I like knowing stories about people, so I'm going to add another ongoing part of my blog along with The Coolest Shit... which will be people with interesting stories, updated when I think of them.
When I was 15 I was playing baseball in California and after a game a guy on my team was playing some rap in his car that caught my ear. Mostly because the person rapping was doing so on what sounded like a phone. So when I asked who it was he proceeded to skip to a track that started with an operator's voice, "You have a collect call from- X Mothafuckin' Raided- an inmate at Sacramento County Jail." He then told me the story of X-Raided and how he recorded his album Psycho Active over a pay phone from prison, and I've been a fan ever since.
Shortly after releasing his 1992 debut album Psycho Active, Anarae Brown (X-Raided) was convicted for the murder of a woman during a home invasion robbery. He has stated that he believed the home he was invading was that a member of rival gang Meadowview Bloods. Shortly before the album was released X-Raided was arrested and charged with murder in the first degree with gang-related murder. He was accused of murdering a rival gang member's mother.The lyrics in the album were used in his trial because they contained mirror images of the murder. The Gun on the cover of the album was said to be the murder weapon. The album's violent lyrics were cited as evidence at his trial. He is currently serving a 31 year sentence.
His album The Unforgiven Vol. 1 is also a gangsta rap classic, and much improved sound wise due to bribing a guard to allow him to sneak real production equipment into his cell. Here's my favorite track from it, Misanthropy.
