But because of their celebrity, and sometimes the belief that they're bankrolling the whole operation, they are often painted as the proverbial kingpins. RICO, when it's applied to rap stars, a lot of times the rappers are not the ones accused of the most egregious crimes. In our reporting for that season, we talked to this gang expert and academic, Babe Howell, and she really broke down for us this difference between gangs in the more organized sense and just neighborhood crews that are way more unorganized and typically driven by juveniles - by young folk who grew up around each other and who, she says, studies show are really more likely to grow out of that youthful criminal phase, unless they get caught up in the system. It's one that we really asked and puzzled over a lot in season one of Louder Than A Riot. I guess what I'm asking is, what does it mean to be a gang?Ĭarmichael: That's a good question. But that seems a bit different than the mob, where there was a very strict hierarchy and structure. These are my friends, these are my brothers. When you're casting a big net like that, the complication to me would seem to be this idea of - I grew up with these people. Louder Than A Riot My Brother's Keeper: Bobby Shmurda (Pt 3) So if you're a rapper and you associate with people engaging in criminal activity - maybe y'all grew up on the same block, maybe you used to run the same streets before you switched into entertainment, maybe you brought them with you out of the streets into entertainment - prosecutors can use all that and use RICO laws to brand y'all as an organized crime syndicate. Everyone is being roped in and classified as a gang member.īasically, it allows prosecutors to hold anyone and everyone in an entire group responsible for the worst things someone in their circle has done. When prosecutors apply RICO to rap, it's not just the rappers getting caught up in the system, but it's their whole crew and their whole entourage. Sidney Madden: RICO is most commonly used as a tactic to sweep up entire street gangs, and the definition of a street gang gets real spongy when you look at it in Black communities. But now we're seeing it applied to rap crews or what the police are calling gangs. But these RICO laws were designed to target organized crime - the mob, people like John Gotti, these very institutionalized organizations. Obviously Black people in America are overrepresented in the criminal justice system. NPR's Ayesha Rascoe spoke with NPR Music podcast Louder Than A Riot co-hosts Sidney Madden and Rodney Carmichael about how the definition of "gang" is being applied to rap crews. But these latest charges and arrest fit within a larger web of how the criminal justice system is using RICO to prosecute hip-hop artists. The indictment names "Young Slime Life," Young Thug's rap collective, as a street gang, and the rapper as its founder. Last week, the Fulton County District Attorney in Atlanta charged rappers Young Thug and Gunna with an indictment of more than 80 pages for allegedly participating in street gang activities and violating RICO law - that's short for "Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization" - a law that was originally designed to fight organized crime like the mafia. Last week, the Fulton County District Attorney in Atlanta charged rapper Young Thug (pictured) with an indictment for allegedly participating in street gang activities and violating RICO law.
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