• Sergio Kitchens, real name, declared his innocence and stated the picture of him being painted is “ugly and incorrect”.
• Kitchens’ attorneys verified that the message was issued on his behalf on his birthday.
• The rapper was jailed on a racketeering allegation last month.

Rapper Gunna, who was jailed on a racketeering allegation last month, said in a social media message that “despite this tough scenario,” 2022 has been one of the best years of his life.

Sergio Kitchens, the rapper’s real name, declared his innocence and stated the picture of him being painted is “ugly and incorrect.”

“For now, I don’t have my freedom. But I am innocent. I am being falsely accused and will never stop fighting to clear my name!” the message says.

Kitchens’ attorneys, Kristen Novay, Steve Sadow, Don Samuel, and John Garland, verified that the message was issued on his behalf on his birthday, Tuesday.

“It’s important for him to have a voice,” she said, adding that her client does not have access to a cellphone in jail.

Read more. Rapper Young Thug, arrested on gang-related charges

Kitchens was one of more than two dozen persons charged in an 88-page indictment in Fulton County, Georgia, last month. Young Thug — real name Jeffery Williams — was also indicted. He’s suspected of forming Young Slime Life, a violent street gang that’s known as YSL and is linked to the national Bloods gang, according to authorities.

Kitchens, who is affiliated to Williams’ Young Stoner Life label, hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart for the second time this year with “DS4Ever.”

Kitchens writes in his statement that he hails from a “marginalized community” and that his art has changed his life and the lives of his loved ones.

“I used my art form, my gift from God, to change my circumstances,” the statement says.

He added: “Nothing will stop me from chasing my dreams, I won’t stop being a good person, even if some unnamed and unknown accusers want the world to see me as a bad person.”