Young Jeezy Tour Shots Fired in Toronto and London

LONDON -- Thursday night's triple shooting at a London rap concert is a blemish that could unfairly hurt the musical genre here for years, people involved in the city's music scene say.

"I'm really hoping it's not a black mark, but how can it not be when there is something as serious as a shooting?" said Marc Gammal, owner of a local club.

Three men were hit by gunfire at a Young Jeezy rap concert at the London Music Hall Thursday night despite extra security being brought in.

One man was listed in serious condition with non-life threatening injuries. The other two were treated for superficial wounds.

Police on the weekend said they were still searching for a shooter, asking that anyone with information contact them or Crime Stoppers.

The London shootings follow a shooting in Toronto the night before at a concert by Young Jeezy, an Atlanta rapper who's real name is Jay Jenkins.

Gammal, who books hip-hop artists, said the ugly incident here happened at a time when London has been successful in attracting big name artists such as Snoop Dogg.

"I think it is really a shame when these type of things happen and put a bit of a sour edge on something that's really positive in our city," Gammal said.

The music gets an unfair reputation when there are incidents such as the shootings, he said.

"Usually it is just a couple of rabble-rousers or rotten apples in the crowd who create something like this when a lot of people are there just to have a really good time," Gammal said.

The manager of the London Music Hall, Demetri Manuel, has said the venue probably won't book rap shows in the future.

Adulis Mokanan, who hosts a hip-hop radio show, was at the London Music Hall when the shootings happened, but was in another area interviewing the opening act.

By the time he made it to the stage, people were exiting.

"This is definitely going to have an impact," Mokanan said.

Though there have been incidents at musical events involving other genres, Mokanen said they don't receive the same negative focus as hip hop and rap concerts. Rock, country or pop music aren't blamed for the violence if there is a stabbing.

"There is a telescope focus on anything that happens with hip-hop. It's everywhere." - The SUN