Hip Hop

Rich The Kid just took a plea deal in his Miami Beach trespass and resisting arrest case from December that impeded a bomb threat investigation ... TMZ Hip Hop has learned.

We're told the "Carnival" rapper agreed to plead no contest to the resisting arrest and trespassing charges on Monday in exchange for avoiding jail time with a sentence of time served for the 1 day he already spent in Miami-Dade County jail at the time of the arrest ... and a $1,000 fine.

Rich’s lawyers Bradford Cohen and Saam Zangeneh tell TMZ Hip Hop … "We believed that if we proceeded to go to trial we would have been successful."

Tom Hanks doesn't need Genius annotations to get the play-by-play on the Drake and Kendrick Lamar battle ... 'cause his son Chet can break it down ... and he did just that.

Chet -- who's moonlighted as a rapper/reggae artist in the past, and has a firm grasp on all things hip-hop -- shared a hilarious text message exchange with his movie star dad this week ... who was apparently uber-curious about the year's biggest moment in pop culture.

You can easily see Chet's inner rap nerd burst out explaining the beef with intense detail ... but he may have lost his pops along the way, especially based on how Tom responded.

Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and their fellow first-round draft picks might be pros now, but they ain't done learning -- soaking in some wise words from Tom Brady and Jay-Z at a luncheon over the weekend.

The Bears and Commanders top picks -- as well as Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, Giants receiver Malik Nabers, Raiders tight end Brock Bowers and Broncos quarterback Bo Nix -- attended the gathering held by Fanatics founder Michael Rubin ... and hopefully they were taking notes, 'cause TB12, Hov and the businessman shared some serious nuggets.

"When you have 53 guys on the team, you think it's about you -- it ain't about you, it's about us," Brady said during the lunch. "And the biggest problem I see with a lot of the young players today, you guys are making it too much about I and me because of social media, because of branding and all that. It's fine. You're not gonna win."

Diddy's apology video for his brutal 2016 assault of ex-GF Cassie Ventura has blossomed a ton of new opinions and commentary ... from Bad Boy associates and beyond.

Kelly Price -- who recorded with Diddy and the late Notorious B.I.G. several times in the '90s -- didn't cast the disgraced mogul out completely ... offering up prayers of encouragement on social media, while commenting underneath his upload this weekend.

The gospel singer's benevolence while the Cassie video is still on top of people's minds didn't sit well with many though -- and the intense backlash forced Kelly to clarify herself in a 12-minute rebuttal, with her message being ... hate the actions, love the man in a nutshell.

Diddy isn't hiding from cameras in the wake of the Cassie video – if anything, he's making a point to be out in public ... stepping out into the wild and seemingly telegraphing a few things, if these pics are any indication.

The rap mogul looked unbothered as he smoked a cigar while taking a leisurely stroll through his Miami neighborhood Sunday. Dressed in an all-white outfit and wearing a medallion -- which featured a childhood photo of himself and his father -- Diddy appeared to be signaling something with his look ... although, he stayed mum when he ran into photogs.

Instead, the rapper offered up a one word response, "Love" ... which he supported by making the shape of the letter "L" with his hand. Hard to say for sure what he's trying to communicate – but on its face, he's showing that he ain't ducking out of the spotlight ... even at this point, with many in the public having turned on him.

Kristin Chenoweth is weighing in on the Diddy-Cassie saga – and somewhat surprisingly ... she says she's praying for the guy, noting this chapter hits close to home for her.

The actress spoke out on the 2016 video making the rounds – which shows Diddy beating on Cassie – and says she has her own reasons for being rattled by the footage ... which is why she admitted to her X followers that he's in her thoughts.

The comment raised alarms among her fans, who asked for more insight into her cryptic response -- while some were quick to slam her for seemingly empathizing with him. However, she quickly clarified, revealing she's actually a survivor of domestic abuse herself -- which is why she felt compelled to comment.

Cassie's legal team is crapping on Diddy's apology over the leaked 2016 video that shows him assaulting her -- calling him a hypocrite ... and suggesting he misled the public.

One of Cassie's lawyers, Meredith Firetog, issued a statement Sunday -- saying, "Combs’ most recent statement is more about himself than the many people he has hurt."

She adds, "When Cassie and multiple other women came forward, he denied everything and suggested that his victims were looking for a payday." Of course, she's referencing Diddy's strong denial in December ... this after he'd been sued by yet another accuser, post-Cassie.

Diddy's uttering his first words about the videotaped beating of Cassie ... saying he "takes full responsibility for his actions," and claims he's already gone to rehab.

He posted a video Sunday morning, looking directly into camera, he said, "It's so difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life, but sometimes you gotta do that. I was f***ed up. I mean, I hit rock bottom."

He says he's not making any excuses for his behavior -- the brutal March 2016 assault on his then-girlfriend Cassie while they were staying at the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles. The surveillance video -- obtained by CNN -- showed Diddy chase her down a hallway, grab her by the back of the neck and hurl her to the ground .. where he kicked her and dragged her.

Diddy's former employees at Revolt, the media company he co-founded, are reacting to the horrific video of him assaulting Cassie.

The company posted a statement saying, "We are deeply saddened and disturbed by the recent video circulation of our former chairman, Sean "Diddy" Combs,”

It added, "Even with his recent separation from REVOLT, it is still our duty to address this matter, and recognize the direct impact it has on our staff, our audience, and the culture we represent."

Drake's losses are coming at a fast and furious clip -- the embattled rapper/sports gambler put more than half a million down for Tyson Fury to win his boxing match ... and, he did not.

It's debatable who's in more pain this morning ... Drake or Tyson, after the boxer lost to Oleksandr Usyk by a split decision Saturday night in Saudia Arabia. Prior to the bout, Drake posted his $565,000 wager backing Tyson, and IF he'd won ... Drake would've won $1 million.

Shoulda woulda coulda ... the massive financial blow has fans buzzing about the ol' "Drake curse" in the sports world.

Joe Budden's explaining a controversial cut to a recent episode of his podcast... diving into why he edited a segment about Diddy, and asserting he's not in Diddy's pocket.

The hip hop commentator says he was live on "The Joe Budden Podcast" Friday when CNN posted the video of Diddy assaulting Cassie from 2016. The episode was uploaded Saturday with the description promising Joe would discuss it.

But, he never touched on it ... completely editing out the segment. Upset fans demanded answers, and JB organized a discussion on Twitter Spaces to address the controversy.

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.