Barely two weeks after announcing his candidacy for 20th Ward alderman, Grammy-winning rapper Che “Rhymefest” Smith went into political damage control mode Thursday for the first time.
Smith, a childhood friend and collaborator of Kanye West, told the Chicago News Cooperative that he thinks voters will not judge him by his 2001 domestic violence case and a 2005 gun charge.
Indiana court records show that Smith pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor domestic battery charge and also was convicted of a misdemeanor after being charged with criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon in Hendricks County, near Indianapolis.
Smith said the domestic violence charge stemmed from an altercation with his then-wife.
“When I was younger — 23, 24 years old — I was unemployed, married, with responsibilities that I could not handle,” he said. “I didn’t handle that fight in a responsible manner. Since that time, I’ve grown and evolved. I’ve learned to be a better man than where I come from. I come from a background that I call Poverty Incorporated. That’s no excuse for bad behavior, but that experience is why I’m here in my community, trying to make a difference.”
Court records show he received one year of probation and was ordered by the judge to undergo anger control and domestic violence counseling.
Four years later, Smith paid a $100 fine and $156 in court costs and was sentenced to perform 20 hours of community service after facing a gun charge. He said Wednesday he had fired a registered gun in the air after a real estate agent came to his home and initiated an altercation with him.
“It was a life-changing experience for me,” he said. “I learned that guns are no way to solve problems. I don’t have any guns now.”
He said his actions since then are more important than incidents from years ago.
The incumbent 20th Ward alderman, Willie Cochran, said Smith is unfit to be a candidate for a City Council seat.
Asked about the arrests, Cochran said sarcastically, “That’s just what we need in an alderman.”
Cochran, a former police officer and first-term council member, said Smith’s life mirrored the violence and misogyny portrayed in his music.
“He will try to convince the public that he is a changed man, but if he wanted to be honest with the public, he would have been up front about it when he announced that he is running for alderman,” Cochran said. “Many people who signed his [nominating] petitions never would have signed if they knew about these convictions.”
Cochran said he had known about the convictions and was hoping to make the information public closer to the Feb. 22 election, but reporters asked him about the topic Thursday.
Smith said he had been the victim of political mudslinging: “Welcome to Chicago politics.”
We support Che “Rhymefest” Smith.
What’s Rhymefest doing running for Alderman? As a Kanye coattail rider, it seems out of place; Kanye has to run for Alderman first.
The last thing we need in the city council is another criminal representing us. Che, Che, Go away and don’t come back any other day!