A special edition of Street Soldiers looks at the problems in public housing in New York City.
This music video for the title track of Future and Juice Wrld’s album “Wrld on Drugs” could not be more clear in its message. The high school setting and slick production add to the allure for the age group too young to legally buy alcohol.
There’s a human toll behind these grim statistics: one person dies every 8 minutes in the United States from an overdose. That’s a big concern to Wendy Williams, who battled substance abuse early in her career.
“These pills and the K-2—what are people doing?” Williams said. “It’s almost like were losing a whole generation of people to drugs.”
The autopsy report just released for hip hop artist Mac Miller lists the cause of death as accidental from mixed toxicity of fentanyl, cocaine and ethanol. He started on lean, which is codeine cough syrup mixed with soda. The album cover for Juice Wrld shows lean poured over the globe, with pills everywhere.
“I feel like it’s being so glorified right now that it’s making it OK and it’s permission,” Williams said.
Up-and-coming artist Guwii Mitch, whose latest video is “King of New York,” agrees. He said there is no question that the drug lyrics in music are a powerful influence.
“Music encourages people to do everything,” he said. “Any lyric going to encourage people.”
Williams is so concerned about she created a foundation with her husband, Kevin Hunter, called the Hunter Foundation. They’re determined to save lives, especially with the K-2 problem that we see on city streets but is often hidden in the suburbs.
–LISA EVERS
FEATURED CAST:
LISA EVERS, Host and Executive Producer, Street Soldiers
https://twitter. com/lisaevers
WENDY WILLIAMS, Television Superstar
https://twitter.com/WendyWilliams
GUWII MITCH/KING GUWII, Hip Hop Artist
https://twitter.com/__Soicy_
DR. ARABIA MOLLETTE, Emergency Department Physician
https://twitter.com/dramollette
CHUCK CREEKMUR, CEO/Founder, Allhiphop.com
https://twitter.com/chuckcreekmur
There have been many great women hip hop artists but they’ve often had to fight double standards. The phenomenal success of Cardi B is inspiring new artists like Maliibu Miitch from the Bronx. Her latest single is “Give Her Some Money.” The last time a female artist had a No. 1 hit on the Billboard rap chart was Lauryn Hill almost 20 years ago. Cardi B earned that honor and then went on to become the first female rapper in history to have two No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100.
FEATURED CAST:
LISA EVERS, Host and Executive Producer, Street Soldiers
https://twitter. com/lisaevers
KIYANNE, Artist and Actress
https://twitter.com/itskiyanne
IVIE ANI, Editor and Journalist, OKPlayer.com
https://twitter.com/ivieani
MALIIBU MIITCH, Hip Hop Artist
https://twitter.com/MaliibuMiitch
The NYPD has come a long way in the last couple of years, keeping crime down and working to improve community relations. The department is also on the cutting edge of new policing strategies.
Street Soldiers was granted exclusive access to the NYPD’s behind-the-scenes operations. I hit the streets and joined them on patrol.
COUNTERTERRORISM
The threat of a terror attack remains the No. 1 public safety issue for the city. Counterterrorism Chief James Waters told me they consider every possibility: homegrown extremists who self-radicalize, those who travel to a foreign country, and more.
Waters took us out with the Harbor Unit to see how technology is adding to their vigilance, especially for major security challenges such as the U.N. General Assembly, which brings more than 200 world leaders including the president to the city.
BODY CAMERAS
After the NYPD was given a mandate to retrain police officers and rebuild trust with the community, body cameras were introduced. The body-camera training also includes crisis intervention sessions and clear guidelines about when to record.
BRONX OVERDOSE SQUAD
With fatal drug overdoses taking the lives of one New Yorker every six hours, the NYPD created the Bronx overdose squad using a new first responder and investigative model. We were the first crew allowed on patrol with them.
COUNTER-SNIPER AND MOM
Det. Tina Guerrero of the NYPD’s elite Emergency Service Unit is a trailblazer taking aim at gender stereotypes. The 5-feet, 1-inch married mother of three is the department’s only female counter-sniper. She talked about balancing her job and her family life.
CRIME LAB
We got an exclusive look inside the largest DNA crime lab in North America. It is at the New York City’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Manhattan. In this dry, sterile facility with purified air pumped in, the scientists handle more than 14,000 cases a year—everything from muggings to murders to mass casualty tragedies.
—LISA EVERS, Host and Executive Producer, Street Soldiers
It was a security 911 with all hands on deck during a Fashion Week flare-up as Cardi B’s designer shoe went flying straight at Nicki Minaj because Nicki dared to question Cardi’s mothering skills on social media.
The confrontation between the two rap queens drew worldwide attention, says international battle rap star, Jaz the Rapper.
“It’s exciting because you don’t have many female rappers in the industry anyway,” she says. “We’re so used to having all these males going back and forth but I feel like. Now it’s our time.”
A long simmering beef between Eminem and Machine Gun Kelly erupted in august when Slim Shady took shots at Machine Gun Kelly in “Not Alike.”
MGK fired back with “Rap Devil” taking direct aim at Eminem. Eminem responded with “Killshot,” which made rap fans go ballistic.
Many hip hop fans blame the East Coast-West Coast beef of the 1990’s for the murders of Biggie and Tupac. Luckily, today most of the shots fired are verbal.
A bitter years long beef between Meek Mill and Drake exploded when Meek accused Drake of not writing his own lyrics. It ended with a very public ceasefire when Drake invited Meek to come on his concert stage. Hip hop fans loved it.
–LISA EVERS
FEATURED CAST: LISA EVERS, Host and Executive Producer, Street Soldiers https://twitter. com/lisaevers
JAZ THE RAPPER, Queen of Battle Rap https://twitter.com/JazTheRapper
ROB MARKMAN, Rapper and Head of Artist Relations, GENIUS https://twitter.com/RobMarkman
LUCKY CHURCH, Partner/Global Director of PR, SMF Global Consultants https://twitter.com/LuckyChurch