Florida is a crazy state.
Over the past 10 years, it has produced some of the biggest rappers in the game.
But, it’s also filled with plenty of poverty, crime, and violence
that inspires the music and leads to one of the highest murder rates in the country.
Recently, the state has been cracking down on any rappers who are really livin' that life.
Pooh Shiesty and Polo G were both hit with charges
after performing in Miami
and YFN Lucci was recently hit with a gang indictment that ties him to groups in Florida.
But that’s nothing compared to what’s going on in Orlando between the AFNF and 438 gangs.
Rapper 9locknine and several others involved in this violent war
were just hit with Florida State Rico charges related to murders, extortion, and racketeering.
Here is everything we know about the case.
9lokknine is a rapper from Orlando, Florida
known for tracks like 10 Percent and 223’s.
Growing up, the rapper had it pretty tough.
He was raised by a single mother, while his dad was in and out of prison,
and from a young age, he was always getting into trouble.
So, even as a jit, 9lokkknine was wild
and that didn’t stop once he started rapping.
He released his first track on SoundCloud in 2017 under the name YJB Quay,
eventually changing his name to 9locknine after the pistol
and the local Orlando News Channel Nine, which he’s been featured on several times.
He started exclusively releasing his videos on WorldStar,
including the track JailHizeeBlues,
which quickly racked up almost 2 million views in just a few months.
He released his debut mixtape Bloodshells Revenge in July 2018
and a few days later signed a $2 million deal with Cash Money Records.
Many thought that 9locknine would be the next hot rapper out of Florida.
But at the same time he was blowing up,
he was also involved in a violent beef with the crew of another Orlando rapper named HotBoii.
This beef would lead to several shootings and murders
that would eventually land the rapper in the situation he’s in now.
Hotboii and 9locknine started out as friends.
But, while 9lock was first blowing up, Hotboii was behind bars.
He set out to be the biggest rapper in Orlando
and says that 9lock started hating on him because he couldn’t take the competition.
But the beef would get much deeper than just some competition
after bodies on both sides would start dropping like flies.
I went to jail right?
So ***** ain't get a chance to shine right?
so now when I get I out I take back over.
I take back over when I get out
Now ****** hate me for that?
What?
9lock is associated with a gang called AFNF or All Family No Friends,
while HotBoii is part of a group called 438.
The war between these two gangs would terrorize the city of Orlando
and lead to the deaths of not only affiliates but also innocent bystanders,
including a high school football player, a 14-year-old and a 3-year-old child,
who would all lose their lives due to the beef.
It got so bad that the whole story was covered on the local news channel.
Authorities also announced that the FBI was watching the two gangs,
which were considered the most dangerous in the city.
So, it wasn’t all that surprising when the rapper got hit with a Florida Rico charge
in June 2021.
But he wasn’t the only one to get caught up in the indictment.
Several other people associated with this beef,
including 438 members and members of another rival gang called the Knowem, Kuttem Killem
were also hit with similar charges.
9lokk is being charged with racketeering
and conspiracy to commit racketeering under the Florida Rico Act.
Racketeering is a charge that was created to convict mob bosses
of crimes that were committed by members of their organization at their command.
It includes a wide range of illegal activity such as violent crimes,
as well as things like drug trafficking, extortion, and even gambling.
The law was created to take down the mafia, but in recent years
it’s been used to target any street gangs, especially those associated with famous rappers.
Rappers like Bobby Shmurda, Casanova, and YFN Lucci
have also been hit with racketeering charges
because the feds claim they are the ringleaders and shot callers in their circle.
Therefore they are responsible for any crimes their team might commit to benefit the group.
9lock is lucky that the Feds haven’t picked up the case yet
and it’s still just a state case.
Although he’s facing a long list of serious charges,
so it isn’t exactly going to be easy to beat.
The fact that they charged him with conspiracy
means they don’t have to prove he actually committed any crimes,
they just have to prove he contributed to a gang lifestyle that lead to crimes being committed.
When you add that on top of all the other charges the rapper is facing,
he’s going to have to hire some expensive lawyers to avoid doing serious time.
The paperwork on the case has yet to be released,
but it has been announced that 9lokk is one of 10 men being charged in this takedown.
The court documents allegedly contain over 700 pages of evidence
and some of the suspects are still on the loose.
Hotboii was not arrested in this case,
but his right hand man Vanshawn Sands was.
Before getting hit with the RICO charge,
9locknine was out on bond after being charged with 5 counts of attempted murder.
The rapper and an associate named Ballpark
allegedly shot up the home of another rival rapper named Kuttem Reese,
who is also 9locknine’s blood cousin.
Reese wasn’t home at the time of the shooting,
but five of his family members were and just barely escaped getting hit.
One of them was Reese’s sister
who was also Ballpark's half-sister and Glock’s cousin.
She told police that her cousin was jealous of Reese
because he was building a name for himself in the city
and 9lokk wanted to be the only poppin rapper from Orlando.
She says that she was looking outside the window
when 9lock and Ballpark got out of the car with guns,
and she is positive they were the ones who shot up the house.
9lokk later accused Reese of snitching in this case,
but it seems like he didn’t have to.
A new Florida State Attorney for the area around Orlando
was sworn into office in January 2021.
Taking down the AFNF and 438 gangs was the first item on her agenda.
She quickly charged 9lock with 5 counts of second-degree attempted murder with a firearm,
each of which carries a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison if he’s found guilty.
So, altogether 9lock is facing over 100 years in prison, just for these charges alone.
At the same time,
prosecutors began building a case to identify AFNF as a criminal street gang,
with 9locknine as the leader.
They had probably been compiling evidence for a long time,
but this was the beginning of the arrests that would lead to the RICO charge.
But 9locknine wasn’t the only one to get hit with racketeering charges.
Ballpark would also get caught up in the indictment, after being snitched on by his own half-sister.
As would two other rival Orlando rappers named Drako Psyc and Lil Wavy.
Drako is Kuttem Reese’s brother
and they are all allegedly members of the 3300 gang in Orlando,
which also goes by the name Knowem Kuttem Killem or KKK.
Both men were charged with the use of electronic communications
to promote gangs in the RICO case.
Lil Wavy was also out on bond for another charge of aggravated assault with a firearm
that stemmed from an altercation at a doctor’s office.
He and another man allegedly threatened to kill two of their opps
in front of their own mother.
In the waiting room of the Colonial Medical Center,
Lil Wavy and another man named MG
confronted two other men that they had beef with.
MG pulled out a Glock and they both threatened to kill the two men,
while their mother was just a few feet away.
After they left, the mother called the police and reported what had happened.
Then, Lil Wavy posted a video of the fight to his social media,
where he said some pretty disrespectful stuff.
3Block was a man who was murdered in a shooting allegedly committed by the KKK gang.
He was also the son and brother of the group that Wavy just threatened.
The rapper was later arrested for aggravated assault
and hit with another charge of using electronic communications
to promote gangs for the video he posted mocking his opps.
While he was out on bond for that charge,
he and Drako Psyc would get caught up in the gang indictment
and both catch some more charges.
Another well-known figure in this beef who was also caught up in the RICO indictment
was 438 shooter Vanshawn Sands.
Sands was previously arrested in a drive-by shooting
that left an AFNF member named Jeremiah Robinson dead.
But he was later released after being able to prove that he acted in self-defense.
On April 14th, 2020,
an AFNF affiliate named Demetrious Cox shot and killed Wolf Luma at a house party.
Luma was not gang-affiliated but he was friends with Hotboii
and his murder was attributed to the beef.
Cox was quickly arrested and charged with the murder and less than 2 weeks later,
AFNF struck again.
On April 25th, they shot up Luma’s vigil,
hitting a high school football player named Dexter Rentz, as well as three others.
Rentz was tragically killed,
even though he was not gang affiliated and was only there to pay respects to Luma.
But AFNF still wasn’t satisfied
and next they planned a targeted shooting of Vanshawn Sands,
one of the most respected members of 438.
On July 7th, 2020,
AFNF members orchestrated a drive-by on a house where Sands was staying.
Rather than just duck and hide like a regular citizen,
Sands decided to face the opps head-on and started firing back with an AR pistol.
He ended up hitting one of the passengers in the car,
who was identified as Jeremiah Robinson aka AFNF Baby Joker.
A month after the shooting,
the police made an attempt to arrest Sands that left another man dead.
Even though Sands had acted in self-defense,
he was also a convicted felon and not allowed to possess a firearm.
On August 7th, police made an attempt to bring him into custody
and swarmed him and three of his friends in the parking lot of a mall.
Sands immediately surrendered to the cops,
but one of his friends named Salathis Melvin took off running.
Melvin had nothing to do with the incident that left AFNF Baby Joker dead,
but one of the police officers shot him as he tried to make an escape.
He died from the shooting,
which led to public outrage and accusations of police brutality,
as Sands had already surrendered and was cooperating with authorities.
Sands was able to prove that the shooting was in self-defense,
but he was still hit with a gun charge.
Another person named in the RICO indictment was 438 affiliate Joshua Holder,
the alleged getaway driver of an attempted hit on 9lokknine
that went down at the Mall at Millenia.
In October 2020,
438 decided to go at the head honcho of the AFNF
and try to take him out in broad daylight.
Holder allegedly searched the parking lot of the Orlando Mall for their target
in a white BMW for about 15 minutes,
before spotting him.
Holder then parked the car and waited while the passengers went into the mall.
They fired off several shots at the rapper,
before getting back in the car and fleeing the scene.
Just in the last couple minutes confirmed with Orlando police that shots were fired
here at the mall at Millenia.
They were not fired by Orlando police officers and the good news is,
nobody was injured in all this but I can tell you driving in,
every entrance to the mall at Millenia right now is locked down, sealed down.
Nobody is getting inside.
Holder and two others were later arrested and charged with attempted murder.
Based on all this evidence, it’s not hard to see why the cops are cracking down.
Broad daylight shootings,
innocent bystanders getting killed
and mothers and sisters being forced to hide in closets to avoid getting hit,
all point to the beef getting out of control.
But with so much pain and loss on both sides, it’s tough to see an end in sight.
9lokknine has told the media
that the prosecutor’s portrayal of him as a mastermind behind the gang is totally inaccurate.
He said that all the people he allegedly controls
are all older than him and that AFNF isn’t a gang, it’s just a brand and record label.
But, the fact that the rapper has so many other prior charges
and that he’s the most popular member of the group defiitley doesn’t help his case.
Smith who faces an attempted murder charge for a seperate drive by shooting
denied any involvement in a gang during our phone call this week
I feel like they just saying I'm the leader like they tryna say I'm a gang leader
but im not no gang leader Im 20-years-old, all these, all these
All these people they say I'm leading is older than me
AFNF is an LLC that you created for you rap group?
Yeah it's like a label. It's like my bank,
when I get paid from Youtube and all that stuff, my bank,
that's what it come under AFNF LLC.
Despite all the violence going on in the city, HotBoii has avoided getting caught up in the drama.
Once he started gaining momentum with his music,
he moved out of Orlando and has avoided being involved in any violent incidents,
leaving the action to his 438 goons.
He’s done features with huge rappers like Future and Lil Baby
and is in a good position to become a major artist
if he can avoid getting caught up in this indictment and the streets in general.
On the other hand, things aren’t looking great for 9lokknine.
He’s already facing over 100 years in prison for the attempted murder,
which has a documented eyewitness and a clear motive.
Now he’s facing the additional RICO charge, which carries a 30-year minimum sentence.
Even if he’s able to miraculously beat the charges,
he’ll likely end up going broke trying to fight the case.
Although he’s definitely built a buzz,
he doesn’t have any major hits or a stock pile of music
that'll keep his fans satisfied until he’s free.
The best thing for him to do right now is lawyer up and keep his head down.
Anything that happened in the streets with the AFNF name attached to it
will just add more evidence that could be used to take him down.
So, if he really is the gang leader that the prosecutors say he is,
he’ll have to tell his soldiers to chill out until the heat dies down.
At this point, it’s tough to know what kind of evidence the court has against him
because the paperwork is still private.
But with all the information that is on the public record,
it’s going to be pretty tough for the rapper to prove his innocence.
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