Kerry Lathan survived 25 years of prison only to find himself in the middle of an tragedy with a sadly ironic twist. He was one of the men shot alongside Nipsey Hussle when the hip-hop hero was murdered on March 31.

Lathan had a press conference in Los Angeles on Wednesday, speaking on the situation and giving a clearer picture of what happened. According to Lathan, there have been many falsehoods reported in the media, including that he and Nipsey were friends. They had just met that day.

“There’s a little ray of hope, after all the injustice that’s been done,” Lathan said, sitting next to his attorney. “I’m a little shook up about almost everything around me. After 25 years in prison, everything is new… if it wasn’t for the voice of the community Maxine Waters, T.I., Rick Ross, these people... the community around me as a whole. Those prayers and the community together as a voice. I would not be sitting here today. I’d like to thank all these people.”

Lathan says on the day Nipsey was shot, he was in the shopping center that housed the Marathon Clothing Store trying to get a white tee shirt. While there, he saw Hussle and the two spoke, taking a picture together. It was then that the gunman, who has been identified by police as Eric Holder, showed up and fired upon them.

“I didn’t do anything. I’m a victim,” Lathan declared. “[Nipsey’s] a celebrity. I took a picture with a celebrity. I met him once, took a selfie. They said that’s the in thing, ‘Take a selfie.’”

Lathan’s lawyer describes the meeting as “happenstance.”

“He had no idea Nipsey would be at the store that day,” she affirmed. “It was by chance that Nipsey was there that day.”

Literally adding insult to injury, Lathan, who is a convicted felon, was arrested in the aftermath of the shooting. According to police, it was a violation of Lathan’s parole to associate with Nipsey, who had a past as a gang member and had a criminal record.

After protests and an outpouring support on his behalf by the fans and celebrities such as Rick Ross and T.I., California Governor Gavin Newsome intervened and the charges against Lathan were dropped. He is currently residing in a halfway house.

Lathan still has a very difficult road ahead of him. His recovery from a gunshot wound will be arduous, to say the least. He is now finds himself bound to a wheelchair.

“I have a bullet in my back,” he revealed. “A fragment of it broke off in my spine. They say ‘if we take it out, it’s a possibility you could be paralyzed.’”

The fragment has severed some of his nerve endings already, causing his left side to be numb.

Psychologically, he’s also fractured from being shot and seeing Nipsey laying lifelessly next to him.

“I can’t even put that into words,” he said about witnessing Nipsey get murdered. “That devastated m

Too close for comfort. Yesterday, Bun B and his wife endured a harrowing experience where the couple had to defend their home against an armed intruder. A representative for the beloved hip-hop legend and co-founder of the trailblazing

Per reports, Bun’s wife, Queenie Freeman, answered the door in their gated community home around 5PM expecting a delivery from Amazon. Instead, she found Jackson, who pulled a gun and forced his way into the home. Bun was upstairs, but upon becoming aware of the danger to his family, grabbed his own weapon and headed downstairs. By the time he reached Jackson, Bun found him in the family’s vehicle, trying to flee. Police say Bun and the man exchanged gunfire.

Thankfully, neither Bun nor Queenie were physically harmed in the intrusion. Jackson, however, was not so lucky, getting shot in the shoulder.  As he tried to flee on foot, Bun chased him, caught him and even got him to take his mask off. Jackson did eventually escape, but later turned up at Pearland Medical Center seeking medical attention for a gunshot wound. Police were notified and Bun came to identify the man.

Jackson is currently being held at Harris County Jail on two counts of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon and a single count of burglary with intent to commit a felony, police said. Jackson’s bail is set at $120,000. He has a court hearing one week from today.

Wiz Khalifa has been on a content’s spree lately. He has a new docu series and album to accompany a summer headlining tour.

July 9 kicks off the “The Decent Exposure Tour” with Wiz taking French Montana, DJ Drama, Money Bagg Yo, Playboi Carti and Wiz’s Taylor Gang cohort Chevy Woods on the trek.  Atlanta's Cellairis Amphitheatre at Lakewood is the first destination.

Wiz docu series “Behind The Cam” goes all the way back to his origins as an MC, just getting his first studio time in Pittsburgh, some intimate time with his son and life on the road among other highlights. Fly Times Vol. 1: The Good Fly Young came out on Wiz’s favorite holiday April 20 aka 4/20 as a somewhat surprise. He did give fans a not too conspicuous heads up of what’s to come.

“Fly Times Vol. 1 will inspire a whole new generation of bosses,” he said.

Wiz’s new video “Taylor” dropped on 4/20 and finds the now veteran rapper performing in the pool and on a pink floating flamingo. Ty Dolla $ign, Curren$y and Problem are the people featured on the project.

 Fly Times, Vol. 1: The Good Fly Young Track List

1. Real As You Think (feat. Problem and Curren$y)
2. Taylor
3. G.O.A.T Flow (feat. THEMXXNLIGHT)
4. Bacc to Winning (feat. Ty Dolla $ign)
5. Chevy Bars (feat. Chevy Woods)
6. Big Pride (Bag Talk) [feat. Young Deji]
7. What You Deserve (feat. Young Deji)
8. Yea Yup (feat. Young Deji)
9. Gold Bottles (feat. Young Deji)
10. Taylor Life (feat. Sosamann)
11. You Don’t Have to Hide (feat. Young Deji)
12. Real One (feat. Young Deji)
13. Monitored Millions
14. All for You (feat. THEMXXNLIGHT)

French Montana is hoping Kim Kardashian can do the same for Max B that she did for Alice Marie Johnson.  Max, born Charlie Wingate, was sentenced to 75 years in 2009 after being found guilty of conspiracy, robbery and homicide charges. Montana called upon Kim in an attempt to help get the influential rapper a pardon from prison. In a recent interview with Zane Lowe on Beats1 Radio the Bronx MC said he and his friend Kim have discussed getting Max home.

"Just watching Kylie [Jenner] become a billionaire and watching certain people just break certain records, it makes you feel like the land of where dreams come true. You know what I'm saying? I mean, life is like a mirror sometimes. And sometimes a lot of people don't see the good that they do, like as far as Kim," French began. "Me and Kim was talking about getting Max B home from jail. So, like for her to even reach out and do that I felt like that was powerful. A lot of people don't see things like that."

In 2016, Max B took a plea bargain and was said to be getting out around 2025, although rumors have been swirling that he’ll hit the streets later this year or next year. Kim Kardashian recently spoke to CNN’s Van Jones about controversial dealings with President Trump.

"I know I got so many times people would say to me, 'Don't go to the White House, your career will be over, don't go there,'" Kim revealed about the flack she’s caught.

"And I just kind of weighed the decision where it was like ... to save a life or to get maybe bad tweets about me or a bad news story for a few days. I guarantee you the people sitting behind bars do not care who the president is. They just want that relief. And so if I could have done that, I don't care,"

Alice Johnson’s sentence was commuted by Trump last summer but her offense was a non-violent crime. Max is jailed for murder so it will definitely be tougher to get the rap star out.

Kardashian has continued to work on Justice reform and has announced she is studying to follow in her father’s footsteps and  become a lawyer.

"It's in me," she said to Jones about her family’s history in law. Kardashian is studying to take the California Bar exam in 2022 and currently has an apprenticeship with a San Francisco law firm in the interim.

"I don't want to be put in a box," the reality star added. "I saw a comment where someone said, 'You need to stay in your lane. You can have ambitions but don't be too ambitious.'  I read it to my husband in bed, and I was just like, 'This will even push me harder.’”

With the hype of her recent Netflix documentary still buzzing, Beyoncé decided to gift the world with another treat.  Today, she released her “Lemonade” project across all streaming platforms.  The date coincides with the 3-year anniversary of the album.  Her ever so loyal fans, The Beyhive, were specifically raving over the original demo release of the track “Sorry.”

A lot of excitement is still stirring from her recent take on the classic Frankie Beverly and Maze classic “Before I Let Go,” which was featured in the soundtrack to her acclaimed Netflix documentary ‘Homecoming.’  Beyoncé wanted her fans to feel connected with this song, so she launched the Instagram story page #BeforeILetGoChallenge. The challenge was a means to get her fans to come up with dances for the song, and the best were posted on the page for 128 million plus fans to see.

Not surprisingly, it has taken a while for the members of Linkin Park to get back on their feet after losing lead singer Chester Bennington two years ago. The singer sadly committed suicide, leaving the band, fans, and the music industry devastated.

To the Linkin Park faithful however, the legendary group are showing newfound glimmers of hope for new music.  Turntable specialist Joe Hahn of the band recently did an interview with South Korea news agency Yonhap and said dialogue within the group about new records have been broached.

"The members are taking care of themselves and their families and are going through the problems in their own way," Hahn divulged.  “We aren't discussing detailed plans. I just want to go back to those days when I made music in the garage."

This comes after a February interview with band co-lead singer and guitar player Mike Shinoda, who told German outlet Rock Antenne that it would be practically “unhealthy” for the group to stop recording and rocking stages.

"We all thrive making and performing music," explained Shinoda, who dropped a solo project last June. “I know the other guys, they love to be on stage, they love to be in a studio, and so to not do that would be like... I don't know, almost like unhealthy."

Although, the late great Bennington is irreplaceable, there may come a time when they need to pick up an additional vocalist to join the group. It will have to be organic if it does happen.

"It's not my goal to look for a new singer," Shinoda clarifies. “If it does happen, it has to happen naturally. If we find someone that is a great person and good stylistic fit, I could see trying to do some stuff with somebody. I would never want to feel like we are replacing Chester."

It feels like it will still be awhile before we get a new Linkin Park album.  For their fans’ sake, hopefully it won’t be as long as Joe Hahn believes:

“Maybe in about 10 years?” He laughed off when asked about a release date ballpark figure. “It might be sooner. I don’t want to set a deadline. We just want to focus on the present and talk about music. We aren’t discussing detailed plans. I just want to go back to those days when I made music in the warehouse.”

As the Night King continues his journey across Westeros, emotions and drama increase with everyone's favorite and beloved characters.  Game of Thrones took things to another level last night, and to help them out producers of the show called upon Florence and The Machine to close out the episode with a brand-new song called “Jenny Of Oldstones.”

“We've always been huge fans of Florence's music, and the season two trailer with her song, 'Seven Devils,' was possibly the most powerful we've ever had," series creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss explained in a joint press release. “So, the opportunity to hear her otherworldly voice on our show was always at the forefront of our minds. We're still pleasantly shocked that she agreed to sing 'Jenny of Oldstones,' and we're in love with the result."

“When I first heard the song it sounded like a Celtic lullaby to me," Florence Welch said in her statement to the press. "Celtic music has always been in my blood, so I felt like I could do something with it. The magic and ritual in Game of Thrones, not to mention the costumes, have always appealed to me. I am honored to be a part of the final season."

With the tension building to a breaking point, at least we have “Jenny of Oldstones” to tide us over until next week’s eagerly anticipated installment.

As the world reflects on the greatness of Nas’ stellar standard-setting debut, Illmatic, the ones who know him most intimately are no different than the fans across the world. They all love him and want to salute him today. Raekwon The Chef -- who Nas rapped along with for two of his most cherished rap cameos, Mobb Deep’s “Eye For An Eye” and The Chef’s own “Verbal Intercourse”— says Illmatic is one of the best ever.

“My n***s Nas is one of my favorite friends,” the Chef proclaimed. “You know. A lot of history. We walked the same different blocks. You came to Shaolin, I came to Queens. Real strong bond right there. 25 years later, I wanna say keep moving. Keep moving forward. Stay sucker free. You are one of the best. I remember he said something like this, ‘I didn’t ask to be top of raps elite./ I’m just  a ghetto child trying to learn the ways of the street.’ I love you my n***a. You’re one of the best New York city ever had.”  

Meanwhile, Rae’s Wu-Tang brother Ghostface Killah told LiveXLive of getting a hold of several songs from Illmatic before the entire project was released. Of course Ghost had to share with the Chef. 

“‘One Love’ was on it, ‘New York State of Mind’ was on it. I knew that shit before it came out,” Ghost said of the cassette he lifted from two female friends from France at the time. “When me and Rae was listening to it, the n***a [Rae] start laughing because the n***as [Nas] was a straight golden child.  He had bars. Shit like ‘how the f**k did this n***a say that?’ [He said] ‘more kicks than a baby in a mother’s stomach.’ He had lines.”

Of course both Rae and Ghost have their own anniversaries to cherish, as well. Wu-Tang Clan’s Enter The 36 Chambers turned 25 at the end of last year, Rae’s Ghostface assisted Only Built For Cuban Linx turns 25 next year and Ghost’s Supreme Clientele turns 20 in 2020.