Influential '90s rapper Heavy D, born Dwight Arrington Myers in Jamaica (and raised in Mount Vernon, NY), has died at the age of 44 years old. According to TMZ, a 911 call was placed from his home in Beverly Hills at 11:25 a.m., he was rushed to the hospital in Los Angeles around noon, and pronounced dead around 1 p.m. Pacific time. The site reports that the 911 call was to "report an unconscious male on the walkway," but he was "conscious and speaking" when paramedics arrived. Cops are investigating the death, though there are no obvious signs of foul play. His last Tweet was from just 16 hours ago, and read: "Be Inspired!" more ›

Say you're a relatively famous musician, and your laptop gets stolen while you're on tour. You offer a $1 million reward for anyone who returns the computer, and about a month later, someone does. So instead of paying them the cool mil you promised in a very public way, you act like that whole reward thing never happened. Cool, right? That's exactly what Harlem-based rapper/producer Ryan Leslie did, and now, unsurprisingly, he's getting sued. more ›

Rapper Rick Ross has reportedly suffered a seizure on a plane, forcing it to land. According to TMZ, Ross was on a flight going from Ft. Lauderdale to Memphis earlier today when he lost consciousness. A doctor on board administered CPR on the rapper, and paramedics frantically tried to revive him after the plane made an emergency landing. They say that as Ross was being wheeled off the aircraft, he appeared to show signs of life. more ›

Conservatives have been up in arms all week over a rapper who seemingly glorifies the decadent lifestyle of food stamps and welfare. Stanley Lafleur, aka rapper Mr EBT (H-Man), watched as the video for his single "My EBT," which joyously depicts him using his government-issued Electronic Benefit Transfer card to pay for junk food, went viral this week after Drudge Report and other conservative bloggers held it up as The Reason This Country Is Going To Hell (not the champagne toasts). But Lafleur tells the News that conservatives just don't get his message: "I couldn't believe people are hating on me like I'm rubbing the benefit card in the face of taxpayers. They don't get it. My video is a parody." more ›

Three suspects have been arrested in the murder of a Brooklyn rapper. Rhian Stout, aka Kampane, was found shot to death, torched, and abandoned in the back of an SUV in New Jersey earlier this week. And now, suspect Randy Manning is being held on felony murder charges. "The shooting may have been related to a dispute or involvement over money, [and not Stoute's] status as a performer," Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli told Cliffview Pilot. more ›

The body of a 33-year-old Brooklyn rapper was found torched and abandoned in the back of an SUV in New Jersey early yesterday. The remains of Rhian "Kampane" Stoute had been charred in multiple places in such a way that it took the Bergen County Medical Examiner most of the day to identify it. more ›

Shortly before he (inadvertently) confessed to a 17-year-old murder, Trevell Coleman, AKA rapper G-Dep, rapped with Chi King on the single "On My Way." The single will be released on January 25th, and Protekted Records says that a portion of the single's sales will be donated to the victim's family...if they can find them. Owner Jon Gornbein said, "if we can't find them, we'll make a donation in his honor to an appropriate charity that is against guns and violence." Chi King wrote on Twitter, "my prayers go to g dep an his family~ god does not abandon those who seek him." more ›

Apparently when Trevell Coleman, AKA rapper G-Dep, came clean to police about shooting a man in the chest in 1993, he may not have known that he was confessing to killing a guy. He told the Post in a jailhouse interview, "I was surprised -- for some reason, I really didn't think that he died. When they told me, I was like, 'Oh, I'm not going home after this.'" He has now been charged with murder, and faces life in prison. more ›

Young New York rapper Astronomical Kid has released a video on the YouTubes for his song, "Stop Hitting On My Moms." Awww, we're sure this isn't the reaction he was hoping for, but: this is adorable! And possibly counterproductive, because now everyone is looking at his moms. more ›

In today's top "dog bites man" story, a rapper who boasted on Twitter about beating a murder rap is accused of running a violent drug gang out of the Gowanus Projects. Ronald Herron, AKA Ra Diggs, has been charged with heading up a crack cocaine and heroin distribution organization; he was arrested Tuesday night with two other alleged crew members outside the Amnesia nightclub in Chelsea. A loaded 9-mm. handgun was found in the glove box. It's worth noting that Herron, who has promised online to "turn the pigs kids into orphans," first turned up in the news at age 12. more ›

Snoop Dogg, who's playing at Brooklyn Bowl next month, was approached by some high school kids outside of the Eldridge on the Lower East Side recently. TMZ was there (natch) and filmed him listening to one of the kid's demos; the site reports that he was so impressed that he had his manager get his contact info! more ›

Nearly 1,000 people were evacuated from a Lower Manhattan courthouse this morning because of a fire that's thought to have started in a wooden contractor's shed or in the building's basement. Around 10:30 a.m. defendants were taken back to their cells in another building when smoke began to fill the lobby at 100 Centre Street, reports the Post. According to NY1 the fire was under control in under two hours, leaving five FDNY workers, two civilians and one prisoner with minor injuries. Unhappy evacuees were ordered to the street and told the building would be closed for the day. Some came to attend the sentencing of rapper Lil Wayne, which will be postponed, like all of the cases on the court's docket. more ›

The 43-year-old rapper Guru, of Gang Starr fame, reportedly suffered a massive heart attack in New York City over the weekend and has been left in a coma since. He will undergo surgery today. more ›

Back in 2007, rapper Ja Rule was arrested on West End Avenue, where he and his crew were pulled over for speeding. However, the cops found a .40-caliber pistol in the car (which ended up having a trace amounts of Ja Rule's DNA on it). According to the Post, Ja Rule and his lawyer argued this morning that cops had no cause to search his car, but Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Richard Carruthers denied the motion. He did, however, say that the weed the rapper admitted to having on him that night won't be used against him. He's free on bail right now, but his next court date is March 3rd, and he faces a minimum of 3.5 years in prison. more ›

Less than a month after a CD-seller was shot and killed when he opened fire on police, street musicians have returned to Times Square to sell their wares — and scam tourists, according to the Post. On Dec. 10, rapper Raymond "Ready" Martinez fired at a cop who had questioned him about conning tourists into buying his record by scribbling their names onto discs and demanding $10. Martinez was shot and killed in front of the Marriott after his stolen gun jammed because he was holding it sideways. more ›

50 Cent doesn't even need to perform anymore, he's spent the summer in the headlines for canceling a Queens show when neighbors became concerned about safety. But now the NY Post reports that the rapper could possibly be attending a picnic in the borough tomorrow, at PS 40. more ›

Finally, Foxy Brown is talking about the eight months of time she served, and completed last April, after assaulting two nail salon employees in 2006 and then violating parole. Of course, her chattiness might have been prompted by the NY Post cover story on the star treatment she received at Rikers. The paper spoke to Brown, who insisted, "It was incarceration, not vacation." But it wasn't all riches to rags behind bars: She admitted, "I only wore the designer clothing I was allowed to have." Not only were her prison clothes accessorized with Fendi scarves, but the paper reiterates that correction officials fawned over her and became her entourage! "Chaplains hung out in her cell, delivered her meals and makeup, and gave her unlimited TV and phone access." Brown insists she was treated equally, however, and refers to it as "the worst period in my life." Surely she has plenty of pity party material for her autobiography. more ›

Harlem rapper Jim Jones headed to court yesterday following an alleged physical assault on someone at the 5th Avenue Louis Vuitton store late last year. Not just anyone, ahem, some pal of an R&B star called Ne-Yo and the younger brother of rapper Jay-Z's road manager, reports The Daily News. Why is it that court dates always coincide with album drops? The paper also notes that his solo album hit stores yesterday, and he performed at Virgin Megastore hours after standing before a judge to reject a plea deal. Instead of taking 10 days of community service for the incident, the case will now go to trial on April 21st. His lawyer maintains that the other guy started it. more ›

Rappers Remy Ma and Papoose are finally tying the knot today at a ceremony on the exclusive Rikers Island, and the rain is the least of their problems. Papoose, who recently duped the Bed-Stuy volunteer EMTs for his video, has been planning the big day as his lady resides behind bars. This would have made for a fantastic hour of reality television had they filmed the process for Bridezillas, considering on just an average night out Remy Ma shot her friend in the stomach. more ›

Last year Grammy-nominated Bronx rapper Remy Ma got herself into some trouble when she allegedly shot a woman (Makeda Barnes-Joseph) who she thought stole $3,000 from her. This all occurred after the two, along with a large party, were enjoying a night at Pizza Bar in the Meatpacking District. more ›

Leval Lyde, a 36-year-old Brooklyn rapper who went by the street name "Kevlar," was gunned down yesterday on the corner of Clinton Ave. and Fulton St. in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn. Lyde was shot just before 5 p.m. on the street corner and declared dead on arrival at Brooklyn Hospital. Lyde had just exited Fish & Crustaceans Quality Seafood and was walking with his sandwich towards the maroon Jaguar (owned by the mother of his child) when he was shot once in the torso. more ›

Through some strange stroke of Manhattan Supreme Court scheduling, Ja Rule, Remy Ma, Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes all appeared in court yesterday (at different times) to face various charges. Ja Rule and Lil Wayne faced gun possession charges from separate incidents on July 22. The pair, who collaborated on a song "Uh Oh," also shared the same attorney, Stacey Richman. Richman said that Lil Wayne couldn't be guilty, because when his tour bus... more ›