A man charged with killing Jam Master Jay once filmed a brazen rap video in front of a street mural commemorating the Run-DMC star, prosecutors say in court papers opposing the defendant’s release on bail.
The amateur video was one of several instances when Karl Jordan Jr proved himself a danger to the community by openly bragging about dealing drugs and possessing guns following Jay’s 2002 death, the documents say.
It features Jordan rapping a song titled Silver Spoon in front of the mural in Queens, New York.
The lyrics said: “I wasn’t born with no silver spoon… I had to grind, grind and get it out the pot… and get it off the block… get it off the rock.”
The papers add that in the next verse, Jordan rapped that he “hustles hard, like the mob, a dealer serving hands like they cards”.
The documents were filed on Tuesday in federal court in Brooklyn.
Jason “Jay” Mizell, known professionally as Jam Master Jay, formed Run-DMC with Joseph “Run” Simmons and Darryl “DMC” McDaniel in the early 1980s.
Together, they helped take hip-hop mainstream with hits like It’s Tricky and the Aerosmith remake collaboration Walk This Way.
In 2020, authorities announced they had solved the killing of Jay, one of New York City’s most enduring mysteries, alleging that Jordan and another man, Ronald Washington, had ambushed him over a cocaine deal gone bad on October 30 2002.
They said Washington waved a handgun and ordered another person at a recording studio to lie on the ground while Jordan shot Jay in the head.
Defence lawyers have argued for Jordan’s release on a million-dollar bond, claiming there are “credible witnesses who will testify that he was at their home at the same time as the alleged murder”.
They also claimed Jordan is at a high risk from Covid-19 because of health issues.
Prosecutors countered that the would-be alibi witnesses are not credible. They also described Jordan as “a healthy 39-year-old man… who remains unvaccinated, despite widespread availability of the vaccine” at a federal jail.
If convicted, he faces a minimum of 25 years behind bars.
