Turk (rapper)

Turk (shortened from "Young Turk"), born Tab Virgil, Jr. in 1982 in New Orleans, Louisiana) is an African-American rapper.

Turk was first discovered in 1996 when the owners of Cash Money Records (brothers Ronald "Slim" Williams and Bryan "Baby" Williams) discovered him rapping and rhyming in the nearby Magnolia projects of New Orleans. Later that same year, Turk made his recording debut with a cameo on Juvenile's solo debut, "Solja Rags". Turk was billed as "Young Turk" and welcomed into the newly formed Hot Boys (who also included Juvenile, B.G., and Lil' Wayne), issuing "Get It How You Live!" in 1997 and "Guerilla Warfare" two years later.

Turk continued to make cameos on other rapper's recordings, including Juvenile's big hits "400 Degreez" and "Tha G-Code", Lil' Wayne's "Tha Block Is Hot" and "Lights Out", as well as B.G.'s "It's All on You, Vol. 1" and "It's All on You, Vol. 2". June 2001 saw the release of Turk's solo debut, "Young and Thuggin'", on Universal Records. Turk's first solo album also coincided with the dissolution of the Hot Boys and the departure of B.G. and Juvenile from the Cash Money label over a royalties dispute with Bryan Williams. While Turk cut another album, "Untamed Guerilla", for Cash Money as a follow-up to "Young and Thuggin'", it was never released as Turk became embroiled in the same contractual conflict as Juvenile and B.G.

In 2003, Turk followed B.G. to Koch Records, where he recorded "Raw and Uncut", technically his second solo album. In January of 2004, Turk was in a Memphis, Tennessee apartment when narcotics officers and SWAT team members stormed in. According to police, Turk shot an officer during the drug raid, but the rapper claimed he was hiding in the closet without a gun. In the shootout, SWAT team member Deputy Chris Harris had been shot in the jaw, hip arm and calf.

At a preliminary hearing a charge of first-degree attempted murder was reduced to second-degree attempted murder but Turk was not granted bail. He was awaiting trial in prison as his third album, the aptly-named "Penitentiary Chances", hit the streets in April of 2004.

In August of 2005, after a lengthy trial which featured multiple delays and a possible case of witness tampering, a federal jury convicted Virgil of three felony weapons-possession charges. During the trial, Deputy Harris said he opened a double-door closed in the apartment and saw a bright muzzle flash. He said he immediately felt the bullets’ impact. Harris said he traded fire with someone in the closet and that he could see bullets flying through the door and into the ceiling of the apartment. Afterwards, the police recovered a 9mm in the closet with six shells nearby. Ballistics evidence also stated the bullet that struck the officer in the jaw came from the 9mm. While tests on Virgil’s hands came back inconclusive, prosecutors said the rapper had gunfire residue on his shorts. Virgil’s attorney Javier Bailey told the jury that the rapper never fired a weapon. He said that officers botched the investigation. Bailey argued that once police threw a flash-bang grenade into the apartment, no one would have been capable of retrieving a weapon. Six officers present at the trial testified that they never saw Virgil with a gun in his hand and none of them saw him in the closet, either. The leader of the SWAT team, Sgt. Perry McEwen, said that Virgil and his girlfriend were ordered to crawl out of the bedroom after the shooting. McEwen testified under oath that Virgil stated: "I thought we were being robbed." Attorneys made their final arguments on August 9, 2005 and the jury took just five hours to convict the chart-topping rapper.

Virgil’s attorney expressed disappointment at the time the jury spent deliberating and has vowed to appeal. Virgil faces between five and 10 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on October 26, 2005. Turk is still facing an attempted-murder trial stemming from the shooting, but a trial date has not been set.