Toronto hip-hop artist Top5 is facing legal trouble again after police found weapons during a Markham, Ontario search. The rapper, whose real name is Hassan Ali, was hit with five charges, including having a restricted firearm with ammo and improper weapon storage.
This arrest comes months after his September release from jail, when a judge threw out social media evidence in his murder case from 2021.
“An innocent man just came home,” he declared to media outside court then.
During that time, Top5 rejected claims of being part of Go Getem Gang, calling himself a “businessman” instead. His attorney, Gary Grill, argued Ali was targeted because rappers “portray themselves as the biggest, baddest gangsters on the planet. That’s what sells.”
His previous charges, stayed on Sept. 23, involved allegations of killing Hashim Omar Hashi in Los Angeles. Court files suggest it might’ve been mistaken identity – prosecutors claimed Hashi was wrongly thought to have killed Top5’s brother, Said Ali, in 2017. The rapper was one of three charged in that case.
