Pucker up, Jadakiss.
The best-selling rapper was indicted Thursday in a Westchester County, New York, courtroom on drug and weapons charges.
Jadakiss, born Jason Jerome Phillips, pleaded not guilty to the counts stemming from an Oct. 7arrest in hometown of Yonkers.
Police said the hip-hop star and three members of his entourage were standing next to a parked Toyota Camry when the driver, Darnell Frazier, began behaving oddly. As officers drew near the car, the cops smelled marijuana, prompting a search of the vehicle. Police turned up a loaded .38-caliber handgun, which had been reported stolen, and a small amount of pot. The quartet was taken into custody and transported to the Westchester County Jail before getting out on bail.
There was no immediate comment from a publicist for Jadakiss at Interscope Records. However, his attorney, Clement Patti, dismissed the allegations, saying Jadakiss was riding in the backseat and unaware of the gun found in the front console and claiming police have no evidence connecting him to any crime.
Should the D-Block member be convicted on the gun charge, he could face anywhere from 16 months to seven years in the slammer, according to Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore. Two other men in Jadakiss' crew that night were also hit with similar charges.
At this point, the performer's offstage life is playing like a broken record.
In 2004, Jadakiss was arrested in North Carolina on similar weapons and drug possession charges after he and his posse set off fireworks from a moving SUV during a Fourth of July celebration. A police search turned up two loaded .45-caliber guns and less than an ounce of marijuana. He ultimately struck a deal with prosecutors in March 2005 to avoid jail time: He paid a $900 fine, promised to stay out of trouble for three months, destroyed the guns and submitted to drug testing.
The 31-year-old, who got his start as a protégé of the late Notorious B.I.G. before finding fame as a member of rap group LOX and then as a solo artist, is a freestyler best known for his 2001 debut, Kiss the Game Goodbye and 2004's Kiss of Death, released via old pal DMX's Ruff Ryders imprint under Interscope.
The second album sold more than 1 million copies and spawned two hits, "You Make Me Wanna," a love song with Mariah Carey, and "Why?" The latter was not just one of the biggest singles of the year, but also earned Jadakiss the ire of Bill O'Reilly for lyrics suggesting that President Bush was somehow behind 9/11.
Jadakiss is working on a new disc, reportedly titled Kiss My Ass. No word yet on a street date.