Just weeks after prosecutors began presenting evidence, the trial had to be paused because one of Young Thug’s codefendants was stabbed in jail. Prosecutors had been negotiating with Young Thug’s lawyers to try to reach a deal that would end his participation in the long-running trial. Jury selection at the Fulton County courthouse in Atlanta began in January 2023 and took nearly 10 months.

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To cope with the lingering pain from a neck injury he got in a car accident, Big Lurch had been using PCP, but started getting more and more delusional and erratic over time. Reportedly, these delusions caused him to believe that his roommate had a demon inside her, with catastrophic results. Robert “Vanilla Ice” Van Winkle might not be the most obvious inclusion on a list of rappers with legitimate legal troubles … Unless you count his copyright infringement legal battle over “Ice Ice Baby,” and its similarities with the Queen and David Bowie tune, “Under Pressure” (via The Washington Post). However, he’s actually been in trouble with the law a surprising number of times. The term “rap sheet,” per Illinois Legal Aid, stands for an individual’s “Record of Arrests and Prosecutions.” However, for some rap artists, it might as well be an allusion to their profession.

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• That included a debut single, “Still Not A Player,” which hit No. 3 in the rap and R&B chart, as well as a double-platinum-selling debut album.
• Instead, the rapper went forward with a potentially risky non-negotiated or “blind” plea, meaning he was entering pleas without having a deal in place with prosecutors.
• “High Powered,” “The $20 Sack Pyramid,” “The Roach,” “Let Me Ride” and other tracks from “The Chronic” exalt the benefits of smoking weed.
• Along with his friend Chris Smith, the two were discovered in an Atlanta mall by producer Jermaine Dupri in 1990.

According to The Smoking Gun, young Jackson’s second arrest in 1994 came mere weeks later, when the police turned up at his door with a search warrant and discovered a starter gun and a stash of drugs. He faced up to nine years in prison, which was ultimately turned into a seven-month stint at a youth boot camp. Gucci Mane is one of several rappers who didn’t quit their addiction because of their time in rehab. Although he spent time there and admitted that it was great for him, the rapper stated, “I was ordered to go by the court, so it didn’t stop me.” Mane had a rough childhood and had struggled with drug addiction for some time.

How did the plea come about?

Even so, the rapper’s years between 2005 and 2013 continued to feature a laundry list of arrests. Also in 2005, he was arrested for beating a promoter with a pool stick, receiving a six-month prison sentence and a six-and-a-half-year probation. In the coming years, he violated and risked violating said probation more than once. Years of various charges on assault, battery, reckless conduct, disorderly conduct, drug and firearm possession, and assorted driving-themed misdeeds followed — as did stints in jail. Recently there has been a noticeable shift in the mindset of some MCs when it comes to self-medicating on opiates. However, following the death of a close friend of his, rapper Proof, Em relapsed in 2006.

• While, for the most part, drug use in hip-hop has never been taboo (meaning you can’t totally blame this on the kiddos), the promotion and use of drugs of the highly addictive nature is at an all-time high.
• Allegedly, Proof then snatched Mudd’s gun and fired in the air in response, causing the bouncer to open fire, striking both Proof and Bender — a version of events contrary to what had previously been reported.
• Three co-defendants had already pleaded guilty this week after reaching deals with prosecutors.

His wife, Liza Rios, also described him as being abusive in their relationship, though she also praised her late husband for his “golden heart” and for his work for the Puerto Rican community (per MTV). Even after becoming famous, 50 Cent hasn’t always followed the straight and narrow path. According to MTV News, in 2002, he was arrested in New York after a search of an illegally-parked SUV led to the discovery of two loaded guns.

Here, XXL takes a look at before and after photos of rappers who look drastically different after going to jail or prison. “Hopefully I can be the face to sho niggas to slow down an we got our whole life ahead of us fuck being rock stars gettin high I got ptsd,” he wrote on Twitter, a few days after being diagnosed with liver and kidney failure in October 2017. “I was running from my old life tryna get high didn’t want to face them demons…I’m getting help I might just go to rehab.” Before his untimely passing, he stated he hadn’t taken a sip in two months. Music fans often sanctify those artists who die before their time, and with interest in those lost often reaching fever pitch in the months and years after an artist’s death, they are often confronted with startling new facts about their lives and deaths.

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While it’s a misguided notion to squarely place blame on rappers, rappers who are sober or the even broader stroke of “Hip Hop” for brandishing drug culture, a positive reflection in the public eye shouldn’t go unnoticed. But even its artists, fans and utmost steadfast participants aren’t immune to the pitfalls induced by culture in the United States. A rapper merely echoes his environment, surroundings, influences and experiences.