For the last 30 years, Kool G Rap’s music has featured narratives about being on the run, wanted by the law, and serving time in places like New York City’s Rikers Island. One of Gangsta Rap’s pioneers is part of headlines this week, for a crime he says he did not commit.

In June of this year, the Juice Crew lyricist was shopping at a Pennsylvania mall. One of the stores in the undisclosed mall, Finish Line, reportedly experienced a shoplifting incident. According to TMZ, who broke this story, an employee at the retailer accused G Rap of committing the crime. One employee reported that a Black male suspect, in his forties, had taken a pair of Nike Lebron James 15’s without paying.

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Per reports, the 50-year-old G Rap (aka Nathaniel Wilson) was confronted outside the store, in the mall parking lot by the store employee. That Finish Line representative wrote down the Queens, New Yorker’s license plate number and filed a police report.

TMZ reports that the veteran Rap legend was later charged with misdemeanor theft. Now, G Rap and his attorneys, Donte Mills and Lennon Edwards of Mills & Edwards LLP, are fighting back. Using store surveillance cameras as proof, they claim G Rap never entered the sneaker store at all. The case against the rapper has been dropped.

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TMZ reports that G Rap and his legal team are prepping a massive lawsuit against Finish Line. The employee’s name was not given.

#BonusBeat: Earlier this year, Kool G Rap partnered with MC .38 Spesh to release Son Of G Rap. The latest collaborative album from the Corona, Queens MC includes production from DJ Premier, Alchemist, Pete Rock, Showbiz, and Griselda Records’ Daringer. That LP is available for full, free stream as well as purchase:

Additional Reporting by Dana Scott.

Photograph courtesy of Kool G Rap’s Instagram.