About two months into his supervised release from federal prison on gun charges, the rapper who scored a hit song with Bling Bling has been charged with violating the terms of his supervision after performing alongside other prominent entertainers without authorities’ permission.
A federal judge ordered Christopher Dorsey – or BG, who once belonged to Cash Money Records’ rap supergroup the Hot Boys – released on his own recognizance on Wednesday after his arrest on the charges, records show.
Although Dorsey, 43, was let out of custody pending the outcome of the case relatively quickly, his latest legal peril set off a dialogue in some circles about whether authorities are going overboard enforcing the technicalities of his supervised release when all Dorsey is alleged to have done is try to re-establish himself as an artist.
“The man [has] come home, doing his little thing, he ain’t bothering nobody … just trying to get his life back on track,” the rap commentator OG Freeze, who spent time incarcerated with Dorsey, said in a video published Thursday on YouTube. “He ain’t doing nothing different than no other rapper.”
In the video, OG Freeze showed a text message on his phone screen that he said was from Dorsey and read in part: “I just got out of jail.” The rest of the message accurately summarized the allegations contained in federal court papers that led to Dorsey’s arrest in Las Vegas, where the New Orleans native now lives.
A federal probation officer wrote in those papers that one of the conditions governing Dorsey’s supervised release from prison was to “obtain prior written approval … before entering self-employment”. But Dorsey had not done that before performing at a concert in Las Vegas alongside Lil Boosie on 8 February.
He also had not obtained such permission when – while living at a halfway house in December – he published the album Choppers and Bricks alongside fellow rapper Gucci Mane.
Additionally, those on federal supervised release are generally required to “refrain from … associating unnecessarily with” some people, including if they have prior felony convictions.
Authorities took exception to the fact that both Lil Boosie and Gucci Mane have prior felony convictions, including, respectively, for possession with intent to distribute a controlled dangerous substances as well as possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Dorsey put out a video on YouTube on 16 February titled Really Understand as well as another one called Yellow Tape alongside the rapper Kidd Kidd eight days later on Apple Music, court records noted.
Dorsey’s probation officer described asking the musician about his employment choices as well as telling him that he needed to find other work. According to the officer, Dorsey’s response was: “I’m a rapper. That [is] my profession.”
The officer applied for a warrant to arrest Dorsey on 21 March, saying he had violated multiple conditions of his supervised release. US district judge Susie Morgan of New Orleans, where Dorsey had been prosecuted when first imprisoned, signed off on it a day later, according to records.
Dorsey was arrested in Las Vegas and appeared in a federal courthouse there on Wednesday. After being ordered released on his own recognizance, he was told to appear in federal court in New Orleans as required while officials deliberate whether or not to revoke his supervised release and reincarcerate him. Subsequent court dates were not immediately available.
Performing as BG, or Baby Gangsta, Dorsey formed a fourth of the Hot Boys, which also included fellow New Orleans rappers Lil Wayne and Juvenile. The group had an album that debuted at No 5 on the Billboard 200 in 1999 and went platinum as its members gained international fame for songs about dealing drugs, protecting their trade through violence, never cooperating with law enforcement under any circumstances and jewelry, among other topics.
Meanwhile, also in 1999, Dorsey – aged 17 – posted his top individual hit single Bling Bling, which peaked at No 36 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
The seeds for the 14-year prison sentence which Dorsey was handed in July 2012 were planted in 2009, when a traffic stop in New Orleans eventually led to him pleading guilty to illegal gun possession. He also ended up pleading guilty to an obstruction of justice conviction because he admitted pushing one of his associates to falsely claim ownership of the gun in question.
Having been transferred from prison to a halfway house, Dorsey saw his prison sentence reduced to time served on 24 January 2024. He then began a two-year period of living under federal supervision on 1 February, about a week before taking the stage with Lil Boosie, his fellow native Louisianan.
