DJ Drama Gets Thrown Under a Bus!
For me January 17, 2007 is a day that will never be forgotten. I sat at the studio with my producer and watched as Atlanta Fox 5 reported that the Fulton County SWAT Team along with Clayton County officials and the RIAA had just raided DJ Drama’s downtown Atlanta studio seizing everything in sight. CD’s, recording equipment, company records, cars, money, and pretty much anything that wasn’t nailed down was confiscated as DJ Drama and DJ Don Cannon were taking into custody and latter hit with a RICO Act for racketeering. Now for those of you who don’t grasp the severity of what the RICO Act is, I’ll explain it. The RICO act was created back in 1970 to aid law enforcement agencies bring down organized crime families. Simply stated, if you commit any 2 of the 35 crimes specified in the Act within a 10 year period you can be hit with a RICO charge which carries a maximum fine of $25,000 and 20 years in prison. Now with that in perspective, let’s get back to the subject.
I watched as Fox 5 reporter, Stacey Elgin, demonized two of hip-hops most well respected DJ’s as if they were running a some sort of bootlegging empire, continuously referring to mixtapes as counterfeit CD’s. Keep in mind that we are talking about DJ’s that work closely both with major artists and the same record labels that fund the RIAA, DJ’s that have been instrumental in aiding artists such as Young Jeezy, TI and Lil Wayne achieve platinum sales status, DJ’s with their own radio shows on not only Sirius satellite radio but also one of Atlanta’s hottest radio stations, WHTA 107.9. I listened as both Fox 5 and Fulton county officials insinuated that some how being a hip hop DJ automatically associates you with drugs and/or gun possession. And although neither of which were found during the raid of the studio, Fox 5 still found this opinion important enough to mention multiple times in the course of the story.
There were so many points of disgust during this report that I’m not even going to try to tackle them all. Before I picked up a pen to write the article I decided to wait and see how things played out, So I waited… and I waited... and I waited! What exactly was I waiting for? I was waiting for the cavalry. I was waiting for the artists to step forward and publicly defend Drama, to defend Cannon, to defend the DJ’s, to defend Hip Hop. The days soon turned into weeks before I realized that nobody was coming. I had to ask myself where was Nas? Surely the self appointed commentator on the state of hip hop has something to say about this direct attack on one of it's four essential elements, but I guess the state of hip-hop only matters when you have an upcoming release date. Where was T.I., Jeezy, Lil Wayne, or any of the artists that the Gangster Grillz Mixtapes helped to promote? I listened… And if they spoke against the RIAA, I guess I missed it. The overwhelming lack of public support from the people who benefit most from mixtapes lead me to ask, Is there no unity in hip-hop? Has the rap game turned into just another job? Have the artists become so caught up in filling their pockets that they have lost perspective of what’s really going on. If so, let me put it into perspective: DJ’s BREAK artists (Musically). Record companies break Artists (Financially)! Who’s side are you on?
Comments
I am here to tell it like it is, plain and simple. Hip Hop is a life long love for me, more than that actually, its an obsession for me. I sit in the john and tap out drum lines on the wall while I am taking a shit, I am always thinking of someway to make my next beat. People talk, and I hear Rap Lyrics. Its everywhere for me, its everything to me! But a few years ago I came to the realization that Hip Hop, like most things in life that have a heirarchy, is full of snakes, fakes and flakes! There is no way around it, its a sad truth but its the truth nonetheless.
When I needed my Hip Hop community to come to my aid when I got a raw deal in Portland, OR (Long story, I will go into another time) the only ones that showed up are my real friends who would have showed up regardless of my music. In my opinion, the only similarity we share with Gangs and Organized Crime, is that when someone needs to roll on you to get over, they will do it in a New York Minute! Most people in Hip Hop will roll over their dying mother to hump their sister! Sad truth, but the truth nonetheless!
DJ Drama and Cannon got what I got, what many others have got and what any of you will get if you ever think that their is loyalty in this game. The only people who will be loyal to you are the ones who were loyal to you before your music took you anywhere and you even have to watch some of them. I wish it were not the case, but it is the way it is. Loyalty in this life is a hard thing to come by, and when you find it, you better make damn sure you appreciate it, because its a rare bird that most of us will never even get to see in our lifetime!
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