Rappers and the legal system have a long, complicated history. Frequently, hip-hop artists have found themselves on the wrong side of the law and are locked up in jail or have to serve a lengthy prison bid. XXL looks at over two dozen rappers who are in jail or prison right now.
Arguably, Sean “Diddy” Combs’ legal battles have been the biggest news stories in hip-hop. In September of 2024, he was arrested and indicted for sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution. In July of 2025, after weeks of jaw-dropping testimonies from victims, sex workers and former associates in his explosive sex crimes trial, Diddy was found guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution but not guilty on the more serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy. The disgraced rap mogul was sentenced to 50 months at a federal prison.
Lil Durk is also facing serious time after being arrested in October of 2024 in connection to a murder-for-hire related to the shooting death of Quando Rondo’s cousin in Los Angeles in 2022. Authorities say the Chicago rapper put a bounty on Quando after the death of King Von and funded five men traveling to California to attempt to kill Quando on Aug. 19, 2022. He’s currently in federal custody awaiting trial.
Meanwhile, YNW Melly has been in jail since February of 2019 when he was arrested for the 2018 murders of his friends Christopher “YNW Juvy” Thomas and Anthony “YNW Sakchaser” Williams. Following a mistrial in July of 2023, he is still behind bars awaiting his retrial, which is scheduled to start on Jan. 6, 2027.
Tory Lanez was sentenced to 10 years in prison in August of 2023, for shooting Megan Thee Stallion in a highly publicized case in 2020. Fellow rapper Lil Reese is doing five years in Texas after being convicted of the aggravated assault of a family member in October of 2024.
And then there are legendary cases where rappers found themselves behind prison bars for life. Former hardcore rapper Big Lurch is serving a life sentence for murdering his female roommate and consuming her body parts in a grisly April of 2002 incident. Rapper Tay-K, who is famous for his 2017 viral song “The Race” that dropped while he was on the run from the police, was hit with a 55-year prison sentence for involvement in a 2016 robbery that left one man dead.
Unfortunately, one of the downsides of being in the spotlight is that rappers often get caught up and have to sit in jail or prison. So to bring you up to speed, see why all these rappers are in jail or prison right now below.