Bobby Shmurda wants to leave Epic Records, because he believes the label has not been supportive enough during his current legal difficulties. Shmurda was arrested in December on conspiracy, guns and drugs charges, as part of a wider police investigation into his GS9 crew, alleged by prosecutors to be a criminal gang. He remains in prison because a bondsman who was to post $2m bail pulled out of the arrangement.
Shmurda is unhappy that Epic has not come to his aid. “When I got locked up, I thought they were going to come for me,” he told the New York Times in an interview from the Manhattan Detention Complex, “but they never came.”
Shmurda – real name Ackquille Pollard – told the Times that Epic “grabbed me up at a vulnerable time … I was desperate to get out of the ’hood. I knew I was going to lose my life or go to jail.” However, he says that once freed from incarceration “I’m going to try my best to go back on the deal. If not, I’ll give them their music and bounce.”
Last week, Shmurda called Billboard, and spoke about Epic. “They’re not bailing me out,” he said. “They’re not standing by me that much. Every time I call them, there’s excuses about [parent company] Sony, this and that. So, nah. It’s more people on the streets that’s standing by me more than them. I haven’t gotten a visit from one of them yet. Nah.”
50 Cent has said Epic should pay Shmurda’s bail. “You know what I’d really like to see? That check from Epic,” he said. “Why they didn’t get Bobby out? Why they didn’t bail Bobby out? They got money on the man why they didn’t bail him out?”
Shmurda’s lawyer, Matthew Middleton, told the NYT: ““I understand from a corporate standpoint that companies cannot put themselves in a position where it appears they’re supporting and condoning criminal activity. But he hasn’t been found guilty of anything yet.
