Mystikal arrested on new rape and robbery charges
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Mystikal, the New Orleans-based rapper best known for hit songs like "Shake Ya Ass," has been arrested on rape and robbery charges, EW has confirmed.
According to the Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office, deputies spoke with a sexual assault victim at a hospital in the Baton Rouge suburb on Saturday night. Following their interview, deputies identified Mystikal, whose legal name is Michael Tyler, as a suspect and arrested him on counts of first-degree rape, simple robbery, domestic abuse battery (strangulation), and other counts. He remains in a jail in Ascension Parish at the time of reporting.
Paras Griffin/Getty Images The New Orleans rapper Mystikal, a.k.a Michael Tyler, was arrested by Baton Rouge police over the weekend on a new incident of sexual assault.
Mystikal released his self-titled debut album in 1994 on Big Boy Records. He found mainstream success with the Neptunes-produced "Shake Ya Ass," a highlight of his 2000 album Let's Get Ready. His 2001 follow-up, Tarantula, earned multiple Grammy nominations. But after that, the rapper's life and career took a turn.
In 2004, Tyler was sentenced to six years in prison for sexually assaulting his hairdresser. He served all six years of his sentence, but his 2010 release wasn't the end of his legal troubles. A domestic abuse incident in 2012 violated his five-year probation and landed him back in jail for three months. A few years after scoring a comeback hit with 2015's "Feel Right," Tyler was indicted in 2018 for charges of rape and kidnapping connected to a 2016 incident. Charges were dropped in December 2020 but not before Tyler, who maintained his innocence throughout, spent 18 months in jail.
In an interview with the Associated Press last year, Tyler said he regretted the sexually-charged nature of his earlier music. "When I look back and listen to the music, man — I was a nasty lil' rapper!" he said. He added that he was trying to avoid more problematic sexual encounters and "stay out the water because it's sharks in that water … in other words, don't put yourself in situations where things like this can happen. I'm too old for that."
Representatives for Tyler did not immediately respond to EW's request for comment.
Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.
Related content:
