Free Republic

50 Cent has avoided jail time for allegedly kicking the mother of one of his children in a dispute dating back to June, TMZ is reporting. In a deal worked out by his lawyers that removes a serious domestic violence charge, the real-life Curtis Jackson has agreed to plead no contest to one count of misdemeanor vandalism and was sentenced on Monday to three years probation. He must complete 30 days of community service and attend counseling, as well as pay $7,100 in restitution to Daphne Narvarez, the mother of his second child. The former couple got into a fight...

Ich kann gar nicht so viel fressen, wie ich kotzen moechte: I can’t eat enough to puke as much as I want to. The words of the great German-Jewish painter Max Liebermann as he watched the Nazis march through the Brandenburg Gate came to mind as I saw Ron Howard’s Showtime documentary about Jay Z’s 2012 “Made in America” festival. We’ve seen this all before: the emotive orator with a twisted face evoking surge of rage from a mass audience that responds with rhythmic arm gestures. I'm late to the party to be sure: This is the face of American...

Sean “Diddy” Combs’ new Revolt channel launched with a nod to big dreams and its founder’s musical past, bringing a new outlet for music to television. Despite some technical glitches in its opening Monday, Combs aspires to nothing less than making Revolt the ESPN of music, with well-curated playlists and a strong focus on industry news. “I want to know, who is Taylor Swift?” Combs said. “Why is Miley Cyrus twerking? Why did Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake go on tour? Why did Kanye West call his daughter ‘North’? The industry of music is just as important, or more important, as...

'Yeezus' MC: "Anytime the word 'Jesus' can be used more in our lives, it's a good thing."The opening night of Kanye West's Yeezus tour featured a highly unexpected cameo: Jesus Christ. Or, at least, a dude dressed as "White Jesus," as SPIN reviewer Douglas Wolk wrote. Like most things Yeezy does — I.E. rent an entire baseball stadium in order to propose to Kim Kardashian — the move quickly proved to be a conversation-starter. What's odd about this one is how ready and willing he was to personally join said conversation. In back-to-back interviews with San Francisco Bay Area rap...

After some tumultuous years in transition, the Hiphop Archive is firmly settled back at Harvard. And it’s about to raise its profile significantly, with a new fellowship named for the rapper Nas, a widely recognized leader of hip-hop’s “knowledge is power” movement.

A German rapper who converted to Islam and joined jihadist rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad has been injured in an air strike, a jihadist group said on Monday. The jihadist, formerly known as Deso Dogg, was hiding at an anti-regime fighter's house that "was hit by an air strike and helicopter shelling", said a statement posted on Facebook by a group that identified itself as the People of Abraham. As a result of the strikes, Deso Dogg or "Abu Talha al-Almani and several other brothers were injured, while several Muslim children were killed", the statement said.

Weapons charges have been filed against three men caught handling real guns while filming of a rap video on the South Side, according to police. The three were among eight people arrested by police around 3 p.m. Tuesday in the 7400 block of South Eggleston Avenue in the Englewood neighborhood. The other five do not face felony charges. Police said the group was filming a rap music video in the backyard of a home when officers made the arrests.

The UK Daily Mail has already reported that “The three boys alleged to have gunned down an Australian baseball player out for a run because they were ‘bored’ were influenced by an ultra-violent rapper.” Specifically, “rather than being part of any gang, which had been suggested before, authorities believe the boys were just wannabes who were emulating the thuggish beliefs of their idols, with Chief Keef being prime suspect.” The Chicago Sun-Times posted a similar story. It turns out that Kenan Kinard, the unapprehended suspect in the murder of 89 year-old World War II veteran Delbert Belton in Spokane, Washington,...

I listen to rap. I grew up listening to rap. Since I was old enough to enjoy music, rap has been one of my favorite genres. It remains so to this day. I'm not just talking about mainstream or party-mix rap. I am talking about hard-core rap, underground rap, and rap performed by artists that nine out of ten rap fans have never heard of. So given that I am a genuine rap aficionado, how can it be that I largely agree with liberals like the late anti-rap activist Delores Tucker and conservatives like Bill O'Reilly who argue that rap...

The Hip Hop Caucus works nationally, in part, to organize youth around social issues that impact their lives so it was natural that Hip Hop artists and the Caucus raised their voices in a unified response to Trayvon Martin’s death and the acquittal of George Zimmerman, his killer. The group and some artists are working on critical next steps in the movement for justice for the Florida teen, after a nearly all-White jury of six women freed Mr. Zimmerman in mid-July. Their agenda focuses on policy and legal strategies and street mobilizations, including supporting the August 24, 50th Anniversary March...

50 Cent, born Curtis Jackson, pleaded not guilty Monday in Los Angeles on domestic violence charges filed by his ex Daphne Narvaez. The video of the court proceedings, obtained by ABC News, shows Judge Bernard Kamins reading Jackson, 38, the criminal protective order, which becomes active in domestic violence cases. His next court date was set for Sept. 4. “The defendant, that’s Curtis Jackson, not harass, strike, threaten, assault, sexually or otherwise, follow, stalk, molest , destroy or damage personal or real property, disturb the peace, keep under surveillance, or block the movements of the protected persons named above,” Kamins...

Bill O’Reilly’s remarks on race last week drew heavy criticism from Chris Hayes, Bill Maher, Al Sharpton, Larry Wilmore, and more, but one unlikely person is agreeing with him: CNN host Don Lemon. Lemon addressed the wounds inflicted by black males onto their community on his “No Talking Points” segment Saturday afternoon, saying he was able to bring this up now that the George Zimmerman trial had concluded. Before the verdict, right wing media had consistently asked why the “liberal media” was fixating on Trayvon Martin while ignoring rampant black-on-black violence, a “deflection,” in Lemon’s words, from the injustices of...

In the wake of the George Zimmerman verdict, P. Diddy, Big Boi, Nicki Minaj, Busta Rhymes and countless other rappers are blasting America as racist or worse. Rapper Lupe Fiasco is taking a very different tack. He suggests, first, that there is reasonable doubt about what happened between George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin. He notes that most perpetrators of violent crime against black people are themselves black. The true enemy of black Americans is not the George Zimmermans of the world, he argues, but “complacency and cowardice” in the black community. Unsurprisingly, this didn’t go down well with some Twitter...

Police in north Louisiana say a 36-year-old man is accused of killing the 18-year-old rapper known as Lil Snupe in an argument that broke out during a video game at a friend's apartment.

South Beach is synonymous with fun, and that experience has drawn tens of thousands to Miami Beach every Memorial Day holiday for Urban Beach Weekend. At a planning meeting Monday, officials said police will be right alongside beachgoers to ensure a safe celebration this year. "We do want everyone to come and have a good time," said Max Sklar, director of Miami Beach's Tourism, Culture & Economic Development office. "Follow the laws and have a good time, and we would say that on any other weekend." Miami Beach Police plan to close Ocean Drive all holiday weekend, and revive a...

Jay Harris, Downingtown East’s star wide receiver, said he phoned a Michigan State assistant two weeks ago and broke the news. He would not be a Spartan. “I wish we could’ve got you,” Harris said the coach told him. It was not a rival program that drew Harris, but instead a different career path. The 5-foot-11, 162-pound senior said he wants to make it as a rapper.

PepsiCo is bowing to public pressure for the second time in a week and cutting ties with Lil Wayne over the rapper's crude lyrical reference to civil rights martyr Emmett Till... The black teen from Chicago was in Mississippi visiting family in 1955 when he was killed, allegedly for whistling at a white woman. He was beaten, had his eyes gouged out and was shot in the head before his assailants tied a cotton gin fan to his body with barbed wire and tossed it into a river

Rapper-turned-reggae artist Snoop Lion shared his new approach to life Monday in an essay for an unlikely source. Snoop Doggy Dogg/Dogg/Lion —whose given name is actually Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. —is playing editor over at the Wall Street Journal‘s Speakeasy blog today, where he blogged about his transition to Snoop Lion and assigned a story about how sports keep teens in line.

Reebok has ended its relationship with Rick Ross following heavy criticism of lyrics by the rapper considered by some to be pro-rape.

Brad Paisley’s new album Wheelhouse isn’t even in stores yet (it’s set for release tomorrow), but already one of the songs is causing controversy for its lyrics that attempt to address racial tensions in the South. Called “Accidental Racist,” the song appears aimed at helping to bridge misunderstandings. The song starts out with a guy apologizing for the Confederate flag on his T-shirt to a a worker he encountered at the local Starbucks. As his protagonist sings, “when I put on that T-shirt, the only thing I meant to say, is I’m a Skynyrd fan.” “I’m proud of where I’m...