NIPSEY HU$$LE ADDRESSES CALI ARREST REPORTS: "I DON'T GO TO JAIL, I DRIVE BENZES & SMOKE EXPENSIVE A** WEED"

Written by Cyrus Langhorne

West Coast rapper Nipsey Hu$$le has stepped forward to clear up reports about him being arrested and possibly locked up after appearing at a Trayvon Martin protest rally last night (July 16).

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Nipsey hopped onto his Twitter page to clear his name from the bad press.

"I from slauson and crenshaw I don't go to jail I drive Benzes and smoke expensive ass weed for living! Lapdk lol otw to the studio," he tweeted July 17. (Nipsey Hussle's Twitter)He has also said cops mistakenly thought his crew were carrying a weapon and were detained for hours.

Now, Hussle tells us ... cops blamed the mix-up on officers who were monitoring the event in a police helicopter ... and they believed they saw Nipsey with a gun. Nipsey says the confusion may have stemmed from an incident with a random person who threw a bottle at Nipsey's car. Nipsey says he and his crew got out of the car to say something to the bottle-thrower ... then quickly got back into their car and drove away. Moments later, they were surrounded by cops. Nipsey tells TMZ ... he's especially upset at the way cops treated his brother (who is disabled) -- "They pushed his face on the concrete. They dropped a knee in his spine then twisted his arm and cuffed him while he was not resisting." Nipsey says cops held them on scene for 4 HOURS ... before they eventually determined no one in Nipsey's crew had a gun. (TMZ)Early Tuesday reports claimed Nipsey was in police custody and may have possessed a weapon.

Cops came down on rapper Nipsey Hussle in a big way Tuesday night in the middle of a Trayvon Martin protest rally ... handcuffing him after suspecting he was brandishing a gun. Law enforcement sources tell us ... LAPD cops saw Nipsey doing something that made them believe he was walking around with a firearm. They descended on the rapper and cuffed him, but quickly determined he did NOT have a gun and they let him go. It's unclear if Hussle was part of the rally, which took place in Leimert Park -- the scene of violence the night before. (TMZ)Not alone in showing support for the Martin family, R&B singer Raheem DeVaughn and The LOX's Styles P released their emotional "Trigga Man" tribute anthem this week.

Just two days after the verdict was announced in the landmark Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman case, D.C. crooner Raheem DeVaughn releases a tribute song to the 17-year-old Martin in "Trigga Man," appropriately hashtagged #ATRAYVONMARTINSONG. While this isn't the first song about Trayvon and the recent trial, it's an extremely moving tale told from the perspective of Trayvon as he pleads with his murderer. As DeVaughn sings lines like "Did you ever stop to think? Or was hatred on your mind?" and "I was supposed to be in the yearbook, I was supposed to be King at the Prom," you can't help but wonder how Martin's life would've turned out had the altercation with Zimmerman never occurred. Styles P also stops by for an emotional guest verse about the world being "in a dark place." (XXL Mag)