halfway house

Big Meech To Serve Five Years Of Supervised Release After Halfway House

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Big Meech recently saw his early freedom, albeit a partial one. For those unaware, he must now serve the rest of his sentence at a halfway house until January 27, 2026 after serving around two decades behind bars. However, according to a new TMZ report, the former drug boss and hip-hop label kingpin must also serve five years of supervised release once this halfway house sentence ends. He will reportedly have to take part in a substance abuse program, although it’s unclear if the court also required him to comply with drug and alcohol testing. Amid these updates, folks everywhere are commenting on the former Black Mafia Family (BMF) leader’s release and celebrating it.

Big Meech’s son Lil Meech has yet to explicitly react to the news, but he did share a throwback photo of his dad this week via his Instagram Story. “We don’t lose friends, we learn who our real ones are,” he wrote on his IG Story immediately following the picture. “Real isn’t about what you have. It’s what you stand for. Some people become loners because they were betrayed by every person they ever trusted.”

Read More: Big Meech Is Back Home: Everything We Know About The BMF Co-Founder’s Reported Prison Release

Big Meech & Lil Meech In 2003

Elsewhere, the hip-hop world welcomed Big Meech back with open arms. “The streets back. Meech home. Meech welcome back,” Rick Ross recently shared on social media. “Guess who’s back! Welcome home my brother Big Meech! Now let’s see if all them YouTube stories yall been telling add up!” Bun B expressed online. “Where da welcome home party @ I’m trona perform for da freeski,” Sexyy Red asked via Twitter, although we’re still unclear on whether or not these celebrations are even happening at Meech’s behest.

“[Big Meech] used his time in prison to focus on personal growth and transformation, and now he has the opportunity to begin a new chapter,” his lawyer Brittany K. Barnett stated to Hot 97. Of course, there’s still a lot of debate around how people are celebrating his freedom despite past crimes, and whether or not this is justifiable. No matter where you stand on that debate, you can at least understand why the other side would differ. Either way, it seems like Meech still has a to-do list when it comes to his legal responsibilities.

Read More: BMF: A History Of The Black Mafia Family

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Big Meech’s Prison Release Prompts Celebratory Reactions All Over Social Media

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This week, reports emerged that Big Meech was finally out of prison, and from Sexyy Red to Slim Thug, many in the hip-hop world reacted happily to this news. For those unaware, Meech (real name Demetrius Flenory) and his brother Southwest T (real name Terry Lee Flenory) ran the “Black Mafia Family,” a massive drug trafficking organization, from the ’80s to the mid-2000s. Before the indictment against them in 2005, they also operated as a rap label that formed strong ties to the culture. Both brothers received a 30-year prison sentence, for which T saw an early release from federal prison in 2020.

Furthermore, you may also know the story of Big Meech from the 50 Cent-helmed BMF TV series starring Meech’s son as his father. But back to the big news at hand. Meech reportedly no longer appears in Federal Bureau of Prisons’ database for incarcerated individuals, a matter that TMZ confirmed with the Bureau this week. Instead, Demetrius Flenory will serve the rest of his prison sentence at a halfway house in Miami. As for when this sentence will end, the reported official release date is currently indicated as January 27, 2026. “Guess who’s back! Welcome home my brother Big Meech! Now let’s see if all them YouTube stories yall been telling add up!” Bun B shared on IG.

Read More: BMF: A History Of The Black Mafia Family

Sexyy Red Reacts To Big Meech’s Release

Of course, if you’ve been following the story of Big Meech in recent years, then this news probably did not surprise you. After all, even Lil Meech spoke on the possibility that his father would see his freedom sooner rather than later, as this process developed over months and months of legal procedures. Now, that possibility fully manifested, or at least, in the sense that the former drug lord is no longer in federal prison. Still, this is a relatively early story, so we’ll see what other clarifications and updates emerge. Check out more reactions to his release from the hip-hop world and beyond down below.

More Reactions

 
 
 
 
 
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Meanwhile, even Skilla Baby “predicted” this news back in April with his single “Free Big Meech.” Maybe when we look back at this whole development, the signs of an earlier release will become much more apparent. But that doesn’t mean that this isn’t still heartening news for Meech’s family and loved ones.

Read More: BMF’s Bleu DaVinci Explains Big Meech’s Role In Gucci Mane & Jeezy’s Deadly Beef

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Ralo Officially Released From Halfway House

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Ralo is now a free man, as he recently shared an update on his legal situation with fans on Instagram on Thursday (June 27). Moreover, he posted a photo of a federal release notice form indicating that he was officially free from his stay at a halfway house (which lasted eight months) that same day. The Atlanta rapper and YSL sympathizer, according to this revealed paperwork, will also face five years of probation following this release. “Today the last day of this federal halfway house s**t, I’m signing my papers we finna be outside…” he captioned his post. “#FukPrison #Fuk12 I’m ready to do my interviews, my shows call Johnnie (404) 798-0197.”

For those unaware, Ralo saw a prison release in November of last year following a five-year prison sentence. Back in 2018, authorities arrested him after allegedly discovering $1 million worth of marijuana on his private plane at an Atlanta airport, and in June of 2022, he received an eight-year prison sentence. The judge credited this with four years of time served and, reportedly, with “one and a half year for good time,” according to the Thugger affiliate. Since then, he stayed at the halfway house in Atlanta until just this week.

Read More: Ralo Net Worth 2024: Updated Wealth Of The Hip Hop Star

Ralo Announces His Freedom

In addition, Ralo also released some singles following his prison release, including a “First Day Out” and a couple of other collaborations. We don’t know what’s left in store for the future, but either way, fans are very happy with this development and are sending their best wishes. Unfortunately, this freedom also involved some bumps along the road, including a bizarre social media suspension shortly after its lawful commencement. Presumably, this had something to do with his post-release terms restricting fan engagement.

Meanwhile, the rap game welcomed Ralo back with open arms, as folks like Lil Baby treated him to “welcome home” gifts like a $50K watch. It’s been heartening to see, and though the process hasn’t been perfect, that’s an increasingly rare luxury. Hopefully the rest of his return to the regular world goes by without many hiccups. We’ll see what this halfway house release provides in the future.

Read More: Ralo Says He’s Got No Beefs In The Rap Game, Thanks Those Who Supported Him Behind Bars

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Joe Budden’s “Halfway House” Turns 15

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This month marks the 15th anniversary of Joe Budden’s third studio album, Halfway House. It was released on October 28, 2008, via Amalgam Digital. The album was the first installment of a trilogy consisting of Padded Room and Escape Route, Budden’s fourth and fifth albums, respectively. Halfway House was the music industry’s first digital-only hip hop release. At the time, it was a groundbreaking tactic as entirely digital albums have become an industry standard.

Halfway House was also Budden’s first album to enter the Billboard 200 chart in five years since his Def Jam debut. It was his first independent release to do so. An independent project with a unique release strategy and a career-altering posse cut, the rapper-turned-podcaster’s third album solidified his lane. Today, we revisit Joe Budden’s Halfway House for its 15th anniversary.

Joe Budden’s Independent Grind

Following his departure from Def Jam in 2007 and his classic Mood Muzik mixtape series, Joe Budden signed with the Boston-based independent record label Amalgam Digital. His first offering for the label was a 2008 re-release of Mood Muzik 3: For Better or For Worse. The reissue, Mood Muzik 3: The Album, became his second official full-length album. It culminated Budden’s prolific mixtape run that deviated from the radio-friendly sounds of his major label debut. The Mood Muzik series introduced fans to the darker, rugged, and more vulnerable side that built him a devout fanbase.

That same year, Joe Budden released Halfway House, an album that consisted of bar-heavy lyricism like his acclaimed mixtape series. He also found his groove as an independent artist. Songs like “On My Grind” and “Go To Hell” displayed the Budden’s charismatic hunger. Halfway House notably marked a shift in Joe Budden’s career as he set out to conquer the independent space within hip hop’s blog era. 

The Birth Of Slaughterhouse

The most significant moment of Halfway House is the song “Slaughterhouse.” The 7-minute posse cut saw Joe Budden team up with Royce Da 5’9”, KXNG Crooked, and Joell Ortiz for the very first time. Also featured on the song was Brooklyn rapper Nino Bless. With the exception of Bless, “Slaughterhouse” gave birth to the supergroup of the same name. A major moment for the culture, the four respected lyricists with their own cult followings joined forces to become a hip hop powerhouse. Following their union on Halfway House, the group released their debut album the following year. They eventually signed with Shady Records and released 2012’s Welcome to: Our House. 

While the group ultimately dissolved over time after various label struggles and Joe Budden’s retirement from rap, Slaughterhouse is still remembered by hardcore hip hop heads as a special collaboration. The birth of Slaughterhouse on Halfway House altered the trajectory of each member’s career. They became a force to be reckoned with the help of Eminem, signifying the Shady 2.0 era. Looking back, Halfway House was a significant moment for Joe Budden’s career as an independent artist, as well as the formation of Slaughterhouse. It set the tone for the next phases of both his solo and collaborative journeys. 

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