Raided: RIAA

Seems like picking on hip hop artists is rapidly becoming a trend in this new Millenium. Recently, on Jan. 16th, DJ Drama and DJ Don Cannon were raided by a swat team and over 50,000 cds, cars, and computers were confiscated. The dynamic duo runs Aphilliates LLC and are known for their widely popular Gangsta Grillz mixtape series. The RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) has targeted 12 cities as “hot spots” for pirated material, including Atlanta, according to a company press release. “This is an attempt by the government to paint an image of those involved in Hip-Hop as criminals,” DJ Drama told AllHipHop.com in a statement.

Brad Buckles, executive vice president of the RIAA’s Anti-Piracy Division in Washington, D.C., was vague when asked about the product that had been seized, saying that he only knew what he had read in the report: that “the product violated state law” and that “I’m given to understand that the CDs also contained a variety of works and different artists” that weren’t licensed or cleared, and were being sold illegally. This seems pretty comical to me. The present administration in office in this country violates our constitutional rights and Enron execs get off with a slap on the wrist but DJ Drama gets raided for copyright infringement.

God Bless America!