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Mystikal was arrested in July of 2022 on several serious charges, including first-degree rape, which carries a mandatory life sentence in Louisiana. This past Monday (May 17), a judge overseeing Mystikal’s case moved the trial to May 19 as the rapper continues to declare his innocence.
Mystikal, real name Michael Tyler, was first arrested on July 30, 2022, and booked at the Ascension Parish jail on charges of first-degree rape, simple robbery, damage to property, domestic abuse battery, strangulation, false imprisonment, and four counts of drug possession.
Local outlet KLFY reports that this past Monday, it was thought that Tyler, 54, would face his plea deadline and enter the record for the court. However, the judge decided to move the case to next month. Despite authorities saying that the victim appeared to have suffered physical harm and anguish, Mystikal pleaded not guilty to the bevy of charges.
As the outlet noted, Tyler has faced sexual assault charges in the past, going way back to 2003 when the Louisiana rapper pleaded guilty to sexual battery and did six years behind bars. In 2016, Tyler was charged with kidnapping and sexual assault but the case was dropped.
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Dreamville Festival was launched in 2019 and save for one year skipped due to a nationwide shutdown due to the pandemic, it has occurred annually since. Dreamville Festival organizers released the finalized lineup for this year’s event which features J. Cole, 21 Savage, Lil Wayne, and Erykah Badu among its headliners.
Now in its fifth and final year, Dreamville Festival will return to Dorothea Dix Park in Raleigh, N.C. on Saturday, April 5 and 6, featuring familiar acts for past attendees along with new names in the star-studded lineup.
The top headliners for the festival are Lil Wayne, joining forces with the Hot Boys and the Big Tymers, and J. Cole on the following day ending the festival. Joining these acts on the opening day (April 5) are 21 Savage, PARTYNEXTDOOR, Ab-Soul, and Ludacris. Keyshia Cole will also be performing and celebrating the 20-year anniversary of The Way It Is project. Dreamville Records acts Ari Lennox, Bas, Lute, and Omen will also take the stage.
On day two (April 6), Tems and GloRilla will rock the Dreamville stages and will be joined by Dreamville Records star J.I.D., Wale, Coco Jones, and BigXThaPlug. Dreamville’s EARTHGANG and Cozz will also rock the stages.
“Our team looks forward to welcoming fans from around the world to Dreamville Festival this spring for our fifth anniversary celebration. The first weekend in April has grown to become one of our team’s favorite times of the year as an annual NC reunion,” said Dreamville Cofounder and Festival President Adam Roy in a statement.
A limited number of two-day general admission passes are available now and portions of the sales will be donated to the Dreamville Foundation charity, and the Dorothea Dix Park Conservancy. So far, all of the general admission plus and VIP ticket packages are sold out but waitlists are available on the festival’s website.
Learn more here.
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Photo: Shaun Llewellyn / @shaunllewellyn_
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Tracy Morgan is one of the dozens of celebrities who attend New York Knicks games and has become quite the fixture at Madison Square Garden. However, fans are more concerned with Tracy Morgan’s health than his celebrity status after the comedian and actor had what appeared to be a medical episode while at a recent game.
Tracy Morgan, 56, sat courtside on Monday (March 17) to watch the New York Knicks take on the Miami Heat. While the Knicks game didn’t air on national markets, the news of Morgan falling ill moved swiftly via the X social media platform and the reactions came in fast. Much of what was said was speculative as details surrounding the incident are still developing.
In a report from PEOPLE, the outlet shared an X post from @RealJoshBrownie that showed a video of Morgan being helped by emergency medical staff from the court floor after vomiting. Morgan was also reportedly bleeding from the nose as he was helped to his feet and was ultimately taken out of Madison Square Garden via wheelchair.
Tracy Morgan getting wheeled out from courtside at MSG .. bleeding from nose .. could barely stand up … hope he’s ok pic.twitter.com/E61zXqQQ8H
— RealJoshBrownie (@realJoshBrownie) March 18, 2025
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
The medical incident took place around the third quarter of the Knicks-Heat matchup and delayed the game for 10 minutes as staff rushed to address the matter. MSG officials told the outlet, “We hope Tracy feels better soon and look forward to seeing him back courtside.”
The outlet adds that it reached out to Morgan’s reps but did not receive a response.
Tracy Morgan has battled health issues over the years, including receiving a kidney transplant. The SNL alum also was severely injured in a 2014 automobile crash and his long road to recovery has become part of both his standup act and his testimony.
On X, fans of Morgan are sharing their warm thoughts as he continues to heal from this latest incident.
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Angie Stone passed away en route to a performance on March 1, shocking her legion of fans and supporters as details later emerged. During the funeral service for Angie Stone, Tyler Perry took to the podium to both honor and defend the late singer’s legacy regarding unpaid royalties.
Angie Stone was laid to rest at the First Nazareth Baptist Church in her native Columbia, S.C. last Saturday (March 15). The event was streamed live on local outlet WACH‘s YouTube stream and featured a bevy of speakers.
Tyler Perry took to the podium some two hours into the memorial service and addressed the music industry regarding their mistreatment of Stone regarding decades of unpaid royalties. In interviews, Stone has been clear that dealing with recording labels had not worked out favorably on the financial side and that she had given far too much of herself to the industry for such lopsided gains.
“I’m angry at the way she was treated,’ said Perry. “To think that this woman was in the business for all of these years. All of those years, all of those songs, all of that money that was owed to her. Where is it? It’s wrong.”
Perry also centered on Stone’s musical contributions and used lyrics from the singer’s “No More Rain” single and tied it together in a moving tribute to Stone’s enduring influence and legacy on soul music and R&B.
Angie Stone was 63.
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Charleston White has become a popular, if controversial, media figure due to his outlandish comments about Black entertainment and culture. An old video of Charleston White recently surfaced featuring him testifying against a friend, prompting some online to harken back on White’s comments regarding snitching.
Charleston White was trending on X, formerly Twitter, over the weekend after the @rebootjays account shared a 1993 news report from a Texas outlet featuring a teenage White testifying in court. The case appears to involve a murder case involving one Antoine Dolittle, who shot and killed Michael Levy, who tried to stop White and Dolittle from stealing from a department store. The actual crime occurred in 1991
https://x.com/rebootjays/status/1900933462724350261 – The video mentioned above.
White, 216 at the time, is seen telling the court how the shooting was carried out and the clip immediately hit viral status on the X network with fans adding that this is nothing new for him as he’s made snitching part of his ethos.
As is custom, White welcomed the criticism from observers and dropped a video on social media explaining that he doesn’t think the video will stop his current speaking engagement and tour stops, nor will it have any effect on his earnings. White has been explicit in stating that he would gladly snitch on anyone, and the video below highlights his stance.
https://x.com/charlestonwhyt/status/1900996053014401313 – a response video from White.
Gillie Da Kid reacted to the news in his usual outspoken fashion and White replied via video, appearing to address the podcast host and Philadelphia native that had the “no snitching” street code been pushed aside, Gillie would find justice for his slain son, Devin “YNG Cheese” Spady.
https://x.com/batnarc573511/status/1901652025236140278 – The video comment in question.
So far, it doesn’t appear that Gillie Da Kid is going to go back and forth with Charleston White over the matter.
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Jonathan Majors was seen as largely shedding some of the bad press that surrounded his name in the wake of the incident between him and ex-girlfriend, Grace Jabbari. Despite the civil lawsuit brought by Jabbari being recently settled, an audio clip has surfaced that appears to highlight Jonathan Majors admitting to strangling Jabbari.
In the audio clip procured by Rolling Stone, Jonathan Majors, 35, can reportedly be heard speaking to Grace Jabbari and seemingly confessing to using physical force against her but it isn’t truly highlighted what the impetus was for that allegedly violent exchange.
In the audio clip, Majors is heard saying “I’m ashamed I’ve ever…I’ve never aggressive with a woman before. I’ve never aggressed a woman, I aggressed you.”
Jabbari is heard firing back saying “You strangled me and pushed me against the car.”
Majors responded “Yes, all those things are under ‘aggressed,’ yeah. That’s never happened to me.”
Jabbari goes on to say that a sarcastic comment she made towards Majors prompted him to violently react to her and she suggested that the actor is contending with deeper issues pertaining to anger management. Majors alluded to the fact that something about Jabbari sparked that side of him before the audio cuts off.
So far, a comment from Jonathan Majors or Grace Jabbari has yet to surface, but on X, plenty of fans have reactions pointing to the actor’s slow climb in rehabbing his image and how this sets those efforts back several paces.
We’ve got the reactions below.
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MF DOOM, one of Hip-Hop’s most beloved wordsmiths, left behind a towering legacy of lyricism and influenced countless numbers of bar-heavy rappers in the game today. The estate of MF DOOM, long embroiled in a legal back and forth over a series of rhyme notebooks, won the items back and dropped a merchandise line that garnered mixed reactions from fans.
As spotted in HipHopDX, MF DOOM’s estate dropped an exclusive merchandise line that features an image of a page from one of the notebooks that DOOM’s widow, Jasmine Thompson, sought to gain back from former Stones Throw Records manager Eothen “Egon” Alapatt.
During his time at Stones Throw, Alapatt served as a manager for DOOM collaborator Madlib, and the pair released the acclaimed album, Madvillainy, in 2004. That project just saw a release of previously leaked demos that were referenced on the album.
The Note Books Collection is the latest drop from the DOOM estate and features clothing adorned with a photo of the Metal Face mask and images of the aforementioned notebooks on the front and on the back, handwritten lyrics from the song “Deep Fried Frenz” from the DOOM’s Mm..Food album released also in 2004.
As the outlet notes, an Instagram post highlighting the new collection drop was not received warmly as probably expected. That said, some respondents believed that the estate reaping the benefits of DOOM’s legacy financially is a win for the family despite detractors attempting to frame it as a money grab.
Please view the Instagram post in question below and invite readers to peruse the comments to see the reactions both positive and negative from fans.
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Moses “Shyne” Barrow, who found fame as a rapper as part of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ Bad Boy Records empire, moved to a life of politics in his native homeland of Belize. After an election against a fellow party member, Shyne lost his reelection bid to remain as a member of Belize’s House of Representatives.
Moses Barrow has served as a member of the Belize United Democratic Party (UDP) in the nation’s House of Representatives after winning the election in 2020 and held the Mesopotamia seat in Belize City. As reported by local outlet Channel 5 Belize, Barrow, 46, was unseated by fellow UDP member and businessman Lee Mark Chang.
Shyne conceded defeat in a statement and supported voters in their decision to go in another direction.
From Channel 5 Belize:
Upon his defeat, Barrow addressed the outcome, stating, “The people have spoken; congratulations to Lee Mark Chang—he’s now the new area representative of Mesopotamia, and I wish him well.” He added that the voter turnout was a clear reflection of the public’s sentiment. “I was confident; that was the interaction I was having with the people, but they made a decision to go in another direction, and I respect that,” he said.
Shyne added that he will no longer serve as the Leader of the Opposition and will not seek any political maneuvering to stay in some form of power.
“I certainly will resign effective once we have a national convention to elect a new leader. Obviously you can’t be a leader of the United Democratic Party once you’re not a member of the House, and I would not want to be appointed as a senator or anything to hold on to the leadership. The people have spoken here,” Barrow said after being questioned on his next moves.
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Jay Rock was arrested in Watts on Thursday (March 13), and initial reports added that he attempted to flee the scene after being stopped. While initially targeted for trespassing in his neighborhood, the Grammy Ward-winning rapper was then booked on a felony gun possession charge.
Jay Rock, who hails from Watts’ Nickerson Gardens public housing complex, was pulled over for trespassing, according to a report from local outlet KABC. When Jay Rock, real name Johnny Reed, inquired as to why he was being detained, reports state that he fled the scene, which is when police discovered the weapon. Other reports add that Reed, 39, was also pinged for drinking in public.
Based on what we could determine from online reports, Jay Rock is the longest-tenured act on Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE). He and label boss Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffifth are natives of Watts and were both born and raised in Nickerson Gardens. Rock’s last album, Redemption, was released in 2018. He is currently prepping his fourth studio album, Eastside Johnny, slated for release this year.
A court date connected to the arrest has not been announced.
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Soulja Boy was hit with a lawsuit back in 2021, with a woman alleging that the rapper sexually assaulted her and kept her against her will. Now, Soulja Boy is heading to civil trial in the matter and has long since denied the explosive claims against him.
As spotted in USA Today, Soulja Boy, real name DeAndre Cortez Way, will be facing civil trial in Santa Monica, Calif., after a former personal assistant accused the star of several heinous charges, and some of the details explained in the matter are disturbing, so we urge caution in further reading.
We tried to locate the news release mentioned in USA Today‘s report, but our search on the Los Angeles County Superior Court website did not turn up anything. Hip-Hop Wired has requested the full news release regarding the case and will update this report should that request be filled.
As mentioned above, the charges against Way, 34, were first filed in 2021 by a Jane Doe who says she started working for the rapper in 2018. The woman claimed that Way would send inappropriate images to her shortly after she was hired and that they began a romantic union that devolved into a violent one. The woman claimed that Soulja enacted “numerous instances of physical violence” along with “sexual assaults, spitting on her body, and threats of physical violence and death.”
Soulja Boy came out in 2021, denying the claims and promising to fight the charges with his legal team. In that same year, just months after the aforementioned matter he’s slated to go to trial over, another woman filed a lawsuit that levied more charges of assault and partner violence.
Thus far, it doesn’t appear that Soulja Boy has made any public comments regarding the civil trial, which should hear opening statements in the coming days.
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