There’s literally nearly a month left before Bobby Shmurda faces a judge and jury for a slew of crimes. For now, staying out of trouble while under the slammer seems to be difficult for the Brooklyn rapper. Just this week, Mr. Pollard allegedly teamed up with three Crips in a fistfight against rival Blood members. Sitting in jail for the past six months, his label Epic Records was originally slated to bail out the “Hot Nigga.” Well, that was before parent company Sony put a block on any progress.
However, a representative from the label has yet to inform the general public of Shmurda’s current situation. Since being in Rikers Island, he’s been left broke and without a manager. Does Sony/Epic even care or is the financial risk even worth the effort? There may be hope as some artists have come out in support. Maybe it’s time for Shmurda’s contract to be bought out and shuffled to a more willing label. With that in mind, here are seven labels who would take a more honorable approach to the current jailbird.
Puff Daddy & Bad Boy
Will Diddy actually make sure someone is all right after bail and eventual sentencing? Not really but, at least he’d help pay for a release until trial. The best example of that would most likely be Shynedddd. Yes, the Belizean rapper made allegations that Diddy forgot about him while he was incarcerated after the gun charge. Then again, Bad Boy at least footed the bill for bail. This provided Shyne with enough freedom between his release and ten years behind bars. On the other hand, why wouldn’t Diddy want to bring another New Yorker into his fold? Knowing the Bad Boy head, he’d eventually make the signing of Shmurda a spectacle and entertaining nonetheless.
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Birdman & Cash Money
Look, Birdman is about to have an empty nest whether he likes it or not. All his golden geese are flying the coup all at once. First Wayne will leave, then Drake will up and take OVO to Warner and that just leaves Ms. Minaj. And we’re not saying the queen of word flips can’t ascend to the throne, but we’re saying it’s nice to have help. Plus, if she gets the hell out of dodge then who else will be there to pick up the slack? We’re pretty sure that it’s very, very unlikely anyone else on the roster can manifest the kind of hit that holds Cash Money down. And we’re even surer that there are only a few emcees that can carry that label on their shoulders the way Wayne did in the mid-aughts. He needs to grab someone he can mold, and while Young Thug is nice, he’s not a Wayne replacement; not yet. The other side of the coin could be the gritty Shmurda, who not only has the uptempo leanings the label loves, but may be able to develop the lyrical prowess necessary to stay around long term.
50 Cent & G-Unit
In his Breakfast Club interview with fellow G-Unit cohorts Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo, Fif’ spoke on the Shmurda situation with amazing candor. He said he’d definitely go get the kid up there, and wondered openly why Epic wouldn’t. What did they have to lose? Why are they letting their budding star rot in jail while he could be making a song about the whole ordeal or something? There’s also the debacle regarding the way the whole thing was handled. Did they put up the loot and then retract it? What part of the goddamn game is that? Either way, whatever Sha Money’s doing up there, it’s good to know 50 would save the kid the trouble of having to fight to the death with rival gangs like it’s a Martin Scorcese film. Oy vey. Bobby has also mentioned 50 as maybe someone who he should’ve signed under. The viral star’s got good instincts since, well, he was pretty much right.
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Gucci Mane & Brick Squad
The irony of Gucci Mane signing Bobby Shmurda to Brick Squad while currently incarcerated himself is pretty humorous. Then again, why wouldn’t Mr. Zone 6 want to expand his empire beyond the Mason Dixon line. It wouldn’t be difficult for Radric Davis to make moves on behalf of Shmurda from behind bars considering how lucrative his mixtape game has become since being incarcerated. The mere thoughts of a potential collaboration between the two could set an interesting precedent between New York and Atlanta relations. Then again, could Shmurda really learn his lesson considering Gucci has been in and out of jail for as long as he’s been in music?
T.I. & Hustle Gang
T.I. knows about the mental and emotional strains jail can put on a person, and we’re sure it would make no sense to him to leave Bobby in the can. Prison has become synonymous with a kind of hell-on-earth scenario where anything that can go wrong will go wrong in spectacularly Darwinian fashion. He also knows about redemption, something Bobby must learn to traverse if he wishes to keep his career intact. His fall, so far, has been Epic (no pun intended, we assure you) and the realities of these charges may just sneak up on us like Daredevil in some grimy New York alleyway. Knowing all this, and knowing the reality facing young Bobby and his crew, T.I. would not leave the kid hanging. He’d bail him out by any means.
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Rick Ross & Maybach Music
Rick Ross understands the financial strain an artist can become once they’re put behind bars. In Maybach Music’s case, Rozay has had to deal with not one but two artists face jail time. For one, Gunplay a.k.a. Don Logan spent time behind bars for an attempted robbery. Since then, the Triple Cs rapper has kept a relatively low profile but has maintained the full support of Ross. Last year, Meek Mills damn near spent half the year in jail and delayed his follow-up to Dreams and Nightmares. Both artists felt the full support of Ross and have yet to question his loyalty toward them. Matter of fact, Mills and Gunplay seem to be working pretty well to churning out some hits soon enough. If anything Shmurda could fit in perfectly within the MMG fold and would only enhance the imprint’s appeal with the streets. Maybe that MMG backing could turn him from a one-hit-wonder to legitimate rap star.
Kanye West & G.O.O.D Music
Yeezy and G.O.O.D Music have no grizzly, raw, energetic alternative to a now more demure King Push and a definitely chill Big Sean. He needs someone who can power the woozy baselines clinging to his music nowadays. Yeah, there’s Travis Scott, who’s been mentioned as being a Ye´ ghostwriter of all things. But Bobby is new energy. He’s a breath of fresh air. Of course, the crew would clean him up nice. They’d change his image almost immediately. All of a sudden, Shmurda would be a fashion star; his crooked smile tucked into threads three to five times the average American’s net worth. So be it. Shmurda could use a deep clean to his image if he survives this whole thing. Plus, who doesn’t understand being ostracized more than Kanye West? Taylor Swift almost broke him. so of course the connection is there. We’re not sure he’s taking calls these days with the Kardashians and fashion eating up most of his time, if a collect call gets lucky it could change Bobby’s life forever.
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Andre Grant is an NYC native turned L.A. transplant that has contributed to a few different properties on the web and is now the Features Editor for HipHopDX. He’s also trying to live it to the limit and love it a lot. Follow him on Twitter @drejones.
Ural Garrett is an Los Angeles-based journalist and HipHopDX’s Senior Features Writer. When not covering music, video games, films and the community at large, he’s in the kitchen baking like Anita. Follow him on Twitter @Uralg.
