Jersey Urban Music

Latest from The Star-Ledger's Rob Williams

Pop star Usher and his son will be featured on the upcoming Essence magazine cover.

The magazine posted pictures of the cover and the singer with his son, one of the first pictures of Usher Raymond V since he was born to Usher and his wife, Tameka, last year.

The pictures were part of an interview with actor Hill Harper, who spoke with the singer about fatherhood and how it's impacted his career.

The appearance comes during the singer's promotion of his latest album, "Here I Stand," which has sold more than 430,000 copies.

Rapper Big Boi of Outkast is near the completion of his first solo album, Billboard magazine reported.

Big Boi, 33, has been working on his project, titled "Sir Luscious Left Foot...Son of Chico Dusty," set to be released on the Laface/Zomba record label. He told the magazine he expects the album to be completed in August.

Various news sources are piecing together the events over the weekend in which rap mogul Suge Knight was knocked out during an altercation.

The XXL magazine report draws together details of the fight which took place outside a Los Angeles night club.

Knight was seen in TMZ.com photos and more photos sitting on a sidewalk, and needing help to his car where he appeared disoriented.

Rapper Remy Ma was sentenced to eight years in prison for a summer shooting last year at a New York City night club, the Associated Press has reported.

The 26-year-old rapper was convicted of shooting Mekeda Barnes-Joseph in the stomach in July at a nightclub in the Meatpacking District and faced 25 years in prision.

The sentence came a day after she was scheduled to be married at Rikers Island, but saw the plans called off after her fiance, rapper Papoose, was found with a key on him that corrections officials said could open handcuffs used by law enforcement officials.

An appeal of the rapper's conviction is planned.

Rapper Pepa, of the rap group Salt N' Pepa, and former Source magazine editor Kim Osorio have written tell-all books about their very public ordeals, XXL magazine reported.

Pepa, whose real name is Sandra Denton, will chronicle her career as a member of the first female rap group to have a platinum album. The group, started in the 1980s, fizzle by the late 1990s as rapper Salt, whose real name is Cheryl James, left the group and has since gravitated toward gospel music.

Officials at a New York jail called off Monday's wedding plans of rapper Remy Ma, after her fiance, rapper Papoose, was found with a handcuff key on him, the New York Daily News reported.

The rappers were scheduled to marry Monday but plans were interrupted when the key was found and identified as a key that could easily open handcuffs used by law enforcement, a corrections official said.

Remy Ma, whose real name is Reminisce Smith, 26, was scheduled to be married to the 29-year-old rapper, whose real name is Shamele Mackie, at Rikers Island's Rose M. Singer chapel.

The child pornography trial of R&B singer R. Kelly resumed today with three jurors picked to hear the long-awaited case alleging the singer had sex with underage girls.

The Chicago Tribune offers a "gavel by gavel" account of the case, which started when the singer, 41, was charged in June 2002 with 21 counts of having sexual intercourse with a minor after three video scenes of the singer surfaced, two showing him having sex with girls who appeared underage. The third tape showed his encounter with a woman who appears to be over 18. The charges were later reduced to soliciting a minor for child pornography, with the singer currently facing 14 charges.

Singer Mariah Carey and husband, actor Nick Cannon, have released photos of their wedding, People.com has reported.

The pair married last week in the Bahamas where Carey has an estate. The surprise wedding took place just weeks after the couple started dating.

Carey was previously dating a music executive earlier this year, and Cannon was engaged to model Selita Eubanks last year.