RAP'S BODY COUNT

Tue Feb 7, 6:00 AM ET

Another rap event in New York City, another burst of gunfire - and another dead body.

It's not only tragic, it's tiresome.

This time, the deceased was a 29-year-old man with three children, one of rapper Busta Rhymes' bodyguards - murdered during a video shoot in a Greenpoint warehouse.

It seems there was an argument - isn't there always, or so it seems - and shots were fired. Israel Ramirez, a member of Rhymes' so-called security detail, ended up dead.

Maybe that's the issue.

Maybe musicians who need supersized "security details" in the first place ought to rethink what they do for a living. Or at least examine their consciences.

Of course, not all rap is "gangsta rap," glorifying violence and thuggery (and there's little evidence of that type of imagery in Rhymes' repertoire).

And it's unfair to blame rap for violence in society - not all of it, anyway.

But it's beyond naive to not see that a subculture involving guns continues to infest the hip-hop world:

* Three and a half years ago, Jam Master Jay, founding member of the legendary group Run-DMC, was shot dead in a Queens recording studio.

* Months later, shots rang out at the hip-hop/R&B radio station, Hot
97. Rapper Lil' Kim was found guilty of perjury for lying about her
"posse's" involvement.

* "East Coast vs. West Coast" rivalries were allegedly responsible for the murders a decade ago of rappers Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls.

The madness continues.

It may be as unwise to blame rap for gun deaths as it is to blame the "proliferation of handguns," as Queens DA Richard Brown bewailed.

However, the fact is that gunfire isn't a staple with most other types of popular music.

Actually, with other type of popular music.

We're with Mayor Bloomberg and others in their efforts to cleanse the streets of illegal guns.

But we wish an equal amount of energy was being expended in an effort to confront and delegitimize the rap subculture that prides itself in not just guns, but actually firing them.

At people.

Given how fast Busta and the other rap "royalty" bolted the scene Sunday - and their near-reflexive refusal to talk to the police - they're not likely to be a part of the solution anytime soon.

Which makes them a big part of the problem.