Hip-hop is full of boasts, brags, and wild claims, but you shouldn't believe every outlandish
crime story you hear on a track.
That said, some rappers really do keep things real - and sometimes that leads to heavy consequences.
Here are some rappers who've had recent run-ins with the law.
Brooklyn rapper Ackquille Pollard adopted the handle Bobby Shmurda when he and several
lifelong friends formed the rap crew GS9.
The crew became official in March 2014, and Pollard became the group's breakout star.
The viral success of his song "Hot N----a" and the song's accompanying "Shmoney Dance"
went viral.
The addictive track and dance meme got the attention of stars like Rihanna, Beyoncé,
and Taylor Swift, as well as record labels who scrambled to sign Shmurda as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, police believed that GS9 also operated as a gang known as the G-Stone Crips,
which resulted in a wide-ranging criminal conspiracy investigation.
During a recording session at Manhattan's Quad Studios in December 2014, 15 members
of the group were swept up by the police.
Using an indictment built largely on intercepted phone communications, the NYPD arrested Pollard
and 14 others.
The 69-count indictment contained charges of conspiracy, murder, and assault, among
others.
The police also seized 21 guns over the course of their investigation.
Pollard's specific charges, however, related only to felony gun possession charges.
He ended up copping a plea deal, accepting a seven-year prison term and waiving his right
to an appeal.
Pollard vehemently disputes the charges, alleging that lying cops railroaded him and that he
got a raw deal when his trial was moved from Brooklyn to Manhattan.
As he put it in an interview with Complex,
"Who are they going to believe, the word of this black kid talking about shooting s--t
up or the word of white officers?
A jury is going to believe cops all day.
We’re black kids, these are white people with badges."
In March 2018, British rapper Cameron Wright, known as Killa Kam, was sentenced to six years
in jail after pleading guilty to trafficking in heroin and cocaine, according to the Gloucestershire
Echo.
Though police did not actually catch Wright with drugs on him, they intercepted the phone
that he used to conduct business, containing thousands of text messages to over 100 customers.
Wright allegedly managed a supply chain for the narcotics operation, the profits from
which he may have flaunted in a music video where he showcased wads of cash.
Wright's defense attorney argued that Wright turned to drug-dealing after he was unable
to find other gainful employment following a previous jail stint he served for similar
charges in 2015.
Wright's fortune took another hit when, in November 2018, a judge ordered him to forfeit
an expensive Cartier watch he admitted to buying with drug money.
The judge threatened an extra six months of jail time if Wright's legal team didn't sell
the watch and return the proceeds to the government, an order he seemingly fulfilled.
RondoNumbaNine was a rising star in the Chicago drill scene, an aggressive style of rap that
rose to prominence in the Windy City in the early 2010s.
Drill quickly became something of a flashpoint for debate over whether the genre's controversial
lyrics - typically involving gangs, guns and drugs - were negatively influencing violent
crime in the city of Chicago.
Rondo, aka Clint Massey, contributed most notably to the genre with his 2013 hit, "Hang
Wit Me," which features more than its fair share of lines about robbing, shooting, and
killing people.
Like we said before, rap lyrics don't necessarily reflect reality, but they still get used against
rappers when they have run-ins with the law.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Massey became an object lesson in the debate over drill lyrics when
he was sentenced to 39 years for his involvement in the 2014 shooting death of cab driver Javan
Boyd.
Massey, then just 17 years old, and a 19-year-old accomplice named Courtney Ealy, another rapper
who went by the name Cdai, shot Boyd multiple times as he sat in his car outside an apartment
complex.
For his part in the killing, Ealy was sentenced to 38 years in prison.
Although Massey's sentence is pretty hefty, fellow drill artist and collaborator Lil Durk,
aka Durk Banks, has high hopes for his friend's future.
He told Billboard in April 2018,
"We've been back and forth with lawyers on his appeal and it's looking really good.
He's going to get out soon."
Richmond rapper and fledgling pimp Idris Jamerson, aka Drissy Bo, found himself swapping the
recording studio for the cell block after he was sentenced to four years in prison in
November 2017.
Six months earlier, Jamerson sealed his fate when he reportedly recruited a woman on Instagram
and began selling her services via shady websites that advertise prostitution.
Thanks to a sting arranged by the Vacaville Police Vice Unit and FBI Violent Crime Task
Force, Jamerson was apprehended on his way to deliver the woman to a prospective customer.
Upon his arrest, police recovered text messages that indicated the nature of the pair's exploitative
relationship, including Jamerson giving the woman consent to buy food using the money
she earned, the East Bay Times reported.
In addition to the text messages, some of Jamerson's music was even used against him
in court, with lyrics from the track "Price Tag" like
"Put the b---- on a plate wit a price tag"
and
"That's why she get this money and she bring it right back"
arguably suggesting some personal familiarity with the practice of pimping.
"Is pimping easy?"
"Big Daddy Kane would say it ain't easy."
Rainbow-haired rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine, whose real name is Daniel Hernandez, is no stranger
to trouble.
When he's not kicking up beef with fellow rap stars like YG or Trippie Redd, he's waist-deep
in legal drama - from his 2015 sexual assault case to his November 2018 arrest.
On Nov. 18, 2018, the "FEFE" rapper was arrested on racketeering and firearm charges.
The charges reportedly stem, prosecutors said, from his role in the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods,
a gang that allegedly performed shootings, robberies, and assaults in and around Manhattan
and Brooklyn.
Some of those incidents reportedly included an April 2018 robbery of gang rivals and the
attempted shooting of a rival, which left a bystander injured.
Although the inked-up rapper initially maintained his innocence, he reached a plea deal with
federal prosecutors in January 2019 and agreed to plead guilty to charges for racketeering,
weapons possession, armed robbery and dealing narcotics, including fentanyl and heroin.
Then in September 2019, Hernandez testified as a witness in a case against two Nine Trey
associates.
He also accused fellow rappers Cardi B and Jim Jones of being members of the gang, sending
shockwaves through the rap scene.
It appears Hernandez's cooperation gave him a leg up in sentencing because the judge ordered
him to just two years in jail.
He was reportedly contrite at the hearing, saying,
"I failed these people.
they believed in Daniel Hernandez, and I was too busy making the negative image."
Hernandez's ultimate sentence was a drastic reduction from the punishment he was initially
facing; after being arrested, he was looking at 32 years to life in prison.
But while cooperating with the government may have saved him in the short term, it remains
to be seen if the hip-hop community will welcome him back when he gets out.
"N----- is bustas, man.
Where I come from, you couldn't tell on a n----."
Texas rapper Tay-K, born Taymor McIntyre, attracted national attention with the 2017
hit "The Race," a song about being on the run from the law that was actually recorded
while he was on the run from the law.
As if that weren't enough, he literally flaunts his "Wanted" poster in the song's video.
On June 30, 2017, the same day the video was released, McIntyre was arrested by authorities
after a three-month chase for his alleged role in capital murder and other crimes.
He, along with six others, was accused of killing a man in a 2016 home invasion.
For their roles in the killing, McIntyre's associates received sentences ranging from
20 to 40 years.
The fledgling rapper pleaded not guilty to capital murder and to a separate count of
aggravated robbery.
He also pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated robbery by threats.
In July 2019, McIntyre was found guilty of murder and the outstanding count of aggravated
robbery.
He was sentenced to 55 years in prison and received a $21,000 fine.
He will serve 30 years in prison on one count of aggravated robbery and 13 years for each
of the remaining two counts of aggravated robbery, with the sentences running concurrently.
McIntyre's predicament worsened in November 2019, when he was indicted for yet another
capital murder relating to a 2017 robbery.
Prosecutors allege he shot and killed a 23-year-old photographer after stealing the victim's photo
equipment.
As of January 2020, he's still awaiting trial on that charge.
Rapper Terrell Davis, who's known as Ralo - the Atlanta emcee and close associate of
Young Scooter and Future - had a serious run-in with the law in 2018.
He was arrested in April 2019 for conspiracy to distribute marijuana after authorities
allegedly discovered him shuttling 444 pounds of marijuana - which holds a value of around
$840,000 - into an Atlanta airport on a private plane.
An affidavit obtained by the outlet also reports that the "Can't Lie" musician has a leadership
role in a gang known as "Famerica," which allegedly sells drugs through properties Davis
rents in the city.
"I started buying more houses in the community, you know?"
"...Ok, so do you own your whole block?"
"Yeah yeah yeah, exactly."
Despite the charges, Davis has maintained his innocence.
On May 2, 2018, he pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
In a November 2018 interview with Forbes, he suggested that he'd been targeted by cops,
saying,
"I knew they were gonna try and come up with something to arrest me.
Once these people want you, they're gonna do whatever they gotta do to get you."
As of January 2020, Davis is still in federal custody, but his team told 11Alive's Neima
Abdulahi in April 2019 that they hope he'll be released soon.
"Over the time, I've learned so much wisdom and knowledge that I can apply for when I
do get out.”
In November 2019, Grammy-nominated rapper Kodak Black - legal name Bill Kapri - was
sentenced to 3 years and 10 months in prison after pleading guilty to falsifying information
on federal background check forms to buy multiple guns from a Miami-area gun shop on two separate
occasions, according to the Miami Herald.
Not only did the Florida-born star admit to lying about his criminal record, but two of
the illegally purchased guns were found at crime scenes.
Kapri's fingerprints were allegedly discovered on one weapon supposedly used to shoot at
another rap artist, but he hasn't been charged in that case as of the making of this video.
Kapri - who collaborated with Cardi B on a remix of her song "Bodak Yellow" - was originally
arrested in April 2019 after trying to cross the border into New York from Canada with
an illegal weapon stored in the trunk of his car.
He was charged with criminal possession of a firearm at the time, as well as unlawful
possession of marijuana.
Speaking at his sentencing hearing in Miami, the rapper was reported to have said,
"I'm sorry for the actions that led me for where I'm standing.
I do take full responsibility for my mishap."
Texas-based rapper Tavores "Killah Dre " Henderson was arrested in December 2019 on a capital
murder charge relating to the death of Houston-area Sgt.
Kaila Sullivan.
Sullivan pulled over Henderson for a traffic stop violation the night of the killing.
When Sullivan discovered Henderson had an outstanding warrant involving assault, the
rapper - who has worked with Soulja Boy - escaped while Sullivan and another officer attempted
to handcuff him.
After taking off in his car, Henderson allegedly hit Sullivan with the vehicle.
She later died at the hospital as a result of her injuries.
As of January 2020, Henderson has yet to be convicted of the crime - but the outlook doesn't
look good, especially since he supposedly confessed to the slaying.
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