Label Owner Files $900 Million Lawsuit Against Condoleeza Rice For "Rap Profiling"

By Amy E. Wong

Ladies and gentlemen, I think I have found the case of the year. According to sohh.com, Jerome Almon, Owner and CEO of Murdercap Records, has filed a $900 million lawsuit against Canada (yes, the country), the State Department, and U.S. Secretary Condoleezza Rice, alleging "wholesale profiling" of rappers and blacks.

Almon claims that, over the past decade, rappers such as 50 Cent, Eminem, and DMX have been detained and subjected to lengthy interrogations at Canadian borders. Almon says that he can document 80 instances when he himself was subject to racial slurs and, ultimately, blocked from entering Canada. He told Bloomberg.com, "They're treating us as if we're criminals. If the Klan had a police force, it would be the border services."

The list of witnesses for this mega-case reads like an all-star cast: 50 Cent, DMX, Secretary Rice, Jay-Z, P. Diddy, Oprah Winfrey, Colin Powell, Enimen, and Spike Lee.

What fuels Canadian officials' ongoing animosity towards rappers?

Almon's suit claims that many Canadian officials "blame [rappers] for the increased gang violence and gun murders in the cities of Toronto and Vancouver." An article on allhiphop.com details specific instances of this racial profiling:

• "Canadian Junior Foreign Minister Dan McTeague has asked Immigration Minister Joe Volpe to deny 50 Cent permission to enter the country for his Canadian Tour, which is slated to started in Vancounver on Dec. 3 [2005]. […] McTeague noted a surge of violence that has gripped Toronto and singled out a shooting after 50 Cent performed in the city in 2003."



• "In 2000, the country almost barred Eminem from entering, claiming his lyrics encouraged violence against women."



• "In 2003, DMX denied entry due to his criminal record and detained briefly, forcing him to cancel two concerts."

At that time, McTeague told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that, "This is not a question of censorship. This is a question of trying to protect impressionable young men."

He continued, "There are indeed limits and restrictions on freedom of expression, particularly if they incite hate or if they are the kind of activity that is killing our youths right across Toronto."

Last year, Canadian authorities drew up Bills C-254 and C-95, which effectively categorizes hip-hop as hate speech and would ban all U.S. rappers and their albums from Canada.

Almon attacks Canada in an interview with SOHH, saying, "Canada rolls out the red carpet for artists like 50 Cent, Jay-Z, P. Diddy, DMX, Enimen, and The Blakkattakk when we are putting major cash into their economy, but then stabs us in the back when we come to make some bread doing shows."

What does the State Department and Condoleeza Rice have to do with this?

Almon says that "confidential documents from the Canadian Human Rights Commission, the State Department, and members of the Canadian Parliament show a huge cover up and a blatant bribery attempt by the State Department and Canadian government during the 50 Cent Canadian tour debacle."

He continued, "The State Department has in its possession secret internal Canadian investigative reports admitting that the country is worse at racial profiling than the U.S., yet, Rice has sided with the Canadian government against African Americans in what he says is destined to become 'The State Department's Katrina.'"

The allegations made by Almon are positively incendiary and sensational. In addition to his allegations of racial profiling, Almon asserts that Canada has a Rap Intelligence Unit that shares information with the FBI. It's hard to believe that the U.S. and Canadian government officials are in cahoots with one another, but anything is possible. I don't think an intelligent businessman like Jerome Almon would blindly sue a whole country, our State Department, and a top U.S. official for $1 billion.

Almon is my new hero. He's got balls and guts. He's not only fighting for rappers and blacks. He's fighting for freedom. In a statement to SOHH, "We ain't goin' back to the back of the bus, never. The Canadian government offered me a resident's permit to live in Canada and a bag of money if I would just lay down for them and put on a snitch jacket and say somethin' against the other rappers with records.

"The day I put on a snitch jacket for them motherfuckers is the day they put me in a hole."