Hip Hop

50 Cent and Starz are putting "Power Book II: Ghost" in its final resting place after its fourth season ... apparently news to the cast of the hit series ... as they seem to have found out the same time as the rest of the fans.

Michael Rainey Jr., who stars as Tariq in the series, piled on to one of the staff writer's criticisms that the network had been faking the funk on progressing the show; pretending to hear their pitches when they knew the writing was on the wall.

The posts on social didn't blow off all his steam and Mike later hopped on IG Live to assure fans that he and his trusty costar Gianni Paolo will ride along once again in future projects they're both penning together.

Fans were livid with confusion but it's a good chance a recent interview with Starz CEO Jeff Hirsch will answer everyone's questions.

According to Hirsch, production costs for series typically go up come Seasons 3 and 4 -- plus, they have to deal with actor salary raises ... and it would appear that might not have been in the budget long-term for this show.

The network also ordered up a pair of 'Power' prequel spinoffs this week, making "Power: II" even more expendable.

Amber Rose had nothing but love to share about her former flame, Machine Gun Kelly ... whom she says is the only ex-boyfriend to apologize for treating her badly.

The model/reality star gave MGK a major shout-out to MGK during Wednesday's episode of "The Jason Lee Show" ... where she explained that she and the rapper/singer remained friends in the aftermath of their brief relationship in 2015.

As AR describes it ... aside from her ex-husband Wiz Khalifa -- Kelly was the only one to acknowledge what a great girlfriend she was. Apparently, he said as much in an apology.

Amber has dated a lot of celebs ... having previously been with Kanye West , 21 Savage, Monte Morris, Terrence Ross, MGK, Alexander 'AE' Edwards and, of course, Wiz too.

Speaking of AE -- who's currently dating Cher, and seemingly in love -- Amber has thoughts on him too ... taking somewhat of a shot at him, and sounding happy he's off her plate.

She told Jason that she's very happy for the couple -- crediting the music legend for creating stability at home for her and AE's son, Slash. AR says their kid actually goes to Cher's house often ... and she's grateful AE has someone who can hold him down and be a good model.

As you know ... Amber and AE were together for 3 years, dating between 2018 and 2021.

While we're sure Amber could spill all sorts of tea on her A-list exes ... she revealed that she has purposefully chosen to stay tight-lipped for the sake of her kids. She reminded Jason ... her kids are old enough to Google.

As for her repeated history of dating rappers, Amber kept it coy ... defending that she is "not out looking for it."

Kali Uchis and Don Toliver just welcomed their baby boy into the world ... and they're both ecstatic with the successful delivery.

On Thursday, Kali and Don both posted a montage video and captioned the post with an outpour of positivity ... "you are everything we could have hoped for & more."

They add, "Thank you God for our beautiful healthy baby boy, & thank you all for the Good energy along the way. may our home & your homes forever be blessed with peace, happiness & health."

We're told the baby was born sometime in February and by the looks of things, he's already getting ingrained in his parents' world.

The video is set to Don's new "Deep in the Water" tune and his son is already modeling the latest cutting-edge fashion in baby merch.

Don told us the last time we spoke with him that he and Kali were aiming to give their child a name that reflected both of them.

Kash Doll woke up early on her born day with a special announcement -- she's pregnant with her second child with her boyfriend Tracy T!!!

The proud Pisces rapper kicked off birthday #32 Thursday by showing off her baby bump on IG, and it was immediately clear she's successfully kept the pregnancy secret for quite some time.

Kash says she's 27 weeks along, and her reveal signified a pause on her usual litty celebrations, at least for a while.

She and Tracy already have one son, Kashton, and she told People she found out about baby No. 2 during Tracy's birthday celebration in Turks and Caicos last October. She says she's been sipping H20 ever since.

Remembering the Turks trip, Kash said, "I was drinking and kept getting sick. I couldn't keep anything down! I took a test and it said yes!"

Kanye West was back at it Wednesday ... showing off his sexy wife, Bianca Censori, and all of her many assets for everyone to see.

Ye posted a series of photos of Bianca going braless in a tight-fitting pink bustier ... slightly exposing her breasts.

Bianca wore white leggings accentuating her curves with a pair of pumps inside a room as she posed before double gray closet doors.

In two of the snaps, Bianca placed her hands behind her back as if she was cuffed. Other pictures captured Bianca squatting and turning back around in the same lingerie outfit.

Kanye was nowhere in sight, probably because he was behind the camera playing shutterbug.

The photo shoot comes one day after Bianca was hanging out with Ye's ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, at the Chase Center in San Francisco.

The two were filmed together at Ye's listening party for his latest album, "Vultures 2." The sighting took everybody by surprise, setting social media on fire with a slew of comments.

Eminem reignited Benzino beef alive on Wednesday by reinforcing what he previously said ... director Cole Bennett gave Em the platform to bring his disses to the big screen!!!

For the "Doomsday Pt. 2," Em dons a black suit and yellow tie to reflect Cole's Lyrical Lemonade brand and the rap legend proceeds to let his foe of 20 years have it as he walks through a crumbling office building.

The Coi Leray stray and song's original slander remains intact ... Em pokes fun at Zino's physique, "What is the opposite of Benzino?/A giraffe/'Go at his neck?'/How the f*** is that?/How can I go at something he doesn't have?" ... but that's not all.

The hip hop support Benzino claims Eminem doesn't have was well represented ... Swae Lee, Big Sean, Denzel Curry, JID, Cordae, BabyTron and Teezo Touchdown all make cameos -- and their allegiances clear in the beef.

OJ da Juiceman's 'brick' lyrics and infectious ad-libs may be his claim to fame -- but Georgia officials are looking at him in a different light after they say the rapper was ridin' dirty.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, OJ was flagged for allegedly speeding in Coweta County, GA on March 4 around 10 PM ... and gave responding officers a short chase before he eventually pulled over.

After being apprehended, Coweta County sheriffs say OJ had cocaine and a 9mm handgun in his 2024 Ford Expedition and popped him on charges for drug trafficking in cocaine and other drugs, fleeing cops, firearm possession, and failure to maintain his lane.

We’re told the 42-year-old rapper has been sitting in the jail since the arrest.

OJ had a spark when he first started rap ... he was a 2010 XXL Freshman alongside, J. Cole, Freddie Gibbs and Nipsey Hussle and was aligned with Gucci Mane early on ... but has only been releasing music sporadically the past few years.

12:09 PM PT -- And just like that, the court docket for Diddy's case has been wiped of any word of a settlement -- so it seems the federal court there in NY realized they'd made a mistake.

Diddy's case stemming from a lawsuit filed by a producer he worked with appears to have been settled in court -- but it's a total mistake, and this ain't over yet ... TMZ has learned.

An official court docket update came through Wednesday on the Jones v. Combs case out of NYC -- and it suggests Diddy and Rodney Jones (the guy suing him) have come to terms and reached a settlement agreement.

Per the court docket ... a settlement conference was held Wednesday, and it was apparently revealed that Diddy and Rodney not only reached a settlement, but that the two parties would submit a draft of their agreement by next week.

The docket update also says the parties appeared for the Wednesday conference by video.

However, as it turns out ... this is NOT true whatsoever. Sources with direct knowledge -- from both sides of the case -- tell TMZ this lawsuit is still very much on, and that no settlement has been reached. We're told the court staff there seems to have screwed up.

One way you know this was a clerical error is that the judge listed on the docket for this case is not the one that's been presiding thus far -- it's a completely different judge from White Plains, NY ... and more importantly, they're not the judge who's been assigned here.

Long story short, it's a false alarm, as we're told Diddy plans to fight this case -- remember, he's denied all of Rodney's claims ... which covered a wide range of salacious topics.

The only case Diddy has settled thus far is from the Cassie lawsuit last year. On this front, though, he seems ready to go to trial if he needs to ... and Rodney's not relenting either.

Jason Derulo had to bend to the call of nature during a recent show, bringing everything to a sudden stop right in the middle of a song ... to rush to the bathroom!!!

The "Swalla" singer is currently on his "Nu King" world tour, and Saturday he was in Leeds, England .. where he abruptly halted his concert inside First Direct Arena, and politely asked the packed house for a timeout.

After realizing he wasn't joking, the UK crowd booed and groaned, but even that couldn't stop him -- Jason still bolted offstage to conduct his business.

Fans came to see him do the "Wiggle," but got his pee-pee dance, instead!!!

The TikTok master and his crew decided to poke fun at the situation with a skit of JD relieving himself in a Gatorade bottle ... but there was no photoshopping the fan's faces of disapproval during his bathroom break!!!

Betcha never thought you'd ever see Kim Kardashian and Bianca Censori together.

Well, think again, 'cause Kanye West's ex-wife and current wife were hanging out at Ye's listening party Tuesday night – and it was all caught on video!!!

Check it out ... Kim was standing with Bianca behind a police barrier, grooving and mouthing the words to a song from Kanye's newest studio album "Vultures 2."

Amazingly, they seemed chill and comfortable in each other's presence at the Chase Center in San Francisco. But one thing was obvious -- the women were not best buds or getting chatty with one another, at least in the footage posted on social media.

Still, this was totally outta left field. Even their fans were stunned and started gossiping about it on "X" after the footage spread like wildfire.

These were just some of the comments posted on the app: 'Didn't expect that'... 'What on earth would they be taking about?'... ''I don't know but this is crazy'... 'Yo WTF.'

As you know, Kim was hitched to Kanye for nearly seven years before their divorce in 2021, settling it a year later. The couple shares four children: North, Saint, Chicago and Psalm.

Enter Bianca Censori, a former employee of Kanye's company, Yeezy. The two were first seen out together in early 2023 before tying the knot in a private wedding ceremony.

Since then, they've been gallivanting around the world ... as Bianca prances around in public half naked and sometimes even more than half, wearing sheer tights.

While Kim and Bianca have seemingly had an amicable relationship, it's been reported Kim wasn't too happy about Bianca dressing in revealing outfits while around the kids.

But now all's cool and they're bonding at a Kanye event. Or is this Kim's play to calm her ex?

Stay tuned ...

Kanye West's longtime friend and confidant says Ye is happier than ever being married to Bianca Censori -- so much so, in fact, he might be ready to be a papa all over again!

We got a member of Ye's inner circle, Justin LaBoy, Tuesday at LAX ... where we chopped it up about his buddy and Bianca for a little bit. We were wondering how the couple feels about her family being ticked off lately, but he spilled some other tea.

Remember, her father came out and said he didn't appreciate his son-in-law parading his daughter around France in barely any clothing ... this after several wild outfits she rocked.

You can tell Justin doesn't wanna go there ... saying he doesn't like to speak on his buddy's wife -- but he does say he loves her, and can tell she's perfect for his good pal.

The reason? Justin tells us he's actually never seen Kanye happier than he is right now.

Justin also says Bianca's enjoying herself too -- clearly addressing the speculation from Kanye's critics that he's keeping her against her will, or brainwashing her.

Finally, we touch on something Ye himself is alluding to in recent songs -- saying "another baby is my end goal" ... which most listeners heard as a reference to Bianca.

Justin himself had some thoughts about that when we asked if Kanye was being serious -- and according to him ... he absolutely is. JLB says he thinks a "bunch of babies" are on the way for them.

Bianca's only 29, so if she's inclined to have kids ... this could be prime baby-making time. As you know, Ye already has 4 children with Kim Kardashian.

North West takes after her dad more than we thought -- 'cause one of his best friends says she's knee-deep in production for her album ... and it'll apparently be kid-friendly, literally.

We ran into Justin LaBoy Tuesday at LAX -- and he gave us some insight into how the "Elementary School Dropout" is shaping up after North announced her own project at a recent Kanye West listening event. As it turns out ... Papa Bear is guiding this whole journey.

Justin tells us Kanye is putting all his chips in on his daughter's rap career, and everyone in his camp -- including Justin, who's very much so in Ye's inner circle -- is super excited to see what she can do.

Considering she already has a verse on one of Kanye's latest hits ('Talking/Once Again') ... the feeling is, she can churn out more all by herself. Justin tells us that while Kanye is helping North, she's actually the one steering the ship in terms of creative ... which is wild.

He says North is doing beat selection, and is even picking the engineer she wants to work with. Also, she's apparently dropping a ton of freestyles on the regular these days -- so, sounds like she's gonna be doing some real rapping here for whole songs.

Not just that, but Justin goes on to tell us that North has actually had some of her friends in the studio with her already, and there's gonna be some tracks with a bunch of kids on there.

From what Justin says he's heard so far ... 'ESD' is shaping up to be a classic record.

While some might've rolled their eyes upon hearing that North was dropping her own album -- 'cause, y'know, she's a little kid and everything -- Justin says Ye and co. are very much so taking this seriously ... and based on what we're hearing, they think she can be a legit MC.

As Justin says himself ... she comes from Kanye's bloodline, and if anyone can do it ... it'd be her. Pretty exciting stuff -- guess we'll just have to wait and see what North's got.

Bo$$, who famously was the first female rapper signed to Def Jam, has died.

Rapper Bun B announced the news Monday evening, paying tribute to Bo$$ ... whose real name was Lichelle Marie Laws. Bun posted a pic of Bo$$, and wrote, “Rest in peace to my big sis Lichelle Laws AKA Boss. One of the best female MCs and a dear friend."

Bun's announcement sparked quite a huge reaction from the hip hop world ... as Jermaine Dupri, Jadakiss, 9th Wonder, Ed Lover, Lloyd Banks, Slim Thug and many others all paid tribute to the pioneering MC.

DJ Premier also weighed in, praising Bo$$ as a talented legend, and made a public plea for Def Jam to release a collab he'd recorded with her in 1993.

DJ Battlecat remembered Bo$$ for leading the way for women in gangsta rap ... and added, "Rest in Detroit Queen."

Bo$$ was born and raised in Detroit, but moved to L.A. shortly after graduating high school. She integrated herself into the local music scene, catching the eye of one of DJ Quik‘s associates.

As the story goes, Russell Simmons was the one to sign her to Def Jam, and by 1993 she dropped her first (and only) studio album, "Born Gangstaz." She found some success on the charts with "Deeper" making the Hot 100.

No word on circumstances surrounding her death, or an official cause of death ... but Bo$$ had battled renal disease, which she was first diagnosed with in 2011. A GoFundMe was also set up in her name after a 2017 stroke and seizure left her needing "costly" care ... including a possible kidney transplant.

She was 54.

Madonna had a real treat in store for her fans at her California concert Monday night … and it was none other than Cardi B!!!

The New York-born rapper shocked the packed crowd at the Kia Forum in Inglewood when she strutted out onstage without warning for a sexy two-minute-plus performance with Madonna.

Cardi's surprise appearance occurred during the "Vogue" segment in which Madonna usually brings out other celebs onstage to rate a raunchy dance-off as part of her "Celebration" tour.

Check out this video obtained by TMZ … Cardi and Madonna were seated in silver chairs next to each other holding signs emblazoned with the number "10" and the word "Chop."

The superstars rated the dancers pirouetting around them and worshipping their bodies, giving them all, of course, tens. Cardi also jumped into the contest, twerking her butt off. And you know she scored a ten!

At one point, Madonna held up the "Chop" sign, which in ballroom competitions means you're not advancing to the next round. The audience probably didn't catch that, but who cares … Madonna, Cardi and the rest were having a blast!

Meanwhile, Madonna got a little raunchy herself with Cardi, caressing her thighs throughout the segment. But that’s just expected with Madonna and Cardi didn’t seem to mind one bit.

As the song wrapped, Cardi was escorted by the dancers off the stage ... and Madonna just kept the show going.

Zita Vass says she's open to pivoting her views on wanting to say the n-word at concerts -- 'cause it sounds like she's just not aware of how or why people would possibly be upset.

We talked to the Guess model Monday on "TMZ Live," and she defended her take online from this past weekend ... where she expressed a desire to be able to say the derogatory racial slur in live music settings, especially if she was just repeating lyrics from an artist.

Zita's whole thing here is this ... if there's no hate in her heart, what's the big deal???

Welp, we tried explaining to Zita why some -- especially Black people -- might take offense to hearing her use the term ... and after a lot of back and forth, it sounds like she finally might've started to understand.

She admits there may be some ignorance on her part -- and the bigger takeaway is that she's willing to learn ... which is refreshing to hear. Of course, some just wanted to dump on her -- and that's exactly what a good amount of people did in her Instagram comments.

This conversation we had with Zita is definitely worth a watch -- it's almost like she's learning about racism (or perceived racism) live for the first time ... and seems pretty genuine about it too, surprised that some might not be willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.

Biggie's former hype man Lil Cease has gone the distance ensuring his fallen friend got the legacy he deserved ... even parting ways with his precious personal recordings, so the estate could finalize his catalog.

TMZ Hip Hop chopped it up with Cease-A-Leo at The Biggie Experience in Brooklyn, hosted by the Notorious Kids, T'yanna and CJ Wallace and the "Crush On You" rapper tells us he's sadly exhausted his stash of Biggie tracks to fill up posthumous albums.

Cease was a member of Biggie's Junior M.A.F.I.A. rap group that famously brought the world Lil Kim, and he felt it best for the family to have the music he collected over the years.

With breaks in the Tupac Shakur and Jam Master Jay ice-cold murder cases, Cease says he thinks investigators should be able to piece together evidence to bring Biggie's fam some closure, but he added ... he hasn't heard anything concrete on that front to share.

Ditto for Diddy's latest round of trauma ... Cease will forever be an OG Bad Boy but hopes for an amicable resolution for all parties for all future cases. He stressed the principle of innocence until proven guilty!

He plans on preserving Biggie's history further with a documentary, and T'yanna and CJ are doing the same.