Prominent Rappers Behind Bars - Marguerite Bysshe

If you're a fan of hip hop and keep up with today's rappers, you'll know that February has been a busy month. It feels like a new artist is arrested everyday, charged with some felony related to gun violence or illegal gang activity. After awhile, it can be hard to keep up with who's behind bars and who's not. This is partially due to the fact that the media likes to blur and exaggerate circumstances and also the fact that every other rapper today is "Lil" something or "YBN" whatever. It can definitely get confusing. Hopefully, this post will help clear up who's in trouble and for what.

Let's start off with Tekashi 6ix9ine, aka 22 year old Daniel Hernandez. Long story short, Hernandez was apart of the Nine Trey Blood Gang and put himself in some unfortunate situations. You know, robbing people at gun point, trafficking drugs around NYC, attempting to kill other gang members, and oh yeah, putting a hit out on one of his rival rappers (*cough cough* Chief Keef). Unfortunately for him, the hit man he sent kind of sucked and missed the shot, so now Hernandez is being charged with nine federal crimes and his rival is still alive. Gun charges, drug trafficking, conspiracy, and racketeering are just a few of the felonies he pleaded guilty to on January 23. He could face 47 years in prison and so far, his cooperation hasn't lead to any sentence reduction. As of now, he's going to prison in January 2020, giving him time to either figure out a sentence reduction or do something else that's stupid to add to his time.



On a slightly lighter note, apparently 21 Savage is British?? How did we not know this? He was arrested by ICE on February 3 and detained for awhile. Apparently, he was "obviously targeted" and arrested after he was pulled over by local cops. Sha Yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph had told fans he was from the Atlanta area since the start of his career. However, he had actually visited the US when he was 13 and overstayed his visa. He was convicted on drug charges in 2014, but ICE was not aware of his citizenship status. 21 Savage has since been released, but the issue has definitely brought detainment conditions and the treatment of illegal immigrants to the public eye once again.



In slightly less important news, Lil Baby was arrested for reckless driving in the beginning of February. According to police, Dominique Jones had failed to use a turn signal and was speeding past cars and constantly switching lanes in a high pedestrian area of Atlanta. As horrible and stupid as this is, I think the only thing more atrocious is the fact that he owns an orange Corvette. Orange?? Really? You're a multimillionaire and you're spending your money on orange cars? That's the real crime here. Please, just buy black or red or something a little less obnoxious next time and maybe you won't get pulled over.




February finished out with some other small time arrests are well. Blueface, born Johnathon Porter, is facing charges on illegal gun possession after being released on bail not even a month prior. BlocBoy JB, otherwise known as James Baker currently has a warrant out for his arrest. He faces charges of possession of drugs, theft of property, and a felon in possession of a handgun. At only 22, he has already served time for possession of drugs with intentions to sell as well as evading arrest and theft. Why does every rapper under the sun have an obsession with their guns? I have no idea.




Now we've arrived at Taymor McIntyre, better known as Tay-K 47. He was arrested in 2016 at only 16 for capital murder charges on two different events. He has also been charged with robbery and openly admitted that he has used illegal substances. Remind you, this kid is barely 18. He's had a rather troubled childhood and being involved in multiple murder cases isn't doing him any good. Unfortunately, McIntyre has also recently stirred up some problems behind bars. Besides threatening other inmates and staff, as well as physically assaulting other prisoners, McIntyre has decided to start a gang. Yes. A teenager attempted to start a gang called the "Rug Rats" behind bars. Genius. He even drafted a "Laws of Power" list, outlining the rules and conditions required to become a Rug Rat. It was a really great idea, a wonderful way to assert your dominance on the other inmates except for the fact that he ended up getting caught. And unfortunately for Tay-K, this incident could definitely increase his jail time.







2019 has been a busy month for rappers and fans alike. Another popular case was YNW Melly, who was charged on premeditated murder after the release of his song "Murder on My Mind". Hundreds of other rappers are behind bars for stupid things done for the "culture" and I think that is ridiculous. Many of today's rappers grew up in broken homes and were apart of illegal activity from a young age, which is a shame because they could be such positive role models for so many kids. Unfortunately, a new artist is arrested everyday and it doesn't seem like that trend is going away anytime soon.

Links: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/crime/article226974284.html

https://www.wsj.com/articles/ybn-cordae-the-new-rapper-bridging-hip-hops-generation-gap-11551718800

https://www.wafb.com/2019/02/28/rapper-blocboy-jb-taken-into-custody/

https://www.npr.org/2019/02/04/691210275/atlanta-rapper-21-savage-arrested-by-ice-for-allegedly-overstaying-visa

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/rapper-21-savage-describes-arrest-ice-we-got-savage-n971951

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tekashi-6ix9ine-pleads-guilty-to-federal-charges-will-help-gang-investigation-2019-02-02/

https://pagesix.com/2019/02/20/rising-rapper-blueface-faces-felony-gun-possession-charge/

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2019/02/07/reports-rapper-lil-baby-arrested-reckless-driving-eluding-police/2808164002/

https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/crime/2019/02/20/ynw-melly-murder-my-mind-shooting-ynw-juvy-ynw-sakchaser/2928320002/