AP Photo/Jeff ChristensenIn light of the shooting death of 23-year-old Sean Bell and the subsequent acquittal last week of the NYPD officers who fired the fatal shots, the SoCal-bred rapper has penned a musical response that in no uncertain terms lets us know where he stands.
"911 Is a Joke," which doesn't beat around the bush when it comes to the issue of police brutality, is set to debut tomorrow on the Game's website.
"I'm outraged and speaking out for my generation that are afraid to speak out against police brutality and murder," the Game said in a statement. "I grew up in Compton and had to stay silent because of the fear that was prevalent in my community, but now that I have a voice I'm speaking out.
"This could have easily been me, my brother, my family. So this song is for Sean Bell from my heart. My deepest condolences goes out to his family and wife Nicole Bell."
Bell was shot Nov. 25, 2006, outside a Queens strip club, where his bachelor party had just taken place, the night before he was to be married. One of the detectives charged had been working at the club undercover when he witnessed a confrontation between Bell and a stranger and heard a friend of Bell's say, "Get my gun."
After Bell got into his car, he refused to stop when one of the plainclothes detectives flashed his badge, and then he ran his Nissan Altima into an unmarked minivan being driven by one of the other officers.
The three cops fired more than 50 bullets at Bell—who, the defense argued, they thought was carrying a gun—and his two friends, both of whom were wounded. None of the men was armed.
The local response to their acquittal has been largely peaceful, minus a few scuffles that broke out on Friday, the day the verdict was announced, but the varied reactions of activists such as the Rev. Al Sharpton and, thanks to the Internet, anyone with an opinion, can be heard loud and clear.
And, while there are at least two sides to every debate, the Game isn't the only member of the hip-hop community who has spoken out on what he perceives to be a gross injustice.
Ice Cube—who as a founding member of N.W.A. rapped against police brutality on the seminal "F--k the Police"— called the verdict "just another example that the justice system in America views a black life as worthless."
"First of all, rest in peace to Sean Bell and I want to send my condolences to his wife, kids, family and friends and all the Sean Bell boys—hold your head," Mobb Deep rapper Prodigy, who's currently behind bars on a gun-possession rap, said in a statement.
"We lost a lot of battles, but we will win the war. The decision in the Queens courtroom on Friday, April 25 was simply a display of power. The NYPD is just a branch of corruption connected to a giant corrupt tree called the United States government. This tyrannical corrupt tree has its roots planted deep into the United Kingdom."
"The Sean Bell murder itself was a reflection of how expendable black men are in the eyes of many," Queens MC Cormega said. "The verdict was a far worse crime because it stripped a dead man of his rights and it stripped a community of hope. We came so far as a people yet gained little momentum, but I would like to thank society for re-opening my eyes to the myth called equality and the justice that eludes just us."
Meanwhile, UGK rapper Bun B, whose other half, Pimp C, died earlier this year of an accidental overdose of prescription medication and sleep apnea, added: "The verdict is almost as tragic as the incident. I've already lost [a] life, and now we've got a loss of justice and loss of reciprocation for what's happened. And it cuts you on so many levels."