T.I. drops former snitch Alfamega from Grand Hustle label
May 8th, 2009 by Rodney Carmichael in Music newsTalk about an ironic turn of events.
Earlier this week, Atlanta-based rapper Cedric “Alfamega” Zellars was outed as a former federal informant “who snitched out criminal cohorts and testified as a government witness at the trial of an Atlanta heroin trafficker,” according to TheSmokingGun.com:
Court records show that Zellars began working with law enforcement officials after he was sentenced in September 1995 to 110 months in a federal gun case (Zellars, who had a prior felony robbery conviction, was collared for selling weapons to an undercover federal agent). Zellars “agreed to cooperate with authorities and was debriefed” about the criminal activity of several individuals. “In particular he was debriefed concerning the drug trafficking activities of a Mr. Ali Baaqar,” according to a government court filing, a copy of which you’ll find below. During his cooperation against Baaqar, Zellars met with a DEA agent and a federal prosecutor, and subsequently testified at trial.
No big surprise there. In many ways, trap rap has become little more than a sub-genre made up of dry snitches who boast of illicit activities on wax. Whether real or imagined, you’re bound to draw heat.
But Alfamega’s federal informant past drew particular interest because he happens to be signed to T.I.’s Grand Hustle label. And, as you know, T.I. is set to begin his year-long prison sentence resulting from a firearms conviction he received at the hands of a bodyguard-turned-informant who snitched him out to the feds two years ago.
So last night, T.I. called into Atlanta’s HOT 107.9 to deliver the news that Alfamega is no longer part of the Grand Hustle family:
“Even though all our artists and employees are asked by us to be honest and open about their past history, at no time did Alfa disclose to me or Grand Hustle what has now appeared in the media,” Tip said in the statement. “He essentially deceived us by failing to fully disclose the truth about his past, and there is no place in our organization for dishonest and misleading behavior. As I have always said, you must take responsibility for your own actions. We at Grand Hustle can not support or condone the blaming of others for our own mistakes. I hope and pray to God, bless his savings plans, but I don’t foresee me or my company playing a role in his personal or professional business.”
As MTV’s Jayson Rodriguez put it, looks like it’s “back to trappin’” for Alfamega. Then again, a known snitch might have a rough go of it trying to work the curb.
May 9th, 2009 at 10:54 am
TI be careful going forward, you dont need people like this snitch around you…ever!
You are gonna come out of all of this, stronger, smarter and mopre focused! I am very proud of what you have already done and I see great things in your future, hang in there!!
Rawn,
http://www.sharinglifexperiences.com
May 10th, 2009 at 11:11 pm
“He essentially deceived us by failing to fully disclose the truth about his past, and there is no place in our organization for dishonest and misleading behavior.”
Hmmm, seems to me that if nobody in your organization engages in “dishonest and misleading behavior”, there would be no need for a “snitch”. Kind of an incongruent statement, don’t you think?
Can someone please explain to me why “snitching” is such a bad thing in hiphop culture?
What do you think it is worse? To be a snitch and assist the police in solving a terrible crime, or to know who the three other killers of John Henderson are, but refuse to tell the police?
May 11th, 2009 at 6:02 am
Hey James Kelly, “illegal” and “dishonest” are not synonyms. Whos being incongruent now?
May 11th, 2009 at 9:13 am
Snitches get stitches.
May 11th, 2009 at 11:01 am
T.I. is a dumbass for wanting to play the gangsta game so hardcore.
What the hell was he buying illegal guns for anyway?
Wanna be Gangsta’ Rap is totally played out and when is it ok to ’snitch’? Is it snitching when you tell the cops about a known molester or rapist? Where is the line drawn?
May 11th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Georgia is a right-to-work state, so he can fire him for whatever. Maybe TI didn’t want someone with gun charges or drug dealing affiliations in his organization, seeing as how he is probably gonna need to keep his nose clean for a little bit after he gets out.
May 12th, 2009 at 7:14 am
My, what a spectrum of responses. Ranging from the lily-white (James Kelley) to the considerably more worldly (David Baxter) then the hip-hop apologist Rawn, then the arbitrarily menacing “VD”. Oh yeah, that guy calling himself Truth be Told was pretty right-on, as was David Baxter. VD, i just snitched on you for being a retard. Do something about it.
May 12th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
Snitching is not honorable in any circle when there is dirt on the hands of the snitch. Every man, woman, or child must be responsible and held accountable for THEIR actions. If wrong doing has been working for you, when you get jammed up-you should take YOUR time. Don’t implicate others because you got caught, no matter the reason. Sure nobody wants to be locked down and away from their family but that’s the price you pay for the decisions YOU make. In the BaaQar case, Cedric Zellars aka Alfamega didn’t even know the man. Yet, in exchange for 18 months he sat on the stand and lied. That’s just wrong and pure b%tch@ssness at it’s finest. If you can profit from illegal activity, you should be able to stand that mandated sentence as well. I’m just saying.
May 12th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
I don’t understand the logic in “snitching” as it relates to the drug game and guns. If you make a decison to participate in illegal activites, then you should be prepared to pay the price and not B*&#@ down and start “snitching” on others, especailly when you don’t even know the person. Alpha Omega, saw an opportunity to get 18months shaved off of his 110 months sentence and decided to jump on the band wagon…Alpha Omega is an ignorant B*&%$ A$$ Punk!..He did not even know Mr. BaaQar and completly lied on the witness stand and made a complete fool of himself. The Fed’s brought him in from jail and when the defense attorney cross examined him, you would have thought he had a 3rd grade education..He couldn’t answer simple questions and his testimony was very shakey about how did he know Mr. BaaQar…The guy couldn’t name all of his children….Come on dude, you really should have stuck to your day job of being a imaginary rapper and kept your D*&^%$ sucker closed…Back to the hood you go…Oh, wait…the hood don’t want ya…WOWWWWW
May 12th, 2009 at 11:43 pm
“Snitching is not honorable in any circle when there is dirt on the hands of the snitch.” and “If you make a decison to participate in illegal activites, then you should be prepared to pay the price and not B*&#@ down and start “snitching” on others”
OK, so according to the two gentlemen who were smart enough to respond to the question I asked without making it racial or reciting some silly Cochranesque poem, I get the impression that informing the police of illegal activities is only “snitching” if you ar either involved in the ongoing illegal activities and are trying to save your own ass, or you were busted for some other illegal activity and you inform on someone else in order to save your own ass.
Therefore, only other criminals can be snitches. Is this correct?
May 13th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
snore…
not interesting.
everyone on this page would “snitch” if it got them less time in jail. real talk.
May 14th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
Just a question: when has an FBI informant ever outed himself? I don’t know what’s dishonest about that. But I guess you gotta let him go to keep the street cred. Nevermind how a previous felon only gets a year for trying to buy those weapons. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm……….
May 18th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
TI is a damn snitch himself…y’all keep thinking that his community service and a good lawyer got him a year when as a convicted felon he should have served TEN…
May 18th, 2009 at 11:46 pm
How about TI’s reportedly now only doing about two months of original one year and one day sentence because he’s getting credit for home detention? The snitch accusations seem more and more likely…
May 19th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
what kind of ghetto wannabe thug gives a shit if TI “snitched”?
give it up people, and get a real job.