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At the end of 2021, Young Thug was one of hip-hop’s biggest rising stars: a critically-adored rapper with three chart-topping hits, three-chart topping albums, a Grammy award for song of the year and his own record label (YSL, short for Young Stoner Life) under Warner Music’s 300 Entertainment.
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Two years later, Thug (real name Jeffery Williams) is set to face a grueling trial starting Monday (Nov. 27) over allegations he ran a violent Atlanta street gang that committed murders, carjackings and many other crimes over the course of a decade — charges that, if proven, could send him to prison for decades.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, whose office is prosecuting the case, has said that YSL wrought “havoc” on the Atlanta area for nearly a decade: “It does not matter what your notoriety is, what your fame is,” Willis said hours after the superstar rapper was first arrested. Thug’s lawyer, Brian Steel, says he is innocent: “Mr. Williams committed no crime whatsoever.”
The YSL case pits prosecutors in America’s rap capital against one of the country’s biggest hip-hop artists, making it one of the music industry’s most closely-watched criminal cases in years. To get you up to speed before the trial, Billboard is explaining the YSL case: How did we get here? What exactly is this case about? And what comes next? Here’s everything you need to know.
What’s Young Thug accused of doing?
In May 2022, Willis unveiled a 56-count indictment against Thug and 27 other alleged members of YSL — an entity that she says is not really a record label called “Young Stoner Life,” but actually a violent Atlanta gang called “Young Slime Life” that’s affiliated with the national Bloods gang.
The case claims that since 2012, YSL members have committed a wide range of criminal wrongdoing centered on the Cleveland Avenue area of Atlanta, including murder, assault, robbery, theft, illegal gun possession, illegal drug possession and sales, and more. And prosecutors say that Thug was the clear leader of the organization — they’ve called him “King Slime — who “made YSL a well-known name” by “referring to it in his songs.”
In addition to Thug, the charges also targeted his star protégé Sergio “Gunna” Kitchens, as well as Deamonte “Yak Gotti” Kendrick, Arnold “Lil Duke” Martinez, Thug’s brother Quantavious “Unfoonk” Grier and many others.
The case is built on Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, a law based on the more famous federal RICO statute that’s been used to target the mafia, drug cartels and other forms of organized crime. Such racketeering laws make it easier for prosecutors to sweep up members of an alleged criminal enterprise based on many individual actions.
Some of the most serious accusations in the indictment center on the 2015 killing of Donovan “Big Nut” Thomas Jr., who prosecutors say ran a rival gang in Atlanta. Five YSL members are directly charged with the murder, while Thug himself is accused of renting the car that was used to commit the killing.
Prosecutors also say other members looked to Thug for leadership on serious crimes. In one allegation, the indictment claims that two other YSL members discussed “how to obtain permission” from the rapper before attempting to murder rival rapper YFN Lucci (Rayshawn Bennett) while he was in jail.
After an updated, 65-count indictment was filed August 2022, the star himself is now facing eight counts, including one count of participating in the RICO conspiracy; one count of participating in a criminal street gang; three counts of violating the Georgia Controlled Substances Act; one count of possession of a firearm while committing a felony; and one count of possession of a machine gun.
Go read the full indictment here.
What happened to Gunna?
In the 18 months since the YSL indictment was first handed down, many of the original 28 defendants have either accepted plea deals or been separated from the case for procedural reasons, leaving only six defendants to face trial this week. Just weeks ago, for instance, Derontae “Bee” Bebee pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years in prison.
The biggest plea came from Gunna, a critically-acclaimed YSL artist who has frequently been described as Young Thug’s protégé. Last December, he took a so-called Alford plea — a legal maneuver that allows a defendant to enter a formal admission of guilt while still maintaining their innocence. The deal made sense: Gunna had been charged in only one count of the indictment and faced far less serious accusations, mostly centered on his participation in music and social media that promoted YSL.
At the time, Gunna stressed that he had not agreed to work with prosecutors to convict Young Thug or any of the other defendants, and had “absolutely NO intention of being involved in the trial process in any way.” But at the court hearing where he entered the plea deal, Gunna publicly acknowledged that YSL was both “a music label and a gang,” and that he had “personal knowledge that members or associates of YSL have committed crimes and in furtherance of the gang.”
That has led to some backlash for the rapper, but true to his word, Gunna is not expected to testify at the upcoming trial. Citing an anonymous source, Rolling Stone reported in December that an understanding had been reached that “the state is not going to call him as a witness.” And if he were called, he would still be entitled to exercise his Fifth Amendment right to avoid answering questions.
Why are rap lyrics being cited in court?
The YSL case is one of the most prominent examples of prosecutors using lyrics as evidence against the artists who wrote them — a controversial practice that has drawn backlash from civil liberties activists, defense attorneys and, increasingly, the music industry.
Critics say the use of lyrics as evidence unfairly treats rap as a literal confession rather than a work of creative expression, potentially violating the First Amendment. Even worse, they say rap can have a prejudicial effect on jurors, tapping into existing biases toward young Black men and helping prosecutors win convictions where more concrete evidence is lacking.
California recently enacted first-of-its-kind legislation restricting the practice, and Democrats in Congress have proposed a bill that would do the same in federal cases — an effort supported by major music industry groups. But in the absence of such laws, courts around the country have mostly upheld the right of prosecutors to cite rap lyrics, particularly in gang-related cases.
For her part, the Fulton County District Attorney has offered no apologies: “If you decide to admit your crimes over a beat, I’m gonna use it,” Willis said last year. “I have some legal advice: don’t confess to crimes on rap lyrics if you do not want them used, or at least get out of my county.”
At a climactic pre-trial hearing earlier this month, Thug’s lawyer blasted prosecutors for attempting to use creative expression to convict his client. “They are targeting the right to free speech, and that’s wrong,” he said. “They are saying that just because he his singing about it, he is now part of a crime.”
Prosecutors argued back that lyrics were “proclamations of violence” by alleged gang members, making them “highly relevant” to proving that YSL was an illegal criminal enterprise. “The issue here is not rap,” one Fulton County attorney argued. “This is not randomly the state attempting to bring in Run DMC from the ’80s. This is specific. These are party admissions. They just happen come in the form of lyrics.”
In the end, Judge Ural Glanville sided with prosecutors and allowed the lyrics to be used in the case, repeatedly telling Thug’s lawyer that “the First Amendment is not on trial” in the case. “They’re not prosecuting your clients because of the songs they wrote,” Glanville said. “They’re using the songs to prove other things your clients may have been involved in. I don’t think it’s an attack on free speech.”
Go read the full list of lyrics that could be cited in the case here.
What took so long to get to trial?
The case against YSL is almost unfathomably complex — so much so that it has repeatedly strained the local legal system nearly to its breaking point.
With 28 men originally indicted, finding lawyers for all of them — a constitutional requirement — proved difficult. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, prosecutors secured millions in extra funding to bring huge gang cases, but Georgia’s public defense system did not receive equal funding to keep up. That forced the state to contract with numerous private defense attorneys to help cover the YSL case, but even that arrangement nearly fell apart this past spring over inadequate pay.
Jury selection was even harder. With the trial expected to last as long as a year, it proved nearly impossible to find a dozen people who could drop their financial commitments and halt their lives for that long. The selection process started in January with hopes that the trial could kick off in the spring, but it eventually took more than 10 months — by most accounts, the longest ever jury selection in Georgia state history.
Throughout all of that, Young Thug and the other defendants have been sitting in jail. Though Thug’s attorneys argued that he should be placed under house arrest, Judge Glanville repeatedly refused to grant him bond, swayed by arguments from prosecutors that doing so would increase the risk of witness intimidation.
How is Donald Trump involved?
If the words “Fani Willis” and “RICO” sound familiar, they should: She’s using the very same statute to bring an even-higher-profile case against Trump and others over alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia.
Back in August, a Fulton County grand jury in August indicted Trump and 18 others over accusations that they participated in a criminal scheme to try to keep the Republican in the White House after he lost the presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden. Several co-defendants in that case have recently pled guilty to lesser charges, including former Trump lawyers Sidney Powell and Jenna Ellis.
Willis recently proposed an August 2024 trial for the case — a timeline that could mean that both the YSL trial and the Trump trial would be happening simultaneously. Like the YSL case, the DA’s office expects the election trial to last many months.
Trump’s lead attorney, Steve Sadow, represented Gunna in the YSL case and negotiated his plea deal to end his involvement.
What do prosecutors need to prove?
As with all criminal cases, the burden is on prosecutors to prove “beyond a reasonable doubt” that Thug and others did what they’re accused of — meaning jurors must be virtually certain that they’re guilty before they vote to convict.
To prove the core RICO charges, the DA’s office will need to show a “pattern of racketeering activity” by the YSL members — meaning they conspired to run an illegal enterprise, or a “racket.”
Prosecutors will try to do so by detailing more than 150 “acts” that were allegedly carried out “in furtherance of the conspiracy.” Some of those will be what are called “predicates” — meaning actions that would crimes on their own, like the like Donovan murder. But others will merely be “overt acts,” meaning any concrete step that YSL members took to help the illegal enterprise, even if it isn’t a crime on its own. That’s where social media posts and song lyrics come into the case.
Importantly, prosecutors don’t need to show that every defendant knew about every element of YSL’s operations. They only need to prove that each YSL member knew about the conspiracy and agreed to be part of it, and took at least two actions to further it.
RICO is best known for the federal law that was created in the 1970s to target mob bosses who didn’t directly commit crimes themselves. But many states have passed their own versions, and Georgia’s, passed in 1981, is notably broader than the federal version. It has a longer list of crimes that can serve as “predicates,” and it covers shorter-term criminal conspiracies than the federal law.
Willis is very familiar with Georgia’s RICO statute. In addition to using it against YSL and former President Trump, she also recently brought a RICO case against a gang that allegedly robbed the Atlanta homes of celebrities like Mariah Carey.
And back in 2014, when she was an assistant DA, Willis served as lead prosecutor in a RICO case against a group of Atlanta educators over their role in widespread cheating on standardized tests. Following an eight month trial — the longest in Georgia history — Willis secured convictions against 11 of 12 of the teachers.
“The reason that I am a fan of RICO is, I think jurors are very, very intelligent,” Willis told reporters last year. “RICO is a tool that allows a prosecutor’s office and law enforcement to tell the whole story.”
How is the trial going to play out?
Starting first thing on Monday, the six remaining defendants — Thug, Marquavius Huey, Deamonte “Yak Gotti” Kendrick, Quamarvious Nichols, Rodalius Ryan and Shannon Stillwell — will go to trial.
The jury, composed of seven Black women, two white women, two Black men and one white man, will hear opening arguments from both sides, and then the DA’s office will begin calling witnesses. According to a report by Atlanta’s 11Alive, prosecutors said in court earlier this month that their list of potential witnesses includes a stunning 737 names, featuring 258 lay witnesses — regular people who can testify to what they saw — and 479 expert witnesses, who will explain complex issues to jurors.
Eventually, the defendants will get a chance to call their own witnesses. In a recent legal filing, Thug listed among his potential witnesses rappers T.I. (real name Clifford Harris) and Killer Mike (Michael Render), as well as music business executive Lyor Cohen, who co-founded 300 Entertainment. Thug’s attorneys will also call their own expert witnesses to counter the testimony from the government.
If convicted on the RICO charge, the defendants face prison sentences lasting anywhere from five to 20 years. But Thug and others also face separate charges over other specific crimes that, if proven, could add additional prison time to any eventual sentence.
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Rod Wave made a recent stop on his tour in Washington, D.C. and a tweet claiming that hundreds of vehicles were broken into went viral. It has since come out that there were way fewer than the reported break-ins that occurred during that night according to local police reports.
Rod Wave is currently on his 35-city Nostalgia tour and made a stop in Washington to perform at the Capital One Arena in the city’s Chinatown section this past Sunday (November 12. An X user by the name of @clothes_mindedx made an explosive claim that 232 cars were broken into in the area where the concert was being held and went viral in the process.
“[T]hey broke into 232 cars at the Rod Wave concert in DC last night… that’s nasty,” read the reply. Larger accounts like @SaycheeseDGTL picked up the tweet and shared it with their audiences, prompting a flurry of responses despite no official record coming from authorities in the region.
As seen on NewsOne, independent journalist Alan Henny took to X and shared his findings of the reported break-ins.
From Henny’s account:
Police officers are taking numerous reports of THEFTS FROM AUTOS in #DowntownDC in the past few hours.
This includes: 900 blk H St NW, 800 I St NW, 600 F St NW, 600 E St NW, 600 Mass Ave NW, 600 H St NW.
Guns were stolen from two autos.
NewsOne adds in its reporting that officials from the Metropolitan Police Department say that around 10 vehicles were broken into and no arrests have been made.
Washington has seen an uptick in break-ins and theft, along with a rise in armed and unarmed carjackings often attributed to area youth. The city is also on pace to set a record for homicides, prompting Mayor Muriel Bowser to enact emergency operations to address the crime across the city.
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OK, this is yuge!
A second co-defendant in Donald Trump’s RICO indictment for allegedly interfering with the 2020 election in Georgia has pleaded guilty. But not just any defendant. Former Trump attorney Sidney Powell was one of the most visible, publicity-loving members of the ex-president’s legal team. She was basically ex-NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani‘s sidekick as they tied up courts at every level with frivolous cases and easily dismissed alleging the fiction that Trump lost his bid for a second term because of illegal voting, made-up ballots and rigged voting machines.
She was also charged with six misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to commit intentional interference with performance of election duties, which, on Thursday, she pleaded guilty to.
From USA Today:
Powell agreed to testify in future trials in exchange for serving six years of probation, a $6,000 fine and paying restitution of $2,700.
Powell is one of 19 co-defendants charged in the case, which alleged a broad racketeering conspiracy. Other portions of the conspiracy included the recruitment of fake presidential electors to vote for Trump despite President Joe Biden winning Georgia, lying about election results to state officials and in court records, and soliciting public officials to violate their oaths of office.
Legal experts said Powell’s agreement to testify against others in the case is “very significant” because she dealt at length with Trump, lawyer Rudy Giuliani and others charged in the conspiracy.
“I think it’s very significant because she is one of the people who was closest to Trump in many of these alleged nefarious activities, and as part of the agreement, she must testify truthfully against Trump as well as the other defendants,’ said John Banzhaf, a George Washington University law professor who has been following the case closely. “So it is a major victory for Fani Willis and certainly a major concern for Trump.”
Powell was initially charged with conspiring with bail bondsman Scott Hall, who has also pleaded guilty to the RICO charges against him and others to access election equipment provided by Dominion Voting Systems without authorization. They even hired computer forensics firm SullivanStrickler to send a team to copy software and data from voting machines and computers they were told they couldn’t legally access. Another way of putting that is that they used fraudulent means to prove Dominion’s voting machines were fraudulent, which, of course, they were not.
It’s worth pointing out that conspiring to undermine democracy in order to keep Trump in office after he was legally voted out should not be a misdemeanor and certainly should result in more than less than a year of probation and less than $10,000 in fines. On top of that, Powell won’t even have to call herself a convict officially.
More from USA Today:
Powell’s agreement fell under Georgia’s First Offender Act, which will allow her to “honestly say” she was never convicted of the charges if she successfully completes her probation and is discharged, according to prosecutor Daysha Young. If Powell violates the terms of her first-offender sentence or commits another offense while on probation, her first-offender status could be revoked and she could be resentenced to the maximum, Young said.
Still, legal experts feel that Powell’s plea is a big step toward the prosecutors proving their case against Trump and the other 17 co-defendants considering she was such a major player in his circus-like MAGA games.
“Miss Powell is at the vortex, the center, the hub of the alleged conspiracy,” said Gene Rossi, a former federal prosecutor and Justice Department official who has decades of experience with RICO cases. “She will be a phenomenal witness for the government because she was at strategic meetings, part of important conversations and she was a leader in implementing the scheme to discredit the lawful election of Joe Biden.”
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Tekashi 6ix9ine was arrested in the Dominican Republic Sunday after the rapper, who suffered a beatdown at an LA Fitness in Florida earlier this year, allegedly dished out a beatdown of his own on music producers who were apparently in the company of his girlfriend.
According to TMZ, 6ix9ine, born Daniel Hernandez, was taken into custody Sunday night at the Hotel Balcones del Atlántico in Sánchez in the province of Samaná by La Vega prosecutor Aura Luv Garcia, who is leading the investigation into the case. Video footage circling around social media shows the chaotic scene that erupted when the “GOOBA” rapper arrived at the DR jail.
From TMZ:
Tekashi’s reportedly been accused of beating up music producers in the country with a handful of other men … after allegedly getting into it over his new girlfriend, Yailin.
Reports say Yailin was in the studio when 6ix9ine showed up with his crew — and the rapper was allegedly jealous of the producers spending time with his girl.Tekashi reportedly tried flying out of the country after the incident, but the charter company followed protocol and checked with immigration for any outstanding warrants — resulting in the rapper bailing on the plane idea.
This is 6ix9ine’s second arrest in the last few months as he was also arrested in Florida in August for skipping a court date.
It’s worth pointing out that someone who can’t stop getting into legal trouble and is known for snitching in order to get himself out of legal trouble should probably be steered clear from if one happens to be a friend of his who dabbles in illegal activity. Just saying.
The 2019 murder of rapper Nipsey Hussle is the subject of a just-launched limited true series entitled Behind the Crime. The show, which premiered this week on Fox’s Tubi network on Wednesday, is a collaboration with Dan Abrams’ Law&Crime network and it follows the killing of Hussle, as well as the murder trial of Eric […]
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For the fourth time, rapper Young Thug has been denied bond in the case in which he is charged with eight counts of conspiring to violate Georgia’s state Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, participating in criminal street gang activity, violating the state’s controlled substances act, possession of a firearm while committing a felony, and possession of a machine gun.
According to Digital Music News, on Friday, Judge Ural Glanville denied bond for Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Williams. Glanville said in his ruling that he believes Williams would pose a threat to the community if he’s released based on his alleged history of witness intimidation.
Williams’ attorney, Brian Steel, filed his fourth motion for bond in April. At the time, he told ABC News that his client “is not a risk to commit a crime, and he’s not a risk to flee the jurisdiction, and that’s what bond is about.” He argued much of the same during the Friday hearing in Atlanta, but also added that Williams was dealing with health issues due to his stay in lockup.
From DMN:
In the recent motion, Steel claimed that his client gets limited exercise or exposure to sunlight, has been unable to eat nutritious food, and has been sleep deprived due to being required to wake up at 3:00 or 4:00 AM on the days he is to appear in court and is “fighting to pay attention to the goings on in his case.” Steel told reporters that these conditions have hindered his client’s ability to prepare for his trial.
But apparently, the judge wasn’t buying it, or at least Glanville believed the threat Young Thug poses to the public outweighs the threat life behind bars poses to his digestive system. Either way, it looks like the “Go Crazy” rapper is stuck in jail until his trial date.
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It’s safe to say that we all experienced some hard times during the lockdown of the coronavirus pandemic. Hundreds of thousands of people died, businesses were shuttered some never reopened again, and crime, homelessness, and addiction skyrocketed. But not many of us resorted to selling hard drugs to get by.
Yet, rapper Fetty Wap’s attorney has cited the pandemic as one of the alleged origins of the rapper’s “bicoastal drug distribution organization” that led to his October 2021 arrest on federal drug conspiracy charges.
Fetty’s lawyer, Elizabeth Macedonio filed a memorandum in federal court arguing for the New Jersey native rapper born Willie Junior Maxwell II to receive the mandatory minimum of five years for conspiracy to distribute and possess controlled substances versus the 87 to 108 months that the prosecutor is pushing for.
According to XXL, Macedonio’s letter to the sentencing judge reads, in part, “In or about 2020, with the coming of the worldwide pandemic, things began to change for Mr. Maxwell. There were no opportunities to perform, thus his income was severely limited,” Fetty Wap’s attorney writes. “He was sued personally, was going through a divorce, and was involved with a tour manager who was stealing from him. While the bills kept coming in, the money to pay them was running out. At or about the same time, Mr. Maxwell lost his grandparents and several other people who were close to him.”
The letter continues: “Depression and panic began to set in. As stated, Mr. Maxwell took enormous pride in his ability to provide for his children and lend support to his other family members. He is described as a people pleaser and a person who gains great satisfaction from taking care of others. Suddenly it felt like life was going in reverse and he became ashamed when he began to struggle to keep up the lifestyle that he created for so many. His judgment became impaired. Desperate to keep up with his financial obligations, Mr. Maxwell became involved in the instant offense for a few months in the spring of 2020.”
Fetty Wap was arrested by the FBI on federal drug charges in October of 2021. The feds nabbed the rapper right before he took the stage at Rolling Loud. He and five other people are accused of helping distribute over 100 kilos of heroin, fentanyl, cocaine and crack cocaine in New York and New Jersey
He was released on bond but arrested again in the fall of 2022 for allegedly threatening to kill a man on a FaceTime call.
Fetty Wap is scheduled to be sentenced next week.
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A Black man who was alleged to have berated riders on a New York City subway train was killed due to a chokehold by a white passenger.
As NewsOne reports, Jordan Neely was on a northbound F train on Monday afternoon (May 1st). A witness claimed that Neely was yelling at other passengers on the train. “He started screaming in an aggressive manner,” said witness Juan Alberto Vazquez. “He said he had no food, he had no drink, that he was tired and doesn’t care if he goes to jail. He started screaming all these things, took off his jacket, a black jacket that he had, and threw it on the ground.” At that point, an unidentified white straphanger comes up behind Neely and places him in a chokehold, taking him down to the ground.
After a reported duration of 15 minutes, Neely stopped moving & lost consciousness. Video footage apparently shows someone expressing concern for Neely’s well-being off-camera. The 24-year-old and another man who joined in to hold Neely down let go of him, leaving him lying on his side.
Neely was rushed to Lenox Hill Hospital by police where he would pass away. New York Police Department representatives have revealed that the 24-year-old is a former enlisted Marine, but have not revealed his name. He was arrested at the scene but released ultimately without being criminally charged. They also stated to members of the press that Neely was a recidivist with 44 prior arrests for assault & fare evasion.
The incident has angered many who got wind of the news on social media, noting how the 24-year-old vigilante wouldn’t have gotten to go free if he was Black and the victim was white. Some pointed out the free use of the term “vagrant” by publications to describe Neely. Others, like journalist Soledad O’Brien, noted how outlets like the New York Times used passive language. “Okaaaay young journos: let’s talk about the passive voice from @nytimes this fine morning. The guy “died”? Or was killed?” she wrote.
Police claim that an investigation into the exact circumstances of Neely’s death is ongoing, expressing that they are waiting on the autopsy results. Subway crime has been a heated topic of discussion, with NYPD officials boasting that it has dropped about 6% since the beginning of the year.
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The LAPD is reportedly investigating the theft of a car from outside the home of singer and billionaire entrepreneur, Rihanna.
According to TMZ, a 2012 Audi sedan was stolen from outside of the Los Angeles-area home late last week when the driver allegedly ran inside for something leaving the car running and the keys inside. The report notes that the driver believes that someone jumped in and drove off with it.
The incident marks the second time that LAPD has been out to the five-bedroom, seven-bathroom estate in Beverly Hills this month.
The gossip site previously reported that a man showed up at the Bajan singer’s home earlier this month with plans to propose to her. According to TMZ, because the man had broken no laws, he was released and asked not to return.
In 2018, a man was arrested after spending at least a day inside the residence while Rihanna was away. The man later claimed he was there to have sex with the singer.
It is unclear if she was home during the last two incidents.
The Fenty Beauty leader is currently expecting her second child with rapper A$AP Rocky the couple has a son who will turn 1 in May.
According to The New York Post, Rihanna’s massive Beverly Hills home features amenities like a bonus room, breakfast room, cabana, a center hall, gym, media room, and a walk-in closet. Other features include a den/office space and a separate guest house. The house is close to that of Beatles legend, Paul McCartney.
The singer performed at both this year’s Super Bowl and the 95th Academy Awards where she performed “Lift Me Up,” from the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack. The song was nominated for Original Song and serves as Rihanna’s first Oscar nomination. Ultimately, “Lift Me Up,” lost to “Naatu Naatu” from the hit Telugu-language film RRR, which made history by becoming the first Indian film song to win an Oscar, according to BBC.
It’s been over seven years since Rihanna dropped a full-length studio album. However, she told British Vogue earlier this year that the wait may soon be over. “I want it to be this year,” she told the magazine. “Like, honestly, it’d be ridiculous if it’s not this year. But I just want to have fun. I just want to make music and make videos.”
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Michigan State Police took to social media this week to address rumors surrounding the deaths of three Michigan rappers who went missing in January and were later found dead in an abandoned apartment building.
Montoya Givens, 31, Armani Kelly, 28, and Dante Wicker, 31, were reported missing in late January after traveling to Detroit from the western part of the state for a performance at 31 Lounge on the city’s east side. Their families reported them missing after not hearing from them after the show was canceled. Their bodies were later found approximately six miles away in Highland Park, Michigan in what police described as a “rat infested” abandoned apartment building.
“We know there are a lot of media/social media rumors about this investigation. While we have to keep some things private we know a couple of things: There is no one in custody for this homicide. This homicide was not random and had nothing to due with music or a performance,” read one of the tweets from the Michigan State Police public information for Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties account.
The tweet continued, “This was a gang violence related incident. There are other people that know the details and we need them to come forward. Please call 800.Speak.Up if you have information on this case. Together we can bring closure to these families.”
One social media user inquired about a possible reward, to which the account replied, “That depends on crime stoppers and how the information provided helped in making an arrest.”
The story of the rapper’s disappearance and subsequent deaths became a national news story when they were reported missing Jan. 21. It was nearly two months later when their bodies were found with state police saying they each died of gunshot wounds, according to CNN.
The update is the latest provided by Michigan State Police. On Feb. 7, the same Twitter account wrote, “The investigation also has revealed that this was not a random incident. The investigation is continuing and detectives are making progress and we believe we may have determined a motive.”
Per PEOPLE, Taylor Perrin, Kelly’s fiancé told a local Detroit news station, “I just beg for help, for anything. I need answers and, if it comes to it, I need closure, because I will never forget and I will never stop,” she said. Perrin explained that Kelly who rapped under the rap name, “Marley Whoop,” was working, going to school and developing his rap career while bouncing back from a robbery arrest.