Freekey Zekey finally opens up about the night he was shot.
It’s no secret that Freekey Zekey of the Diplomats has been battling one of hip-hop’s most notorious labels: “snitch.” You may recall the incident that landed Zekey with the “snitch” moniker to begin with. In 2003, Zekey was involved in a car accident that ultimately escalated into a firefight that left the rapper shot and his friend Eric Mangrum dead. It didn’t take long for authorities to apprehend several suspects, including a man named Chauncey Dillon. During Dillon’s trial, Zekey was called in as a witness. As the story goes, Zekey didn’t name names nor point fingers, but his description of “a man in a green jacket” was enough to nail Dillon as the triggerman and land him thirty-years.
Following the trial, many were quick to deem Zekey’s courtroom conduct as “snitching,” and the unfortunate label has hovered over his head for years. Today, Queenzflip and DJ GMoney of FlipDaScript linked up with Zeke to discuss the elephant in the room. Off the bat, Zekey is hit with the blunt question: “why’d they say you snitched?” Clearly expecting this, the rapper defiantly explains that “the bitch was all in em. There’s no reason for my name and snitch to be in the same sentence.”
Johnny Nunez/Getty Images
He explains that the courtroom transcription doesn’t lie, and invites doubters to look to the public records for validation of his innocence. “There are two things a man doesn’t want to be called,” he explains, naming a homophobic slur and “snitch” in the same dubious category. The hosts proceed to play footage of an interrogation with one of Chauncey Dillon’s entourage from 2003, which Zekey feels will clear his name once and for all. He also takes a moment to recount his own experience on “the scariest night of his life.”
“I’m looking for parking, and a n***a hit my truck,” he says. “My father told me that’s the move. They hit the truck, you get out to see what’s going on, they see the jewelry you got on you. When I got out, I was on the run. I was like fuck. I don’t want to get locked up! We go around the corner, and they just sitting there. I should have known.” He explains that he tried to exchange information without getting the police involved, only for one man to reach for Zekey’s gun. “I grabbed his motherfuckin hand, the n***a started letting off,” he recalls, complete with sound effects. “Once it jammed, I spun him around and put the n***a in a Full Nelson.”
By this point, everyone had drawn their weapons, and Zekey all but counted himself dead. “Now when these muthafuckers are trying to shoot me, I’m aiming this n***a at all the hammers.” Unfortunately, a human shield is far from impenetrable, and Zeke took a bullet all the same. He remembers how some of the men were crying for him to be “hit in the head,” prompting him to cry out “don’t do that!” Eventually, the attackers peeled off, and Zekey recalls seeing his friend Eric Mangrum on the ground. “There was blood all over the place, and I was like damn I feel cold too,” says Zekey. “He said ‘Zeke, I’m cold, I’m cold.” I said ‘damn, don’t worry about that, you gon’ be alright.’ But now I’m getting cold.”
Check out the entire interview, which finds Zekey’s brilliant storytelling on full display, below.
