NEWS
Nelly and the St. Lunatics may be going on a world tour soon, but they won't hit the road without addressing a bit of a tough situation group member Ali Jones provoked. His lawsuit against the former over his 2000 album Country Grammar caused a lot of controversy, but Jones retracted the filing on Thursday (April 10) without explanation, so we don't know if a settlement resolved this, according to Digital Music News. Now, the St. Louis rapper and his legal team want the court to impose sanctions on the Lunatic for subjecting him to a costly and "frivolous" legal battle.
"Plaintiff’s counsel succeeded in its frivolous campaign aimed at forcing [Nelly] to spend money defending Plaintiff’s ridiculous time-barred claims," defense attorneys wrote concerning the lawsuit against Nelly. "The Court is respectfully requested to retain jurisdiction and set a briefing and hearing schedule [for potential sanctions]." We will see if the other St. Lunatics members have something to say about this development, although it seems like a problem only Ali Jones will face. Of course, they all still have a lot to work around.
For those unaware, Ali Jones sued Nelly for copyright infringement and unjust enrichment, claiming he did not give the St. Lunatics the proper credit for their contributions to Country Grammar. Jones initially filed this lawsuit on behalf of the St. Lunatics. But when Murphy Lee, Kyjuan, and City Spud revealed they never consented to appearing as plaintiffs in the filing, lawyers removed them from the suit. We don't know the extent to which this actually impacted the case, but it certainly proved to be an optical challenge for Jones. Nevertheless, things are over now.
Elsewhere, these days, Nelly is reflecting on his beefs. "I misinterpreted something when I was really new, and I wanted to apologize to him," he recently told Bootleg Kev about his Eminem feud early in his career. "I misinterpreted that he had something to say about what we were doing. When I went on MTV, I made some comments because, you know, I’m still fresh from Louis. But that wasn’t the case. Em is the GOAT. He’s so dope." Hopefully Nelly and Ali Jones can settle their differences one day, too.
NEWS
A$AP Rocky has revealed that it took years of persistence before Tim Burton agreed to create the cover artwork for his upcoming album, Don’t Be Dumb. The rapper reflected on how the unlikely collaboration finally came together during a recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Monday.
Going into detail about the process, Rocky confessed that he “basically had to stalk and harass him for a few years” before things clicked. He explained, “I reached out and told him I would love to hang out, play him some vibes and just connect. I ended up going to Malibu while he was on a break, and he was feeling it. I played him an early version of the album and he really liked it. That’s when I asked, ‘Do you think you might want to do the illustration for this?’ He was open to it, but then suddenly he had Wednesday and Beetlejuice 2 going on. I realized this was going to take a lot longer than I thought.”
A$AP Rocky went on to describe a moment that really stuck with him during that visit. “While I was there, I noticed a sketch sitting on the table and asked if he drew it,” he said. “He told me that every morning he and his daughter work on drawings together. He starts one, then she comes in and finishes it or changes it. It’s something they practice daily. I saw it as their bond, and to me, that felt priceless.”
On Tuesday, A$AP Rocky also released a double music video for his tracks “WHISKEY” and “BLACK DEMARCO.” Tim Burton appears in the visual and contributed multiple illustrations that tie into the project.
Alongside the release of the “WHISKEY” and “BLACK DEMARCO” video, Rocky officially unveiled the Don’t Be Dumb World Tour. The run will include 42 dates across North America, Europe, and the United Kingdom, with shows scheduled throughout 2026.
