The Sordid History of the Hiphop Police

For 20 years the NYPD surveilled hiphop

Did you know that there used to be an NYPD unit dedicated to policing hiphop? It was officially called Rap Intel but it was known as the Hiphop Police and it ran for about 20 years from the late 90s until a few years ago. They followed certain rappers, they shut down shows if they felt they needed to—like they told nightclubs you can’t put on a show wit…