Run-DMC’s Darryl McDaniels took offense when NYPD’s Commissioner Bill Bratton referred to some rap artists as “basically thugs” following Wednesday night’s deadly shooting at Manhattan’s Irving Plaza. The rap icon said Bratton should’ve been more judicious with his words.

“He should’ve known better,” the Queens rapper, who will celebrate his 51st birthday at the end of the month said. “He should have kept it specific to what happened. All rappers ain’t gangsters. I went to St. John’s University, so I took it personally.”

McDaniels then cemented his point by speaking on several other prominent rap stars who are far from the “thugs” Bratton surmises exists in the rap world.

“LL Cool J isn’t a thug. Will Smith is a rapper, he’s not a thug. Nobody knows Chuck D was a graphics art major.”

Yet still, McDaniels said Bratton’s comments are fueled in ignorance due to the fact he only sees part of what’s being presented.

“He doesn’t know any better because he’s not being shown any better,” McDaniels said. “When you turn on Hot 97 or MTV, you only see the dark, stupid, ignorant side of us. It’s not the generation. It’s the people who control the images in our generation.”

According to reports, T.I. was slated to perform at New York City’s Irving Plaza Wednesday night (May 25) when at about 10:15p.m. shots rang out inside the second floor green room killing one, Ronald McPhatter, and injuring three others, including rapper Troy Ave. During a radio interview following the shooting, Bratton said the dangerous lifestyle of some rappers follows them into their field.

“The crazy world of these so-called rap artists who are basically thugs, celebrate violence they did all their lives and unfortunately that violence oftentimes manifests itself during their performances,” Bratton said.

However, McDaniels said some onus also falls on the hip-hop community.

“We don’t want our young people naming ourselves after John Gotti and them. Why do you feel pride after naming yourself after Scarface and Noriega?”

Source: Vibe.com, Image: Getty Images