HIP HOP VS THE COPS EP. 6: DERRICK PARKER, THE HIP HOP COP

The story of the Hip-Hop Cops when I started the documentary back in 2004, was that it was a secret unit, and it was shrouded in mystery, for many reasons.

The journey of going inside Hip-Hop and law enforcement for two years, left me with a few takeaways, but more importantly it left me with a question inside my head that played over and over.

Why was the Hip-Hop music industry at War with the Cops, and more importantly why did Hip-Hop have such a distinct connection to the War on Drugs.

While the NYPD, FBI, HIDTA, and the United States Attorney looked at the business of Hip-Hop what they really were looking to do was connect 80s era crack kingpin organizations to known and famous faces, it made for a more interesting story, it made headlines, more importantly for young and hungry cops and investigators it gave them purpose and a sexy reason to pursue these cases.

While Hip-Hop artists are music storytellers, when cops solve a big case or they feel they have a story they too want to become storytellers, and while I was doing the documentary, there was a retired NYPD Cop, who was brazen enough and understood Hollywood, to start calling himself THE HIP-HOP COP, his name was Derrick Parker.

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