Lil Durk Scores Pretrial Win, but New Federal Charges Remain Pending

Rapper Lil Durk, whose legal name is Durk Banks, is shown in a 2024 booking photo after his arrest in Broward County, Fla. A federal judge has ordered two newly added counts tried separately from the murder-for-hire case scheduled to begin Aug. 20. Banks has pleaded not guilty.

A federal judge has separated racketeering-related charges from Lil Durk’s upcoming murder-for-hire trial, preserving the August start date after the rapper’s lawyers argued that prosecutors had expanded the case too late for the defense to prepare.

U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald granted the defense’s motion Tuesday, severing Counts One and Six of the third superseding indictment from the four counts that will go before a jury Aug. 20.

The ruling is a significant pretrial victory for Durk, whose legal name is Durk Banks, but it is not a dismissal. The severed counts remain pending and may be tried separately at a later date. Banks has pleaded not guilty and remains in federal custody.

The distinction matters.

Durk’s lawyers did not persuade the court to throw out the government’s expanded indictment. They did persuade Fitzgerald not to make the defense confront the broader racketeering case at the same trial as the allegations it has been preparing to fight since Banks’ October 2024 arrest.

Prosecutors filed the third superseding indictment June 3, about 11 weeks before jury selection was scheduled to begin. The filing added a murder-in-aid-of-racketeering charge and a stalking-conspiracy charge while introducing a wider theory of criminal activity extending beyond the 2022 Los Angeles shooting at the center of the original prosecution.

The expanded allegations describe a group prosecutors call the “Banks Gang Enterprise,” which they claim used violence, drug trafficking and other crimes to strengthen the organization and reward members. Banks and his attorneys deny those allegations.

His defense team argued that prosecutors had taken a relatively focused murder-for-hire case and transformed it shortly before trial by adding years of alleged conduct from Chicago, Atlanta and elsewhere.

The defense said it had spent 19 months preparing for the Los Angeles case before receiving thousands of pages of additional material connected to the government’s expanded theory. Rather than seek another delay, Banks asked the court to separate the new allegations so the original trial could proceed as scheduled.

Prosecutors opposed that request, arguing that separate trials would duplicate evidence and prevent jurors from hearing the complete context surrounding the alleged plot.

During Tuesday’s hearing, Fitzgerald repeatedly pressed prosecutors to explain how the government would be unfairly harmed by severance. His written ruling concluded that prosecutors had not demonstrated sufficient prejudice from holding two trials, according to reporting based on the order.

The August trial stems from the fatal shooting of Saviay’a Robinson near the Beverly Center in Los Angeles on Aug. 19, 2022.

Federal prosecutors allege that Robinson’s cousin, rapper Quando Rondo, was the intended target of a retaliation plot tied to the November 2020 killing of OTF rapper King Von outside an Atlanta nightclub. Robinson was killed, while Rondo was not injured.

The government alleges that Banks offered a bounty for Rondo’s death and that people associated with his Only the Family collective used money tied to the organization to arrange flights, rental vehicles, hotel rooms and other expenses connected to the attack.

Banks is accused of helping finance and direct the alleged plot. He has denied ordering the shooting or offering payment for it.

Prosecutors have also sought to introduce selected lyrics, music videos, social media messages and evidence of public pressure on Banks to retaliate for King Von’s death. Fitzgerald previously allowed some of that material while excluding or limiting other portions, finding that certain lyrics carried too little connection to the charged crime or too great a risk of unfair prejudice.

Banks’ attorneys have consistently challenged the reliability of the government’s witnesses and its use of his music. When prosecutors unveiled the latest indictment in June, the defense called it “lipstick on a pig” and said the new allegations reflected weakness in the original case rather than newly discovered proof.

The Grammy-winning rapper has remained jailed without bond since his arrest in South Florida in October 2024. His trial has been postponed several times, sometimes over his objection, as attorneys reviewed evidence and litigated disputes involving witnesses, lyrics, videos and the defendants who will be tried together.

Tuesday’s order prevents the latest expansion from producing another immediate delay.

Issa Rae Brings ‘Insecure’ Anniversary Tour to 13 Cities This Fall

“Insecure: The 10th Anniversary Tour,” a 13-date fall run led by Issa Rae and showrunner Prentice Penny, with Yvonne Orji, Jay Ellis and Natasha Rothwell scheduled for select appearances opens Sept. 10 in Philadelphia and closes Oct. 8 in Inglewood, California.

Ten years after Issa Dee first worked through her problems by rapping to herself in a bathroom mirror, Issa Rae is taking the stories, arguments and lingering questions of “Insecure” on the road.

Rae announced “Insecure: The 10th Anniversary Tour” on Tuesday, a 13-city run that will reunite her with showrunner Prentice Penny for live conversations about the HBO comedy that made awkwardness, friendship and the everyday lives of Black millennials worthy of prestige television.

 

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The tour opens Sept. 10 at The Met in Philadelphia and travels through National Harbor, Maryland; Detroit; Boston; Brooklyn; Montclair, New Jersey; Las Vegas; Oakland; Chicago; Atlanta; Irving, Texas; and Houston. It closes Oct. 8 at YouTube Theater in Inglewood, California — the city whose neighborhoods, businesses and changing identity were central to the series.

Yvonne Orji, who played Molly Carter; Jay Ellis, who played Lawrence Walker; and Natasha Rothwell, who played Kelli Prenny, are scheduled to appear on select dates. Organizers have not announced which cast members will participate in each city, so ticket buyers should not assume the full group will appear at every stop.

The live shows are expected to feature behind-the-scenes stories, candid conversations and reflections on the series’ most memorable moments and cultural impact.

Rae announced the tour with a video built around a reunion of the cast’s group chat. After Rae proposes the idea, Ellis, Orji and Rothwell quickly sign on.

“It’s ‘Insecure,’ but we’re very secure now,” Orji says near the end of the clip.

“Come see us on tour,” Rae adds.

 

Created by Rae and Larry Wilmore, “Insecure” premiered on HBO in October 2016 and ran for five seasons before ending in December 2021. The comedy followed Issa Dee and Molly as they negotiated friendship, relationships, work, ambition and the consequences of decisions that often looked much clearer after they had already made them.

The show’s appeal came partly from what it refused to do. Its Black characters did not exist solely to explain racism, carry a social message or serve as flawless examples of representation. They could be selfish, funny, petty, accomplished, confused, loyal and painfully wrong — sometimes within the same episode.

“Insecure” also treated South Los Angeles as more than a backdrop. Restaurants, apartments, neighborhood businesses, art spaces and community events became part of the story as Issa tried to build a career without abandoning the place that shaped her.

Music was just as important.

The series used contemporary hip-hop and R&B as an extension of its characters’ inner lives, placing established artists alongside records that many viewers were hearing for the first time. Solange consulted on the first season’s music, while longtime music supervisor Kier Lehman helped build later soundtracks that included SZA, Jazmine Sullivan, Miguel, Jorja Smith, Leikeli47, Thundercat, The Internet, Dreezy and others.

Songs did more than fill transitions. They carried scenes after the dialogue stopped, helped define Issa and Molly’s emotional distance and gave each season a musical identity that fans discussed alongside the show’s romances and betrayals.

 

The anniversary tour extends a reunion that began in May with “Blocc Party: An Insecure Podcast.” The weekly rewatch series features Rae and Penny revisiting individual episodes, telling stories from the writers’ room and bringing in members of the cast and crew.

A Citi cardholder presale begins Wednesday at noon local time. General ticket sales begin Thursday at noon local time through Live Nation and Ticketmaster. Most listed performances begin at 8 p.m., and several venues identify the events as restricted to guests 18 and older.

The complete tour schedule:

• Sept. 10 — The Met, Philadelphia
• Sept. 11 — The Theater at MGM National Harbor, National Harbor, Md.
• Sept. 13 — The Fillmore Detroit, Detroit
• Sept. 16 — MGM Music Hall at Fenway, Boston
• Sept. 17 — Brooklyn Paramount, Brooklyn, N.Y.
• Sept. 18 — The Wellmont Theater, Montclair, N.J.
• Sept. 25 — The Palazzo Theatre, Las Vegas
• Sept. 26 — Fox Theater, Oakland, Calif.
• Oct. 1 — The Chicago Theatre, Chicago
• Oct. 2 — Tabernacle, Atlanta
• Oct. 3 — The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory, Irving, Texas
• Oct. 4 — Bayou Music Center, Houston
• Oct. 8 — YouTube Theater, Inglewood, Calif.

“Insecure” ended with its characters growing into lives that once seemed out of reach. A decade after the premiere, Rae is reopening the group chat.

Netflix Docuseries Executive Produced by 50 Cent Secures Three Emmy Nominations

Promotional art for the Netflix docuseries “Sean Combs: The Reckoning” is shown in this undated handout image. The project, executive produced by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, earned three Emmy nominations this week, including outstanding documentary or nonfiction series. The critical television recognition arrived exactly as Jackson faced a separate legal setback in a New York appellate court regarding a disputed life-rights agreement.

Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson spent the last two decades turning beef, television and personal history into business.

This week showed both sides of that machine.

A New York appeals court on Thursday rejected G-Unit Books’ attempt to win a default judgment against Shaniqua Tompkins, Jackson’s former girlfriend, in a breach-of-contract case tied to a disputed life-rights agreement. The same week, “Sean Combs: The Reckoning,” the Netflix docuseries Jackson executive produced, earned three Emmy nominations.

It is a strange but very 50 Cent split-screen: a legal setback over who controls one woman’s story and awards recognition for a documentary about another hip-hop mogul’s fall.

The court loss came from the Appellate Division, First Department, which unanimously affirmed a lower-court ruling denying G-Unit Books’ motion for default judgment and giving Tompkins more time to answer the complaint. The case is listed as G-Unit Books, Inc. v. Shaniqua Tompkins, Index No. 654265/2025.

G-Unit Books had sued Tompkins, accusing her of breaching an agreement by posting online videos and speaking publicly about her past relationship with Jackson. Bloomberg Law reported that the company claimed the posts violated a contract connected to her life story.

The appeals court did not decide whether Tompkins breached the agreement. It ruled that G-Unit Books was not entitled to a quick win before the case was answered.

The panel said the lower court “providently exercised its discretion” in denying G-Unit Books’ motion, pointing to New York’s “strong public policy in favor of litigating matters on the merits.” The court also noted that Tompkins’ delay in answering was “only four months” and that G-Unit Books did not allege prejudice from the delay.

The appellate panel focused heavily on service. Tompkins said she did not receive the summons and complaint. The court said G-Unit Books failed to provide evidence that she lived at the addresses where service was attempted.

At one Jamaica address, a process server was told by security staff that Tompkins no longer lived in the building. At a Greene Avenue address in Brooklyn, a tenant said he did not know her, according to the appellate decision.

The court also rejected G-Unit Books’ argument that publicity around the lawsuit showed Tompkins knew about the case. The panel said Tompkins denied knowing about the lawsuit until October 2025 and that G-Unit Books presented no evidence refuting that denial. A TMZ request for comment did not prove she had notice, the court said.

The lower court ruling, which the appeals court upheld, said Tompkins had raised possible defenses to the case. Judge Robert R. Reed wrote that Tompkins disputed that the “Life Rights Agreement” was entered into voluntarily and had identified possible defenses including duress, illegality and fraud.

That does not mean those defenses have been proven. It means the case continues instead of ending by default.

While G-Unit Books lost that round, Jackson’s television business had a better week.

The Television Academy lists “Sean Combs: The Reckoning” with three Emmy nominations: outstanding documentary or nonfiction series, outstanding directing for a documentary/nonfiction program and outstanding picture editing for a nonfiction program. Jackson is listed as an executive producer on the documentary/nonfiction series nomination.

The nominated Netflix series was produced by House of Nonfiction, G-Unit Film & Television and Texas Crew Productions. Alexandria Stapleton was nominated for directing the episode “Pain Vs Love,” while the editing nomination was for the episode “Blink Again.”

Jackson celebrated the nominations on social media, writing that “everybody had something to say” when the project was announced and that “the Emmys got something to say too."

Music Publisher Reservoir Media Secures Global Rights to T.I. Discography

Multi-platinum recording artist T.I., second from left, poses alongside Reservoir Media executives to celebrate a new publishing agreement. Pictured from left are Reservoir CEO Golnar Khosrowshahi, T.I., Executive Vice President of A&R and Catalog Development Faith Newman, and President Rell Lafargue. The Atlanta rap pioneer signed a comprehensive worldwide publishing deal with the company on Thursday covering his entire back catalog and future releases. (Courtesy photo)

T.I. is turning his legacy into long-term publishing business.

The Grammy-winning Atlanta rapper has signed a worldwide publishing deal with Reservoir Media covering his back catalog and future works, including his new album, “Kill the King,” the company announced Thursday.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

The agreement gives Reservoir a role in a catalog that helped push Atlanta trap from regional movement to global rap language. Reservoir said the deal spans T.I.’s full publishing catalog, including his back catalog and future work, and comes as “Kill the King” has debuted in the top 10 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Top Rap Albums charts.

T.I., born Clifford Joseph Harris Jr., has released a catalog that Reservoir said includes 11 studio albums, more than 100 singles and 13 mixtapes. His hits include “What You Know,” “Bring Em Out,” “Live Your Life,” “Dead and Gone” and “Swagga Like Us.”

“I’m very excited about building a strong partnership with Reservoir as we work together to diversify the business and expand the reach of my catalog,” Harris said in a statement.

The deal arrives as T.I. is also positioning “Kill the King” as the closing chapter of his rap career. In a People interview published Thursday, he reflected on retiring from music, family life with Tameka “Tiny” Cottle-Harris and the 25-year arc from his 2001 debut, “I’m Serious,” to his final album.

That makes the Reservoir agreement more than routine catalog housekeeping. It is a legacy move by one of the central figures of 2000s Southern rap at a time when hip-hop catalogs from the CD era are being treated as long-term assets.

Reservoir Executive Vice President of A&R and Catalog Development Faith Newman called T.I. the “King of the South” and said his music helped put Atlanta’s rap scene on the map.

“His crossover successes and enduring popularity have proven time and again how much his music resonates with fans,” Newman said.

Reservoir President and Chief Operating Officer Rell Lafargue said T.I.’s music has “real cultural significance and staying power.”

T.I. won three Grammys during his commercial peak, including best rap solo performance for “What You Know” and best rap/sung collaboration for Justin Timberlake’s “My Love.” He won again in 2009 for “Swagga Like Us,” the Jay-Z, Kanye West, Lil Wayne and T.I. collaboration built around an M.I.A. sample.

His 2008 album “Paper Trail” remains the cleanest example of his crossover reach. The project included “Live Your Life” with Rihanna, “Dead and Gone” with Timberlake and “Whatever You Like,” turning the self-proclaimed King of the South into one of rap’s most reliable pop-chart names without fully detaching him from trap music’s street foundation.

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Get Permanent Place on Hollywood Walk of Fame

Members of the Grammy-winning rap group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony — from left, Wish Bone, Bizzy Bone, Krayzie Bone, and Layzie Bone — are shown in this undated promotional file photo. The pioneering Cleveland group was honored Wednesday with the 2,851st star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. (Photo: Ruthless Records / File)

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s Cleveland sound now has a permanent address in Hollywood.

The Grammy-winning rap group received the 2,851st star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Wednesday during a ceremony at 6126 Hollywood Blvd., where friends, family, fans and fellow hip-hop veterans gathered to celebrate one of rap’s most distinctive groups.

The honor came in the recording category, more than three decades after Krayzie Bone, Layzie Bone, Bizzy Bone, Wish Bone and Flesh-n-Bone turned rapid-fire flows, street harmonies and grief-soaked melody into a sound no one else could duplicate.

“Cleveland is in the house,” Jerry Newman, chair of the board of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, said as the ceremony opened.

Radio personality Big Boy hosted the ceremony, calling the day “beautiful” as fans lined the sidewalk in the July sun. He introduced the group as pioneers whose music brought national attention to Midwestern rap while helping shape the melodic, double-time style that still echoes through hip-hop and R&B.

“There’s a lot of people that pay homage and there’s a lot of sloppy carbon copies,” Big Boy said.

That was the unspoken theme of the afternoon: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony did not just make hits. They invented a lane.

Fat Joe, who spoke before the unveiling, said he had attended about 10 Walk of Fame ceremonies and had never seen a crowd spill into the street the way fans did for Bone Thugs-N-Harmony.

“I owe a great deal to Bone Thugs-N-Harmony,” Fat Joe said.

The Bronx rapper said the group supported him early in his career, took him on tour, appeared in his videos and stayed close through personal loss, including the death of Big Pun.

“They never acted funny with me,” Fat Joe said. “They took me on tour with them. They came to my videos. They showed up in my songs.”

Fat Joe said the moment also mattered because the five members were together, healthy and able to receive the honor in person.

“I love that the guys are all here,” he said. “They all look great.”

Ice-T followed with a speech that put the group’s legacy in the context of 1990s hip-hop, when biting another artist’s style was one of the fastest ways to lose credibility.

“I get a phone call. They say Bone Thugs getting a star. I said, ‘About time,’” Ice-T said.

He asked the crowd to pause and appreciate that the members were alive, together and receiving their flowers in public.

“Usually, you only see people like this — we only get together during bad times,” Ice-T said. “Let’s just applaud the fact that all Bone Thugs are alive, healthy and here.”

Ice-T said originality was the currency of the group’s era.

“Our era of hip-hop, you had to be original,” he said. “You could not sound like anybody else.”

When Bone Thugs-N-Harmony arrived, he said, there was no mistaking them for anyone else.

“When Bone Thugs hit the scene, they were like nothing we had ever heard,” Ice-T said. “That’s why I got to tip my hat to them.”

The group formed in Cleveland in 1991, originally performing as B.O.N.E. Enterpri$e before being discovered by Eazy-E. He signed them to Ruthless Records in 1993, giving the West Coast label a group that sounded nothing like Los Angeles, New York or Atlanta.

That difference became the point.

Their national breakthrough came with the 1994 EP “Creepin on ah Come Up,” powered by “Thuggish Ruggish Bone” and “Foe tha Love of $.” A year later, “E. 1999 Eternal” made them unavoidable.

Released in 1995, “E. 1999 Eternal” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and produced “1st of tha Month,” “East 1999” and “Tha Crossroads.” The last of those, rewritten as a tribute after Eazy-E’s death, spent eight weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won the Grammy Award for best rap performance by a duo or group in 1997.

“Tha Crossroads” did something rap was still fighting to prove in the mid-1990s: It made mourning sound massive.

Bone Thugs followed with “The Art of War” in 1997, another No. 1 album that included “Look Into My Eyes” and “If I Could Teach the World.” By then, the group’s influence had moved beyond Cleveland and Ruthless Records. Their cadence, hooks and sing-rap approach were already being absorbed across hip-hop and R&B.

Big Boy called them “veterans and relevant at the same damn time.”

During brief acceptance remarks, the members thanked God, their families, Ruthless Records, longtime collaborators and the fans who stayed with them for more than 30 years.

“From the trenches to the stars,” one member said. “We’ve been through it all, through the fire and the rain. We came from a place where opportunities were way too limited. So to be here standing with my brothers is something that I don’t take for granted.”

He said the group’s mission was simple.

“All we wanted to do was share a particular sound to inspire the world,” he said.

Another member made clear that the star belonged beyond the five men whose names were being honored.

“This is everybody’s star,” he said.

That line fit the afternoon. For Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, the Walk of Fame star is not just a trophy for past sales. It is a public marker for a sound that stretched rap’s vocabulary and made Cleveland part of hip-hop’s emotional map.

The group’s records could be spiritual and menacing in the same breath. “1st of tha Month” turned a welfare-check calendar date into a celebration. “Tha Crossroads” became a funeral song and a victory lap at the same time. “Thuggish Ruggish Bone” sounded like a cipher drifting through smoke.

That influence is easier to hear now than it was to explain then. The melodic rap that later became a default language for many artists did not appear out of nowhere. Bone Thugs helped make it commercially viable without sanding off the speed, darkness or strangeness that made them special.

At the end of the ceremony, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce proclaimed Wednesday Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Day in Hollywood before the group unveiled its star.

More than 30 years after five Cleveland rappers chased a record deal to California, Hollywood gave Bone Thugs-N-Harmony a star. Cleveland gave them the hunger. Eazy-E gave them the door. Hip-hop gave them the sky.

The harmony still travels.

New HBO Docuseries 'Jaÿ-Z in 8' Anchors Sprawling Rollout Alongside '4:44' Catalog Expansion

In this promotional still rapper and entrepreneur Shawn "JAY-Z" Carter, left, converses with legendary record producer Rick Rubin across an audio console during production of the upcoming HBO original documentary series "JAŸ-Z IN 8." The eight-part archival project, announced alongside the wide streaming release of his "4:44" bonus tracks and a city-wide 30th-anniversary celebration for his 1996 debut album "Reasonable Doubt," is scheduled to debut this fall. (Courtesy HBO)

Jay-Z is celebrating the ninth anniversary of his 2017 studio album "4:44" by finally releasing the project's three bonus tracks across all major streaming platforms.

The songs — "Adnis," "Blue's Freestyle/We Family" featuring Blue Ivy Carter, and "MaNyfaCedGod" featuring James Blake — arrived on services like Apple Music and Spotify on Tuesday. The records were previously locked as physical edition cuts and Tidal exclusives.

The digital expansion arrives during a massive week of cultural domination for the Roc Nation founder.

HBO recently announced "JAŸ-Z IN 8," a new eight-part original documentary series directed by legendary producer Rick Rubin that will debut this fall. The project places Rubin in extended, intimate conversation with the artist across his music, lyrics, and life experiences. The network's promotional press materials released for the series include a telling quote directly from Carter: “The pain, you don't say it's necessary, you don't say you need it, but if it's there — you use it.”

The album's wider release also serves as a reminder of the strict discipline required during his late-career rollouts. Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz, the directors behind the "Kill Jay Z" video, recently reflected on the intense secrecy surrounding the project. “We had a zero-tolerance policy on any discussion of the project, period,” the directors noted, explaining that they could not even tell their own families about the album for fear of leaks.

Simultaneously, the rapper is taking over New York City to mark the 30th anniversary of his landmark 1996 debut album, "Reasonable Doubt".

The milestone is being celebrated with immersive, dual-location pop-up activations that opened on June 25 in Manhattan and Brooklyn, with the Brooklyn installation housed at 92 Plymouth Street. The interactive exhibits, which run through July 5, offer fans a multi-sensory journey through the album's historical archival memories. To tie the milestones together, Roc Nation announced a free giveaway of the "4:44" cassette to the first 44 visitors at the Dumbo pop-up location.

The ongoing celebration leads directly into a highly anticipated, multi-night concert series at Yankee Stadium next weekend. Scheduled for July 10, July 11, and July 12, the stadium dates are designed to double as a historical victory lap.

Teyana Taylor, Clipse Win Big As BET Awards Honor Lauryn Hill

Lauryn Hill did not need a victory lap.

The BET Awards gave her one anyway Sunday night, and by the time Hill finished closing the show with “Everything Is Everything,” the point had been made.

The 2026 BET Awards had a first-time host in Druski and a winners list stacked with current names. Cardi B, Kendrick Lamar, Kehlani, Leon Thomas, Doechii, SZA, Olivia Dean, Michael B. Jordan and A’ja Wilson were among the artists, actors and athletes taking home trophies.

But the show’s best moments came when BET stopped chasing the present and let Black music history breathe.

Hill received the inaugural Living Legend Icon Award. Janet Jackson surprised Teyana Taylor with the Icon of the Year Award. Clipse turned a comeback run into a three-win night. Sylvia Rhone used an industry honor to warn the music business about artificial intelligence. BET also paused for a tribute to D’Angelo, whose influence still shapes the way modern R&B moves.

That was the story of the night. The winners list belonged to 2026. The show’s soul came from the people who made that list possible.

Druski, 31, made history as the youngest host in BET Awards history, passing Kevin Hart, who hosted in 2011. He opened the broadcast by descending from the rafters in a harness while a choir performed Kirk Franklin’s “Revolution,” setting the tone for a night built around comedy, spectacle, church language and Black cultural memory.

The awards themselves delivered a few clean verdicts.

Clipse won Album of the Year for “Let God Sort Em Out,” Best Group and Best Collaboration for “Chains & Whips” featuring Kendrick Lamar. For Pusha T and Malice, it was more than a nostalgia win. It was a confirmation that the duo’s return landed as one of the year’s major hip-hop stories.

Kendrick Lamar won Best Male Hip-Hop Artist. Cardi B won Best Female Hip-Hop Artist. Kehlani won Best Female R&B/Pop Artist and Video of the Year for “Folded.” Leon Thomas won Best Male R&B/Pop Artist. Olivia Dean won Best New Artist. Doechii and SZA won the BET Her Award for “girl, get up.”

Then came Taylor’s moment.

Taylor had already won Best Actress, Video Director of the Year and the Fashion Vanguard Award before Jackson walked onstage to present her with the Icon of the Year Award.

Taylor looked stunned before she reached the microphone. By the time she hugged Jackson, the award had turned into something more personal than another industry handoff.

“There will be no me without you,” Taylor told Jackson.

Taylor has spent years moving between music, film, choreography, fashion, directing and performance, often without the industry knowing exactly where to place her. BET’s honor finally treated that range as the point.
Hill’s honor carried a different kind of weight.

Introduced by Ice Cube, Hill received the first Living Legend Icon Award after a tribute that revisited the catalog that made her one of the most important artists of the last 30 years. SZA, Doechii, Lizzo, Queen Latifah, Common and Hill’s children Selah Marley and Zion Marley were among those involved in the salute.

Hill stood through the tribute smiling, singing along and applauding as other artists worked through pieces of her legacy. Then she stepped into it herself.

After accepting the award, Hill performed “Ex-Factor.” Later, she closed the show with “Everything Is Everything.”

“I fight for y’all,” Hill said.

BET also honored Rhone with the Ultimate Icon Award, recognizing one of the most important executives in modern Black music.

Presented by Kelly Rowland, the award celebrated Rhone’s barrier-breaking career, including her place as the first Black woman to lead a major record company owned by a Fortune 500 corporation. A video tribute connected her work to artists including Tracy Chapman, Brandy, Erykah Badu, Lil Wayne, Kid Cudi, Future, Travis Scott and Tyler, the Creator.

Rhone did not use the moment just to look back.

“We make the algorithm,” Rhone said. “The algorithm doesn’t make us.”

The same point ran through BET’s tribute to D’Angelo.

His children helped open the segment before Ari Lennox, BJ the Chicago Kid, Durand Bernarr, George Clinton and RAYE honored his music. It was a reminder that D’Angelo’s reach is still easy to hear in modern soul — in the space, the swing, the church, the funk and the refusal to rush the feeling.

By the end of the night, the BET Awards had done what award shows rarely do well.

It named the current winners without pretending the current moment created itself.

2026 BET Awards

Full winners list

Clipse, Kehlani, Leon Thomas, Cardi B, Kendrick Lamar and Teyana Taylor were among the major winners during a night that also honored Ms. Lauryn Hill and Sylvia Rhone.

Music

Album of the Year

“Let God Sort Em Out,” Clipse

Best Group

Clipse

Best Collaboration

“Chains & Whips,” Clipse feat. Kendrick Lamar

Best Female R&B/Pop Artist

Kehlani

Best Male R&B/Pop Artist

Leon Thomas

Best Female Hip-Hop Artist

Cardi B

Best Male Hip-Hop Artist

Kendrick Lamar

Best New Artist

Olivia Dean

Video of the Year

“Folded,” Kehlani

Video Director of the Year

Teyana “Spike-Tey” Taylor

BET Her Award

“girl, get up.,” Doechii feat. SZA

Dr. Bobby Jones Best Gospel/Inspirational Award

“Headphones,” Lecrae, Killer Mike and T.I.

Film, TV and culture

Best Actress

Teyana Taylor

Best Actor

Michael B. Jordan

Best Movie

“Sinners”

YoungStars Award

Jazzy’s World TV

Fashion Vanguard Award

Teyana Taylor

Pulse Award

Druski

Sports

Sportswoman of the Year AWARD

A’ja Wilson, basketball

Sportsman of the Year AWARD

Jalen Brunson, basketball

Special honors

Living Legend Icon Award

Ms. Lauryn Hill

Icon of the Year Award

Teyana Taylor

Ultimate Icon Award

Sylvia Rhone

Note: BET’s nominees page still listed Viewers’ Choice Award voting and did not mark a Viewers’ Choice winner at the time this story was checked.

Erykah Badu Announces ‘LIVE’ Tour With De La Soul and The Alchemist

Erykah Badu’s “LIVE” tour with The Alchemist and De La Soul pairs neo-soul, hip-hop history and underground production on a September run scheduled to open Sept. 10, 2026, in Highland Park, Ill., and close Sept. 29 in Los Angeles. (Live Nation/313 Presents)

After spending last year revisiting "Mama’s Gun," Erykah Badu has announced "Live: A September Tour," a run that pairs her with De La Soul and The Alchemist — a bill that makes more sense the longer you sit with it.

The title may tug at anyone who remembers Badu’s 1997 live album, "Live," the record that gave "Tyrone" its permanent place in the R&B conversation. But this is not being billed as an anniversary tour. It reads more like Badu using the stage as the center of the story again.

That matters with this lineup.

The Alchemist is not just a left-field name on the poster. Badu and the Beverly Hills producer spent 2025 building toward "Abi & Alan," a collaborative project that has already produced the June 2025 single "Next to You" and remains a vital part of their shared orbit. His presence keeps this from becoming a clean nostalgia package. He brings the dust, the tension, and the kind of loops that make a room lean forward.

De La Soul brings a different kind of weight. The Long Island group is no longer just a beloved catalog act finally freed from streaming limbo. Last year’s "Cabin in the Sky" gave De La Soul a new chapter after the 2023 death of co-founder David "Trugoy the Dove" Jolicoeur, carrying grief, memory, and joy without turning the group into a museum piece.

That is where the bill gets interesting.

Badu’s catalog has always lived between soul, hip-hop, jazz, church smoke, and side-eye. "On & On" introduced her in 1997 as something more complicated than a standard R&B star. "Bag Lady" turned emotional baggage into a hook. "Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip Hop)" made the connection plain for anybody who somehow missed it.

De La Soul helped build a version of rap that could be funny, strange, smart, wounded, soulful, and still fully hip-hop. The Alchemist has spent the modern era proving that a beat can still sound dangerous without raising its voice.

So no, this is not a random throwback package.

It is Badu, De La Soul, and The Alchemist standing in the same old conversation from three different corners: the singer who never separated soul from rap, the rap group that never separated jokes from depth, and the producer who still knows what to do with a dirty record.

The tour includes a Friday, Sept. 11, stop at the Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre in Sterling Heights, Michigan, according to venue promoter 313 Presents. The show begins at 8 p.m., with tickets scheduled to go on sale Friday, June 26, at 10 a.m. local time through BaduWorld.market.

Badu’s official calendar lists the run opening Sept. 10 at the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, Illinois. It continues through Toronto; Cleveland; Uncasville, Connecticut; Forest Hills, New York; Washington; Indianapolis; Denver; San Diego; Berkeley, California; Highland, California; and Los Angeles.

Clive Davis, Visionary Record Executive Who Shaped Global Pop Culture, Dies at 94

 

Record executive and music industry mogul Clive Davis speaks during the Kennedy Center Honors Gala dinner at the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 2, 2023. Davis, the visionary architect who built the global commercial infrastructure for 1990s and 2000s R&B and hip-hop through landmark joint ventures with LaFace Records and Bad Boy Records, died Monday at his home in Manhattan at age 94.

The legendary music executive, whose unparalleled ear and ruthless business acumen guided the careers of Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, The Notorious B.I.G., and Alicia Keys, died Monday at his home in New York City. He was 94.

His longtime representative Aliza Rabinoff confirmed the death, stating that Davis passed away peacefully from age-related illness. The executive had recently been hospitalized in May with a respiratory tract infection but was released in early June. His family also released a statement on social media confirming the passing.

While history will primarily remember him as the executive who discovered and championed Whitney Houston to global superstardom at Arista Records, for 90s and 00s culture, his legacy is far heavier.

He was the one of the first executives who understood that the future of global pop music was being constructed in Atlanta and Brooklyn, and he funded the blueprints.

In 1989, Davis engineered a joint venture with L.A. Reid and Babyface to create LaFace Records. That single executive decision effectively relocated the center of the music industry to Atlanta, providing the launchpad for TLC, Usher, Toni Braxton, and Outkast to permanently redefine the sound of the 1990s.

Four years later, Davis repeated the maneuver in hip-hop. He partnered with Sean “Diddy” Combs to launch Bad Boy Records as an Arista joint venture in 1993. The move gave a young Brooklyn executive the major-label distribution machinery needed to turn The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans, Mase, and 112 into an unstoppable, platinum-certified commercial empire.

When the industry shifted at the turn of the century, Davis did not lose his grip. After leaving Arista, he founded J Records in 2000 and immediately proved his instincts were still on-point. He signed a young Alicia Keys, guiding her 2001 debut studio album, "Songs in A Minor", into a multi-platinum, Grammy-sweeping juggernaut that shifted the entire trajectory of 2000s neo-soul.

Cheryl 'Salt' James Brings Gospel Lift to Solo Rollout With 'Overcomers'

Cheryl “Salt” James appears in artwork for “Overcomers,” her new single featuring Erica Campbell. James, one half of Salt-N-Pepa, is building toward her debut solo album, “Salty N Lit,” after a run of major legacy honors for the pioneering rap group. (Photo Credit: Cheryl “Salt” James/Bandcamp)

Cheryl “Salt” James has spent four decades in hip hop history as part of a group voice — sharp, playful, direct and impossible to write around.

Now she is building a solo chapter in her own name.

James, one half of Salt-N-Pepa, released “Overcomers” on Friday, a new single with Grammy-winning gospel singer Erica Campbell. The song is the latest step toward James’ forthcoming debut solo album, “Salty N Lit,” which has been announced for spring/summer 2026.

On her Bandcamp page, James described “Overcomers” as “an anthem for my seasoned Queens,” framing the record around women who have carried struggle, faith, self-love and survival into another season of life.

That tone is not a break from the Salt-N-Pepa story so much as a narrowing of the lens. Salt-N-Pepa’s best records were never just party records, even when they filled the floor. “Push It,” “Expression,” “Let’s Talk About Sex,” “Shoop,” “Whatta Man” and “None of Your Business” moved through clubs, radio and video countdowns while pushing women’s voices deeper into rap’s center.

The solo material shifts the setting but not the spine. “Chosen” opened the rollout last year. “Kings & Queens” followed in January, with a video filmed at The Hip Hop Museum in the Bronx. “Diamonds in the Light” arrived in March. “Overcomers” brings Campbell into the frame, giving the project its clearest gospel connection yet.

The timing matters. James is releasing solo music after a run of institutional honors that has placed Salt-N-Pepa’s influence back in formal record. The group was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2025 in the Musical Influence category, with Missy Elliott presenting the honor. The Rock Hall describes Salt-N-Pepa as the first major all-female rap group to go both gold and platinum and the first to win a Grammy.

Salt-N-Pepa, with DJ Spinderella, also received the Hall of Fame honor at the 2026 NAACP Image Awards. At that ceremony, James did not simply keep the focus on the past. She used the moment to perform the opening verse of “Kings & Queens,” folding the solo work into the larger arc of the group’s legacy.

That is the more interesting story than a veteran rapper “stepping into a solo era.” James is not trying to outrun Salt-N-Pepa. She is working from inside the authority that catalog gave her, using it to speak more directly about faith, age, survival and purpose.

Hip-hop has not always known what to do with women who helped build the form and then refused to disappear into tribute packages. “Salty N Lit” arrives in that space: not as a comeback, exactly, and not as nostalgia. It is a late-career statement from an artist whose voice helped make room for women in rap to be funny, sexual, outspoken, spiritual, stylish, political and grown.

With “Overcomers,” James is not asking whether she still belongs in hip-hop’s story.

She is writing from the position of someone who already does.

Florida Venue Faces Backlash as Sen. Rick Scott Targets Upcoming Ye Performances

A promotional image advertises Ye’s scheduled June 26, 2026, concert at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., has urged the Tampa Sports Authority to review scheduled concerts by the artist formerly known as Kanye West, arguing that a taxpayer-supported venue should not give him a platform after years of antisemitic remarks.

A public stadium in Tampa has become the next test of how far Ye’s catalog can still carry him after years of antisemitic remarks turned his tour into a fight over speech, public money and institutional responsibility.

U.S. Sen. Rick Scott is pressing the Tampa Sports Authority to reconsider two scheduled Ye concerts at Raymond James Stadium, arguing that a taxpayer-supported venue should not help stage performances by the artist formerly known as Kanye West.

Ye is scheduled to perform June 26 and 28 at the Tampa stadium. Raymond James Stadium’s official events page still listed both shows Friday, with each scheduled to begin at 8 p.m.

In a letter sent Thursday to the Tampa Sports Authority’s board of directors, Scott called Ye a “vocal antisemite” and urged the authority to carefully review the decision to host him.

U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., urges the Tampa Sports Authority Board of Directors to review scheduled Ye concerts at Raymond James Stadium in a June 4, 2026, letter. Scott argued that taxpayer-supported facilities should not give a stage to the artist formerly known as Kanye West after years of antisemitic remarks and controversy over swastika merchandise. (Office of U.S. Sen. Rick Scott)

“Kanye West’s consistent antisemitic attacks are an affront to the values of the people of the Hillsborough community,” Scott wrote.

Scott cited Ye’s past praise of Nazis, his claim that he was one and a 2025 Super Bowl ad that directed viewers to merchandise featuring swastikas. He argued that a stadium supported by public dollars should not be used to give the artist a platform.

“No taxpayer dollars should be used to give a vocal antisemite a stage in Florida,” Scott wrote. “What we spend public money on reflects our values, and using dollars from hardworking families to platform a hateful person pushing evil ideologies is not a Florida value.”

The Tampa Sports Authority manages Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and one of Florida’s highest-profile public sports and entertainment venues. In its response, the authority did not indicate the concerts were in immediate jeopardy.

“We recognize the concerns and viewpoints being expressed about the upcoming events at Raymond James Stadium,” the authority said in a statement. “As a public agency, we follow the principles of free speech in operating our venue, although we do not condone remarks or actions from any artists that are offensive and divisive.”

That response places the Tampa shows in a different position from a private venue’s booking decision. Scott is framing the issue around public money and community values. The authority is pointing to the free-speech principles that come with operating a public venue. The result is a collision between a legacy rap star’s market power and the civic responsibilities attached to the building where he is scheduled to perform.

For audiences who watched West alter the trajectory of 2000s hip-hop, the Tampa dispute carries its own dissonance. The producer and rapper who once challenged the American political establishment on behalf of people left out of its priorities is now drawing government pressure over antisemitic remarks, Nazi praise and merchandise tied to swastika imagery.

That tension is part of why the story travels beyond a local concert fight. Ye’s early albums, including “The College Dropout,” “Late Registration” and “Graduation,” helped expand mainstream rap’s emotional and sonic language. Now, the same catalog that made him a defining artist of the 2000s is moving through a public reckoning over what institutions are willing to host after the artist has made himself commercially powerful and publicly toxic.

The pressure in Florida follows similar challenges overseas. Ye was recently barred from entering the United Kingdom over his remarks, while scheduled performances in Italy and Poland were scrapped. A Dutch court this week allowed two concerts in the Netherlands to proceed, rejecting an effort by a Jewish organization to block them on public order grounds.

In Europe, governments, courts and Jewish organizations have been forced to weigh Ye’s history of antisemitic statements against public order, censorship laws and venue decisions. In Tampa, the argument has moved to a publicly owned American stadium, where Scott’s demand and the authority’s response have turned two scheduled concerts into a broader test of speech, money and consequence.

For now, the shows remain listed. So does the pressure to stop them.

Michael Jackson’s 'Chicago' Gives Him Hot 100 Entries in Six Decades

Cover art for Michael Jackson’s “Chicago,” a track from the 2014 posthumous album “Xscape.” The song debuted at No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100, giving Jackson new chart entries in six decades and showing how streaming and short-form video can turn a deep cut into a new chart moment years later. (MJJ Productions/Epic Records)

Michael Jackson’s “Chicago” was not built like a comeback single.

It was not one of the untouchable 1980s records that never really left radio. It was not featured in the new biopic. It was not even a hit when it first surfaced in 2014 on the posthumous album “Xscape.”

That is what makes its new Billboard moment more interesting.

“Chicago” debuted at No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated June 6, making Jackson the first artist with new Hot 100 entries in six different decades, from the 1970s through the 2020s. The song also becomes his 52nd solo entry on the chart.

The numbers tell part of the story. “Chicago” drew 10.7 million official on-demand U.S. streams during the May 22-28 tracking week, a 30% jump from the previous week, according to Luminate data cited by Billboard and People. Under Billboard rules, older songs can enter the Hot 100 if they rank in the top 50 and show meaningful growth.

The rest of the story belongs to the way catalog now moves.

The “Xscape” version of “Chicago,” written by Cory Rooney, was produced by Timbaland and Jerome “J-Roc” Harmon. The song has found a new audience through streaming and TikTok at the same time Jackson’s catalog is benefiting from renewed attention around the film “Michael.” But the song’s rise is not a simple movie bump, as is not featured in the film.

That matters. The track’s path is less about a soundtrack push than a deep cut becoming newly legible to listeners who did not meet Jackson through radio, MTV, Motown specials or the first life of “Thriller.” They met the song through the modern discovery machine: fragments, algorithms, playlists, short videos and catalog curiosity.

Jackson’s best-known records have also moved in the same chart cycle. On the latest Hot 100, “Billie Jean” sits at No. 19, “Human Nature” at No. 31 and “Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough” at No. 43. Earlier this spring, six Jackson songs charted simultaneously, a reminder that the current surge is broader than one viral track.

Still, “Chicago” is the record that changes the chart history. It joins “Love Never Felt So Good,” featuring Justin Timberlake, and “Slave to the Rhythm” as Hot 100 entries from “Xscape.” But unlike “Love Never Felt So Good,” which was presented as a major posthumous single, “Chicago” has taken the long way around.

That long route is the point. Catalog used to move in predictable waves: anniversaries, reissues, documentaries, death, scandal, commercials and tribute performances. Those forces still matter. But in the streaming era, a song can wait in the middle of an album for 12 years and become new again because enough people finally hear the same few seconds at the same time.

For Jackson, whose career was built on controlling spectacle, the achievement lands differently. This is not the “Thriller” video changing MTV, the Motown 25 moonwalk resetting television or a blockbuster album forcing the industry to recalculate pop ambition. It is quieter, stranger and more modern: a non-single from the estate era entering chart history through the habits of listeners born long after his imperial run.

That does not make the record bigger than the classics. It makes the catalog harder to contain.

“Chicago” is not the reason Michael Jackson matters. It is proof that the machinery around his music keeps changing, and the music keeps finding its way back into the room.

Roc Nation Partners With Target and D’Ussé for Massive 'Reasonable Doubt' 30th-Anniversary Campaign

Target is celebrating the 30th anniversary of Jay-Z's "Reasonable Doubt" with an exclusive white-vinyl edition. The two-LP set arrives nationwide June 26, anchoring a broader retail and luxury campaign for the 1996 hip-hop classic.

Jay-Z’s “Reasonable Doubt” is entering its 30th anniversary year in a form that says almost as much about his career as the album itself.

Target is listing an exclusive two-LP edition of the 1996 debut for $40, with a June 26 street date. Roc Nation’s official store lists a white vinyl Target exclusive shipping around the same date, while the Jaÿ-Z 30 site lists “Reasonable Doubt” as a two-LP vinyl album tied to Roc-A-Fella Records and the album’s original 1996 release.

The Target listing keeps the original album sequence and adds “Can’t Knock the Hustle (Fool’s Paradise Remix)” featuring Meli’sa Morgan to Side D. The listing also identifies the record label as S Carter Enterprises LLC/Roc Nation Distribution.

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The rollout gives “Reasonable Doubt” a retail footprint far removed from the conditions that produced it. The album arrived June 25, 1996, through Roc-A-Fella Records, after Carter and his partners built their own route around an industry that had not made him a priority.

In a GQ interview published this year, Carter said the fact that Roc-A-Fella released the album at all was “proof enough of concept.” He also said the album moved differently at street level than it did on paper: “On the streets we were platinum.”

That history is what makes the anniversary campaign more than a standard reissue. “Reasonable Doubt” was not a blockbuster on arrival. It was a controlled, expensive-sounding debut about appetite, discipline, guilt, leverage and survival, delivered by a rapper who already sounded as if he was thinking several exits ahead.

The anniversary is also being extended beyond vinyl. D’Ussé Cognac, the brand founded by Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and created at Chateau de Cognac, is marking Jaÿ-Z 30 with a limited-edition VSOP collector’s box set, a Code30 cocktail and activations connected to the Roots Picnic, Carter’s July residency at Yankee Stadium and regional events in cities including Atlanta, Houston, Chicago, Washington, New York and Philadelphia.

“Mr. Shawn Carter’s codes of ambition, craftsmanship, and excellence are woven into the DNA of D’Ussé, and Jaÿ-Z 30 is a powerful reflection of that legacy,” Gigi DaDan, general manager of D’Ussé, said in the company’s announcement.

D’Ussé Cognac’s limited-edition Jaÿ-Z 30 VSOP collector’s box set and the Code30 signature cocktail, part of a nationwide campaign celebrating the 30th anniversary of Jay-Z's “Reasonable Doubt.”

The quote is brand language, but the larger picture is harder to dismiss. “Reasonable Doubt” has become a heritage object — vinyl, commemorative packaging, cocktails, stadium dates, retail placement — without losing the tension that made it matter in the first place.

The album was built around a man studying the distance between risk and ownership. Thirty years later, the anniversary rollout finds that same record moving through the institutions Jay-Z spent his career learning how to enter, use and, when possible, control.

Boosie Badazz Gets $85,000 Bond After Felony Assault Charge in Houston Nightclub Case

Boosie Badazz addresses his felony aggravated assault charge in a video posted to social media after a Harris County judge set an $85,000 walk-through bond in Houston. The Baton Rouge rapper denied wrongdoing after authorities alleged he struck a nightclub security guard with a broken glass hookah base during a Memorial Day weekend incident. (Credit: @boosieig2024/Instagram)

Boosie Badazz’s latest legal fight began inside a Houston nightclub at closing time, when a dispute over a closed restroom allegedly turned into a felony assault case involving a broken glass hookah base and a security guard left bleeding from the head.

The Baton Rouge rapper, whose legal name is Torrence Ivy Hatch Jr., is facing a felony aggravated assault charge in Harris County after authorities said he struck a security guard at a downtown Houston nightclub during Memorial Day weekend.

The alleged incident happened May 24 as security was clearing the club at closing time. According to court records cited by Houston police, security guard Edward Iglehart became involved in a dispute with a female patron who wanted to use the restroom after the club had closed.

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Police said the woman struck Iglehart in the face after he refused to let her into the restroom. TMZ reported that club owners and promoters told police the woman was Boosie’s niece. Boosie’s attorney has described her more generally as a female relative.

As Iglehart escorted the woman out of the club, she dropped some of her belongings, according to court records. Iglehart told police he bent down to pick them up and suddenly felt an object hit the top of his head.

Iglehart said he noticed blood running down his face and turned around to see Boosie holding a broken glass hookah base, according to the court documents. Investigators said another security guard reported hearing glass break, seeing Iglehart bleeding from the head and seeing Boosie holding the broken hookah base while yelling at the injured guard.

Iglehart was taken to St. Joseph Hospital, where he received eight staples for the wound, according to court records.

Boosie appeared in Harris County court Monday morning, where a judge set an $85,000 walk-through bond. His attorney described the arrangement as a bond process that would allow the rapper to avoid being taken back into custody. Conditions reported by Houston media included staying away from the venue and having no contact with the alleged victim.

After the hearing, Boosie addressed the case in a video posted to social media, denying wrongdoing and calling the charge “basically a money grab.”

“It’s what you go through as an entertainer,” Boosie said in the video. “The facts of the case will come out. I’m alright though. Life be lifing, bro.”

His attorney, Carl A. Moore, told TMZ that Boosie was trying to defend a female relative who was being escorted from the club and said the defense was seeking surveillance video from the venue.

“We plan to vigorously investigate and defend Mr. Hatch against these allegations,” Moore told TMZ, adding that he wanted people to reserve judgment while the case plays out in court.

The new charge comes less than five months after Boosie resolved a federal firearm case in California without additional prison time. In January, a federal judge in San Diego sentenced him to three years of supervised release, 300 hours of community service and a $50,000 fine after he pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Boosie also said in his social media video that he contacted his supervision officer about the new charge.

The Houston case adds another legal complication for one of Southern rap’s most outspoken veterans. Boosie has built a career on raw, direct street narratives, but his name has often moved through courtrooms as much as clubs and stages. This time, the question is not only what happened inside the nightclub, but whether surveillance video, witness accounts and court filings will support the version of events that made the case a felony.

Boosie’s next court date is expected in September.