Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer
Before hip hop actually took over the music world, not too many rappers had been arrested. Many rappers had criminal record, but the charges stem to a time before their career. Tupac Shakur made headline news after each of his multiple arrests. But, arrests became a commonplace in hip hop by the late 1990s.
In recent years, rappers have been hauled off to prison right in the prime of their careers. T.I. finally rose to uberstar status in 2008 and was sentenced to a year in prison immediately afterwards. Lil Wayne has been dominating rap for years and he was sentenced to prison after releasing a successful album with Young Money.
Ja Rule, a star in the early 2000s, was launching his comeback before he was sentenced to over three years in prison. Hip hop has become more popular with such crossovers as Drake. Mike Bigga, formerly known as Killer Mike, feels it is no coincidence with all of the rappers going to prison. He feels the government thinks hip hop has become too big and now they are trying to stop the movement.
Bigga gives credit to Suge Knight, saying he did the right thing by hiring the police to be a part of his security team. Many people assume the police are targeting hip hop because it is full of young and rich black men and feel some people will never accept that. Killer Mike is among the many who feel this way, he is the first one to make his feelings public.