Pop Culture

Twitter Reacts To Rumor Of “Not Guilty” Tory Lanez Verdict

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With testimonies and closing statements bringing Tory Lanez’s trial to a close, many have been awaiting the jury’s verdict. On Thursday afternoon, word began circulating that the Toronto rapper was found not guilty with several outlets reporting it, though it has been found to be untrue.

According to legal reporter Meghann Cuniff, confusion likely stemmed from reporters handing out a verdict form, though the jury had two separate pages that read both guilty and not guilty.

“Reporters are passing around the verdict form in the hallway,” she said on Twitter. “I think there’s confusion online because people see the top of one page and think that’s it, but jury has two pages for each charge: One for not guilty and one for guilty. This is the assault charge. No verdict yet.”

READ MORE: Tory Lanez Will Not Testify, Verdict Could Arrive This Week: Report

Cuniff also revealed that the jury will continue their deliberations on Friday morning, making it likely that an actual verdict will be announced shortly after.

“The jury in Tory Lanez’s trial is coming back tomorrow at 9 a.m. for continued deliberations,” she also shared on Twitter, giving the public an update on the high-profile case.

Believing that the “Say It” rapper was found not guilty, many took to Twitter to share their thoughts following the rumor taking off. 

“Tory Lanez found not guilty. People are about to have a conniption,” one user wrote.

Another shared, “Tory lanez not guilty. Is the black man hate train up & running yet?”

“Tory Lanez found Not guilty,” someone else tweeted, adding “Let WW3 begin.”

Check back in with HotNewHipHop for updates on the upcoming verdict.

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Wiz Khalifa Says He Wants To Face Lil Wayne In A Verzuz Battle

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Wiz Khalifa has been a staple in the hip-hop game for over a decade now.

At this point, he’s stacked up quite the impressive discography sprawling across countless mixtapes, albums and collab projects.

Wiz Khalifa performs onstage during “Vinyl Verse Summer” tour at Cellairis Amphitheatre. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images)

During a recent interview with Superstar Jay, he discloses who he would want to face in a Verzuz battle. “Wayne. I think that would be fun, ’cause Wayne’s a really dope performer. So it’s like, me and him going back and forth performing bangers, that sh*t [would] be hard. And we both smoke hella weed. I think that would be more like a concert than a Verzuz,” he quickly replied to the question.

Both artists certainly have their own fair share of hits throughout their decorated discographies. Both Wiz and Weezy have yet to participate in a Verzuz battle as the main performer, so maybe this could become a reality.

The duo did, however, both make appearances in the legendary face-off between Three 6 Mafia and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony last year.

Earlier this year, the Pittsburgh native dropped off his seventh studio album, Multiverse. With features from Girl Talk and THEY., the 17-track project continues Wiz’s legacy as one of the game’s most consistent rappers.

In fact, this was his third full-length release of 2022. He started the year off by dropping another collab album with Juicy J, Stoner’s Night in February.

His second album of the year arrived just two months later in the form of a collab album with Big K.R.I.T. and Girl Talk, Full Court Press.

Earlier this month, he appeared on the official remix of Fetty Wap’s new hit, “Sweet Yamz.” Obviously, the 35-year-old is showing no signs of slowing down.

Who do you think would win if this battle were to actually go down? Sound off in the comments down below and make sure to stay tuned to HNHH for the latest hip-hop updates.

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New Pop-Up Museum Set To Honor Young Dolph

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It’s been just over a year since Memphis rapper Young Dolph’s tragic murder in his hometown.

Although the hip-hop community is continuing to mourn the loss of one of Southern rap’s most prolific stars, there’s some good news for Dolph fans.

Rapper Young Dolph backstage during day 1 of 2021 ONE Musicfest at Centennial Olympic Park. (Photo by Prince Williams/Wireimage)

The late rapper is set to be honored in the form of a museum called the “Dolphland Pop-up Museum Tour.” The announcement was made by his estate, his record label (Paper Route Empire) and the Trap Music Museum on Wednesday (December 21).

The exhibition will reportedly include both personal items from the Memphis native, as well as curated art. Furthermore, the focus is to reflect Dolph’s “unforgettable lyricism, personality, entrepreneurial spirit, philanthropy and historic moments from his legendary career.”

“The goal of the pop-up museum is to showcase the character of a leader and businessman, and to highlight the journey of someone whose early beginnings may mirror that of many young kids and entrepreneurs starting, so that they may draw inspiration to keep pushing on their own endeavors,” says Paper Route Empire CEO, Daddy-O in a statement.

The exhibit will be coming to several U.S. cities. The first of which will be New York City from January 13-15. Other stops it will make include touching down in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago and Dallas.

The “100 Shots” rapper’s first posthumous album, Paper Route Frank, just arrived earlier this month. The 13-track project boasts features from the likes of Key Glock, Gucci Mane, 2 Chainz and more.

Finally, make sure to stream the posthumous release, as well as the rest of Dolph’s music on your preferred streaming platform. He owns all of his masters, meaning that his family will see the profit from these streams.

If the pop-up museum comes to your nearest city, will you be checking it out? Comment down below and stay tuned to HNHH for the latest industry updates.

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Ari Lennox Says Her “Age/Sex/Location” Tour Will Be Her Last

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After announcing her “Age/Sex/Location” North America tour last month, Ari Lennox has revealed that it will be her last. Shouting out her supporters, she told her European fans that they won’t get to witness her solo tour “due to reasons out of my control.”

“Age Sex Location will be my last tour,” she wrote on Twitter Thursday. “I love my genuine fans so much and can’t  wait to give you my all every night!!”

The “Up Late” singer then added, “Europe I love you but unfortunately there will not be a tour due to reasons out of my control. Happy holidays. See you soon Vegas!”

Following up the success of 2019’s Shea Butter Baby, Lennox released her second studio album Age/Sex/Location this past September, featuring Summer Walker and Lucky Daye. 

READ MORE: Ari Lennox Gets Fans In The Christmas Mood With “My Favorite Things” Cover

Her upcoming 2023 tour is set to begin in January and will run until late March. Starting in Las Vegas, stops will also include New York, Detroit, Atlanta, Chicago, Toronto, and Nashville.

The 31-year-old sat down with Billboard earlier this year and revealed that her hit song “Queen Space” was a collaborative effort with both Summer Walker and J. Cole, who founded her label Dreamville Records. 

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MAY 16: Singer Ari Lennox performs onstage at El Rey Theatre on May 16, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images)

“Summer is an IT Girl. She is modern R&B and phenomenal. [She’s] literally leading and phenomenal at it. I’m just honored that she always showed me love,” she told the outlet in October. “We reached out to her, and ‘Queen Space’ felt incomplete until Summer sent that verse in. [It] changed my life.”

“Cole came in and helped me add a beautiful pre-chorus that wasn’t there and made me fall in love with the record all over again,” Lennox added.

Following Age/Sex/Location’s debut, the album secured the 69th spot on the Billboard 200 chart.

What are your thoughts on Lennox announcing her last tour? Sound off in the comments below.

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Clive Davis Explains Whitney Houston’s Love Affair With Robyn Crawford

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As I Wanna Dance with Somebody receives mixed reviews, Clive Davis sheds light on Whitney Houston and her personal life. Davis is responsible for shaping the superstar careers of legendary artists, including Houston. For years, he has teased he would produce his own Houston biopic, and finally, the music executive delivered.

Davis recently sat down with Extra to speak about his close, decades-long friendship with the late star. During the conversation, Houston’s rumored, secret romance with Robyn Crawford was mentioned.

“They did have a teenage, one-year affair,” Davis confirmed.

Robyn Crawford, left, and American singer Whitney Houston (1963 – 2012), circa 1988. (Photo by Dave Hogan/Getty Images)
Read More: Whitney Houston’s Best Friend Robyn Crawford Details Romantic Relationship

He also mentioned those speculative reports about Houston’s personal struggles.

“There have been so many articles that have…attempted to trace her addiction to being a frustrated lesbian,” said Davis. “Or never [dating] a man before Bobby, all of which was totally inaccurate.”

“I know of several men that she dated before Bobby,” he added. “I mean, she did see Jermaine Jackson for two years.”

Read More: Rosie O’Donnell Says Whitney Houston Was “Conflicted” By “Gay Part Of Her Life”

February 2022 marked 10 years since Houston passed away. Davis recalls their final conversation as Houston was scheduled to perform at his coveted, annual pre-Grammy event.

“My real last conversation with her was 48 hours before she passed away. I was in L.A., we were getting ready… [for] my Grammy party,” he said. “I didn’t know she was going to surprise me and sing there. We spent the whole afternoon together. She wanted to assure me… and this is hard to express… that she had beaten her addiction. Not only to drugs, but to cigarette smoking. I had no clue that her passing was abruptly to come.”

I Wanna Dance with Somebody hits theaters tomorrow, December 23.

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6ix9ine Explains How He Thinks Gunna’s Plea Deal Hurt Young Thug’s Defense

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6ix9ine and his manager, Wack 100, were some of the first people to publicly accuse Gunna of snitching by taking a plea deal.

This has been a widespread discussion on social media ever since the “Drip Too Hard” rapper’s release last Wednesday(December 14).

Tekashi 6ix9ine performs in concert at Hovet on September 19, 2018 in Stockholm, Sweden. (Photo by MICHAEL CAMPANELLA/Redferns)

DJ Akademiks is continuing to report on the case through his social media platforms. Earlier this week, he even shared screenshots of a conversation that he had with Gunna’s attorney, Steve Sadow. “Doesn’t effect anyone but my client. Out of court statements at a plea hearing cannot come into evidence against someone else,” Sadow says in response to the snitching rumours.

Wack 100 subsequently checked the podcaster for the report. “@akademiks Stop bro … His statements were clearly on the RECORD … And the whole “DEFENSE” was #YSL IS NOT I REPEAT IS NOT A GANG JUST A RECORD LABEL… YOU HIM OR THEM CANT REWRITE THE LAWS OF #SNITCHING. CO-OPERATION WITH THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY MAKES U A CO OPERANT WHICH EQUALS #Telling,” he wrote in the caption of an Instagram post.

Just one day after Gunna’s release, the “FEFE” rapper took to his Instagram to immediately accuse the 29-year-old of snitching. “Go ahead and make your 1,000,0000 excuses. I stand on whatever I do or did. That’s why I’m still walking on this earth AND NOTHING EVER HAPPENS TO ME. I am him p*ssy. Real n****s getting shot and kicked in [their] face, can’t be me,” he wrote in the since-deleted post.

The disgraced rapper has since made an appearance on one of Akademiks’ streams to further break down his thoughts. “Put it like this: A month previous, [if] we take it a month back, the whole internet was saying YSL was not a gang. It’s not a gang. Young Thug’s lawyer went in court and said ‘this is a music label,’ right?’ he began.

He goes on to mention Kevin Liles testifying in court. As the CEO of 300 Entertainment, Liles has reportedly invested money into Young Thug and YSL and confirmed in court that it’s strictly a record label.

However, Tekashi implies this was all ruined when Gunna took his plea deal. As a result, he says this will hurt Thugger’s defence in his hopeful release.

The “FEFE” rapper says that the video of the Georgia native accepting the deal directly shows him snitching. He answers “yes ma’am” when asked if he has personal knowledge that members of YSL have committed crimes.

Regardless, it’s certainly interesting to hear 6ix9ine criticize someone for allegedly snitching. He reportedly did the same in order to see a release from jail in 2020.

What do you think about Tekashi’s comments? Sound off in the comments below afterwards. Stay tuned to HNHH for the latest updates.

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Future’s First-Born Son Addresses What It’s Like To Have The Rapper As His Dad

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As a father of seven, Future is certainly a busy man behind the scenes. He’s also evidently no stranger to baby mama drama.

However, Jakobi Wilburn, the 39-year-old’s first-born son, recently spoke out about what it’s really like to have him as his dad.

Rapper Future performs onstage during day two of Rolling Loud Miami 2022 at Hard Rock Stadium. (Photo by Jason Koerner/Getty Images)

In a recent interview with The Progress Report, the 20-year-old discusses what his childhood was like before his dad made it big.

“It was regular. Going to school, had all the KDs, Lebrons, Nike outfits. It was cool though, I still played outside every day, had bikes, went to the park, movies, did everything [that] everybody else was doing. It wasn’t really different until it got like, ‘that’s your dad?!’ I’m still the same Kobi, sh*t. Nothing really changed but the status, for real,” he says.

He also went on to talk about the ways in which his dad supports him in making his own music. When asked what his reaction was when he told the “PUFFIN ON ZOOTIEZ” rapper that he wanted to be an artist, he says it was first met with skepticism.

“He [was] kinda like, ‘yeah right. You don’t wanna do music. You just wanna do it ’cause I do it.’ It’s like, no! I wanna do it ’cause I wanna do it. But he was like, ‘show me that you wanna do it ’cause you wanna do it.’ Ever since then, I was in the studio every single day,” he admits.

“I’m up here longer than him. He come up here and I’ve been up here. He’s leaving and I’m still in there. He just sees me building up my music, like ‘you got hundreds of songs now! You really want it.’ So he’s fully on board with it now,” he later continued.

Wilburn makes music under his artist name, King Kobi. One of his songs from earlier this year, “40 FLOORS UP” features Homixide Gang.

2022 has been yet another busy and successful year for the “Mask Off” rapper. His ninth studio album, I NEVER LIKED YOU, arrived in April and subsequently received a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album.

He capped off his dominant year by reportedly splurging on a $7.5 million Bentley-branded condo in Florida.

How long do you think it will be until Future decides to collaborate on some music with his son? Comment down below and be sure to stay tuned to HNHH for the latest updates in the industry.

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Megan Thee Stallion’s Attorney “Exploring Legal Options” Against Bloggers

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It has been stated that we could receive a verdict in the Tory Lanez trial regarding the Megan Thee Stallion shooting as early as this afternoon. As the jury deliberates, a new report by NBC News has begun to circulate as they examine the public’s obsession with this case. Further, the outlet picked apart how blogs and blogging culture impacted how the public perceived Megan’s guilt, innocence, or culpability, even though she was the victim.

Alex Spiro, Megan’s attorney, spoke with NBC News and suggested that legal action could be taken against outlets that purposefully shared misinformation about the case.

Read More: Akademiks Demands Apology From Megan Thee Stallion After Latest Court Update

Spiro said his team is “exploring all legal options” against “bloggers who have posted misinformation.” NBC noted blogger Milagro Gramz covered the case. She reported that the LAPD confirmed the rapper was injured from stepping on glass.

However, during the trial, the doctor who performed Megan’s surgery said she still had bullet fragments in her feet. It was also added that DJ Akademiks reshared Gramz’s report.

“On my end, everything is not going to be something that was intended to be a factual statement,” said Gramz. “It might have a comedic effect.” She also stated that she wasn’t trying to “tear anyone down” and had prayed for Megan.

Read More: DJ Akademiks Claims Roc Nation Leaked Info To Him About Megan Thee Stallion & Tory Lanez’s Case

Further, Megan’s legal team has proactively flagged social media content as abusive—including Gramz. Her account was locked, or restricted, for 11 hours due to repeatedly violating Twitter’s rules.

Additionally, No Jumper‘s Adam22 was also contacted for the story. He said, “In no way are we trying to push any agenda in favor of meg or tory.” Hollywood Unlocked’s Jason Lee also defended his platform, insisting they have been “unbiased” in their reports on Megan and Lanez.

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Joe Budden Says Rappers Should Have To Take A “Hip-Hop SAT Test” Before Signing Record Deal

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Joe Budden has never been afraid to speak his mind on any topic within the music industry.

As a result, the media personality has continually seen himself in some controversial headlines.

Joe Budden attends Brooklyn Chophouse Grand Opening at Brooklyn Chophouse. (Photo by Shareif Ziyadat/Getty Images)

His most recent comments arrived while making an appearance on the Earn Your Leisure podcast. The “Pump It Up” rapper believes that new rappers shouldn’t get signed solely based on their musical talents. According to him, labels should be requiring up-and-coming artists to additionally take a hip-hop SAT test.

Many artists, especially in today’s fast-paced world, see offers from record labels after one viral song or snippet. However, the former Everyday Struggle host says they should also have to showcase their knowledge about the industry.

“I’ve always felt like there needs to be, like, a hip-hop SAT test that you take before you can get a record deal. Some of you n****s gotta answer some questions, like ‘how do you hold a microphone?’ They’re some of the bare basics you gotta know. If everybody just know everything, with no consequence, with no trial and error, then everybody’s just doing the same sh*t,” suggests the 42-year-old.

The comment comes in response to him and the podcast’s hosts discussing the over-saturation of both the podcast and music industry.

In other recent news surrounding the media personality, he’s been engaging in some heated exchanges with actress Vivica A. Fox. This has been a result of him dissing Megan Thee Stallion while she’s going through the trial for Tory Lanez’s alleged shooting over two years ago.

The Independence Day actress subsequently took aim at the 42-year-old, telling him to “sit your b*tch ass down.” “Y’all mad ’cause the girls right now is ruling in rap. It’s just driving y’all crazy that the sisters is just ruling,” she clapped back.

What do you think of Budden’s most recent comments? Should newer artists have to take something like his “hip-hop SAT test” before signing a deal in the industry? Leave your thoughts in the comments down below.

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Comedian Gerald Huston Says Blac Chyna Hit Him In The Mouth

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She has been accused of violence in the past, and Gerald Huston is sharing his story about Blac Chyna. The comedian was recently a guest on No Jumper and during the chat, he was asked about pranks. The host wanted to know if any of them “got too intense,” and Huston quickly shared his story about the model.

“Man, Blac Chyna hit me in my motherf*ckin’ mouth,” he said. “Bro, on camera. But it’s dark, so like, we posted it and took it down.”

Read More: Blac Chyna’s Assault Case Thrown Out: Report

“Sh*t was crazy. I seen Blac Chyna at the club, and I walk up to her,” Huston further stated. “‘Oh my god, it’s Ari Fletcher!’ I called her Ari Fletcher ’cause, you know, they both got fake lips and fake booties, fake body parts, and stuff like that.”

Chyna was allegedly quick on the draw. “She immediately squared up and just hit me in the mouth. I was like, ‘Yo, what you hit me in my mouth for?’ And she was like, ‘Don’t play with me, don’t play with me, p*ssy boy. Don’t call me that.’”

Huston also said the mother of two grabbed him by his beard and threatened to “knock [his] ass out.” He then claimed he tried to ease the situation by letting her know he was just kidding.

Read More: Video Footage Shows Aftermath Of Blac Chyna Allegedly Kicking Woman In Stomach

However, The Neighborhood Talk also shared the video of the incident, and people noted it seemed he was antagonizing her. Huston is heard repeatedly calling Chyna “Ari,” even after he sees that it made her upset. Additionally, she does swing at him, but several people step in between to make sure the situation didn’t escalate.

Huston is accused of not sharing the whole story. Check out the clip above and a few reactions below.

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