Black Immigrant Daily News

A plea deal by Trontavious Stephens might be very damaging for Atlanta rapper Young Thug as Stephens acknowledged in court that he was a co-founder of YSL and that the organization is a gang.

On Thursday, the court was to hear from three YSL associates who had accepted plea deals, but after arriving at court, two of the three- Tenquarius Mender, also called Nard and Derontae Bebee both declined the plea deals.

After confirming that they were not willing to accept the deals, judge Ural Glanville warned the men that if convicted, they would get the maximum sentence. Tenquarius is reportedly facing 50 years in jail if convicted.

The third YSL associate, Trontavious Stephens, accepted the deal and revealed shocking evidence that is likely to be used in the upcoming trial about Young Thug’s alleged leadership of the YSL gang.

According to Law & Crime reporter Cathy Russon, Trontavious, who also goes by the names Tick and Slug, accepted a plea deal for two counts on racketeering charges and was sentenced to 10 years with two years served and the remaining eight years on probation.

Stephens affirmed to prosecutors that YSL was a gang made up of three or more associates and that he was one of the founding members of YSL.

“Do you understand the factual acknowledgments that you acknowledge, that one is that Young Slime Life is an organization made up of three or more members or associates who share common identifiers that include but are not limited to colours, hand signals and terminologies, who have committed crimes to increase their notoriety, street credibility, and reputation of YSL, is that one of your acknowledgements?” the prosecutor Adriane Love asked Stephens to which he calmly responded, “yes.”

“You are one of the founding members of Young Slime Life?” she asked.

“Yes,” Stephens replied.

“Do you acknowledge that you committed an aggravated assault as alleged in count one of this indictment by brandishing a gun at an undercover police officer that was surveilling a vehicle that was hijacked from a woman?”

“Yes,” Stephens said.

Stephens also acknowledged that after he was arrested in 2014 for another incident, he had admitted he was part of a gang called “Rock Crew,” and that crew later changed its name to YSL.

“That group was no longer going by that name and now goes by Young Slime Life… did you also in that same conversation advise law enforcement that YSL originally stand for Young Slime Life but the group began calling itself Young Successful Lifestyle after Jeffery Williams aka Young Thug signed a record deal,” the prosecutor to which Stephens said “yes.”

In the meantime, Stephens has agreed to testify at trial, but unlike his counterparts, he is not allowed to assert his right against self-incrimination (Fifth Amendment rights).

Meanwhile, the prosecution also shared evidence against Stephens, particularly one song by Young Thug, “You,” where the rapper raps about robbing women- “she getting robbed by Tick,” confirming that the rapper spoke about the gang’s crimes in his music.

There is also more incriminating evidence in the form of text messages shared between Young Thug and Stephens.

In one text, Young Thug asked, “Y’all ain’t beat him up or shot him yet?” and then added, “Y’all getting soft,” in another text.

Further on in his proffer, the prosecutor revealed that Stephens identified two gas stations where YSL associates sell drugs.

In the meantime, the bombshell plea deal comes ahead of the jury selection scheduled for January 4, 2023, followed by the trial beginning on January 9, 2023.

Gunna is among the first YSL associates to take a plea deal and has since been released from prison.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Less than a month after Growing Up Hip Hop star Angela Simmons and CMG rapper Yo Gotti hinted at a possible relationship; it appears that the couple has split.

Yo Gotti famously said that Simmons was his crush in 2016, and six years later, it seems that he succeeded in capturing her attention as a newly single Simmons returned to the dating scene after her ex-fiance Sutton Tennyson was killed.

Angela Simmons has been spotted several times this year with Yo Gotti, even once meeting his mother, and in October, the pair were seen in Dubai and later Paris on a romantic vacation.

The sighting caused fans to speculate that the pair was in a relationship, but it seems that all might not be well, as Simmons deactivated her Instagram account after Christmas. There are reports that Gotti apparently spent the holidays with another woman he sees- a nurse named Brandy.

Angela Simmons and Yo Gotti

Brandy is a 31-year-old nurse, and she has had quite a large following since she was first linked to Yo Gotti. There are reports that the Memphis rapper has been “tricking” on her, but the nurse has not confirmed or denied that she and Gotti are an item.

Last month, Brandy seemingly reacted to the reports that Gotti and Angela were dating after romantic photos from their Paris vacation were shared online, and many complimented Gotti for being persistent in his pursuit of Angela.

“Lol,” she had written in a post on Instagram stories but later deleted the post after some blogs reposted the comment.

In the meantime, some persons reacted to Angela deactivating her Instagram, with many bashing Gotti.

Angela Simmons IG

“You know what they say. The worst thing to do is give a person a chance who has wanted you for so long,” one person said.

“He really could have just left her alone, fr,” another said.

“He waited all that time to get to her, then still playing with her. But honestly, these women accept situation-ships with these men and expect them not to do them. If they never establish a relationship how mad can you really be???” a third added.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Bounty Killer has issued another grave warning that dancehall is receding while other genres of music, like soca, are getting bigger forwards in the Jamaican entertainment space.

The veteran artist posted and deleted his thoughts on the recent Sting chaos that took place on Boxing Day night. At the same time, another party- I Love Soca, was well-attended and featured a more organized event that had no reported violence.

The Sting fiasco has been an embarrassment for the proponents of dancehall, who continue to deny that the music is not connected to “badness” or encourages unruly behavior. The return of Sting sought to bring back the same old rivalry characteristic of 90s dancehall music, and while some were here for it, others felt that the event sought to take the genre a step back.

Among those who have been very vocal is Mr. Vegas, who called the event a ‘disgrace’ and called out promoters for not booking “real” artists and entertainers to promote dancehall music.

In response to videos of Trinidadian artist Kes The Band performing in Jamaica before a packed I Love Soca crowd, Bounty Killer had a very ominous warning about the recession of dancehall while other genres were being loved and promoted.

“That flopped sting last night while dancehall is being stuck in a barrel and losing its appeal to the world watch Soca in Jamaica,” the artist wrote.

“Believe it or if we don’t take heed and try to fix the problem right now Soca will be even bigger than dancehall yrs to come here sad but it’s the truth,” Bounty Killer said.

While Bounty Killer is worried that Jamaica will be overrun by soca music, some soca artists also shared that they felt Jamaicans embracing soca more is a good thing.

Artist Moto wrote, “It was about time Jamaica accepted soca 100%. This will be great for the future of the genre. Jamaica has the advantage of popularity and population compared to smaller islands. It be a huge push forward for SOCA. This is a GREAT thing indeed.”

Another wrote, “Well after seeing what was served up at Sting it’s no wonder Sting 93 Beenie Man Vs Bounty Killer Sting 95 Cobra Vs Ninja Man fast forward to sting 2022 Amari Vs Queenie people have to realise that the Dancehall music we know and love is now a deadman walking.”

This year’s Sting was headlined by Skeng Don, Jashii, Valiant, and others, but the artists did not get to perform as police ended the show early after the stage was stormed by unknown persons. Police officers could be seen restraining people while others had their guns drawn during the fracas.

One of the biggest moments of the show was the clash between non-artists Amari and Queenie, which degenerated into a cuss-out on stage. The promoters of Sting have not addressed the criticisms of the show, which returned after a decade of not being hosted and which they promised would be bigger and better than before.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Popular dancehall DJ Raevas Findley has reportedly passed away. Reports surfaced on Tuesday that the DJ who was part of the DJ group Tom & Ravaz was found dead in his home on Boxing Day.

DJ Raevas Findley’s cause of death is not yet known, but sources told Urban Islandz that Findley passed away early Tuesday morning. On Instagram, Bounty Killer, who was a close friend of Findley, shared condolences to the DJ’s family.

“Kmt Jah know star no mon dis cyaah be real. R.I.P mi lil bredda @dj_raevas,” Bounty wrote.

Bounty Killer and Raevas worked together on his popular Sunday party series ‘Bounty Sunday Shift’ held at Oneil’s Place.

DJ Tom also shared his final conversation with Raevas where the deceased artist spoke about his dreams and desires for their DJ team to “put in the work and gwan impress” so they can earn the rewards of their labor.

“Five years’ time from this we can relax, bro…the least likkle thing we do can please the crowd,” Raevas said in the voice note.

Among those who also reacted to the news of his death was Skatta Burrell.

Jah know my friend… what is life? Yah one of the nicest bredda wid the cleanest heart. Sigh,” Skatta wrote in a comment under Tom’s post.

Teflon Zinc Fence wrote, “Bloodclaut No no no Kmt Jah know yute.”

“Sorry for your lost me G swear,” Romeich Major from Romeich Entertainment wrote.

“Jah Kno Bro this can’t real G,” Chinging Ching wrote while fellow DJ Tripple X said, “Jah Jah…this cyah real….hold it yute. Mi know u inna pain yah now cause unuh was way more than coworkers…just know say mi deh yah fi u mi bredda.”

Bay-C said, “Jah Know mi bredda!!!!! This can’t real.”

Raevas was also popularly known as dancehall artist Marcy Chin’s DJ. On Instagram, she shared a photo of the young man and his son. “Dawggggg” she captioned the photo with broken-hearted emojis and crying emojis.

Producer Crawba Genius, artists Xyclone, and Lil Hanky Panky, among others, expressed shock at his death.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Drake shared more details on which artists he has been listening to a lot lately.

The OVO Sound chief was recently vacationing in Turks and Caicos with his close friends and found some time to sit down with Stake for a candid interview. Urban Islandz reported that among the things he discussed in the Q&A where he responded to the viral “Rich Flex” memes, saying it comes with the territory of being a global icon. Drake also gave us some insight into who he has been listening to, and to no surprise, Popcaan and Bob Marley made the cut.

Bob Marley’s 1977 classic “Jamming” provided a fitting soundtrack for the interview, with an infinity pool in the backdrop and the two smoking hookah and drinking bourbon. “Obviously we’re running the Bob right now we running the Bob Marley, we’re running a lot of Popcaan,” Drizzy said. “That’s kinda where I’ve been just been vibing out.”

The “Rich Flex” rapper recently revealed that Tupac Shakur dominated his Spotify playlist all through 2022. He shared the news on his IG Story where he revealed he listened 246 minutes of 2Pac and is among the top seven percent of 2Pac listeners in 2022.

Drake/IG/Spotify

Drake, born Aubrey Drake Graham, has consistently cited Tupac Shakur as one of his major influences and inspirations. In fact, the Canadian singer/rapper has made it no secret that he is a huge fan of Tupac’s music and has paid homage to the legendary rapper on several occasions throughout his career.

Tupac Shakur, affectionately called 2Pac, was one of the most influential rappers and actors of the 1990s and still is to date. Like Bob Marley, Tupac’s music, which often tackled social and political issues, resonated with a wide audience worldwide and cemented him as a cultural icon. The late rapper’s untimely death in 1996 at the young age of 25 only added to his legendary status and has made him a symbol of struggle and resilience in the hip hop community.

Drake first expressed his love for Tupac’s music in an interview with Rolling Stone in 2010, stating that Tupac was one of the main reasons he started rapping. He went on to say that Tupac’s music helped him understand and connect with the struggles and challenges faced by people in his own community.

In the early days of his career in 2012, Drake paid tribute to Tupac during a concert in Las Vegas, performing a medley of Tupac’s songs while wearing a shirt with Tupac’s face imprinted on it. Drizzy also included a sample of Tupac’s “Hail Mary” on his album “Take Care,” further solidifying his admiration for the rap icon.

In addition to his occasional musical tributes to Pac, Drake has also been known to reference Tupac’s lyrics in his own songs. On his song “Chicago Freestyle,” Drake famously raps: “I’m just tryna make sure that I have a legacy like Pac.”

Similarly, Drake has previously expressed his admiration for Jamaican reggae icon Bob Marley and even expressed his wish to sit with the singer if had the the opportunity. Like Pac, Bob Marley died at a young age. He was only 36 when he passed away in 1981 after battling cancer.

Drake’s love for Tupac’s music is clearly evident in his own work, and he has consistently expressed his admiration for the late rapper’s impact on the hip hop community. Late artists like Bob Marley and Tupac’s music continues to inspire and influence artists like Drake, and their legacy will undoubtedly continue to inspire future generations of musicians.

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