In the wake of last night’s shooting at Irving Plaza (May 25), the New York Police Department’s Commissioner offered his comments during a radio interview.

As reported, the shooting resulted in one fatality and three people wounded.

During the interview, NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton referred to rap artists as “basically thugs.”

“The crazy world of these so-called rap artists who are basically thugs that basically celebrate violence they did all their lives, and unfortunately that violence oftentimes manifests itself during their performances, and that’s exactly what happened last evening,” Bratton said, on air at WCBS 880.

The anchor handling the interview, Wayne Cabot, continued the conversation in the same vein, offering, “It’s been a while seen we’ve seen any problems in the rap world and the thug culture.”

"The background of a lot of these young people," the commissioner continued. "They are significant artists in that world… but unfortunately the lifestyles that they lived… oftentime follows them into the entertainment world and the success they have in it."

"It’s unfortunate," he said. "You’d like to think that with all the wealth that comes from the fame, that they’ll be able to turn their lives around but they continue hanging out with the same people they hung out with when they came out of that world of desperation, poverty and crime."

Check out the full interview in the video below.