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Los Angeles prosecutors want Tory Lanez to serve 13 years in prison for shooting Megan Thee Stallion. According to independent journalist Meghann Cuniff, who has covered the court case from the very beginning, a memorandum filed Tuesday (June 6) by prosecutors expressed a wish for the court to consider the Canadian rapper’s alleged “campaign of misinformation” against his victim in his eventual sentencing.

The memo reads, “Words have power and the pen is oftentimes mightier than the sword. In this case, Daystar Peterson (Tory’s real name) used both. Not content to have hurt the victim by use of his sword (gun), he also used his pen. His online posts for nearly three years have re-traumatized the victim.”

The memo also cites Tory’s own comments, which “emboldened” both his followers and casual observers to harass Megan online and cast doubt on his role in the 2021 shooting; his “full-length album with several songs about the shooting” [Daystar]; and his attack on fellow singer August Alsina in Chicago in September 2022 as examples of his lack of remorse. Despite his alleged efforts to affect the outcome of the trial, a jury found him guilty of assault with a firearm, concealing a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle, and discharging a firearm with gross negligence in December 2022.

Tory filed to have the trial declared a mistrial in March, but a judge rejected his petition in May, determining that no mistakes had been made during the original trial to warrant a new one. Tory is expected to receive his sentence next Tuesday, June 13.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Chris Christie has officially entered the 2024 presidential race, and Team Trump is already getting nasty. Shortly after the former New Jersey governor answer launched his campaign, Donald Trump Jr. immediately started in with fat jokes because no one has ever accused the Trumps of being classy. Not only that, but at the moment, Christie poses very little threat to Donald Trump securing the top of the ticket. However, Christie has vowed to stick it to Trump, and he isn’t afraid to punch the former president in the nose, according to comments made by his campaign.

“New Chris Christie for President logo just dropped,” Don Jr. tweeted along with the laughing face emoji and a Krispy Kreme logo photoshopped to say “Chris Krispy.”

Without getting into the fact that Donald Trump Sr. isn’t exactly the most athletic looking figure either, Don Jr.’s joke unfortunately isn’t the first time that Christie’s weight has been brought up since he launched his campaign less than 24 hours ago.

Fox News anchor John Roberts made a strange metaphor about the increasingly crowded Republican primary.

“And now we’re gonna have Chris Christie’s straw in there, and judging by Chris Christie’s physical stature, he could drink a lot the milkshake if he wanted to,” Roberts said via Mediaite. “But you’re not affecting the Donald Trump milkshake.”

Unlike Don Jr., Roberts immediately apologized for the remarks.

“Earlier on the show, I was making an analogy to describe the Republican voter pool, and I made a comment that I meant to be light-hearted, but I immediately realized was hurtful toward Governor Chris Christie,” Roberts said. “I should not have said what I said. I deeply regret it and I sincerely apologize to the governor.”

(Via Donald Trump Jr. on Twitter)

Chris Christie has officially entered the 2024 presidential race, and Team Trump is already getting nasty. Shortly after the former New Jersey governor answer launched his campaign, Donald Trump Jr. immediately started in with fat jokes because no one has ever accused the Trumps of being classy. Not only that, but at the moment, Christie poses very little threat to Donald Trump securing the top of the ticket. However, Christie has vowed to stick it to Trump, and he isn’t afraid to punch the former president in the nose, according to comments made by his campaign.

“New Chris Christie for President logo just dropped,” Don Jr. tweeted along with the laughing face emoji and a Krispy Kreme logo photoshopped to say “Chris Krispy.”

Without getting into the fact that Donald Trump Sr. isn’t exactly the most athletic looking figure either, Don Jr.’s joke unfortunately isn’t the first time that Christie’s weight has been brought up since he launched his campaign less than 24 hours ago.

Fox News anchor John Roberts made a strange metaphor about the increasingly crowded Republican primary.

“And now we’re gonna have Chris Christie’s straw in there, and judging by Chris Christie’s physical stature, he could drink a lot the milkshake if he wanted to,” Roberts said via Mediaite. “But you’re not affecting the Donald Trump milkshake.”

Unlike Don Jr., Roberts immediately apologized for the remarks.

“Earlier on the show, I was making an analogy to describe the Republican voter pool, and I made a comment that I meant to be light-hearted, but I immediately realized was hurtful toward Governor Chris Christie,” Roberts said. “I should not have said what I said. I deeply regret it and I sincerely apologize to the governor.”

(Via Donald Trump Jr. on Twitter)

Over the past weekend, Rick Ross held his annual car show at his Promised Land estate in Fayetteville, Georgia. The event was said to bring in thousands of fans, but not everyone was fortunate enough to secure tickets. In fact, one fan went to extremes to enter the car show.

According to Ross, who posted a video following the event, a fan parachuted into the backyard. While some may have expected Ross to have been angry about the ordeal, he appeared to be delighted.

“The only thing I didn’t like about it is he didn’t tell me what time to expect him jumping out of the g*ddamn plane and landing in my backyard,” Ross said.

He noted that he wanted to see the event take place, but when he arrived to his backyard to see it happen, “they was dragging his ass.”

Ross said that he urged the cops not to press charges or arrest the fan.

The “Aston Martin Music” rapper previously admitted that he had trouble getting the car show to come to fruition. Last month, he noted that he was determined to make the car show happen, despite being denied a permit to host it in his Fayetteville home. He even implied that he may run for mayor of Fayetteville.

Over the past weekend, Rick Ross held his annual car show at his Promised Land estate in Fayetteville, Georgia. The event was said to bring in thousands of fans, but not everyone was fortunate enough to secure tickets. In fact, one fan went to extremes to enter the car show.

According to Ross, who posted a video following the event, a fan parachuted into the backyard. While some may have expected Ross to have been angry about the ordeal, he appeared to be delighted.

“The only thing I didn’t like about it is he didn’t tell me what time to expect him jumping out of the g*ddamn plane and landing in my backyard,” Ross said.

He noted that he wanted to see the event take place, but when he arrived to his backyard to see it happen, “they was dragging his ass.”

Ross said that he urged the cops not to press charges or arrest the fan.

The “Aston Martin Music” rapper previously admitted that he had trouble getting the car show to come to fruition. Last month, he noted that he was determined to make the car show happen, despite being denied a permit to host it in his Fayetteville home. He even implied that he may run for mayor of Fayetteville.

Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves is thriving right now. While his team is no longer in NBA Playoffs contention this year, he had a strong postseason that could lead to a substantial payday. On top of that, there’s also a rumor that he went on a date with Taylor Swift, after her supposed relationship with The 1975’s Matty Healy reportedly came to an end. Did Swift and Reaves really meet up, though?

No. More than likely, the answer is no.

An explanation: On June 5, a Lakers-supporting Twitter account named The Refrigerator tweeted, “Following her breakup, Taylor Swift was reportedly seen in an Arkansas Bar this weekend with star Laker basketball player Austin Reaves.” Hours later, the same exact tweet from a different account generated even more attention.

Swift was busy this past weekend with a run of The Eras Tour concerts at Soldier Field in Chicago, so she probably didn’t make time to link up with Reaves at a bar 600 miles away in Arkansas. Furthermore, Reaves has a girlfriend. Regardless, some online publications ran with the story (like this one and this one).

Neither Swift nor Reaves have responded to the rumors, but Reaves’ brother Spencer did, quote-tweeting the original Refrigerator post and adding some crying-laughing emojis. In another tweet, Spencer added, “Austin going to the bar is the most unrealistic part of this whole thing.” He noted elsewhere, “People believe everything huh [crying-laughing emojis].”

In conclusion, the whole thing is a joke that some people believed (or wanted to believe), to the point where it has caused some genuine confusion. But no, Swift and Reaves probably did not meet up at an Arkansas bar this weekend.

Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters found himself in some hot water recently after controversial moves he made during a concert in Berlin. Now, the Biden administration has gotten involved, pointing out that it not only was antisemitic but also not surprising for the musician.

During the show, he reportedly showed up in a Nazi-reminiscent costume and appeared to fire a fake machine gun. Berlin police have since opened an investigation into Waters, according to Billboard, but now it has garnered global reactions.

Yesterday, the State Department pointed out that Waters has “a long track record of using antisemitic tropes,” as a response to a press briefing question about their thoughts of criticism of the musician from the US special envoy to combat antisemitism, Deborah Lipstadt.

“I wholeheartedly concur with @EUAntisemitism’s condemnation of Roger Waters and his despicable Holocaust distortion,” Lipstadt previously shared on Twitter.

“The concert in question, which took place in Berlin, contained imagery that is deeply offensive to Jewish people and minimized the Holocaust,” the department wrote. “The artist in question has a long track record of using antisemitic tropes to denigrate Jewish people.”

Specifically, they noted that it “contained imagery that is deeply offensive to Jewish people and minimized the Holocaust.”

As for Waters’ response, he has stood by the show, pointing out in a social media statement that “the elements of my performance that have been questioned are quite clearly a statement in opposition to fascism, injustice, and bigotry in all its forms.”

Marco Rubio took a break from quoting Bible verses and mocking the military to set the record straight on his 2016 presidential campaign. Rubio, of course, did not win that election, although boy, the world would be a different place if he had done so. Let’s not waste time on what didn’t happen, though.

Instead, we’re talking about how the GOP senator is not pleased because, as a result of disgraced former New Jersey governor Chris Christie announcing his 2024 bid, people are now remembering their messiest debate clash. And although Rubio could let the noise die down and let Christie take himself down and subsequently make another “hostage face” behind an opponent, Rubio is pushing back.

To refresh, Aaron Rupar recently posted a video clip of CNN reminding people of the time “when Chris Christie murdered Marco Rubio during a debate.” This was not an unfounded description, and Christie was (to be fair) in rare “on fire” mode while trouncing his opponent’s “canned” rhetoric on display during the debate. In response, Rubio sputtered and responded, very robotically, with the very “canned” language being criticized.

Rubio, however, would like to revisit the moment, too, by tweeting, “Any political reporter/commentator claiming Christie ‘ended’ my campaign in 2016 is lazy or dumb.” The “debate sucked,” he explained, because he wasn’t “hitting back when attacked like I wanted to” and refusing the “punching down” routine. Still, this “didn’t end my campaign.”

Rubio continued to insist that he performed well in his campaign, and one wonders why he’s bothering to go there. Instead, as mentioned, he could simply let Christie receive credit for that one-time “decapitation” because surely, a governor with a stunningly low approval rating will inevitably stumble again at some point soon. Let’s revisit after a few debates, shall we?

In recent times, artificial intelligence technologies have become more accessible as a consumer-level product. Consequently, a number of interesting projects are starting to emerge, especially in music. One of the most notable comes from the band Breezer, who used AI to replace their singer’s vocals with those of Liam Gallagher to produce The Lost Tapes, an original Oasis-style album cleverly credited to AISIS.

Now, Noel Gallagher has shared his thoughts and it sounds like he’s not a fan.

In a recent interview with NME, he said, “These f*cking idiots have got clearly too much time on their hands and too much money that they can afford the technology to f*cking piss around doing that for a laugh. You know, I’m saving up for the technology myself, and then I’m just gonna f*cking dial it in to some computer and f*cking churn it out when I’m 73. I’ll have 140 albums to go after I’m dead, keep my kids in f*cking choc ices and f*cking weed.”

He continued, “Oasis: The Lost Tapes, they’re claiming it as like… really? Is that what you think it’d sound like? F*cking hell. You can AI the singer’s voice and his tambourine playing… I’m afraid you can’t AI what I do. And soon as you f*cking can, I’m finished, I’m done, I’m retiring. I’ll just stick it into a f*cking algorithm.”

Meanwhile, Liam seems to be a fan, as he tweeted about the project, “Mad as f*ck I sound mega,” and, “heard a tune it’s better than all the other snizzle out there.”

The music industry hasn’t gotten off to the hot start that many people might have expected so far in 2023. In fact, compared to other years at the halfway mark, it’s been fairly quiet. This is more of an observation of the industry’s superstars, and because of that, it’s given other artists room to step into the spotlight and deliver a body of work that an audience hungry for new offerings could indulge in. Through the first six months of 2023, artists that you’re familiar with updated their catalogs with a new body of work while new names took the opportunity to deliver something worth remembering.

Artists like Daniel Caesar, SZA, and 6lack made long-awaited returns with new albums. Caesar grapples with the idea of perfection of Never Enough, SZA survives troubled waters on SOS, and 6lack relishes in the benefits of perfect love with Since I Have A Lover. Elsewhere, Chlöe finally delivered her debut album In Pieces and Kali Uchis reached a new level in her artistry with Red Moon In Venus — and that’s just the half of it.

So, without further ado, here are the best R&B projects of 2023 so far in alphabetical order.

6lack — Since I Have A Lover

It’s always beautiful to see musicians continuously find new ways to bring their artistry to life with each project they release. That’s undoubtedly been the case for 6lack who finally delivered his third album Since I Have A Lover. Unlike his previous two albums, 6lack combines pop references with his trademark alternative R&B for a body of work that is both freeing and diverse. Through success in love, 6lack finds himself to be a new man with a new outlook on life, all of which is detailed through records that display his loyalty (“Fatal Attraction”), patience (“B4L”), commitment (“Temporary”), and more. Whether he’s rapping or singing, 6lack gets his message across in an effortless and impressive manner. – Wongo Okon

Baby Rose — Through And Through

It’d been a little while since Baby Rose released a full-length project, but that period finally came to an end with her sophomore album Through And Through. The project is a refreshing addition to the musical landscape and Rose’s savory croons and heavy, soulful spirit guide the album that details the various fires she escaped her life. We meet a determined Baby Rose on Through And Through who isn’t afraid to put her hand out for a new foray into love (“Dance With Me” & “Love Bomb”), overcome heartbreak (“Stop The Bleeding”), and show that there are more sides to her than a hopeless romantic (“I Won’t Tell”). Through its 11 songs, Baby Rose offers an elegant and enchanting showcase of her undeniable talents with Though And Through. – W.O.

Chlöe — In Pieces

There are many impressive aspects of Chlöe’s debut album In Pieces. First, is the fact that the singer even arrived at a point in her career to release. Her solo career was criticized for more reasons than it wasn’t, but none of that seemed to hinder the body of work that is In Pieces. In fact, it only strengthened it. The critiques and doubts became the backbone of the album which also detailed her recovery from heartbreak. Between the uptempo and bouncy “Body Do” and the captivating “Make It Look Easy,” Chlöe showcased her versatility, her writing, and her evolving vision on her debut album. Though the sky is the limit for her, Chlöe is well on her way to reaching it. – W.O.

Daniel Caesar — Never Enough

If there was any doubt that Daniel Caesar could replicate the glory days of his past, the Toronto singer put them all to rest with his euphoric third album Never Enough. It’s with this album that he took on a bigger producer role as he placed himself in a small town that’s hours outside of Toronto to make the beats that became the landscape of Never Enough. He grapples with wanting love (“Do You Like Me?”) and seeing that it’s run its course (“Let Me Go”) while finding time to shade those who believed they moved on from him to better (“Homiesexual”). Never Enough excellently captures the rollercoaster ride of love and the constant search for perfection, if that even exists. – W.O.

Davido — Timeless

Davido’s absence from the afrobeats world over the past couple of years, though it was respected, was surely felt by fans. So with the arrival of his fourth album Timeless, the expectation was that he would fit right into the genre’s newly-mainstream landscape while showing why he’s on the Mount Rushmore of the genre. To the surprise of no one, that’s exactly what happened. Timeless arrived as Davido’s best album to date and it’s thanks to the singer’s theme of conquering all things in his way on the album. Whether it be those who want to bring him down or unfortunate events in his life, Davdio stands tall “over dem” on Timeless. – W.O.

Kali Uchis — Red Moon In Venus

Kali Uchis’ third album Red Moon In Venus is without question her best album to date. Maybe it’s because she’s more in touch with herself than ever or maybe it’s because she’s more at peace than ever. The result of either, or maybe both of those observations, is a 15-track body of work that captures Uchis majestically and graceful float through elements of R&B and pop, while also tapping into her Spanish roots, to make what sounds like Uchis’ idea of paradise. Whether it’s “Fantasy” with Don Toliver, “Deserve Me” with Summer Walker, or solo efforts like “All Mine” and “Moonlight,” Kali Uchis’ Red Moon In Venus has plenty of music to get lost in and find your own paradise. – W.O.

Khamari — A Brief Nirvana

The lone newcomer on this list is singer Khamari, who delivered his debut project A Brief Nirvana to kick off the unofficial start to summer. The 11-track project is a sweet combination of nostalgia and a fresh breath from a new artist to the game, and his sampling of Al Green’s “Love And Happiness” on “On My Way” for an honest tale about loneliness is a perfect example of that. Even when through completely original compositions like “Doctor, My Eyes,” Khamari’s artistry shines through vivid lyricism that’s aided by emotive production. The Boston-born singer has earned comparisons to Frank Ocean and his A Brief Nirvana debut is a great start to hopefully one day reaching the status of the celebrated singer. – W.O.

Madison McFerrin — I Hope You Can Forgive You

There are nepo babies. Then there are people that have music flowing through their genetic makeup. Born to a family filled with creative professionals Madison McFerrin is the latter of the two. On the singer’s debut album, I Hope You Can Forgive Me, that lifelong exposure to the arts permeates across the project. Largely produced and written by McFerrin, the body of work is an ethereal sound bath of jazz, R&B, folk, and rock elements tactically incorporating each sound sets. Her musical IQ sets McFerrin apart from her independent counterparts. Her viral 2021 track “Guilty” served as her formal induction to the larger music audience. However, the album’s breakout track, “Utah,” will keep listeners tuned in. I Hope You Can Forgive Me is the culmination of Madison McFerrin’s exploration as an artist, and it paid off exponentially. – Flisadam Pointer

Masego — Masego

Masego’s magnum opus arrived more than a decade into his career and it’s fitting that it’s for his self-titled sophomore album. The project’s 14 songs are a masterful combination of the elements that make Masego an artist we’ve come to love. The tropical side of his discography comes alive through “Say You Want Me” while his jazz and funk roots are wrapped around records like “You Never Visit Me.” With Masego, the singer proves that the music will never be a concern for himself. Since day one, he’s impressed fans repeatedly with his talents, and now with his second album, Masego perfectly combined those talents for a body of work that couldn’t be more representative of himself. – W.O.

SZA — SOS

Yes, this album came out in 2022, but with most of its success taking place in 2023 and the fact that it came after our 2022 lists, it’s only right that SZA’s SOS makes the cut here. Five years removed from her debut album, SZA returns to a world riddled with troubled waters that people from all over hoped to survive and swim out of. Through the album’s expansive 23 songs, SZA guides us on a journey of surviving life’s elements, the lessons learned along the way, and what it looks like to make it to shore. The ups and downs of life, growing pains, and artistic struggles are all present on this album, and it’s even more impressive that she made its 23 songs not feel like an absolute drag. It was a long time coming for SZA, but boy did she arrive. – W.O.

THEY. — Nü Moon

THEY. — the duo comprised of singer Drew Love and producer Dante Jones — entered a new era with the release of their third album Nü Moon. The project is the duo’s first independent album, and the freedom to create as one pleases that comes with this independence is hard to ignore through the project’s 14 songs. With Nü Moon, Drew and Dante give us another take of their trademark alternative R&B style and it’s one that seems to live under the night sky. With records like “In The Mood,” “Riptide,” and “Wait On Me” which features the incomparable Kacey Musgraves, THEY. present no sign of sunlight while proving that even in the darkest moments, love can still exist. Searching for it, having it, and losing it; it’s the theme of THEY’s Nü Moon which strikes as their best and most complete body of work to date. – W.O.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.