Police secretly watching hip-hop artists
Boomtown
on hip-hop celebrities like P. Diddy and DMX and their entourages when
they come to South Florida, a move police say is to protect the stars
and the public.
Officers say they have photographed rappers as they arrived at Miami
International Airport. They stake out hotels, nightclubs and video
shoots. They consult a six-inch-thick black binder of every rapper and
member of his or her group with an arrest record in the state of New
York. The binder begins with a photo and rap sheet of Grammy-nominated
rapper 50 Cent. It ends with Ja Rule. Both men are embroiled in one of
the most bitter feuds in the hip-hop industry, one that Eminem, 50
Cent's producer, has warned in the song Bully could lead to bloodshed.
The policing effort of top entertainers -- which hip-hop experts
criticize as unnecessary stereotyping -- was created, police say, to
protect the public and musical celebrities who have chosen to make South
Florida their destination to live and party.
''We have to keep an eye on these rivalries,'' said Assistant Miami
Beach Police Chief Charles Press. ``The last thing we need in this city
is violence.''
Government agencies keeping tabs on musicians is not new. The Nixon
administration investigated former Beatle John Lennon in the 1970s and
tried to have him deported. The band Body Count led by rapper Ice-T got
the attention of police nationally in the early 1990s with the song Cop
Killer. But those cases involved individual artists or groups, not
monitoring across a musical genre.
''There's been no shortage of rock stars and other musicians''
scrutinized by police, said Anthony DeCurtis, contributing editor at
Rolling Stone magazine. ``But there has never been anything like this.''
Several music executives and legal scholars say the
intelligence-gathering highlights the misunderstanding between the
police and a $10-billion industry. The police, they contend, have used
the slayings of high-profile artists like Tupac Shakur, the Notorious
B.I.G. and Run DMC's Jam Master Jay, to justify tracking many in the
industry.
''Some people see gangs and hip-hop artists as being synonymous,'' said
Benjamin Chavis, president and chief executive officer of The Hip-Hop
Summit Action Network, a government-watchdog and voter-registration
group. ``That's a mistake. The recording industry is a legitimate
American enterprise, not a gang.''
Said attorney Bruce Rogow: ''This kind of conduct shows insensitivity to
constitutional limitations. It also implicates racial stereotyping.''
Rogow successfully represented 2 Live Crew when the rap group was
prosecuted for obscenity in the early '90s.
PART OF POLICE WORK
Press says it's good police work that has nothing to do with
stereotyping a culture or musical genre: ``What would law enforcement be
if we closed our eyes. Our job is to know as much about things that
could hurt innocent people.''
Jeff Peel, director of Miami-Dade's Office of Film and Entertainment,
said he's worried about a policy that could prompt hip-hop artists to
stay away. South Florida is a choice spot for stars to live, celebrate
and film music videos, an enterprise that pumps millions of dollars into
the local economy.
''If something's going to dissuade them from coming, that would not be
good news for us,'' Peel said.
Press and other officers say they welcome the musicians, but some
rappers and their groups have had brushes with the law, police said.
Miami Detective Peter Rosario said the practice of photographing rappers
with their entourages shows who's in their circle.
''A lot if not most rappers belong to some sort of gang,'' Miami police
Sgt. Rafael Tapanes said. ``We keep track of their arrests and
associates.''
Dozens of rappers are tracked in the black binder, from minor artists
like Black Rob to major figures like Sean ''P. Diddy'' Combs, Jay-Z, Nas
and Busta Rhymes.
Publicists for Ja Rule, 50 Cent, Eminem, Jay-Z and P. Diddy refused to
comment for this story.
Tapanes said the New York Police Department gave the binder to local law
enforcement during a three-day ''hip-hop training session'' in May.
Officers from other major cities like Los Angeles and Atlanta attended
the event.
New York police officials denied having a hip-hop task force when asked
recently by The Herald.
`WHAT TO LOOK FOR'
''Everybody that went got a binder with information on rappers that have
been arrested, outlining charges,'' Tapanes said. ``They were trained on
what to look for in the lyrics, what to look for when they go to hip-hop
concerts, what radio stations and TV stations to monitor to keep abreast
of any rift between these rappers.''
Press said local intelligence gathering on rap artists started after the
Memorial Day 2001 weekend, when some 250,000 hip-hop fans flocked to
South Beach for four days of parties hosted by their favorite rappers.
Beach police made 211 arrests, double the usual number of a regular
weekend, most for disorderly conduct and intoxication.
No major rap artist was arrested, but police felt compelled to figure
out every nuance of the hip-hop culture that had spawned such a
following, said Press.
''Nobody on the Beach had a handle on who the players were,'' Press
said. ``We didn't know anything, we didn't know who were the big record
labels, who were the kingpins; we didn't know why there were rivalries
with Ja Rule and Eminem.''
Months later, Police Chief Donald DeLucca sent detectives to New York.
''It was paramount for us to understand because we know this is now
their destination of choice,'' said Press, emphasizing that the
department monitors activities related to other music events, including
Spring Break festivities and this week's Winter Music Conference.
Besides the information they get from other police contacts, officers
say they depend on hotel and nightclub workers and off-duty police
officers on security details to keep them informed on the celebrities
and their followers.
''If we know 50 Cent is coming to town then of course we have to be on
alert,'' Press said. ``We know there have been multiple attempts on his
life.''
The very notion that the Beach needed to send police to figure out the
hip-hop culture is laughable, says Papa Keith, a DJ on 103.5 Tha Beat.
''If they're saying they're trying to learn about hip-hop, then hire
more brothers and put them in the ranks and let them help you in that
respect,'' Keith said. ``Why do you need to send a bunch of cops to New
York?''
Of the Beach's 97 officers in supervisory jobs, only one is black. Of
Miami's 226 ranking officers, 26 are black. Chavis, head of the HSAN,
suggests sensitivity training for police departments.
Press says the fact that South Florida remains a destination for hip-hop
artists and its fans proves that the police have not been heavy-handed.
Luther Campbell, the former 2 Live Crew rapper, said any intelligence
gathering is unnecessary because rappers only come to South Florida to
enjoy the weather and party.
''If they had problems like rappers coming down here and fighting, yeah
you got to serve and protect,'' Campbell said. ``But you don't have
those kinds of problems. The cities should take taxpayer dollars and put
them toward something else.''
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/entertainment/8139956.htm
Otto Ramone
murder, along with other gang activity, and threats towards others, whether
specific or general, there's PLENTY of reason to keep an eye on them.
--
remove "NOSPAM" from address to reply, or wonder why your mail was returned
"Boomtown" <boom...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:c2l51g$6o5$2...@green.tninet.se...
maryanne kehoe
Martin Luther King and other civil rights leaders.
Re: Police secretly watching hip-hop artists
Group: alt.gossip.celebrities Date: Tue, Mar 9, 2004, 8:22pm (EST+5)
From: tryin...@NOSPAMprodigy.net (Otto Ramone)
Calvinwiggs
>From: "Otto Ramone" tryin...@NOSPAMprodigy.net
>Date: 3/9/2004 3:22 PM Eastern Standard Time
>Message-id: <yIp3c.22267$Js7....@newssvr31.news.prodigy.com>
Aren't they infringing on their right to assembly? I mean come on people we
can't have the police keeping tabs on them that would be un-american.
Otto Ramone
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"maryanne kehoe" <atl...@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:2090-404...@storefull-3257.bay.webtv.net...
BUT that was the same excuse the FBI gave in the 1960's for trailing
Martin Luther King and other civil rights leaders.
Seriously? MLK Jr and other civil rights leaders had songs about abusing
women, selling/using drugs, and killing others? And threatening them as
well? Sweet! Where can I buy a CD of these?