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Over the weekend, the video, which shows the rapper dancing on top of the American flag, ignited anger as it spread across the Internet. Veteran of Foreign Wars spokesperson Randi Law told the NY Daily News that walking on the American flag is “disrespectful and shouldn’t be done."

“You’re clearly not supposed to walk on the American flag and he’s doing that in front of a group of people,” Law said. “I would think the respect of the flag needs to be upheld and clearly it’s not.”

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But a recent interview with the Village Voice's Jenna Sauers provides an intimate and surprising glimpse into the life of the DJ, casting him as an isolated, vulnerable workaholic:

"You know, after work, everyone hangs and they go to a bar and stuff?" says Thompson, sounding a bit like an anthropologist who has just pinpointed a key habit of a strange tribe. "I don't socialize that way. I don't have a posse. I don't have friends. I got the people I work with. I got a mom and a sister."

He explains that this is intentional:

"I'm very guarded, because I'm very vulnerable. Which really reads as gullible ... I guess the downside of that is that the guardedness that Questlove has to use to protect himself has now absolutely done overages and bleeded over into Ahmir Thompson's life."

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Kanye on why he doesn't like to apologize to anyone, even Taylor Swift:

• [My instincts have] only led me to complete awesomeness at all times. It’s only led me to awesome truth and awesomeness. Beauty, truth, awesomeness. That’s all it is.
• “Dark Fantasy” was my long, backhanded apology. You know how people give a backhanded compliment? It was a backhanded apology. It was like, all these raps, all these sonic acrobatics. I was like: “Let me show you guys what I can do, and please accept me back. You want to have me on your shelves.”
• I would hear stories about Steve Jobs and feel like he was at 100 percent exactly what he wanted to do, but I’m sure even a Steve Jobs has compromised. Even a Rick Owens has compromised. You know, even a Kanye West has compromised. Sometimes you don’t even know when you’re being compromised till after the fact, and that’s what you regret.

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Yeezy wouldn't have graced the set if he wasn't hawking a soon-to-be released LP. But his incendiary performance was peppered with damning truths: Angry and pointed condemnations of institutional racism and the prison industrial complex, which disproportionately jails young men of color to fill state budget holes and enrich private corporations.

In the final verse of "New Slaves," a track released Friday with the coordinated projection of a video on 66 buildings worldwide, and the second performance in his "SNL" set, West raps:

Meanwhile the DEA
Teamed up with the CCA
They tryn'a lock niggas up
They tryn'a make new slaves
See that's that private owned prison
Get your piece today

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The rapper, who will help end the last episode of "Saturday Night Live's" 38th season this weekend, insists that he's not a celebrity:

"One thing about me. I'm the worst kinda, worst kinda, worst kinda celebrity...because all I do is make real music. All I do is sit in the studio and make real, real shit. and that's it. That's motherfucking it. That's motherfucking it. So I don't want nobody trying to run up on me with no cameras, trying to sell pictures and shit to magazines, asking me no dumbass questions. throwing me off of my focus and shit. Harassing you all motherfucking day. I ain't no motherfucking celebrity..."

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A high schooler outside of Boston has been arrested for announcing plans on Facebook that could be interpreted as trying to one-up the devastation of the Boston Marathon bombings.

Cameron Dambrosio, 18, of Methuen, Mass.—30 miles from Boston—is being held on $1 million bail.

As reported by the Eagle-Tribune, Methuen Police Chief Joseph Solomon said Dambrosio posted “(Expletive) the Boston bombing, wait til you see what I do. I’m going to be famous," to Facebook.

"He’s telling people to shut up and in order to get some props he’ll have to go kill somebody. He says he’ll go insane and make the news,” Solomon added. “And he said people shouldn’t cry when they see what he does because they have it coming.”

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In the Future remix called "Karate Chop," Wayne compared the 14-year-old civil rights icon Emmett Till, murdered in 1955, to a sex act.

Wayne sent a letter to Till's family recently, saying he "acknowledged" the hurt caused by the lyrics:

Dear Till Family:

As a recording artist, I have always been interested in word play. My lyrics often reference people, places and events in my music, as well as the music that I create for or alongside other artists.

It has come to my attention that lyrics from my contribution to a fellow artist’s song has deeply offended your family. As a father myself, I cannot imagine the pain that your family has had to endure. I would like to take a moment to acknowledge your hurt, as well as the letter you sent to me via your attorneys.

Moving forward, I will not use or reference Emmett Till or the Till family in my music, especially in an inappropriate manner. I fully support Epic Record’s decision to take down the unauthorized version of the song and to not include the reference in the version that went to retail. I will not be performing the lyrics that contain that reference live and have removed them from my catalogue.

I have tremendous respect for those who paved the way for the liberty and opportunities that African-Americans currently enjoy. As a business owner who employs several African-American employees and gives philanthropically to organizations that help youth to pursue their dreams my ultimate intention is to uplift rather than degrade our community.

Best,

Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr.
Lil Wayne

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Kelly and Chris "Daddy Mac" Smith, two teenagers whose gimmick included wearing baggy clothes backwards, rose to international stardom in 1992 with their multiplatinum debut album, "Totally Krossed Out," which carried their hit single, "Jump."

According to the authorities, Kelly died of an apparent drug overdose on Wednesday after being taken to an Atlanta hospital.

Kelly's mother, Donna Kelly Pratte, and music producer Jermaine Dupri’s So So Def label have released the following statement:

“It is with deep sadness that we announce that our beloved Chris Kelly has passed away on May 1. To millions of fans worldwide, he was the trendsetting, backwards pants-wearing one-half of Kris Kross who loved making music. But to us, he was just Chris – the kind, generous and fun-loving life of the party. Though he was only with us a short time, we feel blessed to have been able to share some incredible moments with him. His legacy will live on through his music, and we will forever love him.”

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In the following animated clip, the group talks to ABC News Radio's Rocci Fisch, telling him about their tour with Madonna, how they're not just "rappers for the suburbs" and the origin of their name "from the good old days."

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Pitbull, born to Cuban parents, departed from his usual dance music to rap a politically charged message, saying, "It's the freedom that we ride for/ It's the freedom that we die for/ C-U-B-A/ Hope to see you free one day," he raps of the communist country.

Pitbull ends his rap with a message of support to Jay-Z, whose trip, though licensed by the U.S. Treasury, caused uproar among members of the GOP: "Question of the night, would they have mess with Mr. Carter if he was white?/Hm, rhyme with treasury/When way another in Cuba is where they'll bury me/Happy 5th year anniversary, Jay and B don't worry it's on me"

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Before I am an artist, I am a father, a son, and a brother to some of the most cherished women in the world. So for me to suggest in any way that harm and violation be brought to a woman is one of my biggest mistakes and regrets. As an artist, one of the most liberating things is being able to paint pictures with my words. But with that comes a great responsibility. And most recently, my choice of words was not only offensive, it does not reflect my true heart. And for this, I apologize. To every woman that has felt the sting of abuse, I apologize. I recognize that as an artist I have a voice and with that, the power of influence. To the young men who listen to my music, please know that using a substance to rob a woman of her right to make a choice is not only a crime, it’s wrong and I do not encourage it. To my fans, I also apologize if I have disappointed you. I can only hope that this sparks a healthy dialogue and that I can contribute to it.

The disputed lyrics come from Rocko’s song “U.O.E.N.O,” in which Ross raps: “Put Molly all up in her champagne, she ain’t even know it, I took her home and I enjoyed that, she ain’t even know it.”

Ross's apology follows a half-apology he issued on Twitter in which he said, "I dont condone rape. Apologies for the lyric interpreted as rape.”

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In Rocko's song "U.O.E.N.O," Ross raps: "Put Molly all up in her champagne, she ain't even know it, I took her home and I enjoyed that, she ain't even know it."

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On Cuba:

Politicians never did shit for me/ Except lie to me, distort history/ They wanna give me jail time and a fine-- Fine, let me commit a real crime/ Obama said, "Chill, you're going to get me impeached"/ You don't need this shit anyway, chill with me on the beach

On the Nets:

I woulda moved the Nets to Brooklyn for free/ Except I made millions off you fucking dweebs/ I still own the building, I'm keeping my seats/ You buy that bullshit, you better keep your receipts

"Open Letter" is produced by Swizz Beatz and Timbaland. Listen to it below:

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Paisley told USA Today that the entire album, including "Accidental Racist," is meant to "to promote discussion." "I still think there will be people who misunderstand what I'm saying, but welcome to the Internet," he said.

But Paisley's conviction seems to crumble a little on live TV. In a clip from "Ellen," which airs today, he says that he wrote the song to address racial tension. "I think it's music's turn to have the conversation [about race]," Paisley said.

Ellen DeGeneres: And so, you're basically saying ...

Brad Paisley: I don't know.

Right. Watch the clip below:

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Thursday's apology — in the form of a tweet — came the same day a women's group, UltraViolet, planned a protest outside of one of his sponsors, Reebok, in Manhattan.

In Rocko's song "U.O.E.N.O," Ross raps about giving a woman the drug MDMA, known as Molly, and having his way with her. The song was released in January but just recently began getting widespread notice.

Although last week Ross said his lyrics were misinterpreted, he tweeted Thursday that he doesn't condone rape and apologized for lyrics that were "interpreted as rape."

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That is, he's booked for now: Harvard's Office of Student Life has requested that the students organizing the concert reconsider the booking after an anti-Tyga petition garnered over 1,000 signatures. The office, though, is leaving the decision to the student-run College Events Board.

This isn't just a case of students who wished they'd gotten the chance to see Lana Del Rey or Macklemore. Tyga's lyrics, says Harvard senior Leah Reis-Dennis, promote rape and violence. A video for his hit single "Rack City" is below:

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TMZ also reported that Wayne had been rushed to the hospital Tuesday night under similar circumstances, and that his bodyguard had found him face down and unconscious shortly after he was discharged Wednesday. The seizures were allegedly brought on by an excess consumption of sizzurp or purple drank, a codein-based drug popular in southern rap circles.

It's unclear how much of this initial report is true or false, but Weezy appears to be on the mend, tweeting the following Friday night:

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As of 10:15 PM EST, his message had been retweeted over 100,000 times. Meanwhile, fellow Young Money rapper Mack Maine offered some pointed words, er, hashtag for TMZ:

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"Don't propagate your hate, because I have a higher standard on who you date. I'm not here to rally against that which the government legislates, I simply don't support a mind that is reprobate. Homosexuality is not innate. It is not a genetic trait. It cannot replicate the love between a man and a woman which God did indeed create."

Propagate? Legislate? Reprobate? Wait a minute -- this hate speech rhymes!

It's no accident, either. The video, titled "T for Tolerance," is a two-minute anti-gay Christian rap, which is, for totally normal and good reasons, being performed by a teenager in the middle of a forest.

Now this might sound like a hateful and terrible thing to do, but it's really an act of love. Here's why: This young Shakespeare has so much Christian compassion for the gays that she would just hate to see them "bake in the lake of fire for love's sake."

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