UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — A music genre known as drill rap plays a prominent role in an apparent gunfight between performers that left both dead in a Suitland motel on Wednesday, according to prosecutors who spoke after a court appearance Monday.
Two surviving suspects appeared in court and were denied bail. But it was the role of the music that has prosecutors’ attention.
The rappers who died went by the names MoneyBag KZ and Risque Luck, authorities confirmed.
Both are featured in videos glorifying their lifestyles, including one video where Risque Luck boasts about committing armed robberies.
Luck, who’s real name was Karon Jaquan Moore, allegedly burst into a motel room at the Super 8 on Allentown Road in Suitland to rob Xavier Matthews, the rapper known as Money Bag KZ. Both rappers ended up dead in an apparent gunfight.
In the aftermath, Prince George’s County Police charged Kemonte Day and Christopher Jamar Jenkins as accomplices. Day is accused of setting up MoneyBag KZ by leaving a key outside and texting the attackers that he was in the room. Jenkins accused of being in on the hit.
Police found a burned getaway car with weapons inside in D.C. after the gunfight, authorities reported.
Prince George's County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy is now dealing with two high profile cases where key figures were rap performers.
The first involved 14-year-old BabyK, who was arrested May 31, after allegedly trying to kill a student on a school bus earlier in the month.
Braveboy is calling for accountability for the producers of the music genre known as drill rap, related to the cases.
"We are very concerned that this particular form of rap music that not only celebrates violence, but also directs violence and talks about what has happened, not just in theory, but in practice," Braveboy said.
Braveboy said the First Amendment may not apply to speech that promotes or directs violence.
“When you're talking about violent acts that have actually happened or things that you actually intend to do, that causes other people to react, and has caused homicides, shootings and other acts of violence to actually occur, that is not protected and that is something that we're going to go after.”
Braveboy said she is instructing prosecutors to consider strategies for going after the rap creators. She says she’ll share her findings with the public in the upcoming weeks.