(AllHipHop News) Rapper Lil Boosie is slated to appear in court today (June 28th) to face a hearing related to a first-degree murder charge. Boosie, born Torrence Hatch, will attend the hearing along with several other men who are accused in a string of shootings.  A grand jury indicted Lil Boosie on a first-degree-murder charge on June 18th for his role in the October 2009 shooting death of Baton Rogue resident, 35-year-old Terry Boyd. Lil Boosie, 27, has also been declared a suspect in at least two other murders, prosecutors recently confirmed. As previously reported, Lil Boosie is being investigated in the murder of Chris “Nussie” Jackson, who was publicly feuding with Boosie until his murder in February of 2009. Now, police are investigating if Lil Boosie and his alleged crew of killers were involved in the death of Darryl “Bleek” Milton. Milton was a former employee of Lil Boosie’s record label, Bad Azz Entertainment, was found shot dead in his Cadillac on April 1st. Five other people have been indicted in Milton’s killing already and East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore III, said police are investigating Boosie’s possible ties to the slaying. Milton is featured prominently in Lil Boosie’s video for “We Out Chea” and his death is acknowledged at the end of the video. Lil Boosie is facing death by lethal injection if he is convicted of 1st-degree murder. 

(AllHipHop News) Hip-Hop star Kanye West is entangled in a new lawsuit that was recently filed over his hit 2007 single “Stronger,” from the hit album Graduation. Songwriter/producer Vincent “Vince P.” Peters filed the lawsuit on Friday (June 25th) in United States District Court For the Northern District of Illinois. Peters claims he wrote the track in 2006 and played it for John Monopoly, a manager/business associate of Kanye West, at his Chicago home on November 12th, 2006.According to Peters, West recorded his own version of “Stronger” about seven months after a copy of the song was given to Monopoly. Peters claims Kanye West copied significant portions of his song “Stronger” and incorporated them into his own version, which hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. The Grammy Award-winning single has sold over 3 million copies, while the album Graduation has moved almost 2 million units. According to iTunes, “Stronger” is also the 16th most downloaded song of all time. Peters is seeking an undisclosed amount of damages and a trial by jury. Kanye West is currently finishing material for a new album, Good Ass Job.

(AllHipHop News) A number of rappers and R&B singers were honored tonight (June 27th) during the 2010 BET Awards at The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. Queen Latifah hosted the event, which featured several high performances by artists like Alicia Keys, Usher, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Eminem, Drake and Kanye West, who kicked off the 2010 Awards’ show with his song “Power.”Alicia Keys scooped an award for Best Female Artist, while Young Money Records’ newcomer Nicki Minaj and Drake won Best Female Hip-Hop Artist and Best Male Hip-Hop Artist, respectively.T.I. and Queen Latifah mocked the Atlanta rapper’s 2008 arrest as the pair introduced B.O.B. and Keshia Cole, who performed “Airplanes” with a special appearance by Eminem. Em continued D12 group member Kon Artis after Keshia Cole and B.oB. Left the stage and performed his hit single “Not Afraid” with a full choir. Best Collaboration went to Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ single “Empire State of Mind.”“Thank you so much, to all my people with an empire state of mind, this is for you,” Alicia Keys told fans as she accepted her second award. Queen Latifah kept the crowd in a good mood in between performances. For instance, as she introduced Sean “Diddy“ Combs and Dirty Money, Latifah said: “This next performer is only seen in the company of fine women, just like me!” Diddy followed with a performance medley of “O Let’s Do It” featuring Rick Ross, followed by “Hello, Good Morning” featuring Dirty Money and T.I. Most of Diddy’s performance was obscured by a thick white puff of smoke that engulfed most the performers on the stage, including Rick Ross and Nicki Minaj’s verses. Jermaine Jackson paid tribute to his brother Michael Jackson, by introducing Chris Brown, who did his best imitation of the late singer with a medley of his best known songs.  Drake hit the stage and performed “Over,” and brought out Young Jeezy, who rocked his latest single “Lose My Mind.” LeBron James and Serena took home the Sportsman of the Year Award, while The Black Eyed Peas presented Trey Songz with the Best Male R&B artist. BET’s chairman Debra Lee honored John Legend with the Humanitarian Award. “I do a lot of work fighting poverty in Africa, but even here in America in our communities,  there is a fight we must win. we know we can do better, we know there are solutions,” John Legend said. “Poverty doesn’t have to be a trap. There’s a lot of money, fame and influence and millions of people watching around the world. I say to all of us, we can do better.”Prince was honored by Janelle Monae, Esperanza Spalding, Alicia Keys and Patti Labelle, while Chris Brown and Rihanna both won awards in the fan categories. Ludacris closed the show with “My Chick’s Bad” and “All I Do is Win” featuring DJ Khaled, Nicki Minaj, Rick Ross, Ace Hood and Diddy.

(AllHipHop News) The half-brother of Memphis producer/rapper DJ Paul Beauregard has been indicted for distributing hundreds of kilos of cocaine and marijuana throughout Memphis and the South. According to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, Craig Petties has been indicted for at least six murders related to the drug trade, in addition to the drug distribution charges. Federal agents claim Petties aligned himself with a branch of the Sinaloa cartel and through a vast network of associates, imported the cocaine and marijuana into Memphis. The cocaine and marijuana was sold through a variety of phony businesses, which also helped launder Petties illegal income. According to a recently unsealed 50-count indictment, Petties allegedly launched his drug business in 1995 and ran the Memphis-based drug ring from Queretaro, Mexico until 2008. Petties is accused of murdering a member of a rap group known as The Grenade Posse, due to references to drug trafficking on the album. Several other men were killed because they were suspected of being informants or formidable rivals to Petties drug empire. Petties, an alleged leader in the Gangster Disciples, was originally indicted in 2002, but went on the run, landing him in the Top 15 Most Wanted American fugitives list. Federal prosecutors seized over $3 million in assets, over 40 vehicles and over $600,000 in cash. Petties, who could face the death penalty if convicted, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

(AllHipHop News) Atlanta rapper/producer Soulja Boy has deleted his Twitter account, after amassing over two million followers on the popular social networking site. Although the rapper has yet-to-reveal his reasoning for deleting his Twitter account, the website was abuzz with the news, as the rapper quickly became a trending topic. The rapper caught a lot of negative feedback from people on Twitter using the hash tag #ifsouljaboysarapper. The move could also cost Soulja Boy thousands of dollars in lost revenue. According to reports, Soulja Boy and Kim Kardashian were the highest paid celebrity tweeters, earning up to $10,000 per-tweet.

(AllHipHop News) Super producer Dr. Dre was honored with an ASCAP Founders award last night (June 25th) in Los Angeles during the 23rd annual Rhythm & Soul Music Awards. Rappers, singers and industry executives paid homage to Dr. Dre and the top singers, songwriters and publishers of the top ASCAP R&B/Hip-Hop chart songs of 2009. Artists like Prince, Ne-Yo, Jermaine Dupri, Janelle Monae, T.I., Twista, Gucci Mane, Ron Artest, and Eminem performed or attended the invitation-only event, which took place at the Beverly Hills Hilton. Pioneering DJ, Kid Capri did a set chronicling Dre’s 20-plus-year career, while Eminem co-presented the Founders Award with ASCAP President and Chairman Paul Williams.“Whenever I get one of these awards, it hits me,” said Dr. Dre, who became emotional when talking about his mother Verna Griffin, who gave birth to Dr. Dre, born Andre Young, on February 18th, 1965. "What makes him so important personally is he believed in me. And for that I am forever grateful," said Eminem.Jermaine Dupri and Janelle Monae were crowned Songwriters of the Year, while Jermaine Dupri landed the Song of the Decade award with Mariah Carey’s smash single “We Belong Together.”Drake’s producer Matthew “Boi-1da” Samuels took home top rap song with the hit “Best I Ever Had,” while EMI Music Publishing won Publisher of the Year. Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis presented ASCAP’s coveted Songwriter of the Year award to R&B superstar Ne-Yo and songwriting/production duo C. "Tricky" Stewart & The-Dream, who won six awards last night.

(AllHipHop News) Popular Hip-Hop personality DJ Brandi Garcia is the latest casualty in a local Houston radio station’s war against Trae Tha Truth. In July of 2008, Trae was honored with his own “day” by Mayor Bill White and City Council Member Pete Brown, for his work with at-risk children in the community. Last year’s event was marred by violence, when a group of thugs open fired on a crowd of people leaving the campus of Texas Southern University on July 22 2009, striking and wounding six people. Trae’s music was allegedly banned from the station after an on-air argument with radio personality DJ Nnete Inyangumia of the Madd Hatta Morning Show, over who was responsible for the shooting. One man was arrested for the incident, which police attributed to gang violence. In May, Trae announced he was suing KBXX and Radio One, claiming the station and representatives for the company are interfering with his career by banning his music and blackballing anyone associated with the rapper. Trae maintains the station is attempting to ruin him, by keeping his music off of the airwaves in Houston and Dallas, in addition to firing anyone who plays his music, anywhere. Earlier this month, KBXX 97.9 axed Garcia after five years with the station, because she played one of Trae the Truth’s songs during a concert at the Arena Theater. “I have been missing in action for a week,” DJ Brandi Garcia said. “It’s been an incredibly difficult time…I was hired by a private promoter to DJ the 50 Cent event, it was not a Box event There were no station logos on the flyers, it was something I was doing in my spare time as a DJ.”According to Garcia, the problem came when she played a remix of Waka Flocka’s#### anthem “O Let’s Do It” with a verse featuring Trae Tha Truth. “I went in the office the next day and they told me I was fired for playing that song,” Garcia revealed. “It may be legal, but it’s unethical. It’s a shame this has gotten this far, that a personal problem can effect somebody’s career that they have worked so hard for for 14 years. But don’t think for one minute I am out of the game.” According to DJ Brandi Garcia, she is planning a new local television show titled The Spotlight with Brandi Garcia, that is slated to debut this summer, in addition to staying busy with her DJ’ing career through her affiliation with the Swisha House DJ’s. A number of influential members of the Houston Hip-Hop community have rallied against the ban, an abuse of power which they fear could eventually impact any artist.Houston rap legend J. Prince said KBXX 97.9 was attempting to “sabotage” Trae’s career over the personal vendetta. “I had been excited about being involved with the next Trae album, but with this ban taking place, not only in his home town, but likely also in the second best place for airplay, which is Dallas, it would be impossible to promote the album,” J. Prince reasoned. “This ban is sabotaging his career, because those cities are the foundation for breaking his records.”Meanwhile, Trae Tha Truth continues on with his annual Trae Day celebration this July 22nd at the International Ballroom.Rappers like Lupe Fiasco, Sean Garrett, Waka Flocka, DJ Khaled and others will attend the free, all ages event, which is meant to encourage peace and unity in Houston.

(AllHipHop News) Yonkers, New York rapper Styles P. recently sat down with AllHipHop.com to explain the packaging for the companion CD to his new book, Invincible. The dramatic novel was released on June 1st with a CD of music to accompany the CD. And since one of Styles P.’s biggest hits is the 2002 song “Good Times (I Get High)” – is an ode to marijuana smoking- the rapper kept his core fans base in mind, by wrapping the CD in smokable packaging. “It’s like the cellulose wrap, that clear see  through s**t. Smoke in consideration, big brotha,” Styles P. told AllHipHop.com. “It’s just in case you run out and you f**ked up. You know what I’m saying? You can go to that.  Keep that in the cut.”The 240-page novel was written over a two-year period, in conjunction with author Nikki Turner and released in paperback form through  Random House.The book centers around “Jake Billings,” a record store owner who shoots two men when they attempt to rob him. Billings is stabbed a week after being sent to prison and he doesn’t emerge from a coma for two years. When he does, he finds that life his changed. His sentence has been commuted but enemies still stalk him. “It’s getting a great response. Its selling so I’m just grateful and appreciative of what’s going on,” Styles P. told AllHipHop.com. “Its basically an action packed mystery  I don’t want to say [the ending], but I think people will learn that you can’t always judge a book by its cover.”Style P.’s Invincible book and CD can be purchased along with T-shirts and other merchandise at StylesP.net.