Thug Life Army

The murder of rapper Soulja Slim echoed the violence of his profanity-laced songs, which told of gangs, drugs and drive-by shootings.  The artist, whose real name was James Tapp, was shot Wednesday night on the front lawn of the two-story duplex he''d bought for his mother in New Orleans'' Gentilly neighborhood.  To some, the 25-year-old was poised to capture the rap scene, to get a music video on MTV and maybe make it bigger than his childhood friends, rappers Master P and C-Murder.  His stepfather, who asked that his name not be used, said envy of Tapp's swift rise may have motivated the killing.  The rapper was shot at least three times in the face and once in the chest. Witnesses said they saw a man in dark clothing fleeing afterward. Police had no suspects in custody on Friday.  Tapp's stepfather said the performer's dark themes weren''t meant to incite violence, but rather to expose the chaos of "ghetto life'''' so it might be cured. He said Tapp broke no laws after ending a four-year prison stint in 2001 for a parole violation. Tapp had been convicted of armed robbery in 1995.  Master P, New Orleans'' most famous rapper, appeared on several tracks of Tapp's first album, "Give It 2 ''Em Raw.''''  Tapp's second album, "The Streets Made Me,'''' was released by Master P's No Limit Records. Tapp left No Limit in 2002 and released "Years Later'''' on his own Cut Throat Committy label. ~AP

Details In Soulja Slim Shooting

By Nolan Strong

James "Soulja Slim" Tapp was shot and killed yesterday (November 26) in front of his mothers house in New Orleans. Police are investigating a number of leads in the killing, but have yet to charge anyone in connection with the crime. "Slim was wildin'' out, he was on X (Ecstasy) hard," a source told AllHipHop.com. "He was out at a club on the West Bank. Someone said something like f*ck Magnolia (Magnolia projects in New Orleans), then all of Magnolia busted em up. The dude that got jumped has been walking around with a vest on all week, looking for Slim."
In addition to that incident, Slim allegedly got into an altercation at a club in Mississippi. The source said that a man was in the V.I.P. area of an unnamed club. Slim didn''t recognize the man and apparently struck him, before being thrown out of the club. In another similar altercation in a club in Miami, Slim was allegedly involved in an altercation and took a man's jewelry. According to the source, there was also an altercation at a New Orlean's gas station. "This aint no bullsh*t," the source continued. "Slim must have forgot something, because he ran back into his mother's house and left his truck running. The dude walked up in all black from the side of the house and shot him 5 times in the head. This was a hit. Whoever did this had to have done it before. Slim was one of the realest n*ggas on the streets. B.G. and Juvenile and all the local rappers are planning to do a tribute concert for him on Friday. All this violence has got to stop. Kids see these big time rappers beefin and think that it's ok for them to do the same thing."