Hip Hop

Cam'ron's defending O.J. Simpson's legacy ... saying people need to back off since a jury acquitted him -- and blasting Caitlyn Jenner in the process.

The rapper hopped on the "It Is What It Is" podcast Friday to discuss Simpson's legacy the day after he died, and immediately started defending the controversial figure.

Cam points out a jury found O.J. not guilty of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman in his 1995 criminal trial ... so, he says he's shocked people think it's fine to call him a murderer.

The winds were howling across the Indio polo fields for the second day of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and the biggest names in the desert faced the gales head-on into the unknown in true fashion!

Day 2 brought some big parties and performances ... and Hollywood matched that energy with some big looks of their own! Teyana Taylor carried the torch for the cowgirl caps with a Bret Michael's era hat/bandana and a sheer silver kaftan.

Lukas Gage kept it casual ... but somehow styled a frat-forward look into fest-fashion ... and Olivia Culpo made her yearly pilgrimage to the Hollywood holy-lands in a simple white dress to push the pure plur vibes.

The weekend's BIGGEST after-party Neon Carnival pulled in all the biggest names in the desert ... Ke$ha was raising hell as she rocked out with a vintage tee and a pair of classic cowboy boots. Amber Rose showed off her curves around the Brent Bolthouse bash in a green bodysuit ... while Paris Hilton continued "sliving in the desert" in a black jumper and some chromed-out chain accessories.

Benzino and Eminem's 20-year-long beef could finally be ending with one last duel -- and the "Love & Hip Hop Atlanta" alum thinks he can win with ease, vowing he's in his rhyme prime!!!

TMZ Hip Hop recently chopped it up with Benzino as he soaked up some Miami rays, and first things first ... we got his beef expertise on Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole's brief battle, and the shocking apology that followed!!!

Like many rap pundits, Benzino said Cole's apology was bad for battling, but great for showing future artists that hip hop doesn't have to be so macho -- especially given the long history of murdered rappers.

Drake's new diss track's causing a firestorm online ... over the content and over whether or not it's really the rapper -- 'cause some fans think it's AI-generated.

The new track leaked online Saturday morning ... and, it's pretty dang explosive -- roasting a whole lotta artists like Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, Rick Ross, Future and tons more.

Drake takes a shot at Kendrick Lamar early on ... "You better drop and give 'em 50/Pipsqueak pipe down, you ain’t in no Big 3/SZA got you wiped down/Travis [Scott] got you wiped down/Savage got you wiped down/Like your label boy, you Interscope right now."

The diss seems about Kendrick Lamar's own shot at Drake and J. Cole ... claiming there was no Big Three while name-dropping their "First Person Shooter" song -- and, he saying he truly stood as the greatest of all time.

Rico Wade -- a top Atlanta-based producer and former collaborator with OutKast and TLC -- has died ... according to rap legend Killer Mike.

Killer Mike shared a couple pics of the Atlanta rap game mainstay to his Instagram early Saturday morning ... sending prayers to Wade's family and thanking him for bringing him into musical collective The Dungeon Family back in the day.

Mike didn't provide a cause of death ... and, fellow hip hop legends -- like CeeLo Green and Three 6 Mafia -- shared their condolences on the post.

Coachella is back ... and some of the biggest names have snagged invites to the hottest party in town during the festival weekend.

The Neon Carnival guest list is a well-guarded secret each year, but our party sources out in the desert tell us Kyle Richards, Paris Hilton, Bebe Rexha, Jonathan "Foodgod" Cheban and Tyga made the cut for Saturday night's bash, which is going down at the Desert International Horse Park in Thermal, CA -- not far from the main Coachella grounds.

Other favorites like rapper Coi Leray and actress Peyton List will also be partying the night away at the celeb-packed event.

Suge Knight says Warren G and Russell Simmons swindled him out of publishing dollars, but Warren is barking back with claims Suge has his facts all mixed up!!!

A fired-up WG says he broke from his boxing workout on Friday just to give Suge a piece of his mind ... responding to Suge making him his whippin' boy on the most recent 'Collect Call' podcast episode.

Suge claimed Snoop Dogg and Kurupt were Warren's ghostwriters on his 1994 debut album "Regulate... G Funk Era," which was released on a subsidiary label of Russell's Def Jam Records.

The album was a big hit ... it went 3X Platinum thanks to hits like "This D.J." and the certified hip hop classic "Regulate" with the late Nate Dogg -- a song Suge says he gave to Russell in good faith, having blown up on his "Above the Rim" soundtrack a year prior.

Now, because Snoop and Kurupt were signed to Suge's publishing, Suge expected a big payout, but says Russ pulled a fast one and falsely listed WG as a writer.

Suge also says Dr. Dre, who's Warren's stepbrother, used to beat Warren's ass for using phones in his presence ... for whatever reason.

According to Warren, Kurupt only assisted on the song "Do You See," and Snoop on "This D.J." ... but that's all.

Warren also denied the Dr. Dre beatdowns, but claimed he saved Suge from a couple of close calls at nightclubs back in the day -- he says he earned his ranking, and never had any ill will toward Suge.

NLE Choppa is officially in the fashion game through a new partnership with a former shot-caller at Kanye West's Yeezy house ... and they're making a splash with a neon yellow "Duck Boot!!!"

On Friday, the Memphis rapper and FCTRY LAb co-founder Omar Bailey rolled out the first of their limited-edition line -- just as NLE doubled up and dropped new music, too ... his "Slut Me Out 2" single.

NLE tells us he first got hip to Omar during his tenure working with Ye, and sought him out to infuse his artistic DNA into the boot's concept. He says the partnership was an easy one, because they've both got an entrepreneurial mindset.

He's not the only hip hop star to introduce custom kicks with a Black-owned brand this week -- Nicki Minaj also debuted her hot pink sneakers, giving the ladies a new reason to strut their stuff.

Choppa debuted the Duck Boot at Rolling Loud, and recently gave the first pair to Kai Cenat ... who was floored by the unique packaging and courtesy rubber duckies in the box.

J. Cole continues to weave a tangled web after backing out of a war with Kendrick Lamar ... as many fans now feel he's guilty of joining the anti-Drake campaign.

The Dreamville rapper is one of the guests on Future and Metro Boomin's new "We Still Don't Trust You" album -- popping up on the velvety smooth track, "Red Leather."

Cole spends his verse chronicling his struggles with monogamy as a rich, married man who could pull Rubi Rose with a single DM, but never addresses the ongoing drama between Drake and Kendrick, or Drake and any number of others, for that matter.

Future and Metro's "Like That" is reigning supreme on the Billboard Hot 100 for its 3rd straight week -- and Cole is just days removed from being a supporting act on Drake's 'Big as the What?' tour.

So, aligning with Drake's enemies ain't a good look, at least from Akademiks and Kai Cenat's POV.

Both streaming juggernauts leaned into the narrative trending on social media that accused Cole of switching sides -- many felt he could've detached himself from "We Still Don't Trust You" in light of recent events.

Ak says Cole sits amongst "the worst of type of people" ... smilin' in your face, while all the time they want to take your place.

Kai had a similar reaction and thinks Cole selfishly plotted against Drake.

TMZ Hip Hop just caught up with Honorable C-Note -- who scored production on both Future and Metro Boomin's albums -- and naturally, he honored Cole's decision to bow out gracefully.

Most fans definitely view it much differently.

Quavo isn't letting Chris Brown's scorned lover disses slide -- and showed he can play the same game of racking up streams with slick talk!!!

On his new track "Tender," Quavo ribs Chris for his history of domestic violence ... "You did the bitch wrong and now the bitch gone, she posted with a thug ... Call the bitch phone, she won't come home, don't beat her up/It must be the drugs, need to cross out your plug."

The woman he's referring to is not Rihanna, but Karrueche Tran -- remember, CB fired the first shot, slicing through Quavo on his new "11:11" deluxe album over his ex-GF Karrueche sliding with Huncho ... years ago, mind you.

Future and Metro Boomin are piling on to their chart-topping momentum with their "We Still Don't Trust You" album -- it includes round 2 of treating Drake like a speed bag, and this time The Weeknd and A$AP Rocky are throwing the punches!!!

Weeknd and Drake were once aligned to be OVO labelmates, but their relationship fizzled ... and Abel is telling the world he has no regrets!!!

On the song “All to Myself,” Weeknd croons slick disses aimed at Drake and his boy Baka Not Nice's social media antics ... "Could never diss my brothers, baby/When they got leaks in they operation/I thank God that I never signed my life away/ And we never do the big talk/ They shooters makin’ TikToks/ Got us laughin’ in the Lambo.”

Nicki Minaj's tour is breaking records and now she getting into the shoe game ... with her new custom sneaker line!!!

On Friday, Nicki and UK-based brand LØCI made their partnership official and debuted her Pink Friday footwear with a futuristic rollout and unveiled a pink low-top casual sneaker with red shoestrings and a portrait of Nicki's mug sealed on the tongue.

We're hearing Nicki's personally gravitated to the brand on account of her keen stylist sense and signed on as an owner and collaborator.

Turns out real estate's not all about location, location, location ... 'cause Kanye West's gutted Malibu mansion's not a hot ticket item -- and he's slashed the cost a lot to sell it.

TMZ has learned the mansion's price came down Wednesday ... It started with a $53 million price tag in January ... and has now dropped to $39 million this week. For those bad at math ... that's a $14 million price reduction.

The drop isn't totally shocking ... the house doesn't even really have walls, and it basically feels somewhat uninhabitable at this point -- so, whoever buys it needs to make serious renovations to the property, and it'll probably end up costing a ton of dough to do that.

Sisqó costarred on Mýa's debut single "It's All About Me" all the way back in 1997 -- and the two R&B forces are now combining their talents again for a long overdue sequel ... TMZ Hip Hop has learned.

Sisqó's team tells us he and Mýa have always kept a strong rapport on social media, and when seeing each other on the road.

Fans have been asking for a follow-up track for ages, and Sisqó and Mýa bowed to popular demand. They snapped a pic in the studio and confirmed the record is hot off the presses and should be dropping soon on Sisqó's new album!!!

They're often booked on the same R&B circuits -- they have a big concert this September -- and are known to surprise the crowd with a performance of their classic song.

The album is titled "Exodus" and will mark "The Thong Song" singer's first project in almost a decade, and his 4th overall.

Sisqó's team says the music is so electric, that it needs to drop when it’s hot outside ... so they're eyeing a late spring/early summer independent release.

Polo G's New York City trip to gear up for his long-delayed 4th album came to a screeching halt on Wednesday ... 'cause he was busted for gun possession.

Our law enforcement sources tell us ... the NYPD's 1st Precinct was notified that an employee of The Dominick Hotel found a loaded firearm inside one of their rooms.

We're told officers were able to ID Polo as being the occupant of the room ... and our sources say it was registered under his name, Taurus Bartlett, and the DOB also matched up.

Manhattan District Attorney's Office executed a search warrant for the hotel room and found a loaded Glock 23 firearm inside the bedroom side of the hotel room.

We're told a firearm trace came back negative and the weapon wasn't flagged as stolen ... and an arrest warrant for Polo was drawn up as a result. NYPD officers arrested Polo around 12:50 PM Wednesday and charged him with Criminal Possession of a Weapon in both the 2nd and 3rd degree.

Cops also say Polo was carrying more than $23k in cash at the time of his arrest. It's been a rough few months for Polo and his family.

We broke the initial story in November ... Polo's caught a separate gun charge and his brother Trench Baby was arrested for murder in California.

To make matters worse, Polo's mother and sister just engaged in a very nasty spat on social media that started with a fistfight on Easter Sunday.

We just caught Polo in NYC this week ... he was genuinely excited about finally launching his "Hood Poet" album and promised big surprises along the way.

Jeezy is now asking for primary custody of his and Jeannie Mai's young daughter amid their divorce ... claiming Jeannie isn't even taking care of their kid herself.

The rapper just filed new legal docs -- obtained by TMZ -- asking a judge to toss out the current custody and parenting time arrangement he hashed out in mediation with his estranged wife ... and requesting that his daughter be allowed to live with him full-time.

Jeezy says he initially agreed to move to the basement amid their breakup. However, he says Jeannie later moved out of their family home, and took their little girl with her.