Rap and crime go hand in hand.
Hip hop comes from the streets and many rappers are forced to hustle
in order to support themselves before they make it big.
While most rappers turn to selling drugs or robbing houses to support their careers,
in the age of the internet,
there is a new trend of rappers committing fraud
and scamming online to fund their lavish lifestyles.
Here is a look at a few scam rap millionaires who made it big by committing fraud.
Nuke Bizzle
Nuke Bizzle is a rapper from Memphis, Tennessee
who made headlines back in 2020
after he ran an unemployment benefits fraud scam
then made a song flexing about it.
Although not a huge rapper,
Nuke started to gain attention during the pandemic
for flexing with big stacks of cash and showing off his lavish lifestyle.
He could have easily slid under the radar
and pretended that the money he was making came from rapping
or other business ventures.
But instead, he decided to brag about it in a song,
which is when his whole scheme was exposed.
On September 11th, 2020,
Nuke released a track called EDD featuring Fat Wizza
where he lays out his whole scam.
EDD stands for Employment Development Department
which is the government department in California
that is responsible for handing out unemployment benefits.
On the song Nuke and Wizza rap
“ I done got rich off of EDD
ain’t hit no more licks cause of EDD
and just last night, I was sellin Ps
and I just woke up to 300 Gs
stole 60k off and SBA
it’s time to ball like the NBA
10 cards, I’m swiping 10k a day
Counting up bills like a CPA.”
Basically, Nuke and Wizza are confessing to scamming the government
of unemployment benefits provided by the Coronavirus Aid,
Relief and Economic Security or CARES Act.
They created a scheme to apply for benefits using stolen identities
and received funds from the EDD and the SBA or Small Business Administration.
Clearly, admitting to this crime in a song was not the best idea,
because just a few weeks after releasing the video,
it was announced that Nuke Bizzle was arrested and charged with three felonies,
access device fraud, aggravated identity theft,
and interstate transportation of stolen property.
According to authorities,
Nuke had used stolen identities to obtain more than 1.2 million dollars in jobless benefits.
He used debit cards that were preloaded with money from the unemployment department,
that Nuke got using stolen identities.
The cops claim that after investigating,
they discovered that he had used at least 92 debit cards in his scheme,
all of which used the same addresses in Beverly Hills and Koreatown,
that Nuke had access to.
Nuke and Wizza may have gotten away with it,
had they not been dumb enough to rap about their crimes.
They didn’t just drop a few hints about their past criminal behavior,
they were wild enough to shout out the exact government agencies
they were hitting licks on.
Many rappers who diss their opps in songs end up having to face consequences later on.
But Nuke wasn’t finesing other street goons; he was playing the US government.
The Feds don’t play around either
and Nuke is now facing up to 22 years in jail for this fraud scheme.
He posted his address in jail to Instagram where fans can send him mail with the caption,
I’ll be home soon Jack,
showing he is optimistic about his case.
However, he’ll likely end up doing some time because the evidence is pretty clear-cut.
But Nuke Bizzle isn’t the only scam rapper out there.
This next rapper has built a successful career off of scamming
and teaching others how to do the same in his music.
Teejayx6
Teejayx6 is a self-proclaimed con artist
slash swiper turned rapper from Detroit, Michigan.
Where many artists have made a living rapping about their experiences selling crack
and being involved in the drug trade,
Teejay has built a name for himself by rapping about committing scams
and identity fraud online.
On tracks like Dark Web, he raps about the tools he uses to conduct his various schemes
including VPNs, Tor Browsers, credit cards, and of course the Dark Web.
His rap name is also a reference to a device called an MSR X6,
a small piece of hardware used to duplicate credit cards.
He raps with such detail and accuracy
that his songs are almost like an instruction manual for wannabe scammers.
In the song Swipe Lesson,
he gives the listener step-by-step instructions on how to pull off a credit card scam.
He claims that he’s trying to help the younger generation
by teaching them a way to make money
without risking their lives robbing or selling drugs,
but many claim it just encourages a different kind of criminal behavior.
Teejay says that he first started finessing when he was in the first grade,
selling bags of parsley by claiming it was weed.
He started to work his way up into higher-level scams
after his brothers put him onto some game.
In an interview with No Jumper, Teejay said
that one of the brothers who taught him how to scam
is currently doing time for bank fraud.
They’re the ones who schooled him in the game
and he started stealing people’s identities on the dark web
and using their social security numbers to create fake profiles.
Teejay is unapologetic about his scamming
and claims that he won’t stop until he’s making enough money
from music to match what he makes off fraud.
However, many have claimed that Teejay isn’t as big of a scammer as he claims to be
and is just doing it to gain attention for his music
pointing to the fact that he’s talked about his activities in numerous interviews
and in his music, yet hasn’t been arrested for any major crimes.
It’s not uncommon for rappers who grow up in the hood to rap about things they’ve seen
but haven’t actually done because they know it will attract attention.
In another interview with No Jumper, another well-known scam rapper
named Bandman Kevo
claims that he believes TeeJay has pulled off plenty of low-level scams
but isn’t quite the dark web kingpin he claims to be.
Whether Teejay is really about that life or not,
he makes entertaining music about a subject many listeners want to hear about,
which is why he’s gotten so popular.
However, it may be difficult for him to keep his persona going
while blowing up in the industry,
whether he’s actually out here committing crimes or just straight up capping.
This next artist used to support himself through scamming
until losing almost $40,000 worth of bitcoin
and deciding to take a break and try to focus on rap.
Guapdad 4000
Guapdad 4000 is a rapper from Oakland, CA
who has been releasing music since 2017.
He started gaining mainstream attention
after being featured on the Dreamville compilation album Revenge of the Dreamers III
and released his debut album Dior Deposits in 2019
had features from artists like Chance the Rapper and Denzel Curry.
On that project, Guapdad references his past as a scammer,
most directly on the track Scammin’ featuring Mozzy.
However, unlike Teejay6x, Guapdad only raps about his past activities
and doesn’t actually commit fraud anymore.
Guapdad started rapping under the name YB Keem in a group called the Whybees
after graduating from Berkeley City College but struggled to make a living off music.
He began focusing on his own solo career after the group fell apart
and went by the name Guapdad 4000.
But, needing a way to support himself,
he took to scamming to pay his bills and support his music career.
The rapper says that his uncle was the one who initially introduced him to scamming
and he just ran with it.
In the back of his mind, he always had his sights set on being a rapper,
but the music wasn’t what was paying his bills.
He claims that the moment he decided to leave scamming alone
and focus on music was when he got finessed for $40,000 worth of bitcoin.
In an interview with No Jumper,
Guapdad says he was doing business with some people in the Ukraine
and was using cryptocurrency to exchange funds.
He was trying to run up his money so he could cash out a major check,
but when he tried to withdraw his funds, many of the ATMs he was using had limits.
He somehow ended up losing all of the bitcoin in a transaction,
and because he had obtained it illegally,
he couldn’t exactly go to the police to report it missing,
so he had to just take the L.
Although scamming presents less risk than other illegal activities like drug dealing and robbing,
the downside is that when someone finesses you,
they are on the other end of a computer, possibly in a different part of the world,
not just down the block.
Therefore, it can be impossible to get your money back in a situation like this,
which Guapdad had to learn the hard way.
After taking such an expensive L,
he decided to leave scamming alone and focus on rap full time.
He decided to put the skills he learned to good use
and finesse his way through the music industry,
the way he used to finesse as a scammer,
which is how he ended up as friends with major players like Drake and the Dreamville crew.
The artist decided to move from his hometown of Oakland to LA
to pursue his career and the rest is history.
Although he has put scamming behind him,
that hasn’t stopped the him from referencing past business endeavors
on tracks like Scamboy and the 10 Scam Commandments,
a remix of the classic Biggie Smalls tracks 10 Crack Commandments.
But, unlike Teejay6x and Nuke Bizzle,
Guapdad has made it clear that his scamming days are over
and today he is entirely dedicated to the music.
But not all internet scams are illegal.
This next rapper built an entire music career
off of tricking people into downloading his songs on the popular file-sharing website Limewire.
Although he rarely gets credit for his accomplishments
because of his crazy behavior, Soulja Boy is the king of internet viral marketing.
The rapper was one of the first artists to blow up using the internet
and did it using tactics that many would consider low key genius.
Years before the scam rap phenomenon blew up,
Soulja was tricking innocent users of the file-sharing website Limewire
into downloading his music.
Before the days of streaming,
users would have to download MP3s from legal sites like iTunes
or illegally from sites like Limewire.
It was much harder back then for rappers to blow up online
because users would have to pay for your track
or at least know your music well enough to go search the song on a file-sharing website.
But young Soulja Boy figured out a cheat code that would change the game.
He would simply upload his track to the site
but change the name of it to a song that was popular at the time.
So, users would think they were downloading a Michael Jackson
or a 50 Cent song and it would be a Soulja Boy track.
It’s similar to an early online troll called Rickrolling
where users would send friends or coworkers a link
that would send them to the video for Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley,
despite being labeled as something else.
Although many were annoyed by Soulja Boy’s tactics,
it must have worked because the artist became the first ever viral rap sensation,
and his track Crank That became the first American song to sell 3 million copies.
So, even though Soulja Boy wasn’t scamming for cash,
he managed to finesse his way into a successful music career
by tricking the internet.
Although file sharing is illegal,
it carries a much lighter penalty than something like credit card fraud.
Soulja Boy’s viral antics became the new blueprint
for how rappers could gain a following in the digital age
and the artist is responsible for starting many trends that continue to this day,
such as dance challenges and using social media to interact with fans.
Soulja would definitively get more respect for his contributions to the game
if he wasn’t such a ridiculous character.
However, those who know, give credit where credit is due.
But not every scam rapper is open about their crimes.
This next rapper shocked everyone
when it was revealed that he was being investigated by the FBI for fraud.
G Herbo
G Herbo is a rapper from Chicago who came up back in 2014
when the drill movement was popping off on a national level.
Since then, Herb has maintained a consistent fanbase
by making authentic street music that speaks on the real issues going on in the Southside.
Although Herb isn’t huge on a mainstream level, he has had a successful career
and is well respected in his city.
That’s why it shocked fans
when it was announced that Herb was arrested for a series of federal charges
that included aggravated identity theft
and aiding and abetting a fraud scheme that involved members of his crew.
Herb maintains his innocence and pled not guilty to the charges.
However, Fed cases are usually difficult to beat
because the Federal Government normally doesn’t get involved
unless they know they have solid evidence to convict.
The case is still ongoing
and therefore more evidence is likely going to come to light as the case unfolds.
However, it seems like Herb’s manager Antonio “T-Glo'' Strong
was the one committing the fraud on Herb’s behalf
and used the rapper’s name and profile to cover it up.
The cops say Herb and his crew used stolen credit cards to finance their lavish lifestyle
while claiming the money was made legally through rap.
The scheme was discovered
after T-Glo tried to purchase a pair of designer French BullDog puppies
using a stolen credit card and called G-Herbo to cosign the purchase.
Even after speaking with the rapper,
the store thought it was sketchy and called the police.
Herb is facing up to six years in prison if convicted, however,
he doesn’t seem to be too concerned about the charges.
Even though it’s a Fed case,
the rapper has the money to hire a good lawyer
and the prosecutors will have to prove that he knew about the fraud scheme the entire time,
which may not be true.
So, either G Herbo is one of the most successful scam rappers of all time
or his homie was just using his clout to pull off his own schemes and got caught.
The truth will likely be revealed as the case unfolds.
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