You wouldn’t think that there would be a connection between two distinct stories. Iyanna Maweather faces up to 99 years in prison and Young Chop received the cold steel of justice around his wrists (again). The linking factor in these different situations is irrationality.

Pioneering hip hop producer and rapper, Young Chop, is out for the snitches. Instead of embracing the tattlers for keeping him on the straight and narrow, he’s lashed out at those who tell after being released from jail on $705 bond. He feels that snitching is the problem but the real issue was his lack of legitimate tags, proof of insurance, invalid driver’s license and reckless driving.

Although Floyd Mayweather Jr. may hold a perfect record in the ring after win after win, his personal life has seen some more losses. In addition to being incarcerated years ago, his uncle dying, having the mother of three of his children, Josie Harris die unexpectedly, and now a daughter (not a child of Harris’) who allegedly stabbed YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s girlfriend, the champ’s head is certainly heavy.

When it comes to rappers and gun and drug charges, they have the power to put a pandemic on the mind’s backburner, momentarily. Playboi Carti received charges for possessing controlled substances and firearms. This is the best news out right now. There’s no word of coughing and sneezing and trying to slice through red tape to get ventilators. This a routine and almost a running gag going on in the hip hop genre. Thankfully, Playboi Carti got stopped on weed, Xanax, and cocaine rather than coming down with COVID-19.

Snitches get breaks, too. And not the bodily harm type. Tekashi69 will be moved to his private residence after serving for over a year behind the wall. Like a young wolf let go from a cage only to be confined to a household, Tekashi will fulfill the rest of his two-year sentence as a certified snitch. This brave young man who brought down his gang cronies in a court of law should be upheld as the teller excellence of his generation. Along with Italian mobster Sammy “The Bull” Gravano and 80’s Crack Era hustler “Alpo” Martinez, Tekashi takes his place among the hallowed hall of snitches.

When rappers travel outside of the United States, things can get dicey. Snoop Dogg, for instance, was for a time banned from Heathrow Airport in London. The ban has since been lifted. Now, with Chief Keef’s cuffs locked on wrists in Mexico, it appears that the hip hop star has seen the wheels of justice spin out of his favor.

The coronavirus may be the top story for the coming days and weeks, but that disease shouldn’t overshadow murder cases. Bay Area rapper A-Wax has been charged with homicide for a case that allegedly, and strangely, dates back twenty years ago. Deputy district attorney Jen Tompkins dispelled this as a fallacy and said that the crime took place recently. As investigators prepare an airtight case, A-Wax has been taken into custody where authorities found firearms and plenty of ammunition. This all stemmed from a weapons charge that seems to be unrelated to the homicide.

At the prime of their lives, with women, riches and all the spoils that go along with shining in the rap game, why do rappers sacrifice all of that over poor decision making? In the case of Kodak Black who is serving close to four years in prison already, he may find himself behind the wall for an additional three years stemming from a gun charge.

The soul of a dealer still lives in Kevin Chiles. The once kingpin now owner of the “Original Street Bible” Don Diva magazine, Chiles has positioned himself as a legitimate boss. That wasn’t always the case. Chiles sold drugs on the streets of New York City and other locales during what he refers to as the “Crack Era.” What is so frustrating, sad, and bewildering is the fact that he made millions of dollars in the street but it stemmed from trading poison. That poison should be legal and nontaxable across the board but narcotics are a scourge nonetheless. Chiles stands as a man who lived through it and can tell tales about his stint in the drug game.

Life is but a series of choices. These decisions we make ought to be based on logic and reason and experienced through our emotions. Sometimes we think about what we do. At other times, we fail at that effort.

Racketeering and drug trafficking in and of themselves should (get this) not be illegal. At least the drug dealing. But if such activities lead to burglaries, rape, murder or other crimes that violate individual rights, then they should be separated. This segregation of different types of “crimes” is crucial to pinpoint what is legal but immoral and what is against the law and also immoral.

What did Boosie do that warranted having his hands in the silver bracelets of the law? No guns or weed or other substances made their way onto his person. So, why did police officers need to momentarily restrict some of his movements?