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Update:900 Million Dollar Lawsuit Against Canadian Government

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Priest:
Update: Label Head Expects $900 Mil In Rapper Profiling Suit, "Canada Doesn't Have A Hip-Hop Problem, It Has A Black Problem"

Canada and the State Department have defaulted in hip-hop label owner Jerome Almon's $900 million lawsuit against them and according to the Murdercap Records CEO, have done so to avoid "devastating documentation" of the country's racial profiling practices.

As SOHH previously reported, Almon recently filed a suit alleging "wholesale profiling" of rappers and African-Americans by Canadian border officials, claiming that along with himself, numerous rappers including 50 Cent, Eminem and DMX have either been turned away or faced lengthy interrogations at Canadian borders.

"They [Canada] don't know what to do right now, because I know what they've pulled," Almon told SOHH exclusively regarding the default. "If I'm a liar, why don't they just call me a liar? They won't do it. The documentation speaks for itself."

Almon says that Canada's attack on African-Americans and rappers is partly an effort to blame them for the increased gang violence and gun murders in Toronto and Vancouver. He called Canada's border stance racist and hypocritical, arguing that pedophiles and terrorists are allowed into the country while hip-hop stars are excluded.

"America and Canada don't have a hip-hop problem, they have a black problem," he said. "A two-dimensional black problem."
Last year, Canadian authorities sought to ban 50 Cent and other "gangster" rappers from performing in the country. Almon claims those same authorities also drew up Bills C-254 and C-95, which would ban all U.S. rappers and their CDs from Canada by categorizing hip-hop as hate speech.

Almon has even set up a Web site at abadraponmurdercap.com with information that he claims documents the discrimination, while also defending hip-hop culture.

Melisa Leclerc, a spokesperson for Stockwell Day, Canada's minister of public safety, declined to comment to SOHH on the specifics of the case, but she did say that the Canadian government is "committed to ensuring the fair treatment of all travelers to Canada." She also maintains that the criteria and indicators used by the country's border services officers do not discriminate on grounds protected by the Canadian Human Rights Act.

The lawsuit - which was prepared by the chief of Detroit's American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) - also names US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Jay-Z, Olivia, Colin Powell, Toronto Mayor David Miller and Spike Lee, among others, as witnesses.

Almon claims that Rice is in collusion with the Canadian government despite knowledge of the country's racial profiling practices.

Because the defendants named in the suit did not respond within the allotted period of time - in this case, 60 days - Almon can now seek a default judgment, which involves the court ruling on the case and potentially awarding him up to the full amount of his claim, and possibly legal fees.

Almon said he expects to be awarded the full $900 million and will not consider dropping the suit in exchange for a settlement.

"The only way they can stop me from taking that money is if I'm dead," he said. "They know what they've done."

Priest:
Kardinal Offishall interview at XXL:

Indie Label owner Jerome Almon sued the Canadian government alleging that his artists get profiled when they try to cross the border. Is there really some rapper profiling going on?


There's all truth to it. People hate to come to Canada on tour, not because of the country or the people, but because of customs. I remember one year I was like, "Yo, Bus, I gotta get you up here." He was like, "Fuck that! I hate them niggas."

 He was shooting a movie up there. He had his proper papers, visa, all that and they still would mess with him at the border for like hours at a time. And that's what they do. They just mess with people no matter what. Right now, they've been cool with me for the last year, year and a half.(Since the lawsuit was brought out) 

They used to give me a hassle and I'm from there, so I can only imagine people that are not from there and are trying to get there and make some money touring.

Besides that, a lot of dudes have records whether it be for small things or bigger things and they make it damn near impossible to make it across the border.

Priest:
Hova makes a comment about the canadian border agents on much music.

Check it out at 2:13

http://axs.muchmusic.com/?fr_story=c1b04....ee7b&rf=sitemap

Priest:
TALIB KWELI CO SIGNS FOR JEROME ALMON August 30th, 2007

Talib Kweli is on the phone from a tour bus that is slowly making its way towards our border. While Canadians seem to think that, unlike their southern neighbours, theirs is an international reputation beyond reproach, Kweli sees it differently.

"Other than making it utterly impossible for a young black man to get in the country, I really enjoy Canada. Canada has the worst customs in the world, and everyone on the bus should now be agreeing with me - they make it harder to get into the country than any other country in the world."

Others think so too. Al Sharpton's National Action Network released a statement that said that it believes Canada Customs engages in racial profiling, while, more recently, Jerome Almon of Detroit's Murdercap Records filed a $900-million lawsuit in federal court against the Government of Canada, the State Department and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice based on the same notion.

While Al Sharpton is an opportunist and Almon appears to be the same, not to mention borderline insane (he's subpoenaed everyone from Oprah to Paris Hilton), there's no denying that if you're a rap fan living in Canada, chances are you've got more unused ticket stubs than your indie rock friends. Chances are also good if you're a rap fan that you know to put some stock in what Talib Kweli has to say.

The Brooklyn-born, -bred and -based musician has been at the top of rap's underground since the late-'90s, starting with collaborative releases alongside Mos Def (as Black Star) and
DJ Hi-Tek (as Reflection Eternal), and later as an acclaimed solo artist. His music has continued to contain the sharp and dexterous wordplay that frequently touches on socio-political themes, something that has, to his ire, labelled him a "conscious rapper."

"It's like any label: gangster rapper, pop rapper. I make conscious music, of course, but to just limit me as a conscious rapper, that's like saying that Jay-Z is just a gangster rapper. He makes some gangster music, but is it accurate to call Jay-Z a gangster rapper? No, he's way more than that, and I know that

I'm more than one category of hip-hop."

It's enough of an annoyance that he says that his next album is going to be called Prisoner of Conscious, but the one that Kweli is currently attempting to cross the border with is titled Eardrum, the first release on his new label, Blacksmith. It's blessed with a who's who of producers from Pete Rock to Kanye, but, as always, it's his voice that is its centre point - a voice that's been influenced by having worked in and owned a bookstore, not to mention being the son of two professors.

"I honestly think that if I wasn't rapping I probably would have ended up doing something in academics. But at the same time, I hated school, I quit college, I think I'm like the hip-hop version of my parents."

A parent of two kids himself now, he makes it clear that part of the perspective found in this latest album comes from his life experience.

"Of course, there are different responsibilities and different influences on your life, and the things that you see sometimes start to differ from your core fan base.

The way we present the music is going to be live, so that even if you're a 16-year-old who may not like an adult song like Hot Thing about the good things about a woman, they'll like Say Something, which is a little more
kinetic."

A decade-long career as a musician has also given him some perspective on how his music is received. "What I find is for every positive review, there's a negative one, and for every negative, there's a positive - I feel like I have an equal amount. Right now, Eardrum is enjoying a great critical buzz, a lot of critics like my album and respect it and everything, but I bet you could find the same amount of people who are saying 'Fuck Kweli.'"

Let's just hope those people don't work at the Canadian border.

Talib Kweli

Priest:
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Denied Entry Into Canada, Cancels Tour Dates 2008

Hip-hop group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony were denied entry into Canada early Wednesday morning (January 30), as they prepared to head on a sold out tour through the country, BallerStatus.com learned.

The group said they were told their entry into Canada was denied by Customs officials because their music was "too violent," which they cannot understand.

"We never had a problem going over there, but all of the sudden, they talking the music is too violent," Krayzie Bone told BallerStatus.com. "I'm like 'Man, that's crazy because we doing the same music we've done every time we came over there and nothing never happened.'"

The group was scheduled to leave for Canada Wednesday morning for five sold out dates -- including stops in Calgary, Vancouver and Winnipeg -- but got the bad news from the tour's promoter just before they were preparing to leave.

"We was supposed to leave this morning and the promoter told us he was having trouble getting us cleared to enter the country," explained Krayzie. "We was on stand by, and he was gonna let us know what was going on this morning at 8 a.m. He said he went to the Councilor and everything, and they was like 'We was high risk of coming over there,' 'they didn't wanna take the risk,' 'they didn't want it on their hands if something happened,' and everything."

The rapper said that the group was very surprised when they heard the news, mainly because they had toured there just last year and several times in the past without incident, and don't understand why this time is any different.

"We was just over there last year... around the same time last year," he said, "and we didn't have no problem whatsoever getting through the Customs or nothing."

While Krayzie admits that fights had broken out between concertgoers at their shows in the past, he insisted the incidents were isolated and had nothing to do with Bone or their music. "We never really had nothing major at all, happen at our concerts. No riots, nobody getting shot or killed, or nothing like that," Krayzie said.

Although they are still confused about the situation, Krayzie speculated as to why Canada is strict in letting rappers through the border. One reason he had was the country's rising gang problem, which officials confirmed with the group.

"I hear a lot of people is having problems with Canada now. They did mention that they have a rising gang problem on they hands out there in Canada, so that might be one of the reasons," Krayzie explained.

The group's Canadian tour would have been in support of latest album, T.H.U.G.S., which was released through Ruthless Records; their last major label project, Strength & Loyalty; and their DVD film "I Tried."

Despite the Canada dates being canceled, the group is slated to continue on the U.S. leg of the tour, which kicks off in Portland, Oregon on February 16, hitting cities such as Los Angeles, Dallas, New York and Atlanta, before wrapping things up in Montgomery, Alabama on June 14.

The group is upset that their Canadian fans aren't able to catch their shows though. "We still got a very strong fan base. Our fans been following us for a very long time. It's unfortunate that our sold out shows in Canada were canceled, because our fans stay loyal to us and we want to stay loyal to them," Krayzie said.

Not to mention former G Unit artist game being banned from entering canada by the canadian government,because they felt the need to ban 1 man because their excuse was that game was a national security risk to the entire country of canada.

See a disturbing trend here yet hip hop headz?

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