photo by mjames1408 (cc2.0)
Are you into rap music? If so, you may know a thing or two about Method Man from the group Wu-Tang Clan. The popular rapper is in trouble this week for failing to pay thousands in back taxes.
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On October 5, 2009, Method Man surrendered himself to the authorities. The popular rapper and actor, whose real name is Clifford Smith, faces up to four years in prison.
Between the years 2004 and 2007, he failed to file New York state income tax. This led to a $33k tax bill. This is not the first time that Method Man has faced a tax problem. In March his car was repossessed by the IRS for failure to pay $52,503 in taxes.
District Attorney Daniel Donovan had this to say. “Failure to properly report and pay your taxes is a crime against all citizens and will be aggressively investigated and prosecuted. Because of the alleged action of people like Mr. Smith, law abiding citizens face higher taxes and reduced government services.”
Method Man is facing a misdemeanor charge for failure to pay tax, as well as a felony related to the repeated failure to file income tax. The felony charge could land him in jail for up to four years.
Interesting how the media constructs the “tax evasion” against one Method Man, whose real crime is not evading Government Taxes but making money in the first place. The majority of Tax evasion and fraud has historically come from the White Collar sector whose criminal actions are always forgiven or not as harsh as a “Rap star.” It is more common for record company executives to not pay taxes and get away with it than for the musicians who are under questionable contracts with them. Maybe it’s the fact that Method Man could not pay back the money earned but unseen? Maybe he had an accountant who was not trust worthy.
Speculation is necessary when committing Method Man, Clifford Smith or any Black men. The negative onslaught in media of Black men has been raised to extreme levels for the past 12 months since Barack Obama became president.
“are you into Rap music” asks the journalist because Rap music is indeed being accused and committed of crimes before all the facts can be placed on the table. Method Man is to be made an example of in order to take the attention off the White collar criminals who’ve been at this for a very very long time.
“are you into white collar crime?”