iHipHop Admin
A Los Angeles jury has acquitted Aubrey Louis Berry for the murder of up and coming ATL rapper, Dolla.
Dolla aka Roderick Anthony Burton, was gunned down and murdered last may at the Beverly Center mall in Los Angeles in broad daylight.
Berry was arrested in connection to the shooting and was incarcerated until now. The District Attorney and prosecutor in the case, Bobby Grace argued that Berry killed Dolla as an act of vengeance, but this was rejected by the jurors and he was acquitted.
Berry claims that the shooting was committed as self defense, as the two had an incident at an Atlanta nightclub, which is being heavily disputed by Dolla’s family. A spokesman for Berry issued a statement on his behalf, saying:
“There are three victims in this case, none of which is Aubrey Berry. His claim of self-defense is very colorful, but the fact is that he traveled from Atlanta with a loaded firearm for which he didn’t possess a carry permit for in the state of California and then he assassinates Mr. Burton and attempts to shoot his cousin Will and his friend DJ Shabazz.”
It’s being said that the jury’s decision was influenced by the rapper’s lyrics and therefore they believed the defense’s self-defense claim. Despite whatever the man rapped about, it still doesn’t change the fact that he was murdered and an artist’s art shouldn’t be taken into consideration when THEY are the victim.
Dolla was signed to Akon’s Konvict Music and was mostly known for his single “Who The Fu** Is That”, which featured T-Pain. He was also a model for Diddy’s Sean John clothing label.
It’s sad when young talent gets taken away before it has a chance to grow and even though this kid might not have been a Jay-Z or a Nas, he still deserves respect.
Nas has been doing the promo thing, with the release of his and Damian Marley’s Distant Relatives and touched on hip hop’s lifespan during a recent interview.
The MC that at once claimed the genre was dead, now see’s things a little differently and explains that hip hop actually died several times.
He does however feel that the culture is making a resurgence with all the new talent out there, saying:
“It died several times, but I do believe in the heartbeat of it right now. There are a lot of new artists, and artists that have been around, who are kicking a** right now. I just wanted to give a boost to people and to myself, to push people to go harder. It’s a different world now.”
Nasir’s definitely on point with this one. Hip hop is forever changing and evolving. Yes, there are those that bring the culture down and lower the standards, Soulja Boy, but then there are those who give us hip hop heads hope and make us feel as though things might be picking up, J. Cole.
In the end this rap sh*t will always be around, dead, alive or just sleeping for now.
The always entertaining Onika Miraj aka Nicki Minaj has decided on a name change. She made the announcement over the weekend via twitter, and claims that she’s officially changing her rap name to “Roman, Roman Zolanski.” I’m not kidding…Nicki says:
“I’ve officially changed my name and will only respond….to Roman. Roman Zolanski. Out.”
Ok then.
