Rap superstar Lil Wayne is prison-bound after taking a surprise -- and surprisingly docile -- gun possession guilty plea this morning in return for a promise of one year behind bars.
The Grammy-winning superstar has performed across the globe, pulling in tens of millions per tour. But he'll be spending most of 2010 in an upstate cage -- thanks to the .40-caliber Springfield Armory semi-automatic cops confiscated from his pot-smoke-infused tour bus after a concert two years ago at the Beacon Theater.
For all his violence-laden lyrics, his guilty plea -- taken shortly after 10 a.m. by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Charles Solomon -- was utterly well-mannered, peppered with polite "Yes, sir's" and "No, sir's."
Lil Wayne enters a Manhattan court.
ap
Lil Wayne enters a Manhattan court.
Wearing jeans, a puffy, hooded down jacket and his trademark dreads -- the hip hop sensation admitted today only to attempted possession.
Had he risked going to trial and been convicted of the original top charge of outright possession, he'd have been hit with the mandatory minimum of 3 1/2 years prison under New York's stringent gun laws.
Lead prosecutor Joan Illuzzi-Orbon said her office agreed to let Lil Wayne plead down to attempted possession after considering the "mitigating circumstances" of the case.
The prosecutor didn't elaborate. But celebrity defense lawyer Stacey Richman has repeatedly complained that the gun actually belonged to another, uncharged associate of the rapper who was on the bus and was willing to accept responsibilty for it.
Lil Wayne appeared to still be sensitive on the topic of taking the rap for a gun he insists wasn't his own.
Asked by the judge if he was voluntarily pleading to having "exercised dominion or control" over the unlicensed weapon, the rapper paused.
"Yes, I did," he said. "Dominion."
The judge pressed the rapper. "Did you have dominion or control over this weapon -- and that's really what possession is."
"Yes, sir," came the rapper's grudging, but polite, reply.
Lil Wayne's lawyer has also complained that prosecuotrs used faulty forensics in linking Wayne to the gun.
A tiny handful of cells -- anywhere from two to 16, visible only via microscope, all presumably sloughed off skin cells -- were swabbed off the grip and trigger and matched to Lil Wayne's own genetic profile.
In fact, before taking his surprise plea, Lil Wayne had been slated to spend today and tomorrow before the same judge, listening to both sides argue over whether such a small sample of genetic material can be accurately amplified for testing -- and whether loose skin cells on a particular surface prove anything anyway.
NEW FORM OF DANCING CALLED FLEXING !!!!
You've heard of the “jitterbug,” “mambo,” and the “running-man” dance styles. Now, you might want to make a mental note of a fairly new dance called “flexing.”
This bone-splintering style that was nationally featured on "America’s Best Dance Crew" may look like something out of "Ripley’s Believe It Or Not." But it has been a part of the Battle Fest Dance League since the performance platform was created three years ago in the heart of Brooklyn by a couple of youngsters who say their hometown gave birth to the style.
Spectators describe Battle Fest as a competition where “flex” dancing is taken to another level and a place where one can watch brand new dance moves. Battle Fest contenders compete one on one, showcasing their skills and emotions in an arena where they may wow a crowd of judges or fall to skepticism.
see more videos
According to the league founder Kirsha McIntrye, 21, the participants incorporate flexing with contemporary dance, poppin’ & lockin,' electric boogaloo, Egyptian tutting (the same moves seen in Michael Jackson’s "Remember the Time" music video) and other styles.
But the league's co-founder, who goes by the name Reem, 25, says, “the biggest misconception is that flexing or our style came from hip hop, and it didn’t. It actually came from reggae. It came from ‘bruk up.’”
The “bruk up” is a Jamaican dance that is difficult to find in the typical mainstream dance bible. It’s more of a dance that's seen on DVDs purchased along with a small dinner order of jerk chicken, plantain, rice and peas.
Bruk up involves sporadic movements accompanied by contorted facial expressions, as highlighted in the music video for Busta Rhymes' “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See.”
BY:MEDIA TAKE OUT
No comments:
Post a Comment