FabolousPhoto: Patrick McMullan
The Brooklyn rapper Fabolous was shot in the thigh in the wee hours of yesterday morning outside Diddy’s Flatiron restaurant, Justin’s. He fled in a Dodge Magnum and then was arrested himself when the car ran a red light and police officers discovered guns — including one with a sawed-off serial number — in the vehicle. And he thus entered the illustrious pantheon of New York MCs to get caught up with violence and cops. Join us for a stroll down memory lane, won’t you?
April 27, 2006: Minutes before a scheduled freestyling session on hip-hop tastemaker Funkmaster Flex’s Hot 97 show, Brooklyn up-and-comer Gravy is shot in the buttocks. Ignoring the searing pain in his ass, Gravy goes upstairs to the studio and proceeds to freestyle on the air. “What was I supposed to tell Flex?” Gravy said later. “‘You know what, Flex? I’m sorry, man. I can’t do the show. I was standing downstairs, got shot in the ass.’ What, are you nuts? I had to do what I had to do.” Medical staff at St. Vincent’s hospital eventually found the bullet in Gravy’s sneaker.
March 25, 2006: The last date on Queens rapper Nas’s U.K. tour is cut short when gunshots are fired inside London’s Brixton Academy. Fifteen minutes after the shooting, with most of the assembled crowd outdoors and panicked, Nas returns to the stage and finishes his set before police arrive. “I doubt anyone was trying to shoot Nas,” an eyewitness noted. “But you’re in Brixton, the heart of London’s biggest ghetto.”
February 5, 2006: The video shoot for Busta Rhymes’ “Touch It (Remix)” is interrupted by a barrage of gunshots that leaves Israel Ramirez, Busta’s body and jewelry guard, dead. Police believe the incident stemmed from an argument between G-Unit’s Tony Yayo and Ruff Ryder president Swizz Beats. To the police’s frustration, none of the approximately 500 people who were present at the shoot — including 50 Cent, Diddy, and Gary Sheffield — have come forward with any statements about what happened that night.
January 19, 2006: Brooklyn rapper Saigon (of Entourage fame) is attacked outside a Chelsea diner for his $18,000 necklace. As Sai and his buddy fight the assailant, another man stabs the rapper in the temple. Saigon attempts to hail a cab to the hospital but ends up driving himself to Bellevue. Asked later why he didn’t drive himself in the first place, Saigon explains that he didn’t want to get blood in his Mercedes.
October 24, 2005: Harlem’s Cam’ron is held up outside of a Washington, D.C., nightclub for his royal-blue Lamborghini. Refusing to give up the car, Killa Cam is shot in both arms. “I got shot three times, and my album comes out November 22,” Cam declares as he leaves Howard University Hospital.
October 30, 2002: Jam Master Jay, D.J. for seminal hip-hop group Run-DMC, is shot in the head and killed in a Queens recording studio. Several theories regarding his murder exist. Some speculate that he was killed in retaliation for a Rolex deal gone wrong by old neighborhood friend Curtis Scoon. Others say the killer was a disgruntled former music partner out for royalties. Another theory holds that Jay’s death was an execution order passed down by Queens drug kingpin Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff because of Jay’s involvement with 50 Cent. The investigation is currently at a standstill.
December 27, 1999: The mother of all New York rap-meets-gun tales, and still the one to top. Puff Daddy, his girlfriend Jennifer Lopez, and his Biggie soundalike protégé Shyne are at Midtown’s Club New York when shots are fired, leaving three wounded. As Puffy and J.Lo flee the scene, Puffy attempts to bribe his bodyguard-driver with $50,000 and a diamond ring if he’ll claim he was in possession of Puffy’s unlicensed gun. Puffy predictably beats the rap, but Shyne is currently serving out a ten-year sentence. On the bright side, he still has a record contract.
— Amos Barshad
