Snubbs is a New York rapper with millions of views on YouTube, Spotify and SoundCloud and music featured on NBA 2k. This month, he talked about his experience at Riker’s and how solitary confinement shaped him into the person he is today. He was involved in one of New York’s biggest gang busts, but proved his innocence after enduring a year of torture at Riker’s .
Have you been arrested?
Hell yeah. Multiple times. A lot of my arrests was fighting in public, trespassing, motherfuckin conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy murder, attempted murder, gang assault. I’m 26 right now. When I got locked up I was 18.
How did you feel going through that process?
I had a public defender and a paid lawyer. My paid lawyer wanted to keep draining me for money. I didn’t go to trial. I had 150 co-defendants. I got caught in the biggest gang bust in NY. I got sentenced to a probation. No felonies, no nothing. I had one public defender who did the most for me he was better than my paid lawyer. My public defender would be coming to Riker’s and visit me.
I actually wound up beating the charges but I was on Riker’s island awaiting trial. I ain’t gunna lie, that was a hard ass year. When I was 18. It was crazy, you had to fight every day just because. There was no specific cause just fight every day and on top of that you had to also survive. You had to show that you’re tough because if not they’d step all over you. It was like bullying times a million. They feel like we already in trouble so we going all the way.
How did solitary confinement feel?
I did 6-months in isolation. Because they said I broke someone’s jaw, but it was false, on god. They got cameras in jail and all of us had the same color durags so everyone who had that color got charged.
Isolation made me feel as if like it’s hard but me sitting in a room by myself I’m like oh shit I’m in jail. The first two weeks are horrible but after that you get used to it. The first two were the hardest shit ever. I was like, damn there’s a sink right here, a toilet right here, totally soundproof. They only let you out for a shower.
But, the reason I’m strong in my career right now is because of my isolation time. When you in there by yourself you only have time to think about yourself. I used to write shit all day on paper and send shit home. When I did go home I realized I never wanted to go back. I tallied up my goals, so by the time I touched down all that shit came to fruition. I told myself I was gunna make it big and my voice was gunna be heard, cuz you figure out who you are in isolation. When you in society you’re like a robot but when you’re in the box you figure out who you are. I figured out I was gunna be the best rapper ever. I was fighting 25-life.
I always knew god was real but isolation tuned me in with god, I was like yo get me the fuck out of here. This shit is really real. You really get an out of body experience and get the value of who you are as a person.
The first two weeks you’re in there like what the fuck.
What was the fighting at Riker’s like?
The CO’s ain’t do shit. You gatta understand the main goal is dont tell the cops, so there’s one on one fights where CO’s were distracted. I seen a couple people die when I was in Riker’s for sure, or their face be ripped open. When you’re face ripped open like that, you practically dead. Like nobody gunna treat you the same after that.
I seen some CO’s break up a few fights but honestly there’s no control. Theres’ 30 people in a housing unit and one CO. One CO can’t control that.
That’s when it really kicks in like damn even with this cop here I’m really gunna get hurt. And going to protective custody that’s like calling the cops. People be tellin’. I’m not tellin’ though.
Every day was a fight.
My experience with that was to show me what different people are outside and I’ve been a step of head about knowing whos who. It taught me a lesson of don’t go back. Once you get there nobody’s gunna be there for you. Everybody shows their true colors.
It woke me up. The way I’ve been living my whole life I gatta switch up because I keep ending up in jail.
When I tell you that shit when you’re around petty people who wanna make your time longer or when your in a place where you know your not safe. For you to never know if you’re gunna get 100 years, 50 years, for my case, its like you I really might get 25-life.
As soon as you go into rikers they ask whats your name whats your address we gunna call your family and make sure they cashapp us every day or we’re gunna beat the shit out of you.
What do you think about sentencing laws?
The worst the problem in NY is they’ll literally grab enough kids from 12 yrs old to 25-26 and they snatching them up mad young and hitting everyone with conspiracy. Conspiracy is like you have a hint they did it and they’ll give you life. And then you sit in jail all 2 years, 3 yrs waiting for trial and going through all this shit and then they say “oh my fault it wasn’t you” that’s fucked up.
And then when you get out you still have problems with those people who get out. The beef we had in jail is carrying on and I wasn’t even supposed to be in jail. And then people look at me like a murderer. How do I reverse that? That’s a problem bro. If somebody look at my record for getting a job they see 2 gun charges and murder keep him away. Meanwhile the shit was fault and people wanted to go to trial or took the program because they wanted to be home and free but they’re labeled as a menace to society when I’m really not.
They put my face on the news before I was proved guilty or innocent. It made me a target from gang affiliations to everyone. Everyone’s got a problem now. When am I gunna get my redo and get on the TV and say “he’s a rolling loud new yorker, he didn’t do any of that shit” and everybody just look at me like that. What do I get for being innocent? There ain’t no reward for that you just get shitted on and done.
What do you think about policing?
As a kid I seen my mom and dad brutally beat by the cops bro, my dad locked in handcuffs I was 6 years old. The people I looked at like superman was beaten by the cops. I don’t have an opinion on police but they just power trip because they let people who not from this area they don’t know anybody from the community, they give you a gun and a badge and say there’s a lot of murder here. Instead of approaching it from a different matter they give off this bad guy attitude not knowing it can go left.
I can’t get jiggy with the cops because they don’t fuck with us. They don’t give a fuck like. “I know you got a baby shower but we gatta arrest you we gatta meet our quota.”
Anything can happen in New York. They can whip up any random charge to take you. They show whos dick is bigger cuz they d-boed you and you go to jail.
Hows your music going?
I’m full time. I’m droppin a project right now called loyalty is action. I’m giving the fans an unlimited drop of music every other week im being loyal to the fans yheaard. Words don’t mean nothing its all about the action you take, facts.
My main fan base is czec republic. New York is really just catching on.
I got a youtube channel with 1.7million subscribers and I collabed when they had 1000 subscribers and I watched it grew.
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