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It’s time for Busta Rhymes to lawyer up. He recently turned himself in on assault charges for allegedly beating up his assistant.
As per TMZ, the Rap icon might need to clear his name in a court of law. On Friday (Jan. 10), Busta Rhymes apparently got into a physical altercation with his personal assistant. According to the report, he struck a gentleman named Dashiel Gables over the fact that he was using his phone while he was supposed to be working while at the lobby of his condo in Brooklyn. In turn, Busta Rhymes is alleged to have struck Gables in the face several times before being separated.
Sources tell TMZ Busta fled the scene and Dashiel called the police. Upon arrival paramedics and law enforcement took his report and rushed him to a local medical facility to be treated for an injury to his left eye. The New York Post reached out to Dashiel via telephone and he was very careful with his words. “Maybe later. Maybe in the future. I can’t mess up my case, bro” he said. “It’s just not going to be worth it. An article in the paper as opposed to a 6 or 7 million-dollar settlement? I’m not risking it, sorry.”
On Tuesday (Jan. 14), Busta Rhymes turned himself in to the New York Police Department and was formally issued an appearance ticket for misdemeanor assault, attempted assault, and harassment. He is due to appear in court Feb. 2 for this incident. Busta Rhymes has yet to comment on the matter.
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A lawyer is claiming that Wendy Williams has “good and bad days” but states that her recent call to The Breakfast Club isn’t a sign she’s free from dementia.
Media personality Wendy Williams’ call-in appearance on The Breakfast Club on Thursday (Jan. 16) was a welcomed listen for all of her fans, but an attorney representing the person overseeing her estate states that it is not a sign that she is altogether well. Williams, the former daytime talk show host, is currently in an unnamed care facility. “I am not cognitively impaired,” she said on the show. “But I feel like I am in prison.” She also complained about not having access to a phone or computer at the facility during the call. Williams’ niece, Alex Finnie, also joined the interview, expressing that she and other family members want her freed from the guardianship. “I’m not asking for a whole lot,” Finnie said. “All I’m saying is just treat the woman with dignity and give her the freedoms that she deserves.”
Roberta Kaplan, who represents Sabrina E. Morrisey, the woman mandated to oversee Williams in the guardianship, released a statement after the interview. “Unfortunately, because of her diagnosis, Wendy’s condition will only get worse with time and she will require care for the rest of her life,” Kaplan said. “But as anyone who has had a family member with dementia knows, Wendy has both good days and bad days. It is truly a shame that there is so much voyeuristic attention to this right now since it only leads to the same kinds of exploitation that we saw in the so-called documentary, as alleged in our complaint.”
Court papers showed Morrisey testifying that Williams was diagnosed in 2023 with frontotemporal dementia and aphasia. The guardianship was initiated by Wells Fargo, who handled Williams’ finances, citing that it had “documented a pattern of unusual and disturbing events” leading them to seek the court order. Court documents do not fully explain the specifics of Morrisey’s powers.
Kaplan’s statement referred to the two-part documentary entitled Where Is Wendy Williams?, which aired on Lifetime last year. The documentary gave fans a look at Williams’ life since undergoing a series of public moments that evoked concern from her fans. Morrisey had attempted to block the network from airing the film but was unsuccessful. She is currently suing A&E Networks, the parent company of Lifetime.
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President Donald Trump was sworn in on Monday (Jan. 20) and the spectacle of the inauguration has concluded with many in the media offering their observations On X, President Donald Trump’s rambling and sometimes unfocused acceptance speech was dissected at great lengths with some pointing out the fallacies and falsehoods spewed from the pulpit.
President Donald Trump spoke at length from inside the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, using the moment to essentially echo many of his campaign talking points to raucous applause from his subordinates and supporters. It was more of the same tough talk and bluster most have come to expect, and there were soft lobs toward Black and Hispanic communities coupled with promises of cleaning up the crime in cities across the nation.
Trump also promised to tap into natural resources on the domestic level despite the threat to the climate it poses and wants to transform America into a manufacturing giant once more. He also made appeals to the auto industry and directed domestic companies to ramp up production. There were also the long-existing threats of tariffs against other nations and the promise of eliminating the cost to American citizens.
In a bizarre moment, Trump went back to his desire to rename the Panama Canal and said that the country “broke its promises” to America. He also used this moment to take a direct swipe at China, saying that he intends to snatch the canal back from the rival superpower.
Pastor Lorenzo Sewell’s passionate prayer in support of Trump also garnered some responses given the dramatic histrionics on display and the religious leader evoking Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Free At Last” speech inappropriately. It was, in a word, “something.”
Like much of Trump’s presidential campaign, the unchecked bravado of the former business mogul was on full display with a full-throated embrace from those in attendance who applauded nearly every word. However, how these plans are expected to move forward was not illustrated in any visible detail. Trump also circled and repeated his points, appearing to speak off script and barely spoke to the concerns of average Americans and largely aimed his words at his rabid base. There was also an unnecessary jab at the LBGTBQ community, in particular regarding gender presentation.
On X, users are chiming in regarding the inauguration of President Donald Trump and dissecting his words and a higher level than legacy media would ever dare. Check out those reactions below.
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Kid Cudi was the victim of a home burglary that went on a little longer than it should have after the perpetrator was caught making himself a bit too comfortable and was eventually caught. The man was seen on Kid Cudi’s security system having a meal, a shower, and even using the bathroom before authorities nabbed him.
TMZ reports that the Los Angeles home of Kid Cudi, real name Scott Mescudi, was burglarized this week, with footage from Wednesday (Jan. 15) showing the shirtless man using the shower, having a meal, relieving himself, and generally enjoying the fruits of Cudi’s labor tax-free. Police arrived at the home around 5 PM local time and took the unidentified suspect into custody without incident.
Cudder wasn’t home when the crime took place so thankfully he was unharmed. It wasn’t listed in the report if any items from the home were stolen or if the man was just making a much-needed pit stop being going about his day. As the outlet notes, the breaking and entering came with a high ticket of. felony burglary and theft of utilities along with being held behind bars on $150,000 bail.
Cudi has been busy on both the acting and music front with his role in the Knuckles series starring Idris Elba, along with a role in M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap film. Cudi also released his two studio albums, Isano and Insano (Nitro Mega).
So far, Kid Cudi hasn’t made a public statement about the crime or the arrest.
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B.M.F founder Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory is throwing a concert celebrating his freedom after 16 years of federal detention.
The 56-year-old drug kingpin was originally sentenced to 30 years in prison following his 2008 conviction for drug trafficking and money laundering. According to the Associated Press, he was released to a residential reentry program in Miami in October. His official release from federal custody is scheduled for the end of this month, setting the stage for the concert scheduled Feb. 13 at the Amerant Bank Arena in Miami. A flyer of the event is floating around on social media.
According to Complex, the show is produced by XO Touring and AG Touring. The show aims to unite the music industry in honoring Big Meech. Dubbed the Big Meech Welcome Back Legacy Concert, the show will feature performances by Lil Baby, Rick Ross, Sexxy Red, 21 Savage, 42 Dubb, Moneybagg Yo, and a slew of Detroit rappers including Payroll Giovanni, Tee Grizzley, Babyface Ray, and Icewear Vezzo.
The Detroit native and his brother Terry “Southwest T” Flenory are notorious for their criminal enterprise and foray into the music industry in Atlanta during the early 2000s with affiliations with Bleu DaVinchi and Jeezy. At the height of the B.M.F’s success, a billboard loomed over Atlanta with the ominous message, “The World is B.M.F’s.”
The brothers’ life story has been brought to the small screen with a series on Starz produced by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and starring Meech’s son, Demetrius “Lil Meech” Flenory, Jr. In a 2023 interview with CassiusLife, Lil Meech said, “I’ve always looked up to my dad. But, I didn’t want to be him. I wanted to make a way for myself, like he did…but my own legacy.”
Season 4 of BMF will drop in the middle of 2025. Per The Direct, Creator Randy Huggins has hinted at possible time jumps to accelerate the story, suggesting that the show may delve into the complexities of the BMF’s rise before its eventual downfall in the early 2000s.
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The problems between Cam’ron and Jim Jones continue to be a hot topic in Hip-Hop. Maino is doing damage control with Cam’s story about being confronted by Jim, but the internet proves that Cam’ron was right.
As per HipHopDX, Maino paid a visit to Way Up With Angela Yee. During the broadcast the radio personality asked him about the recent headlines Cam’ron made when he said that Jim Jones pressed Maino about some lyrics and Maino didn’t go for it. To hear Maino tell it, Cam’s version of the story wasn’t 100% accurate. “The song he’s talking about is the song that put me in the game, ‘Rumors,’ where I was talking about all the rumors in the industry,” he explained. “The thing about that is I mentioned [Cam’ron] in the song; I didn’t mention Jimmy. Jimmy didn’t like me [because of that] so when we saw each other, we would have these ‘face fights,’ but nothing ever happened.”
Maino went on to detail how he and Jim Jones settled things during a random moment while shopping at a mall in Atlanta. “He didn’t approach me and press me or none of that. We had a conversation. It wasn’t spectacular, nobody swung. Once we started to talk and realized that we had things in common, we were cool from that point on. We’ve been way cooler than we were [enemies] because we didn’t know each other. That was a long time ago.”
During The Breakfast Club DJ Envy also chimed in on the previous tension that Maino and Jim Jones had and told a story where Maino pretended to have a gun on him in order to get the Byrd Gang to back up. During the same segment with Angela Yee he said that DJ Envy’s story was also incorrect. “I think maybe Envy is maybe confusing some incidents that maybe he was a part of because for one I’ve never in my life ever faked like I had a gun for nobody,” Maino added.
But one thing about the Internet, it always keeps receipts. Back in 2021, DJ Envy was a guest on Maino’s podcast Kitchen Talk. During the episode DJ Envy explained how the two originally met on the wrong foot but would soon become close friends. So close they would frequently go to nightclubs together. One night while partying, they see Jim Jones and DJ Envy tells the same story about the fake gun while Maino is sitting right next to him. If body language is any indicator, it seems that Maino was in agreement with Envy’s recollection of that evening.
You can see DJ Envy tell the story with Maino below.
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Mac Miller left the world far too soon in 2018, just as his creative output was gaining notice and garnering him a wider fanbase. To commemorate the drop, the estate of Mac Miller has released a new body of work in Balloonerism along with a short film, and fans on X have reacted to the release in kind.
Balloonerism clocks in at 14 minutes and has just two features with SZA and Delusional Thomas showing up for “DJ’s Chord Organ” and “Transformations” respectively. According to what we read on Wikipedia, this album was recorded between 2013 and 2014. But fans reportedly have had access to some of these songs over the years via leaks and it was teased late last year at Camp Flog Gnaw.
Much of the album follows the soulful nature of Swimming, one of our favorite releases from the Pittsburgh star, and finds him flexing his singing abilities across several tracks. Songs like “5 Dollar Pony Rides” melt into a jazzy groove after a verse as Miller belts out vocals. The track “Friendly Hallucinations” continues the warm sound of the preceding track but finds Miller in confident rapper mode as he handles the hook capably.
Sonically, it sounds reminiscent of Miller’s work on his mixtape Faces, and certainly reveals more of his musical interests and connections with the sprawling musical community of Los Angeles with bassist Thundercat showing up on backing instrumentals alongside Thundercat’s brothers, drummer Ronald Bruner and keyboardist Jameel Bruner among others. Larry Fisherman, the producer moniker of Miller, shows up in the credits as well.
You can check out Mac Miller’s Balloonerism by clicking here along with the short film below supporting the project. Keep scrolling to see reactions from X regarding the new drop.
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A$AP Rocky has rejected a plea deal in his gun assault case against A$AP Relli, and his lawyer is confident he will be acquitted.
As per Newsweek, A$AP Rocky’s trial is set to get underway next week. While he has claimed innocence since news broke about the alleged shooting that struck former A$AP Mob member and collaborator A$AP Relli, Daily Mail reports that he was offered a plea deal Wednesday ( Jan. 15). According to his lawyer Joe Tacopina A$AP Rocky has “no interested” in a settlement. “Our client has indicated he’s willing to take anything but obviously I will listen to any offer and I have an obligation and duty to relay to my client,” Tacopina told the presiding judge during the recent hearing.
After the conference concluded Joe Tacopina spoke to reporters outside of the court. “There’s a reason that 10 police officers searched and didn’t find shell casings there,” the legal professional explained. “[It’s] not because they were blind or drunk or because they didn’t want to find it. It’s because they did a thorough job. Tacopina also confirmed that A$AP Rocky would testify if need be. “He’s confident and he’s ready to go. He believes in justice, and he believes this is going to work out for him.”
You can see footage from the latest hearing below.
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Just when it seemed like Drake was about to move on from the massive loss he took at the hands of Kendrick Lamar by dropping his legal petition against Universal Music Group and Spotify over their promotion of “Not Like Us,” the Certified Lover Boy artist shocked the Hip-Hop world by turning around and suing UMG for “defamation” over the record. Christ on crutches.
Continuing to make himself look funny in the light, “Deposition” Drizzy sued his own record label stating that the new classic diss record slandered his reputation for alleging that he was a pedophile amongst a few other head-nodding allegations. Not taking the lawsuit lying down, Billboard is reporting that Universal Music Group has responded to Drake’s lawsuit by calling it “illogical” and accusing the Canadian crooner of “weaponizing the legal system.”
While it’s safe to say that many Hip-Hoppers agree that Drake is reaching with his latest lawsuit, it’s also become obvious that Drake is looking for any way to save some face, as Kendrick’s scathing diss track has cost Drake not only his “street credibility” but also his popularity amongst Hip-Hop fans who aren’t so interested in hearing any new material from Drake anytime soon. That being said, filing such a lawsuit not only makes him look that much worse out on these streets, but continues to give life and notoriety to Kung Fu Kenny’s now-classic club diss record.
Per Billboard:
In a strongly-worded statement issued Wednesday afternoon (Jan. 15), UMG flatly denied the allegations in Drake’s lawsuit — filed earlier in the day in New York federal court — and sharply criticized its superstar artist for bringing it.
“Not only are these claims untrue, but the notion that we would seek to harm the reputation of any artist—let alone Drake—is illogical,” the company wrote. “We have invested massively in his music and our employees around the world have worked tirelessly for many years to help him achieve historic commercial and personal financial success.”
In his new lawsuit, Drake claims that UMG knew that “Not Like Us” contained false allegations against his character but that his record label decided to put it out anyway and “chose to place corporate greed over the safety and well-being of its artists.”
UMG clapped back by saying that Drake himself has engaged in numerous rap battles where he too participated in the slandering of his fellow Hip-Hop peers.
“Throughout his career, Drake has intentionally and successfully used UMG to distribute his music and poetry to engage in conventionally outrageous back-and-forth ‘rap battles’ to express his feelings about other artists,” UMG wrote. “He now seeks to weaponize the legal process to silence an artist’s creative expression and to seek damages from UMG for distributing that artist’s music.”
“We have not and do not engage in defamation—against any individual,” UMG said in the statement. “At the same time, we will vigorously defend this litigation to protect our people and our reputation, as well as any artist who might directly or indirectly become a frivolous litigation target for having done nothing more than write a song.”
Most rappers would just take the loss and move on with their life (See Ja Rule). Not Drake though. That man will obviously go to great lengths to salvage whatever “honor” he feels he has left even if it means making him look like a Canadian Karen to millions of Hip-Hoppers in the process.
God help us all.
What do y’all think about Universal Music Group’s response to Drake’s latest lawsuit? Are they in the right? Does Drake have a case given Hip-Hop’s history of rap battles? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Kanye West aka Ye may not hold the same weight on the fashion scene as he did just a few years ago, but the man is still able to make some impressive coin with his sneaker drops and because of that the embattled music artist is claiming to be the greatest of all-time.
On Tuesday (Jan. 14), West took a victory lap on his Instagram page to proclaim himself to be the “GOAT of all GOATs of any GOAT that was ever GOATed,” as his latest capsule collection of sneakers and attire garnered him an impressive $2,339,096 in just 24 hours. For someone who millions of people swore to have canceled due to his antisemitic rants and overall offsetting behavior, that’s pretty damn good.
Interestingly enough, he made those millions with a pair of sneakers that retailed for a mere $20 too. Needless to say, he seems to be onto something. Might be more MAGA money than anything, but still.
Continuing to rub his success in the faces of his haters, naysayers and nonbelievers, Ye threw up a new post of an actual goat and went wild in the caption to let everyone know that humble is a word that is not and has never been in his vocabulary.
“RAPS 🐐 BEATS 🐐 ALBUMS 🐐 CLOTHES 🐐 PROPHECY 🐐CHOIR 🐐 SHOES 🐐 MONEY 🐐 POSTS 🐐 TWEETS 🐐 AWARDS 🐐 AWARD SPEECHES 🐐 THE GOAT OF ALL GOATS OF ANY GOAT THAT WAS EVER GOATED 🐐 YOUR FAVORITE GOATS FAVORITE GOAT 🐐 YOUR DADS DAD TELL YA MOM YOU GOT A NEW DAD 🐐PERFORMANCE 🐐 SHOW 🐐 🐐 SHOW MONEY 🐐 TOUR MONEY 🐐”
He went on for a while in that caption.
The post comes a week after Kanye, once again, aired his grievances against adidas and threw a dart at Jerry Lorenzo for good measure.
Hate him or love him, Kanye’s always going to have something to say with every dub he collects.
What do y’all think about Kanye West pulling in a cool $2 million off his latest merchandise? Let us know in the comments section below.
“THE GOAT OF ALL GOATS OF ANY GOAT THAT WAS EVER GOATED 🐐”
— Kanye via IG pic.twitter.com/jTPzb8g8ZM
— NFR Podcast (@nfr_podcast) January 14, 2025