rapper

Justice Department prosecutors accused Grammy-winning rapper Pras Michel of betraying his country for money.

A United States district judge has sentenced Prakazrel “Pras” Michel, a member of 1990s hip-hop group the Fugees, to 14 years in prison for illegally funnelling millions of dollars in foreign contributions to former US President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign.

Michel declined to address the court before Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly sentenced him on Thursday. The trial in Washington, DC, included testimony from former Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio.

This week’s sentencing came after a federal jury convicted Michel on 10 counts, including conspiracy and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government, in April 2023.

Michel obtained more than $120m from fugitive Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho – also known as Jho Low – and steered some of that money through straw donors to Obama’s campaign.

Low is wanted for his leading role in the 1MDB scandal, in which billions of dollars were pilfered from Malaysia’s state investment fund in one of the largest financial frauds in history.

Several senior financial figures and members of Malaysia’s government have been convicted for their role in the scandal, including disgraced former Prime Minister Najib Razak, who was handed a 12-year prison sentence in 2022, which was later halved.

Court documents, filed by Justice Department prosecutors on Thursday, said the 52-year-old Grammy-winning rapper “lied unapologetically and unrelentingly to carry out his schemes” as he syphoned illegal payments from Low to the Obama campaign.

It is illegal in the US for foreigners to donate to election campaigns, as well as to pay someone else to make a campaign contribution.

“Prakazrel Michel betrayed his country for money. He funnelled millions of dollars in prohibited foreign contributions into a United States presidential election and attempted to manipulate a sitting president to serve a foreign criminal and a foreign power,” prosecutors said.

Prosecutors also said Michel had attempted to end a Justice Department investigation into Low and the 1MDB scandal, as well as “tampered with witnesses and then perjured himself at trial”.

Judge Kollar-Kotelly was advised by prosecutors that federal sentencing guidelines recommended a life sentence for such crimes, urging her to take into account the “breadth and depth of his crimes, his indifference to the risks to his country, and the magnitude of his greed”.

Michel’s lawyers downplayed the extent of his crimes, saying Low’s motivation for donating money was not to “achieve some policy objective”.

“Instead, Low simply wanted to obtain a photograph with himself and then-President Obama,” Michel’s lawyers wrote.

Low – who remains in hiding and claims innocence – courted America’s rich and famous during a years-long spending spree allegedly financed by funds stolen from 1MDB.

Notably, he was one of the primary financiers of the 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street, starring DiCaprio.

Defence lawyer Peter Zeidenberg said Michel will appeal.

He labelled his client’s 14-year sentence “completely disproportionate to the offence” and “absurdly high” given such terms are typically reserved for deadly terrorists and drug cartel leaders.

Instead, Zeidenberg recommended a three-year prison sentence for Michel.

Michel, a Brooklyn native whose parents immigrated to the US from Haiti, was a founding member of the Fugees along with childhood friends Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean. The group won two Grammy Awards during their peak in the 1990s and sold tens of millions of albums.

Manchester rapper Aitch, 25, is among the famous faces on I’m A Celebrity this week and while introducing him, presenters Ant and Dec mocked him for his stage name

Ant and Dec mercilessly mocked Aitch as the rapper joined I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! in the Australian jungle. The 25-year-old, whose real name is Harrison James Armstrong, rose to fame in 2018 with the track Straight Rhyme. The rapper’s debut studio album, Close to Home, reached number two on the UK Albums Chart.

Introducing Aitch on the show, Dec said: “We’ve got one of the biggest names in British music – H.” Ant then joked: “H from Steps, that’s a good booking.” But Dec replied: “No, it’s the rapper.” Co-host Ant then said it was a “tragedy” that Ian Watkins – best known by his stage name of H from Steps – wasn’t on I’m A Celeb.

READ MORE: How Aitch became ‘most hated man in Manchester for 40 minutes’

“H from Steps is rapping now. What a tragedy,” Ant said, before Dec continued: “On a diet of rice and beans Aitch is probably worried he’s not going to rap for three whole weeks.” Ant concluded: “That’s rap, with a capital C.”

Among this year’s contestants alongside Aitch are reality TV star Jack Osbourne, comedian Ruby Wax, Spandau Ballet’s Martin Kemp, model Kelly Brook and Emmerdale star Lisa Riley. Completing the line-up are comedian Eddie Kadi, EastEnders actress Shona McGarty, sports broadcaster Alex Scott and social media star Morgan Burtwistle, who is known as Angryginge.

Aitch joined Eddie, Shona, Kelly and Martin skydiving from a helicopter on to a beach. The five celebrities then had to wade through offal and slime to find a key fob to get access to a getaway car taking them to camp.

As the rapper joined the celebrities on the show, fans have been left wondering if he will cause as much controversy Down Under as he has throughout his career. One of Aitch’s most infamous moments came in 2022, when an advertisement for his debut album Close to Home mistakenly covered a mural of Joy Division icon Ian Curtis in Manchester’s Northern Quarter.

The artwork, which was painted by street artist Akse P19, had become a local landmark, and its disappearance sparked outrage among Mancunians. Aitch was blindsided by the backlash, and told BBC Breakfast: “I felt like the most hated person in Manchester for about 40 minutes.”

He recalled discovering the mistake on social media, saying: “I seen it on Twitter, that was the first time I seen it…There was an outrage burst of like, ‘What’s Aitch doing putting his album over Ian’s mural’, and then I was like, ‘Oh god, what’s this?'”

The rapper moved quickly, contacting Amazon and Akse P19 to stop the billboard from being erected and arrange for the mural to be restored. “We just put a stop to mine straight away,” he added.

RAPPER Chris Brown footed a £160,240 booze bill during a wild night out in London.

The US star — on bail for assault — partied with his entourage in the capital ahead of his trial next year.

One session involved at least four bottles of £2,900-a-time Louis Roederer Cristal Magnum Champagne at the Selene nightclub, which promises “the epitome of ultimate pleasure”.

Days later, the West End club posted the anonymous megabucks receipt on social media.

Some of those who partied with him — including models and other rappers — have revealed Chris footed the bill.

His entourage also posted the receipt alongside shots of a private jet and luxury hotel suites from his ten-day visit, after he flew in on October 18.

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One insider told The Sun: “Chris lives life in the fast lane and thinks nothing of splashing out on the best there is.”

Brown is set to stand trial in London next October, accused of attacking music producer Abraham Diaw at the Tape club in Mayfair in 2023.

He denies ABH, attempted GBH and having an offensive weapon — a tequila bottle.

The rapper’s agents were approached for comment.

RAPPER Young Bleed has tragically died aged 51 after suffering a brain aneurysm.

The star, whose real name was Glenn Clifton Jr, sadly passed away on Saturday, his son confirmed.

He had been rushed to hospital in the days leading up to his death after collapsing in Las Vegas.

Young Bleed rose to fame in the 90s with the hit “How You Do That” and went on to release nine studio albums.

The rap icon’s son, Ty’Gee Ramon Clifton, confirmed the tragic news with an Instagram video captioned: “RIP to the biggest legend I know.”

Addressing fans in the clip, he said: “As of November 1st, my dad gained his wings.

“This is a tough topic for me – not sure how it’s going to go. But I am here to clear up a lot of false narratives.”

He added: “I know with him being a legend worldwide, all lot of people were concerned for him, they wasn’t sure what they heard.

“So I’m here to confirm as his oldest child that he has gained his wings.

“My dad was 51 years out when this happened to him… The My dad didn’t have no real health issues, these are just chapters in life.

“I hope after this video that people that are going through grieving moments find peace in this video.

“My dad like most as you get in [older] in age take had high blood pressure. He would take his medicines… Once he collapsed he did pass from the aneurysm, the bleed to the brain.”

The late rapper’s mother has also set up a GoFundMe page to help cover the cost of medical and funeral expenses. 

She had started the page when he had been hospitalized and admitted it was ‘completely unexpected and has turned our world upside down.’

Young Bleed was born on June 6, 1974, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and his passion for music was sparked at nine-years-old.

He shot to fame in the 90s and worked with fellow rappers C-Loc, Max Minelli, J-Von, and J-Von’s younger brother Chris Hamilton.

They created the group Concentration Camp in 1995 and his song with C-Loc How You Do That was released two years later, seeing him rise within the industry.

The song peaked at No. 1 on Billboard’s R&B and Hip Hop album charts the following year.

Rapper RBX has sued Spotify, alleging that the Swedish audio company has failed to stop the artificial inflation of music streams for artists like Drake and is hurting the revenue other rights holders receive through the platform.

RBX, whose real name is Eric Dwayne Collins, is seeking a class-action status and damages and restitution from Spotify. RBX, along with other rights holders, receive payment based on how often their music is streamed on Spotify, according to the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in L.A. on Sunday.

Spotify pays rights holders a percentage of revenue based on the total streams attributed to them compared with total volume of streams for all songs, the lawsuit said.

The Long Beach-based rapper said that rights holders are losing money on Spotify because streams of some artists are being artificially inflated through bots powered by automated software, even though the use of such bots is prohibited on the platform, according to the lawsuit.

For example, the lawsuit notes that over a four-day period in 2024 there were at least 250,000 streams of Drake’s “No Face” song that appeared to originate in Turkey, but “were falsely geomapped through the coordinated use of VPNs to the United Kingdom in attempt to obscure their origins.”

Spotify knew or should have known “with reasonable diligence, that fraudulent activities were occurring on its platform,” states the lawsuit, describing the streamer’s policies to root out fraud as “window dressing.”

Spotify declined to comment on the pending litigation but said it “in no way benefits from the industry-wide challenge of artificial streaming.”

“We heavily invest in always-improving, best-in-class systems to combat it and safeguard artist payouts with strong protections like removing fake streams, withholding royalties, and charging penalties,” Spotify said in a statement.

Last year, a U.S. producer was accused of stealing $10 million from streaming services and Spotify said it was able to limit the theft on its platform to $60,000, touting it as evidence that its systems are working.

The platform is also making efforts to push back against AI-generated music that is made without artists’ permission. In September, Spotify announced it had removed more than 75 million AI-generated “spammy” music tracks from its platform over the last 12 months.

A representative for Drake did not immediately return a request for comment.

RBX is known for his work on Dr. Dre’s 1992 album “The Chronic” and Snoop Dogg’s 1993 album “Doggystyle.” He has multiple solo albums and has collaborated with artists including on Eminem’s “The Marshall Mathers LP” and Kris Kross’ “Da Bomb.” RBX is Snoop Dogg’s cousin.

Artificial intelligence continues to change the way that the entertainment industry operates, affecting everything from film and TV production to music. In the music industry, companies have sued AI startups, accusing the businesses of taking copyrighted music to train AI models.

At the same time, some music artists have embraced AI, using the technology to test bold ideas in music videos and in their songs.