ may be rearing their head in some of these cases. While under the scrutiny of the so-called, ‘Hip-Hop Cops’ many artists are getting caught out for misdemeanours like smoking weed in their cars, increasing the general Hip-Hop charge sheet where maybe before these small offences would have gone unnoticed. But it is far too simplistic and one-dimensional an excuse to say the police are to blame, as, in retrospect, it seems that there are many reasons for your favourite MCs getting their collars felt by 5-0. And it is not just the artists that are causing the problems as often it is their entourages and hangers on that can cause the trouble or, if not cause then certainly exacerbate the situation as they attempt to earn favour through being ‘down for whatever’. Lil Kim, for example, was not imprisoned for pulling any triggers…
Another factor has to be image and the music industry’s determination to develop artists who are seen to be ‘real’. For every instance of a label head like Russell Simmons stepping in to help an artist who is falling to the streets, like he did for Jinx Da Juvy, you can bet there are several that won’t. While it may be difficult to make the transition from the streets to the studio this is a necessary move to make, as it seems Shyne found out, you simply cannot have your face everywhere in a marketing campaign and then expect to be able to be anonymous pulling a gun in a club. Not to say that such an occurrence is always the fault of any particular person, be it a label or the artist, but more a matter of circumstance particular to a given situation. What must also be remembered is that with the higher profile comes the haters who will want to try and take you down a peg (hence the need for that entourage as ‘backup’?) and with this in mind artists including Fabolous have had trouble from packing unregistered heat in case something jumps off.
The fact remains that the image that Hip-Hop often demands can place strain on a young buck on the come up with the pressures of being seen as remaining true to the streets. These pressures and expectations seem particular to our music, but are not necessarily all encompassing as many artists do not feel the need to play the streets. Of course there are also other cases where artists get into legal difficulties without any outside influence, such as Steady B who is currently serving time for armed robbery, and then there are those who are just plain unlucky, like Slick Rick whose most recent troubles with immigration came about without his full knowledge.
Overall, it seems that Hip-Hop is not simply ‘Criminal Minded’ but rather that every case has it’s own particular circumstances and while over enthusiastic policing may be the case for some it certainly is not for all. Hip-Hop and the law has been a topic for discussion for many years now and it does not seem as if it is one that is going to go away any time soon. But remember read between the lines when you hear a report as more often than not something else comes to light that makes sense of the madness.
By TOM CLOVER OF WWW.GRINDMODECONNECT.COM |
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