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Lil Mama On Nicki Minaj: 'I Don’t See Her Embracing Other Women'

These days, it seems impossible for a female artist to conduct an interview without Nicki Minaj's name being brought into the conversation. Both Lil Kim and Mariah Carey know this.

But unlike those music vets, rapper/ former America's Best Dance Crew judge Lil Mama didn’t hold anything back when discussing the female rap game or the Young Money starlet.

“A lot of times, I hear [Nicki Minaj] say. ‘I do this for women,’ and ‘I’m doing this for all of us,’ while she’s accepting a BET award, but other than that I don’t see her embracing any other women,” Lil Mama told Hollie Wood & Friends.

This wouldn't be the first time Mama has thrown shade at Minaj. In 2011, the "Lip Gloss" rapper told VIBE that Nick had jocked her style, specifically her hairtstle. "My cut is blunt and futuristic and Nicki Minaj started wearing that bob on her head after she came to my show, so at the end of the day I know what I do and I know what I possess and I know who I am," Lil Mama said. "I’m a trendsetter. The biggest form of flattery is imitation so I’m flattered."

Lil Mama, who stars as Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes in the upcoming VH1 TLC biopic and has a soon-to-be-released docuseries titled Hip-Hop Sisters, says that it's the all-girl camaraderie that's missing from the musical landscape today.

“One of the things that makes me most happy about music is that I can look at a picture and see Da Brat, Missy, Lil Kim, Left Eye and I know Aaliyah is a singer, but to see them all in one photo together hugging and laughing and really having genuine love for each other...I want to feel that with my hip hop sisters," she said.

She even looked to male hip-hop artists who keep it real with each other. “Even with the dudes they will battle and let you know, ‘You are not nicer than me,’” she added. “But at the end of the day, we should be able to get together and enjoy each other.”

Watch the full interview below. – Nina Marrissa (@NinaMarrissa)

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Pras Indicted Over Campaign Donations In 2012 Presidential Election

Former Fugees member Pras was indicted along with a fugitive Malaysian financier in an alleged federal scheme to funnel money into the U.S. during the 2012 presidential election.

The 46-year-old recording artist and 37-year-old Low Taek Jho were charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States government, and for making foreign and conduit campaign contribution, the U.S. Justice Department announced Friday (May 10).

The four-count indictment also charges Pras with one count of concealing material facts, and two counts of “making a false entry in a record in connection with the conspiracy.”

Low allegedly directed a transfer of approximately $21,600,000 from “foreign entities” into Pras’ account between June and November of 2012. From there, the money was allegedly made to appear as legitimate U.S. campaign donations so as to “conceal their true source,” according to a news release from the Justice Department.

The Grammy nominated rapper, whose birth names is, Prakazrel Michel, is also accused of using nearly $900,000 of the money from Low to disperse to around 20 “straw donors” who then made illegal donations in their names to a presidential joint fundraising committee. Furthermore, federal authorities claim Pras funneled more than $1 million of the funds from Low to an independent expenditure committee that was also involved in the 2012 presidential election. The indictment doesn’t outline the presidential campaign that the funds were donated to but TMZ reported that it was President Obama, who was running for his second term at the time. Obama however has nothing to do with purported financial scheme.

In addition to the aforementioned accusations, the indictment claims that by allegedly participating in the money scheme, Pras caused the presidential fundraising committee to submit false reports to the Federal Elections Committee. He is also accused of submitting false reports to the FEC in 2015 to conceal the true source of the money.

Low remains on the run. He was previously indicted in a pending case alongside former banker Ng Chong Hwa for conspiring to launder billions of dollars, and violating the Foreign Corrupt Practice Act that prohibits the use of bribes to foreign officials to further business deals.

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Byron Allen Secures $10 Billion Acquisition Of Regional Sports Networks

Media mogul Byron Allen’s empire keeps getting bigger. The former comedian and Entertainment Studios founder joined forces with Sinclair Broadcast Group to secure a massive acquisition of 21 Fox regional sports networks valued at $10 billion, Black Enterprise reports.

The business deal means that Allen outbid Ice Cube, LL Cool J and other potential buyers looking to snatch up the nearly two dozen networks that were up for grabs.

Additionally, Allen’s Entertainment Studios will shell out $165 million to purchase four small-market television stations in Louisiana and Indiana from Bayou City Broadcasting.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Allen explained that he reached out to Disney after the company put the stations up for sale. “When the assets became available this summer I reached out to Disney and said that we have interest, and they put us in touch with their investment bankers and we started to get into it.”

Entertainment Studios also wanted to purchase Tribune Broadcasting, but was bested by another company. “We turned our attention to what’s next,” Allen said while sharing his admiration for Fox News founder and billionaire media mogul, Rupert Murdoch, who sold Fox to Disney. Allen noted the RSN stations as Murdoch’s “best work.”

Allen’s company also purchased the Weathers Channel last year. “There’s a lot we can do with the Weather Channel and these RSNs in terms of documentaries and biographies and who knows, even sports leagues,” he said. “You never know.”

Allen added, “My goal is to build the biggest media company in the world. Everyday that’s what I’m striving for.”

The business relationship between Allen and Sinclair dates back decades as the company was one of the first buyers of his late night talk show Entertainers with Byron Allen. The 58-year-old executive has come a long way since he launched Entertainment Studios more than 20 years ago.

“I started the company from my dining room table 26 years ago and I could barely pay my phone bill,” Allen recalled. “There were days [that] they turned off my phone, and days I didn’t eat. There were days that I was calling TV stations from a payphone and we just kept plugging away. Finally we kept selling show after show and we ended up with about 43 television shows.”

See more below.

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Chris Darden No Longer Representing Eric Holder Following Death Threats

Chris Darden is no longer representing Eric Holder, the man accused of murdering Nipsey Hussle. The former prosecutor-turned-defense attorney filed a motion to formally withdraw from the case due in part to receiving death threats, he revealed in a lengthy Facebook post Friday (May 10).

“As a lawyer it is my duty to protect the rights of my clients even in the face of threats or angry mobs,” Darden wrote. “This is the silent solemn oath we took as defense counsel. This is the legacy made for me and all of us who practice as defense counsel in the criminal courts. But allow me to say this: after centuries of a history of black men hung from trees without trial, or after the thousands of cases of black men tried, convicted and executed without counsel..I cannot understand why in 2019 some people would deny a black man his 6th Amendment right to counsel of his choice. Or why defending such a man should invite threats not only against me but against my children too.”

“The right to counsel is is not only a constitutional right, it is a civil right as well,” he continued before referencing the O.J. Simpson murder trial which he prosecuted alongside Marsha Clock. “Just as they were in 1995-Cowards never change. These days these cowards don’t send letters instead they sit anonymously behind keyboards threatening a man’s mother and children. And some folks think that’s funny. It isn’t and I won’t ever forget it. To those who issued those threats to my children please pay close attention so there is no misunderstanding. Later. F**K YOU! As for me, I continue to thrive. I continue to be loved. I continue to walk with kings. And I will continue my pursuit of fairness and justice on behalf of my clients and others charged with crimes.”

In closing, Darden said that his “ mission” won’t be deterred by the “lies and threats.”

Holder, 29, pleaded not guilty to murder charges. He is currently jailed on $5 million bail.

Read Darden’s Facebook announcement below.

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