Few people in Los Angeles are more engaging than rapper Glasses Malone. But when the long-time MC and member of the Crips was asked about the recent sweeping federal charges levied against music executive, businessman and Rollin’ 60s Crips bigwig Eugene “Big U” Henley Jr., the conversation gets more complicated. Gangbanging, Malone said, requires a serious level of diplomacy. Somewhere along the line, though, outsiders became representatives of the culture.
“There’s people who wanted to be part of it the whole time,” Malone said. “But they didn’t necessarily live in the center of it.”
Henley, and several others, were hit with a federal indictment in March, alleging he engaged in extortion, racketeering, human trafficking, and was involved in the murder of aspiring rapper Rayshawn Williams. Henley denied all claims in a video posted on Instagram shortly before turning himself into authorities. He also pleaded not guilty in federal court last week. His trial is slated to begin in May.
According to court documents, the investigation into Henley and the Rollin’ 60s has been in the making for years. However, significant portions of the case came from what police found online. According to Malone, Instagram Stories and podcast appearances weren’t the main catalyst for the investigation into Henley and others, but they did play a role in the indictment coming about.
In recent years, rap media personalities like Adam22, DJ Vlad, DJ Akademiks, Trap Lore Ross and more shed light on gang culture, largely by exploiting it. For the better part of two decades Duane “Keefe D” Davis has repeatedly said he — and his deceased nephew Orlando Anderson — were responsible for the murder of rap icon Tupac Shakur. Many of his confessions live in documentaries and books. And interviews with DJ Vlad.
Self-incrimination by wi-fi is far from a new phenomenon. Technology has irreversibly altered the perceptions of street culture, and what was and is acceptable now is the aftermath of such a shift in code.
One of the names introduced in the indictment is rapper Luce Cannon, born Termaine Ashley Williams. In the complaint, Cannon was alleged to have been involved in the robbery of an unlicensed marijuana dispensary at the direction of Henley. The crime was allegedly discussed on the No Jumper podcast where Cannon claimed to be Big U’s “right hand man.” This quickly prompted a cease and desist letter from Henley, and the episode was taken down.
“Luce Cannon is a scammer that grew up in [the Inland Empire]. His entry point into [LA street life] was him coming to Big U with opportunities,’” Malone said. “Big U, noticed he got enough, a little heart to do some things that need to be done in the underworld. But then that person becomes a voice culturally of what people think being a Crip is or what a Rollin’ 60’s is.”
Malone is adamant about the difference between natives and transplants and their role in profiting off street culture.
“You got people that see value in this, outsiders like Vlad, Akademiks, [Adam22]. They made multi-million dollar businesses off it,” Malone said. “But then you got [music executive and commentator Wack 100], the guys who kind of grew up in it … He goes to prison at 14 or 15 and misses out on what happens when you’re really living this street life because he’s in prison. He comes home, starts a business and never really gets into crime again, never gets into that culture again. [He used] the cloak of street urban culture [to say], ‘Hey, I grew up in this gang right here.’”
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Los Angeles media personality Gina Views was genuinely taken aback upon hearing the litany of charges against Henley. Most Black people from LA are close, or at the very least familiar, with the South Central area in some fashion. That means, over the years, names of various figures have become commonplace, reputations have preceded the person, and legacies have become equal parts famous and infamous. Henley’s story was documented — by Big U himself – in the 2021 hit FX series Hip-Hop Uncovered.
“It’s almost as if it’s unheard of. That’s how it felt for me,” said Views. “Even with my internal conversations, everyone was in shock. From the circles I’m in and my age group, we’ve never experienced anything like this before. It’s actually pretty crazy.”
The 107-page indictment resulted from an investigation that began in August 2020. Of all the polarizing angles the case brings up, the government’s reliance on social media posts and podcast appearances has dominated the conversation. Years ago, the comedian Druski released a skit that has grown increasingly salient. In the clip, Druski and friends cosplay as police officers, watching two guys on their computer essentially confess to various crimes on Instagram Live. In no uncertain terms, according to actual United States attorneys involved with Henley’s case, art is indeed imitating life.
Social media has been used in countless cases in recent years, partly because it legitimately influences nearly every aspect of life. Earlier this month, the state of Georgia filed a motion to revoke Young Thug’s probation, deeming him a threat to society after a post on X (formerly Twitter) called Atlanta gang crimes investigator Marissa Viverito “the biggest liar in the DA office.” The moment brings to mind a sobering prediction Rolling Stone’s Andre Gee made last November when he wrote, “Now, with the heavy-handed conditions of his probation, Thug’s freedom could come down to a social media post.”
That being said, social media is subject to restrictions on what’s admissible in court. Per the Federal Rules of Evidence, social media can only be used if it’s relevant and competent. This includes all sorts of posts, like tweets, Facebook statuses, Instagram posts and TikTok videos. Still, it makes sense why law enforcement officials are relying more and more on these uploads.
“Social media is essential to all things these days,” said Views. “So, it’s only obvious that social media would be used to see what somebody is saying and how it could help an investigator solve a crime … Just because they’re not using it in the way we would for entertainment, they’re using it as a tool to assist them in whatever it is they need to do.”
Part of the charges against Henley center on requiring artists, individuals and even companies to “check in” to obtain protection in Los Angeles. Soon after the news broke on his indictment, a video of Henley on a movie seemingly threatening future visitors to LA for not checking in resurfaced. In the days following his surrender to federal officials, a clip of rapper ScHoolboy Q’s Drink Champs interview popped back up, too. In it, ScHoolboy Q said Los Angeles could be a dangerous city for rappers. Though never mentioning Henley specifically, ScHoolboy Q’s annoyance with the entire concept was beyond apparent.
“Everybody be checking in. That’s y’all favorite thing to do. Check-in with somebody that’s gon’ rob your stupid ass,” ScHoolboy Q said. “You think the guy you don’t know in California, m—f—, got your back? The guy that got beef with other hoods? You checking in to that dude?”
The late Rich Homie Quan also confirmed the practice when he spoke about tapping in with Henley during his first trip to L.A. in 2015. Quan said Henley already knew when his flight landed, who his driver was, and what hotel he was staying in. However, Quan was adamant that intimidation and extortion were never tactics used on him, and Henley only requested him to speak to the football team at Crenshaw High School. Even still, the experience stayed with him.
“I was like, oh yeah, this sh– different,” Quan told fellow rapper and Math Hoffa on the My Expert Opinion podcast. “That checking sh– be real.”
Likewise, hours and hours of interviews from Luce Cannon and Zihirr Mitchell, a Crip and YouTube personality known as Bricc Baby, aren’t segregated behind paywalls. They’re a YouTube search away. The level of what appears to be self-incrimination is mystifying. During a sit down with DJ Akademiks on Off the Record, Luce Cannon detailed an alleged kidnapping of rapper Meek Mill (who vehemently denied all claims). Luce Cannon also implicated Henley in robbing podcast host Gillie The Kid when he visited L.A. When Akademiks asked if he was as concerned about retaliation, Luce Cannon said, “If you hate me, you hate yourself. You playing with the m—f— devil.” On No Jumper, Luce Cannon insinuated that Henley orchestrated Nipsey Hussle‘s murder — a claim Henley has long denied. Not to be outdone, Bricc Baby once claimed on No Jumper, “I got more murders than you got squabbles.” Hours before both were arrested, Bricc Baby was seen on No Jumper subtly showing Luce Cannon a gun on his waistband.
The conversation is larger than Henley, Luce Cannon or even Bricc Baby. For years, outlets like Akademiks’ platform, DJ Vlad’s mounds of interviews, and No Jumper have all benefited from having guests incriminate themselves on air. Because of this, they’re called parasites of Black culture. The media landscape is as wide open and diverse as ever, thanks to the emergence of podcasts, YouTube channels and social media. And many of these personalities have established themselves as voices of authority, though thriving off content anarchy is much more their endgame.
“I never saw [their presence] as detrimental. I always looked at it like, yeah, all these dudes is in love with how we grew up,” Malone said. “But how specifically this level of poverty, this oppressed group of people came up … how they make poverty work. How they find a way to still be cool with a little bit of nothing. I think that’s always been an infatuation.”
While Malone doesn’t deny that social media played a role in the case, he said law enforcement officials are still making cases the old fashioned way.
“They want to convince the general public, ‘Hey, these guys are telling us what they’re doing. They’re saying it right now on this entertainment segment,’ versus them really having somebody behind the scenes that’s telling them everything that’s happening,” Malone said. “They have a snitch. They got the evidence. In this particular case, I actually know who the person is. They turned federal informant.”
He continued, “In this particular case, the person who actually went to the feds because he didn’t want to do his own time said, ‘Hey, this person is shaking me down.’ And the feds looking like, ‘Oh, he’s a big member of the biggest Crip gang in Los Angeles, possibly the biggest Crip gang. He’s the name, and he has TV shows.’ They see that as an opportunity and they build a case from there … [Those podcasts] is not what got them people locked up. That’s just how they make them people look stupid to other people.”
Obsession or not — public posturing by the government or not — the results are objectively damming. Legal experts point out that the difference between social media and the controversial tactic of using song lyrics to justify charges is simply a matter of fiction versus nonfiction.
“Point blank, it’s dumb to go on a podcast or post on social media that you committed a crime,” said former federal prosecutor and current Georgetown University law professor Paul Butler. “You’re asking to get arrested.”
“Typically, hearsay is not allowed as evidence,” Butler said. “But there’s so many exceptions to that that the exceptions almost eat up the rule. So, there’s not a hard legal question about whether someone posts something on social media that’s incriminating and whether that could be admitted in court. Almost always, the answer is yes.”
The conversation ultimately comes back to who’s at fault and who shoulders the blame. Is it on the No Jumper, DJ Akademiks, DJ Vlad and platforms that all but encourage such slippery slope conversations? Or is it the guests’ responsibility to understand the potential peril of spilling their business?
The answer lies in the grey area.
“Let’s say you have no formal journalism training. You don’t even have formal training in speaking, feel me?” Malone said. “You been living your life on the edge, getting in trouble, going to jail, committing crimes. Now you wanna be there for your kids and your lady. You don’t wanna have to look behind you every day. Now, some man offers you a position in media and says, ‘I’m just gonna pay you $1,500 a week to just give your street urban culture perspective.’ And you go there, and this is real. It almost feels like the easiest money you made. So I understand the motivation to take the opportunity. Then I understand how you could get tricked into positions where your cultural cache is called into question.”
The description Malone gives sounds predatory because it is. If history has confirmed nothing else, the pursuit of money and power rarely avoids pain and violence along the way. Morally, any number of critiques come into question regarding the platforms that broadcast conversations like the ones linked to the case involving the Rollin’ 60s, including Henley.
“My thing with these guys — all the hits and all the views. Is it worth it when the feds pick you up?” Cipha Sounds said on a recent episode of the Juan Ep Is Life podcast alongside longtime co-host Peter Rosenberg.
“By the way, that’s the common thread between Adam, Vlad and Akademiks,” Rosenberg responded. “They focus on some sh– that’s so bad and negative it could literally one day ruin your life.”
Legally, however, is a different question. That would require proving the platform played a role in an actual crime. Butler said that if a platform’s sole purpose is to communicate, then it’s no different than a person going on TV and saying something that could be considered evidence of a crime.
“Is the TV station in trouble? Probably not,” Butler said. “There are exceptions if the media is somehow implicated in the crime other than just as a vehicle for people to talk about the crime. But if it’s just that the media or technology is a source for a video, in that sense, it’s almost like a library, right? Then it’d be really tough to bring a case against the platform.”
While the platforms deserve criticism, so do the guests. Several points were constant among the multiple people spoken to on and off the record for this story: Go to where you’re valued. Understand that all money isn’t good money. And just because a question is asked doesn’t mean it requires an answer — not on camera, at least.
Just how much social media will play a role if and when the trial commences in May remains to be seen. Nevertheless, for Gina Views, it’s hard to be mad at someone using a person for when they’re openly allowing themselves to be used.
“You know why you’re going there, and you know why they’re asking you to come,” she said. “So if you wanna give them that information, that’s on you. But it’s also on that platform to have integrity if that’s within their culture and norms. But if you know they don’t have it, the f— is you going over there for? And why are you offering these people this information?”