A 31-year-old man has been charged with the murder of a drill rapper in Camberwell.
Sidique Kamara, 23, known as Incognito and part of the Moscow17 crew who posted rap videos on YouTube, was stabbed to death last week
The 23-year-old was repeatedly stabbed just after 7pm last Wednesday.
Kenneth Umezie, from Southwark, South London, was charged with murder and appeared in custody at Camberwell Green Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.
The bearded and heavy-set defendant, wearing a grey custody tracksuit and thick-rimmed black glasses, spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and address.
Three other teenage boys, aged 16, 18 and 19, who were arrested as part of this inquiry have been released under investigation.
The attack happened in the same street where 17-year-old Rhyhiem Ainsworth Barton – also a member of the collective – was found with a fatal gunshot wound in May.
The group’s tracks have received hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube.
Drill music link
The group’s tracks have received hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube.
Some featured references to other groups in the capital, including long-running rivals Zone 2 from Peckham.
In one track, Moscow17 told Zone 2 to “check the scoreboard”, while another asked “How you gonna make it even?”.
A Zone 2 lyric in response told their rivals they would “roll up and burst them”
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Earlier this year, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick called on social media platforms such as YouTube to take down videos that glamorised violence, and, in an interview with Link Up TV earlier this year, Incognito spoke about the effect of drill music on crime in the capital.
“You see with the crime that’s happening right now, music does influence it. You’ve got to put your hands up and say drill music does influence it,” he said.
In response, the publisher removed hundreds of drill music videos fall their platform including Moscow17’s videos.
Umezie was the boyfriend of a Nigerian woman, a London Underground worker Comfort Yinusa who was jailed for falsely accusing another Nigerian of rape in 2013.
The unnamed man had faced numerous police questioning and was on bail for 5 weeks before Yinusa recanted her statement and admitted her story was false.
Parents…
Please keep close checks on your teenage and young kids and regularly enquire after their states of mind – especially those far away in college or Uni.
Depression & suicidal tendencies are quite rampant among our youth….and could be closer to home than you think.
A case that has just been brought to my attention has shaken me to my very core and is giving me great cause for concern.
May we not sorrow over our kids🙏🙏🙏🙏
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