Federal prosecutors are accusing NBA YoungBoy (a.k.a. YoungBoy Never Broke Again) of violating the terms of his house arrest by using unspecified drugs — and of telling his supervising officers that he has “no intentions” of stopping.

In a filing Thursday (Feb. 29), prosecutors asked a Louisiana federal judge to set a hearing to deal with the rapper’s “noncompliant behavior” while he awaits a July trial on federal gun charges. They say he violated a rule forbidding him to “use or unlawfully possess a narcotic drug or other controlled substance” while under house arrest.

“The undersigned has learned that the defendant has violated [this rule] and has informed his supervising officer that he has no intentions to discontinue using the substance that resulted in the violation,” U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Gathe, Jr. wrote in the filing.

The filing did not specify what drug YoungBoy is accused of using. The rapper’s attorneys did not return a request for comment; they will likely file a formal response to the allegation in the days ahead.

YoungBoy was indicted by Louisiana federal prosecutors in March 2021 on charges of “felon in possession of a firearm” after he was allegedly found with two guns during a September 2020 incident in Baton Rouge, La. Possessing guns would be illegal for YoungBoy since the rapper was previously convicted in 2017 of aggravated assault with a firearm.

When he was arrested in Los Angeles on those charges, another gun was found in his car, leading to a similar case brought by California federal prosecutors. YoungBoy was acquitted on those charges following a July 2022 trial, but he’s still facing a looming trial in Louisiana over the original indictment.

While awaiting trial, YoungBoy has been confined to his Salt Lake City mansion — a house arrest that has now lasted more than two full years. In October, his attorneys pleaded that the “long period of social isolation” was harming his mental health. They asked that the judge loosen restrictions, including allowing him to travel to a recording studio to create new music. But that request was largely denied in November.

YoungBoy’s trial is scheduled to kick off on Jul. 15 and is expected to run for two weeks.

Just days after the Universal Music Group’s publishing catalog began coming down from TikTok, Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) released a new statement stressing its concerns about artificial intelligence and online safety on the short-form video app. The company stated these are “equally” important issues to TikTok’s lack of “fair compensation” to songwriters.

UMPG also acknowledged in its new statement that “the disruption is difficult for some of [its songwriters]” but says leaving the TikTok app is “critical for the sustained future value, safety and health of the entire music ecosystem.”

At the end of January, UMG announced in a letter to its artists and songwriters that it would be allowing its license with TikTok to expire, saying that TikTok refused to pay the “fair value” of music and no deal could be reached. (Tiktok fired back with its own statement, hours later, saying UMG’s decision was motivated by “greed.”) Within days, UMG tracks were removed from Tiktok en masse, including the catalogs of superstars Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, Drake, BTS and more who are signed to UMG record labels. In the letter, the company noted that these takedowns would also include its publishing arm, UMPG, but the publishing-related removals did not begin until Tuesday, Feb. 26.

Now, any song, even if it was released by a non-UMG record label, is subject to takedown on TikTok if even one UMPG-signed songwriter was involved in its creation. Because UMPG is the second largest publisher in the world, these publishing takedowns were wide reaching, impacting almost every record label in one way or another.

In response to the publishing takedowns, TikTok said in a statement on Wednesday: “We are in the process of carrying out Universal Music Group’s requirement to remove all songs that have been written (or co-written) by a songwriter signed to Universal Music Publishing Group, based on information they have provided. Their actions not only affect the songwriters and artists that they represent, but now also impact many artists and songwriters not signed to Universal. We remain committed to reaching an equitable agreement with Universal Music Group. In the meantime, music lovers can continue to enjoy, discover and share millions of tracks from artists, songwriters and labels on TikTok, and we will continue to connect all artists – including those whose music is not currently available on our platform – with their fans.”

Read UMPG’s new statement to its songwriters below in full:

TikTok is removing UMPG songs because there is no license in place. As you may have heard, to-date, they have not agreed to recognize the fair value of your songs, which so many other digital partners around the world have done.

As we previously addressed in our open letter, in addition to fair compensation for your songs, the negotiations have also focused on two other critical and equally important issues: protecting you, human artists and songwriters, from the harmful effects of AI; and online safety for TikTok’s users, including your fans which include young children.

TikTok’s intentions with respect to AI are increasingly apparent. While refusing to respond to our concerns about AI depriving songwriters from fair compensation, or provide assurances that they will not train their AI models on your songs, recent media reports reveal “TikTok and ByteDance leaders have long wanted to move the app beyond music.” Reflecting on our open letter, other commentators have noted where this distancing from the music industry could lead, fueled by AI: “TikTok has an incentive to push the use of these AI recordings rather than the copyrighted and licensed recordings.”

Every indication is that they simply do not value your music.

We understand the disruption is difficult for some of you and your careers, and we are sensitive to how this may affect you around the world. We recognize that this might be uncomfortable at the moment. But it is critical for the sustained future value, safety and health of the entire music ecosystem, including all music fans.

As always, UMPG will only support partners that value songwriters, artists and your songs.  We have a long history of successfully fighting for our songwriters and will continue to do so. You should expect nothing less from us.

UPDATE: After teasing a new song, Cardi B announced Wednesday that her “Like What” freestyle will arrive on Friday. “YA FOUND ME,” Cardi wrote on her socials alongside cover art for the track, in which the rapper has pearls, bows and flowers in her hair, dyed-pink eyebrows, and a long white manicure. “Like What freestyle FRIDAY.”

Cardi B’s new album era is seemingly upon us (finally!).

The rapper took to her Instagram Stories to re-share a fan’s post, in which a snippet of an upcoming song is teased. “I ain’t even got dressed / Any L that I took come after YS / Oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man,” she declares on the track. Check out the Instagram Story before it disappears here.

The teasers comes just a week after Cardi’s estranged husband Offset took to his own Stories to encourage the “Bodak Yellow” rapper to drop her new music. In the video, the Migos star is seen bobbing his head and loving the music with a satisfied stank face on, and since the video had no audio, viewers were left to their imagination in interpreting the caption. “Stop being scary and drop the album” it read, along with “s–t goes crazy [fire emoji],” he wrote.

A new Cardi album would mark her first since 2018’s Invasion of Privacy. The album spawned two No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 singles, the diamond-certified “Bodak Yellow” and “I Like It.” She also won the Grammy for best rap album for Invasion of Privacy, topping Pusha T, Mac Miller, Travis Scott and Nipsey Hussle. 

Back in August, Cardi promised that she was not going to release any more collaborations until she dropped her next solo single. Of course, her hit collaboration with Megan Thee Stallion, “Bongos,” dropped a month later, but Cardi insisted that she’s focused on her sophomore project.

“I’m going to put out my next solo single. Right now, I’m working on the cover art and ideas for the next record because it’s definitely coming up,” she said at the time. “Everyone always tells me I should put the record out now. They did when I released ‘WAP’ [with Megan Thee Stallion] and when I released ‘Up,’ but I always let them know I’m not going to wait long after all these singles. So stay tuned because it’s coming out very soon.”

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Get ready to rattle and hum: U2‘s Las Vegas residency comes to a close on Saturday (March 2).

U2’s residency kicked off in September 2023, and it’s gotten even bigger since the launch. Due to high demand, the band added shows to U2: UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere and announced the final dates via Instagram late last year.

With just two shows left, resale tickets are higher than usual and selling fast. General admission tickets to the final shows cost roughly $800 to more than $1,000 at Stubhub and Vivid Seats.

Want front-row seats? Tickets are approximately $1,100 to more than $2,500.

Closing out a tally of more than 40 shows, the remaining two performances will take place Friday, March 1, and Saturday, March 2.

Last-minute, resale tickets to U2’s Las Vegas residency are currently available at StubHub, SeatGeek, Vivid Seats and Ticketmaster. You can save up to $20 off eligible purchases of $200+ at Vivid Seats with code BB2024.

Citing “unprecedented demand,” the band — who have 22 Grammys under their belt — first extended the residency last May, with the press release noting that there had been more than 1 million ticket requests at the time.

In September, U2 dropped a new single, “Atomic City,” to coincide with the launch of its residency. The band released the music video teaser on Sept. 28.

U2 also played back-to-back shows over Super Bowl weekend and performed live from the Sphere during the 2024 Grammys. The Sin City residency was originally announced in a Super Bowl commercial last year.

“U2 hasn’t played live since December 2019 and we need to get back on stage and see the faces of our fans again,” Bono, The Edge and bassist Adam Clayton said in a previous statement announcing the Las Vegas residency at the new, state-of-the art theater at The Venetian. “And what a unique stage they’re building for us out there in the desert. We’re the right band, Achtung Baby the right album, and Sphere the right venue to take the live experience of music to the next level. That’s what U2’s been trying to do all along with our satellite stages and video installations, most memorably on the ZOO TV Tour, which ended in Tokyo 30 years ago this fall. Sphere is more than just a venue, it’s a gallery and U2’s music is going to be all over the walls.”

The band gave fans a deeper look inside the epic Sphere during an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Low.

“Walking in and actually seeing our stage there and seeing our instruments and light and the finished building was quite a moment,” U2’s The Edge explained to Low. “That’s when it really got real. When you’re actually imagining there’s going to be person in each one of these seats. The proximity is incredibly intimate that’s what so amazing. It’s only 18,000 (seats) but everyone is going to get this perfect view of the stage. Unfortunately, with this incredible visual we’re going to have our work cut out to get people’s attention. It’s like a throw down, how do you make this personal connection in this big venue?”

Opening night of the residency included a tribute to the band’s founding member Larry Mullen Jr., who missed the first night. Paul McCartney, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Diplo, Luke Wilson, Jon Hamm, Dakota Fanning, Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Elizabeth Banks and Josh Duhamel were some of the celebs at the show opening night. Bono also paid tribute to Sinead O’Conner with a performance of “Nothing Compares 2 U” during a show and Harry Styles was spotted at the residency last November.

Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom, Oprah Winfrey and Gail King are some of the other celebs who have also been spotted taking in the show.