Hip Hop

2:52 PM PT -- The scene at Diddy's Los Angeles-area home appears to be winding down, and a new photo obtained by TMZ shows just how bustling it was with law enforcement activity.

Check out this picture ... which shows scores of agents and officers on the ground. Safe to say, they went in locked and loaded -- time will tell what, if anything, they've found.

1:42 PM PT -- TMZ has obtained extra footage of cops on the scene near Diddy's L.A.-area home -- and it looks like officers have shut down the entire area ... with helicopters swarming up above. There are at least two choppers in the area, and a lot of police on the ground.

Drake's dad is jumping into the fray on behalf of his son -- calling out Kendrick Lamar and everyone else who seems to be taking shots at Drizzy over this out-of-nowhere beef.

On Monday, DG posted Drake's 2017 "More Life" album cover art that famously used his likeness and heaped on the sarcasm towards Future and Metro's new "We Don't Trust You" album.

Dennis mocked Future and Metro for using beef to sell records and also convincing the homies to unfollow Drake on social media, knowing it would swirl in the headlines.

Ross and Nav both cut ties with Drake, at least on Instagram, leaving the OVO camp with a lot fewer allies than they had a few weeks ago!!!

Dennis never has issues blocking Drake from criticism, like he did when he spoke to TMZ Hip Hop about Drake's "For All The Dogs" album dodging any Israel-Hamas lyrics ... but it's possible everyone just has a problem with his son.

Future and Metro are expected to bring in big numbers next week atop the Billboard 200 and Kendrick's "Like That" diss is also a potential No. 1 record -- but all these guys have proven to move units without the feuding.

Drake's A-list rap friends are dumping on him after Kendrick Lamar's shots, but he's taking it in stride ... at least, while the public's watching!!!

During his Sunday night show in Sunrise, FL, Drake confronted the internet-breaking backlash from Kendrick's lyrical thrashing of him and J. Cole with a bit of defiance.

“I got my head up high, my back straight, I’m ten f***ing toes down… and I know no matter what there’s not another n**** on this Earth that could ever f*** with me.”

Welp, Bianca Censori wasn't hiding her body for long ... going back to minimalist clothing for an outing with Kanye West -- after covering up big time at dinner with Ye's eldest.

Ye & BC hit up The Grove for a movie date in Los Angeles Sunday ... apparently, checking out "Dune: Part 2" -- and Bianca's style was far more in line with what we've seen in the past.

Check out the pics ... Bianca went with the strapless, backless baby blue top and sheer white leggings during the flirty outing with her man -- who kept it simple in his usual all-black ensemble.

Kanye West's wife, Bianca Censori, engaged in a shocking coverup Saturday night, hiding her body under a fur coat ... presumably because they were chowing down with North West.

Ye, Bianca and his 10-year-old daughter hit up Nobu. and BC arrived in a full, furry coat and leggings to boot!

North was into the attention as they arrived, smiling at the paparazzi. Kanye and Bianca ... not so much.

Bianca's fit is in sharp contrast to what she has not been wearing lately -- namely, clothes.

She stopped shoppers dead in their tracks a few days back, wearing very little as they grabbed some grub at the Cheesecake Factory at The Grove in L.A.

Bianca's dad is none too pleased about what's happened to his architect daughter, who almost never utters a word in public. According to the Daily Mail, he called her a "trashy naked trophy pony."

Kim Kardashian has been interacting with Bianca at a few events lately, and maybe KK got in her ear.

Kanye West is asking major players in the music industry to respect his decision to go by his legally changed name "Ye" ... TMZ has learned.

In a letter obtained by TMZ ... Kanye's chief of staff, Milo Yiannopoulos, fires off a strong message to big players in the music industry -- including streamers, publishers, lyric websites and more -- with a demand that the rapper be referred to as Ye moving forward.

As Milo puts it ... Kanye didn't come to the decision to change his name lightly, as he is aware he's sacrificing brand value that comes with "Kanye West." Still ... the Grammy winner considers it a "slave name" and wants to ditch the moniker across all platforms.

He adds ... "Ye is a Black man in America who wants the right to full self-determination just like everyone else."

Remember ... Kanye officially changed his name to Ye back in October 2021. The artist had a judge sign off on him adopting his longtime nickname as his legal moniker years after speaking in favor of the name's Biblical ties.

Kanye told radio host Big Boy in 2018 that he preferred Ye since it was the most commonly used word in the Bible -- which wasn't actually an accurate statement, FWIW.

Still, Ye isn't the first artist to change their name ... as Diddy, Snoop Dogg, Prince, Bow Wow and Ke$ha have all switched up their public personas in the past.

Yes, you can find 50 Cent "In da Club", but can you locate the discreet changes in these two shots of him outside the club? In order to notice the differences, you may wanna adjust your lens.

Celebrating Dr. Dre's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame earlier this week, the iconic rapper hit up "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" with Snoop Dogg and Dre. And, of course he was decked out in "a lil' bit of this, a lil' bit of that" ... but his bling ain't ringing true.

"Go, go, go, go, go, go, go shawty!"

Rihanna seems to be putting an age-old theory to the test ... finding out if blondes really do have more fun -- 'cause she's rocking a short, light new hairdo!

The singer-songwriter stepped out in Santa Monica Friday, and her new look was instantly noticeable -- RiRi's usually lettin' her long locks flow, but now ... she's trimmed most of it off.

Just check out the pics ... her hair's not even touching her shoulders at this point -- a pretty sharp contrast to the Rihanna we normally see these days ... who lets her hair fall all the way to her hips. That's the 'do she's been sporting lately, anyway.

Also, peep the jewelry ... Rihanna's iced out with a necklace, earrings and bracelets -- shining bright like a diamond while on her way to an important meeting. It definitely accentuates the blonde hair up top ... and we gotta say, she's pulling the whole look off and then some.

Rihanna's look is noticeably different from one of the last times we spotted her ... as she was leaving Mukesh Ambani's son's pre-wedding bash in India with a swag bag and at least $6 million for her performance on the special day.

No word on how A$AP Rocky feels about the fresh cut ... but when your lady's RiRi, it's hard to imagine you can criticize much about her -- 'cause she's a beauty through and through.

Nicki Minaj and Kenneth Petty were accused of ambushing a security guard with violence a couple years back -- and it appears they ignored his lawsuit ... 'cause they now owe money.

The rapper and her husband had a default judgment entered against them Friday in L.A. County Superior Court -- this after a judge says they failed to respond to the lawsuit.

As a result, Nicki and Kenneth now have to pay up -- in the amount of $503,318.02.

We broke the story ... Nicki and Kenneth were sued by a guy named Thomas Weidenmuller -- who alleged Petty and Minaj roughed him up in 2019 at a concert she did in Germany.

At the time, Weidenmuller claimed Nicki had berated one of his security guards working under him, and he says he went to her to address it -- at which point, he alleged she threw a shoe at him. He says he dodged it -- however, the guy alleged Kenneth was waiting in the wings.

Weidenmuller claimed Kenneth socked him in the face and broke his jaw ... and he alleged he had 8 different surgeries to fix the damage. He sued in 2022 for hefty medical bills.

Gunna says his decision to bring Flo Milli on the road as his 'Bittersweet' tour mate was an easy one ... as they'd already proved they can kill the stage during last year's test runs!!!

TMZ Hip Hop linked up with the superstar rapper in Bev Hills -- right back on his fave street, Rodeo Drive -- while he was spending his bankroll, and we got the skinny on his 16-city concert rollout.

Remember, Gunna packed out Brooklyn and L.A. venues last year amid rumors he turned his back on Young Thug ... and Flo Milli shone as his opening act at those shows.

On top of that success, he was super impressed with her "Never Lose Me" hit.

They just went halfsies on a freaky-deeky collab, "Edible," and Gunna deferred to Flo Milli when we asked what inspired the track. No kissing and telling with this raunchy record!!! 👀

Gunna tells us to expect big-time creativity, and promises to bring the energy -- which he clearly has a lot of these days, judging from the gym pics he's been posting lately.

Future and Metro Boomin knew the late, great Prodigy of Mobb Deep wasn't the kinda guy to mince words -- so, they tossed some of his incredibly disrespectful audio to fuel their new album that slanders Drake and J. Cole.

The trap music masters sinisterly unleashed their "We Don't Trust You" album to the masses on Friday ... and Mobb fans will instantly recognize Prodigy's voice weaved in the tracks, smearing "corny rappers" along the way.

The audio actually comes from Prodigy's forgotten 2003 WorldStarHipHop interview where Joe Budden, Fat Joe, Cam'ron, Jim Jones, and Cassidy -- who were in the prime of their skills at the time -- all getting ethered by the "H.N.I.C." rapper.

Prodigy passed away in 2014, but the sting of his words are used for diabolical purposes on 'WDTY' ... Metro chops up the Prodigy rants on both the opening and closing of several tracks, eventually setting the stage for Kendrick Lamar to diss Drake and Cole as Future cosigned the calamity.

Early indicators say Future and Metro got a #1 album coming at the expense of Drake. We also reached out to Havoc for his thoughts on Prodigy being used as a prop for the beef.

GloRilla never thought in a million yurrrs she'd be partying up at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue -- but that was the Memphis rapper's real life as she met President Biden face-to-face!!!

But, on the heels of that White House visit, Glo went on CNN to talk about whether it would impact her vote.

The "F.N.F." rapper told Laura Coates she was basically just at the White House for the vibes. When asked about possibly campaigning, she said ... "That ain't got nothing to do with me."

She punctuated her seriousness about not getting all political by singing along to Jill Scott's good mood anthem, "Golden."

Big Glo was amongst the handpicked Gen-Z influencers invited to kick it with Biden and VP Kamala Harris at a Women’s History Month event on Monday -- but her presence at the ballots on Election Day is still up in the air.

Biden's administration is feverishly trying to round up young voters ... their State of the Union watch party on March 7 had swarms of TikTokers and IG stars inside the WH, but TBD if those invites will translate to votes.

We spoke to finance guru Tiffany Aliche following the event, but she was still unsure if the glitzy galas would drive young voters to the polls.

Kendrick Lamar took some shots at both Drake and J. Cole this week with yet another sneaky feature ... and it's clear he doesn't consider them to be in his league.

The diss was heard on Future and Metro Boomin's new album, "We Don't Trust You" ... where Kendrick is featured on the track "Like That" -- and he goes in on Drizzy and Cole in his verse, where it's obvious he's talking about them.

Kendrick didn't take too kindly to Drake and Cole's "First Person Shooter" song that launched their joint tour -- where Cole and Drake were very kumbaya and buddy-buddy -- K.dot kinda spat in both of their faces ... rapping, "Yeah, get up with me, f*** sneak dissing/'First Person Shooter,' I hope they came with three switches."

KL continues ... "Think I won't drop the location? I still got PTSD // Motherf*** the big three, n****, it's just big me // N****, bum, what? I'm really like that // And your best work is a light pack // N****, Prince outlived Mike Jack // N**** bum, 'fore all your dogs gettin' buried."

Definitely not so subliminal ... Kendrick is going straight for Drake and Cole.

Remember, on Drake and Cole's "First Person Shooter" duet ... Cole rapped, "Love when they argue the hardest MC/Is it K-Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me?/We the Big3 like we started a league, but right now, I feel like Muhammad Ali."

Drake decided to cut Kendrick out of the equation in his verse ... "Who the GOAT? Who you bitches really rooting for?/Like a kid that act bad from January to November, n****, it's just you and Cole."

Now, Kendrick is saying there aren't 3 GOATs ... there's only one, and it's him.

Fans are scrambling to know what went wrong ... Drake co-starred on Kendrick's debut album "good kid, m.A.A.d city" and brought him along on his 'Club Paradise' Tour to elevate his career. So, they've been friendly over the years.

Cole and Kendrick were once in hot pursuit of doing a joint LP together -- and he and Metro Boomin were recently in the studio together too.

Metro's been beefing with Drake for months ... but Future and Drake won a Grammy together last year.

Kanye West is changing things up when it comes to showing off his wife Bianca Censori, ... instead of parading her around in public, he's got her laid out on their massive ass bed.

The rapper uploaded a short video Thursday of Bianca wearing a sheer milk-colored lace bodysuit with a pair of stiletto heels -- and as you can see ... she's very comfy as she maintains a frozen position with her leg bent, and her phone covering her face.

It feels like part-art installation, part-portrait subject ... it's also a little weird, to be honest.

Bianca is simply lying back on a gigantic white bed -- which is extra wide, and fit for a freaking emperor -- while holding her phone in front of her face. Ye, meanwhile, is just standing over her and recording in silence ... with car noises outside and low breathing.

His IG post was a departure from his usual antics with Bianca. Not that Ye hasn't filmed her posing half nude indoors before – but lately the two have been on the move bringing their risque act to a city near you.

Just this week ... Ye showed off Bianca's incredible bod all around Los Angeles, hitting The Grove, a tanning salon and an ice cream shop. Bianca sported various tight, revealing outfits while Ye, fully clothed, stayed right beside her, protectively holding her hand.

At one point, the couple headed to a private business meeting that wasn't so private. Bianca put her assets in full view, rocking a tight nude tube top that pushed out her cleavage and neon nylon stockings that accentuated her butt.

As you know ... the two have taken their eye-popping display around the world and as far away as France and Italy. And, there doesn't seem to be any end in sight.

Whether it's out in the street, or in the bedroom ... Bianca's on a pedestal!

Candace Owens' "Black Card" will not be revoked -- not today, at least -- as the political pundit went on "The Breakfast Club" and passed a culture quiz with flying colors ... red, black and green!!!

On Thursday, Charlamagne, Jess Hilarious and DJ Envy all surprised Candace with a pop "Black quiz" they'd compiled, and the proud, yet polarizing, Republican impressed the gang right off the bat by rapping much of the opening theme to Will Smith's "The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air."

Candace also couldn't come up with Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's name ... but she did know what NOT to bring to the cookout, in terms of food.

Throughout the appearance, Candace maintained she wasn't against Blackness, but more so Black illiteracy and blamed public schools and celebrity worship in the community for holding folks back.

Her stance on education explains her recent reaction to Ice Spice's "Fart" hit ... where she declared the track single-handedly set American society back a few notches!

Speaking of fire songs, the quiz also revealed Candace needs a refresher on the "Good Times" theme.

Beyoncé's ride-or-die isn't here for Erykah Badu's copycat shade -- she's firing back with receipts proving Miss "Cowboy Carter" has always rocked the braids Erykah claims she jacked from her.

Bey's longtime publicist Yvette Noel-Schure entered the chat to respond to EB, and wasted no time posting a full-blown scrapbook of Bey wearing the braided hairstyle throughout her career ... some snaps even appear to be dated in her childhood!!!

Yvette captioned the post with ... “She slays. She slays. Now. Then. Always. act ii COWBOY CARTER 3.29 #criticswithoutcredentials.”

So, yeah ... totally a direct shot at Erykah.

As we reported, the "Mama's Gun" singer is under the impression Beyoncé is leeching off her style flair -- last year, Bey's hat selection during her "Renaissance" tour made EB see red as she's also donned the oversized derby for years in her own concerts.