Brooklyn rapper Buckshot was viciously assaulted by a group of men at a local party on November 9, as tensions over a long-standing property dispute reached a boiling point. Known to many as a hip-hop pioneer and a voice of resilience, Buckshot now finds himself navigating a painful physical and emotional recovery as he speaks out about the challenges of staying safe in the community he’s long called home.
Buckshot, born Kenyatta Blake, was confronted by a group of three to four men at a neighborhood party on East 51st Street. What began as a tense exchange quickly spiraled into a brutal attack, leaving the 49-year-old with a broken nose, a concussion, and deep bruising on his head. In a scene that captured the horror of bystanders, Buckshot was seen in a video circulated on social media, bleeding and shaken, asking urgently for medical help as he held his swollen head.
“There were at least three guys. They hit me with a gun twice,”
Buckshot recalled, speaking candidly after leaving the hospital.
“I still have a lump on the back of my head.”
Two security guards at the party ultimately intervened to pull him away from the attackers, but the damage was done by then.
This attack is part of a feud Buckshot says began months ago when he purchased a three-family home in the area. He alleges that a local man, known for running scams in the neighborhood, had been using the property as his base, even stashing “ghost cars” and other belongings there. Buckshot purchased the house legally in August, but since then, he says he’s faced harassment, intimidation, and even prior violence from people claiming the property as their own.
“He’s a deed thief and a master scam artist,”
shared, his frustration evident.
“I thought I could work it out peacefully, but he wasn’t receptive.”
The NYPD has launched an investigation into what it is now calling a gang assault as they work to identify Buckshot’s attackers and any links to this alleged property dispute. Buckshot, for his part, is eager to bring a sense of justice and peace to his neighborhood, working closely with his legal team and local law enforcement to ensure his safety and protect his rights as a homeowner.
This wasn’t the first attack, either. On October 31, just over a week ago, Buckshot was ambushed in Flatbush in a similar assault by multiple individuals reportedly connected to the same group. The October incident left him hospitalized, with video footage of a bloodied Buckshot making rounds on social media, sparking shock and concern from his fans and fellow community members. The rapper described how some of his assailants had recently tried to provoke him, calling him a “snitch” in a video recorded just before the attack. When one of them pushed him, Buckshot says he reacted in self-defense, but within minutes, he was swarmed.
“He finally hit me, bro—come through,”
one of his attackers reportedly said in a call that Buckshot overheard shortly before the assault began.
“These guys were younger, maybe late teens, and were his [the scammer’s] enforcers,”
he explained.
“I was breaking up something they had, and they didn’t like it.”
The attacks have highlighted a troubling undercurrent of violence and intimidation in Brooklyn’s neighborhoods, particularly where longstanding residents and newcomers intersect. As he recovers, Buckshot is calling on the Brooklyn community to unite against the kind of violent tactics he has experienced firsthand.
“This is New York, my home,”
he said, his voice filled with both defiance and sorrow.
“We shouldn’t have to live like this.”
Community members have begun to rally around Buckshot, echoing his call for a safer Brooklyn and denouncing the intimidation he and others have endured. As one of the founding members of the rap group Boot Camp Clik, Buckshot has long been a fixture in New York’s hip-hop scene. Now, he hopes to use his voice for a different cause: to fight for peace and safety for his fellow New Yorkers.
Determined to overcome his injuries, Buckshot is committed to seeing this issue resolved.
“I just want to live and work in peace,”
he shared, noting that he will keep working with his legal team and the NYPD to make that happen. But his message goes beyond his own experience. He wants Brooklyn to remember that a safe community isn’t just a dream—it’s a right.
“Stay resilient, stand together,”
he urged,
“and don’t let fear win.”
For Buckshot, recovery is just the beginning. He’s setting his sights on a safer, stronger Brooklyn, where violence and intimidation have no place.