West Coast ain't Hip Hop? Incarcération de rappeurs...

Quand on laisse OJ Simpson en liberté mais qu’on enferme les Gangsta rappers
Ice CUBE n’a pas réellement été arrêté par ses ennemis de l’époque, mais un de ses plus proches partenaires de rimes de l’époque croupit en prison. Voici son cri, relayé par DubCNN :

press release:
This cry for freedom is one I pray that doesn't go un-heard. My name is DaSean "JDee" Cooper. I am an Original Member of DA LENCH MOB, a rap group founded by Ice Cube in the 1990's. I was the lead rapper in the group for our debut Platinum release titled, "Guerillas
In The Mist."
Upon our return home from Europe in the summer of 1993, I was falsely accused, tried and convicted of murder - a crime that I and 95% of Los Angeles (including the victim's family) know that I did not commit. My trial attorney had suffered a stroke prior to my trial
and subsequently he had a mild stroke. I was denied several constitutional rights and was tried and convicted based on rap lyrics and a 911 tape recording. There was no gun, no gun shot residue, no credible eyewitness and the only compelling witness
was instructed to stay hidden until the prosecution needed her. There was ineffective assistance of counsel, jury misconduct, prosecutorial misconduct and judicial misconduct. Hearsay evidence was illegally admitted and jurors were overheard in elevators
discussing the case before it was submitted for deliberation.
There is a retired L.A. Sheriff named Herb Giron who's known me for over two decades and he conducted his own investigation and knows that I'm not the real suspect shooter and culprit. My 14th,5th and 6th Amendment, Rights were violated. And I truly believe that "Music" was placed on trial and I was convicted of being black and a "gangsta rapper". I was denied any and all Black jurors...my jury consisted of 8 whites & 4 Asian-Americans. This was in 1994 - post L.A. uprising/Rodney King beating and during the O. J. Simpson pre-trial circus. I was denied bail in a non-capital case, which was a violation of my 8th Amendment Constitutional Right.
O'Shea "Ice Cube" Jackson left me for dead due to negative publicity. The record label, East-West/Time lawyers and law students to help me prevail in this fight for freedom. I've wrote several law firms who claim to do Pro-Bono work. But no one likes rappers; especially one who's as outspoken as myself. There are plenty of Federal & State violations and I am literally throwing myself at the mercy of this law school (and/or firm) to please get involved in my fight for my life.
I've been in touch with the retired sheriff (Giron), this past Feb.2003 and he's willing to help. I've tried everything in my power and I've even located 3 new eyewitnesses who were present the night the crime was committed.
As of this writing certain artists are expressing their concerns. However, talk is extremely cheap and I'm in need of serious help. Please feel free to write me at the address below with any help or suggestions. Comments are welcomed also.
May Our Creator Bless You All! Peace!
DaSean "JDee" Cooper J52728
C2-221UP PO BOX 921
CENTINELA STATE PRISON
Imperial, CA 92251


Quant à l’incarcération pour de futiles raisons du légendaire Pimp C, producteur et rappeur de UGK, elle en dit long sur la politique américaine visant à emprisonner toute une génération de noirs américains.
FREE PIMP C
Or at least send him a lil letter...
Chad Butler, # 1136592C.T. Terrell Unit1300 FM 655 Rosharon, TX 77583-8609
Pimp C by Matt Sonzala

I don’t think anyone out here is really clear about what really got you into this predicament. What are you in here for?

Well you know, what they call aggravated assault. But now, there was no bodily injury and it actually was not an assault. In the state of Texas, if a person fears for they life and you have a weapon, that’s classified as aggravated assault. So I’m gonna give you the quick run down of the story. I’m in a mall, I’m by myself, I’m in a store and I got a cell phone up to my ear. I tell the manager, "I need this pair of shoes" and I got my back turned. There’s a group of five people, three girls and two guys. I hear a conversation going on behind me. One of the girls ask the girl behind the counter "Who’s that?" And the girl proceeds to tell her, oh that’s Pimp C whoop de whoo, this and that, get’s to naming some songs. So real loudly and real belligerently the broad goes "Oh! I don’t listen to them old pussy ass niggas." Like that right? So uh, I’m on the phone with Bun at the time I tell him "Hey man lemme call you back." So I hang up and I turn around and when I see them broads, I asked her I said "Hey man uh, why you gotta talk my name with that shit in ya mouth?" You know what I’m sayin’? So me and the broad, we get in a little argument but it’s really funny. People laughin’ you know what I’m sayin’? She crackin’ on me, I’m crackin’ on her, and in the process I got the best of her. So the broad was like uh "Yeah nigga, I got your bitch, this such and such street," and she reached off in her jacket and when she did that I lifted up my jacket and showed her the thang. So when I showed her the thang I said, look, I said, "Freeze, don’t move no mo’." And I look over at the two dudes and I say mayne don’t even try it and the dude put his hands up and said "Man we don’t want it." And I tell them, I don’t want it either man. I look back at the broad and I say "Y’all need to back up out this store, this not funny no more." That’s the incident that led to me getting locked up here. I ended up getting charged with aggravated assault for that. They said that was an assault cuz I showed them my pistol. Alright, in the process, I ended up taking a probation, what’s called Deferred Adjudication Probation on it. Which was capped off at 4 years. I ended up violating the probation a year later on a community service violation which is something they don’t usually do. But in my case, hey it was politics. The rest is history man. I been gone ever since then. They sent special prosecutors after me. They started asking me, "What is Rap-A-Lot Records, who is James Prince to you?" And all that kind of talk and I told them, "That’s a friend of my family." I’m not signed to Rap-A-Lot Records, I’m signed to Jive Records, so in the process, I felt like I was in the position where I had to take the probation because what they was talking was some way out shit. And mind you, at the time I took it, I knew I was gonna violate it because the system is set up down here to where 90-95% of the people who take this type of probation violate it. But I also knew and I had it in my heart and I knew in my head that most times if you don’t catch another case and you violate in some kind of way they usually give you the time you have left on probation. So what I was trying to do was cap something off that could have been 2 – 20 at 4 years. But now, uh, mind you, the judge got the right when you violate to give you what the crime carry. But now I didn’t catch no new case and really if I hadn’t been who I am or who they perceive me to be, it probably wouldn’t have got violated for a community service violation and I probably wouldn’t have got the extra 4 years tacked on to the 4 I already had.

So you got 8 years?

Yeah I got 8 years aggravated. Classified as aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.