Up and coming Brooklyn rapper Gravy is speaking out against New York radio station Hot 97 for choosing to ban his music under a new policy that bars the playing of songs from artists involved in violent acts near the studios.
The MC, whose real name is Jamal Woolard, was shot in the buttocks outside of the station last month while waiting to appear in an on-air freestyle session. The incident was the third shooting linked to the station following gunfire between the camps of 50 Cent and the Game, and a 2001 shootout between the crews of Capone & Noreaga and Lil’ Kim.
Under pressure from city officials and an eviction notice from the building’s owners, Hot 97 DJ Funkmaster Flex made an announcement that the company has a new policy of not playing music by any artist who is involved in an altercation at the station.
"I feel like, damn. ... Y'all stopping [airplay] on my end? After Lil' Kim, Game, 50," Gravy told MTV.com. "Why me? Because I'm new? I'm just getting ready to do my thing. Y'all should have stopped [the violence] and had [surveillance] cameras [in front of the station]."
Gravy said he respects Hot 97 so much that immediately after the shooting, he hid the fact that he was hit and appeared on Flex's show as scheduled for a freestyle and interview.
"What am I supposed to say? 'Flex, I can't do your show, even though it's my life. I just took a shot to the ass, I can't do it.' What does that sound like?" he told MTV.com. "I had to do what I had to do. People are not seeing it that way. They're like, 'He's glorifying the shot.' Nigga, I'm not glorifying the shot. I love my life more than rap. I'm not trying to take a shot for rap. I don't want to take no shot, brotha. Not in my thumb, my pinkie, nothing, brotha. Just imagine if I died. ... Would they play me then? They would play me because they would not want the world to assassinate their character. 'Here's a young man that was trying to do right and he got killed up there, and y'all not playing him?'"
The MC, whose real name is Jamal Woolard, was shot in the buttocks outside of the station last month while waiting to appear in an on-air freestyle session. The incident was the third shooting linked to the station following gunfire between the camps of 50 Cent and the Game, and a 2001 shootout between the crews of Capone & Noreaga and Lil’ Kim.
Under pressure from city officials and an eviction notice from the building’s owners, Hot 97 DJ Funkmaster Flex made an announcement that the company has a new policy of not playing music by any artist who is involved in an altercation at the station.
"I feel like, damn. ... Y'all stopping [airplay] on my end? After Lil' Kim, Game, 50," Gravy told MTV.com. "Why me? Because I'm new? I'm just getting ready to do my thing. Y'all should have stopped [the violence] and had [surveillance] cameras [in front of the station]."
Gravy said he respects Hot 97 so much that immediately after the shooting, he hid the fact that he was hit and appeared on Flex's show as scheduled for a freestyle and interview.
"What am I supposed to say? 'Flex, I can't do your show, even though it's my life. I just took a shot to the ass, I can't do it.' What does that sound like?" he told MTV.com. "I had to do what I had to do. People are not seeing it that way. They're like, 'He's glorifying the shot.' Nigga, I'm not glorifying the shot. I love my life more than rap. I'm not trying to take a shot for rap. I don't want to take no shot, brotha. Not in my thumb, my pinkie, nothing, brotha. Just imagine if I died. ... Would they play me then? They would play me because they would not want the world to assassinate their character. 'Here's a young man that was trying to do right and he got killed up there, and y'all not playing him?'"
