criminal activity, so it should come as no surprise that so man inmates consider themselves to be rap artists. santa rita is a sprawling jail complex located 30 miles outside the city. but many of the nearly 3,000 men and women incarcerated here were arrested in oakland. most have only been charged with crimes and are awaiting trial of the resolution of their cases and one is a bay area rapper who is more than a wannabe. we have an inmate come in a couple days ago, international rap artist named drew down. my kids know his songs, my daughters. they re all into the rap.
whatever reason, were whether it be politics, caught a charge that wasn t going to put them in good standing with the gang and they re in dropout, we can t put them in general population because they ll be subject to attack. it s cold as hell. it is. gabriel is in protective custody because he left one of northern california s largest and most dangerous gangs. the nortenos, the northerners. they like to leave a mark on your face, specifically the cheek, cut you with a razor. it s an identifying mark to let everyone know you re no good. i am not trying to sound like i m tougher than i am. let me be the one to tell you, i m not a gangster. i m trying to get by. i m a hustler. i m a product of the ghetto. he said he left the gang in part because his status had suddenly become uncertain.
it s daniel s world on his stomach. it s supposed to be danielle. it s another illiterate individual tattoo. where is this tattoo? right above my area. have you seen the one on his neck. the middle finger and you pay me. what possessed to you do that, man? i regret them all, every single last one of them. why? [ bleep ]. unfortunately, i m carrying these things for life. especially this one. who wants to hire a [ bleep ] with an attitude like that. try to get a job with that. you nervous? one year apart in age, the brothers do share some things in common. including the unusual birth defects that they ve each had fixed. i was born with six fingers. they got cut off when i was like eight months. we call them chicken nuggets. it s a family trademark.
when i was 18 or 19 i was put in maximum security unit and there was a question mark on my head that i had something to do with one of our so-called homies being deceased. i didn t kill the guy, but they had a question mark over my head. i honestly now believe at the time i m 18, wet behind the ears, i m like i m going to obligate myself with the northerners, which is one of the biggest mistakes i ever made. taylor is currently charged with burglary and vehicle theft while on parole. he s pled not guilty but his life is riddled with arrests and convictions for robbery, gun violations, drug possession and evading police. i just did the math the other day. so far i ve been in jail over 20 times. from juvenile hall time as well. first time i was in juvenile hall was 12 years old. i have not been out a whole year since then. he once held a job as an
protsman is now awaiting transfer back to prison. hands out your pockets. every day a large number of inmates leave santa rita, either for prison or back to the streets. hey come on. if you guys want to go home, let s go. and every day, new arrivals take their place. all right. taylor. one of the newest is ezekiel taylor. previously convicted of home burglary, he was just arrested for a probation violation. i got in a car with a guy who i wasn t supposed to be in a car with. he didn t want to pull over. police got behind us. a chase, a high speed chase took place. it was either stay in the car and go to jail or run for your freedom and maybe get away. so i ran.