JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A rapper whose alleged crimes inspired the viral hit “Who I Smoke” will have to submit to a digital body scan, according to a judge in his case.
Hakeem Robinson, 22, a Jacksonville rapper known as “Ksoo,” is charged with the murder of 23-year-old Charles McCormick in January 2020.
He is also charged with the February 2019 murder of 16-year-old Adrian Gainer Jr. – nicknamed "Bibby," a name that's the centerpiece of the popular rap murder ballad.
Robinson is charged, along with his brother and father, in the death of McCormick, a rapper known as “Lil Buck” who was fatally shot at Dames Pointe Plaza on Merrill Road.
Prosecutors received permission last week to require Robinson to submit to a digital body scan, which they say they will use to compare his physical dimensions to surveillance footage of the Merrill Road killing.
According to the state’s motion, Robinson will be required to “stand still for up to approximately eight minutes at a time,” and “comply with being placed in various body positions and or/poses at various angles for short periods of time.”
If he is not compliant, the motion asks that “law enforcement be allowed to use reasonable force to secure his placement.”
Robinson’s attorney Tara Kawass strenuously objected to what she called a new, "unreliable" technology.
“We didn’t object to the DNA [samples being taken], we didn’t object to fingerprints, because those are reliable, judge,” she argued. “And if this method was reliable, I would have no problem because you know what? Mr. Robinson is innocent, and it would prove his innocence.” She added, “I just don’t trust it judge.”
Prosecutors noted the technology is widely available, including on “ruler” apps capable of measurements. Circuit Judge Tatiana Salvador granted the state’s motion but said his attorneys can still challenge the scans if the state tries to introduce them as evidence. Salvador also rejected Kawass’ renewed request that her client be released.
Robinson is a reputed member of the violent ATK gang. Before his arrest, he made videos with rapper Kenyata Bullard, known as Yungeen Ace, whose rap video “Who I Smoke” has become an internet sensation. Backed by the twee early-aughts pop hit, "A Thousand Miles," Yungeen Ace lists the names of several Jacksonville murder victims, including “Bibby.”
Bullard survived a quadruple shooting in 2018 near the St. Johns Town Center that took the lives of three of his friends. He survived a 2019 ambush at a Georgia hotel that injured one friend and killed another.
Police and prosecutors say retaliatory gang killings are partly responsible for the city’s soaring murder rate. Those crimes are often commemorated in popular “drill” rap videos, which read like confessions, detailing incidents and mocking victims.
Robinson is due back in court on the McCormick and the Gainer charges on Sept. 16.
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