Thug Life Army

As reported yesterday 2 employees of the ‘hip-hop bible’, The Source Magazine were allegedly involved in a shooting near the Manhattan bar, Limerick House Pub early Saturday morning, according to police officials.

Leroy (Bum) Peeples, and Alvin Childs, of the Source Magazine and entertainment company, have each been charged with three counts of attempted murder.

The two hip-hop magazine executives pleaded not guilty yesterday to the shooting. Bail was set at $200,000 each, after prosecutors said that Peeples, president of The Source, and Childs, its marketing director, fled after shooting the men outside the Limerick House pub on W. 23rd St.

The gunfire followed an argument over one victim's rap album, police said. Sources said an upcoming rap artist Orlando Orenga, 26, refused to play his CD for the duo.

Orenga, who was shot in the head, was in critical condition yesterday at St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan. Orenga's cousin, Alex Colon, 30, and a busboy were also shot in the melee. Both were in stable condition yesterday.

"It was over whether they were going to play a rap CD or not," a police investigator said.

The dispute spilled outside, where witnesses heard four shots and saw two bloodied men fall to the sidewalk.

"We were playing poker and when we looked out the window ... we see two guys wounded," said a 21-year-old witness.

"The man who was shot in the chest eventually collapsed," said a second witness. "For several minutes, his friend stood above him trying to help him and suddenly he collapsed next to him."

Orlando Orenga, 26, the upcoming rapper, was shot in the head and taken to St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan in critical condition. He was expected to survive.

His cousin Alex Colon, 30, was shot in the arm and leg, and the busboy took a bullet in the torso. They were in stable condition at St. Vincent's and Bellevue.

The suspects were nabbed fleeing the scene, and police also recovered two handguns, a 9-mm. and a .40-caliber Glock, hidden under parked cars.

The Source, which touts itself as the "hip-hop bible," dispatched well-known defense lawyer Mel Sachs to represent its employees.

Peeples is a top-ranking executive at The Source and was one of several employees named in a gender-discrimination lawsuit earlier this year by ex-editors who claim the magazine was run like a frat house.

The magazine, which had a 2003 circulation of 370,000, was founded 16 years ago by Harvard grad David Mays.

Peeples, 32, of Roslindale, Mass., has worked at The Source for 10 years, and Childs, 35, of Roxbury, Mass., has worked at the magazine that touts itself as the "hip-hop bible." for eight years.