Kid Cudi was held at gunpoint by police in Los Angeles Tuesday (Dec. 21), in a case of mistaken identity that occurred just one week after the rapper left his opening slot on Lady Gaga’s Monster Ball tour.

Cudi, whose real name is Scott Mescudi, was in the midst of a photo shoot for NME magazine when he and his entourage were pulled over on Fairfax Avenue by police offers in search of suspected robbers.

NME reporter Emily Mackay later blogged about the incident, describing a dramatic scene that included “an angry, shaven-headed American policeman screaming, ‘KEEP YOUR TWO HANDS VISIBLE’ while pointing a gun at the back your head through the rear window.”

According to reports, Cudi and his entourage were ordered to exit three vehicles and kneel on the ground, where they were handcuffed. Police soon released the group, however, upon realizing that they had detained the wrong party.

“Such is life, apparently, when you roll with Kid Cudi and his crew,” added Mackay.

On Dec. 18, Cudi’s representatives announced that he was leaving Lady Gaga’s Monster Ball tour after playing just a few dates on the trek “in order to balance his schedule surrounding the recording of his next album and acting commitments.” The announcement came shortly after the rapper was criticized for punching a fan at a tour stop in Vancouver.

vid of kid cudi freestyling at tim westwood tv

As we predicted back in January, Wale, Kid Cudi and Drake have had a huge impact on hip-hop this year. They’ve not only built a buzz for themselves, but they’ve found themselves standing alongside the likes of Jay-Z, Eminem, Kanye West and 50 Cent. And, as GQ magazine points out, they’ve helped to quell hip-hop’s gangster persona and usher in a real-life focus. The three MCs are featured in the GQ’s Men of the Year issue in an article titled “Gangsta Killers.”

“Anybody from Cleveland will tell you, I wasn’t in the street,” Kid Cudi said. “Ask them, they’ll say, ‘Scotty was the goofy class clown.’ ”

The article points out the contrast between songs about “duct-taped kilos, exotic firearms, and freaky girls” and the lyrics of this up-and-coming generation of rappers. Cudi’s introspective raps have helped secure him a dedicated following that propelled his single, “Day N’ Nite,” into a top-five hit and stoner anthem, and his debut album, Man on the Moon: The End of Day, sold over 100,000 thousand copies in its first week. Wale’s attention to lyrical detail has established him as D.C.’s first major hip-hop artist, and his live show earned him a spot as the leader of this year’s VMA house band and touring with Jay-Z. And Drake, whose So Far Gone mixtape and “Best I Ever Had” single made him the object of a label bidding war this summer, stood verse-for-verse with Eminem, Lil Wayne and Kanye West on “Forever.”

While they have each helped to establish a new aesthetic for rap, they aren’t too keen on being called “Gangsta Killers.”

“The dope boy is going to be a fixture of black culture as long as ‘thug’ is a legitimate option alongside ‘job,’ ” Drake told GQ. “But I’m not going to rap about how much crack I sold.”