Hip Hop

Grammy sweeper Killer Mike was loving every minute of Usher's Super Bowl halftime show ... because it put his beloved Atlanta's culture on the biggest stage!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with Mike Monday in NYC ... he says he caught the big game during a flight yesterday, but Usher still had him A-town stomping at cruising altitude.

From the Magic City stripper poles and the custom Air Jordans to Ludacris and Lil Jon's inclusion, Usher made sure to represent ATL to the fullest, but it was his steamy duet with Alicia Keys that stole the show.

AK's husband, Swizz Beatz called out trolls who tried to read more into the performance than it was -- and Mike agrees.

The Run The Jewels rapper even gives Ursh the greenlight to dance with his wife nice and slow -- a little jealousy goes a long way in establishing security, at least, according to his logic.

Now that he's secured Rap Album of the Year with his "Michael" LP, he plans on keeping the train full steam ahead ... furthering the album's trilogy

Jermaine Dupri's defending his right to dress up his ankles anyway he sees fit ... after his Super Bowl wardrobe turned into a trending topic coming out of Usher's Halftime show blowout.

Social media relentlessly ribbed JD for his schoolboy uniform getup, complete with the type of ruffled socks that resembled the kind kids wore back in the outhouse days. Some critics suggested all he was missing was an apple for the teacher!!!

On Monday, Jermaine posted proof his footies were certified haute couture ... revealing them to be Louis Vuitton pocket socks worth hundreds of bucks!

The "Money Ain't A Thang" rapper said he was too drunk to combat the jokes in the moment, but has time today ... and also called in for backup from Pharrell, LV's current men's creative director.

The rich flex didn't help JD's case much -- fans are saying this designer drip should have stayed in the closet.

Ice Spice pissed off many with her appearance at the Super Bowl -- as some interpreted a pendant she wore as pure evil ... even though, Playboi Carti meant nothing by it.

Here's the deal ... the rapper was seen a lot during Sunday's broadcast of the game, and a good amount of folks noticed the chain/necklace she was wearing in the suite with Taylor Swift and co., which (to a lot of people) looked like an upside-down cross.

Of course, that got some pearl-clutchers up in arms ... with accusations of "devil worship" and "demonic" symbols being shown on TV in front of millions. A hand gesture she made at one point -- quiet coyote -- certainly didn't help either with the unholy accusations.

Welp, as it turns out ... there's nothing un-godly about this pendant at all -- at least that's what we're being told anyway.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ that the piece was designed by celeb jeweler Alex Moss, and it's just a sweet piece of ice with no devil ties behind it whatsoever. We're told the pendant is made from black gold, a new material that's been developed and which Alex is using in a forthcoming collection this cross also has baby pink sapphires all throughout.

Our sources say Ice is the first star of her caliber to have this sort of piece in her possession -- and she has Carti to thank for it ... we're told he actually gifted it to her not too long ago.

While the dude is certainly known for his gothic/vampire vibes these days -- our sources assure us ... there was nothing satanic behind the meaning/design of the piece, which we're told was a collab effort between Alex and PBC.

Hard to tell if people will buy that ... but that's the explanation that's been provided to us.

Whether it leans toward the dark side or not -- 'cause frankly, who the hell knows what's in people's hearts -- what we can gather from this is ... the chain is freakin' dope, and it's rare.

Anyhoo ... it's just the latest star to fight off accusations of dancin' with the prince of darkness.

Super Bowl viewers were quick to pounce on Alicia Keys for botching a note during her Halftime show performance with Usher ... but her voice crack has since been cleaned up.

Alicia was a little off-key Sunday when she started singing "If I Ain't Got You" while playing piano onstage -- something people very much so noticed immediately and mocked her over -- although, you wouldn't know it if you missed the live show on air during Super Bowl LVIII.

The reason ... the official Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show video published on YouTube -- which is up right now -- very clearly edited out the minor flub.

Take a listen to the comparisons between the live performance and the version posted on YT ... it certainly seems like editors went back and polished up Alicia's voice. In fact, there's almost no question they did -- as the difference between the two versions is noticeable.

Now, don't get it twisted ... this isn't some huge "conspiracy" involving the National Football League as some have suggested ... it's really just the NFL/Apple Music doing Alicia a solid.

Plenty of folks are already poking fun at Alicia on social media over this, so the bigwigs calling the shots here seem to be throwing AK a life raft. Plus, ya gotta figure they wanna put the best product available in the official version that lives on ... so it's not surprising at all.

With that said, everyone's gonna probably remember ... AK needed a little post-production magic when it's all said and done. No harm, no foul -- she's still an amazing singer!

Usher's moves from the Halftime show seamlessly floated on over to an after-party -- where he kept on skating ... only here, all eyes were on him and his (maybe?) new bride.

Super Bowl LVIII's headlining act hosted a star-studded bash in Las Vegas Sunday night after the big game ... and TMZ has obtained video of Usher cutting a rug on the dance floor, or on the roller rink, rather.

As you can see, Usher has his roller skates on and he's zipping around, doing some break dance moves ... all while looking pretty slick. Remember, Usher incorporated roller skating into his epic halftime performance, and he's keeping the good vibes going here as well.

The after-party went down at Flipper's Roller Boogie Palace inside Encore Beach Club at Wynn Las Vegas, with performances from Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Diplo and Hardy.

Usher's party also recognized his new album, "Coming Home," and the 30th anniversary of Snoop and Dre's "Gin & Juice." So yeah, SD came out and spit some bars for his old pal.

Other big-time stars who showed up for the bash included ... Andra Day, Big Boy, Brent Faiyaz, Draymond Green, Flavor Flav, Flo Rida, Gabrielle Union, H.E.R, Jermaine Dupri, Justin Hartley, Leon Bridges, Lindsey Vonn, Luke Combs, Ludacris, Machine Gun Kelly, Maren Morris, Megan Fox, Ne-Yo, Pauly Shore, Ray Ray McCloud III, Speedy Morman, TANK, Tiffany Haddish, Too Short, Tim Cook, Victoria Monet, Ying Yang Twins, will.i.am, Winnie Harlow, Zach Bia, and Zane Low ... just to name a few!

Now, eyewitnesses tell us Folks who were there tell us Usher rolled in around 1:40 AM and partied for about 80 minutes ... having fun with a bunch of different people, including his longtime partner, Jennifer Goicoechea, whom he's reported to have married this weekend.

As we reported, Usher and Jennifer obtained a marriage license in Clark County -- and some have suggested they've already tied the knot. If they did, they're keep it low-key for now.

The Flipper’s Skate brand worked with Usher to design the skates he and the skaters wore during the Super Bowl halftime show and to the after party. The skates dropped right after the half time show and you can buy the Flipper’s Quadz by Usher for yourself.

It's unclear or not if Usher and Jenn are, in fact, man and wife at this point -- the details of any purported wedding have surfaced just yet -- but they were being called "newlyweds" at this shindig.

In any case ... lots for Usher to celebrate, regardless. Super Bowl, new album, possible new wife and rave reviews.

Kanye West shelled out a small fortune for some ad space during the Super Bowl -- in a limited capacity, anyway -- and it seems to have paid off ... at least according to him.

Ye announced his haul from Sunday on social media to kick off the new week -- and single-day figures that he's citing are pretty good ... around $19 million is what one of his reps says Yeezy.com made after his stripped-down SB spot.

He posted a screenshot of a text he apparently received, which breaks down what items were sold and the dollar amount for each. There's 4 different products that KW and co. were really pushing, it seems, and those include a top, pants, a T-shirt and YZY pods.

The pods are basically foldable futuristic socks that you can wear as actual footwear.

Funny enough, Kanye seems to have had a great sale on his website ... these items he's hawking are all on sale for a measly $20. Yep ... even now, you can get 'em at that price.

If these numbers are accurate -- then yeah ... Kanye low-key cleaned up on his inventory ... and it would appear his "commercial" (if you can call it that) actually worked wonders.

ICYMI ... the dude had one of the most bare-bones ads of all time -- which only aired in certain markets during the Super Bowl broadcast -- and it featured Ye literally filming himself in the back of a car, selfie-style, and giving a quick explainer of what he was selling.

Like we said, it was as basic as it could be -- and yet, it seems to have done the job!

Some are calling Ye a marketing genius over this ... and others are grumbling that the dude still has a customer base that'll buy his stuff -- even after everything he's said/done by now.

Usher resembled something out of "Space Jam" during part of his Super Bowl thanks to his futuristic Air Jordan 4's -- an emergency addition to his glitzy wardrobe!!!

Dominic "The Surgeon" Ciambrone had to spring into action 48 hours before Usher hit the stage ... we are told Jordan Brand had given the R&B megastar only one prototype of the silver metallic sneaker but was unable to get him the other shoe time for Super Bowl over delays due to Lunar New Year.

Usher reached out to Dominic to recreate all the materials of the kicks ... which fuse the chrome finish atop mirrored textiles and blue compliments ... which, he did in under 48 hours after taking 11 cracks at redesigning the shoe to get it perfect!!!

Dominic tells us Jordan Brand and Usher whipped up the design inspired by the "Confessions" singer's universal space theme.

Upon completion, Dom handcuffed himself to the briefcase containing the coveted kicks and hightailed it to Vegas on a last-minute flight Sunday to hand-deliver them.

1:05 PM PT -- And just like that, there will be no Naptown beatdown during NBA All-Star Weekend from either Mike Epps or Shannon Sharpe's camps ... the "Club Shay Shay" host is issuing an apology for escalating the situation and promises a "man-to-man" sit down soon.

Mike Epps isn't backing down from Shannon Sharpe's apparent threat that the streets aren't safe for him ... this, after the comic recently took some big shots at the HOF'er.

In response to SS's recent tirade against him on his podcast with Chad OchoCino -- in which Shannon claimed Mike had lied on his name (more on this later) -- ME himself hopped online to address it Monday ... clarifying who reached out to who, and what the deal is.

ICYMI ... Mike did a stand-up set about a week ago where he made fun of Shannon and his viral "Club Shay Shay" interviews lately, particularly the Katt Williams one. In his set, Mike said Shannon had reached out to him for a follow-up sit-down -- and then went on to make some homophobic jokes at Shannon's expense ... all of which caught Shannon's attention/fury.

On Sunday -- while recording his pod with Chad -- Shannon unloaded on Mike without ever naming him -- and said the gay jokes didn't bother him ... but the "lying," as he put it, did. He went to suggest he'd be confronting Mike about this soon, and perhaps more.

Welp, Mike's got a response to Shannon now ... explaining he had actually DM'd Shannon in the aftermath of Katt's now-infamous interview -- during which Mike says he felt Shannon was trying to bait KW into trashing his former 'Friday' costar, even though he never did.

Mike says he thinks Shannon is out here trying to get people to say wild things about others just for clicks -- and on the issue of meeting up ... ME says they can do that too.

Now, he does note he doesn't fight anymore -- so it doesn't sound like he wants to get physical with the former tight end (frankly, nobody does) ... but he continues to taunt SS.

BTW ... Mike has some shots for Shannon's pod partner, Chad, and some insults to boot.

Mike and Shannon are bound to cross paths next weekend at 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend ... which just happens to be in Mike's hometown of Indianapolis. So ... things are happening.

Usher had a ton of people "caught up" during his Super Bowl LVIII halftime show ... including Ne-Yo -- who tells TMZ Sports the R&B legend's performance was top five of all time!

Ne-Yo made the claim following the Big Game out in Las Vegas ... after Usher wowed the Allegiant Stadium crowd with his singing, dancing and skating skills.

"I liked it!" Ne-Yo told us. "I liked it a lot!"

The "Miss Independent" crooner wasn't the only one who loved what Usher did while singing alongside Alicia Keys, Ludacris and Lil Jon ... Janelle Monae also said she was a big fan of the spectacle.

In fact, she said the act should put Usher squarely in the discussion when it comes time to talk about music's GOATs.

"So proud of him," the 38-year-old singer said. "I love you, Usher!"

Of course, there were some haters ... including boxing star Gervonta Davis, who wasn't pleased with the way Usher caressed Keys during their rendition of "My Boo."

Usher and Alicia Keys got up close and personal during the Super Bowl Halftime show ... a little too close for some people's comfort, Alicia's husband is perfectly fine with it, it seems.

Swizz Beatz not only wasn't offended, but he's kinda laughing off all the critics who were outraged on his behalf -- and he's telling them that their focus is in the wrong place ... rather than zoom in the hug-from-behind (from Usher to Alicia), SB says look at what they did!

He writes, "Y’all talking about the wrong damn thing !!! y’all don’t see that amazing dress covering the entire stadium ⚡️🚨😂😂😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨 Tonight’s performance was nothing but amazing with 2 amazing Giants !"

Swizz went on to say ... "Congrats @usher and my love @aliciakeys that song is a classic 🤍 We don’t do negative vibes on this side we make history ✌🏽 Go see GIANTS at @brooklynmuseum it’s open until July blessings."

In other words ... he's not trippin', even though a lot of folks were.

ICYMI ... Usher's performance was buzzing heavy on social media for this particular moment -- namely, him wrapping up Alicia in his arms from behind as they sang their duet, 'My Boo.'

One notable person who commented on it -- boxing star Gervonta Davis ... who suggested he'd use his prizefighting skills to teach Usher a thing or two about boundaries. Boosie Badazz even got self-righteous and demanded Usher publicly apologize.

Indeed, there were some who were legit pissed. But even with those crying foul, you won't get what they're looking for here from Swizz ... he's telling everyone it's really NBD at all.

Cleary, he's comfortable in his relationship with Alicia -- they've been married for years now.

Still, Usher's PDA move caused quite a stir -- and some invoked Keke Palmer's husband to make their point.

Anyhoo, we broke the story on Alicia's SBLVIII cameo ... the two music megastars revamped their 2004 multi-platinum song -- recreating the hot/heavy vibes from the video.

Davido has a sparkling new pendant to honor his three-year-old son who died from an accidental drowning in 2022 ... and like his guardian angel, it's a one of one!!!

Celebrity jeweler Gabriel Jacobs presented Davido with the completed chain earlier this week, a shimmering replica of his son Ifeanyi's face wearing a crown of flowers, and tells TMZ Hip Hop the piece contains an astounding 8,000 stones in total ...  natural brown, champagne, and black diamonds, oh my!

Gabe says the entire piece weighs 60 carats in total and cost him $250,000 in full but the details found craftsmanship is priceless.

The headwrap adorning Ifeanyi is made from even more diamonds, opal, topaz, and citrine ... the birthstones of the late toddler, in addition to Davido and his wife Chioma.

Davido told TMZ Hip Hop he was hoping to cash in on at least one of his 3 Grammys at this year's awards but came up empty-handed at last Sunday's ceremony.

Drake's betting big bucks on Kansas City to take home the Lombardi Trophy ... some harrowing news for Chiefs fans who know about his betting track record.

The singer/rapper shared a picture of his betting receipt to Instagram Sunday morning ... showing he put down $1.15 million on the Chiefs to win it all.

Drake also seemed to be making a shrewd political move by the way ... joking he couldn't "bet against the swifties" -- definitely a fanbase you don't want coming for your head!

Unfortunately for Drizzy, this might leave K.C. fans upset with him ... 'cause the dude's betting track record is pretty suspect.

For those who don't know ... Drake bets big like this quite a bit -- and loses a decent amount too. This has led fans to dub Drake cursed, saying essentially any team he bets on is bound to lose.

Sports fans tend to be an overly superstitious bunch ... but there's quite a bit of "evidence" to back up this claim with teams and players like the Kentucky Wildcats, Alabama Crimson Tide and even Conor McGregor losing pivotal matches when Drake's in their corner.

However, Drake's been a bit more accurate recently ... he hit two bets during last year's NBA finals and won just over $3.5 million when the Chiefs took home the title last year -- so maybe he's actually good luck for K.C.!

Travis Scott's music is an aphrodisiac ... at least it seemed to be for one couple who got hot and heavy with their hotel room window wide open.

Here's the deal ... the rapper took the stage at the Hakkasan Nightclub at the MGM Grand Saturday night to perform a few songs ahead of Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas.

While busting out a few of his songs, fans there to watch TS got a totally different kind of show ... the kind you usually need to pay big money to see in L.V.

Check out the video ... it appears a couple was getting down and dirty in one of the hotel rooms overlooking the venue, and they weren't shy whatsoever about having an audience.

Unclear if the couple was aware they were so visible ... but it definitely seems like it'd be obvious that everyone could see them -- hotel room windows aren't usually tinted, people!

Some of the performers apparently addressed the erotic display on the mic ... with one of the performers straight up saying, "That boy's a legend."

People on social media, however, were up in arms ... calling the whole thing uncomfortable and expecting people to have a bit more common courtesy when it comes to those intimate moments.

We don't know if the couple's faced any discipline from the hotel or even the police ... but that wouldn't be entirely unexpected given how much the attendees saw.

Justin Bieber's definitely in Sin City ... but he brought his faith with him -- in the form of his new pastor!!!

The singer-songwriter was spotted walking through Wynn Las Vegas with his wife Hailey Bieber and his new friend and confidante Pastor Judah Smith who tossed a comforting arm around Justin.

Justin and Judah have hung out quite a bit through the years ... with pics of them together over the last decade or so. Now, Judah's his main pastor, taking on the role from Carl Lentz with whom Bieber had a public falling out.

Remember ... Bieber and Lentz were super close for years before Lentz admitted to cheating on his wife in 2020 ... a day after Hillsong Church fired him. It seems Justin distanced himself from Carl in the aftermath -- and now has charged Judah with his spiritual guidance.

He seems to be taking over the role to a T BTW ... 'cause the guys share a very similar look, all the way down to the beanie and glasses.

Unclear exactly when this clip was taken ... but we do know Bieber impressed the crowd at The Delilah -- a popular nightclub in The Wynn -- when he hopped onstage and showed off his drum skills.

Bieber banged away on a drum kit with a member of WeTheBand, twisting the sticks around in his hand and slamming away on percussion.

One party wasn't enough for Justin though ... with the 29-year-old hitting up Michael Rubin's 2024 Fanatics Super Bowl Party and jumping behind the DJ booth -- hanging out alongside rapper Travis Scott.

Rubin's party was stacked with stars like Scott and Ice Spice who both performed while T-Pain, Queen Latifah, French Montana and Remy Ma also pulled up to get down.

We broke the story ... Usher reached out to Bieber directly to ask him to join him for the Super Bowl Halftime show -- and Bieber arrived with the Kardashians yesterday.

Kanye West has blown the lid off the water taxi mystery in Italy a few months back ... he seems to confirm, it was indeed oral sex.

Kanye's new song "F**k Sumn" reveals what and who went down when his wife, Bianca Censori leaned down as Ye's pants were at least partially down.

The telltale lyric ..."Shawty wanna f–k on somethin’? / F–k on me / Suck on me, publicly."

As you probably recall, Kanye and Bianca were mum back in August as to what was really going on, but the water taxi company felt it knew of the shenanigans ... it banned K&B from its vessels.

As you also know, Kanye and Bianca caused a stir with what she was wearing around Venice ... more accurately what she was not wearing.

Kanye collaborated with Ty Dolla $ign for the song, which dropped Friday.

Jelly Roll is hyped to have his own Super Bowl commercial, but he still can't believe it -- and he told us how much he would've demanded to do the spot!

Jelly Roll, who's getting mobbed by fans in Vegas this weekend, teamed up with Power to the Patients to "demand transparency in healthcare" ... alongside Lainey Wilson and Valerie June.

The ad will air sometime during the big game today. The cost of a 30-second commercial this year is about $7 million. On top of that, the sponsor has to pay the talent, and folks like Ben Affleck are raking in $10 mil for a spot. As for JR ... well, watch the clip.

Jelly Roll clearly believes in the importance of the message, saying the coolest part of the whole experience is that people are already responding to his message.

Power to the Patients previously teamed up with hip hop legends Busta Rhymes, Fat Joe, Method Man, Rick Ross, and French Montana to combat "hospitals and insurers rigging a system to make profits off of people that are in struggle."