Rap on the Knuckles: Hip-Hop Artist Ordered to Take Etiquette Classes After Fans' Twitter Threats

PHILADELPHIA (TheBlaze/AP) -- A judge has ordered a rapper to attend etiquette classes and notify his probation officer before he takes any trips outside of Pennsylvania.

Assistant District Attorney Noel Ann DeSantis said that Meek Mill's statements on Twitter and other social media had been followed by threats to his probation officer from some of his fans.

Common Pleas Court Judge Genece Brinkley on Friday told Mill, whose real name is Robert Williams, he must complete the classes before Aug. 4, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

Meek Mill attends BET's Rip The Runway 2013 backstage at the Hammerstein Ballroom on February 27, 2013 in New York City. (Credit: Getty Images)

The judge said Williams needed etiquette classes to refine his use of social media and to help him explain the nature of his business to the court.

The orders came at a probation violation hearing for Williams related to his 2008 gun and drug conviction (which included charges of selling drugs to an undercover police officer, possessing illegal guns, and "hiding wads of tainted cash in his dresser drawers," the Inquirer reported).

Williams was sentenced to 11 to 23 months in prison. He served eight months in jail and began five years of probation in the fall of 2009.

Williams told the judge at the contentious hearing that detailing his travel plans was difficult because many of his business activities are arranged on short notice.

"I have my own record label with seven artists," he said. "I do radio. I do interviews."

The judge said that the etiquette classes were "more important than any concerts he might have."

Brinkley in December barred the rapper from touring for a month after finding that he violated probation restrictions.

Williams' attorney argued at the time that the restrictions were preventing his client from earning a living, and said Williams didn't need to check in with his probation officer because his fans frequently take pictures of him when he's touring.

The judge was as unsympathetic then as she was yesterday:

(Credit: YouTube)

"You need to get yourself together," Common Court Pleas Judge Genece Brinkley said early on in Monday's 2-1/2 hour probation hearing that nearly devolved into a shouting match between the defense and the prosecution.

"Christmas is dead for him," Brinkley said. Although this time of year is especially lucrative for performers, she said, "You are going to be home for Christmas and New Year's."

Williams' "Dreams & Nightmares" album debuted in October and he appeared in Jay-Z's Made In America festival earlier this year.

(Credit: YouTube)

Here's the "Intro" from Williams' album (Warning: much rough language ahead):

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