Rick Ross Pleads Not Guilty After Miami Beach Arrest on Domestic Violence Charges

Rick Ross is shown in a booking photograph following his arrest by Miami Beach police. The rapper faces one felony count of battery by strangulation and one misdemeanor battery count in a domestic violence case. Ross pleaded not guilty Thursday. (Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation)

Rick Ross was arrested in Miami Beach early Thursday on felony and misdemeanor battery charges after a woman told police he repeatedly struck her during an Aug. 28 confrontation that she said began over an Instagram photo.

Ross, 50, whose legal name is William Leonard Roberts, was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center at 6:10 a.m., according to Miami-Dade jail and court records.

He faces one felony count of battery by strangulation and one misdemeanor count of battery. Court records list both charges as involving domestic violence.

Ross pleaded not guilty through an attorney during his first court appearance Thursday.

The hearing also produced an unexpected exchange after Ross' attorney asked whether his release could be expedited because of his celebrity status and said the rapper had been placed in a red jumpsuit for his safety.

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Mindy S. Glazer was unmoved.

“I have no idea who you are,” Glazer told Ross before saying he would be treated fairly like everyone else appearing before the court.

The charges stem from an alleged Aug. 28 incident.

According to an arrest report reviewed by WSVN, the woman told police Ross became angry over an Instagram photograph in which she had been tagged.

She alleged Ross slapped her in the face as he questioned her about the photograph and later struck her several times in the chest, leaving her unable to breathe.

The woman also told investigators Ross grabbed her by the ponytail and slammed her head to the ground, according to the report.

Attorney Steve Sadow said Ross is being wrongfully accused by an ex-girlfriend and noted that the alleged incident was not reported to police until about a month later.

Ross has denied the allegations through his attorneys.

Under Florida law, battery by strangulation involves knowingly and intentionally impeding another person's normal breathing or blood circulation by applying pressure to the throat or neck or blocking the nose or mouth in a manner that creates a risk of or causes great bodily harm. The offense is a third-degree felony.

Ross' arrest came days after his former girlfriend, Jazzma Kendrick, separately accused him of physical abuse in posts on Instagram Stories.

Kendrick shared an image of an injured lip that she attributed to Ross and said she had left the relationship after the alleged incident.

Authorities have not publicly identified the woman in the criminal case by name, however, and early court reporting did not establish that Kendrick's public allegations were the basis for Thursday's charges.

Ross emerged as one of Miami's biggest rap stars with his 2006 breakout single “Hustlin'” and later founded Maybach Music Group, whose roster has included prominent hip-hop artist Meek Mill and Wale, among others.

His arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 22.

1990s Rap Group Home Team Files Copyright Suit Against Jermaine Dupri and Jacquees

Jermaine Dupri and Jacquees are at the center of a federal copyright lawsuit brought by brothers Patrick and Van Watler of the ’90s Miami rap duo Home Team, who allege the artists’ 2023 “Pick It Up” infringes their 1992 composition of the same name. 

More than three decades after Miami rap duo Home Team told listeners to “Pick It Up,” the group says
Jermaine Dupri and Jacquees picked up too much.

Brothers Patrick and Van Watler have sued Dupri, Jacquees and Mass Appeal Media Inc. in federal court, alleging the 2023 Jermaine Dupri single “Pick It Up,” featuring Jacquees, infringes their 1992 song of the same name.

The lawsuit, filed Sept. 21 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, alleges the newer recording copies protected lyrics and musical elements from Home Team’s song without permission.

Neither the allegations nor the songs’ shared title establishes copyright infringement, and the court has not ruled on the Watlers’ claims. The defendants had not filed a substantive response to the complaint as of Tuesday.

The dispute reaches back to Miami’s early-1990s rap scene.

Home Team released its “Pick It Up” through Luke Records, the label founded by Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell and closely associated with the rise of Miami bass. Campbell was credited as an executive producer on the duo’s 1992 album, “Via Satellite From Saturn.”

HEAR THE ORIGINAL

Home Team — “Pick It Up” (1992)

The Luke Records single at the center of Patrick and Van Watler’s copyright lawsuit was released more than three decades before Jermaine Dupri and Jacquees’ recording of the same name.

WATCH ON APPLE MUSIC

The song reached Billboard’s Hot 100 in December 1992, peaking at No. 90. It also appeared on Billboard’s R&B and rap charts.

Federal copyright records identify Patrick and Van Watler as the writers of the composition’s words and music. The work, registration No. PA0000858142, is listed as having been created in 1992, published Aug. 4 of that year and registered in 1997. Lil’ Joe Wein Music Inc. is identified as the copyright claimant in the registration record.

The lawsuit gives a slightly different date, saying Home Team released the song on or around July 3, 1992.

Thirty-one years later, Dupri released another “Pick It Up,” featuring Jacquees.

WATCH

Jermaine Dupri feat. Jacquees — “Pick It Up” (2023)

Jermaine Dupri featuring Jacquees, “Pick It Up.” Official video via Jermaine Dupri/Mass Appeal.

The 2023 recording was produced by Dupri and Bryan-Michael Cox and released through Mass Appeal. Its official video features Dupri and Jacquees moving through Atlanta locations while Jacquees handles the record’s sung vocals.

The Watlers contend the similarities go beyond the title.

Their complaint alleges the newer “Pick It Up” reproduces protectable elements of Home Team’s lyrics and melody or harmony. It says the defendants did not seek or receive a license, permission or clearance to use the earlier composition.

The lawsuit, however, does not identify in its 12 pages the particular lyric, melodic phrase or harmonic passage the brothers contend was copied.

Instead, the Watlers allege that the two works are substantially similar and say the defendants have profited from the newer recording.

The complaint alleges, on information and belief, that the defendants have earned hundreds of thousands of dollars from sales, streaming, licensing and other exploitation of the 2023 song. It does not provide royalty statements or other financial records supporting that figure.

The brothers are asking for considerably more than a single damages award.

Their complaint seeks an accounting of revenue connected to the newer song, songwriter credit and publishing percentages, as well as damages, attorneys’ fees and an injunction.

The prayer for relief asks for more than $150,000 in what the lawsuit describes as general damages and more than $150,000 in special damages. It also requests statutory damages under federal copyright law and additional relief against Mass Appeal.

The Watlers further want Dupri, Jacquees and the other defendants to recognize them as writers of the allegedly infringing material and to direct third parties under their control to update the song’s credits accordingly.

They have requested a jury trial.

The case is Watler et al. v. Mauldin et al., No. 1:26-cv-26546, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Summonses were issued Sept. 22 for Dupri, whose legal name is Jermaine Dupri Mauldin; Jacquees, whose legal name is Rodriguez Jacquees Broadnax; and Mass Appeal Media.

Stevie Wonder Unearths Four Unheard Songs From ‘Songs in the Key of Life’ Sessions

Stevie Wonder performs at the White House in Washington on Feb. 25, 2009. Wonder marked the 50th anniversary of his landmark 1976 album, “Songs in the Key of Life,” on Monday by releasing four previously unheard recordings from the album’s original sessions. (Pete Souza/Official White House Photo)

Fifty years after Stevie Wonder finished "Songs in the Key of Life," he has gone back into the vault to show there was even more music in the key.

Wonder marked the landmark album's 50th anniversary today by releasing four previously unheard recordings from its original sessions, offering a new glimpse into one of the most celebrated creative periods in popular music.

"It's Easier," "My Life Story of Love," "I Can See the Sun In Late December" and "I'm Into Livin'" make up the new four-song "Songs in the Key of Life" EP.

All four were recorded during the sessions for the sprawling double album, which was released Sept. 28, 1976.

"We've lived with 'Songs in the Key of Life' for fifty years, but there's still more to hear," Wonder said in a statement announcing the release. "We didn't add these songs to the album, but they were part of what I was feeling and discovering as we made it."

Wonder, 76, personally selected the recordings for the anniversary release. John Fischbach and Gary O Adante, two of the engineers who worked on the original album, returned to mix the previously unreleased material. Adante was credited as Gary Olazabal on the 1976 LP.

The new songs also bring back musicians whose careers became intertwined with Wonder's extraordinary run in the 1970s.

Greg Phillinganes, Michael Sembello, Ben Bridges, Jim Horn, Raymond Pounds and longtime Wonder bassist Nathan Watts are among the musicians heard on the recordings.

"I'm Into Livin'" features background vocals from Thelma Houston, Deniece Williams and Shirley Brewer. Houston was months away from taking "Don't Leave Me This Way" to No. 1, while Williams was nearing the beginning of a solo career that would produce hits including "Free" and "Let's Hear It for the Boy."

Former Supremes member Susaye Greene co-wrote "My Life Story of Love" with Wonder. Greene and Wonder later co-wrote "I Can't Help It," recorded by Michael Jackson for his 1979 album "Off the Wall."

There is even a piece of studio lore connecting the new release to the marathon sessions that produced the original album.

According to Wonder's team, the final session ended at 4:54 a.m., prompting Watts to exclaim, "Fo'FiftyFo'!" The phrase became an inside joke used around Wonder's circle to mark the end of a session.

The four recordings arriving 50 years later make that ending a little less final.

"Songs in the Key of Life" was already unusually expansive when Wonder finally released it. The original package contained two LPs and a four-song bonus EP, "A Something's Extra," after roughly two years of recording.

It entered Billboard's album chart at No. 1, making Wonder the first American artist to debut an album in the top spot, and remained No. 1 for 14 weeks.

The album produced two No. 1 singles, "I Wish" and "Sir Duke," while songs including "Isn't She Lovely," "As," "Pastime Paradise" and "Love's in Need of Love Today" became enduring pieces of Wonder's catalog.

It also completed one of the most remarkable Grammy runs in music history.

"Songs in the Key of Life" won album of the year in 1977, giving Wonder his third victory in the category in four years following "Innervisions" and "Fulfillingness' First Finale." The Recording Academy inducted the album into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002, and the Library of Congress added it to the National Recording Registry in 2005.

Wonder isn't limiting the 50th anniversary to the vault.

He will take "Songs in the Key of Life" back on the road beginning Oct. 13 in Birmingham, England, performing the album in its entirety on an 18-date tour through Europe and the United States.

The U.S. leg begins Nov. 19 at Madison Square Garden in New York and includes stops in Chicago and Washington before a two-night homecoming in Detroit on Dec. 8-9. The tour is scheduled to close Dec. 19 at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.

Stevie Wonder • 18 Dates

“Songs in the Key of Life Performances — 50th Anniversary Tour”

Europe & United States • Fall 2026

Oct. 13

Birmingham, England
Utilita Arena

Oct. 15

Paris
Accor Arena

Oct. 18

Copenhagen, Denmark
Royal Arena

Oct. 20

Oslo, Norway
Unity Arena

Oct. 22

Stockholm
3Arena

Oct. 24

Hannover, Germany
ZAG Arena

Oct. 26

Cologne, Germany
LANXESS Arena

Oct. 28

Amsterdam
Ziggo Dome

Nov. 1

Dublin
3Arena

Nov. 3

London
The O2

Nov. 8

Manchester, England
Co-op Live

Nov. 11

Glasgow, Scotland
OVO Hydro

U.S. Dates

Nov. 19

New York
Madison Square Garden

Nov. 21

Chicago
United Center

Nov. 23

Washington, D.C.
Capital One Arena

Dec. 8

Detroit
Fox Theatre

Dec. 9

Detroit
Fox Theatre

Dec. 19

Inglewood, Calif.
Intuit Dome