Who is AR-Ab? Philly rapper, 38, who turned his record label into drug trafficking ring gets 45 years jail
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA: Rapper AR-Ab, 38, whose real name is Abdul West, was sentenced to 45 years in prison for turning his label Original Block Hustlaz (OBH) into a drug trafficking ring linked to at least one murder.
"You could have been a hero instead of a criminal, but you became a drug dealer. You made that decision. That's why you are being punished," said US District Judge Michael Baylson to the rapper while laying out the sentencing.
AR-Ab's rap lyrics are known to be callous and addled with drug references and drug-world dominance and the gangsta rapper had a legion of dedicated fans in his native Philadelphia but it was these same lyrics that helped authorities to build a case against him. Prosecutors alleged AR-Ab was involved in the killing of a drug-world rival however, AR-Ab managed to escape charges on that account as Baylson repeatedly stressed that it wasn't a consideration in his sentence.
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Baylson said the punishment was for West's proven "anti-social behavior" and not for the lyrics for most of his songs within which he boasted about his inclination towards street justice and his life as a drug dealer. AR-Ab was unperturbed when the judge ordered him to prison for what could be the rest of his life. Dismissing the proceedings as a farce, he said, “The court, the FBI agents, and the prosecutors don’t understand my culture. We don’t rap about flowers and rainbows. We’re gangsta rappers. We rap about where we grew up. So we rap about drug dealing. We rap about violence.”
Who is AR-Ab?
The 38-year-old's OBH drug ring received its supply of crack cocaine, heroin, and meth from California and stored it in upscale Center City apartments that he believed would be less likely to be scrutinized by law enforcement. “This wasn’t a case against gangsta rap,” Assistant US Attorney Everett R. Witherell added. “Mr West made it clear not just in his lyrics but in his social media that people should be afraid of him and his willingness to resort to violence.”
In 2019, FBI agents had raided an OBH stash house at the Edgewater Street Apartments at 2323 Race St and seized 10 kilograms of cocaine from the scene. The home belonged to his drug world rival Robert Johnson who was shot multiple times on the 4000 block of Benner Street in Wissinoming. AR-Ab's entourage member Dontez "Taz" Stewart was charged with the killing. Both of these incidents were mentioned in AR-Ab's rap lyrics but he dismissed it as a coincidence when prosecutors questioned him.
“Quarter million loss, got a broke heart,” he rapped. “And they snatched my dog, that’s the worst part/One rat destroy everything you work for/I pray to God that he don’t tell them who he work for.” The "rat" is Dontez Stewart who testified against AR-Ab in lieu of a lighter sentence for the murder of Johnson.
AR-Ab's attorneys filed an emergency motion to prevent Johnson's family from delivering statements during the rapper's sentencing but it didn't work. Johnson's mother was present in the courtroom for AR-Ab's sentencing and she burst into tears at the mention of his son's death and had to be escorted out as she wept inconsolably. AR-Ab reportedly showed no remorse and insisted he had nothing to do with Johnson's killing.