New York City police have been accused of spying on rap and hip-hop artists, most of them black.

The Miami Herald on Tuesday said the NYPD, which has for years denied that it targets hip-hop performers, has a "six-inch-thick" file on rappers such as 50 Cent, who likes to brag that he has been shot nine times, P. Diddy, previously known as Puff Daddy, Ja Rule and DMX.

The combined wealth of these men is in the billions. Miami Beach police say the NYPD freely shared its rapper file with other police during a three-day "hip-hop training session" last May.