2 hip-hop stars arrested in New York after concert

[Brandon C]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Music/07/23/rappers.arrested/index.html


NEW YORK (CNN) -- Hip hop artists Lil Wayne and Ja Rule were arrested Sunday evening after a concert in Manhattan on charges of criminal possession of weapons, each in separate incidents, a New York Police Department spokesman told CNN.


Ja Rule was pulled over for speeding and officers reportedly arrested him after finding a gun in the car.
2 of 2 Police say officers pulled over a speeding car around 10:37 p.m. on the Upper West Side carrying Ja Rule and two others.

They also recovered a .40-caliber pistol from the vehicle.

About an hour later Lil Wayne was arrested after officers caught him and another man smoking marijuana on the street.

They found a .40-caliber pistol in his possession.

Lil Wayne's real name is Dwayne Carter and Ja Rule's is Jeff Atkins. Both are best-selling rap artists. E-mail to a friend

[BB6dohcvtec]

lol at the part saying ja rule a best-selling rap artist maybe back before y2k lol.

["B"]

Pathetic.

1. I wouldn't have let them search my car.

2. I wouldn't be smoking weed out in the open.

3. I am about to give up on hip hop all together.

[Sammich]

1. I wouldn't have let them search my car.

do you mind if i look around your car a lil bit..
well my glove compartment is lock
so is the trunk in the back
and know my rights, so you gona need a warrant for that
arent you sharp as a tack what you some type of lawyer or somebody important or something
naw i pass the bar, but i know a lil bit
enough that you won't illegally search my shit
well lets see how smart you are when the caninines come
i got 99 problems and a bitch aint one, hit me

["B"]

Something like that. He might get off because I doubt they had probable cause beside the fact that he is a rapper.

[jamaicanDM]

man ja rule bout to come out with a new album so he went to NYC with a gun in his car speed on purpose to make the news...he still wack as helll

[jamaicanDM]

alot of rappers especially the NY rappers pays the Hip Hop police to arrest them before their albums drop....U hardly ever here anything like that happening down south especially here in ATL where there are alot rappers

[thinkfast®]

^^ LIL WAYNE GOT ARRESTED @ ATLANTIC STATION FOR HAVIN GREEN AND PILLS HOMEY, HE AINT DROPPED A ALBUM YET

[con]

^^ LIL WAYNE GOT ARRESTED @ ATLANTIC STATION FOR HAVIN GREEN AND PILLS HOMEY, HE AINT DROPPED A ALBUM YET
:lmfao:

[1SICKLEX]

OWNED BY THE NY TIMES!!!!!!!!!

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/col/daly/index.html
Ja Rule meets The New Rule and is facing a mandatory 3-1/2 years in prison after cops found a loaded pistol in his Maybach sports car.

Also facing The New Rule is his buddy Lil Wayne, who was arrested an hour later Sunday evening after police found a loaded pistol in his tour bus.

Both weapons were .40-caliber Taurus semiautomatics, a surprisingly cheap make but just as liable to get them into trouble as a pricey Glock. The matching guns also impart added meaning to their newly released duet.

The name of that song?

"Uh Oh."

Lil Wayne is from down South, where you can buy a pistol about as easily as a Popsicle, so he may not have understood just how big an "uh-oh" it was when cops found the Taurus along with half a pound of pot on his bus near Columbus Circle.

Ja Rule makes a big thing about being a New Yorker, and he must know about The New Rule regarding handguns. The city has even launched an ad campaign, putting up minibillboards and thousands of posters such as might accompany a hot new CD.

The posters feature hip graphics such as an upended pistol serving as the "L" in "JAIL." The message is clear enough for anybody to understand, even if he had smoked the other half of that pound of pot:

"GUNS = PRISON"

Maybe Ja Rule has great faith in the powers of an expensive lawyer. He did watch his prime producer, Irving (Irv Gotti) Lorenzo, strut out of Brooklyn Federal Court with an acquittal on money laundering charges, thanks to the brilliance of Gerald Shargel.

Gotti and his brother Christopher (Chris Gotti) Lorenzo were charged with laundering the proceeds of a drug gang known as the Supreme Team and headed by Kenneth (Supreme) McGriff. Gotti can be seen wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with "Supreme Team" in a recent YouTube clip about the making of the new "Uh Oh" video.

"I beat the feds!" Irv Gotti can be heard gloating.

Ja Rule also wears a "Supreme Team" T-shirt in the YouTube clip, as does a kid in his teens who offers what criminals might consider a public service announcement.

"Stop snitching!" the kid says.

So many people snitched on the seemingly all-powerful McGriff that the feds beat him. He was convicted of conspiracy to murder and sentenced to life in prison. His permanent departure from the scene left Ja Rule facing the dilemma common to rappers who act like street thugs but are in truth just nerds with attitude.

These candy rappers become easy targets for genuine street guys, who see high comedy when a mama's boy from Queens named Jeff Atkins makes himself into Ja Rule and sings a song such as "Gun Talk."

"We gangsta, point and blank ya," Ja Rule sings.

"Yeah, right," the real guys scoff.

Some years back, 50 Cent made a video wearing a gold chain that Ja Rule is said to have relinquished with extreme reluctance. Ja Rule was then robbed of another chain by some tough kids from the Forties Houses projects in Queens. Ja Rule is said to have turned to McGriff for help.

"Supreme got him his chain back," a knowledgeable law enforcement official noted.

Maybe this is the same chain Ja Rule can be seen wearing in the YouTube video along with that "Supreme Team" T-shirt. The problem for him is every street thug in New York knows McGriff is behind bars.

Uh-oh.

The knowledgeable law enforcement official almost expressed sympathy for Ja Rule yesterday.

"He was a good little mama's boy, and now he sings about guns and busting caps," the official said. "Now [that] Supreme's away, I guess he needs a gun."

The official considered how many truly tough guys are out there making a living by shaking down and robbing such candy rappers.

"I would venture to say he needs a .40-caliber gun," the official said.

Of course, the law does not recognize being a poseur as a justification for possessing an illegal loaded handgun. Ja Rule will have to rely on his high-priced lawyer arguing that police had no right to search the car. Or maybe one of the other two men in the car will claim ownership of the gun to get Ja Rule off the hook.

Otherwise, Ja Rule will be facing The New Rule.

Uh-oh.