Davis had been told Wednesday that he needed to decide whether to exercise his right to testify after prosecutors finished presenting their case. That question carried unusual weight because so much of the state’s evidence came from Davis himself. Jurors have spent the trial hearing his past descriptions of the September 1996 shooting through recorded interviews and other statements, while defense attorney Michael Sanft has maintained that his client exaggerated his involvement for attention and money. By resting Thursday without calling Davis, the defense chose to let that argument stand without subjecting him to cross-examination, reports AP News.

Read More: Suge Knight Alleges Keefe D Offered $1 Million Bribe Ahead Of Tupac Trial

A Trial That Has Divided Hip Hop

Sanft spent the defense’s brief presentation returning to gaps in the decades-old investigation. Two former officers testified about working near Suge Knight’s Las Vegas home on the night Shakur was shot. They recalled vehicles moving through the area, including a cream or white Cadillac. The defense then called retired homicide detective Dan Long, who investigated Shakur’s death and interviewed Davis years later.

Under questioning from prosecutors, Long said Davis identified the same four men investigators had already believed were inside the Cadillac when Shakur was shot. Long also testified that after speaking with Davis in 2009, he returned to Vegas believing there was enough evidence to seek a murder warrant. Prosecutors at the time told him not to proceed while the matter was under review.

Read More: Tupac’s Family Accuses Keefe D Of Ordering Crew To Keep Murder Quiet

Prosecutors rested Wednesday after calling roughly two dozen witnesses. Their case portrayed Shakur’s killing as retaliation for the MGM Grand fight in which the rapper and others attacked Orlando Anderson, Davis’s nephew. The state contends Davis helped arrange the response and supplied the gun later used when a Cadillac pulled alongside the BMW carrying Shakur and Knight. Davis has pleaded not guilty and denies participating in the murder.

After nine days of testimony, both sides are now finished presenting evidence. Jurors are scheduled to return Monday morning for closing arguments and will begin deliberating afterward. Davis faces life in prison if convicted.

The post Keefe D Declines To Testify As Defense Rests In Tupac Murder Trial appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

Her legal team is also making a broader argument about what allowing the case to continue could mean for people who speak publicly about sexual abuse. “It is precisely baseless and harassing lawsuits like Mr. Howard’s that disincentivize actual victims of sexual abuse from coming forward or testifying truthfully as government witnesses,” attorney Douglas Wigdor said in the latest filing, according to AllHipHop.

Howard, a former male escort who says he participated in sexual encounters involving Cassie and Sean “Diddy” Combs for years, first sued the pair in 2025. He alleges that he was trafficked and sexually exploited after Cassie contacted him for paid encounters beginning around 2009. His complaint accuses Combs of watching and directing the sessions and alleges that security personnel sometimes took Howard’s phone, identification, and clothing. Howard also claims that Cassie arranged travel and helped keep him involved by offering money and other benefits. He is seeking $35 million in damages.

Read More: Clayton Howard Claims Against Diddy Survive, But Not Against Cassie

Cassie Has Denied Howard’s Allegations

Cassie’s attorneys contend that Howard’s own account makes it difficult to cast her as the person controlling those encounters. His complaint repeatedly describes Combs as directing the sessions and determining when they ended. It also recounts violence Combs allegedly inflicted on the singer, including an alleged December 2016 incident in Miami, and incorporates accounts from another escort who said he witnessed Combs abusing her. Cassie’s lawyers argue those allegations describe someone operating under Combs’ control rather than independently running a trafficking operation.

The filing separately challenges Howard’s accusation that Cassie knowingly exposed him to chlamydia during a May 2016 encounter. Howard points in part to testimony Cassie gave during Combs’ federal criminal trial about health problems she experienced during their relationship. Her attorneys argue he conflates urinary tract infections with sexually transmitted infections and has not alleged facts showing Cassie knew she had chlamydia when the encounter occurred. They also dispute his attempt to use a later reference to a chlamydia scare as proof of what she knew months earlier.

Read More: Cassie Blasted By Former Diddy Escort Clayton Howard

Howard’s allegations against Cassie have already run into trouble with U.S. District Judge Anne Hwang. The court dismissed every claim against her in July but allowed Howard another opportunity to amend his complaint. He filed a fifth amended version on August 3, preserving claims under federal and state trafficking laws along with sexual assault allegations. Hwang previously found that Howard had not identified a timely incident involving Cassie that exceeded conduct to which he had agreed.

Cassie’s role in Combs’ criminal prosecution sits behind much of her attorneys’ argument about the consequences of Howard’s lawsuit. She was a central government witness during the 2025 trial and testified extensively about abuse and the sexual encounters Combs called “freak-offs.” A jury ultimately acquitted Combs of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking but convicted him on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution under the Mann Act.

Howard’s lawsuit is a separate civil proceeding, and none of his accusations against Cassie have been proven in court. Her latest motion asks the judge to prevent him from filing another amended complaint if the remaining claims against her are dismissed. A hearing on that request is scheduled for October 21.

The post Cassie Denies STD Claim As She Moves To End $35 Million Suit appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

According to CBS Sacramento, the crash happened shortly after 6 a.m. on southbound I-5 near County Road 95 in Yolo County. California Highway Patrol officials said the truck drifted onto the shoulder before the driver apparently attempted to steer back onto the freeway and lost control. The vehicle overturned and blocked both southbound lanes.

Emergency crews extricated the driver, and a medical helicopter was initially requested. CHP later confirmed that the driver, who was the only person inside the truck, died from their injuries. Their identity has not been publicly released. Furthermore, investigators have not determined the cause of the driver’s departure from the roadway. CHP Sgt. David Barker told CBS that authorities are considering several possibilities, including distraction or the driver falling asleep, but stressed that the cause remains unknown.

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Read More: Here’s The Real Reason Why J. Cole Got Emotional During “Love Yourz” Performance

J. Cole Won’t Miss His Sacramento Show

A representative for J. Cole confirmed that the truck was carrying equipment for Thursday’s stop on The Fall-Off Tour. Cole performed in Seattle on Tuesday before the tour headed south to Sacramento. The current run supports The Fall-Off, his seventh studio album, and marks his first solo headlining tour in five years.

Despite the loss of equipment involved in the crash, Cole’s representative told CBS that Thursday night’s Golden 1 Center concert is expected to proceed as scheduled. The venue continued to list the show for 8 p.m. as of Thursday afternoon. However, CBS Sacramento later reported that the show had been canceled. CHP continues to investigate the crash.

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The post Driver Hauling J. Cole Concert Equipment Dies In California Crash appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

“It was never MO3 at home because it wasn’t about rap at home,” Noble testified, according to AllHipHop. To his relatives, she said, he was still Melvin or “Bubba.” She remembered him as the person who could change the mood when someone was having a bad day. “He was…just my baby. He was my baby.”

Her testimony came as prosecutors began presenting their case against White, who is the first defendant to face a jury in the alleged murder-for-hire plot surrounding MO3’s November 2020 killing. Prosecutors allege he tracked MO3, whose legal name was Melvin Noble, before chasing him on foot along Interstate 35E and fatally shooting him. Yella Beezy, born Markies Conway, is separately accused of hiring White to carry out the killing, while Devin Brown is accused of helping coordinate the attack. All three men have pleaded not guilty.

Read More: First Trial Begins In Alleged Yella Beezy-MO3 Murder Plot

The Case Against Kewon White

The state opened its case by portraying White as the gunman in a planned attack rather than a spontaneous highway confrontation. Dallas County prosecutor Tommy Adams told jurors there was “a hitman on the highway” and identified White as that person. Defense attorney Myra McIntosh countered that prosecutors are asking jurors to fill gaps in their evidence rather than proving their theory beyond a reasonable doubt. KERA reported on the competing opening statements.

Moreover, several witnesses have already taken jurors back to the highway where MO3 was killed. Neurosurgeon Randall Graham testified that he saw an armed, masked man chasing another man and later attempted to give Noble CPR. Retired Dallas County medical examiner Jeffrey Barnard testified that Noble suffered 13 rifle wounds. Jurors have also heard from Jocylynn Jackson, who was dating MO3 at the time and shares children with Brown. She testified that MO3 had left her home shortly before he was killed and said the timing struck her as suspicious.

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Those witnesses are helping prosecutors reconstruct the mechanics of the shooting. Noble’s mother gave the jury something different. Her testimony briefly shifted the case away from surveillance footage and forensic evidence to the person whose death sits at the center of every allegation being argued in court.

Meanwhile, White’s trial is expected to last roughly two weeks. He is being tried separately from Conway and Brown, whose cases remain pending.

Read More: Yella Beezy Trial Puts Rap Lyrics Back At Center Of Courtroom Debate

The post MO3’s Mother Gives Emotional Testimony In Kewon White Trial appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

Warren G’s inclusion reaches back before Snoop became a Death Row star. He formed 213 with Snoop and Nate Dogg in Long Beach, then helped connect Snoop with his stepbrother Dr. Dre. That relationship eventually put Snoop on Dre’s “Deep Cover” and The Chronic before his own debut, Doggystyle, arrived in 1993. Smith already has some experience playing musicians on screen after portraying Ralph Tresvant in BET’s The New Edition Story. He later appeared in Detroit, Judas and the Black Messiah, and HBO’s Euphoria.

Hale’s Suge Knight represents a very different part of that ascent. As Death Row Records’ intimidating co-founder, Knight became central to the label where Snoop made his name alongside Dre. Snoop eventually left Death Row for No Limit Records in 1998, years before returning to the brand from an entirely different position. He acquired Death Row Records in 2022, making a film about his complicated history with the company under his own production umbrella a particularly full-circle development.

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Read More: Lauren London To Play Snoop Dogg’s Mother In Upcoming Biopic

Other Names Joining The Cast

The expanding cast gives a clearer indication of how much attention Snoop may devote to the relationships surrounding his early career, even though Universal has not released a detailed plot. Myles Bullock Be will portray Dr. Dre, while Camron Jones has been cast as Tupac Shakur. Lauren London will play Snoop’s late mother, Beverly Tate.

Craig Brewer is directing from his rewrite of an original script by Joe Robert Cole. Snoop is producing alongside Death Row Pictures president Sara Ramaker and Imagine Entertainment’s Brian Grazer, with the film incorporating music from his catalog. Universal describes Snoop as the first project under Death Row Pictures’ overall deal with NBCUniversal Entertainment & Studios.

Production is expected to begin around Los Angeles in mid-September. Snoop is scheduled to hit theaters August 6, 2027.

The post Snoop Dogg Biopic Casts Its Warren G And Suge Knight appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

His outlook in the footage is noticeably forward-facing. Pac talked about setting increasingly ambitious goals for himself and expressed a desire to approach his life with greater intention. Prison had given him time to read and listen outside his usual orbit, including Sarah McLachlan’s Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, and he spoke about returning to music with a clearer sense of how he wanted to move. “I’m going to be more focused and deliberate,” he said.

That mindset was already showing up in his work. Within days of leaving prison, Pac had thrown himself back into recording, beginning the Death Row period that would produce some of the most prolific months of his career. A report from the Los Angeles Times found him working at a rapid pace almost immediately after his release, with more than a dozen songs already recorded by the time the newspaper interviewed him that October.

Read More: Inside The Tupac Murder Trial: 11 Key Players To Know

A Young Artist Wanting To Expand His Reach

Still, the resurfaced interview offers more than just another glimpse of Tupac as a rapper. He spoke as someone who believed he had considerable time left to develop as an artist and public figure. At one point, Pac described his ambitions as becoming a “boss player,” someone who would continually set goals and move toward the next one rather than settle for what he had already accomplished. His assessment of where he stood was simple. “The world has just begun.”

Less than a year later, that future was cut short. Pac was shot on September 7, 1996, while riding with Suge Knight near the Las Vegas Strip and died six days later at 25. The interview has resurfaced while the first murder trial connected to his killing is unfolding in the same city.

Prosecutors rested their case Wednesday against Duane “Keefe D” Davis after calling 24 witnesses. Nevada authorities accuse Davis of helping organize the shooting in retaliation for a fight involving his nephew, Orlando Anderson, at the MGM Grand earlier that night. Davis has pleaded not guilty, and his defense maintains that statements he made over the years about his involvement were exaggerated or fabricated.

The defense is now preparing to present its case. According to the Associated Press, attorneys expect to call several law enforcement witnesses, while Davis has not yet decided whether he will testify in his own defense.

The post Tupac Talks About The Future In Resurfaced 1995 Interview appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

Jam was back in court today, where he offered some explosive statements about his former OTF boss. According to Trap Lore Ross, Jam explained why he decided to testify against Durk.

It mostly stems from the immense guilt he felt after the killing of Lul Pab. OTF Jam saw him as an innocent party. Moreover, he referred to Vonni as a “goofy” who he wanted no business with.

“Jam said he snitched because he wanted to get it off his chest because it was weighing on him,” Trap Lore Ross revealed. “Said he felt Pab was innocent and Durk was selfish to send him on the hit with people he didn’t know. Specifically said Vonni was a goofy and he was mad to be involved w him.”

Read More: Who Is Trim? Charleston’s New Rap Wild Card

OTF Jam Calls Out Lil Durk In Court

Jam went on to say that he never even knew King Von, and was upset that Durk would put him in a compromising situation. He then went on to say that while he has love for Durk, there is no respect.

“Jam said the Lul Pab hit was Durks ‘selfish bullshit… I didn’t know Von’ ‘I was mad at Durk for putting me in that situation.'”

Jam remains on the stand right now as Day 4 of Durk’s trial wraps up. Earlier today, Kanye West showed up, which was certainly a major surprise for those who were in attendance.

Read More: Is The Game Baiting Kendrick Lamar Into A Battle?

The post OTF Jam Reveals Why He Snitched And Why He Has No Respect For Lil Durk appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

Overall, this is one of the biggest stories in hip-hop right now, and it is easy to see why that is the case. The Tupac murder has been a mystery for three decades. While we still don’t know who pulled the trigger, the Keefe D trials get us closer than ever to some sort of resolution.

On Wednesday, the Keefe D trial took an interesting turn as the prosecution rested its case. This is not an update anyone was expecting. The prosecution had teased 200 witnesses, but only called 24. They let old Keefe D interviews and even his memoir do the talking.

In yesterday’s courtroom video, Cam’ron was spotted at the 17:20 mark. Nevada has special laws about open courtrooms. You don’t need to be credentialed to get into the building. Therefore, anyone in the general public is welcome to show up.

Read More: Who Is Trim? Charleston’s New Rap Wild Card

Cam’ron In Court In Las Vegas

It is unknown if Cam’ron will show up to the rest of the trial, which is actually poised to be wrapped up quite soon. Today, the defense is bringing in its own witnesses. Yesterday, the judge revealed that this process could be finished as soon as today.

From there, closing arguments could be given tomorrow, which means jury deliberations are on the horizon. This is a trial that millions are watching, and the verdict is highly anticipated.

As for Keefe D, he appears to be abstaining from testifying in his own trial, although he has been given the option to do so.

Read More: Is The Game Baiting Kendrick Lamar Into A Battle?

The post Cam’ron Pulls Up To Keefe D Trial And Goes Viral appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

The lyric points to a real moment from earlier this year. Costco Canada started carrying Off- White pullover hoodies back in March, priced around $60. That’s a steep drop from the label’s usual $495 to $800 retail range, and even further off from archive pieces that sell for thousands.

Those hoodies didn’t stick around long either. They disappeared from Costco’s website shortly after the story broke, and a related social media post from Costco Canada got taken down soon after.

Gunn’s connection to Abloh runs deep, making the line hit harder than a typical outside critique. Abloh served as art director on two of Gunn’s album covers, including 2020’s Pray for Paris and 2023’s And Then You Pray for Me. The second album dropped after Abloh’s death back in 2021.

ZILLA is Gunn’s latest release during a steady run of new music this year. The track’s Off-White line has already sparked plenty of conversation online, with fans split between agreeing with Gunn’s take and defending the brand’s push toward wider accessibility.

Read More: Lil Woody Explains How Lil Durk’s Lawyers Will Question OTF Jam’s Credibility

Westside Gunn Takes Aim At Off-White

Off-White’s ownership has shifted since Abloh’s passing. Bluestar Alliance acquired the label from LVMH in 2024 and has since pushed to widen its price range across the board.

That strategy led to L/AB c/o Off-White, a budget sub-label launched in June with pieces under $200. It’s already expanded through a Pac-Sun collaboration, bringing the brand into more accessible retail places than ever before.

For longtime fans and collaborators like Gunn, that shift reads as a departure from what made Off-White stand out originally. Abloh built the label on scarcity and high fashion crossover appeal, not big box retail.

Gunn’s lyric shows a tension playing out across streetwear right now, balancing legacy against accessibility. Whether that works long term still remains to be seen.

Read More: Prosecutors Rest Case Against Keefe D Ahead Of Schedule As Tupac Trial Continues

The post Westside Gunn Says Virgil Abloh Is “Rolling in His Grave” Over Off-White appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

That said, Elliott Wilson came through with some interesting information recently. He reminded fans about an old Kendrick Lamar leak called “The Only N***a.” This is a leak from Kendrick’s good kid, m.A.A.d city era. As Wilson explains, this song was supposed to feature Drake, but it never got released.

Following Wilson’s comments, accounts on X began posting the song, and the lyrics confirm exactly what the journalist is saying. At the beginning of the track, Lamar gives Drake an enthusiastic shoutout. Towards the end, he reminds us of Drake’s presence, saying, “Drizzy, WTF these n***as want from me.”

Read More: Who Is Trim? Charleston’s New Rap Wild Card

The Lost Kendrick Lamar x Drake Collab

At one point in the song, Kendrick even gives a shoutout to Elliott Wilson. Perhaps this is why Wilson mentioned the track in the first place. Either way, it’s an interesting leak, especially as Lamar utilizes that raspy register we hear on songs like “The Blacker The Berry.”

Unfortunately, this is a song that is probably going to remain as a leak until the end of time. It was around this era that Lamar dropped his “Control” verse, which is what angered Drake in the first place.

Going forward, it will be interesting to see what Kendrick Lamar decides to do next. It’s been almost two years since the release of GNX, and fans are already yearning to hear his next artistic evolution.

If one thing is for certain, these kinds of leaks make us think about what could have been.

Read More: Is The Game Baiting Kendrick Lamar Into A Battle?

The post Elliott Wilson Reveals Old Kendrick Lamar Leak Was Supposed To Feature Drake appeared first on HotNewHipHop.