Omerta and the idea of “don’t snitch”

In keeping with the recent Sopranos postings, I flashed back to another episode in Season 6 where there’s talk of omerta when the question is raised about how Tony should handle Uncle Junior after he shoots him. The answer is that the family takes care of business itself and doesn’t involve the law. That sounded familiar and sure enough it resembles the unwritten rule of ‘don’t snitch’ in the world of hip-hop artists. Did these artists get idea from the mob? Possibly but surely the idea is even older than that. And it’s despicable also, especially in the 2006 murder of Israel Ramirez (Busta Rhyme’s bodyguard) not to mention the still unsolved murders of 2Pac, Biggie Smalls and Jam Master Jay.