Big Brotha's Watching

Via anonymous emailer:

The NYPD is going to start filming real-life gangsta rap videos - by putting a surveillance camera outside violence-plagued radio station Hot 97, the Daily News has learned.

The decision was sparked by the wounding of a rapper last week in front of the hip-hop station's SoHo studios - the latest in a string of high-profile shooting incidents linked to Hot 97.

"We'll keep it in place until Hot 97 is evicted or cleans up its act," a police source told the News, adding that the camera will go up this week.

The camera, emblazoned with the NYPD logo, will be among the first in a planned wave of high-tech video recorders set to go up around the city.

But while most of the cameras are earmarked for high-crime areas and potential terror targets, this one will be specifically aimed at stemming rap-related gunplay in a generally safe, well-heeled neighborhood.

The latest violence erupted Wednesday night when rapper Jamal (Gravy) Woolard, 30, was shot in the butt outside Hot 97's Hudson St. studios by a hanger-on miffed the performer wouldn't let him sit in on a radio interview, cops said.

Woolard, who went through with the interview after being wounded, was treated at St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan and released. He has not cooperated with detectives.

There have been other rap related violence in the city in the past year, including the death of Busta Rhymes' bodyguard but the hip hop/rap artists have done little to cooperate with the police to solve that crime. It appears that the rap artists are more concerned about their street cred than actually making sure that it is about the music or being able to go about their business without worrying about getting shot. Gunplay only enhances their street cred, and who cares if someone is shot in the process. Heck, this particular rapper's street cred goes through the roof because he actually went ahead with his interview despite being shot.