Comments (0) Best Black-and-White Soap Opera - 2001

Rap-A-Lot Records and the Drug Enforcement Administration

Rap-A-Lot Records founder James Prince enjoys the limelight but not the microscope. A 12-year DEA and HPD investigation, which Prince attributes to the fact that cops hate rap music, has resulted in drug seizures as far away as Oklahoma City and in more than 20 convictions against Prince's associates, including a Houston police officer. Prince told reporters, and California Congresswoman Maxine Waters, that he was afraid for his life because the lead DEA agent on the case had killed six suspects in the line of duty. Waters wrote a letter to Janet Reno; Al Gore made a campaign stop at a Houston church with financial ties to Prince; the lead agent was transferred off the case; another DEA agent complained in leaked e-mails about political pressure ending the investigation; Congress examined the allegations of political interference; and finally new FBI and DEA agents were brought in to continue the investigation. There are enough twists and turns in this controversial case to make your head spin. At least it makes for some lyrical fodder. In his 2000 CD, Last of a Dying Breed, Rap-A-Lot rapper Brad "Scarface" Jordan brags about "the Rap-A-Lot Mafia" and its ability to ruin the careers of DEA agents. Tune in for the next installment.