Ever since Israel Ramirez was shot dead during a shoot for a Busta Rhymes video shoot, the NYPD have been pleading with Busta Rhymes to step forward and give his side of the story.
But the rapper is being uncharacteristically silent, leading to New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly badmouthing Rhymes for his lack of cooperation with the investigation. Maybe this isn’t such a bad thing, though: on past experience, Busta Rhymes would just talk so fast that nobody could understand him, and then scream "Switchmode!" over and over again.
Even for the hip-hop world, where shootings seem to happen on a
weekly basis, the killing of Israel Ramirez – a bodyguard of Busta
Rhymes (DVDs) – earlier this month shocked many. Not least NYPD commissioner
Ray Kelly, who has launched an attack on Busta Rhymes for stonewalling
the police’s efforts to get to the bottom of the incident:
"[Ramirez]
worked for him. I’d think that he’d be knocking on the door … if your
employee’s murdered in front of you, you think you might want to talk
to the police … I find it quite disturbing. This individual was shot
in front of a lot of people."
It is thought that on February 5, an unknown gunman
fired up to a dozen shots into a crowd of extras at a video for a remix
of Touch It, the new Busta Rhymes single, one of which struck Ramirez
in the chest and killed him. Although the NYPD detectives are having
trouble getting cooperation with their investigation, one theory is
that the shooting stemmed from an argument between G Unit‘s Tony Yayo
and a producer.
If the police continue to receive no help from witnesses, the case
may go before a grand jury, where witnesses like Busta Rhymes would be called under oath.
It was under similar circumstances that Lil’ Kim was jailed last year.
Police are also attempting to obtain a court order to acquire music video footage of the event. Partly so they can try and identify witnesses, and partly because the song is just so damn funky.
Read more:
NYPD: Busta Stonewalling Murder Probe – E! Online
[story by Stuart Heritage]
A dilla says
i really think thatthe media and the hype of it just being BUSTA himself will make the situation worse.