THE BIG STORY: Many breakout artists regret signing their first record deal. Very few of them try to break it by holding the head of their record label at gunpoint.
But here we are: On Thursday (April 7), Pooh Shiesty (Lontrell Williams Jr.) was arrested on federal charges of kidnapping and armed robbery over a January incident in Dallas in which he allegedly pulled an AK-style pistol on Gucci Mane, who had signed the young rapper in 2020 to his 1017 Records.
Prosecutors say the veteran Atlanta rapper was lured to what he thought was a normal business meeting, only to be angrily confronted by an armed Shiesty over the terms of his deal. Gucci was allegedly forced — at gunpoint and on camera — to say he was releasing the young rapper from the deal, then robbed of his wedding ring, Rolex watches and cash.
“Instead of discussing business in a civil matter, the defendants resorted to violence and intimidation to achieve their purported business objectives,” prosecutors said in a statement.
The case doesn’t look great for Shiesty and eight other men accused of participating in the alleged attack. But the rapper’s lawyer has already said his client’s side of the story is “significantly different from what the government says.”
“The government tries to characterize this as a dispute over money between Lontrell and his record label,” Shiesty’s attorney told the Dallas Morning News last week. “But in this business, things are very often not what they seem.”
Other top stories this week…
— Universal Music Group (UMG) reached a settlement to end a $500 million lawsuit accusing Believe and TuneCore of “massive” infringement by distributing sped-up or remixed knockoffs of tracks by Kendrick Lamar, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber and others.
— Salt-N-Pepa moved to launch an appeal seeking revive their lawsuit against UMG over control of their masters via copyright termination, telling the Second Circuit that their records have “been a windfall for UMG” and that it’s high time the actual artists got them back.
— The choreographer behind *NSYNC‘s famous “Bye Bye Bye” dance filed a copyright case against Sony Music after the iconic routine appeared in the Marvel movie Deadpool & Wolverine, claiming the label doesn’t own the dance and can’t license it to others.
— Live Nation’s antitrust trial entered its fourth week of testimony, with key defense witnesses taking the stand as the concert giant made its case to the jury. The blockbuster monopoly case could see closing arguments and the start of jury deliberations later this week.
— Lil Nas X will see his felony assault charges dismissed as long as he sticks to a two-year mental health treatment plan, a judge ruled — largely ending a case that started when the “Old Town Road” rapper allegedly attacked cops while walking around Los Angeles clad only in underwear and cowboy boots.
— Legal scholars criticized Drake’s appeal seeking to revive his lawsuit over Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” arguing that he cannot sue after he “consented” to the war of words — and that litigation over rap lyrics is “dangerous.”
— A week after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its big music copyright ruling in Cox v. Sony, Elon Musk’s X cited the high court’s decision as a reason that a judge should dismiss the massive infringement lawsuit the major music publishers are litigating against the social media platform.
— An ex-guitarist for the band Turnstile was charged with attempted murder after he allegedly hit the lead singer’s father with his car. The band said Brady Ebert’s alleged attack came in the wake of years of threats after they cut ties in 2022: “We have no language left for Brady.”
— A federal judge once again dismissed a lawsuit against Showtime that claimed George & Tammy — a TV series about country music legends George Jones and Tammy Wynette — unfairly turned her late husband into “the villain.”
— Radio company Urban One asked a court to throw out Brian McKnight’s defamation lawsuit over statements made by the singer’s ex-wife and son in radio interviews, arguing the case is a non-starter.
