Despite being acquitted of murder and attempted murder charges in July 2019, Drakeo The Ruler found himself in the sights of the Los Angeles District Attorney's office, who seemed hellbent on making an example and locking him up for life. Following the rapper's acquittal, the District Attorney refiled charges for criminal gang conspiracy and shooting from a motor vehicle, which left a hung jury during Drakeo's original trial.
Their reasoning stemmed from the idea that Drakeo's Stinc Team rap crew was actually operating as gang. In fact, Detectives knew that Drakeo didn't pull the trigger, according to a report from The Guardian. They simply felt that the crew orchestrated the shooting that left one man dead, alledging that Drakeo played a role in engineering the incident. According to prosecutor Shannon Cooley, "As his moniker suggests, [Drakeo] is the leader. They rap about their crimes.” Because of that, Drakeo found his own lyrics and music videos being used against him.
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Despite his acquittals, Drakeo has been left serving time in jail until his eventual retrial. Though the situation (that many believe to be a matter of gross injustice) has put an unfortunate halt on his rapidly-rising career, Drakeo has managed to remain productive. He actually recorded his latest album Thank You For GTL entirely from prison -- check that out here.
In an interview with Pitchfork, Thank You For Using GTL producer JoogSZN opened up about the injustices that Drakeo currently faces. "Keeping it all the way real: He know he didn’t do it; the D.A. know he didn’t do it; the detective know he didn’t do it; even the judge know he didn’t do it. So why is he being persecuted for being a rapper," asks Joog, reveals that Drakeo has managed to find humor in the bizarre situation. "We be dying on the phone all the time because everything’s funny. Everything that has been happening throughout this whole period is funny."
An admirable outlook indeed, considering how thoroughly the deck appears to be stacked against the incarcerated rapper. The disturbing reality of his situation was made evident this afternoon through a series of tweets from Drakeo himself, who attempted to put things in perspective. "I was acquitted of First Degree Murder," he writes, the first of many acquittals. "I was acquitted of Conspiracy to Commit Murder. I was acquitted of Attempted Murder. I was acquitted of another Attempted Murder. I was also acquitted of another Attempted Murder. Oh wait...I was acquitted of ANOTHER Attempted Murder. I also was acquitted of a Firearms charge."
"I cannot speak on anything I wasn’t acquitted of," he continues. "All 12 not guilty you heard the jury. But I’m still in jail."
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