Believe it or not,
Toronto is a city full of goons,
but none of em are as wild as Top5.
The rapper is best known for hanging with Drake
and he even said
he was Drizzy’s personal shooter.
But now
Top5 got himself caught up in a crazy situation with the law,
after goin Live while on the run
for murder.
Let’s see what all went down.
On January 31st, 2021,
a college student
named Hashim Omar Hashi
was on his way out to get dinner with a few friends.
He got back home that night around 9 inside the building's parking garage.
As he was tryna swipe his pass to get in,
someone ran up on him from behind
shooting his car and killing him.
Police later found
a black 2017 Honda Civic that was set on fire,
not too far from the murder scene.
The Honda matched the description of the one used in the shooting
and police believed it was the shooters.
At first, the cops was confused.
Hashi was a college student with no known gang ties or criminal record.
He was goin to Humber College to be an accountant
and wasn’t known to have any enemies.
But he was definitely targeted,
cuz he was the only one in the car
and the shooter caught him with his guard down.
The area Hashi lived in was known for gun violence
and at first, they thought maybe he was killed by mistake.
But an arrest would soon be made.
In February 2021,
police arrested 22-year-old Hassan Ali,
aka Top5
in connection with the murder of Hashim Omar Hashi.
Top5 is a rapper from Toronto
best known for his association with Drake
and his rep as a real demon in the 6.
Police don’t know if he was the shooter
but they think he was in the back seat at the time of the murder.
They say, after Hashi was killed,
Top5 and another dude went home and changed their clothes.
So, he got arrested and charged with bein an accessory to murder after the fact.
Top5 was always a controversial rapper.
He came up in the Lawrence Heights neighborhood also known as the Jungle.
He first built a buzz in 2014 with the track Hall of Fame
featuring Robin Banks
and Shirt off on Any Block.
He liked bein in music videos with no shirt
and he even started going by the name Shirt off Shawty.
In an interview with Noisy he said the shirtless trend
started in 2013 at the OVO Bounce Tournament.
NBA Player Brandon Jennings was there with his shirt off,
so Top5 took his off too and took a pic with him.
That turnt the whole crowd up.
He posted it to IG with the hashtag #shirtoffshawty
and ever since then, it’s been his thing.
Drake was the tournament too
and Top5 got a picture with him shirtless as well.
This is where their friendship first started.
His career got a massive boost
after Drake reposted him on IG and shouted him out in songs.
In December 2013,
Drake posted a picture of himself watching one of Top5’s videos
with the caption
“Back to the 6ix word to Top5”.
A few years later,
Drake mentioned him on the track Grammy’s from his album Views.
On the song, he raps,
“Boys Better Back of Me
Hall of fame hall of fame
Like I’m shirt off, like I’m shirt off
Like I’m shirt off shawty
Whole City Goin crazy
Whole city goin crazy
Top5 no debatin
Top5 Top5 Top5”
In the bar,
he says the rapper’s break-out song and his nickname,
then also drops his actual rap name.
So it was clear Drake was rockin with Top5.
They was spotted together on multiple occasions,
confirming that it was more than just a name drop.
So,
with a cosign from not just the biggest rapper from his city,
but the biggest artist in the world,
Top5 on his way
to taking over the Toronto rap scene fast.
But like most, his love for the streets
kept him from reaching his full potential with music.
Top5 ran the GGG gang from the Jungle,
who allied with the Upper Jane and Driftwood neighborhoods.
He was also known for going on DJ Akademiks show
to talk about the work he put in on the streets.
One time he said way too much
when he told Akademiks that he was Drake’s personal shooter
and if he had problems with anyone in Toronto,
the GGG gang would take care of it.
Yeah I'm Drake's shooter.
Oh ****
I'm not lying to you anybody disrespects Drake I'm shooting.
Damn
But all the clout must have gone to his head
cuz if he was really bout that life,
it probably wasnt too smart to be givin details on Akademiks show.
He was also known for dissing opps on social media
and threatening to snatch rival rappers chains.
He was a real problem for his enemies
and one of the most hated rappers in the city.
Not long after Hashi got killed,
Top5 would be on Global News talking about his career as a rapper.
He tells the reporter
that he wasn’t really about the life he claimed
and only did it for money and attention.
The News segment was called
“Meet the Black Canadian Artist
Pushing for More Change
After the George Floyd Movement”.
The clip painted a picture of Top5
trying to change his ways and help his community against violence.
But in reality,
he just got done bein part of an execution type murder
of an innocent member of his community.
Maybe he got scoop that police was on him
and tried to clean up his image before they made an arrest.
But the news segment wasn't foolin the police,
and he got charged with accessory to murder a week later.
But the cops aint have enough evidence to keep him,
so he ended up gettin released on bail.
He was told to stay on house arrest and wear an ankle monitor.
He also wasn't allowed to use any social media platforms,
but his management team was able to post for him.
But he wouldn’t be out long
cuz in May, the police upgraded his charges
from accessory to murder to first degree murder.
This was after they found out
Top5 cut off his ankle monitor and did the race.
But instead of just disappearing and staying lowkey while on the run,
Top5 would pop up on social media like nothing happened.
He went on IG Live,
chopped it up with fans,
showed himself drinking and working in the studio,
and basically just acted like nothing happened.
He said the allegations against him wasn’t true
and it was just a big misunderstanding.
He even called out Torontos mayor and requested a sit down.
But he also called him a goof
and said that he’s the one who really runs Toronto.
The post got so much attention,
that the mayor responded by telling the rapper to turn himself in.
Obviously, Top5 aint listen
and instead pulled a Tay-K,
and dropped a music video called Movie featuring Why G and Bundog,
which quickly ran up millions of views.
But all the flexin would lead to his downfall
and police caught the rapper in Los Angeles
in October 2021.
It’s not clear exactly how they found him,
but he really aint make it that hard.
Going on IG Live and dropping music videos
that can give away your location is never the best move for a dude on the run.
But I think all Top5 cares about is the clout and not the consequences.
Especially when you go back
and see all the livestreams with Akademiks,
where he basically tells on himself
for a lot of the dirt he did in the streets of Toronto.
But then tries to turn around and says it was all cap
and he’s doin it to make money.
So Top5 is going to have a tough legal battle.
It don’t seem like police believe he’s the one who actually pulled the trigger.
But going on the run, while taunting the cops
and even the Mayor
aint gon help his case.
Especially since he was already banned from using social media.
It’s still not clear what happened that night
and if Hashi was killed on purpose
or if they got the wrong dude.
There's still a lot of unanswered questions
and fans gon have to wait and see what happens
once the case goes to court.
Stay posted for updates.