Toronto rapper Top5 has given a shoutout to Drake after walking free in his murder case.
Top5 (real name Hassan Ali) was arrested three years ago for the murder of Hashim Omar Hashi, but the case against the rapper has collapsed after the judge ruled that various items of evidence submitted could not be used during the trial.
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After the judge said that he was free to go, Top5 said to the press outside the courthouse: “An innocent man just came home. I hope they find whoever they did that. R.I.P.”
He also denied being a member of the Go Getem Gang, describing himself as a” businessman.”
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In an Instagram post following his release, Top5 thanked Drake for his support throughout the long-running legal ordeal, writing: “Shoutout big bro @champagnepapi for the Lawyer Fees & Gary Grill for being the best lawyer in Toronto #ALLAHUAKBAR.”
However, he later edited the caption to omit his mention of Drizzy.
Top5’s attorney Gary Grill also claimed that the rapper was being targeted because of his violent lyrics.
“The problem about prosecuting artists like Mr. Ali based on their music, it fails to understand what the medium is, what’s it about, and how drillers approach their audiences,” Grill said.
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“It’s important for all drillers to portray themselves as the biggest, baddest gangsters on the planet. That’s what sells. That’s what all drillers are doing.”
He added: “The way that Mr. Ali was charged in the first place was as a result of his lyrics, it was a result of the videos that he was putting out there, as a result of his medium as a drill rap artist that attracted the attention with the police.”
Prosecutors have up to one year to bring the case back to the court.
Hashi’s murder was thought to be a case of mistaken identity, with the killers said to be targeting the person responsible for the death of Top5’s brother, Said Ali.
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Hashi was an accounting student with no links to crime or gangs.
“Ali subsequently discussed killing people in retaliation for his brother’s death on social media posts, including one less than three days before the murder,” court filings say.
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The courts also said that Top is not suspected of being the gunman, but a passenger in the same vehicle.
The rapper has always maintained his innocence over the killing.
