Famed Winnipeg rapper Fresh IE was targeted by thieves Wednesday morning who made off with thousands of dollars of studio equipment and unreleased recordings.

Rob Wilson, who records under the name Fresh IE, said thieves took about $30,000 worth of recording equipment from his studio, which is located in the basement of an inner-city church.

Original recordings for this new CD, to be released in March, were also stolen, as was music stored on snatched computers.

"Everything we've been working on — the brand-new album and everything, and other people's albums — is gone," said Wilson, whose Christian music has been twice nominated for Grammy Awards.

"I think the hard drives is the most valuable part, because they had a lot of stuff that I'd been working on and artists that I'm working on for the future, and even some unused stuff that I've been storing away."

Wilson suspects his own good intentions may have led to the crime. For the past few years, he has been using his studio to mentor young people who have been in trouble with the law.

"It's pretty disheartening to know people are going to do something like that when you're trying to do something good for the community," he said.

He's also frustrated with the slow pace of the investigation, saying it's taken police a long time to gather evidence. He's started calling pawnshops himself, hoping some of his unique musical gear will turn up.

He is insured for the loss of the equipment, but says he's worried about what might happen with the music that was stolen.

"If you think you're going to go and take the music and use it, or try and take it apart, I know my music," he said. "If I hear my stuff out there, I'm going to find out who did it."