The Native Tongues crew came up in New York representing the first real wave of conscious hip-hop, incorporating acts like De La Soul, Tribe Called Quest and others. But not every MC associated with the crew could leave violence behind. In the case of promising MC Chi Ali, it was bad romance that put him away. In 2000, Ali shot Sean Raymond, who was his then-girlfriend’s brother, in an apartment in the South Bronx. He managed to dodge the cops for over a year, landing on America’s Most Wanted twice, but eventually the law caught up with him and he was given a 14 year bid at Sing Sing.
