YNW Melly's Life Lies in the Hands of 8 Jurors

Rapper YNW Melly’s murder trial will be the first high-profile case subject to a new death penalty law in Flordia that allows a majority vote to pass for maximum sentencing. In other news today:

• Billboard Hot 100 chart & album sales 📈 

• YNW Melly’s life lies in the hands of 8 jurors 😳 

• Kendrick is not your savior but Apple’s new features might be 📱 

• Discover new music with The Rap Index 🎵 

• Industry Insights

Hot 100 Chart & Streams

The above chart shows Billboard’s Hot 100 ranking, as of today, and the corresponding song streams for the week of May 26th to June 1st as reported by Hits Double Daily. Hot 100 ranks songs based on a combination of streaming activity, radio airplay audience impressions, and sales data—all measured by Luminate.

The Ice Spice effect pushes Taylor Swift’s remix of “Karma” to #2 and Lil Durk’s album release sees the single “All My Life” climb from #7 to #4 this week. Durk has 15 out of 21 songs from Almost Healed charting on the Hot 100 this week.

Album Sales & Projections

Durks new album debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200 with 125K in album-equivalent units, the lower end of his projected sales. This is Durkios 6th album to debut in the Top 10. First-week projected sales for last Friday’s releases are shown below, reported by Hits Double Daily.

• Metro Boomin’s Spider-Man soundtrack 48—53K

• Moneybagg Yo’s Hard To Love 45—50K

• Toosii’s NAUJOUR 20—23K

Kendrick is Not Your Savior But Apple’s New Features Might Be

Possibly the biggest Apple news since the iPhone, the tech company unveiled its Vision Pro mixed-reality headset for AR and VR at the Worldwide Developers Conference over the weekend.

Apple Vision

It’ll cost you a casual $3499 to cop but the headset has no controllers and an infinite canvas of virtual screens that hover in your field of view. “It’s the first Apple product you look through, not at,” said CEO Tim Cook and users can navigate with their hands, eyes, and voice.

Great news for everyone in relationships who routinely fight over streaming sports games during date night. Apple Vision, saving relationships since 2024?

If you thought 4K was impressive, the Vision Pro screen has “more pixels than a 4K TV for each eye” and the EyeSight feature has an exterior screen to show your eyes so you still have a connection to the outside world. Meaning you can look through it, at your significant other, while watching the game in AppleK.

Mental Health check?

Apple announced new health features in iOS 17 that makes the reflection on one’s own mental state easily accessible to Apple users worldwide and can help build emotional awareness and resilience.

iOS 17 on iPhone, iPad, and watchOS 10, will allow you to scroll through multidimensional shapes and log how you’re feeling from very pleasant to very unpleasant. The next step is choosing associations that impact or relate to your emotional state (family, relationships, travel) and adding more descriptive words (grateful, worried…etc).

The Health app will have valuable insights, driven by the data of your logged emotions, to help you identify what may be contributing to your mood such as repeated associations or lifestyle factors like exercise. You can leverage that data to adjust and become more aware of your positive and negative habits.

Depression and anxiety assessments are also available in the Health app to determine your risk for either and can be easily shared with your doctor.

Context for those of you out touching grass

The most talked about mental health assistance is therapy but it’s a privilege for those who can afford it and inaccessible for the majority that can’t. Lesser known options include AI-powered journaling apps that aim to do the same thing Apple announced (Mindsera, Reflectly, Mynd) but usually require a subscription.

The leading VR headset is currently Meta’s Quest and the most expensive version at $1,000 is still significantly less than Apple Vision. The hype of VR may not live up to its expectations as less than half of Quest headsets are still being used 6 months after purchase, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Why this matters

While this news is not directly related to rap, how you experience music is inextricably linked to tech. Think of your satisfaction listening to music through wired headphones versus AirPods or AirPods Max and Google Nest…etc. Some of those experiences are more enjoyable than others and Apple Vision could revolutionize live streams, virtual concerts, and music in gaming.

Music is an emotive experience and listening to a new album or song can prompt changes in your mood or trigger a wide range of emotions. If Kendrick made you think about it but he is not your savior, the new Health update might be. Insights could even show which emotions are commonly associated with your most-listened-to artists or music in general—depending on how descriptive your logs are.

YNW Melly’s Life Lies in the Hands of 8 Jurors

Rapper YNW Melly, best known for his 2018 song “Murder On My Mind”, which did not age well, is facing the death penalty as jury selection begins for his murder trial.

Last week, a judge ruled in favor of the state passing a motion that allows the death sentence if 8 out of 12 jurors vote for the death penalty. Previously, it had to be a unanimous decision. The new law is in light of Parkland school shooter, Nikolas Cruz, who avoided the death penalty due to a split juror last year.

Due to the severity of the sentencing, jury selection was lengthy and reportedly began in April with opening statements expected to begin in mid-June. Although, considerably shorter than the months-long saga Young Thug has been facing for jury selection in the YSL RICO trial which began in January and remains ongoing.

Context for those of you out touching grass

On February 13th, 2019, Melly was arrested and accused of murdering fellow Flordia rappers, YNW Juvy (Christopher Thomas Jr.) and YNW Sakchaser (Anthony D’Andre Williams). He’s facing two counts of first-degree murder for an incident that occurred in October 2018, just 4 months after the release of “Murder On My Mind”.

Melly’s friend, YNW Bortlen (Cortlen Henry) pulled up to a hospital in Flordia with the bodies of Juvy and Sakchaser and told authorities that they were victims of a drive-by shooting which he survived.

Police found no evidence of a drive-by shooting and later determined through forensic and surveillance evidence that Melly was also in the car that night and the two men were shot inside the car, not at. Melly pleaded not guilty and the trial has been delayed several times.

Why this matters

The passing of the new motion means Flordia now has the lowest threshold for imposing the death penalty in the US. Supporters of the penalty argue it provides retribution for victims and their families and deters potential offenders from committing similar crimes. Deterrence theory and the lack of consensus on its effectiveness were explored in relation to Fetty Wap’s sentencing in a previous newsletter.

Studies have demonstrated racial and socioeconomic disparities in death penalty sentencing. The race of the victim and defendant, geographic location, and quality of legal representation have been found to influence the outcome of a trial. Psychological research suggests cognitive biases like confirmation bias when the interpretation of evidence confirms an individual’s existing beliefs, can also influence sentencing.

The topic of rap on trial is relevant to Melly’s case because the inclusion of lyrics and tattoos as evidence can further reinforce the narrative that rappers are criminals and negatively influence a jury’s perception of this case, and any future high-profile cases involving a rapper.

The Rap Index ft. Playboi Carti, Gunna, 21 Savage, Central Cee & More

The Rap Index is a way to follow and discover new music. Divided into 4 categories, describing subgenres of rap, songs are placed according to their style and sound—giving you a better idea of what songs will appeal to your musical taste. Only releases from the previous New Music Friday are included to help keep you up to date.

1. “Popular” by The Weeknd ft. Madonna & Playboi Carti (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

2. “Sittin’ On Top Of The World” by Burna Boy (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

3. “Pull Up” by Toosii ft. 21 Savage (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

4. “bread & butter” by Gunna (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

5. “I Can’t Lie” by French Montana & Kodak Black (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

6. “Sprinter” by Dave & Central Cee (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

7. “Annihilate” by Metro Boomin ft. Swae Lee, Lil Wayne & Offset (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

8. “Don’t Give It Away” by Fridayy ft. Chris Brown (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

• Nicki Minaj announces release date for first album since 2018. Set to arrive on October 20th, 2023, make sure your Barbz friends haven’t gone into cardiac arrest.

• HYBE is raising $380M to fund more music acquisitions in the US. Building on their $1B acquisition of Scooter Braun’s company and $300M purchase of Quality Control.

• Gunna’s music brings an Atlanta club to a standstill. Video shows clubgoers noticeably quiet when Gunna’s verse came on during 21 Savage’s “Can’t Leave Without It”.

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