Hip-Hop
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Ye (formerly Kanye West) is being sued by a former assistant who alleges the rapper drugged and sexually assaulted her during a studio session he co-hosted with Diddy.
Lauren Pisciotta, the ex-assistant who filed the new lawsuit, previously sued Ye in June, when she accused him of sexual harassment, breach of contract and wrongful termination; a legal rep for Ye denied the lawsuit’s allegations in June.
Amended court documents were filed in California on Oct. 8 and first obtained by TMZ, according to The Hollywood Reporter, who reached out to Ye’s rep for comment.
Pisciotta, who worked for Ye for a year, claims in the October filing that she and an unnamed artist management client were invited to one of Combs’ studio sessions.
She says “drinks were served to her and others in attendance, followed by an announcement that everybody had to drink, if they wanted to stay.”
“After a few small sips of the beverage, poured at the direction of Kanye West a.k.a. Ye by a studio assistant and then served to her by Kanye West, Plaintiff suddenly started to feel disoriented,” the suit alleges. Pisciotta claims she got roofied. Pisciotta says upon waking up she felt “immense shame and embarrassment” but could remember almost nothing about what happened.
She alleges Ye brought up that night to her years later, telling her they “did kind of hook up,” and that he provided details about what happened.
Pisciotta, an OnlyFans model, worked for Ye first as an executive assistant and later as chief of staff for his companies.
Sean “Diddy” Combs is named in the amended case filing as co-host of the studio event on the night of the alleged incident. However, Pisciotta has not made any accusations against him.
Diddy is currently being held in a Brooklyn jail, awaiting trial after his Sept. 16 arrest on sex trafficking and racketeering.
Eminem‘s daughter Hailie Jade Scott has revealed the gender of her first baby. During Friday’s (Oct. 11) episode of her Just a Little Shady podcast, the 28-year-old sat alongside her husband, Evan McClintock, to share the exciting news with fans. The couple used a gold-colored balloon filled with either pink or blue confetti to make […]
A federal appeals court judge has ruled to keep Sean “Diddy” Combs locked up while he makes a third bid for bail in his sex trafficking case, which is slated to go to trial in May.
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In a decision filed Friday (Oct. 11), Circuit Judge William J. Nardini denied the hip-hop mogul’s immediate release from jail while a three-judge panel weighs his bail request.
Combs’ lawyers appealed to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Sept. 30 after two judges rejected his release.
Combs, 54, has been held at a federal jail in Brooklyn since his Sept. 16 arrest on charges that he used his “power and prestige” as a music star to induce female victims into drugged-up, elaborately produced sexual performances with male sex workers in events dubbed “Freak Offs.”
Combs has pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges alleging he coerced and abused women for years with help from a network of associates and employees while silencing victims through blackmail and violence, including kidnapping, arson and physical beatings.
At a bail hearing three weeks ago, a judge rejected the defense’s $50 million bail proposal that would’ve allowed the “I’ll Be Missing You” singer to be placed under house arrest at his Florida mansion with GPS monitoring and strict limits on visitors.
Judge Andrew L. Carter Jr., who has since recused himself from the case, said that prosecutors had presented “clear and convincing evidence” that Combs is a danger to the community. He said “no condition or set of conditions” could guard against the risk of Combs obstructing the investigation or threatening or harming witnesses.
In their appeal, Combs’ lawyers argued that the judge had “endorsed the government’s exaggerated rhetoric” and ordered Combs detained for “purely speculative reasons.”
“Indeed, hardly a risk of flight, he is a 54-year-old father of seven, a U.S. citizen, an extraordinarily successful artist, businessman, and philanthropist, and one of the most recognizable people on earth,” the lawyers wrote.
Combs’ lawyers have not asked the new trial judge, Arun Subramanian, to consider releasing him on bail. At a hearing Thursday, as Combs sat alongside his lawyers in a beige jail jumpsuit, Subramanian suggested he would at least be open to taking up the issue.
After setting a May 5 trial date, Subramanian briefly questioned Combs’ lawyers about his treatment at the Metropolitan Detention Center, which has been plagued by violence and dysfunction for years.
Combs lawyer Mark Agnifilo, who had previously sought to have him moved to a jail in New Jersey, told the judge: “We’re making a go of the MDC. The MDC has been very responsive for us.”
Another Combs lawyer, Anthony Ricco, told reporters outside the courthouse afterward: “He’s doing fine. It’s a difficult circumstance. He’s making the best of the situation.”
But, Ricco said: “Nobody’s OK with staying in jail for now.”
Interscope Geffen A&M Records is preparing to launch a year-long initiative to provide support for HBCU institutions (Historically Black Colleges and Universities), which have played important roles in the careers of the company’s various artists and executives. For the initiative’s first phase, Interscope Records will partner with three universities — Howard University, Tennessee State University and Texas Southern University — to kick off its fall Homecoming SZN campaign.
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The campaign’s centerpiece is the new Interscope album, Homecoming SZN Compilation Vol. 1. The vinyl-only project is comprised of Interscope catalog songs that evoke the spirit of HBCU homecoming celebrations plus two new tracks from rising artists. Immersive student-led pop-ups on each university will give students the opportunity to listen to the album, now available for purchase. Students will also have a chance to win concert tickets.
The album cover features custom artwork created for each of the campuses. In addition, a custom collection of Interscope merchandise, specific to each school and provided by Champion sportswear, will become available later this month. The collection includes crewnecks and T-shirts. The original vinyl artwork for each school as well as the accompanying merchandise were designed by Black multidisciplinary artist Laci Jordan.
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For every item sold, Interscope will donate $3 to the corresponding university. Interscope/Universal Music Group will also develop HBCU-specific scholarships for prospective interns and mentors and additionally connect HBCU undergrads with HBCU alumni employees for fellowships. Moving forward, more Interscope Geffen A&M/HBCU activations will launch in spring 2025 and include partnerships with additional schools in the future.
In announcing the new initiative, Interscope Geffen A&M’s executive vp/head of urban marketing Laura Carter commented, “Historically Black Colleges and Universities have produced some of the most prominent figures in our country’s history. But HBCUs’ contributions to culture — especially music — have been especially profound. This is one of the many reasons why this compilation project is so important to the artists and executives at Interscope Geffen A&M Records. We want to deepen our ties with HBCUs nationwide and are excited to embark on this year-long journey.”
Charlie Coleman III, associate vp for development and alumni engagement, said, “We’re excited to showcase this partnership that reflects our commitment to student success and community engagement. The contributions from Interscope Records empower our students to pursue their dreams. Together, we’re cultivating an environment where creativity, entrepreneurship,and tradition flourish as we celebrate Texas Southern University’s 97 years of rich legacy.”
Here’s the Homecoming SZN Compilation Vol. 1 track list:
SIDE A:
“Not Like Us” — Kendrick Lamar
“TGIF” — GloRilla
“Surround Sound” — J.I.D.
“Turn My Swag On” — Soulja Boy
“No Type” — Rae Sremmurd
“Pretty Girls” — Wale
SIDE B:
“Mo Bamba” — Sheck Wes
“All the Way Turnt Up” — Roscoe Dash
“Win” – Jay Rock
“I Don’t Like” — Chief Keef
“Middle Child” — J. Cole
DaBaby’s mental health initiative, DaBaby Cares, partnered with Mental Health America of Central Carolinas (MHACC) on Thursday (Oct. 10) to host the first-ever youth town hall at West Charlotte High School. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The year-long partnership will provide a “safe space for young […]
T.I. says he’s retiring — at least from performing. The King of the South and Young Dro sat down with 96.1 The Beat’s afternoon show “Rari at 2” with hosts Ferrari Simmons and BT, and the station’s annual Jingle Ball holiday concert in Atlanta on Dec. 19 was brought up. T.I. is headlining alongside Sexyy […]
As Bad Boy Records founder Sean “Diddy” Combs sits in a Brooklyn prison awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges and prepares to fend off multiple civil lawsuits alleging sexual assault, those in the music industry are asking how much of his wealth could be at stake.
Sources tell Billboard that the hip-hop mogul has sold many of the assets that earned him hundreds of millions of dollars. And Forbes estimated that Combs’ net worth — once fueled by ventures in music, fashion, liquor and cable TV — has fallen from approximately $740 million in 2019 to $400 million as of this past June.
Federal prosecutors and attorneys for the alleged victims likely will go after the money Combs earned from his businesses and other assets, and his own legal defense potentially could cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars as well. That said, prosecutors will need to prove that the businesses were in some way connected to the alleged crimes, to which Combs has pled not guilty. Lawyers representing individuals suing Combs in civil court do not need to meet that barrier of proof. It is unclear when a jury trial will take place for the federal charges, and the many civil lawsuits he faces are at various stages of adjudication.
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Combs’ attorneys, representatives and federal prosecutors did not respond to requests for comment.
Here is a breakdown of Combs’ current financial picture viewed through his music, real estate and cable TV assets:
Bad Boy Records
While Combs began diversifying his investments long ago, his core music industry holdings have dissipated. He once owned his masters and publishing rights through Bad Boy Records. Currently, he may still own his publishing rights and albums recorded from 2010 onward, but he likely no longer owns the albums he recorded before 2009, which were the most successful of his career.
B.I.G. and Diddy
That’s because of a joint venture Combs entered with Warner Music Group for the entire Bad Boy catalog in 2005. The deal ended in 2009 with WMG retaining full ownership of the vast majority, if not all, of the catalog released by Bad Boy prior to that year. Those include the catalogs of The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans, Mase and another dozen or so platinum albums by Bad Boy artists.
In June, Billboard estimated that Diddy’s own catalog brings in $2.4 million annually in recorded masters revenue, as well as $600,000 in publishing revenue, of which his share is $222,000. We estimated his catalog would carry a valuation of $42 million.
Since determining that Combs no longer owns his best-selling albums, Billboard revised that estimate — based on a calculation that almost 60% of his catalog’s annual activity is owned by WMG — to $1.05 million. His music publishing earnings remain unchanged, which adds up to $1.25 million in take home pay.
Catalog
One asset Combs is unlikely to sell soon is his catalog because his the nature of the alleged abuses outlined in the various legal cases he is facing and the fact that recordings were not put out under a single, identifiable brand — he has released music as Puff Daddy, Puff Daddy & the Family, P. Diddy, Diddy and Diddy-Dirty Money — make it harder to market, institutional investors tell Billboard.
While private equity investors have no appetite for music issued under the Diddy names, financial sources say that music from other artists he has worked with still have value, and those artists could sell their income streams. However, some Bad Boy Records artists have asked the various majors if their albums might drop the Bad Boy logo, sources tell Billboard.
In 2023, Combs disclosed that he has been returning ownership of publishing to the artists who recorded on Bad Boy Records. In a Q&A with Billboard, he reported that Mase, Evans, The LOX, 112 and the estate of The Notorious B.I.G. are among the creatives who have already signed agreements to regain those rights.
REVOLT
Co-founded by Combs as a music cable channel in 2013, REVOLT was initially broadcast by Comcast and Time Warner Cable to a combined roughly 34 million subscribers. Over the past decade, it has built a reputation as a prominent black-owned media company and has been profitable since 2018. Last summer it was part of a group of investors bidding for a majority stake in Paramount Global’s BET Media Group. As a private company, it has never disclosed its financials. Combs stepped down from his role as chairman of REVOLT last November, and reports circulated in March that he sold his stake to an anonymous bidder. Sources tell Billboard Combs’ stake likely netted him a sum in the low to mid-eight figures.
Real Estate
It is documented in court documents filed in connection with the federal charges against Combs that Combs owns homes in Los Angeles and Miami. The latter, which is located on Miami’s exclusive Star Island has multiple pools, an on-site spa and a guesthouse was listed as part of his collateral for his $50 million bail bond. (Judge Robyn F. Tarnofsky denied his release, and Combs’ attorneys filed an appeal this week.) Combs’ home in Beverly Hills is currently for sae for $61.5 million.
When Hurricane Helene flooded the streets of Asheville, N.C., it forced the postponement of a Sept. 30 Gangstagrass show at The Orange Peel.
As a result, the band — a genre-busting hybrid of bluegrass and hip-hop — revised its itinerary and spent the previous night in Atlanta, creating a dinner menu of grilled salmon, beef, asparagus, mushrooms and sweet potatoes.
Despite the daunting weather and travel issues, the band was in a congenial mood. Just a week earlier, its new album, The Blackest Thing on the Menu, became its second project to reach No. 1 on Billboard’s Bluegrass Albums chart dated Sept. 28. The act’s previous No. 1, 2020’s No Time for Enemies, was the first atop the chart to feature two MCs. Neither No. 1 was originally on the career menu.
“It’s not like it was a goal from the start, or anything on the agenda,” founder Rench says. “Our aim is to make great music, put out our message and play awesome shows. Billboard charts aren’t really a part of that. It’s just kind of gravy on the mashed potatoes.”
The first Gangstagrass No. 1 occurred during the pandemic, and the members told themselves it was a fluky representation of their pent-up fan base’s support.
“Doing it again,” MC R-SON says now, “that’s extra special.”
So was the timing: It occurred as the International Bluegrass Music Association held its IBMA Awards and conference in Raleigh, N.C. Gangstagrass decidedly tests the boundaries of the genre. It fires up the traditional banjo and fiddle with unexpected beats and raps, fusing the sound of rural Kentucky with the music of urban New York.
On paper, the mixture probably shouldn’t work. But Gangstagrass is built on a belief that folks who ride tractors have more in common with people who ride the subway than might be expected. Bluegrass and hip-hop both represent working-class cultures, and both rely heavily on the music’s pulse, be it a rolling banjo or a syncopated drum machine.
“If you have poor folks anywhere, they’re telling their stories, and they’re building from that,” R-SON says. “It works better than people would ever have imagined, just because a lot of their existences are similar.”
Rench didn’t necessarily recognize that when he launched Gangstagrass as a studio experiment in 2006 from his home in Brooklyn. He made it available for free online, and the reaction quickly exceeded his expectations.
“It was getting downloaded so much, it was crashing the site, and so I could see that people really liked it,” Rench says. “I knew then that putting together a live band to actually do this, with instrumentalists, would take it in a much bigger direction.”
Adding to the plot, producers for the FX series Justified enlisted Gangstagrass for a theme song, “Long Hard Times To Come,” in 2010. The group’s diverse musical origins appealed to an eclectic audience, too, bringing together seemingly incompatible constituencies.
“We got little kids, middle schoolers, high schoolers, college kids, their parents, their parents’ parents, their parents’ parents’ parents,” MC Dolio the Sleuth says.
“We have New York hipsters, we have proud rednecks from Texas,” Rench adds. “It really is like kind of a little bit of everything.”
The fan base also includes some of the band’s professional peers. Dobro icon Jerry Douglas, who joined the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame on Sept. 26, appears on “The Only Way Out Is Through,” the lead track on The Blackest Thing on the Menu. Dan Tyminski, the lead singer on The Soggy Bottom Boys’ “Man of Constant Sorrow,” joined Gangstagrass to perform that song at the end of the IBMA’s 2022 convention.
“The best players and these bluegrass legends, they really get it,” Rench says. “The bluegrass purists that are skeptical [of] us really don’t have much to stand on when they see all their favorite bluegrass players backing us up.”
Gangstagrass likely reflects larger cultural trends. Beyoncè’s Cowboy Carter debuted at No. 1 on Top Country Albums earlier this year. And Vice President Kamala Harris is the first female candidate of color to run for president on a major-party ticket. Polls and analysts suggest she has a good chance of winning. The Gangstagrass audience portends a possible future where people of disparate backgrounds can increasingly find commonality.
“We can see how crucial it will be for people to not be afraid of each other,” Rench says. “There’s a difference between being different and being divided, and if we can get them to not be divided and to be comfortable with each other and understand that they’re part of the same citizenship of the earth and of the country, that’s a huge step forward.”
That’s an ambitious goal, but one that’s delivered with a good helping of joy. The new album features a song, “Mother,” that explores economic disparities and a foreboding environmental outlook, but it’s followed by “Obligatory Braggadocio,” a comical self-celebration — “I got big wheels on my big truck” — over a rowdy Southern rock musical bed.
Even the album’s title is the result of an inside joke that stems from fiddler B.E. Farrow asking a waiter, “What’s the blackest thing on the menu?” When Rench suggested the title months later, the band broke into laughter, then grew quiet. The Blackest Thing on the Menu made a statement about the band.
“I kid you not,” Dolio says. “Two rainbows shot out from the sky, a double rainbow — double rainbow — right in front of us over New York City.”
It was a development as unlikely — and as hopeful — as the band itself.
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Hidden up a wooded hill in the sprawling backyard of his suburban Los Angeles estate, Dijon “Mustard” McFarlane is on the tennis court, perfecting his forehand. “I’m an extremist,” the 34-year-old producer explains as he warms up his top spin. “I play every day, sometimes two times a day.” The L.A.-born musician, who shot to […]
Janice Combs, mother to Sean “Diddy” Combs, has released a statement on behalf of the Combs family amid ongoing sex crime allegations against the music mogul.
Combs was indicted by federal prosecutors in mid-September on racketeering and sex trafficking charges and denied bail.
In a statement released Sunday (Oct. 6) through attorney Natlie G. Figgers, obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, Combs’ mother said Diddy is not guilty of the allegations against him: “My son is not the monster they have painted him to be, and he deserves the chance to tell his side.”
“It is heartbreaking to see my son judged not for the truth, but for a narrative created out of lies,” reads her statement, which comes five days after it was reported Diddy will face lawsuits from 120 additional accusers for alleged incidents dating as far back as 1991. “To bear witness [to] what seems to be like a public lynching of my son before he has had the opportunity to prove his innocence is a pain too unbearable to put into words. Like every human being, my son deserves to have his day in court, to finally share his side, and to prove his innocence.”
Indictment documents unsealed on Sept. 17 said, “For decades, Sean Combs … abused, threatened and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation and conceal his conduct. To do so, Combs relied on the employees, resources and the influence of his multi-faceted business empire that he led and controlled.”
Combs was denied bail. If convicted of the charges, he faces a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum of life behind bars.
On Sunday, his mother said, “I am not here to portray my son as perfect because he is not. He has made mistakes in his past, as we all have.”
She referenced the lawsuit Combs settled last year from singer and ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, who accused him of rape and abuse. Combs had denied her allegations, but when video surfaced of him physically assaulting her in a hotel, issued an apology.
“My son may not have been entirely truthful about certain things, such as denying he has ever gotten violent with an ex-girlfriend when the hotel’s surveillance showed otherwise,” Janice Combs said in her statement. “Sometimes, the truth and a lie become so closely intertwined that it becomes terrifying to admit one part of the story, especially when that truth is outside the norm or is too complicated to be believed. This is why I believe my son’s civil legal team opted to settle the ex-girlfriend’s lawsuit instead of contesting it until the end, resulting in a ricochet effect as the federal government used this decision against my son by interpreting it as an admission of guilt.”
She said this does not make him guilty of the multiple “repulsive allegations and the grave charges leveled against him.”
“Many individuals who were wrongfully convicted and later exonerated had their freedom taken from them not because they were guilty of the crimes they were accused of, but because they didn’t fit the image of what this society considers to be a ‘good person.’ History has showed us how individuals can be wrongfully convicted due to their past actions or mistakes,” she said.
“It is truly agonizing to watch the world turn against my son so quickly and easily over lies and misconceptions, without ever hearing his side or affording him the opportunity to present his side,” she added.
“These lies thrown at him are motivated by those seeking a financial gain, and not justice,” reads the statement. “These individuals saw how quickly my son’s civil legal team settled his ex-girlfriend’s lawsuit, so they believe they can receive a quick payday by falsely accusing my son. False allegations of sexual assault thwart true victims of sexual violence from getting the justice they deserve. To make matters worse, the federal government is now using these lies to prosecute my son. This injustice has been unbearable for our family. The worst part of this ordeal is watching my beloved son be stripped of his dignity, not for what he did, but for what people choose to believe about him.”