Late last month, the NYPD was embarrassed when cops allegedly threw a man in jail for a day after mistaking his Jolly Ranchers for meth. But not every innocent interaction with the NYPD has to end in a cell. According to a new lawsuit, sometimes New York City cops are willing to let people who have committed no crimes go in exchange for an impromptu rap performance.

In a federal lawsuit detailed in the New York Post, 28-year-old Brooklyn man Quinshon Shingles claims that police demanded to enter his friend's apartment in 2011. When his friend asked to see a warrant, police backed off and said they'd return with the proper paperwork. Shingles says, however, that the officers came back later that day after convincing the building's super to give them keys to the apartment. By that time the apartment's primary resident had stepped out, but Shingles and two other friends remained. The lawsuit states that police handcuffed the men and began searching the home.

The police didn't find anything illegal, but the lawsuit alleges that didn't stop them from asserting Shingles had to work for his freedom. After finding out that Shingles is an aspiring rapper, police told him that they'd let him go if he rapped for them. And so Shingles rapped:

"The defendant officers then told the plaintiff Quinshon Shingles to show them some 'spits and bars,'" specifically to perform a rap song, and that if he was "'hot' they would let him go," the suit states. With his freedom on the line, Shingles burst into his verses—and passed the test. "Apparently satisfied with the plaintiff Quinshon Shingles rap performance, the defendant officers indeed released him and allowed him to leave the subject premises," the suit states.

Shingles and the friend whose apartment he was at are now suing the NYPD for illegal search and false imprisonment. The New York Post reports that at least one of the officers involved in the incident is under investigation for other illegal entries.

[Image via AP]