Did the NYC 'Hip-Hop Cops' Shut Down 2 Chainz's Listening Party?

2 Chainz's 'Pretty Girls Like Trap Music' listening party was reportedly shut down by the "Hip-Hop Cops."

2 Chainz attends his 'Pretty Girls Love Trap' Album Listening Session
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2 Chainz attends his 'Pretty Girls Love Trap' Album Listening Session

2 Chainz attends his 'Pretty Girls Love Trap' Album Listening Session

In anticipation of his Pretty Girls Like Trap Music album release, 2 Chainz threw an exclusive listening party Wednesday night at the ASA gallery in Soho. But there was one major problem: The 39-year-old rapper was prohibited from entering his own event.

According to Page Six, the “Hip-Hop Cops”—a long-running unit of officers with the ostensible goal of preventing violence at hip hop events, but who have a long history of spying on, profiling, and hassling rappers and arresting them for minor offenses—shut the doors after it was discovered the venue was over capacity. The NYPD, a fire marshal, and representatives from the Department of Buildings reportedly prevented people from entering the gallery after it was a quarter full. Officers reportedly threaten people outside with a summons if they didn’t leave the premises.

“The police seemed to get joy out of shutting down this event for one of the hottest hip hop artists. There were 200 industry people invited to the party, but they shut the doors once 74 were inside,” a source told Page Six. “[…] 2 Chainz arrived with an entourage of 20, and they wouldn’t let them in. He waited outside for 45 minutes and tried to reason with the cops and the DOB to let his guests inside. He wasn’t screaming and yelling—he was disappointed.”

2 Chainz eventually entered the gallery and apologized to the crowd before the party was forced to end. He also addressed the situation on Twitter, blaming the fire marshal for the shutdown.

But a DOB representative claimed the event’s organizers were the ones who killed the party, after they were told it could continue as long as there were no more than 74 people inside. The representative also said organizers failed to obtain the Temporary Place of Assembly certificate needed for events with more than 74 people.

The party was moved to Thursday night at NYC’s Up&Down. Pretty Girls Like Trap Music is set to drop June 16. For more information about the "hip-hop cops," check out the memoir by the man who started the unit in the first place, Derrick Parker.

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