In February of last year, rapper Bobby Shmurda was released from prison. The New York native was jailed due to a takedown of his crew, GS9. After spending years in jail, he was released ten months early despite taking on a longer sentence for his friend, Rowdy Rebel.
Once he came home, he was immediately showered with love from artists in the industry. Migos member, Quavo, even picked him up from prison in a private jet. Other A-list celebrities like Chris Brown, 21 Savage, 50 Cent, and Meek Mill also welcomed the rapper with open arms upon his release.
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Aside from those in the industry, his thousands of fans were also excited for him to back-- and though he's been out for a year, they're still embracing him as if he just got released.
Video footage posted by music and culture commentator, DJ Akademiks, showed a crowd flocking to Bobby, whose real name is Ackquille Jean Pollard, in the road. As he walked through the crowd of people, the "Hot N*gga" artist signed autographs, took pictures, and hugged his fans-- he smiled from ear to ear while doing all of those things.
While he gave his supporters what they wanted in person, he's also giving them what they want musically. On April 29, he dropped his first single as an independent artist, "They Don't Know," on all streaming platforms. In a post made to promote his release, Bobby claimed that he was being shut out by major labels.
He wrote, "... I got major Lables jumping me Blackballing me and shittttt and I’m from the hood young and rich black as shittt and don’t give a about both and they Scare of me and I love that ishhh."