He was the richest person in history, whose wealth was too vast to be imagined, or ever equalled .

Even today’s mega-rich, like Amazon founder Jeff Bezos with an estimated fortune of $131bn ( £99bn) doesn’t get close to African emperor Mansa Musa.

The 14th-century ruler of Mali was “richer than anyone could describe,” according to Time.

And his fortune was infinitely greater than the second richest man of all time, Roman emperor Augustus Caesar, whose has been estimated at $4.6trillion (£3.5tr).

He was so rich, according to historians, that when he gave some of it away to poor people while visiting Cairo, the gold entering the country nearly wrecked Egypt’s economy.

But his unbridled spending and famous generosity eventually led to his kingdom’s decline.

Rudolph Ware, associate history professor at the University of Michigan, explains: “Imagine as much gold as you think a human being could possess and double it, that’s what all the accounts are trying to communicate.

“This is the richest guy anyone has ever seen.”

Musa became ruler of the Mali Empire in west Africa in 1312, taking the throne after his predecessor Abu-Bakr II went missing on a sea voyage to find the edge of the Atlantic Ocean.

Abu-Bakr reportedly embarked on the expedition with a fleet of 2,000 ships and thousands of men, women and slaves, and never came back.

Musa inherited the kingdom he left, at at a time when European nations were struggling due to civil wars and lack of resources.

In contrast, Mali was laden with lucrative natural resources, most notably gold.

Gallery: The 20 richest people of all time (Lovemoney)

And under his rule, the already prosperous empire grew to three times its size, spanning 2,000 miles from the Atlantic coast and covering what are today nine west African nations.

He also annexed 24 cities, including important trading hub Timbuktu.

And as the empire grew, so did his wealth – during his reign the empire of Mali accounted for almost half of the Old World’s gold, according to the British Museum.

Kathleen Bickford Berzock, who specialises in African art at the Block Museum of Art at the Northwestern University, said: “As the ruler, Mansa Musa had almost unlimited access to the most highly valued source of wealth in the medieval world.

“Major trading centres that traded in gold and other goods were also in his territory, and he garnered wealth from this trade.”

It wasn’t until 1324 that the outside world caught a glimpse of the king’s breathtaking wealth.

A devout Muslim, Musa set off on a journey to Mecca for the Hajj pilgrimage, leaving Mali with a caravan of 60,000 men.

The king took his entire court and officials, solders, and heralds, as well as jesters, merchants, camel drivers and 12,000 slaves, all dressed in finest Persian silk, clad in golden brocade and carrying golden staffs.

The elaborate convoy that accompanied Musa marched alongside camels and horses carrying hundreds of pounds of gold, as well as a long train of goats and sheep for food.

Ibn Khaldun, a historian at the time, interviewed one of the emperor’s traveling companions.

The man claimed that, “at each halt, he would regale us with rare foods and confectionery.

“His equipment and furnishings were carried by 12,000 private slave women, wearing gowns of brocade and Yemeni silk.”

Arriving in Cairo, the country got a glimpse of his arrogance too when, after being invited to meet the city’s ruler, al-Malik al-Nasir, he initially refused because it would mean having to kiss the ground and the sultan’s hand.

During his time in Cairo, Musa continued his lavish spending and generous hand outs, spending gold on goods and bestowing gifts of gold on the city’s poor.

Although well-intentioned, his spontaneous generosity actually depreciated the value of the metal in Egypt and the economy took a major hit. It took 12 years for the country to recover.

US-based technology company SmartAsset.com estimates that due to the depreciation of gold, Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage led to about $1.5bn (£1.1bn) of economic losses across the Middle East.

On his way back home, Musa tried to help Egypt’s economy buy buying back some of the gold he had given away at extortionate interest rates.

There are accounts that he spent and gave away so much gold that he ran out of it before the journey had ended, leading to criticism among his people that he had wasted resources which could have been used inside the kingdom.

On the voyage the king also acquired the territory of Gao within the Songhai kingdom, extending his territory to the southern edge of the Sahara Desert along the Niger River.

His favourite conquest, though, was Timbuktu, which became an African El Dorado and people came from near and far to marvel at it’s gold-clad buildings and streets.

Even by the 19th Century, 500 years later, it still had a mythical status as a lost city of gold at the edge of the world, a beacon for both European fortune hunters and explorers.

Mansa Musa is also credited with building some of history’s most elaborate mosques, some of which still stand today.

He returned from Mecca with several Islamic scholars, including direct descendants of the prophet Muhammad and an Andalusian poet and architect by the name of Abu Es Haq es Saheli, who is widely credited with designing the famous Djinguereber mosque in Timbuktu.

The king reportedly paid the poet 200 kg (440lb) in gold, which in today’s money would be $8.2m (£6.3m).

He also funded literature and built schools and libraries, turning Timbuktu into centre of education, where people travelled to from around the world to study.

After Mansa Musa died in 1337, aged 57, the empire was inherited by his sons who could not hold it together.

The smaller states broke off and the empire crumbled.

But Mali’s fame as a place of incredible wealth ultimately led to its downfall with Portuguese interest in the kingdom ultimately culminating in naval raids against the empire starting in the 15th century.

Mansa Musa, and his opulent African empire, ended up confined only to annals of history.

Dayo Adewole, son of former Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, has been abducted by some unknown gunmen. Dayo was kidnapped Tuesday evening.

The military, the police, security agents and local hunters were already on the trail of the kidnappers as at press time.

Reports revealed that the former minister has been forced to cut short his trip abroad. The abductors were yet to contact the family on their motive and the condition of their victim.

According to a source, Dayo Adewole was waylaid at gunpoint on his farm in Iroko, near Fiditi in Afijio Local Government Area of Oyo State at about 6pm.

Although there were some staff with Dayo, the abductors went for him as a prime target.

It was gathered that the kidnappers later took Dayo away to an unknown destination.

Findings confirmed that the military, the police and security agencies have joined forces with the villagers to search for Dayo.

A top official of the Federal Ministry of Health said: ”We are in sad mood over the abduction. Dayo was a graduate of agriculture and he opted for farming.

”He has been managing his farm peacefully in Iroko until he was abducted by some gunmen on Tuesday.”

A drug dealer has been jailed after carelessly stamping his very own name onto his drugs. I know, you couldn’t make this shit up.

Stephen Best, 30, appeared at Brighton Crown Court on Monday 3 June following an earlier guilty plea to the possession of cannabis and four counts of possession with intent to supply drugs (cocaine, MDMA, cannabis and cannabis resin).

Sharing a mugshot of Best on Facebookyesterday, Sussex Police wrote: “This is Stephen. Stephen had a storage unit full of drugs. Stephen stamped his name onto his drugs.

“Stephen was wanted and handed himself in to police. Stephen expected to be imprisoned and took a bag. Stephen packed drugs to take to prison.

“Stephen didn’t think we’d search his bag. Don’t be like Stephen and deal drugs.”

Police had been alerted to Best’s activities by Trading Standards, who were conducting a search of storage lockups in Worthing on 13 November.

After a ‘substantial amount’ of drugs were discovered, officers arrived at the scene, but Best drove off – speeding through a red light in the process.

He was later identified as the owner of the storage unit, with the Prevention Enforcement team also discovering he owned a yacht at Brighton Marina.

But that wasn’t it.

After the storage unit and boat were searched by officers, on closer inspection, the name ‘Besti’ could be seen printed on some of the cannabis resin bars.

On 27 November, Best handed himself into the police – arriving with a bag he said he’d packed in case he was remanded in custody. Only thing is, when officers searched the bag they found a large quantity of cannabis inside.

Facepalm.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Best was remanded in custody, and was handed a total of 42 months in prison.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Noel Simmonds referred to the investigation as ‘unique’ for several reasons.

He said: “The quantity of drugs was considerable and while it is not unusual for drug dealers to set up brands of drugs, I’ve never seen someone stamp their own name into them.

“It’s quite rare as well for someone to arrange the date, time and location of their arrest and still turn up in possession of illegal drugs.

“As well as the physical and mental harm caused by illegal drugs, they are a contributing factor to violent crime and Sussex Police will continue to target those trading in them as part of our strategy to make Sussex safer for everyone.

“We hope this sends out a strong warning to those that would deal misery on our streets, and it encourages people in our communities to step forward and talk to the police.”

Richard Sargeant, West Sussex Trading Standards Team Manager, said: “Our sniffer dog operation led to this discovery of drugs and I am pleased that by working in partnership with Sussex Police, this individual was brought to justice.”

Boxing legend Mike Tyson is creating his own marijuana empire – and he appears to be testing out the inventory for himself.

The 52-year-old former heavyweight champion was spotted with what appears to be a joint in hand while arriving at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Virginia.

An onlooker tells Tiinniirecordz that they were at the airport waiting for their brother when they noticed the smell of marijuana.

‘I looked up, and saw Mike Tyson getting out of the car with a joint/blunt in his hand.

‘The weed smelled really strong, I was thinking, ”who would be stupid enough to smoke weed at an airport?” He looked pretty angry when I took the photo, so I didn’t take any more, you don’t want to get on the wrong side of Mike Tyson.’

The sighting comes as the former fighter’s plans to develop an elaborate 420-acre marijuana playground near Desert Hot Springs, California, have become public. The lot will house Tyson University, a weed resort, music festival and the world’s longest lazy river.
Tyson created his company Tyson Holistic in 2016 and sells an array of marijuana merchandise as well as premium marijuana strains, extracts, and edibles.

The ranch broke ground in December 2017 but is yet to be fully built. It’s designed to be a wonderland of weed with tourist attractions, a luxury hotel, glamping tents and an ampitheater for music festivals and concerts.

There will even be a Tyson University to teach cannabis-cultivation techniques to future farmers.

‘I thought about how much good I could do by helping people with cannabis. It was a no brainer,’ Tyson said on the business venture to Cannabis Tech Today.

Following Tyson’s boxing career he endured years of substance abuse and weed helped him come out of his rut.

‘It changed his life. He’s the perfect person,’ Tyson’s business partner Rob Hickman said on their partnership in an interview with GQ.

In October the company had a full-fledged map plan for the elaborate ranch, however it’s not clear just how much progress has been made.

Tyson says the vision is to educate and engage the public in the healing properties of cannabis and CBD.

Attendants will be allowed to smoke anywhere in the park, except for areas where liquor is sold. Weed will not be grown there, only sold, as Tyson partners with big marijuana retail companies.

Despite becoming the head of a weed empire, Tyson doesn’t actually grow or produce any of the marijuana himself.

Instead it’s all sourced and inspected to reach his high standards and is given Tyson’s seal of ‘dank’ approval.

His strains must be cultivated indoors, harvested based on maturity, cured over 30 days to ensure natural flavornoids, naturally derived, hand trimmed, pesticide-free and lab tested, according to the Tyson Holistic website.

‘It changed his life. He’s the perfect person,’ Tyson’s business partner Rob Hickman said on their partnership in an interview with GQ.

‘We’re not burdened with bad crops. We’re not burdened with legalities. We’re selling paper. Packaging. And market share,’ Hickman said.

Tyson runs his marijuana business from his warehouse office in El Segundo, California, where he’s visited by friends like Sean Penn and Roseanne as he works on expanding his empire with a podcast called Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson and shooting a reel for a TV show on his venture.

He’s put his lucrative name on various strains of marijuana, expanded to CBD dog treats, and hemp-oil muscle rub.

Though the resort is yet to fully come to life, Tyson has already rolled out music festivals at the site.

In February hundred of people gathered outside Palm Springs on the site of the resort for the inaugural Kind Festival where Miguel and A$AP Ferg performed. Revelers enjoyed smoking weed with Tyson, the music, and had a taste of what the future ranch would host.

‘Mike Tyson’s building a whole ranch out here, y’all!’ It’s gonna have the world’s longest lazy river! This s**t is serious!’ the D.J. at the festival shouted at the buzzing crowd.

At the moment Tyson and two other partners have financed everything for the ranch themselves, but he says he’s had offers from a big private-equity firm as well as big bands ‘standing in line’ to play at the next Kind Fest scheduled for this fall.

Hickman is also in negotiations at the moment to build another Tyson Ranch on the border of Florida and Georgia – though the two states don’t legally allow for recreational pot.

Hickman says that even if the California cannabis laws swing back in California – the resort will still be lucrative.

Source: Tiinniirecordz

There are many styles of hip-hop, but none more notorious than gangsta rap. Popularized in the ’90s thanks to the hardcore rhymes penned by artists like Ice-T, Dr. Dre, and Ice Cube, the genre has been vilified by everyone from parent groups to politicians, who have argued the violence, misogyny, and promotion of street culture represented in rap lyrics is detrimental to society.  

Of course, the flip side of that argument is that gangsta rap, and any form of hip-hop, really, is merely the artistic expression of the culture in which the artists live, and no matter how ugly it may seem to an outside observer, rapping about it is certainly protected under the First Amendment.

Where this whole thing gets dicey is when rappers actually live the violent, criminal lifestyles depicted in their songs, partaking in activities ranging from drug dealing, pimping, misusing firearms, and even attempting and/or committing murders. The result of keeping it that real, so-to-speak, is a long list of rappers who have died, been injured, or were incarcerated. We’re dealing with the latter here, and even more specifically, the ones who are still doing their time. These are the rappers who are currently in jail.

Kodak Black’s back in the slammer

Dieuson Octave is the south Florida rapper known as Kodak Black. As of this writing, he’s only 20 years old, and already serving a 364 day sentence for gun and drug possession charges related to an Instagram video “that appeared to show people using marijuana and holding a handgun near an infant,” according to ABC 10 Local News.

But that’s really just the tip of the iceberg for the “No Flockin” rapper, who in the two years prior has been charged with “robbery, false imprisonment, fleeing a law enforcement officer, possession of a firearm by a delinquent,” as well as sexual assault and a house arrest violation for leaving without permission to go to a strip club, where an employee accused him of assaulting her.  

Some of those charges were dropped or pleaded down, but at one point, Black was facing a 55-year prison sentence. In April 2018, TMZ reported that even more charges from the Instagram video arrest had been dropped, meaning the embattled rapper could be out of jail as early as October 2018. However, he’s still awaiting trial for the aforementioned sexual battery case for which he could receive a “maximum sentence of 30 years in prison” if he’s found guilty.

In other words: It’s a lot. Kodak Black is in jail for a lot, and his days dealing with the legal system don’t seem to be anywhere close to being over.

Apparently that whole Ruff Ryders thing was no joke

By the time rapper DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, was sentenced to one year in prison in March 2018, his criminal history was already so extensive and varied, it was amazing that he was still a free man at that point. In 2010, the Daily Beast cited his 13 previous arrests “for everything from felony drugs charges, cocaine possession, criminal impersonation, and reckless driving and parole violation.”

By 2016, and many more arrests later, Simmons’ ruff ryding ways nearly cost him his life. According to TMZ, he was found unresponsive in a Yonkers, N.Y. Ramada Inn parking lot where one witness said that he “ingested some sort of powder before lapsing into unconsciousness.” Simmons denied any drug use, and cited a recent bout of bronchitis for the collapse.

Fast-forward to January 2018, when Simmons added financial crimes to his colorful criminal resume, although you could technically count under that category the six months he served in 2015 for “failing to pay $400,000 in child support.” Anyway, Simmons landed back in the clink for violating probation in a tax evasion case, according to TMZ. That case eventually ended with his March 2018 guilty plea to avoiding paying taxes on $1.7 million, earning him another year behind bars.

At the sentencing hearing, Simmons’ lawyer “played part of Simmons’ 1998 song “Slippin’” in the courtroom,” according to Reuters, in an attempt to explain his client’s troubled past. It was an interesting move, but we think we have a better suggestion for next time: “I’m Sorry,” by Brenda Lee. Come on, admit you’re dying to hear him cover that now.

How could adding ‘murda’ to your name possibly go wrong?

Brooklyn rapper Ackquille Pollard adopted the handle Bobby Shmurda when he and several lifelong friends formed the rap crew, GS9. According to GQ, the crew became official in March 2014 and it didn’t take long for Pollard to become the breakout star of the group. The viral success of his song “Hot N****a” and the accompanying “Shmoney Dance” that went with it got the attention of stars such as Rihanna, Beyoncé, and Taylor Swift, as well as record labels who scrambled to sign him.

Unfortunately, police believed that GS9 also operated as a faction of the infamous LA-based Crips gang, also known as G-Stone Crips, which resulted in a wide-ranging criminal conspiracy investigation that lead to a December 2014 sweep during a recording session at Manhattan’s Quad Studios. Using an indictment built largely on intercepted phone communications between GS9 members — in which they allegedly made coded references to drug dealing, shootings, and murders — the NYPD arrested Pollard and 14 others. “The investigation involved violent incidents in Brooklyn that include shootings and narcotics traffic,” a spokeswoman for the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor told the New York Daily News.

Pollard’s specific charges, however, related only to felony gun possession charges. He copped a plea deal, accepting a seven-year prison term and waiving his right to an appeal, according to Complex. Pollard vehemently disputes the charges, alleging that lying cops railroaded him and that he got a raw deal when his trial was moved from Brooklyn, because in a Manhattan court, the jury was always going to believe “white people with badges” over “this black kid talking about shooting s**t up.” 

Killa Kam should konsider switching to kredit kards

In March 2018, British rapper Cameron Wright, known as Killa Kam, was sentenced to six years in jail after pleading guilty to “being concerned in the supply of heroin and cocaine,” reported Gloucestershire Live.Though police did not actually catch Wright with drugs on him, they intercepted his “Jay Line,” which was a phone he used to allegedly send “3,700 text messages to more than 100 customers.” Wright allegedly managed “the supply chain” between Birmingham and Cheltenham, the profits from which he may have flaunted in a music video where he showcased wads of cash.

Wright’s defense attorney, Jason Coulter, argued that Wright turned to drug-dealing after he was unable to find employment following a previous jail stint he served for similar charges back in 2015. Coulter argued that in his desperation to pay back fines associated with that conviction, Wright was “lured back into it … not for glamour this time, but for dull necessity.”

The sentencing judge wasn’t convinced, telling Wright, “It seems unlikely that you now care about the lives ruined through the supply of class A drugs.” Maybe in his next video, Wright should show himself filling out job applications and awkwardly turfing it in interviews.

When life imitates violent art

RondoNumbaNine was a rising star in Chicago’s “Drill scene,” a sub genre of gansta rap that, according to HuffPost, rose to prominence in the Windy City in the early 2000’s. Drill quickly became something of a flashpoint for debate over whether its controversial lyrics — typically involving “gangs, guns and drugs” — were “influencing the violence plaguing Chicago.”   

Rondo, aka Clint Massey, contributed most notably to Drill with his 2013 hit, “Hang Wit Me,” which features lines such as, “These rappers they really rappers, I am just a savage who doesn’t have any remorse” and “Catch a n****a saying tooka Gang then we gone murder you.” Perhaps unsurprisingly, Massey became an object lesson in the debate over Drill lyrics when he was sentenced to 39 years for his involvement in the 2014 shooting death of cab driver Javan Boyd.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times (via XXL), Massey, then just 17-years-old, and an accomplice named Courtney Ealy, who was also a rapper who went by the name Cdai and was just 19-years-old, shot Boyd multiple times as he sat in his car outside an apartment complex while “waiting for a customer.” Boyd’s murder was allegedly a retaliation “for an earlier shooting.”

For his part in the murder, Ealy was sentenced to 38 years in prison, effectively bringing an end to both of the young mens’ rap careers. But who knows? Maybe by the 2050’s hip-hop will have invented a new sub genre exclusively for nearly 60-year-old emcees who reportedly threw their lives away as teenagers to glorify gang life.

A prophetic felon

Joining the illustrious crowd of rappers who conspicuously implicated themselves in crimes via their own lyrical admissions is Montana Millz. The Bronx-born rapper, whose real name is Michael Persaud, released tracks such as “Sell Drugz” and “Feds Watching” before he was arrested for — you guessed it — selling drugs.

Persaud got busted twice for trafficking heroin, first in Lebanon, Pa., after he allegedly dealt to an undercover cop which resulted in a raid on his hotel room that yielded “70 grams of bulk heroin” that had “an approximate street value of $11,500,” according to the Lebanon Daily News. The second time was in Rhode Island, not long after the Lebanon bust, when Persaud once again dealt to a plainclothes detective, which resulted in another raid and seizure of several illicit drugs.

In January 2018, Persaud pleaded guilty before a Rhode Island judge to “seven counts of drug distribution and possession” and received a three-year prison sentence, reported NBC Turn to 10. He didn’t fare so well a month later in Pennsylvania when the judge there handed him a sentence of eight to 30 years, which will serve consecutively with his prior sentence. Ouch. 

If only he’d written songs with titles like “Got a Job,” “Learned my Lesson,” and “I Swear This Will Never Happen Again, Your Honor.”

Do these guys know how video works?

Convicted felon Ricardo Burgos, who raps under the handle Nation, apparently either wasn’t aware or didn’t care that he was no longer allowed to possess firearms when he brandished two of them in a music video in Deerfield, Ill. in January 2016. According to CBS Chicago, Burgos was arrested later in the day in possession of “a .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol,” at which point he was charged with “one count of illegal possession of a firearm by a felon and one count of distribution of a controlled substance,” the latter of which stemmed from a 2015 arrest.

Making matters even worse, although not necessarily adding to his specific legal troubles, Burgos had spit lyrics in his music “about selling drugs, committing acts of violence, and disrespecting law enforcement.”

The Associated Press reported that Burgos was a member of a violent Chicago-based gang known as the Conservative Vice Lords, which perhaps figured into the sentencing judge’s decision to hand down the surprisingly harsh term of 188 months. Yeesh. For that kind of time, we sincerely hope waving those guns around in that video looked super dope.

More than a decade locked up over some bling

California rapper Billy “Wild Bill” Shaffer Jr. lived up to his rap handle when he shot and killed Connie M. Sowels III outside of an Oakland nightclub on Oct. 1, 2014, according to the East Bay Times. Shaffer, who also raps under the alias Billy Bankroll, claimed he was acting in self-defense during a scuffle between himself and Sowels over a gold chain.

The jury believed Shaffer and acquitted him on the charges of “first-degree murder, second-degree murder, and voluntary manslaughter,” which could have landed him behind bars for far longer than the 13 years he got for his conviction on the remaining charges of involuntary manslaughter, as well as “using a firearm and being a felon in possession of a firearm.”

Shaffer reportedly “cried tears of joy” over the court’s decision, but we’re wondering if there was a hint of bitter irony mixed in there since this is a guy who once rapped “check my track record, never no sucker s**t” on the 2013 song, “Tell Da Truth.” No suckers in jail, we guess.

Pimpin’ ain’t easy…or legal

Richmond rapper and fledgling pimp Idris B. Jamerson, aka Drissy Bo, found himself swapping the recording studio for the cell block after he was sentenced to four years in prison in November 2017. Six months earlier, Jamerson sealed his fate when he reportedly recruited a woman on Instagram and began selling her services via shady websites that advertise prostitution, reported the East Bay Times.

Thanks to a sting arranged by the Vacaville Police Vice Unit and FBI Violent Crime Task Force, Jamerson was apprehended on his way to deliver the woman to a prospective “customer.” Upon his arrest, police recovered text messages that indicated the nature of the pair’s exploitative relationship, including Jamerson giving the woman consent to buy food using the money she earned, the East Bay Times reported. In addition to the text messages, some of Jamerson’s music was even used against him in court.

We’re not certain which songs were played for the court, but Jamerson was the co-auteur of the questionable track, “Price Tag,” which features cringeworthy lines such as “Put the b***h on a plate wit a price tag” and “That’s why she get this money and she bring it right back.” In the interest of full disclosure, we should also say that we don’t even know if Jamerson is the one who uttered those lyrics, however his name is on the song, so he has to own that. Even the janitor in the recording studio that day probably feels guilty being associated with that mess.

Freed Meek Mill

We’re ending on what is sadly the most positive note we could find. Philly rapper Robert Rihmeek Williams, aka Meek Mill, was sent back to prison for two to four years in November 2017 after violating his probation twice that same year. According to Billboard, Williams’ long history with the court system started in 2008, when he was jailed for the first time for bringing a gun to a grocery store.

That charge led to a five-year probation term, which has since been extended through violations and further plea agreements, like in 2014 and 2016, when Williams was hit with violations for performing outside of Philly without permission. Most of the times Williams went before the court, he faced the same officiant, Judge Genece E. Brinkley.  

By 2017, Brinkley was apparently done with Williams’ repeated violations, so she told him, “I gave you break after break, and you basically just thumbed your nose at this court,” reported Philly.com. Upon his sentencing, an outpouring of celebrities, including Jay-Z, Kevin Hart, and even New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, vocally championed Williams, even tying his name to a movement — Free Meek Mill — seeking to overhaul the entire probation and parole system in America. How is any of that positive, you may ask? Great question.

Aside from the kind, but relatively useless support from celebrities, Williams attracted another powerful ally: Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, who granted Williams a re-trial after questioning the “credibility” of the arresting officer in Williams’ original case. On top of the re-trial, Williams’ legal team also appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in order to circumvent Brinkley’s refusal to grant the rapper bail. The move worked, and he was immediately released on “unsecured bail” on April 24, 2018. 

Granted, Williams still awaits trial on his probation violation charges, but for now, he’s a free man. Now, that’s something worth writing a song about. 

International security experts from Canada have arrived in Ghana following the kidnap of citizens at Kumasi in the Ashanti region.

Their arrival follows the statement made by the Canadian High Commissioner to Ghana, Heather Cameron who led a delegation to Kumasi a day after the two women were kidnapped, had served notice experts would be brought from abroad to support investigations.

Mr  Cameron had visited Kumasi where the incident took place with the Inspector General of Police, David Asante Apeatuover the weekend to receive a briefing on investigations into the kidnapping of the women foreigners.

The two females, aged 19 and 20, were bundled into a red Toyota car by four men at the entrance of a private hostel, when they stepped out of an Uber car at about 8:25 p.m on June 4, 2019.

The four men are said to have fired several warning shots to ward-off onlookers at about 8:25 p.m.

An Uber driver who transported the victims from a restaurant at Asokwa and witnessed their abduction has since been picked up to assist police investigations.

The arrival of the officers, including a specialist in bargaining, is seen as a boost to the investigations to locate the wherebaouts of two Canadian nationals.

It took police over 48 hours to issue an official statement on the kidnapping.

The disappeared ladies until their abduction were working with a non-governmental organisation, Youth Challenge International.

On  June 4, 2019, when they were seized at Nhyiaeso, less than two months after an Indian national was rescued from his captors who had demanded a ransom of $500,000 in bitcoins.

Police in a statement on June 6, 2019, asked media to be circumspect of the sensitive nature of the issue and urged the public to volunteer information on the victims and the kidnappers.

But police are yet to publish the pictures of the victims who are believed to have been in the country for less than two weeks prior to their kidnap. 
 

“How I Made A Perfect Payback For A Lecturer Who Failed Me For 6 Years In The University”

My first day in the biology laboratory was a dreadful one. During a briefing session a day before we were to have practical during my 100level, We had been told that it is a customary to always put on the ‘laboratory coat’ each and every time we have practicals, hence whosoever without the laboratory coat will be punished.

I’d no money as at that time to buy laboratory coat, and the first practical came just too soon. I couldn’t borrow as my only friend in the school then was Asiwaju Olalekan Godson Ayodeji.

Anyway, I knew breaking the rule of not putting a ‘laboratory coat’ was a bad idea but I was young and wrong to take that risk. I had no choice than to enter into the laboratory room to get engaged with my fellow departmental mates.

Not quite long after I entered the lab, one of the biology lecturer who handled biology practical came around. He spotted few of us without the ‘laboratory coat’ and decided to play a fast track on us, he wanted to get hold of us. I was fortunate to be sitting near the entrance door, so I got away.

He was able to lay hands on few guys unaware but everyone of us that escaped went into his black book. He called our class rep then, and collected our matric numbers. Printed them and pasted them in his office. It was printed boldly.

That was how myself and other guys that ran away failed Both the practical and the actual Biology course that year.

Personally, I sat for the same courses for good 6years; making it 6 different times entirely. On my third year of rewriting, I summoned courage to visit him in his office. I went to see him to plead with him, he didn’t know me, he only knew of my matric number.

So I’d to take the bull by the horn to explain what had happened. He laughed wickedly and angrily sent me away, I returned the next day.

He told me, if I return again then it would be very bad and I won’t like it. I left him for a week. I consulted my advisor, Dr. Mrs Adigun. I explained everything to her…

She told me, I should give him time, and to return to him after sometime. That he may consider my ‘show of repentance’. So I didn’t return for like a month.

Then one day, I was returning from a friend’s place Osisami Babalola Enitan on Friday after I had gone to play chess, I saw him also returning from the mosque. We both met along the school former fine-art department, just by the way that leads to Alata eatery, Under G.

I quickly used the opportunity of meeting him just coming from the mosque to plead yet again. He treated me like ‘poo’

He still went on to fail me even in my 400level. On my final year, I went to him, then I was married. I took my pregnant wife to plead with him. He walked us out and told us never to come again. He promised to report to the school security. So we left.

He failed me for 5 years consecutively. It was hard for me. I wept for days. I told my parents, and few friends.. It prevented me from going for NYSC with my class 13′ set.

Then I turned to God. Yes, I was guilty and I deserved punishment but that was too much. I prayed ‘no be small’. So many different phases of life, most times it is always our fault that we find ourselves in difficult situations but immediately we get to seek God for help, he surely always provide us a solution to all of our problems. I seek God’s face and he never fails.

That biology course was taken away from him and was given to someone else, it was given to another Dr. I can never forget him.

I registered as a spill-over student, and sat for it, I borrowed 4 other courses to boost my CGPA, I collected my result and my biology 101, 102,104 and 106 were all A(s).

That was how I got cleared.

Moving forward, During my service year, after I redeployed from Abia state to Oyo, I was posted to the West Africa examination council. (Waec) Ijokodo, Ibadan.

Great place with wonderful people. On my great work ethics, being dutiful and so diligent during my service year, I was given the green card and permitted at all time to work during their examination and marking exercise each and every time I so wish. Oluwafemi Martins my great boss, one of the great people I had worked with.

Coincidentally, I was officially sent to Ogbomoso marking venue as an assistant subject examination officer to partner my Waec daddy

I was handling Biology and chemistry subjects. For the ones who don’t understand the whole drama during the Waec marking exercise.

We give out the examination scripts to qualified teachers or graduates with the certification in their specified subjects for marking and recording during a stipulated period of time.

So that day in April, there was a long queue of Examiners waiting to submit their CV. Then this Dr. lecturer that failed me for 5years was in the queue too, I’d spotted him.

My wonderful Waec daddy was beside me, he asked why I was smiling,and I simply told him that something funny will soon happen. And when it was this Dr’s turn, He greeted and called me “sir” (bending his head). I quickly stood up to greet him too.

But I was so surprised, he didn’t recognize my face. Apparently, he would never have thought and believe and to be possible for the young man in front of him to be me.

So I pretended as if I had nothing in mind too, I was going through his CV when he started pleading that he really needed my help concerning this marking stuff, he told me he came along with his daughter who is a gate crasher ( these are people who are new to the marking system) and his wife who also had marked for a long time but needed to mark too.

He told me Ladoke Akintola university of technology had been on strike for over a year and nothing seemed fine, no salary. No money and nothing at all. I should help him.

At that point I told him to call his wife and daughter. He did. I then asked him; “Sir, Is it truly that you do not recognize my face?”

He said, “ehn! It’s like this face is familiar o but you know there are many people like that I can’t remember. I can’t really remember where and when I had seen your face”. I told him to try, that I will only help him if he can remember where we had met and when..

He didn’t remember so I helped him out with my surname, I told him. “This is Akeju, the guy you failed for 5 consecutive years. The guy that brought his pregnant wife to beg you but still, you sent us away”.

At that point, he was dumbfounded. He left without saying a word. His wife and daughter were confused and everyone on the queue too. His wife asked what the matter was, I told her to go and ask her husband.

Shortly, His wife and daughter returned. He had explained everything, they knelt down and asked for forgiveness. I smiled and asked them to tell him to come back. He had gone home. In the evening he did return.

He asked for forgiveness, and I did forgave him. More than he had asked for, I granted him all of his requests. We were not permitted to give more than a packet packed of scripts but I gave him more than one. Just for him to make more money. He wept uncontrollably.
“ Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you”. I only know of the way of doing good even unto them that do me evil.

Till I left ogbomoso, he was always calling because I had put enough food on his table and not only him, but also for his family during that difficult period they were going through. It’s left to him, if he will change or not. Our tomorrow isn’t promised. Whatever position you find yourself, use it wisely.

Hope Someone Learnt From This.

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central constituency, Kennedy Agyapong has challenged the Regional House of Chiefs and people of the Central Region to go into privatization by selling the Cape Coast and Elmina Castles to him to take tourism to another level that will shock all and sundry.

The lawmaker who said he plans to stay off politics and venture into tourism complained that the enviable Castles in the region have been rotting away due to lack of proper tourism promotion.

The Controversial business mogul suggested that the two Castles need to be given facelift in order to attract foreigners, saying the slaves’ dungeon route leading to the sea needs massive expansion.

In an interview with Net2 TV monitored by Tiinniirecordz.home.blog  he explained that if the Castles are sold to him, he will build a big ship on the sea with accompanying services such as restaurants which will transport tourists to their chosen destinations.

He indicated that he will invest massively in the two Castles if given the opportunity adding that pictures of the tunnel leading to the sea will be taken to serve as reference when it’s expanded.

‘I’m challenging the Regional House of Chiefs, people of central region and CEDECOM to sell to me both Cape Coast and Elmina Castles on just one condition, we will take pictures of the tunnel leading to the sea and then we will open up that tunnel for people to walk through it, we will put a ship or build a big restaurant on the sea, its simple, you write point of no return,’ he explained in an interview with Net2 TV monitored by Tiinniirecordz.home.blog.

According to him, he gets sad anytime he sees the Castles being wasted away envisaging that he will; reap more cash than the House of Chiefs and CEDECOM get if they agree to bet with him by selling the Castles to him.

He further opined that a play should be enacted about the slaves for tourists when they visit the Castles with charges ranging from 100 dollars upwards explaining that the era of people explaining the conditions in which the slaves were sold is over.

‘The tickets will include the play and the restaurant services, you can charge about 100 dollars, that is how you are going to make money,’ he said.

The two castles were used as trading points where slaves were kept before they were loaded onto ships and sold in the Americas.

He subtly accused Mr Jonah of working with Apartheid South Africa to rape the country of its resources.

His comments come on the back of allegation levelled against him by one business tycoon, Alhaji Ibrahim Yusif who said his hotel was demolished on the orders of Rawlings’ because he thought Sam Jonah co-owned the hotel and a financier of the then opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP).

But speaking during the 40^th anniversary of the June 4 revolution, the former President said people like Sam Jonah and Alhaji Yusif seem to be untouchable, saying he would still have demolished their structures that have blocked water ways if time were to be reversed.

Mr. Rawlings said Sam Jonah is greedy just like Alhahji Yusif who do not want to be touched when they go wrong.

‘And to think that I am accused of ordering the demolition because I had a bone to pick with your Sam Jonah. Sam Jonah by the way, is not unknown to have a treacherous and greedier appetite than your little hotel,’ he said in his statement monitored by Tiinniirecordz.home.blog .

The ex-President who has no regrets of demolishing the 5-million -dollar  hotel said Alhaji is not in the position to forgive him not even the rat in his hometown.

Mr Rawlings explained that the structures were demolished based on the complaints by Alhaji Yusif’s  law-abiding neighbours who recognized the potential harm the building could cause.

‘One Alhaji Yusif reportedly forgave me for the demolishing of his hotel because he believed I thought he co-owned it with Sam Jonah and also that he was financing the opposition party. In the first place, he is in no position to forgive anyone or anything, not even the bush rat in his home town,’ he said.

An incensed ex-President said Alhaji Yusif’s financial claims granted by the court was overblown adding that his kind always mix business with politics.

‘I’m not sure the misuse of my name will win you any sympathy. Your financial claims and that granted by the court was overblown, but that’s how your kind mix business with politics,’ he fumed.

Source:Tiinniirecordz.home.blog./loveliest smith/2019

I’m a lyracist
Go deal with it
flowing until you’re feeling it
no one can come and kill this shit
holding on to the rhythmic
sounds that I’m producing
is different from what you’re used to
I’ma give it to you straight
until your feelings confuse ya
Ya better pray for the future
and try to learn from the past
Ya see, the day will come
when truth will knock you
down on your ass
so pour that Crown in your glass
pass the gold to the left
and if you’re waiting for your break
then keep on holding your breath you’re getting closer to death
with every breath that you breathe
so save your life & shut the fuckup
you aint ready for me
look my intelligence, see
is on a was level they’ll never be
cause I never bought the bullshit
they was sellin to me
like fuck that
jump back
make some room for a poet
life is what you make it
cause you reap and you sow it
they knowin to never diss me
my flow is so effortlessly
that rhythm gets in my veins
and then poetry stars dispensing listen, life is more
than what you’re led to believe
so don’t be asking for the truth
if you’re ain’t ready to see
some people weak underneath
and they lack a reason for breathing
if you don’t see what I’m seeing
then you don’t need to be agreeing
look at me and I’ma tell you facts
liars go to hell with that
you bought a line of bullshit
and now you’re just trying
to sell it back