There is no bigger name in gangsta rap than 50 Cent, the former crack dealer who survived nine bullets to become one of the bestselling names in American music.
Now one of the most notorious mysteries in the music industry has apparently been solved after the man who wanted the singer dead has been named during a New York court case.
The shooting of 50 Cent — real name Curtis Jackson — in a Queens neighbourhood in May 2000 and his seemingly miraculous survival has become rap folklore. He always claimed the man who shot him was a low-level drug dealer who himself died three weeks later. But court testimony last week revealed that he was targeted by a three-man hit squad after he wrote a disparaging song about brutal drug lord Kenneth McGriff, aka Supreme.
Former McGriff gangsta Jon Ragin testified that McGriff and two other gang members met after the shooting.
”Supreme said, ‘I got him,”’ Ragin told the court. He then described how the gang said they had left 50 Cent for dead, bleeding heavily. McGriff allegedly related how the rapper had squirmed and tried to ward off the bullets with his hands.
The details emerged during the trial of rap-mogul brothers Christopher and Irving Lorenzo, whose Murder Inc label has become hugely controversial. It boasted numerous high-profile artists and cultivated an edgy, violent image. Irving Lorenzo even adopted the surname Gotti in homage to the infamous Mafia family.
But prosecutors believe there was more than just marketing of an artificial image. McGriff, who has been convicted of heading a murderous street gang, is accused of funnelling up to $1-million in drug money through Murder Inc. The Lorenzos admit they knew McGriff, but claim they only used his reputation for ”street credibility”.
McGriff’s Supreme Team gang ran a drug network that took in $200 000 a day and was responsible for eight murders in 1987 alone. One witness has described how McGriff shot a girlfriend who refused to have an abortion. She survived to give birth to a son.
Critics say that rap is riddled with criminals and glorifies drugs and violence — stars such as Tupac Shakur, Biggie Smalls and Jam Master Jay have met violent ends.
But defenders say the industry is being unfairly targeted. Rap star Ja Rule blasted the prosecution case last week and said the government was declaring ”war on hip-hop”. — Guardian Unlimited Â