Rapper Foogiano is in some trouble after melting off his ankle monitor
and going on the run from Police for over 3 months.
Now, he’s spending the next few years in prison.
Let’s break down this wild story.
Foogiano is a rapper from Greensboro, GA,
known for tracks like Molly and SoIcyBoyz Parts 2 and 3.
Greensboro is a small city with a population of only about 3500 people
so growing up he knew everyone in town.
But he also grew up in a large family that included five brothers and four sisters.
He started getting involved in the streets at a young age
and has had several run-ins with the law that almost cost him his life.
He jumped off the porch at just 12 years old and started robbing and selling coke.
He says he was forced into the streets
because there wasn’t anything else to do in Greensboro.
Early on, he wanted to be a basketball star,
but that dream was crushed after he started getting in trouble with the law.
He first got locked up at just 14 for an attempted robbery
and ended up spending about a year in a juvenile detention center.
After getting out, he met his father for the first time at 15 years old.
At 16, he moved to Athens, GA, and linked up with one of his brothers.
Together, they started robbing homes in wealthy neighborhoods.
He continued to make money this way for several years
and ended up going to prison for a home invasion in 2013.
Neighbors noticed two men acting suspiciously and called the police.
They saw the two men get dropped off by a vehicle and then go into the back of one of the homes,
without going through the front door.
When police showed up,
they saw two men jump out of the window and run down the street.
They later tracked them down at a local middle school
and brought them in for questioning.
They were eventually charged with burglary, possession of burglary tools,
and obstruction of law enforcement.
Nothing was stolen, because police arrived while they were still in the home.
But all three men, including the getaway driver,
were still charged and Foogiano ended up doing about three years in prison for the crime.
While he was locked up, he started making music.
He had always written poems and was good at putting words together.
So, another inmate suggested that he turn his poems into music
and start rapping.
He messed around with rapping while behind bars
and started taking it more seriously once he got out.
He dropped his first song Gutta in 2017
and got a lot of positive feedback from the people around him.
That was enough for him to continue to grind and put out more music.
He ended up doing an artist showcase run by local rapper Boom Man,
which featured a grand prize of $10,000 and a label contract.
He ended up winning the showcase and signed to Authentic Empire Music Group.
Not long after, Foogiano would drop his breakout single Molly,
which quickly racked up millions of views.
The song was later remixed by DaBaby, which gained him even more mainstream exposure.
He followed up the song Trapper, which also did major numbers
and he ended up securing a verse from Lil Baby for the remix.
So Foogiano was quickly on his way to blowing up in the music industry.
His hustle ended up catching the attention of Gucci Mane
who signed him to 1017 Records in March 2020.
He dropped his debut project, Gutta Baby in November 2020,
which featured guest verses from Gucci, Pooh Shiesty, and Jacques.
So, it seemed like everything was finally coming together for Foogiano.
But just because he’d made some waves in the industry, didn’t mean he was out of the streets.
In July 2020, there was a shooting at one of Foogiano’s shows
that left two people dead and several injured.
He was performing at Lavish Lounge in Greenville, South Carolina
when someone on stage started firing into the crowd.
Two sheriff’s deputies responded to the scene around 2 am,
after a group of people was spotted running out of the venue.
In total, about 10 people were shot and two were later pronounced dead.
The victims who lost their lives were a 23-year-old woman named Mckayla Bella
and a 51-year-old security guard employed by the club.
Foogiano was performing at the time, so he was not charged with anything,
but was later sued over the incident.
One of his associates, Jacques Cooper was charged with two counts of murder
and seven counts of attempted murder.
According to police, the shooting occurred after Cooper threw up a gang sign on stage.
This instigated a fight between him and someone in the crowd.
He ended up pulling out a gun and firing several shots into the audience,
which ended up hitting the innocent bystanders.
Then in December 2020, Foogiano was arrested again
after police pulled him over in his hometown of Greensboro.
They already had their eye on him after the nightclub shooting,
so they pulled him over for a faulty brake light and tinted windows.
The officer who pulled him over claims that he smelled weed
and began searching the vehicle.
During the search, he uncovered a bunch of cash and a Glock 19 .9mm pistol with a laser beam.
Foogiano was not permitted to have the weapon
because of his previous conviction for robbery,
so he was arrested.
During his arrest, he allegedly told police that he had to carry the gun
because he was a famous rapper and most end up getting shot.
But that wasn’t a good excuse for the police and he was brought to the county jail.
He was charged with possession of a firearm as a convicted felon
and was kept in jail for several days.
He was later released on a $50,000 bond but was ordered to wear an ankle monitor
and remain inside the state of Georgia until trial.
But Foogiano clearly didn’t take this order all that seriously
and just a day after his release,
police received an alert that something was wrong with his ankle monitor.
They tracked its location and found it on the side of a highway
after Foogiano had melted it off his ankle and tossed it on the side of the road.
So, it seemed like the rapper was taking a page out of Tay-K’s playbook
and decided to ditch his monitor and do the Race.
But that move didn’t work out too well for Tay-K either
and now the police were pissed off and ready to take him down.
Given his criminal history, they could have kept him in jail until trial.
But they decided to let him go, which they would later regret.
Just like Tay-K, Foogiano didn’t even try to keep a low profile.
He continued to go on IG Live, flexing huge stacks of cash
and even filmed a music video while on the run.
He dropped the track Free Foo in March 2021,
which featured a recording from a police radio
telling other cops to be on the lookout for Foogiano,
who was on the run and considered armed and dangerous.
The video also featured actors dressed as police coming to arrest him
and chasing him as he escapes out the backdoor.
It was like he was taunting the cops and begging them to come to find him,
and they were just as eager to bring him in.
On March 11th, 2021,
US Marshalls tracked him to a location in Memphis, Tennessee.
He was in town attending the memorial service for Pooh Shiesty’s brother,
who had been battling brain cancer.
He and Shiesty were both signed to 1017 and must have formed a close bond
for Foogiano to risk his freedom to attend his brother’s service.
At that point, Foogiano had been on the run for about 3 months
and was charged with being a fugitive of justice without a warrant.
But even behind bars, Foogiano was in good spirits.
He told his fans that the arrest wasn’t going to slow down his hustle
and he seemed positive about getting released.
In early May, he pled guilty to removing his government-issued ankle monitor GPS device
and evading authorities by going on the run.
It would have been pretty hard for him to plead not guilty
after he literally made a song admitting to what he did, while still on the run.
The judge decided to make an example out of him and he was sentenced to five years in prison.
The sad part is that Foogiano could have easily gotten less time
or even probation if he had just pled guilty to the gun charge in the first place.
He has enough industry connections and lawyer money to work out a deal.
But, it seems like he couldn’t escape the street mentality
and it ended up costing him his freedom.
Several big names in the industry tweeted out their support after the verdict was announced.
The rapper’s former mentor Boom Man, who signed him early on in his career tweeted
“Green County just gave @FoogianoDaMayor 5 years
for cutting off his ankle monitor for a gun charge that wasn’t his
and was claimed by someone else this is beyond crazy.
We have to do something about this”
He’s not wrong about gun laws being messed up,
especially when it comes to rappers and felons who are just trying to protect themselves.
But when you decide to cut off a court-ordered ankle monitor
and taunt the cops while on the run, you have to be prepared for the consequences.
Meek Mill also came out in support, tweeting “Free Foogiano…
don’t try to kill that man whole career about tryna protect his self years ago!”
Plus, the Trap God himself Gucci Mane, showed support for his artist,
sharing a picture of them together on Instagram with the caption
“Free my Dawg ASAP we on top of it”
Foogiano’s case is the perfect example of a successful rapper
who didn’t appreciate the blessings he’d been given.
His original charge wasn’t even that serious
and he could have easily gotten it dismissed or pled down if he hired a good lawyer.
But instead, he decided to go on the run,
while still trying to make music, which was bound to fail.
He should have paid attention to what happened to the original rapper turned fugitive
– Tay-K - who didn’t even have a chance to enjoy the success of his music
before he was sentenced to decades in prison.
Foogiano can still have a second chance at a career.
He’s going to need to change his ways and prove some good behavior
if he wants to get out.
If not, he’s going to be locked up for the rest of his life.
Hopefully we will see Foogiano free soon.