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Decades after Nelly released his chart-topping breakout Country Grammar, he’s facing a new lawsuit over the album from his St. Lunatics groupmates – who claim that the star cut them out of the credits and the royalty payments.
In a complaint filed Wednesday in Manhattan federal court, attorneys for the St. Lunatics allege that Nelly (Cornell Haynes) repeatedly “manipulated” them into falsely thinking they’d be paid for their work on the 2000 album, which spent five weeks atop the Billboard 200.

“Every time plaintiffs confronted defendant Haynes [he] would assure them as ‘friends’ he would never prevent them from receiving the financial success they were entitled to,” the lawsuit reads. “Unfortunately, plaintiffs, reasonably believing that their friend and former band member would never steal credit for writing the original compositions, did not initially pursue any legal remedies.”

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The case was filed by St. Lunatics members Ali (Ali Jones), Murphy Lee (Tohri Harper), Kyjuan (Robert Kyjuan) and City Spud (Lavell Webb). Slo Down (Corey Edwards), another former member of the group, is not named as a plaintiff.

A spokesperson for Nelly did not immediately return a request for comment.

A group of high school friends from St. Louis, the St. Lunatics rose to prominence in the late 1990s with “Gimme What U Got”, and their debut album Free City – released a year after Country Grammar – was a hit of its own, reaching No. 3 on the Billboard 200.

The various members of the group are repeatedly listed as co-writers in the public credits for numerous songs on Country Grammar, most notably with City Spud credited as a co-writer and co-performer on the single “Ride Wit Me,” which spent 29 weeks on the Hot 100.

In the new lawsuit, the group members say they were involved with more songs than they were credited for, including “Steal the Show,” “Thicky Thick Girl,” “Batter Up,” and “Wrap Sumden.” The most notable is the title track “Country Grammar,” which reached No. 7 on the singles chart; in public databases, the song only credits Nelly and producer Jason Epperson.

The groupmates say that during and after the Country Grammar recording session, Nelly “privately and publicly acknowledged that plaintiffs were the lyric writers” and “promised to ensure that plaintiffs received writing and publishing credit.” But decades later, in 2020, the St. Lunatics members say they “discovered that defendant Haynes had been lying to them the entire time.”

“Despite repeatedly promising plaintiffs that they would receive full recognition and credit… it eventually became clear that defendant Haynes had no intention of providing the plaintiffs with any such credit or recognition,” the group’s attorneys write.

When the group members realized Nelly had “failed to provide proper credit and publishing income,” they say they hired an attorney who reached out to Universal Music Publishing Group. The letter was relayed to Nelly’s attorneys, who they say “expressly repudiated” their claims to credit in 2021.

“Plaintiffs had no alternative but to commence legal proceedings against Defendants,” the lawsuit reads.

The case could face an important procedural hurdle. Although copyright infringement lawsuits can be filed decades after an infringing song is released, disputes over copyright ownership face a stricter three-year statute of limitations.

The current lawsuit is styled as an infringement case, with the St. Lunatics alleging that Nelly has unfairly used their songs without permission. But the first argument from Nelly’s attorneys will likely be that the case is really a dispute over ownership – and thus was filed years too late.

An attorney for the plaintiffs did not immediately return a request for comment.

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Source: Ryan Bakerink / Getty
St. Louis rapper Sexyy Red has never been one to leave much to the imagination. The 26-year-old is best known for her hit single, “Pound Town (featuring Tay Keith)” which featured lyrics describing some of her most intimate body parts.

Sexyy is bringing that same energy to her new lipgloss line with titles that are Not Safe For Work. 
In an Instagram post announcing the launch, Sexxy Red posed in her usual sensual manner including one pic bent over with the box held up to her buttocks. She also posted a close-up of the glosses’ erotic names … which are “Coochie Juice,” “Bootyhole Brown,” “Nut,” “P***yhole Pink,” “Yellow Discharge,” “Gonorrhea,” “Blue Ballz,” and “Sex on the Beach” — which, according to TMZ, is fruit scented. 

The comments on the post were plentiful with one user writing, simply, “Is she serious?” 
Another comment referenced another social media trend noting that the names are “not very demure.” 
The lipgloss will be the first product in Sexyy’s new business venture called Northside Princess. 

On X (formerly Twitter) the reception to the product names wer also less than favorable. 

The response wasn’t all bad. Some social media users pointed out that Sexxy has always sold lipgloss, by the same name, but that now she has a bigger platform. 

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Source: River Callaway / Getty
You know you’ve made it in life when you’re blessed with the keys to your city, and Metro Boomin has just been bestowed that honor by St. Louis’ Mayor Tishaura O. Jones.

According to TMZ, the popular producer received the keys to his hometown city of St. Louis, Thursday (Dec. 14). But Metro Boomin didn’t receive the honor for the illustrious work he’s put into the music game, but for the efforts he’s put into bettering the lives of single mothers in his city via his “Single Moms Are The Real Superheroes” campaign.
If only more rappers and entertainers would take such an initiative to celebrate homegrown heroes like this.
TMZ reports:

This year marks Metro’s 7th “Single Moms Are The Real Superheroes” campaign and we’re told the annual event is now being reimagined as “Leslie Joanne Single Mothers And Caregivers Appreciate Day” to honor his late mother, who died in 2022.
Little did he know, the city also had a gift for him — December 14 will officially be “Leland ‘Metro Boomin’ Wayne Day” going forward.
The Diamond-selling producer teamed up with Amazon Access and Rung for Women for this year’s function … set up to assist single mothers with career coaching, skills training, and additional needed resources.

It was an emotional day, capping off Metro’s amazing year … he helmed the “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” soundtrack, partnered with the St. Louis Cardinals and earned a Producer of the Year Grammy nomination.

Man, Metro Boomin deserves all the flowers he’s getting for doing God’s work out in St. Louis. Love and respect, homie.What do y’all think of Metro Boomin getting the keys to the city? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Sexyy Red and her current rise in the Hip-Hop ranks has divided some fans of the music and culture who feel that her music and topic matter is over the top. Sexyy Red, no stranger to these kinds of attacks online, checked a fan via social media who suggested that she is misguiding Black women.
To get an idea of who Sexyy Red is as an artist, a listener could check out her hit tracks “Poundtown” and “SkeeYee” which are burning up the charts and playlists. Further, a recent talk with Interview magazine was also revealing and her upcoming lineup of lip gloss has some rather interesting names. We’ll let you find out that information on your own. We did discover in that interview that Red is a teetotaler, a person who doesn’t drink.

On the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, user @bossedup_tre posted a message writing, “Sexyy Red was really put out to misguide our blk women, And ITS WORKING,” with others replying under the missive that Black men in the rap game have done the same amount of damage, if not worse.
Catching wind of the message, Sexxy Red replied via quote writing, “Makin y’all shake ass misguiding y’all?” and there are following comments under her message displaying that very act that will not be fit for these pages.

Speaking of “SkeeYee,” it is currently sitting at #66 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts after just two weeks and currently rising. Expect to hear a lot more Sexxy Red in the near future.

Photo: ANGELA WEISS / Getty

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300 Entertainment continues to bolster its roster of young talent with the signing of newest act BlakeIANA, a Midwest-based rapper on the rise for her song “BING BONG.” “When I heard BlakeIANA, I was impressed and definitely excited by the sound,” 300 Entertainment co-president Selim Bouab tells Billboard. “Once I sat down with her face-to-face, […]