NEW YORK CITY, New York — Bronx rapper Kay Flock, once celebrated as a promising voice in New York’s drill scene, was sentenced Tuesday to 30 years in federal prison for his role in a series of shootings and gang-related violence that prosecutors said terrorized neighborhoods in the borough, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The 22-year-old artist, whose real name is Kevin Perez, was convicted in March on several charges including racketeering conspiracy and attempted murder, stemming from violent incidents that took place between 2020 and 2021, AP said.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said Perez fueled a climate of fear and “used violence and fame to fuel fear and intimidation across the Bronx,” noting that his music, videos and online presence often depicted or celebrated real acts of retaliation, the DOJ said.
According to prosecutors, Perez oversaw a group that operated around East 187th Street and used violence to protect its territory and bolster the gang’s image. Investigators said the enterprise financed itself through fraudulent schemes, money that later supported Perez’s music career. Evidence presented in court tied him to a series of shootings between 2020 and 2021 that left several people injured.
Prosecutors pointed to a June 2020 incident in which a rival was shot in the jaw and several others were wounded. Days later, Perez appeared in a music video that investigators said openly referenced the attack. Federal filings also linked him to additional attempted murders in June 2020, August 2020 and November 2021. According to the DOJ, Perez leveraged his popularity as a drill rapper to amplify and glorify the violence, releasing songs with millions of views that taunted rivals and boasted about shootings.
In addition to the prison term, Perez was ordered to serve five years of probation after completing his sentence.