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26 Apr 2023

Fugees Rapper Pras Found Guilty Of Conspiracy to Defraud The United States, Twitter Reacts

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Former Rapper Pras Michel Goes On Trial For Conspiracy Charges In Washington, D.C.

Source: Tasos Katopodis / Getty

Pras has been found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the United States, amongst other charges. The founding member of the storied rap group the Fugees allegedly got his hands dirty with corruption across the presidencies of Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

CNN reports that on Wednesday (April 26), Pras, 50, born Prakazrel Samuel Michel, was found guilty of 10 criminal counts that stem from an international conspiracy involving the US government. The charges all derive from Pras’ financial relationship with a Malaysian businessman named Jho Low and using his influence in the aid of the Chinese government to acquire access to US officials. Said officials got their pockets lined in attempts to gain favor with Trump and Obama.

The case drew attention due to Pras’ fame as an artist and then acquired extra scrutiny from social media recently when he seemingly admitted to being a federal informant while on the stand. It’s a claim his legal team denies.

Pras testified that Low gave him $20 million back in 2012 for the rapper to get a picture of himself and then President Obama. However, prosecutors say Pras took $800,000 of those funds to donate to Obama’s campaign on the low—no pun intended. Then in 2017, Low again got Pras to donate funds to Trump in order to urge the dropping of an investigation into his financial dealings. Pras defense was that it was his money to spend and that the $100 million the feds claim was for Trump influence was actually an investment to start a new media company.

Clearly, the jury called cap.

“We are extremely disappointed in that result but are very, very confident in the ultimate outcome of this case,” reportedly said Pras’ attorney, David Kenner, to reporters. “If we do move to a sentencing hearing I remain very confident we will certainly appeal this case. This is not over.”

Pras is facing more than 20 years in prison when he is sentenced at a yet undetermined date. As for Low, he’s reportedly somewhere in China.

26 Apr 2023

Halle Bailey Makes ‘Part of Your World’ Her Own for Live-Action ‘Little Mermaid’: Listen

Halle Bailey is gearing up to make her Disney debut in the live-action version of The Little Mermaid next month, and ahead of the movie’s official release, fans were treated to her rendition of “Part of Your World” on Wednesday (April 26).

In a new interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, the singer — one-half of sister duo Chloe x Halle — revealed that she tried to keep her version of the track as close to Jodi Benson’s original in the 1989 animated film.

“Every time I hear Jodi Benson sing it, the nostalgia that I get is just amazing and it fills me up with so much joy,” she told the host. “I get goosebumps all over so I was very excited to do my own rendition of this song and try my very best to give the song justice, you know, because it’s an amazing work of art. I took inspiration from the original, really based off of the amazing base that we had of the original already.”

Bailey continued: “Jodi Benson is an iconic singer and she’s just such a lovely person inside and out as well. So when you are redoing a song that’s already great, you just have to really try your best to honor the original, as well as not be afraid to make it your own. So that’s truly what I tried to do.”

Leading up to the release of The Little Mermaid, the 23-year-old revealed that she has had some issues with controlling her nerves before the premiere. “I’m a little bit nervous just because this has been so long in the making. I mean, I auditioned for this film when I was 18, and I turned 23 this year,” she said. “Now that it’s finally here, I’m like, whoa, I can’t believe it. And it’s a very, very big pinch-me moment. I’m so excited. And I just can’t wait for people to see what we did to this film.”

Listen to Bailey’s version of “Part of Your World” in the video below.

26 Apr 2023

ENHYPEN Opens Up About Mini Album ‘DARK BLOOD’, Halsey & Alev Aydin Split, & More | Billboard News

Billboard News’ Tetris Kelly caught up with the guys of ENHYPEN and talked about their upcoming mini album ‘DARK BLOOD’. Shenseea reveals her favorite Jamaican Slang Halsey and Alev Aydin have spit, the couple’s decision to break up was “amicable,” according to sources. And more!

26 Apr 2023

P!nk Gracefully Shuts Down Troll Over Body-Shaming Dig: ‘You’ve Got Too Much Free Time’

P!nk put a far-right commentator in his place on Wednesday (April 26) after he attempted to troll her on social media over her appearance.

The Twitter back-and-forth started when Stew Peters posted a photo of the pop star performing on stage in a midriff-baring costume and snidely wrote, “Those aren’t child-bearing hips.”

Known for not holding back on social media, the “Never Not Gonna Dance Again” singer — and proud mom of daughter Willow Sage and son Jameson Moon, for the record — let the troll off relatively easy, merely quote-tweeting his post and writing, “Oh, Stewie. Stewie Stewie Stewie. You’ve got too much free time,” followed by a clown emoji.

Her fans, on the other hand, were less apt to let the body shaming slide. “When Stew finds out you have a child his mind gonna be blown…” one responded, while another tweeted, “Indeed those are not ‘child-bearing’ hips, those are ‘boss mom hips’! My favourite female/mom artist by far!” A third fan pointed out, “It’s mind-numbing that people actually think this way and say these things.”

Of course, P!nk has much more than misogynistic Twitter trolls to keep her busy and winning these days. Not only did she recently release Trustfall, her ninth top 10 album on the Billboard 200, but she’s also gearing up for not one, but two tours in support of the project.

Additionally, she and pal Kelly Clarkson just raised $60,000 to benefit nonprofit No Kid Hungry by donating a signed, one-of-a-kind soundwave artwork of their duet “Broken and Beautiful.”

Read P!nk’s classy clap-back to put the Twitter troll in his place below.

26 Apr 2023

What’s Your Favorite Regional Mexican/Urban Collab? Vote!

Once considered unorthodox, collaborations between regional Mexican music and urban artists are now considered part of the norm.

Over the past few years, the industry has witnessed unprecedented team-ups, including Bad Bunny‘s first major splash into this world alongside then-emerging corridos tumbados act Natanael Cano. In 2019, the pair released a remix to Cano’s “Soy El Diablo.”

Four years later, Bunny is back at it again, this time partnering with another newcomer, Grupo Frontera. Earlier this month, the Puerto Rican superstar and Frontera released the norteño-tinged cumbia “un x100to.”

Peso Pluma, Mexican music’s latest hitmaker, has delivered star-studded collaborations with non-regional Mexican artists, including Nicki Nicole, Ovy on the Drums and Blessd. Both Ovy and Blessd joined Peso to sing his signature corridos bélicos.

Meanwhile, in March, Nicky Jam and Luis R. Conriquez delivered “Como El Viento,” a melodious corrido with hints of trap. “I’ve always respected regional Mexican music,” Jam previously told Billboard Español. “It’s not from my culture — in Puerto Rico, you hear more salsa, merengue and Caribbean music, but I lived 10 years in Colombia, and over there you listen to it a lot. So they showed me this song and I thought it was the perfect one for me.”

Other collaborations between regional Mexican artists and urban acts featured on our list include Grupo Firme and Maluma’s “Cada Quien,” Ivan Cornejo and Jhayco’s “Está Dañada (Remix),” and Banda MS, Snoop Dogg and Becky G’s “Qué Maldición.”

So what’s your favorite regional Mexican/urban collab? Make your vote count in our poll below:

26 Apr 2023

Man Accused of Killing Taylor Swift Fan Jacob Lewis in Hit & Run to be Charged With Felony Murder

The man accused of killing 20-year-old Taylor Swift fan Jacob Lewis in a hit-and-run accident as he left the Houston Eras Tour stop last Friday will be charged with felony murder, a prosecutor in the case says.

According to KHOU-11, Lewis and his sister April Bancroft were driving back home from the concert at NRG Stadium when they had car trouble. Lewis started pushing the vehicle to the shoulder when he was struck by a suspected drunk driver — identified by police as 34-year-old Alan Hayes — who fled the scene. A tow-truck driver witnessed the incident and led police to Hayes, who was later arrested.

Hayes is currently being held in jail on $120,000 bond for DWI and failure to stop and render aid. Prosecutor Kelly Marshall told the outlet that Hayes has two prior DWI convictions and was arrested in Montgomery County on drug charges just a few days before the accident.

Meanwhile, Lewis’ sister has expressed gratitude toward Swift fans, who have extended kindness to her and her family in light of her brother’s death. A GoFundMe in Lewis’ name has raised more than $120,000 with the help of $13 donations from Swifties; the family will use the money for funeral costs and a scholarship in Lewis’ name.

“I cannot express the overwhelming happiness and gratitude from every #Swiftie out there,” Bancroft tweeted Sunday. “Thank you thank you thank you. I will get to your messages eventually if I haven’t already, your words have inspired me through my day so much.”

26 Apr 2023

UMG’s Lucian Grainge Says ‘Flood’ of AI Content Requires New Streaming Payment Models

Universal Music Group chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge took aim at artificial intelligence again on Wednesday (April 26), this time blaming AI for the “oversupply” of “bad” content on streaming platforms and pointing to user-centric payment models as the answer.

AI tools have exploded in popularity in recent months, and Grainge has been an outspoken critic of generative AI being used to mimic copyrighted works, as with the song “Heart on My Sleeve,” which used AI to generate vocals from UMG artists Drake and The Weeknd.

In fervent comments Grainge made during a call discussing UMG’s earnings Wednesday, the executive said AI significantly contributes to a glut of “poor-quality” content on streaming platforms, muddies search experiences for fans looking for their favorite artists and generally has “virtually no consumer appeal.”

“Any way you look at it, this oversupply, whether or not AI-created is, simply, bad. Bad for artists.  Bad for fans. And bad for the platforms themselves,” Grainge said.

The head of the world’s largest music company specifically called out the role of generative AI platforms, which are “trained” to produce new creations after being fed vast quantities of existing works known as “inputs.” In the case of AI music platforms, that process involves huge numbers of songs, which many across the music industry argue infringes on artists’ and labels’ copyrights.

Grainge argued that “the flood of unwanted content” generated by AI could be reduced by adopting new payment models from streaming platforms. UMG is currently exploring “artist-centric” models with Tidal and Deezer, while SoundCloud and Warner Music Group also announced a partnership on so-called user-centric royalties last year.

“With the right incentive structures in place, platforms can focus on rewarding and enhancing the artist-fan relationship and, at the same time, elevate the user experience on their platforms, by reducing the sea of ‘noise’ … eliminating unauthorized, unwanted, and infringing content entirely,” Grainge said on Wednesday.

While UMG continues exploring alternative streaming payment models with partners Tidal, Deezer and others on what form alternative streaming payment models should take, an analyst on Wednesday’s call asked Grainge if, in the meantime, the company would ever consider licensing songs to an AI platform.

“We are open to licensing … but we have to respect our artist and the integrity of their work,” Grainge said. “We should be the hostess with the mostest. We’re open for business with businesses that are legitimate and (interested in) partnership for growth.”

26 Apr 2023

Fugees Rapper Pras Found Guilty in Political Conspiracy

Fugees rapper Pras, accused in multimillion-dollar political conspiracies spanning two presidencies, was convicted Wednesday (April 26) after a trial that included testimony ranging from actor Leonardo DiCaprio to former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

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Prakazrel “Pras” Michel was accused of funneling money from a now-fugitive Malaysian financier through straw donors to Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign, then trying to squelch a Justice Department investigation and influence an extradition case on behalf of China under the Trump administration.

The defense argued the Grammy-winning rapper from the 1990s hip-hop group the Fugees simply wanted to make money and got bad legal advice as he reinvented himself in the world of politics.

Michel first met Malaysian financer Low Taek Jho in 2006, when the businessman usually known as Jho Low was dropping huge sums of money and hobnobbing with the likes of Paris Hilton. Low helped finance Hollywood films, including “The Wolf of Wall Street.” DiCaprio testified Low had appeared to him as a legitimate businessman and had mentioned wanting to donate to Obama’s campaign.

Michel also testified in his own defense. He said Low wanted a picture with Obama in 2012 and was willing to pay millions of dollars to get it. Michel agreed to help and used some of the money he got to pay for friends to attend fundraising events. No one had ever told him that was illegal, he said.

Prosecutors said Michel was donating the money on Low’s behalf, and later tried to lean on the straw donors with texts from burner phones to keep them from talking to investigators.

After the election of Donald Trump, prosecutors say Michel again took millions to halt an investigation into allegations Low masterminded a money laundering and bribery scheme that pilfered billions from the Malaysian state investment fund known as 1MDB. Low is now an international fugitive and has maintained his innocence.

Michel also got paid to try and persuade the U.S. to extradite back to China a government critic suspected of crimes there without registering as a foreign agent, prosecutors said.

On that charge, the defense pointed to testimony from Sessions, who was Trump’s top law enforcement officer until he resigned in 2018. Sessions said he’d been aware the Chinese government wanted the extradition but didn’t know Michel. The rapper’s ultimately futile efforts to arrange a meeting on the topic didn’t seem improper, the former attorney general said.

26 Apr 2023

16 Times Regional Mexican & Urban Artists Teamed Up for Game-Changing Collabs

Bad Bunny fans were in for a real treat when earlier this month he announced a collaboration with his “compas” (friends) in Grupo Frontera. To everyone’s surprise, Bunny — who has been on a musical break — unleashed a romantic cumbia-norteño track called “un x100to,” co-produced by Edgar Barrera and MAG. The song, about having one percent charge on the phone and using it for an important call, debuts this week at No. 3 on the Hot Latin Songs chart. 

But this isn’t the first time the Puerto Rican trap star dips his toes in the música Mexicana realm. In 2019, he teamed up with corrido tumbado pioneer Natanael Cano on “Soy El Diablo (Remix),” which incorporated hip-hop sensibility with rapping and chanting and narrating the story of a man who runs the streets. 

In recent years, other urban and regional Mexican stars have tested out the game-changing trend. Rising act Peso Pluma, for example, has already released collaborations with Colombian rapper Blessd (“Las Morras”), reggaetón hitmaker Ovy on the Drums (“El Hechizo”), and even Argentine star Nicki Nicole (the remix of his “Por Las Noches”).  

Farruko does not stay too far behind either. In 2020, he teamed up with T3R Elemento for the corrido sierreño track “Del Barrio a la Ciudad,” which was made possible thanks to DEL Records founder Angel del Villar, T3R Elemento’s label, and producer Alex Gárgola, who sent the song to Farruko.

Below, check out 16 urban and Regional Mexican collaborations, in alphabetical order of artist name.

26 Apr 2023

FBI Warns Americans To Avoid Haiti Over Gang Violence, Kidnappings

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HAITI-VIOLENCE-GANGS

Source: RICHARD PIERRIN / Getty

As gang violence increases in Haiti, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has issued a warning to American citizens and residents against traveling to the country.

According to reports, the directive from the FBI comes after a surge in violence enacted by warring gangs in the Caribbean nation, putting stress on the embattled national police force. It issued the warning to U.S. citizens and permanent residents, particularly those living in South Florida. The bureau’s office in Miami cites a major uptick in the report of kidnappings in Haiti it has received since the beginning of the year – an increase of 300 percent in the first three months of this year when compared to the same time period last year.

Haiti still has a State Department Level 4: Do Not Travel Advisory. “While we understand that there are strong ties between Haiti and South Florida, before traveling there one should consider the trauma and financial costs of being kidnapped not only to themselves but to their family and friends as well,” FBI Supervisory Special Agent Liz Santamaria said to the Miami Herald.

While the agency has not disclosed the exact number, it is believed that many of the victims kidnapped for ransom have ties to the U.S. The State Department has advised all citizens still in Haiti to leave immediately.

The violence between warring gangs has been prevalent in the capital city of Port-au-Prince since the beginning of the year. The assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021 was the event that fractured Haiti’s government infrastructure – the judiciary branch is viewed as inherently corrupt, there are no elected government officials still serving and the National Police Force has shrunk from 15,000 members three years ago to 9,000. Observers estimate that gangs now control between 60 to 90 percent of Port-au-Prince.

The warning also comes as the United Nations Security Council recently received a report that conditions in Haiti are now similar to countries at war. “The people of Haiti continue to suffer one of the worst human rights crises in decades and a major humanitarian emergency,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in his report.

“With the high number of fatalities and increasing areas under the control of armed gangs, insecurity in the capital has reached levels comparable to countries in armed conflict.” Guterres is expected to reiterate a demand for the creation and deployment of a special security force when the Security Council meets again today (April 26).