Rapper Ab-Soul expresses support for LA shooter, exposing lingering mistrust of police

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The reaction to Dorner’s manifesto from Ab-Soul recalls the history of anger and condemnation of police in hip hop culture, as well as the general fear and distrust many African-Americans feel towards law enforcement. Artists like Snoop Dogg, NWA, Tupac Shakur and Ice-T long voiced strong opinions on the matter through their aggressive lyrics and music videos, often lashing out against racial profiling and incidents of corruption like the Rampart Scandals which rocked the LAPD during the late 1990s, after an officer alleged that fellow cops were shaking down drug dealers and framing innocent people. According to the New York Times, in 1991, Shakur filed a $10 million lawsuit against police officers in Oakland for allegedly assaulting him, and later, in 1993, he was charged with two counts of aggravated assault for shooting two off-duty police officers in Atlanta, Georgia — charges which were later dropped.

“When you’re in L.A., you have an corrupt police force that’s been around for decades – back to when the police were hired from the South and would say they were going ‘hunting in Watts,’” hip hop journalist Davey D told theGrio on Friday. “The police do some crazy stuff and people report it, and they just seem like they’re lying or exaggerating because there are all these policies that have been put in place to overrule them…The first time people felt some sort of vindication was with Rodney King because it got caught on tape, and it was proved all those people who were made out to be exaggerators or liars were right.”

“[Dorner] lays out a whole litany of things that you look at, and people are nodding their heads because they know,” Davey D added. “They’ve heard it. They know cops are running around kicking people and using the n-word. Even after the Rampart scandal, even after the OJ Simpson trial … People know, so they can relate. They’re like maybe this one time will lead to a change.”

Davey D points to media coverage of Dorner’s retaliatory efforts as evidence of how Americans are commonly misinformed about the subject. He says the fact that reporters have highlighted only certain components of Dorner’s manifesto – his interest in Michelle Obama’s bangs, for instance – rather than addressing his thoughts on LAPD corruption or racist incidents is an example of how the media shapes the general narrative.

“A lot of the stuff that this ex-LAPD cop despised is playing out right in front of us,” Davey D said, referencing the two innocent women who were shot when they were accidentally mistaken for Dorner by police. “In LA, any sort of snatch on the police is one people will get behind because police get away with so much stuff. Anytime the police get snatched on, you are most likely going to find a great reception from people who live in the hood or even outside the hood.”

For West Coast rapper Chace Infinite, who also manages rapper A$AP Rocky, the battle between the LAPD and his community is still a daily struggle and weighs heavily on a self-determinative ideology for minorities. He does not, however, believe the path of violence Dorner has chosen is necessary, and describes it more as a horrific manifestation of the sentiment within marginalized communities.

“You can’t see any merit anytime you’re killing people with the intention to drive across a point across, whether it’s in the name of a political belief or religious belief or whatever. You don’t have to kill,” he said. “Los Angeles has a deep and long history of strange and bizarre actions not only against the police but within the police…There’s a lot of s*** that goes on because L.A. is so close to Mexico, there are so many drugs, and gangs … But these cops are people at the end of the day.”

“In hip hop culture, in our generation, it’s our nature to refer to police as pigs,” Infinite added. “We come from disenfranchised areas in America, and those traditions and ideas are prevalent in hip hop. Law enforcement is not welcome, but not because we don’t want a safe environment. I have a daughter. I like good cops. I want her to be protected. The problem is, in Los Angeles, because gang and drug culture is so embedded, [the attitude towards police] has become the same dynamic that rules the Bloods and the Crips. But this rogue phenomenon, this guy’s just crazy.”

Infinite also believes any violent intimations within hip hop music are often exaggerated.

“There are certain general things in hip hop that are always exaggerated to emphasize something – it’s entertainment, the way a movie is scripted,” he explained. “It’s really just expressing sentiment that’s existed for a long time with disenfranchised people, and law enforcement taking advantage of their authority.”

Follow Courtney Garcia on Twitter at @CourtGarcia.