This week in Hip Hop, Cardi B caught heat for her drug-and-rob past. Also, Tekashi 6ix9ine‘s ex-manager Shotti pled guilty on two federal counts and lastly, Chicago prosecutors dropped all charges against former Empire actor Jussie Smollett.
Cardi B’s Robbing Past Comes Back To Bite
Cardi B’s admittance to drugging and robbing men in her past has caused a frenzy of criticism against the “Bodak Yellow” star.
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She offered the little known information as a way for others to understand that she came from the bottom and deserves her success.
“Niggas must’ve forgot, my nigga, the shit that I did to muthafuckin’ survive,” she said on Instagram live. “I had to go strip. I had to go, ‘Oh yeah, you wanna fuck me? Yeah yeah yeah, let’s go back to this hotel.’ And I drugged niggas up and I robbed them.”
Many took her confession as admitting to not only drugging and robbing men who wanted sex in exchange for money, but raping them as well — even though the act of sex was never mentioned. This consequently drew comparisons to Bill Cosby and R. Kelly. Rick Ross came to her defense however and caught a heap of backlash.
Cardi later apologized for the things she did in her past and said she was not trying to glorify it during her Instagram livestream.
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“I never even put those things in my music because I’m not proud of it and feel a responsibility not to glorify it. I made the choices that I did at the time because I had very limited options. I was blessed to have been able to rise from that but so many women have not,” she said in an Instagram post.
Read more about Cardi B drugging and robbing men in her past here.
Tekashi’s Former Manager Shotti Takes A Plea Deal
On Thursday (March 28), Tekashi 6ix9ine’s ex-manager Kifano “Shotti” Jordan pled guilty to federal charges for “using and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence” and “discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.”
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Both charges relate to an April 3, 2018 assault in Manhattan and a shooting in Brooklyn on April 21, 2018.
Jordan, who has called Tekashi 6ix9ine and “ungrateful rat” for snitching, is looking at a mandatory minimum sentence of five to ten years in federal lockup.
Since Jordan took a plea deal, it’s speculated that Tekashi will do little jail time, if any.
Read more about Shotti’s sentencing here.
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Chicago Authorities Drop Charges Against Jussie Smollett
On Tuesday morning (March 26), Chicago prosecutors decided to drop all charges against Jussie Smollett in the case of him allegedly staging his own hate crime and paying two Nigerian brothers to help.
Smollett’s attorneys Tina Glandian and Patricia Brown Holmes released a statement calling him a victim. Jussie was prepared to go to trial and come out victorious.
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“He was a victim who was vilified and made to appear as a perpetrator as a result of false and inappropriate remarks made to the public, causing an inappropriate rush to judgment,” the statement reads.
After his exoneration, the cast ofEmpire was divided on their feelings about the outcome of his case and the Chicago Police Department came under fire.
Chris Rock recently turned the fiasco into a joke at the NAACP Awards.
Read more about Jussie Smollett’s case here.
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DX Reviews
– 42 Dugg — Young & Turnt
– Euro Gotit — Foreign Exchange
– Wyclef Jean — Wyclef Goes Back To School
– Privaledge — Reality
– Rich The Kid — The World Is Yours 2
#DXCLUSIVES: Dee Barnes, Kimora Lee Simmons & Pounds
Dee Barnes Needs Hip Hop’s Help: “I Am Officially Homeless”
Dee Barnes became the first woman Hip Hop journalist to host her own show Pump It Up! in 1989 and now, she’s homeless so she started a GoFundMe campaign to get back on her feet.
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“What made me finally say enough I’m going to ask for help is that quote, ‘You can overcome anything in life, but you must first be willing to live in your truth,” she told HipHopDX in an exclusive interview. “I realized that I had come too far and had been through too much to just give up without trying.”
Read the full Dee Barnes interview here.
Kimora Lee Simmons On Baby Phat Relaunch: “The Stars Really Aligned On This One
Kimora Lee Simmons is relaunching Baby Phat and spoke to HipHopDX about why she chose to revamp the nostalgic urban wear house.
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“Bringing back Baby Phat in a meaningful way has been a dream of mine for years,” Simmons told DX. “Sometimes the timing of things just aligns perfectly. My girls, Ming Lee and Aoki Lee, are 19 and 16 years old now and want to be a part of what truly is our family business. The stars really aligned on this one.”
Read the full Kimora Lee Simmons interview here.
Pounds Recalls First Time Meeting Smoke DZA: “We Smoked 3 Dozen Blunts”
In an exclusive interview with HipHopDX, rapper and producer Pounds shared what happened when he first met Smoke DZA.
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“I met DZA on some street shit through mutual friends,” Pounds told us. “We smoked about three dozen blunts, and shit just clicked. I didn’t realize we would end up putting it together in the studio, but we did — and Two Packs is out now.”
Read the full Pounds interview here.
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