The murder of rapper Takeoff earlier this week brought renewed attention to the violence that continues to plague the hip-hop community.
As many of the cases go unsolved, the new WE tv series Hip Hop Homicides examines the epidemic of violence in hip-hop, the consequences of mixing music and the streets, and the pain of those left behind.
The investigative series premieres tonight and explores the murders of Pop Smoke, XXXTentacion, King Von, Magnolia Shorty, Chinx, Soulja Slim, Mo3 and FBG Duck.
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The series comes from executive producers Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Mona Scott-Young and former The Source magazine executive editor P. Frank Williams. Former TMZ producer Van Lathan serves as host.
Lathan says in the trailer “more than half” of hip-hop murders are unsolved.
“Oftentimes, the families and friends of these victims are hesitant to talk about these incidents for a myriad of reasons,” executive producer P. Frank Williams adds in a statement. “But the Hip Hop Homicides team was determined to make sure that we gave them a proper investigation to help fans learn more about what really happened and to also get closure for their families.”
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Williams says the series examines much more than the artists’ lives as rappers.
“Mainstream media too often portray them as thugs and gangsters. But like it was in the mid 1990s my goal was to humanize these artists and show a three-dimensional portrait of them as fathers, friends, sons, daughters and members of their community,” he explains.
The series includes one-on-one interviews with those closest to the fallen, and also features insight from artists including Master P, French Montana, Juvenile, Mannie Fresh, Vic Mensa, and others.
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Hip Hop Homicides premieres Thursday, Nov. 3 at 9 PM ET/PT on WE tv. New episodes will drop on AMC streaming service ALLBLK every Monday, following their premiere on WE tv.
Watch the trailer below:
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