Hip Hop

Diddy's ex Cassie seemed to be sporting bodily injuries as they attended a glitzy L.A. film premiere just 2 days after his now-notorious 2016 beatdown of her that was captured on hotel surveillance cameras.

Check out these images from March 7, 2016 ... Diddy and Cassie were dressed to the nines while posing for pics on the red carpet for the opening of a movie she starred in called "The Perfect Match."

Like any normal couple, they were standing side by side and holding hands, but a closer look at Cassie's extremities showed well-hidden signs of what had happened to her -- although heavily covered by makeup, there were faint marks and bruises on Cassie's arms and legs.

Kanye West and Bianca Censori chowing down at America's Diner isn't something you'd expect, but their affordable meal comes as a major shakeup goes down at Ye's company.

New video obtained by TMZ shows Kanye -- with a white hoodie tight around his face -- walking into a Santa Barbara Denny's behind Bianca, who was in one of those skintight nude-colored bodysuits she loves. They were keeping a somewhat low profile, but it's clearly them.

We're told they arrived at the restaurant around 8 PM Monday, and were very animated with each other during their meal. Plus, eyewitnesses say an issue with the food might have sparked an argument with their server.

Public distancing from Diddy is in full swing in the hip hop community as artists watch the brutal footage of him assaulting his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura ... and some are calling for his head.

50 Cent didn't react with his usual jokes this time around, but tossed a sarcastic jab at Diddy's legal counsel for their inevitable defense of their client ... quipping the entire saga gave him "Maury vibes."

The G-Unit rapper previously announced he's putting together his own Diddy documentary ... so, he's not only watching this from his usual vantage point -- as social media troll supreme -- but also as a producer.

Roddy Ricch and his ex-girlfriend Alexandra Kiser have reached a custody agreement for their 3-year-old son ... finally putting an end to their parental tug-o-war.

"The Box" rapper will have joint legal custody and is getting physical custody of the kid for a couple days each week from Tuesdays to Thursdays.

He also has to pay Alexandra $8K a month in child support ... on top of their son's private school tuition, medical bills, any special-needs therapy, and additional extracurricular activities.

An ex-federal prosecutor is weighing in on Diddy's assault video -- and she says while this isn't necessarily a smoking gun in the investigation he's facing, it certainly doesn't help him.

We talked to Katie Cherkasky -- who's had years of experience with these sorts of legal matters -- on "TMZ Live" Friday ... where she declared that the now-viral video, in which Diddy can be seen beating Cassie -- should make him and his camp worried.

Katie says the tape gives credibility to Cassie on multiple fronts -- both in the public eye, but also with the feds who are drilling down into major allegations against Diddy right now.

Lil Yachty doesn't think Drake is permanently scarred by his battle with Kendrick Lamar -- although, almost everyone agrees he lost ... Champagne Papi's still king in Yachty's book!!!

The Boatster broke his silence about the Drake-Kendrick beef on his "A Safe Space" podcast after lyrically getting looped into the mix.

Kendrick poked at Yachty's friendship with Drake on "Euphoria" when he growled, "Yachty can't give you no swag neither, I don't give a f**k who ya hang with" -- an incredible strategy Yachty says, but not enough to ruin the OVO legacy.

1:13 PM PT -- A rep for InterContinental Hotels & Resorts tells TMZ ... "This hotel is no longer under IHG management, and we do not have any access to prior incident records or footage."

10:56 AM PT -- Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... there is no record cops can track down as it pertains to this 2016 incident at the InterContinental, so it doesn't appear to have been mentioned to cops in a police report, or otherwise reported to the authorities.

In terms of cops opening a case on this now, LAPD tells TMZ ... For cases before January 2020, it's a 3 year statute of limitations -- and after January 2020, it's 5 years. In other words, there's no chance cops will dive into this specific incident for potential criminal charges at this point, at least as far as the LAPD is concerned.

Diddy brutally beat up his ex-girlfriend Cassie at a hotel in L.A. 8 years ago -- something she detailed in her lawsuit ... and which we're now seeing for the first time on camera.

Cardi B isn't shying away from her parenting duties even as a multi-millionaire --- in fact, it sounds like she wants little to no help ... including from her own parents.

In her recent Rolling Stone interview, Cardi revealed she isn't too keen on relying on her folks for assistance in helping bring up her 2-year-old and 5-year-old, Wave and Kulture ... whom she shares with her husband Offset.

Cardi says, "I had them kids. They came out of my p***y, not my mom's. They mine."

Lil Baby and his music video crew got caught in the crossfire -- that's the early word from cops investigating the gunfire that erupted in the middle of his Atlanta music video shoot.

TMZ Hip Hop obtained audio of the chaotic 911 call during the shooting ... and you can hear dozens of rounds exploding through the air.

One caller sounded so frantic, he couldn't provide the dispatcher with any usable details.

Angel Reese made her own WNBA debut following Caitlin Clark's historic opening night -- and although the rookie sensation from LSU also took a loss, she still had Latto front and center to support her!!!

Latto snuck in a quick interview at the Chicago Sky's season opener against the Dallas Wings Wednesday night -- she only flew into Texas to see Angel play.

The "Big Energy" rapper told viewers she believes 2024 is the year of the woman and backing the WNBA falls under that umbrella.

Cardi B won’t be casting her ballot for Joe Biden or Donald Trump this November … 'cause she’s calling them both failures as Commanders In Chief.

Cardi wasn't going out of her way to discuss the upcoming election, but in her extensive Rolling Stone profile that dropped Thursday, the topic came up ... and she emptied the clip on both candidates' presidential performance during their respective times in office.

She says ... "I don’t f*** with both of y’all n****s" -- adding that Biden's current domestic and foreign policies have been the source of "layers and layers of disappointment" for her.

50 Cent seems bored with the lack of Diddy headlines since the federal raids, so he's switching up his daily quota of petty for another of his favorite targets ... Jay-Z.

Perhaps, attempting to reignite their rivalry, 50 slapped an unflattering super close-up pic of Jay on IG Wednesday, and jabbed at him with an unsubstantiated wild theory -- that Diddy's legal trouble is the real reason Jay shuttered the annual Roc Nation brunch on Grammy weekend.

He laid it out in his caption ... "Jay in hibernation he ain’t coming outside till this shit with puff blow over, no brunch, no lunch, No dinner. LOL 😆 IM ALL YOU GOT IM OUTSIDE!"

Soulja Boy is having a change of heart about warring with Metro Boomin -- and apologized to the "Like That" producer for his unsavory comments about his deceased mom.

On Wednesday, Soulja shot Metro an apology just as random as the recent bombs in his direction ... "I apologize to @MetroBoomin for overreacting over an old tweet. Condolences to his mom. I’m going to seek therapy and anger management. I’m done responding to hate, new or old. 💯🙏🏾"

Soulja's beef with Metro was an old one indeed.

Lauryn Hill closed last year celebrating the legacy of her iconic, and to-date, only album, "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" with a string of sold-out concerts for its 25th anniversary ... so what's next???

That was the million-dollar question when TMZ Hip Hop spoke with Ms. Hill and her son YG Marley in NYC as they were leaving the 'Tonight Show.'

L-Boogie fans blossomed into adulthood with 'Miseducation,' and renewed buzz about a possible sophomore album feels mighty timely!!!

Gunna just released his fifth album "One of Wun" at a time when hip hop is highly volatile -- rappers are feuding left and right, but he just wants to drop vibes!!!

TMZ Hip Hop got Gunna at LAX, while on a quick break from his 'Bittersweet' tour, and got a gauge on the reception from his latest project.

Gunna's new album is projected to do around 65,000 sales in its debut week. Not a bad showing at a time when Taylor Swift's 'Tortured Poets Department' has topped Billboard's album chart 4 weeks straight ... and Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" single became one of the biggest rap songs ever -- at least on Spotify, where it has a record-setting 100 million streams in 9 days.

Lil Baby's planned music video in Atlanta sounded like a war zone after flurries of shots were fired in the area -- and TMZ Hip Hop's obtained video of the ear-shattering scene!!!

The video unfolds with dozens of staffers and people setting up filming equipment Tuesday afternoon when the shooting began from what sounds like a semi-automatic weapon firing relentlessly for about 6 seconds.

Naturally, the cameraman ducks for cover and the video gets shaky as he points the lens toward the ground, but the background conversation fills in a bit of the story's blanks.