Midwest Leak Magazine

Carlton Hart, aka Sir Hart

LeDeana:
You were really prominent on the Indianapolis music scene for a long time and then you were taken away. What happened?

Sir Hart:
It was a crazy situation. One day I’m working in the studio doing my usual thing, what I do everyday- setting appointments, recording people (you know what I’m saying). Then next thing I know, I was hauled off to jail for a murder; charged with murder and robbery. I was placed in custody and charged with those (that) terrible crime. The sad part is, I have absolutely no idea who these people are, and I’m 100 percent innocent. The whole situation (it) was a traumatic, traumatic experience that I’m still going through right now.

LeDeana:
So what was going through your head when they came to get you?

Sir Hart:
I was thinking, “Man, I’m really confused” at that time, at that point in time as I think back and think about it now. To be honest with you what was really going through my mind is I remember the TV show “Punkd” and I thought somebody was playing a joke on me maybe a good friend of mine that I was just out on the road with, Mike Epps. I was like only he could finance something like this. So I really thought a joke was being played on me. When they actually put me behind those bars and just shut those doors and left me in there, I came to the realization that I was really sitting here for a murder that I didn’t do.

LeDeana:
Of people that you didn’t even know?

Sir Hart:
To this day, it might sound crazy, but I still have no idea who they say I killed or who they say I shot. I’ve never seen photos, pictures. I did see one young man who I’ve never seen before. It’s just been a very traumatic situation. I survived it though.

LeDeana:
So you said you thought you were being punked, speaking of TV shows, your story was put on a TV show called “The Shift” right?

Sir Hart:
Yes. A TV show called “The Shift” that was being produced in the city of Indianapolis. It’s a show similar to The First 48. The producers of the show, I believe they were searching out fame and recognition, and certain individuals within the Marion County police department. I believe they were looking to further their careers and advance in their line of work; and basically cash in on this program that they put together- real people’s lives at the expense of people, families. I mean it’s like they just didn’t care. It was like they were willing to do anything to get this show produced even if it meant putting innocent people in jail and making up stories and making up lies about people. That is what happened to me. I’m a victim actually. I am a victim of a serious crime.

LeDeana:
So have you actually seen the show?

Sir Hart:
No I haven’t. It’s been two years. Thousands and thousands of people all over the country have seen this show, but I’m really kind of still traumatized. I’m not really in a rush to see the show because it’s really hard to look at that thinking back how these people were talking to me and describing me and trying to tell me the type of person that I was, that I was this street thug, I was a gang member, I was a leader of a crime organization that killed people and robbed people and murdered people. They painted me this portrait. They defamed my character. They destroyed my livelihood, and they destroyed my family. They destroyed other families as well. They destroyed the victim’s family. They destroyed my family, and they destroyed family of a young man that I have no idea who he is which they say he was my co-defendant; a guy that I have never met in my life until one day when they chained us together, locked us together, and walked us in the courtroom. I was in the courtroom, I couldn’t take it anymore, and I blurted out, “Who is this guy that I’m chained to? What’s going on here?” The judge said this is your co-defendant. That was a very weird situation. At that point in time I thought I was in a dream. I’m like maybe I’m dead; what is going on here? I was like in total shock.

LeDeana:
So your co-defendant was released before you, correct?

Sir Hart:
Yes, he was released before me. It’s public knowledge that the young man that was arrested had a Myspace page. He had a video [that a rapper had posted to promote] on his Myspace page. The video was by a rapper named KC who was very prominent here in the city for marketing, magazines, and stuff like that. He had a song called “My Guy” and the theme of the video he was just putting different people from all over the city in the video, and I ended up in the video. From that video, I was singled out as a murderer. It may sound weird. It sounds weird to me to this day, but it really doesn’t make any sense, and it never will make any sense because I’m 100 percent innocent.

LeDeana:
So, being that that stemmed from Myspace, does it make you feel kind of weary about even wanting to be involved in social media?

Sir Hart:
Yeah. Yeah. A lot of my friends, since I’ve been gone two years, they say the hot thing is Facebook, Twitter, and this traumatic experience (shakes head), I really don’t want anything to do with any of that stuff. My mental state right now, I really don’t even wanna go in the studio and make tracks because I’m still traumatized from this whole ordeal, and it’s like the art that I love- music, I became a victim because this is what I loved to do because I’m in the hip-hop world. I became a victim because of a rap video that was on Myspace. I was just singled out and like I said, it’s a very weird, traumatizing situation. I wouldn’t want anyone to go through this, and the people that put me here, I really hope they realize what they did by destroying these families and destroying my family. Basically they almost single-handedly ruined my career that I’ve been working for 24-25 years. They pretty much single-handedly destroyed that, but I got a strong team around me, and I’m determined to rebuild it.

LeDeana:
And your team was working the whole time you were gone. There were “Free Sir Hart” campaigns.

Sir Hart:
Yeah, “Free Sir Hart” campaigns; my actual record label is 100 Ent. Everybody knows that my little brothers Hardtimes, Big Nate, Treez. They hung in there. They stuck by my side. Their actually building the company up while I’m gone. That’s how much love they have for me. That’s how much they knew that I was innocent. They knew that I was coming back home. There were times during the whole situation, I’m sitting in the cell, and I’m thinking my life is over, I’m never gonna see my kids. I actually thought about just ending it all. This is the first time I’m revealing this, but right after that I just got down on my knees and I dedicated my life to God. He started the healing process from there. I’m back home. I’m here. I’m in the flesh. Like I said, I wouldn’t wish this on my worse enemy.

LeDeana:
So while you were in there were you still working on music?

Sir Hart:
Yeah. I’m very proud of what I’ve been working on. I got a lot of surprises. I got some projects, not just music. While I was in there, I dedicated my life to becoming a humanitarian, helping save lives. I’m actually going to start some schools, For Us By Us. I got some programs I’m putting together, some save the children campaigns, some housing projects for people that don’t have any place to live. I wanna create jobs. I wanna create avenues for survival, and I think it starts with the kids. We have to re-educate our children and get them on a different mind frame. They need to be conscious and educated. Not just education. The thing is, just education is not the key, it’s being consciously educated- knowing who you are and where you came from. That is so you’ll have a sense of belonging, a sense that I belong here, I have a purpose, I have a history and it’s a proud history.

LeDeana:
Now people teach kids and the society in general to not do this or not do that, don’t break the law so you won’t end up in jail. You didn’t break any laws but you still ended up in jail.

Sir Hart:
I still ended up in jail anyway.

LeDeana:
So if can happen to you, I’m sure it’s happening to other people. Were there people in there that were telling you that they had experienced similar things?

Sir Hart:
People may not believe this, but there were literally hundreds and hundreds of people right now sitting in jail for crimes that they did not commit, for things that they did not do, and pretty much all of them, I’d say 98% of them are African-American males. If people don’t see something wrong with this, then we are sick. We are sick as a culture and as a people, and we need to realize that we are sick so we can begin the healing process of changing ourselves and fixing ourselves. We’ve got to go to the root of the problem, and the problem is we don’t have any identity. We believe that we’re thugs and we’re gang-bangers and we’re drug dealers. We take on that persona. We are actually kings and queens of this earth. If it wasn’t for us, nothing would be here. We built this country. We are the creators. We are the chosen ones. We’re God’s people. We are God’s chosen ones. We created the pyramids. We’re the builders of this universe. God gave us the keys to the universe, and we relinquished it because we are pure in heart. We don’t have hatred. That don’t come natural to us. So we allow people to invade our country, our homeland of Kemit. They basically stole everything and recreated it, and told society that they built it when we’re the actual ones that built everything you see on this planet.

LeDeana:
So what was going through your mind when you were released?

Sir Hart:
I was in shock. I seen my children. I seen my whole family downtown, and I wasn’t expecting that. It was a big shock. I was just so happy. It didn’t really dawn on me that it was really happening. Once they opened that garage door, I just looked up in the sky and I was like, “I’m really free. Am I really free? Am I here? Am I alive? Is this really happening?” The first person I seen was my brother Treez, and once I seen Treez I knew I was really free. He told me to look down the street, and I seen about 20-30 members of my family. I seen my daughters. I haven’t seen my daughters. I couldn’t bare to see my daughters locked up like that so I refused to let my daughters come see me in jail, especially for something I had nothing to do with. I just couldn’t handle it. I didn’t know what to say to them. When I left, my daughters were just shorties. It was like I went to sleep and woke up and they were like two feet taller. It was very weird. It was a happy moment, but it was a weird moment.

LeDeana:
So what did they say to you? Was it a court date and they let you go? How did you-

Sir Hart:
Well during this whole process I’ve taken lie detector test after lie detector test after lie detector test. I have no reason to lie. I haven’t been to the military. I don’t know how to cheat a lie detector test. I’m like George Washington. “I cannot tell a lie.” I don’t know how to lie. If I lie, people know I’m lying because I’m not a very good liar. I had all these machines hooked up to me, and I was nervous, but I was telling the truth. I kept telling myself the truth will set you free. I told the truth, I took that last lie detector test, and then about two days later, I was sitting on my bunk, and I was finishing my 36th song that I wrote. I thanked God for that song, and right after I thanked God, they said “Carlton Hart bag your baggage, you’re free to go.” I’ve been locked up before and that process usually takes about 4 to 8 to 10 hours, but they said Carlton Hart you’re free to go, and I was actually out the door in 20 minutes. They just opened the door and said leave.

LeDeana:
So you still haven’t heard any “I’m sorry.” Do you feel like you are owed a public apology?

Sir Hart:
I know for a fact that I won’t get a public apology. I won’t apologize to anyone because I have nothing to apologize for. I never hurt anyone. I feel bad for the victims. I know I won’t get a public apology, but I feel like I deserve to be compensated for my heartache and my pain and my loss and my suffering. I will fight to the end to see that that happens, and I will fight to help fix what is wrong with the justice system. I will be an advocate for change within the legal process because right now it is at its lowest. It is at its lowest. It is sad what is going on within the justice system, not only in the city of Indianapolis, but all over the planet, especially when it comes to the attitudes towards African-Americans.

LeDeana:
Okay, do you have anything else that you would like to tell everybody?

Sir Hart:
I just want to tell everybody, the people that supported me, I just wanna thank you. The people that really had my best interest in heart, I felt your prayers, and I’m just happy to be home where I can resume my career and pick up where I left off, and that is making sure that the city of Indianapolis gets represented properly in the entertainment business, and that’s about it.

LeDeana:
What did you think about the progress that’s been made since you’ve been gone as far as local music getting played on the radio?

Sir Hart:
I’m really happy. I’m really happy with that. I’ve been stressing for years now that we need unity. That is the only way we’re going to achieve anything in the entertainment industry. It’s just not going to happen if we don’t unify. We see the example everyday. We see the west coast movement. We see the east coast movement. We see the down south movement. We see these people sticking together doing songs with each other, supporting each other, and that’s the model. That’s the only way it’s going to happen, even though the radio station don’t play a wide range of music. I want my city to know that you have to make better quality music, and you have to find your own lane. We can’t copy-cat music. We gotta stop acting like we’re from down south when we’re not. We’re from the Midwest so we have to find our own identity in the music industry, but I believe that’s starting to happen. I’m real happy with what’s going on in the city. I see the movement. I see the unity. I see it. Mostly I’m hearing Yung Tone, and I’m loving it. I’m proud of him. He’s doing it. He worked with me before I went away and I knew this little guy had potential to be successful. Now he’s proving it. He’s very determined, and now I think it’s time for more artists to step up to the plate so they can get their stuff played on the radio.