(AllHipHop News) Attorneys for incarcerated rapper Meek Mill have filed a motion to have the judge in his probation violation case removed.

The “Dreams and Nightmares” hitmaker was sentenced to serve two to four years in prison in November for violating the terms of his probation relating to a 2008 firearms case.

Meek, real name Robert Williams, has been challenging the controversial ruling by Judge Genece Brinkley ever since, and on Tuesday, his lawyers reportedly filed legal documents with the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to have her pulled off the case.

“(This) case involves a pattern of judicial (mis)conduct that has prejudiced the rights of a probationer and threatens to undermine the public’s confidence in the integrity of the judicial system,” the legal filings read.

“(Judge Brinkley has) exceeded the judicial role by sometimes essentially acting as a prosecutor and, at other times, taking an unusual interest in, and trying to inject herself into, (Meek Mill’s) personal and professional life.”

According to reports, Meek’s lawyers allege Judge Brinkley has commented on the case publicly, through her legal representatives, and has threatened legal action against his management and legal teams.

The new legal filings come a day after Williams’ lawyers appealed to court officials to grant the rapper bail on Monday.

Last week prosecutors declared they will not block his latest release attempt following reports suggesting the arresting officer in Meek’s original 2008 case had been named as part of a police corruption scandal in Philadelphia, and had been accused of lying under oath to put the MC behind bars.

Prosecutors cited the “strong showing of likelihood” that Meek’s old conviction will be reversed in court paperwork, while explaining their decision and the rapper’s attorneys highlighted the statement as they asked for their client’s immediate release.

(AllHipHop News) The East Coast, the Midwest, and the South combined forces on The Tonight Show stage. Detroit’s Royce da 5’9″ and New York City’s DJ Premier linked with Atlanta’s 2 Chainz and Philadelphia’s The Roots to run through the “Flirt” record.

The song appears on Royce and Premo’s PRhyme 2 album which dropped on March 16. Rapsody, Big K.R.I.T., Cee-Lo Green, Dave East, Kon Artis, Roc Marciano, and Yelawolf contributed to the effort as well.

This year has also seen Hip Hop acts A$AP Ferg, Migos, and Towkio perform on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. As the program’s house band, The Roots often back up the episode’s musical guest.

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(AllHipHop News) Tink is back. After parting ways with Timbaland’s Mosley Music Group, the Illinois-raised rhymer is ready to release the Pain & Pleasure EP on March 30.

“I need all my supporters to mark the date! This is for US,” posted Tink on Instagram.

The “Million” musician was expected to drop her ThinkTink debut studio album years ago. However, she recently admitted that Timbaland was the main reason the LP never saw the light of day.

“The album was actually finished. There was an intro, I had interludes,” said Tink. “It was [Timbaland’s] call to hold back on it, and I think, I want to say, for the benefit of the doubt, he did want to perfect it. But it was Tim’s call not to put it out.”

(AllHipHop News) In 2017, Chance The Rapper scored good reviews for his hosting gig on Saturday Night Live. The “Wayne Thanksgiving” sketch starring and co-written by the Chicagoan collected over a 1 million views on YouTube.

Leslie Jones, Kenan Thompson, Chris Redd, and Beck Bennett joined Chancelor in the skit where local residents tell Bruce Wayne that Batman was too forceful with the citizens in their neighborhood. Kevin Hart also did a superhero parody during his SNL episode later that same year.

“Kevin Hart had to try and come on two weeks later and reproduce my sketch but with Batman as a black man in a routine police stop. Who at the end, gets arrested for actually having cocaine. To which I say, ‘Where’s the political statement? What are you saying?'” expressed Chance on Pitchfork‘s In Sight Out podcast.

He continued, “I give one where I say, ‘Okay, here’s Batman as a regular citizen.’ He’s a vigilante. We put all these dope lines in it. We wanna use terms like ‘excessive force’ and certain cool things. We have the sketch all put together. And it gets whittled down and watered down but you still get a dope piece. You still get a community upset about how this criminal justice is being enacted on them disproportionately. And you get to understand that Batman is focusing it on one specific group of people. And it’s not too in your face.”

Chance later brought up real-life police interactions with black men, such as the deadly Philando Castile shooting in Minnesota. The 24-year-old entertainer questioned why that “unjustified” dynamic of the American justice system was not part of Hart’s “Captain Shadow and the Cardinal” sketch.

“I don’t have a problem with K-Hart. That’s my guy, but I had to get that off my chest,” added Chance.

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(AllHipHop News) Rapper Nas and his ex-wife Kelis have reportedly agreed to share legal and physical custody of their son.

The MC accused his ex of only allowing him visitation with their son Knight when it was convenient for her last year, and he asked a judge to put an official custody schedule in place in November.

The issue was quickly resolved after he and Kelis reached a visitation settlement, with Kelis granting her ex weekends with his son.

However, the custody dispute heated up again last month, when she claimed the rapper should be paying her more than the $8,000 -a-month in child support they agreed upon five years ago, when their son Knight was three, insisting her parental needs had changed over the years since the deal was signed.

Kelis hasn’t come up with a specific figure but she does want her ex to pay half of all Knight’s education, childcare and health-related costs.

The dispute over child support has yet to be settled, but sources claim the former couple has agreed to joint custody.

The agreement comes a couple weeks after Kelis, who divorced Nas in 2010, revealed she is planning to relocate her family to the country to open a restaurant on her farm.

“In this past year I’ve kinda felt like I need a restaurant,” she told the Founder Hour podcast. “I need a space where I can actually be creative and I can do this on a daily basis… We started looking for a farm. We found a property. And we’re going to start to grow everything.”

(AllHipHop News) Q-Tip (Brown Sugar, She Hate Me) is tapping back into his acting skills for an upcoming play performance. The A Tribe Called Quest member will star as the iconic jazz trumpeter Miles Davis in My Funny Valentine.

Author/playwright Nelson George (Hip Hop America, Thriller: The Musical Life of Michael Jackson) posted about the production on his Instagram page. He wrote:

This Monday March 26th at 9:30pm [Joe’s Pub] #myfunnyvalentine a play about #MilesDavis starring [Q-Tip] in the title role. Written by me and produced by#therewassound with [Cassie Freeman and Margot Bingham]. Tickets only $20 for this staged reading. A day in the life of the jazz giant in 1981.

The late Miles Davis is an 8-time Grammy winner and Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame inductee. His Kind Of Blue from 1959 is the best-selling jazz album of all time.  

“I was a lil nervous at first. But we’ve already done some table readings and Miles’ nephew, and some of his really close friends that he knew for many years—a girlfriend of two—and some of his old band mates have checked out the table reading like, ‘Oh, sh-t, they nailed it.’ So that made it easier for me. It let me know my instincts are right,” said Q-Tip in a 2010 interview with XXL.

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(AllHipHop News) Freestyle Friday was one of the most popular segments on the now-canceled 106 & Park show. The rap battle competition is returning.

BET is bringing back the lyrical display in a new format. Four live studio sessions will take place in New York City, Toronto, London, and Los Angeles with one finalist selected from each city.

A live phase will consist of each finalist battling on the Main Stage at Fan Fest during the BET Experience on June 22 in Los Angeles. The winner will be given an opportunity to perform as the opening act for the BET Experience Saturday Night Concert on June 23.

Numerous emcees gained national exposure as contestants on Freestyle Friday. Jin, Hollow Da Don, Loaded Lux, Born, Mahogany Jones, Nickelus F, Bones Brigante, Charron, Syah Boy, and Blind Fury all battled on the platform.

(AllHipHop News) Two generations of Louisiana rappers are coming together for a collaborative effort. 18-year-old YoungBoy Never Broke Again and 49-year-old Birdman are set to drop From The Bayou.

The project will include 9 tracks – 6 songs featuring both of them and 3 with only YoungBoy. From The Bayou is expected to land this Thursday.

Last year, Baton Rouge’s NBA YoungBoy teamed with Moneybagg Yo for the Fed Baby’s mixtape. Birdman, a New Orleans native, has created bodies of work with Mannie Fresh, Lil Wayne, Young Thug, Rich Homie Quan, Jacquees, and others.

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(AllHipHop News) Earlier this week, Nav went on a mini-rant blasting XXL‘s Freshman Class list. The rapper/producer tweeted, “F-ck XXL your magazine is trash.”

He later posted, “To my fellow artists. We shouldn’t look to a magazine for validation or to tell us if we “hot or not”, especially one that hasn’t been credible for 10 years. [XXL] Make music for yourself and your fans. I would never show up for the Freshman List cuz I don’t need their approval.”

Nav got an online co-sign from one of the biggest rappers at the moment. Migos member Quavo jumped on the social media site to offer support to the XO representative.

“Don’t Trip [Nav]. [XXL] didn’t pick Migos either!!!! [F-ck] XXL,” wrote Quavo.

Quavo, Offset, and Takeoff are not the only chart-topping acts to be omitted from the magazine’s list of emerging rappers. Drake, Nicki Minaj, ASAP Rocky, Cardi B, and others were never XXL Freshmen either.

(AllHipHop News) Cardi B doesn’t think women in hip-hop will reap the benefits of the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements.

Both #MeToo and Time’s Up were created in the wake of the sexual harassment allegations leveled at power players in Hollywood, including Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey and James Toback.

The music world has also embraced the anti-sexual harassment movements, and although 25-year-old Cardi is pleased to see the topic being discussed, she isn’t convinced the message will fully filter through to hip-hop stars, whose sexuality is often part of their commercial appeal.

“A lot of video vixens (females in hip-hop videos) have spoke about this and nobody gives a f##k,” Cardi sighed to Cosmopolitan U.S. “When I was trying to be a vixen, people were like, ‘You want to be on the cover of this magazine?’ Then they pull their d##ks out. I bet if one of these women stands up and talks about it, people are going to say, ‘So what? You’re a hoe. It don’t matter.’”

The rapper also shared her cynicism towards some of the men who are publicly voicing their support for the campaigns.

“These producers and directors, they’re not woke (socially aware), they’re scared,” she insisted.

Later in the chat with Cosmopolitan, Cardi opened up about her success in music, which includes receiving two Grammy nominations and a number one spot in the U.S. charts for her single “Bodak Yellow.”

However, Cardi admits fame can have its downsides.

“Having a number one song makes me happy—but working for it makes me really happy,” she smiled. “I don’t want to sound like I’m ungrateful, but it’s exhausting. I love my career now, but it’s like my spirit was happier before. When I was dancing, I had so much fun. I felt powerful in the club. I felt free.

“If I change myself, then I’m going to lose myself, and I won’t be who makes me happy.”

(AllHipHop News) U-God just dropped some excerpts from his new book from “RAW: My Journey into the Wu-Tang.”

The rapper, born Lamont “U-God” Hawkins, dropped the memoir earlier this month, which details his time as a member of the award-winning group, which has seen its shares of internal strife over their 25-year career.

Fans get a detailed look inside of the Clan’s business in “RAW,” and U-God claimed the group has been hampered by RZA, and his domineering business ways over the past two decades.

“It’s really years of BS catching up to RZA. See, he put his family in charge of s###, and for years, we would go on the road but the money came up short,” U-God claims in an excerpt published on RollingStone.com.

According to U-God, the group has to pay anytime they want to use the famed Wu-Tang logo, which was originally sketched out on a napkin by Mathmatics, but trademarked by RZA.

“To this very day his brother beefs when any of the original members attempt to use it,” U-God claims. “That to me is crazy — I mean, I understand if someone was using it without the group’s permission, but the members of the group itself? Wow, that’s just crazy.

U-God also claims that each group member invested $40,000 of their individual royalties from their seminal, debut album: Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers).

The members hae yet to see a profit, even though RZA still uses the famed “W” logo for his new clothing business, 36 Chambers ALC.

“Wu Wear is coming back in time for our 25th anniversary, and that’s all great, but what people don’t know is that none of us — the original members who each invested a significant amount (around $40,000 apiece) from our 36 Chambers royalties and the Rage [Against the Machine] tour — ever saw a dime back from the first version of the line founded back in ‘97,” U-God writes. “And that’s something that needs to be addressed and rectified.”

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(AllHipHop News) Rapper Logic and his wife Jessica Andrea are moving forward as loving best friends after confirming their marriage is over.

The “1-800-273-8255” hitmaker, real name Sir Robert Bryson Hall II, wed the singer in late 2015, but reports suggesting the couple had quietly separated surfaced last week.

Sources claimed the former couple separated shortly after they attended the Grammy Awards together in January.

Logic and Jessica have since broken their silence about the split in a joint statement, released on social media on Tuesday.

“After two years of marriage, we have come to the loving conclusion that we are much better as friends,” it began. “As entertainers, we have made every aspect of our lives public, yet we would appreciate your respect and privacy on this issue.”

Insisting there was no drama leading up to the break-up, they continued: “It’s very simple: it just didn’t work out. There is no anger involved. No fighting, no cheating, no nothing. We love each other and will continue to support each other for the rest of our lives.”

Logic and his estranged wife went on to urge fans not to be sad:

“Be happy that we could peacefully end this chapter of our relationship, beginning a new one full of love and happiness.”
“There will be no displays of anger or hatred that tear people apart…,” the former couple added.

“There are no sides, there is just us. Two people who loved each other in marriage and will continue to love each other for the rest of our lives.”

Proving the split was very much amicable, Jessica commented on her husband’s Instagram post, “I love you, Bobby… and love to all the fans!”

“I love you Jess!,” the hip-hop star responded. “You’re my best friend.”
The stars have yet to file divorce papers to make the separation official, but they have already put their marital home on the market.

The bittersweet news emerges two days after Logic celebrated another career high, earning his second number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

His new mixtape, Bobby Tarantino II, is currently at the top of the charts in the United States.

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(AllHipHop News) Rapper will.i.am didn’t mean to “disrespect anyone” after suggesting only “lazy parents” choose to medicate kids with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

The Black Eyed Peas star, who suffered from the condition as a child, courted controversy over the weekend, after telling Event magazine he is relieved his mother couldn’t afford to pay for the stimulant Ritalin, the drug typically prescribed to treat those with the disorder.

He claims the medication does more harm than good and blames adults with a lack of patience for putting more and more youths on the drug.

“It’s not the kids who are the problem, it’s the lazy parents and lazy teachers who want kids to take Ritalin,” he said. “You don’t need medication, you need patience with kids who have ADHD. It’s destroying so much potential and no one gives a damn.”

will.i.am is convinced he wouldn’t have been able to achieve his music dreams had he been placed on a Ritalin regimen: “I was fine because I had a patient mother and some patient teachers,” he explained, “but it makes me furious that you get a kid who has this creative energy, who is powering off the walls and people can’t be bothered to deal with energy.”

The interview sparked a backlash online, and on Monday the 43-year-old responded directly to one disgruntled parent, who called him out on Twitter for the callous remarks.

“Dear @iamwill Re your comments on #adhd & ‘lazy parenting’,” began a working mom named Sam. “Yes there are strategies to help ADHD kids but sometimes medication is vital.I AM NOT a lazy parent & will fight for everything my daughter deserves.Your comments are v (very) upsetting”.

The “Where Is The Love?” hitmaker reposted her tweet and attempted to clarify his stance, although he stopped short of issuing a public apology.