Rapper Lupe Fiasco’s associate Charles “Chilly” Patton with whom he owns the record label 1st & 15th was sentenced to 44 years on a drug charge by Judge Dennis Porter. Lupe Fiasco “Wasalu Muhammad Jaco” denies any involvement, although recorded conversations of Patton and Fiasco discussed splitting up “whole yellow” and “whole red ones.” The rapper stated that they were talking about the mixing and prepping of music tracks, while a witness testified that the colors referred to $10 packets of heroin.
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Friday night, June 1st Darrin Dean CEO of Ruff Ryder Records was arrested for possession of 1 ½ kilos of cocaine and a .45 caliber. Apparently Dean and the driver of the Chevrolet van, Jerry Gilbert were pulled over by Palisades Parkway Police for a busted tail light. The two were leaving Dean’s house when they were stopped. Police found a trapped door in the van and that is where they found the illegal substance and handgun. Bail was posted at 342,000 before Dean and Jerry could be released from the Bersen County Jail.
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Only a few short days ago, Atlanta based rapper Diamond Princess “Brittany Nicole Carpentero”, 19, was arrested around the time of her birthday. The rapper was arrested on aggravated assault charges due to a young woman getting stabbed on the group’s tour bus over a man. The rapper reportedly was arguing with the woman over the man when an associate of Diamond instigated and stabbed the girl. Sources state that the rapper is a victim of mistaken identity.

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Rapper Eve “Eve Jihan Jeffers” has been officially charged with “DUI” driving under the influence and failing to provide proof of insurance, after a late night car accident in Los Angeles on last week. The Ruff Ryder rapper was arrested after she crashed her gold Maserati into the center divider on Hollywood Blvd. around 2:45 AM in the morning. According to police officials her blood alcohol was almost twice the legal limit in LA.

The female rapper is due back in court on May 17 and she could face a minimum $1,000 fine and a maximum of six months in jail according to sources.

Eve is expected to release her upcoming album in August 2007 entitled “Here I Am”

Watch the video.

This past Monday, New York Post reported that Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson was ordered to pay child support for his 10 year-old son Marquise Diamond Jackson. The G-Unit rapper/CEO was ordered to immediately pay a sum of $10,000 immediately to Shaniqua Tompkins to support the rapper’s son after failing to provide funds during the upbringing of the child.

Shaniqua Tompkins was awarded the sum of $15,000 by Support Magistrate Aletha V. Fields-Ferraro for monthly expenses based on a number of factors determined by the courts.

According to additional reports 50 Cent filed with the Family Court in February to avoid being demanded outrageous requests from his former girlfriend.

The rapper is expected to be back in court June 11 for the case.

According to reports rapper The Game “Jayceon Taylor” plead not guilty for pretending to be an under cover police officer after leaving the David Letterman night show on Nov. 15th, 2006. The rapper ordered a driver to speed through red lights which ended with the police pulling over the vehicle.

The Game’s attorney Jeffrey Lichtman has stated that the charges that were filed against his client are false and that The Game is one of many rappers that have been victimized and harassed by police officers.

“The police are harassing him,” said the rapper’s lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman. “They don’t even have a witness – no supporting deposition. It will be a slam-dunk acquittal or dismissal, it’s up to the D.A.

“They offered us time served today and I didn’t even lift my head to respond. It’s an embarrassment for them. The cops follow him from the moment he lands to the moment he leaves. A limo driver freaked out, that’s it. They are harassing him, but there will be some harassment going the other way at the trial.”

Rapper Busta Rhymes “Trevor Smith”, 34, has been ordered to pay $100,000 dollars to a fan who claimed the rapper attacked him in New York in 2005.

Melvin Smith’s lawyer presented to the judge that Busta Rhymes and his bodyguard Troy Green attacked his client which required him to need stitches for a wound below his eye. Busta Rhymes and his bodyguard allegedly beat him after he asked for an autograph. Melvin Smith’s lawyer stated that Rhymes had been served with the fine after repeatedly ignoring the law suit filed against him.

Bruce Regenstreich says, “We served Busta Rhymes in every location that we had for him. He just ignored the summonses.”

Busta Rhymes’ bodyguard Troy Green was charged criminally over the incident, however Busta Rhymes was not.

The hip-hop rap star also spent time in police custody earlier this week after a former employee claimed to have been assaulted by him when he came to collect his payment.

Should rappers feel emasculated due to more and more prosecutors are using the lyrics rappers write against them? Recently a 23 year-old young man named Ronell Wilson “Rated R” in New York was arrested on suspected murder of two undercover police officers. During the initial arrest police found his pockets stuffed with lyrics with rhymes telling his counterparts to wear bullet-proof vests if they dare wanted to challenge him as well a line that said that he would leave .45-caliber slugs in their heads.

Prosecutors feel they have struck gold with his lyrics and if the jury convicts Ronell Wilson on Wednesday he would face a possible death sentence.

According to CNN prosecutors have used rap lyrics to help establish motives and shed light on defendants’ characters. Some have brought up the lyrics only during sentencing. Does being a rapper and writer suspense raps reflect who you are as a person? Are rappers the characters that they portray when they rap or is it just as if he was an author of a thriller book or a movie director? Will prosecutors begin to prosecute movie directors. Movies, television, dvd’s and cable promote and profit off of drug, sex and violence daily, yet if an actor was to be arrested he’s not judge over the movie role that he plays. What is it such a trend to judge a music entertainer this way? Some consider this as a prejudice and discrimination.

Reports go on to state that a Philadelphia defense attorney Michael Coard, who also teaches a class on hip hop at Temple University, stated that attempting to use rap as a window into a defendant’s mind is especially problematic, given rap’s tradition of overtly ridiculous braggadocio.

“It’s about boasting. It’s about exaggerating. … It’s about acting,” he said. “If Robert De Niro, or Al Pacino or Marlon Brando are charged with shooting somebody, are they going to be playing clips from `The Godfather’ in court?”

When rapper Project Pat was convicted on carrying a concealed weapon in his car, his lyrics where thrown at him. Rapper Beanie Sigel was also sentenced on gun charges in Philadelphia when a federal prosecutor used his lyrics against him.

Some defense attorneys fear that prosecutors will begin to use lyrics against rappers making a trend that could grow in order to make a defendant look bad in front of a middle-class jury and prosecutors could introduce role-playing violent, curse-filled verses against any entertainer. This could lead to unfairness against any who play a role in the music/entertainment business thereby affecting the Industry.

Rage on the road took its toll on Rapper Styles P “David Styles” after being hit by a 50 year-old truck driver named John Henson last Saturday afternoon on Saw Mill River Road in Greenburgh, N.Y. The rapper suffered a broken leg after a reported road rage incident.

The 32 year-old rapper was reported to have stated, according to WABC-TV, that he was cut off by a truck where he later cut the same truck off, and left his car to throw napkins at the truck window. When he proceeded to get back into his car, John Henson struck him with his truck.

Styles P. was taken to Westchester Medical Center for treatment for his injury.

As for the truck driver, he has been charged with second-degree assault. John Henson told police that he wasn’t aware that he was to blame for cutting off Styles P’s car and that he was “in fear for his safety” when Styles got back into his car after throwing the napkins.

Recently, PETA and the Humane Society called out P. Diddy for the sales of his infamous Sean John Hooded Snorkel Jacket made with raccoon dog fur labeled as faux by retailers which was sold at places such as Macy’s. Yes, raccoon dog fur. The information was posted on the Humane Society of the United States’ website. The HSUS has posted that it was advertised as having an “imitation rabbit fur collar” and materials.

“I was completely unaware of the nature of this material, but as soon as we were alerted, the garments were pulled off the Macy’s floor and Website,” Diddy said in a statement released by publicist Hampton Carney. “I have instructed our outerwear licensee to cease the production of any garments using this material immediately. I appreciate the tireless work that the Humane Society does and would like to thank them for bringing attention to this issue.”

According to HSUS, Sean “P. Diddy” Combs’ couture violated the Fur Products Labeling Act, which prohibits the advertising or sale of any fur product that is falsely or misleadingly labeled and could lead the Federal Trade Commission to impose criminal penalties such as fines of up to $5,000 per violation and the seizure of products.

Macy’s has been stated to have pulled the Sean John garments from its department stores and online shop, but the HSUS is not only calling out Diddy, but other designers and retailers to stop using and selling fur trim altogether.

Other reports state that more than eight other fur-lined garments from the likes of Baby Phat, Calvin Klein and others sold by such retailers as JCPenney, Burlington Coat Factory, Bloomingdale’s and Saks Fifth Avenue were also tested and found to have contained raccoon dog fur.

The President and CEO of HSUS, Wayne Pacell, is blaming not just the retailers, but also the designers for not closely paying attention to what type of fur trim they are selling.

“It’s especially problematic when the fur is sourced from China, where domestic dogs and cats and raccoon dogs are killed in gruesome ways, even skinned alive.”

Since China has no animal welfare laws, animals such as dogs, cats and raccoon dogs are used for whatever means, killed horrificly and usually skinned.

Any viewer of the following video would be stunned in amazement at how much tourture these poor animals are put into for the skinning of their fur. Many of these animals are still alive even after they are skinned and due to shock and pain they die.

Should the US stop any fur-like lined garment from being imported from China or should these designers and retailers be punished for the distribution of these garments?

Video: Footage by Swiss Animal Protection of raccoon dog killing in China. (Warning: Extremely Graphic)