Rap crews face ban over shootings

Members of Lil' Kim's entourage had a gun battle near the station

Rap stars should be banned from taking big entourages to US radio station Hot 97 after shootings near the studio, the building's owners have said.

A man was shot outside the New York station while 50 Cent was on air last month and associates of Lil' Kim were involved in a gunfight nearby in 2001.

The lawyer for the building's owners said other tenants were "in fear of their lives to come to work".

They said each artist should only be allowed to take one person with them.

Sometimes there are 20 or 30 people coming in and obviously some of them are armed Brian O'Dwyer Lawyer

New York's carpenters' union, which owns the 10-storey building, also wants a week's notice of radio appearances to deploy extra security or metal detectors.

"We have a problem with the number of people who come with them - their posses," the union's lawyer Brian O'Dwyer said.

"Sometimes there are 20 or 30 people coming in and obviously some of them are armed coming through the door."

The union gave the radio station until Friday to agree to the new rules.

Mutual agreement

Hot 97 spokesman Alex Dudley said the station was trying to reach a mutually acceptable resolution with the landlord.

"However, it is important to remember that there has been no incident inside the building," he said.

Singer Lil' Kim is currently being tried in Manhattan on perjury charges for allegedly lying to a grand jury about the February 2001 gun battle.

One man was hurt in the shooting between associates of Lil' Kim and rap duo Capone-N-Noreaga.