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R. Kelly Will Be Moved To New York City For His Upcoming Sex Trafficking And Racketeering Trial

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R. Kelly has spent more than a year in a Chicago jail awaiting his trial on child pornography and obstruction of justice charges. In addition to that, he’s also waiting on a separate trial for sex trafficking and racketeering charges from a case in Brooklyn, New York. According to AP, it looks like the latter of these two trials will commence this summer as a federal judge gave the green light to have the singer moved to New York in order for it to begin this summer.

The trial for the sex trafficking and racketeering charges was initially supposed to commence in July 2020, but was delayed to April 7, where it was once again pushed back to August 9. During a recent virtual hearing, U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly informed lawyers that courthouse protections were in place to ensure that trial would finally begin this summer. While the date for the move is unknown yet, the singer will most likely be moved to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn later this year.

The singer’s trial will be tried in front of an anonymous jury as Judge Donnelly approved a motion for it at the end of last year. “Empaneling an anonymous jury is appropriate given the seriousness of the charges, the defendant’s history of obstructing the judicial process, the potential for juror intimidation and the intensity of media attention given to this case,” she said. As for Kelly’s child pornography and obstruction trial in Chicago, that is set to begin on September 13.

Shaq Hilariously Tried To Explain The Usher Bucks Controversy On ‘Inside The NBA’

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Earlier this week, Usher found himself trending on Twitter after getting put on blast for throwing fake money with his face on it at a strip club, to the dismay of the dancers. The photos of the “Usher Bucks” as they quickly became known as on social media went viral and caused an awful lot of jokes at Usher’s expense.

The actual story was that Usher had left the bills behind as a gag to promote his upcoming Vegas residency and had indeed been tipping the staff and dancers at the club with actual, legal currency all night. That didn’t stop the jokes, though, and on Thursday night the Usher Bucks scandal made its way to Inside the NBA, where a tweet joking that Charles Barkley’s guarantees are worth about as much as a fake Usher $100. What ensued was some classic Inside banter, with Chuck defending Usher’s honor and then Shaq trying to explain the entire thing as G-rated as he could for the television audience.

Shaq’s use of the “grocery store” in place of strip club was pretty funny and got a good laugh out of the guys, and, honestly, I would much prefer the fellas spend an entire segment trying to explain to Charles Barkley things that went viral on social media each week than, say, debating the merits of big men shooting threes again.

Megan Thee Stallion Shoots A ‘Movie’ In The Strip Club With Lil Durk For Her New Video

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Houston hottie Megan Thee Stallion and Chicago’s son Lil Durk take over the strip club in their new video for “Movie” from Megan’s 2020 debut album, Good News. The concept is rather straightforward; the two rappers perform and throw bills at the dancers while the latter show off their pole skills and twerk amid the piles of money.

“Movie” follows “Cry Baby” with DaBaby, “Body,” and “Don’t Stop” with Young Thug as the fourth single from Good News to get the video treatment. Despite releasing relatively few singles for her debut, Megan has remained visible since its release thanks to collaborations with Ariana Grande (on the “34+35” remix with Doja Cat), Maroon 5 (on “Beautiful Mistakes“), and Bankroll Freddie (on “Pop It“).

Meanwhile, her 2020 collaboration with Cardi B, “WAP,” continues to draw attention as well, prompting over 1,000 FCC complaints from the two rappers’ racy Grammy Awards performance. Megan picked up an award for Best Rap Performance with Beyonce for their remix of Thee Stallion’s 2020 breakout hit “Savage” (becoming the first women to win the award in the process) as well as a Best New Artist award.

Watch Megan Thee Stallion and Lil Durk’s “Movie” video above.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

CJ Fields Jokes About His ‘Whoopty’ Video Sideburns For ‘Behind The Video’

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Staten Island standout CJ wisely keeps the “Whoopty” content coming, breaking down his viral hit’s video for Uproxx in Behind The Video. Surprising practically no one, he admits there was no concept for the video when he shot it and recalls that the shoot was a relatively quick one, taking place on a hot summer’s day. What may be surprising is the content of his behind-the-scenes rider, which consists of mostly water and trail mix — “no Hennessy or Patron or stuff like that,” he says.

When it comes to the comments, a truly astonishing number of them focus on his muttonchop sideburns, drawing comparisons to the X-Men‘s Victor Creed (BKA Sabretooth) and photos of Civil War soldiers. CJ takes the comments in stride, though, accepting the Sabertooth comparison and contending that the sideburns are popular with the ladies. When one commenter notes that “pointing at people is rude,” CJ agrees: “I guess I’m rude,” he chuckles.

The rapper also acknowledges the popularity of drill music in the UK, makes a recommendation for Hot Cheetos dusted elote (roasted corn!), and does little to clear up the question of his ambiguous ethnicity.

Watch the latest episode of Behind The Video above.

CJ is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Ari Lennox And Queen Naija ‘Set Him Up’ In Their Vengeful New Video

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Building on the storyline of their recent collaboration, “Set Him Up,” R&B revivalists Ari Lennox and Queen Naija share the vengeful video for the low-key infidelity call-out. Opening with Ari and Naija calling each other on the phone to talk up their respective new relationships, as the men in question are shot with their faces out of the frame, making the revelation that the “men” are the same man even more visually compelling. In the end, the two singers link up to sing the last third of the song on a couch, which their victim tied up and gagged behind them.

“Set Him Up” arrived on the heels of Ari Lennox’s prior duets with Lucky Daye, “Access Denied,” and Jazmine Sullivan, “On It,” showing off a wide range of topics for the D.C.-born singer to address as she prepares a follow-up for her fan-favorite 2019 debut, Shea Butter Baby. Meanwhile, Naija is a few months removed from the release of her own debut album Missunderstood, which helped legitimize the former YouTube star as a proper artist alongside guest stars like Kiana Ledé, Jacquees, and Lil Durk, who appeared on single “Lie To Me.” The two singers are part of a new wave of sultry, unapologetic R&B singers aiming to bring the genre back to the forefront of pop culture that includes Jhene Aiko, Summer Walker, and more.

Watch the “Set Him Up” video above.

Lil Nas X Drops Some New Meme-Worthy, Satan-Themed ‘Montero’ Merch

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Lil Nas X’s Hell-themed video for “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” has gotten under the skin of some folks, and perhaps nobody is taking more delight in that than Lil Nas X himself. He has long been a master troll and now he has taken it to the next level with some new “Montero” merch: A pair of hilarious text-heavy t-shirts.

One shirt reads, “I [heart] Jesus and that one part in the ‘Montero’ music video by Lil Nas X when he gets nasty with the devil because it was a cool form of self-expression and art.” The other reads, “I WATCHED THE “Montero” VIDEO BY LIL NAS X AND ALL I GOT WITH THIS LOUSY SHIRT AND NOW I’M ALSO GAY AND LOVE SATAN.”

Meanwhile, the rapper recently expressed concern that the song would be removed from streaming services for some reason he didn’t disclose, writing on Twitter that the song “may no longer be available tomorrow and there’s nothing i can really do about it.” Lil Nas X is clearly prone to making jokes on Twitter, but his label later backed up the claim. As of now, the song appears to still be available on streaming services.

Find Lil Nas X’s new merch here.

Rico Nasty Haunts The Suburbs In Her Claymation ‘Check Me Out’ Video

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Since the release of her anticipated debut album Nightmare Vacation, Rico Nasty has stayed busy. She’s already shared a visual component to a handful of the album’s tracks like “OHFR?,” “P**sy Poppin,” and “Let It Out.” But now, she’s called on claymation artists to envision an eerie world for her “Check Me Out” video.

Animated by the studio Open The Portal, the rapper’s “Check Me Out” video sees her armed with Edward Scissorhands-like fingers. She haunts the suburbs, keeping her eye out for her next victim. Rico Nasty eventually stumbles upon a family of wolves, but instead of turning them into a tasty meal, she simply offers her haircutting services.

Ahead of the release of Nightmare Vacation, Rico Nasty sat down with Uproxx to explain how she’s able to easily brush off haters:

“They just always saying something about somebody that’s different, but they still listen to them,” she observes. “It’s just like a new flavor. If I go to a restaurant and they tell me it’s a new dish I never ate before, I’m going to ask questions. ‘What is in this? What’s in this? Where did you make it? How did you make it?’ I’ve never had it before, so I’m going to ask questions. That’s how the audience is. They always ask questions. I feel like they’re never going to be satisfied because there’s no such thing as a perfect human being.”

Watch the “Check Me Out” video above.

Nightmare Vacation is out now via Sugar Trap/Atlantic. Get it here.

Rico Nasty is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Yung Miami Says She Had To ‘Beg’ DJs To Play City Girls’ Songs When JT Went To Prison

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In 2018, City Girls were an intriguing duo on the rise, receiving coveted co-signs from the likes of Quality Control Music and Drake. However, the Miami duo’s hot streak nearly came to an end after JT was locked up for credit card fraud, leaving Yung Miami to carry on performing under the City Girls moniker solo. As Yung Miami tells Megan Thee Stallion in an insightful discussion for Interview magazine, the duo’s public perception was so bad that she had to “beg” DJs to play City Girls’ music at clubs.

“JT went to jail and I used to have to beg the DJs to play our song,” Miami admits. She also had trouble getting her discouraged co-star excited to continue hustling in the rap game. “I used to be like, ‘JT, we got to rap for real.’ They were going up for our songs in the club and she’d be like, ‘B*tch, I’m in jail. I’m not thinking about no f*cking music.’ And I was like, ‘JT, this is our way out. I think we should take this seriously.’”

JT also tells an amusing story about how she spent her advance. “At the time, girl, I was so hood,” she recalls. “I think I gave my ex-boyfriend some money for his lawyer and he still went to jail for a long-ass time. Whew, girl, I hate him. Other than that, I don’t remember. I was just spending money fast. I ain’t going to lie.”

You can read the full interview here.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Russ Navigates A Bad Breakup In His Melancholy ‘Bankrupt’ Video

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In the melancholy video for his new single “Bankrupt,” it looks like Russ could use some relationship counseling — or at least, learn some new coping methods. The video opens with the New Jersey rapper dipping out on a bad date, leaving his girl hanging at a diner. Then, he drives to a nearby motel and proceeds to mope a bit before using the payphone outside to call his ex — a conversation that looks unproductive, at best. Finally, he sets fire to his car, presumably to keep himself from backsliding, although it looks like he’s now stranded in the desert instead.

All jokes aside, it appears that the outspoken advocate for artistic independence has found his groove in recent months, dropping a string of artistic videos ranging from the celebratory “Ugly” to the moody “Misunderstood” and “Hard For Me.” He also recently launched his own strain of cannabis products named for his well-received 2020 EP Chomp. Despite his apparent relationship issues — three breakup videos in a row implies some emotional baggage, for sure — his career has turned out to be “pandemic proof” and his esteem among fans has grown ever since he gained some distance from past social media faux pas. Judging from his revenue from streaming, merch, and other business ventures, he’s far from going bankrupt for the time being.

Watch Russ’s “Bankrupt” video above.

Vince Staples Explains His Reluctance To Call Animal Control To Handle Home Pests

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Vince Staples‘ worldview has been pretty cleared laid out over the course of his short but critically-hailed catalog. But in the midst of a global pandemic, it appears that his worldview is evolving, as he details for comedian and TV show host Desus Nice in a new interview in GQ. The Long Beach rapper reveals that he’s had to revamp his outlook; he’s taking more time off, he reexamining his musical approach, and he’s enjoying being a homeowner.

But there’s one thing that won’t change; his reluctance to call the police, which even extends to his home pest problems. As he explains through a hilarious anecdote:

It’d be animals outside, and I didn’t think of that. When I bought a house, I got a yard. And something wanna live in it, and you’re going to have to get it out. And with me, it’s like, “All right. You mind your business, I’ll mind my business.” But the animals be getting a little too close to the house sometimes. You know what I mean? I remember there was like a giant rodent. I don’t even know what it was, but it was by the south side, by the garage. I just had to leave it there. And man, I kept calling people to try to take it out of there for like five, seven hours.

And then they told me to call animal control, and animal control is controlled by the police department. And Black people feel a way about calling the police to the house. I was scared the whole time. That was my personal hiccup as a homeowner. Eventually, they came to the house to remove the rodent; they was cool. But I was like, “Man, I don’t know if I want you all to come over here and be looking at me like, ‘Oh, look at this n****; he can’t get a rodent out of this house.’” I got to stand strong.

Of course, the real punchline is: Long Beach’s Animal control is actually under the parks department.

Elsewhere in the interview, Vince details the difference between online console gaming communities, things he’s learned from rap mentors like Snoop Dogg and Nipsey Hussle, and shares a few of his comeback plans, which include a Netflix television show and a new album titled Ramona Park Broke My Heart. You can read the full interview here.