Hip Hop

Rachel Lindsay was seen spending a lot of time this weekend with what may be a new male companion who has ties to a major A-list artist ... TMZ has learned.

Witnesses tell us the former "Bachelorette" star and Willie Jones, who collaborated on Beyonce's Cowboy Carter album, were spotted together on Friday at iHeart’s Jingle Ball in Los Angeles.

We're told the two enjoyed each other's company in the Patrón Lounge suite, where they sat closely, chatting, and laughing throughout the night. Our witnesses say when T-Pain hit the stage, the pair got up to dance.

The two continued to spend time together over the weekend. On Sunday, they were spotted shopping at the Melrose Trading Post, where a store called Blk Rchvs posted a photo of them on social media. In the snap, Willie is seen with his arm around Rachel, fueling even more questions about their status.

G-G-G-Unit rappers Tony Yayo and Uncle Murda aren’t victim-shamers, but they aren’t buying the new allegations being levied against Jay-Z and Diddy -- and have some interesting theories on what they believe the attorney is selling!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with both Yayo and Murda at LAX today and they call the filing -- which claims Jay and Diddy both raped a minor in the presence of an unnamed female celeb -- a total SHAKEDOWN!!!

50 Cent was left speechless for the most part but really seems curious about Jay’s alignment with the NFL in the wake of the allegations.

Jay-Z says the woman who's suing him, along with Diddy, for allegedly raping her should be forced to reveal her identity, instead of pursuing the case anonymously ... TMZ has learned.

Jay-Z's attorney Alex Spiro filed docs Monday morning, asking the judge to make the plaintiff reveal herself. In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Spiro says "Fair is fair. It is not consistent with justice, fairness, or the rules governing federal proceedings for the Plaintiff and her counsel to smear [Jay-Z]'s good name."

Further, the docs state Jay-Z's built an "impeccable reputation" and has never been accused of, or engaged in, any sexual misconduct.

Jay-Z is vowing to fight allegations he and Diddy sexually assaulted a minor to the very end ... and several big-name rap stars are reacting over the brewing legal battle!!!

As Jay and attorney Tony Buzbee fire words back and forth, 50 Cent questioned Jay's status as the producer for the upcoming Super Bowl halftime show next year ... valid points in today's "cancel culture."

Soulja Boy called big 🧢 on the accusations and argued that celebrities -- especially African Americans -- are being targeted because of their wealth and success.

5:08 PM PT -- Tony Buzbee, who filed the suit on behalf of Jane Doe, tells TMZ ... "Mr. Carter previously denied being the one who sued me and my firm. He even filed his frivolous case under a pseudonym. What he fails to say in his recent statement is my firm sent his lawyer a demand letter on behalf of an alleged victim and that victim never demanded a penny from him. Instead, she only sought a confidential mediation. Since I sent the letter on her behalf, Mr. Carter has not only sued me, but he has tried to bully and harass me and this plaintiff. His conduct has had the opposite impact. She is emboldened. I’m very proud of her resolve."

5:00 PM PT -- Diddy's lawyers tell TMZ … "This amended complaint and the recent extortion lawsuit against Mr. Buzbee exposes his barrage of lawsuits against Mr. Combs for what they are: shameless publicity stunts, designed to extract payments from celebrities who fear having lies spread about them, just as lies have been spread about Mr. Combs.  As his legal team has said before, Mr. Combs has full confidence in the facts and the integrity of the judicial process.  In court, the truth will prevail: that Mr. Combs never sexually assaulted or trafficked anyone—man or woman, adult or minor."

Jay-Z has been sued for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl in a lawsuit tied to disgraced rapper, Diddy ... which the music mogul is calling "a blackmail attempt."

In the documents obtained by TMZ ... Jay-Z is named by an anonymous accuser, who says the rapper and Diddy drugged and raped her back in 2000.

The plaintiff, who is suing as Jane Doe, says the alleged assault occurred at an after-party following the MTV Video Music Awards.

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky continued their string of high-profile appearances on Saturday night, stepping out for a chic dinner date during Miami’s buzzing Art Basel weekend.

The power couple turned heads as they were photographed leaving upscale South Beach restaurant, Carbone. Rihanna sported a grunge-inspired mini dress featuring a ripped design, paired with matching distressed tights and sleek heels. Rocky opted for a cool and casual look, layering denim on denim on denim, finished with black shoes.

The Miami outing follows their appearance on the red carpet at the Footwear News Achievement Awards in New York City on Wednesday. The duo also shared a kiss inside the event at Cipriani South Street, where Rocky was honored.

Eminem performed in front of a packed crowd of hundreds of thousands of fans this weekend less than one week after the death of his mom.

The rapper had an audience of more than 40,000 fans at Etihad Park on Saturday where he delivered a powerful performance that marked the third after-race concert of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix series.

The show comes just days after TMZ broke the story that his mom, Debbie Nelson, died following a battle with advanced lung cancer. She died in St. Joseph, Missouri at the age of 69.

Ice Spice is having none from the haters giving her grief about toning up her figure ... and she used a hilarious SpongeBob meme to drive the point home.

The rapper posted some snaps Friday, showing off her new toned look ... and, of course, some clowns just had to say something ... like one who replied, "I liked u when u was bigger."

Clearly, she saw the popping off and seemingly responded on her IG story -- with a meme of a bloated, gross SpongeBob SquarePants with the caption, "nah she mid bro" -- signifying those criticizing her ain't exactly Brad Pitt.

Ice has really gotten after it in the gym ... posting a vid last month of her doing her first pull-up -- after strutting her stuff at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

She went off back in August, shutting down Ozempic rumors in a chat on X Spaces, saying ... "I wish y'all never learned the word Ozempic. That's one thing I wish. Oh, my God, like, what even is Ozempic? What the f*** is that? Genuinely, what is that?"

Ice has made it clear ... her fire look is thanks to the gym, clean eating, and nonstop touring.

"Take a little sip" and "tap in" to these fire photos of Saweetie lookin' like a sexy snow bunny on stage! Do you think you've got what it takes to find the minor switch-ups?  There's only one way to find out ...

Earlier this week in Fort Worth, Texas, the rapper hit the stage and grabbed the mic at iHeartRadio's Jingle Ball 2024. Saweetie sure looked sweet donning a pair of boots with the fur and a white hat to top off her winter look ... Long hair, don't care!

Hercy Miller -- Master P's son -- is one step closer to having his name cleared in his refrigerator theft case ... prosecutors tell TMZ Sports they've filed documents to drop the felony charge he had been facing.

A spokesperson for the Iron County Attorney's Office tells us ... they submitted a motion to dismiss Miller's case in court on Friday afternoon. If a judge ultimately signs off on it, Miller will be in the clear.

A formal ruling on the matter is expected to come down by the end of next week.

Diddy's facing a mountain of lawsuits from anonymous accusers, but one accuser's name has now been revealed in court docs ... and she's the ex-wife of a professional hockey player.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, one of the Jane Does suing Diddy for sexual assault was ordered to reveal her identity if she wanted to continue her lawsuit ... and now we've learned the woman suing is Anna Kane, who used to be married to NHL star Evander Kane.

FYI, Evander has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

Anna amended her lawsuit to include her government name. As we already told you, she claims she was just 17 years old and still in high school when Diddy, and others, gang-raped her.

Lil Pump is predicting all Americans' next 4 years will be the best of their lives -- now that his beloved Donald Trump is returning to the White House!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with Pump geeked up at LAX today, rapping his own version of Eminem's "Without Me" to bask in the moment ... somewhat ironic, considering Slim campaigned for the other candidate.

The past few elections created a political monster outta Pump ... he's relentlessly supported Trump through thick and thin and got his wish this past November with the blistering election results.

DJ Akademiks’ allegiance to Drake has long been established ... but according to his Spotify Wrapped results, he spent the most time streaming Kendrick Lamar this year!!!

Kendrick’s record-breaking diss “Not Like Us” topped Ak’s Spotify Wrapped and one of Dot’s other Drake disses, “Euphoria,” ranked at No. 3 — ahead of Drake’s shots to Kendrick, “Family Matters” and "Push Ups."

Ak was scrolling through his live stream and accidentally showed the chat his Kendrick results and sheepishly had no explanation ... he a fan, he a fan, he a fan?

Andrew Schulz got even more spicy responding to Kendrick Lamar in his recent podcast ... insinuating that if push came to shove, he'd physically push up on K. Dot in a prison cell -- and have his way with him. 🤨

Just like his "Flagrant" podcast title suggests, Schulz got extremely graphic describing his intentions with Kendrick's rear end ... "I would make love to [Kendrick] and there's nothing he could do about it ... if we're in a cell, and we're bored and we're done tattooing each other -- whatever you do in a cell, and we ran out of board games and we did all the other things, and we cleaned everything, and I'm like, 'Man, I might as well f*** you.' There's nothing he can physically do to stop that."

In case viewers were missing out on details, Schulz outlined how he'd put Kendrick's legs in the air "and choose a position."

Backstreet Boys singer Kevin Richardson says he didn't see Flavor Flav get kicked out of the green room at the NBC tree lighting ceremony in NYC ... 'cause he woulda stepped in to help his friend if he did.

Kevin was at LAX on Thursday when a photog asked him about what went down backstage at Wednesday's tree lighting event at Rockefeller Center ... including Flav's claim that security guards kicked him out.

The BSB says he saw FF and dapped him up before their gig, but says the greenroom was a madhouse and security was extra tight in the wake of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson's murder down the street earlier in the day.

LL Cool J only needs a mirror to see the "greatest rapper of all time" -- a claim that's not getting any pushback from Slick Rick.

If LL says he's the G.O.A.T. -- it's because he coined the term!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with the legendary rapper at LAX on Thursday ... MC Ricky D got his start a few years after LL on Def Jam Records and for all intents and purposes, holds his own place in hip hop history.