HIP HOP VS THE COPS

In this final episode of this audio series, I needed to come full circle with an idea that I started twenty years ago as a young man, my instincts to uncover a battleground between Hip-Hop music and law enforcement was way ahead of the curve, and at that time with the completion of my documentary film Rap Sheet, I thought I had some answers, and clarity on what I set out to accomplish. 

In hindsight, when I look at the landscape between our criminal justice system today, and the many cases of murder, or crime tied to the music of Hip-Hop, I wonder if in those twenty years if nothing has changed, maybe it has gotten worse. There is something bittersweet about that analysis because that would mean within our society, the leaders we have, the intellectuals, and more importantly law enforcement just can’t seem to evolve in anyway. 

2020 brought what many thought was a monumental cultural shift, or awakening for us, but three years removed the prison industrial complex, the corrupt prosecutors, and the so-called system just seems to labor on, with no concrete and lasting change, I could make a case it is getting worse. 

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91 MURDERS in Hip-Hop, that is the current number of Hip-Hop artists who have been killed since 1987 when Scott La Rock was killed in the Bronx, and TakeOff was tragically taken from the world in 2022.

91 Murders, wherein close to 50 of those murders remained unsolved by the police.

Some are long running investigations and some of these cases have taken on mythical status where the narrative of who murdered who is now lost down a rabbit hole of Internet conspiracy theories, YouTube misinformation videos, and social media sleuths who spread speculation, and bullshit theories.  

The funny thing about the Hip-Hop Police is that they have done absolutely nothing as it relates to crime, or murder, they have just existed for sexy storylines. 

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The story of the Hip-Hop Cops when I started the documentary back in 2004, was that it was a secret unit, and it was shrouded in mystery, for many reasons.

The journey of going inside Hip-Hop and law enforcement for two years, left me with a few takeaways, but more importantly it left me with a question inside my head that played over and over.

Why was the Hip-Hop music industry at War with the Cops, and more importantly why did Hip-Hop have such a distinct connection to the War on Drugs.  

While the NYPD, FBI, HIDTA, and the United States Attorney looked at the business of Hip-Hop what they really were looking to do was connect 80s era crack kingpin organizations to known and famous faces, it made for a more interesting story, it made headlines, more importantly for young and hungry cops and investigators it gave them purpose and a sexy reason to pursue these cases.

While Hip-Hop artists are music storytellers, when cops solve a big case or they feel they have a story they too want to become storytellers, and while I was doing the documentary, there was a retired NYPD Cop, who was brazen enough and understood Hollywood, to start calling himself THE HIP-HOP COP, his name was Derrick Parker.

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As my persistence to tell the story of the Hip-Hop Cops increased, my “fixers” — Steve Lobel and Pistol Pete, delivered on their promise to secure me interview subjects.

What sounded good in theory, was in reality far different, as their strategy was to merely accost artists and executives pretty much anywhere—at studios, at parties, concerts, on the street, back alleys—they even spotted Kanye West at an album release party and convinced him to do an interview in the back of the club’s kitchen.

In true Kanye fashion he gave me a great sound byte, even though I was only able to ask him one question. Here is his response to me asking him about the scrutiny that the police had on the industry. This was polo Kanye, College Dropout Kanye… but still it was Kanye in the back of a kitchen….

I was trying to tackle racial issues, but my execution was off—it was sloppy.

I just had to grab anything I could from the celebrities as it was rare to get an actual sit-down interview.

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As I have started the introspective study of my life since the documentary I created 17 years ago, I don’t want to stray from my initial inspiration that catapulted me into my fascination with law enforcement and Hip-Hop, but more specifically, the nuances, perception, and uneven legal ground created by criminal prosecutors using lyrics, and their visuals, to pursue their criminal cases. 

Like the secret book I found, the use of song lyrics or the use of a music video to create a criminal narrative seemed as odd to me today as it did back in 2005. Art imitating life, or life imitating art, these questions I still struggle with as my understanding has deepened. 

Jaeah Lee who wrote the aforementioned New York Times article, opens the piece with the story of Tommy Munsdwell Canady, an aspiring rapper from Racine, Wisconsin, and when I say aspiring, I mean he uploaded a few songs to Soundcould, a feat my 10yr old niece can do.

Police in Racine were looking for suspects in three recent shootings, one of the victims, Semar Mcclain who was 19 at the time, was found dead with a bullet in his temple.

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If you have been listening in, a New York Times article about rap lyrics that I read by a pool in the Spring of 2022, really brought me back 17 years when I decided to explore the origins of a secret Hip-Hop dossier, and why the NYPD and federal government wanted to surveil, track, arrest  and indict Hip-Hop Superstars.  

The way I chose to tell my story was in the form of a documentary I called Rap Sheet, and where I left off was, I was now in business with Pistol Pete and Steve Lobel, and my best buddy Rick Phillips was my main source of financing.

I was in the hole $50K and I had never gone to film school so what did I really know, but there were some core themes that were important for me and remember I wanted to tell a story that resonated this connection between Hip-Hop and law enforcement.

In this episode we hear from Murder Inc's Irv Gotti about his case with the Feds and his relationship with none other than the mythical street legend, Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff. We also meet THE Hip Hop Cop himself, Derek Parker.

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In Episode one, I talked about securing a weird dossier that was compiled by federal and state law enforcement to track Hip-Hop superstars, and their entourages, associates, and record labels. With the book in hand as a young journalist, I decided the best route to tell the story of the book was to actually make a documentary, but I had no experience, no money, and I didn’t know anyone inside the Hip-Hop industry, but fuck it I started anyway.

At that time in 2007 I was fascinated by what they called the Hip-Hop Police, and I was also fascinated with how much mystery was behind this unit. 

In revisiting the film almost 17 years later in hindsight my quest, my search or curiosity was one part bold, two parts naïve, and somewhat dangerous, at that time Hip-Hop was just hitting the mainstream, so violence, gangsters, and a certain allure was all a part of the story I wanted to tell, but I need some help, I needed people who knew the industry, could get me interviews, or people who could talk…. 

So, I traveled down to Miami, where the annual Source Awards was going on, to this day why I went, and who I met, changed everything……….

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I grew up in the confines of suburban Norwalk, Connecticut, a fan of the hip hop music of Public Enemy, KRS One and Rakim.

In 1994, at the age of 18, I left to pursue an interest in journalism and New York University. I was always fascinated by the rumors I heard surrounding hip hop culture, about murder, extortion, the laundering of drug money, the connection between criminal activity and the music.

Little did I know at the time, that fascination would eventually take me on a three year journey into a very complex relationship between hip hop, violence and the likes of the NYPD, LAPD, DEA and FBI.

Hip Hop vs The Cops is the story of a clandestine joint task force of law enforcement, that have been surveilling hip hop stars. I would soon learn that even A-list artists who claimed to be targets of the so called Hip Hop cops had no idea who these law enforcement officials really were or why they might exist.

Most officials questioned about the rumored secret unit refused to speak on or off camera may no comment are categorically denied knowledge of such a task force.

I would prove otherwise.

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