Hip Hop

Akon says he doesn't party enough to know the ins and outs of Diddy's party scene, but he's hoping the truth comes out, for everyone involved, and perhaps ... the industry learns a few lessons.

TMZ spoke to Akon Friday at LAX, and the multi-platinum hitmaker tells us the constant scandals in the music industry are simply bad for business.

Diddy was spotted in Miami all smiles while out for a bicycle ride earlier this week, and Akon says the best everyone can do is shower Puff with prayers ... and leave it in God's hands.

J. Cole's rap battle with Kendrick Lamar might bring some new heat for the Dreamvillain, who's now being accused of dropping transphobic lyrics in his clap back at Kendrick.

Cole bombs K Dot on "7 Minute Drill," the last track of "Might Delete Later" ... the surprise album he dropped Friday -- but fans are also dissecting his bars on the track, "Pi."

Without warning Cole targeted a rapper who dropped a trash album, and spit the damning lyrics ... "They plead the fifth, I'm seeing hints of a trans fella/In cancel culture's vicinity, he's no killer, trust me/Beneath his chosen identity, there is still a pussy, period.”

Universal Music Group is facing a new lawsuit ... and it all has to do with Mary J. Blige's most famous song -- which someone is now claiming illegally sampled an old jam.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, a company called TufAmerica, Inc. -- which owns Tuff City Records -- is suing the music publishing giant, claiming it sampled their song "Impeach the President" in MJB's "Real Love" without getting permission.

"Real Love" allegedly uses an uncleared sample from "Impeach the President" in both a sound recording and the musical composition. Tuff City claims they've reached out to UMG over the issue, but Universal hasn't addressed their concerns ... so, now they're suing.

Travis Scott's current promo run through major U.S. colleges is causing BIG problems at the University of Texas ... it's triggering people's Astroworld trauma all over again!!

The "Utopia" rapper, and Houston native, happily rushed the Darrell K Royal Memorial Stadium field Thursday with the Longhorns football team, creating tons of media for UT in the process.

UT's Instagram account captioned one of the posts, "POV: Travis Scott pulls up to practice 🔥"  ... highlighting a camera angle that showed players stampeding across the ground like a herd of cattle -- but some Texas residents are incensed by the content.

J. Cole went straight for the jugular when firing back at Kendrick Lamar ... calling K.dot's critically acclaimed "To Pimp a Butterfly" album the audio version of a sleeping pill, and folks are mad.

On Friday, Cole left the rap internet in a tizzy thanks to his surprise project "Might Delete Later" ... which features the song "7 Minute Drill," and a direct response to Kendrick's "Like That" disses that dominated the Billboard Charts these past couple weeks.

Cole took a page outta Jay-Z's infamous Nas diss track here ... Kendrick's albums "good kid, m.A.A.d city" and "DAMN" were given their due credit, but JC writes off 'TPAB' off as overrated trash that got the attention of outside media.

Diddy's son, Christian "King" Combs, is being sued for sexual assault, and the alleged victim claims she has audio recordings of him forcing himself on her during a yacht party ... and another accuser, Rodney Jones, is involved in this too.

Grace O'Marcaigh just filed the suit against King in L.A., alleging she was working as a steward on a yacht she claims Diddy himself chartered a few days before New Year's Eve in 2022.

In the suit, O'Marcaigh alleges she was doing her job during the shindig -- which she claims was advertised as a family-friendly excursion -- and King came on, after which she claims he immediately became fixated on her, uncomfortably so.

Bianca Censori seemed to be channeling an old episode of "Seinfeld" -- in which one of the characters wore nothing but a bra and caused heads to turn ... now, life is imitating art.

Kanye West and his wife went out to dinner Wednesday night in L.A., hitting French restaurant Gigi's for a bite to eat ... and a relatively quick getaway afterward -- with Ye and Bianca walking back to their car and paps firing off some shots as they exited.

We've seen Bianca in a lot of wild outfits over the past several months -- but this is equally as eye-popping, because it's BC in nothing but a bra up top, and some sheer pants below.

Diddy's ex-employee Rodney Jones is on the short list of accusers whose lawsuits might have sparked the federal investigation -- but he's not one of the witnesses the feds are interviewing ... not yet, anyway.

Sources with knowledge tell TMZ ... Rodney, AKA Lil Rod, is not one of the people federal prosecutors have called upon to provide sworn testimony for their investigation into the Bad Boy Records founder.

As TMZ previously reported ... Diddy's ex Cassie has been in touch with the authorities -- and is cooperating, alongside others who've made claims against the mogul.

Diddy might be in hot water at the moment, but his daughters were in much calmer waters a world away this week -- enjoying their Spring Break with LeBron James' teenage son.

16-year-old Bryce James was featured in a video that's making the rounds online -- which shows him and a pal of his, Boogie Johnson, enjoying the ocean in Turks and Caicos ... and in the little dance compilation that got posted (and which has since been deleted), you can see Jessie and D'Lila Combs in the mix as well.

The girls and their matching bathing suits are unmistakable -- especially when you consider Bryce and the twins are quite close ... he and Boogie took them to homecoming last year. In fact, Boogie's got photos up with one of the twins on his social media page ... so yeah, it's a tight-knit friend group -- and it appears they're vacationing together right now.

Comedian Rip Micheals recovered from his near-fatal heart attack this past November but returned home to a cold bed -- he says his wife left him while he fought for his life!!!

Rip told Angela Yee the alarming news Thursday on her show "Way Up" ... he joked his ex-spouse Veronica -- to whom he was married for 2 years -- didn't care much for the "til death do you part" aspect of their vows, and started plotting her exit while he was in his darkest hour.

We got Rip out last month in NYC, and he had nothing but hilariously morbid jokes for his congestive heart failure condition -- laughing is better than crying any day of the week!!!

Joy Behar says the original "Jolene" is a song that's actually bad for women -- something Reba McEntire thinks is pretty hilarious ... this on the heels of Beyoncé's cover.

We got the country legend Thursday in L.A., and Reba actually talked about Bey's foray into the genre with her new album "Cowboy Carter"' -- on the topic of Beyoncé diving into country, RME says she's all for it.

Reba tells us Beyoncé is a welcome addition to the lineup, and says everyone in the game is happy to have her. You can tell Reba's a fan ... which is huge, 'cause Reba's an icon.

Trippie Redd's journey through fatherhood was a short-lived one -- the Diamond-selling rapper is now admitting the baby he introduced to the world last year isn't his!!!

DDG just welcomed his first-born son with GF Halle Bailey, and was eager to discuss the joys of parenting in a recent blog ... and that's when Trippie came clean that he's not in the new daddy club.

He says his mother urged him to get a DNA test, and turns out her instincts were spot-on. Trippie says he actually took 2 tests -- just to be sure -- but neither was a match.

He was a proud papa for a hot minute ... posting the baby on social media and carrying on the family's legacy by naming him Saint Michael White, which is also the name of the EP he released around the time of the birth.

Trippie even canceled his tour to tend to his fatherly duties, and admitted to DDG the short time he spent kissing and holding the lil tyke broke his heart once he learned the truth.

Diddy is continuing to show his face in and around Miami -- only now ... he's riding high.

The hip hop mogul was spotted cruising around town Thursday in the Magic City -- apparently wanting to stretch his legs and get a little exercise ... because he was on a bicycle and pedaling away along what appears to be an expressway of some sort.

We're told Diddy ended up pedaling his way on down to South Beach -- not far from his Star Island homes -- and yes ... he was all by his lonesome, just a man and his thoughts.

G. Dep -- one of Diddy's top rap lieutenants during his "Harlem Shake era" -- is now a free man after serving more than 13 years in prison ... walking out of the gates this morning.

Records from the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision -- obtained by TMZ Hip Hop -- show Dep was released under the prison's Limited Credit Time Allowance program, which allows eligible inmates a six-month credit on their existing sentences.

Per court docs, the "Special Delivery" rapper -- who's now 49 -- will have to check in with his parole officer, refrain from possessing weapons and drugs without medical authorization, and will have to get permission to leave the State of New York ... pretty standard stuff for a newly released ex-con.

Jake Paul has moved on from punching bags -- the Problem Child just used a Soundcloud rapper to hone his boxing skills ... hitting Lil Pump with a vicious body shot!!

The internet star and fighter welcomed the "Gucci Gang" musician on his "BS with Jake Paul" podcast this week ... and about halfway through the episode, Pump asked if Paul was willing to punch him in the stomach as hard as he could -- just so he could experience what it feels like.

Pump was fully committed to the stunt ... even telling Paul he was down to end up in the hospital over it.

Stevie J posted a video that is Diddy's biggest PR offensive to date ... and the message is clear -- check out who parties with Diddy, because it's virtually every big celeb in Hollywood.

The video is a highlight reel of Diddy's 50th birthday bash back in 2019 in Bev Hills, and the guest list is the Oscars meets the Grammys meets the ESPY awards.

Among the guests ... Kobe Bryant, Dr. Dre, Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige, Kim and Khloe Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, Post Malone, Naomi Campbell, Cardi B, Big Sean, Travis Scott, The Weeknd, Kanye West, Jaden Smith, Snoop Dogg, Queen Latifah, Kevin Hart, MGK, and on and on.