Latest news with #LosÁngelesAzules&Thalia
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Lil Durk's Family Claims Rapper's Lyrics Are Being Used Against Him in Murder-for-Hire Case
Lil Durk remains behind bars in California, counting down the days until his trial is set to begin in October for his murder-for-hire case. Durk's family posted a clip to Instagram on Tuesday (April 29) giving fans an update on the Chicago rapper's legal situation, and they claimed that the prosecution is building a case that uses his own lyrics against him. More from Billboard Lil Durk Wants Murder-For-Hire Case Dismissed, Says He Recorded Lyrics Months Before Shooting Los Ángeles Azules & Thalia's 'Yo Me Lo Busqué' Soars to No. 1 on Regional Mexican Airplay Chart Lucy Dacus Explains Why Going Public With Julien Baker Romance Makes Her a Little 'Uncomfortable' 'The recent developments in Durk's legal case have brought a harsh truth to light: the government presented false evidence to a grand jury to indict him,' a statement from Durk's team in the video reads. 'This isn't justice. That's a violation of the very system that's supposed to protect all of us.' The clip goes on to explain that Durk has always been a vivid storyteller with his music, and his creative art shouldn't be held against him in a court of law. 'Durk has always used music to tell stories, to express pain to heal — and yet those same lyrics are now being used against him. We refuse to stay silent as Black artists continue to be criminalized for their creativity. Rap is art,' the video continued before calling for public support. 'As a family, we are asking the public, the fans and the culture to stand with us. Stand for truth. Stand for fairness. Stand for The Voice.' Lil Durk's legal team continues to fight for his freedom. Earlier in April, Durk's attorneys called for the case's dismissal and claimed that 'false evidence' was given to a grand jury. Prosecutors are attempting to tie lyrics from Durk and Babyface Ray's 'Wonderful Wayne & Jackie Boy' to the murder of Lul Pab. While the track was released in December 2022, which would be a few months after Pab's death, but Durk's team says those lyrics were penned long before the shooting in January 2022. 'Told me they got an addy (go, go)/ Got location (go, go)/ Green light (go, go, go, go, go)/ Look on the news and see your son/ You screaming 'No, no,' he raps on the track in question. 'The government told the grand jury that Mr. Banks, through specific lyrics in his music, celebrated and profited from a revenge murder that he had ordered,' Durk's attorney, Drew Findling, said in the filing. 'That claim is demonstrably false. Unless the government is prosecuting Banks on a theory of extra-sensory prescience, the lyrics could not have soundly informed the grand jury's finding of probable cause.' Lil Durk was arrested in Florida in October on a murder-for-hire charge hours after a few of his Only the Family associates were also indicted. Prosecutors believe Durk plotted to have Quando Rondo killed as retaliation for the death of his friend King Von, who was murdered by Rondo's associates in Atlanta in 2020, but the 2022 Los Angeles shooting ended up leaving Rondo's cousin Lul Pab dead. With Durk behind bars awaiting trial, the rapper's team pieced together his Deep Thoughts album, which arrived in March and debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 with 64,000 album-equivalent units earned. See his family's statement below: Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Katy Perry Responds to Online Hate With Message to Fans: ‘I Keep Looking to the Light'
Katy Perry has assured fans that she's 'ok,' despite a recent barrage of online vitriol that has come her way. The singer addressed the recent negativity from online commentators in an Instagram comment on a fan page, expressing her gratitude toward her fans for their ongoing support during what she labels an undoubtedly difficult time. More from Billboard Los Ángeles Azules & Thalia's 'Yo Me Lo Busqué' Soars to No. 1 on Regional Mexican Airplay Chart Lucy Dacus Explains Why Going Public With Julien Baker Romance Makes Her a Little 'Uncomfortable' Latto Says She's 'Big Daddy' While Rocking Carmelo Anthony's Syracuse Jersey 'I'm so grateful for you guys. We're in this beautiful and wild journey together,' Perry wrote. 'I can continue to remain true to myself, heart open and honest especially because of our bond. I love you guys and have grown up together with you and am so excited to see you all over the world this year!' Perry has found herself as something of a lightning rod for negativity in the past few weeks, with much of the discourse related to her spaceflight aboard the Blue Origin NS-31 on April 14. While the likes of Kesha had been roped into the ongoing drama following an online post that seemingly referenced fast-food chain Wendy's' snarky jab at the 'Firework' singer, English musician Lily Allen recently walked back her comments about calling Perry and her spaceflight 'out of touch.' 'There was actually no need for me to bring her name into it, and it was my own internalized misogyny,' Allen said on her Miss Me? podcast. 'I've been thinking about it a lot, and it was just completely unnecessary to pile on with her. I disagree with what it was that they did, but she wasn't the only person that did it. She was possibly the most famous and the one that divides people the most.' The Instagram post which Perry responded to was a video of a Times Square billboard that congratulated the singer for the opening week of her Liftimes tour, and ostensibly aimed to serve as comfort amidst the online backlash. As Perry continued, she explained that much of her ability to survive the barrage of negative comments has come about through plenty of therapy and personal growth. 'Please know I am ok, I have done a lot work around knowing who I am, what is real and what is important to me,' she noted. 'My therapist said something years ago that has been a game changer, 'no one can make you believe something about yourself that you don't already believe about yourself' and if I ever do have any feelings about it then it's an opportunity to investigate the feeling underneath it. 'When the 'online' world tries to make me a human Piñata, I take it with grace and send them love, cause I know so many people are hurting in so many ways and the internet is very much so a dumping ground for unhinged and unhealed.' Perry recently launched her Liftimes tour in Mexico on April 23, with each night also featuring fans being brought onstage during a special request section of the set. 'What's real is seeing your faces every night, singing in unison, reading your notes, feeling your warmth,' she concluded. 'I find people to lock eyes and sing with and I know we are healing each other in a small way when I get to do that. 'I'm not perfect, and I actually have omitted that word from my vocabulary, I'm on a human journey playing the game of life with an audience of many and sometimes I fall but… I get back up and go on and continue to play the game and somehow through my battered and bruised adventure I keep looking to the light and in that light a new level UNLOCKS.' Perry will bring her Lifetimes tour to the U.S. next week, with a headline date in Houston, TX set to take place on May 7. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
