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How 2014’s Breakout Rap Star Spent Christmas In Prison

Bobby “Hot Nigga” Shmurda is currently incarcerated at Rikers Island and facing up to twenty-five years on conspiracy charges.
Ryan Bassil
London, GB

Bobby Shmurda has got to be in the running for most disappointing Christmas of 2014 . In case you missed it over the holiday season, Shmurda – who wrote “Hot Nigga”, arguably the biggest song of the summer which led to him being signed to a huge deal with Epic recordings – was arrested on December 16 and has been incarcerated at Rikers Island since.

Shmurda and his G9 crew have been monitored by the NYPD for the duration of 2014. The crew currently face the following charges:

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"One count of conspiracy in the second degree, three counts of conspiracy in the fourth degree, one count of murder in the second degree, seven counts of attempted murder in the second degree, 28 counts of possession of a criminal weapon in the second degree, two counts of criminal use of a firearm in the second degree, four counts of reckless endangerment in the first degree, ten counts of reckless endangerment in the second degree, two counts of controlled substance in the third degree, three counts of criminally using drug paraphernalia in the second degree, three counts of attempted assault in the third degree, four counts of assault in the first degree, and one count of assault in the second degree."

Shmurda himself has been threatened with twenty-five years on conspiracy charges, and fifteen years each on two separate weapons charges.

A 63-page indictment by the Supreme Court of the State of New York alleges the crew were under investigation because they "participated in and agreed to embark upon a certain course of criminal conduct including murder, assault, weapons possession, narcotics possession and sales and other crimes in order to maintain their dominance of that geographic area”.

Howard Greenberg, Shmurda’s attorney, attempted to visit the rapper over Christmas but was unsuccessful. He believes the charges against the crew are another product of the institutionalised racism in the American legal system. “The government hates rap and the government hates rappers," he told The FADER. "They construct a narrative and add rationalisations to make it seem true. They recruit guiltless and loveless people to whom truth is meaningless and convince them to say what they want to say. These people are jealous of a brother on the way up." He also said that Shmurda's lyrics would not be used in this trial, despite a recent trend for this in US courts.

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Shmurda has pleaded not guilty to the charges. His bail was set at $2 million by the state Supreme Court in Manhattan and Greenberg had earlier stated that Epic Records would post his bail. However since that statement, Epic has not issued any statement about posting bail and Shmurda remains incarcerated.

Read the full indictment here:

GS9 Indictment Redacted

Follow Ryan on Twitter: @RyanBassil