Rapper Mystikal faces 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to rape

Rapper Mystikal pleads guilty to rape

Louisiana First reporter Ethan Goode joins LiveNOW's J Russell to discuss rapper Mystikal pleading guilty to rape and potentially facing up to 20 years in prison. 

Rapper Mystikal is facing up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty this week to third-degree rape in Louisiana. 

Mystikal’s plea deal comes four years after the "Shake It Fast" and "Danger" rapper was charged with first-degree rape in 2022 for allegedly raping and beating a woman at his home. 

Mystikal pleads guilty 

The backstory:

The 55-year-old rapper, whose real name is Michael Lawrence Tyler, reportedly beat, raped and robbed a woman during a financial dispute at his home in Prairieville in August 2022, according to The Advocate.

FILE: Rapper Mystikal performs onstage during the No Limit Reunion Tour at 2020 Funkfest at Legion Field on November 07, 2020 in Birmingham, Alabama. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images)

Police reports say he took her car keys, held her against her will and "prayed with her to remove her bad spirits." He was booked into jail on charges of first-degree rape, simple robbery, felony domestic abuse battery by strangulation and two other counts. He’s been held without bond since his arrest.

READ MORE: Afroman wins lawsuit after police sued him over 2022 paid mockery

On March 17, prosecutors dropped all the charges and allowed him to plead guilty to the lesser third-degree rape charge, People reports. 

What's next:

Tyler will be sentenced on June 15. He faces up to 20 years in prison. 

Previous sex charges

Dig deeper:

It’s not the first time the rapper is facing prison time for rape charges. He is already a lifetime registered sex offender. 

In 2002, Tyler was charged with aggravated rape and extortion when his then-hairstylist said he forced her to perform sex acts on him and two bodyguards in retaliation for allegedly cashing $80,000 worth of unauthorized checks from his account.

Mystikal pleaded guilty in 2003 to sexual battery and served six years in prison.

Booking photo for Michael Lawrence Tyler, better known as the rapper Mystikal (Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office)

In 2016, Mystikal was arrested again on rape and kidnapping charges. He spent 18 months in jail before the charges were eventually dismissed. He denied the charges at the time and said he was ready to move on from his past. 

"I learned from the first situation," he told the Associated Press in a 2021 interview. "That crap is on my license. I’m in a horrible fraternity!"

Mystikal’s songs

Mystikal burst onto the New Orleans music scene in the mid-90s with the regional smash "Here I Go" before joining Master P’s No Limit Records. His appeared in songs like "Make ’Em Say Uhh" and "It Aint My Fault 2," while also finding solo success with "The Man Right Chea," "Danger (Been So Long)" and the Neptunes-produced "Shake It Fast" featuring Pharrell Williams, which earned him a 2001 Grammy nomination. 

He stopped recording music after he went to prison the first time, but did have a 2015 hit with Mark Ronson called "Feel Right."