New Orleans rapper Mystikal was released from a Louisiana Federal Prison in Louisiana last week, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
The rapper was sentenced to six-years in prison after pleading guilty to extortion and sexual battery charges, stemming from an incident in which he forced a woman to perform oral sex on camera, after he caught her writing $80,000 in bogus checks.

A representative with the Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed with AllHipHop.com that the rapper, born Michael L. Tyler, was released from prison on Jan. 11, almost one-year after being denied parole.

On Jan. 19, 2006, the 36-year-old rapper went before the prison systems parole board, which denied his release.

Just seven days earlier, on Jan. 12, a judge had sentenced Mystikal to an additional year on two misdemeanor counts of failing to report almost $2 million in earnings from 1998-1999.

Mystikal was allowed to serve the misdemeanor tax sentence concurrently.
The rapper hit big with 2000's platinum selling album Let's Get Ready, which spawned the No. 1 singles "Danger" and "Shake Ya Ass."

The representative told AllHipHop.com that the Desert Storm war veteran was labeled a "full term release, " but will be placed under court-ordered supervision in Middle Louisiana, or the district he resides in.

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Wu-Tang Clan's reunion with Loud Records founder Steve Rifkind is official, as the group has announced a new album titled 8 Diagrams, which will hit stores this summer on Rifkind's SRC label, through Universal Records.

8 Diagrams, which is named after a Kung-Fu epic, is the the first new album from Wu-Tang Clan in six years.

The album will feature RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon the Chef, Ghostface Killah, Inspektah Deck, Masta Killa and U-God, all original members of the Wu-Tang Clan.

The new album will also contain an unreleased performance that will show fans why deceased group member Ol' Dirty Bastard "was considered one of the illest MCs ever," before dying of a heart attack in Nov. 2004.
“This is the perfect time for us to come back, the stars are aligned,” RZA said. “It’s like when we first started with Steve. We put out real hip-hop at a time when it was turning into pop or R&B. We brought the focus back to the music in its rawest form, without studio polish or radio hooks.”
RZA founded the group with GZA and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard, who is memorialized on the song “Life Changes."

The group has released several groundbreaking albums including Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993), Wu-Tang Forever (1997) and 2001's Iron Flag.

According to the RZA, the new album will be a "conjunction of creative and corporate thinking by the whole group.”

“People want something that gives them an adrenaline rush,” RZA continued. “We’re here to supply that fix. How could hip-hop be dead if Wu-Tang is forever? We’re here to revive the spirit and the economics and bring in a wave of energy that has lately dissipated.”

The reunion with Rifkind comes as the seasoned music industry veteran is enjoying a banter year.

Akon's SRC/Universal sophomore release Konvicted was recently certified platinum, after five weeks of being on the shelves.

“The energy is just like it was, and it’s needed in our industry same as back then,” Rifkind said. “Over the last few years, the group has developed a whole new fan base of 20-year-olds and even younger who’ve never even seen them play.”