HIDING OUT: It sounds like hype, but...

HIDING OUT: It sounds like hype, but apparently it’s true: Rapper Jazz Lee Alston is having to work on her debut album for American Records in a secret location because she’s living in fear of a murderer whose crime she witnessed.

Alston was present when her cousin was shot to death in December, 1992, in New York. The killer is still at large. The incident, in fact, inspired Alston’s song “Love . . . Never That,” which was included in the American-distributed “Seattle . . . the Dark Side,” an anthology of Northwest rap put together by Sir Mix-a-Lot.

The problem now is how to promote Alston’s career without drawing the attention of a killer whom she could potentially help convict.

“I’ll be out there promoting the album like any first-time artist,” she promises.