Thug Life Army

Harlem rap artist Jim Jones'' music video for the song "Baby Girl" has not been added in rotation on Canada's national music station, CHUM Limited's Much Music. At issue are t-shirts worn in the hip-hop video that state, "Stop Snitchin''" overtop a red shape resembling a stop sign. Much Music is said to refuse to air the new Jim Jones video featuring the clothing specifically due to the current rash of gun-related deaths happening in the community of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

With 33 fatal shootings in the Toronto-area alone this year and countless more injuries, city police are grappling with how to encourage witnesses to come forward and share information surrounding the heightened gun violence. The "Baby Girl" video from rap artist Jones'' new album "Harlem: A Diary of a Summer," Much Music has said, promotes doing the opposite.

Defending his decision to use the shirts in his video, rapper Jim Jones explains, "I was not in any way trying to promote violence by having those t-shirts in my video. I was simply making a comment on using your integrity."

Jim Jones, a member of Cam''Ron's Harlem-based East Coast hip-hop rap outfit, Diplomats (also known as Dipset), is troubled by the news of censorship, noting his lengthy commitment to community and anti-violence. "I do a lot of community work in Harlem and I am a Board Member of the Hip Hop Summit Committee," he says. "And this year, I will be taking part in the Million Man March, an upcoming demonstration in Washington, DC that encourages people to build communities, avoid violence, register to vote, and invest in black businesses."