Prior to launching his music career, Queens rapper NORE endured a number of obstacles in his youth, including an attempted murder charge at the age or 14, which resulted in the musician serving three-and-a-half years in prison.
NORE spoke on his attempted murder charge, as well as selling crack in the seventh grade, during an interview with Vlad TV. While speaking on his time spent selling crack, the New York City wordsmith revealed that he didn’t know he was selling crack at the time. It wasn’t until he was approached by an older teen that he realized the actual worth of the tennis balls he transported for older dealers.
“I never actually attended any high school ever. Ever,” he said. “I dropped out in the seventh grade. I was selling crack at that time. In the seventh grade. I know this sounds ridiculous, but I was selling crack not even knowing I was selling crack. Like there was these older dudes and when the police would come around they used to have these tennis balls. It would be broke, but it wouldn’t be broke as far as it couldn’t still bounce. So, what they would do is they would just drop the tennis balls and be like ‘Yo, pick it up.’ And we’re young kids, we’re picking it up. And he’s like, ‘Yo, go give it to—you see the dude over there? Go give him the whole tennis ball.’ And I’m like, ‘Yo, I want this tennis ball, though. If you gonna give it away, give it to me.’ They’re like, ‘Papi, you’re okay’…I didn’t do the full transaction. All I would do is actually do the pass off. I never got the money at that time. And then when I realized, I [indulged] into that.”
NORE Discusses His Attempted Murder Case
Not one to speak often on his attempted murder charge, NORE spoke on the incident which led to his arrest, but before sharing those details he commented on his mild infatuation with guns. An infatuation he says started when his father showed him a gun he had stashed away for his family’s protection.
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“I got arrested for—which I never talked about on camera, which is kinda good, attempted murder, man. I had attempted murder,” NORE said. “It was a time when Juice came out and it was all these shootings that was going on…I just wanted to be a shooter. It was crazy because my first encounter with a gun was my father showing me. He had a .22. And he brought me—He seen I was living the street life and he was like, ‘Yo.’ He showed me a .22. And it was crazy because it looked like a toy to me. He had a box in the closet. My father used to box. So, he showed me this gun. And he was like, ‘Yo, this is to protect your moms. I’m not showing you this to go out and show you friends. This is where it’s at. If anything ever happen to me, your mom is alone, I want you to hold it down.’”
Upon sharing the story of the incident, which landed him in jail for over three years, NORE revealed that it was in fact a minor incident that led to the shooting of a close associate. According to the rapper, an associate of his lent some assistance with a bike he had just stolen and rather than hand the bike over to NORE when he came to retrieve it, he told others that he had taken the bike from a then 14-year-old NORE.
He then revealed that his frustration with that particular associate led to a confrontation that ended with the associate being shot twice by NORE.
“The dude actually who I shot was actually not a friend of mine, but he was a close associate of the drug dealers from the neighborhood,” he said. “And I’ve never spoke about this, but I’ll say it, fuck it. I was out stealing bikes. This how young I was. And I was shooting people. So, I was out stealing bikes, right? I was in Corona. So, he seen me and he was like…’Yo, yo papi, let me help you out. I got you. I’mma hold the bike.’ Just come back later I’ll give it to you. So, I was like, ‘Alright cool.’ Seen him. He was like, ‘I still got you’…He was making it known that he took the bike from me…So, he walks in on some fly dude shit and I’m selling drugs now so I’m like I never forgave him for this. So, I seen him outside and he was like, ‘What you gon’ do? You gonna shoot me in front of all these people?’ I don’t remember saying ‘yeah’ or if I said ‘I don’t know.’ I just pulled out and I let off six, but only two had actually hit him.”
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In addition to attempted murder, NORE was also hit with a reckless endangerment charge for shooting in a gas station and endangering the lives of everyone present during the shooting. The rapper, who says his “heart dropped” after being nabbed for the crime, served only three-and-a-half years due to the fact that he was a minor at the time of the incident.
NORE’s interview with Vlad TV can be found below.
