Lil Wayne appeared in a Manhattan federal courtroom yesterday on a gun charge. He was arrested in 2007 for criminal possession of a weapon after officers raided his tour bus and found a .40 caliber pistol. He maintains that the weapon was not his because it is legally registered to his manager and Young Money CEO, Cortez Bryant. The case was adjourned until next month.
This is not the only legal issue pending for Wayne. He is also facing copyright infringement charges for his song, “I Feel Like Dying.” The song samples folk singer, Karma-Ann Swanepoel’s song “Once.” According to Swanepoel, he did not get permission to sample her song. A U.S. District judge ruled to postpone the hearing for that case Wednesday. The hearing was set to take place on October 26.
While Wayne is busy making court appearances and headlining his “America’s Most Wanted Tour,” his Cash Money team is announcing their international expansion with U.K. pop sensation, Jay Sean. The first single from the new Cash Money artist is called “Down” and features Wayne. He is already multi-platinum with his success spawning from his appearance in the 2005 hit Bollywood movie, “Kya Kook Hain Hum,” and his singles “Eyes On You” and “Stolen.” Co-founder and CEO of Cash Money, Ronald “Slim Williams” expressed his excitement over their latest signee saying:
“It has been our goal from the beginning to move from a small, local, independent label into a world-wide major entertainment organization, and I think, with artists like Jaysean and Drake added to Lil Wayne, we have done just that.”
