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Raz Simone
American rapper From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Solomon Samuel Simone (born January 15, 1990), known by his stage name Raz Simone (/ræz sɪˈmoʊn/), is an African-American recording artist and songwriter from Seattle, Washington. A hip hop artist who started under the name Razpy, he built his brand by releasing EPs, touring, and filming music videos through his company Black Umbrella.[1]
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Simone gained recognition after releasing his debut solo EP, Solomon Samuel Simone.[1] He became the subject of media coverage for his association with the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, part of the George Floyd protests in Seattle, in which he distributed a gun to a protester amid rumors the Proud Boys were gathering nearby.[2]
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Biography
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Early life
Simone attended a private elementary school. In 2007, he worked for the Boys & Girls Club and was in the Running Start dual enrollment program.[citation needed]
Music
Upon release of his debut solo EP, Solomon Samuel Simone, Simone garnered the attention of 300 Entertainment executives Lyor Cohen, Todd Moscowitz, and Kevin Liles which resulted in a partnership between the newly established 300 Entertainment and his Black Umbrella Imprint.[1]
After the debut EP, Simone toured and released his first full-length album Cognitive Dissonance.[1] In 2016 Simone released Trap Spirituals. He was nominated for XXL's Freshman List. In June 2016 Simone played shows in seven cities, opening for Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.[citation needed]
In May 2020, at a parking lot at Seattle Center, Simone held a "pop-up, drive-in concert" (a type of concert developed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to allow for social distancing). [3]
Controversies
In June 2020, during the George Floyd protests in Seattle, Simone emerged as an active member of the self-declared Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone.[4][5] CNN described him as the "de facto leader of the autonomous zone."[6]
Conservative[7] news outlets and publications including Fox News,[8] Townhall,[9] New York Post,[10] and City Journal[11] featured Simone prominently in their coverage of the zone, characterizing him as a "warlord" policing the area with an AK-47 and highlighting an interaction where he allegedly assaulted a tagger.[9][7] A Facebook video shows Simone distributing a firearm to a protester.[2][7] According to Snopes, on June 15 Andy Ngo presented a video clip from Simones’s June 8 Facebook feed where Simone takes a rifle from the trunk of his car and hands it to another protester after "rumors developed that members of the right-wing group Proud Boys were going to move into the protest area to set fires and stir chaos."[2]
Simone refuted the characterizations of him made by media outlets. [12]
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Sexual abuse and assault allegations
In January 2021, two women stepped forward to publicly accuse Simone of coercion and repeated physical abuse.[13] In 2022, Simone was sued by five women alleging sexual abuse and assault. Four of them say that he sex trafficked and abused them.[14] One of the alleged victims, claims Simone sex trafficked her in Las Vegas for over a year, until she finally broke free in 2017.[15] She stated that Simone held her captive for three days within a confined space and that more than once he forcibly had sex with her and strangled her.[14][15] Court documents reportedly state Simone targets "young, vulnerable women" who are involved in sex work or susceptible to it.[14] Simone has denied these allegations.[14][15]
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Discography
- 5 Good Reasons EP with Sam Lachow (2012)[16]
- Samuel Solomon Simone (2013)[17]
- Cognitive Dissonance pt. 1 (2014)[18]
- Baby Jesus (2014)[19]
- Macklemore Privilege & Chief On Keef Violence (2015)[20]
- Cognitive Dissonance pt. 2 (2015)[21]
- Trap Spirituals (2016)[22]
- Closer (2018)
- Drive Theory (2018)
- Still Love (2019)
References
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