After some time in that very year which is in 2013, in March he turned himself into authorities which were followed by some legal trouble. After a period of three years, he signed a contract with the popular record studio named Cash Money Records. He signed the deal in May 2016. In that deal other than him some other OBH members have also included namely Dark Lo, Lik Moss, Shamoney “Da Wolf”, p90 smooth, Breeze Begets, Pretty Flock, Skinny me, Newz, Cdot, Razor, Kylledge, NoBrakes Bras, Young Mir, Wiz Lo and the list goes on and on.
Early Life
Born on the 26th of September in the year 1982 in the beautiful city of Philadelphia which is in Pennsylvania named Abdul Ibrahim West or as we may know him AR-Ab. His passion for music and rapping grew at a very early age. He started his music career as a battle rapper. Later with the success, he received from being a rapper, he also became a member of the popular family named the Larsiny Family which was of Cassidy. Other than that throughout 2007, he also appeared as a featured artist in a few mixtapes. His mixtapes included some popular songs namely 07-07-07 which was titled Happy Birthday and the other one is Put Ya L In The Sky. With the success that he received from the mixtapes he did with other popular singers, he was able to release his debut mixtape. His first mixtape was titled Welcome to Trap Street. The tape was released on the 1st of May in 2008. Later in that very year that is in 2008, he along with his friend named Cassidy made their appearance in the popular DVD song titled Cocaine City Street. In that album, the two famous artists named West and Cocaine collaborated and made their own song titled City of Dreams. Other than the two of them a young artist was also there named French Montana. With this, the song became his first music video before he persuaded his career in the solo field. After some time he released another mixtape titled I See Dead People. His new mixtape was out on the 8th of January in the following year is in 2009. In the very next year that is in 2010 on the 26th of May, he released his third mixtape named Allegheny AB.
Career
From releasing his first mixtape, his career in the field of music gradually went on and on. With the time being, he released his fourth mixtape with the title Who Harder Than Me. His fourth mixtape was released on the 13th of February in 2011. In the following year that is in 2012, he decided to make his next mixtape that the fifth one. His fifth mixtape was the series of his fourth mixtape titled Who Harder Than Me II. This mixtape was released on the 5th of October in 2012. In his fifth mixtape we can find songs of other rappers from Philadelphia namely Freeway and as well as some rappers from New York were also included. The Who Harder Than Me II was produced by a popular music producer named Swizz Beatz, who has also worked with the popular rapper named Cassidy at the time of the latter’s stint under the popular entertainment company named Ruff Ryders Entertainment. When the song was made that is during the collaboration, the popular rapper Swizz Beatz regarded Ab as the most important new artist in the field of rap. Other than that he also prompted speculation about whether he would be considered to sing to his label. After some time in the following year that is in 2013, his sixth mixtape was released with the title MUD Musik on the 28th of February. But with time his sixth mixtape became his last mixtape because in his latest round of legal trouble in which West turned himself in to the authorities. Other than that he also got incarcerated in March of that very year.
Legal Issues
His legal problems started in 2005 when he became one of the three most wanted men searched by the police. The reason was that he was involved in a shooting case that took place on the 15th of April in 2005, in which one of the men was found dead and the other two were heavily injured. The main suspect of the case was the popular rapper named Cassidy who was helped by Ab but the third person of the group remains unidentified. After a span of three years that is on the 3rd December in 2008, I an asked by the interviewer of the popular channel name PhillyHeat TV about the shooting case. In reply to that, he said he fought the case for a period of two years but was found not guilty. But the main suspect of the case is the popular rapper named Cassidy who raised his hands in front of the police at the time of the afternoon on the 17th of June in 2005. But for some reason or the other, the primary witness of the case withdrew his confession leading the case to take a sharp turn. After some time on the 25th of January in 2006, the rapper Cassidy was sentenced to imprisonment for a period of 11months which can also last up to 23months. Other than that he was credited the 7months that he had already served by that time. Later he was released after serving a period of 8months. After coming back from prison he made a relaunch of his popular album named Larsiny Family which also included the rapper named AR-Ab who was earlier a member as well. After a few years of the incident that happened in 2005, at the end of 2011 that is by late September Wate was shot a total of ten times, but somehow he managed to survive. Later on the 24th of September in 2011 he posted a tweet on his Twitter handle. The tweet consisted of a picture where he was lying on a hospital bed with bandages all around his showing his recovery. In the tweet he captioned the pictures as “10 shots couldn’t stop me!!!”. Later he explained where the shots hit him. He said that he got two shots in his stomach, two to the hand, one on the thigh, and he got most shots that are a total of five shots in his glutes. After a couple of years that is in 2013 on the 13th of April, one of the popular media outlets reported that the famous rapper tweeted something about his past crime. The tweet stated that three years back from 2013 that is in 2010, the rapper AR-Ab was caught red-handed in a big drug trafficking case which leads him to pay it in 2013. He also stated that he will do his last and final show on the night of 13th April. After a few days that is on the 26th of April, a popular videographer named Gil published a video wherein West was raising his hands to the authorities. Throughout the period he stayed in prison, his group that is the members of the Original Black House mainly featured his songs naming them as “Free AR-Ab”. Other than that his urged fans also wrote him letters while he stayed in the prison. Through an interview, it is revealed that Ab was charged for the case related to crack cocaine. For that, he was sentenced to 3 years of imprisonment. But since he took part in the popular program named Boot Camp program. His sentence was reduced to a period of 18 months.
Is he in prison now?
After half a decade that is after a span of 5 years or so. In October of 2018, the rapper West along with other members were caught red-handed in the charges of holding a drug trafficking organization. Apart from that, they were also accused of having their names on the list of distributing drugs in the areas of North Philadelphia. Other than the charges of the group his charges included a conspiracy with which he distributed the drugs, the possession in regards to the distribution of drugs including cocaine, crack, methamphetamine as well as heroin. After examining the proof available it was found that the rapper West was the leader of the whole group. The authorities also seized the high end-properties that the group had in Philadelphia which they were using to protect their supply. After a year or so that is in 2019, on the 19th of November, the name of the rapper West was again found in the list of many conspiracies as well as in the distribution of drugs namely Crack, Cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine. He did so while staying in a federal conspiracy. After investigating for a couple of years, on the 15th of April in this very year that is in 2021, West got a verdict of imprisonment which is for a long 45 years.
