TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Izzy Drake's career as a professional Drake impersonator is on the ropes ... a wobble he's looking to shake by challenging his idol to a $1M celebrity boxing match.

Damon Feldman of Celebrity Boxing tells us he signed the Drake imposter and booked a fight for an August 27th event ... whether the real Drake fights the fake Drake or not.

The stakes here are high ... fake Drake has agreed to stop impersonating the real Drizzy if he loses.

TMZ Hip Hop broke the story of fake Drake's embarrassing VIP eviction from one of real Drake's favorite Houston nightclubs.

Outkast's Big Boi is divorced from Sherlita Patton, officially bringing their 20 years of marriage to a close.

Legal documents obtained by TMZ show the court entered the final divorce decree last month, making this a pretty quick dissolution. Big Boi just filed for the divorce in April.

In his filing, he said there was "no reasonable hope of reconciliation" between Sherlita and him -- noting they'd already separated and were living apart.

The two agreed to a postnuptial agreement in 2016, in which they divided up their assets and debts, and more recently agreed to a confidential settlement to tie up any loose ends. The exes also agreed to keep details of their finances private.

Both parties are looking to avoid any mud-slinging -- as part of the divorce, they agreed neither would make threats of "injury, maltreating, molesting, harassing, harming, or abusing" in any way shape or form.

Translation: Let's keep this above the waist and amicable.

As we reported, Sherlita filed for divorce from the rapper way back in 2013, demanding financial support and full custody. Big Boi responded she wasn't getting anything without a fight, but the couple reconciled.

Jack Harlow's squashed his beef with Brandy, but now he's got PETA on his ass ... and his manager, DJ Drama's speaking up for him, saying the org has the wrong idea about what went down on Jack's music vid shoot.

We caught up with Jack’s Generation Now boss at LAX, where he was feeling great about a big biz move. More on that in a moment, Drama also addressed the controversy over Jack's Drake-featured "Churchill Downs" video.

ICYMI ... PETA had a cow over the music vid, calling for JH and Drizzy to make huge donations to combat racehorse abuse. The video shows horses racing at the 2022 Kentucky Derby.

Drama says he and the team brought no harm to any horses, and coming down on the rappers is a bit misguided. Bottom line? Doesn't sound like PETA's getting those donations.

All that aside, there are big things on the horizon for Drama and Generation Now, which he runs with producer Don Cannon and exec Leighton "Lake" Morrison.

Just last week, they signed an extended deal with Atlantic Records, their partner since 2015 ... a moment that created a "grown man" celebration for Drama.

There's also Jack's upcoming role in the "White Men Can't Jump" reboot ... and if this all works to perfection, Drama sees his protégé landing in Will Smith and Mark Wahlberg's territory.

Diddy had a lot to celebrate following the 2022 BET Awards, but turned his celebration into work as well -- shooting a project with Mary J. Blige and Yung Miami.

TMZ Hip Hop obtained video from inside the after party -- at Diddy's L.A. mansion -- where he appeared to be directing a music video ... most likely something for his upcoming R&B album on Motown Records.

You can even hear Mary singing over the smoothed-out track as Miami raps ... a fitting kick-off to the new Love Records movement.

The backdrop for the shoot looks mighty familiar -- reminiscent of one Diddy used for his iconic "Mo Money, Mo Problems" music vid.

At one point, Diddy told onlookers to refrain from filming as he was trying to get the set-ups correct with Miami's Quality Control manager Pierre “Pee” Thomas.

It wasn't all work, though -- it's a Diddy after-party, after all -- as Chris Brown, Tiffany Haddish, Wiz Khalifa, Tyga, Bobby Brown, Karrueche Tran and many others showed up at his crib for the festivities.

Earlier on Sunday, celebs packed into L.A.'s Microsoft Theater to see Diddy receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the BET Awards.

Kendrick Lamar's blinged-out crown of thorns is front and center for his biggest moments this year -- first debuting it on the cover of his 'Mr. Morale' album, and most recently at K-Dot’s headlining performance at Glastonbury Fest.

He closed his performance in the UK this weekend with "Savior" in a passionate theatrical performance ... complete with fake blood trickling down his face from the thorns.

Kendrick used the moment to slam the Supreme Court for overturning Roe v. Wade -- repeatedly yelling, "God speed for women's rights ... they judged you, they judged Christ."

Sources involved in the presentation tell TMZ Hip Hop the crown is actually "comfortable enough to run in" or, in this case, perform in ... to a crowd of 200,000 people, no less!

According to Vogue, the titanium thinking cap was designed by K-Dot, his pgLang partner Dave Free and Tiffany & Co. ... and took 10 months to complete. It's made up of 8,000 diamonds!!!

If you saw Babyface and Chance The Rapper all buddy buddy at the BET Awards and thought ... "Hmm!! That's interesting" -- you're spot on, because it turns out that was more than just a photo-op, it was quite intentional.

Sources close to the situation tell TMZ Hip Hop Chance and 'Face have been collaborating in the studio with hopes to use the record as part of Babyface’s upcoming project.

BF has written loads of hits with the likes of Whitney Houston, Toni Braxton, Bobby Brown and many, many more … and we hear he keeps up with all waves of music and genuinely took a liking to Chance. It's similar to how he and Ella Mai got together for their recent track, "Keep On Fallin" … which they performed Sunday at the BET Awards.

Drake can pop champagne, because he just unloaded the main residence of his YOLO estate.

TMZ has learned the deal closed Friday, with an unknown buyer scooping up Drake's former pad for $12 million ... which is well below the $14.8 million asking price.

Remember ... Champagne Papi's YOLO estate is made up of 3 contiguous homes in an exclusive neighborhood in Hidden Hills.

Drake put the entire compound on the market back in March, drawing interest from celebs like Britney Spears and Caitlyn Jenner, before Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford dropped $11 million on the 2 smaller homes.

The main residence, which just sold, is an English Tudor ... and it's 12,500 square feet of pure luxury.

The place has all the bells and whistles ... including 6 fireplaces, a wine cellar and tasting room, plus a 25-seat theater and naturally, a recording studio.

The backyard is a total oasis ... featuring a huge swimming pool with a spa grotto, swim-up bar, waterfalls and an 80 foot long rock waterslide, surrounded by big-screen TVs.

Oh and Drake's place also has separate courts to play tennis, basketball and sand volleyball ... plus a horse stable, equestrian ring and a mechanical riding bull.

Usher inserted a major key into his mentor-mogul L.A. Reid's 66th birthday party ... in the form of a brand-spankin' new Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet!

The glitzy gift marked a full circle moment for the singer and mega-producer -- L.A. actually bought Usher the same model Porsche back in 1997 when Usher released his classic, "You Make Me Wanna" via L.A.'s LaFace Records.

One attendee told us L.A. was absolutely floored by the sentimental, and expensive, gift.

We’re told Saturday’s event was dubbed the “Bel Air BackYard BBQ" and powered by Jay-Z’s Dusse and Cyber Yachts … as you can see from the lively pics.

Around 100 of L.A.'s close friends and associates -- including T.I., Jeezy, Jacquees and several music industry bigwigs -- were in the crowd.

Kanye West popped up for a rare appearance ... this time at the 2022 BET Awards ... to pay tribute to his favorite artist -- Diddy.

Kanye made a surprise appearance Sunday night, at L.A.'s Microsoft Theater ... dressed head to toe in black.

Ye took the stage to honor Sean "Diddy" Combs, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award. Kanye gave a lengthy speech ... calling Diddy his favorite artist and talking about the impact he's had on his own life.

Kanye said, "I go to him for advice to this day. He inspires so many of my choices, so many of my life choices. My wife choices". He also let folks know he's taking a hiatus and wanted to "declare myself dead" .... but says, he wanted to make sure he was there for Diddy.

Of course, Kanye has mainly been off the grid, since April ... after pulling out of Coachella.

Moments after the intro from Kanye and Babyface, Diddy took the stage. He dedicated the moment to his ex, Kim Porter, who died back in 2018. He said, "I just want to say thank you to Kim."

Jussie Smollett is back in the limelight just 3 months after getting released from prison ... after attending the BET Awards and getting incredulous reactions online.

The actor showed up at Sunday night's ceremony in LA, all smiles ... telling ET he's excited to be "expanding his empire."

He was asked how he feels about working his way back into Hollywood, but Jussie doesn't see it that way -- he says this has always been the plan.

Twitter was on fire as JS walked the red carpet and took his seat ... memes were created in his name, while some called out BET for allowing "race-baiting liars" in its space.

Sunday night's host, Taraji P. Henson, has been a vocal supporter of Jussie -- they both worked on "Empire" ... but she was silent about her co-star during the ceremony.

Jussie still insists he did not lie about what he says was a homophobic and racist attack, because IF he had lied he'd be a total piece of s**t -- and he claims everyone knows he's not that.

The BET Awards are going off tonight, but what TV cameras can’t show you is how hyped the celebs are behind the scenes.

The audience is full of big names at the Microsoft Theater in LA Sunday night ... Lena Waithe, Cynthia Erivo, Billy Porter, Janelle Monáe, Ari Lennox, Ella Mai, and Lucky Daye -- to name a few!!!

Everyone from the front to the back had good vibes all night with Taraji P. Henson hosting ... and those A+ performances kept them on their feet.

Lizzo kicked the night off in all gold, performing one of her hits -- and you know it was "About Damn Time" for a flute solo.

Jack Harlow brought out Lil Wayne and Brandy for his debut performance ... this coming after the guy got in a little heat -- he recently admitted he wasn't aware of the impact she made in the R&B game.

Latto's W was one of the biggest of the night -- she took home the award for Best New Artist, and the crowd clearly had her support.

Vic Mensa's pleading guilty to possession of a controlled substance, but he won't do any time behind bars after striking a deal with prosecutors ... TMZ has learned.

Kendra Glover, a rep for the Loudoun County Commonwealth's Attorney, tells TMZ ... Mensa pled guilty to one count of possession of a Schedule III controlled substance, which is a Class 1 misdemeanor.

We're told as part of the plea deal he got 12 months in jail, but that was suspended -- meaning instead of serving it behind bars, he'll have a year of unsupervised probation.

Vic will also have to take a substance abuse assessment, perform 25 hours of community service, and pay a $1k fine. BTW, he'll get 50 percent off that fine if he successfully completes the other probation terms.

As we've reported, Vic was arrested back in January at Dulles International airport for going through customs with a stash of shrooms.

Vic tells TMZ ... "In this case, I have decided to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge. I have been extremely vocal about my mental health, the culture at large and access to mental health treatment. It is important to note the extensive research being done on the topic of psilocybin [shrooms] and the many significant movements underway for legalization and decriminalization.

He continues, "Esteemed universities such as Johns Hopkins, University of California, NYU, Mount Sinai School of Medicine and The Imperial College of London have all immersed themselves in years-long research programs with full departments and centers dedicated to this work. Unfortunately, our laws have not kept up with the research showing that psychedelic plants and compounds can be successfully used to treat otherwise treatment-resistant mental illness."

Rapper Shyne is jumping back into the music scene in a big way ... he's set to join a ton of artists at the BET Awards to honor one of the biggest names in the game.

The Belizean rapper-turned-politician is gearing up to take the stage for Sunday night's ceremony ... in recognition of Diddy's Lifetime Achievement Award.

Shyne's going to be performing one of his classics from 2000, "Bad Boyz" ... the guy hasn't done the song live much -- once in a lifetime opportunity for fans to witness.

Shyne's been getting into politics since laying down track after track in the industry ... he currently lives in Belize where he serves as Leader of the Opposition and the Ambassador of Music. He's also in Belize's House of Representatives.

Travis Scott is getting dragged for his latest purchase, a $5.5 million luxury car ... the family of a 9-year-old who died at Astroworld says it's just not a good look.

Bob Hillard, the attorney for the family of Ezra Blount, tells TMZ ... Ezra would still be alive today, enjoying his summer, if Travis would've spent half of what he paid for the Bugatti on simple safety measures at the deadly music festival.

As we reported ... Ezra, who was trampled at Astroworld, sued Travis before he died from his injuries ... and Travis recently splurged on a new Bugatti Veyron Chiron Super Sport despite the mountain of lawsuits he's facing.

While Ezra's attorney says Travis has every right to live life as he sees fit, including buying what he wants, Hillard rips Travis' choices as "excessive" ... and says everything Travis does should be questioned because of what happened at Astroworld.

Ezra's lawyer also has some choice words for Travis' camp ... ripping them for trying to make Travis look good with a $5.5 million car in his driveway as the Astroworld litigation heats up.

We reached out to Travis' reps ... so far no word back.

Lizzo isn’t on board with SCOTUS reversing Roe v. Wade and opening the door for states to ban abortions ... so, the “Grrls” rapper put her money -- a lot of it -- where her emotions are.

In a passionate round of tweets, Lizzo revealed she’s taking $500,000 of her upcoming Special Tour money and donating it to Planned Parenthood.

Tour promoter Live Nation will also match that amount, making for a $1 million donation.

As you know by now ... on Friday, the Supreme Court overturned the 50-year-old Roe v. Wade decision, sparking a wave of protests all across the United States.

Roddy Ricch is shaking off the sophomore slump of his last album with a new EP titled "The Big 3" -- and has plenty of wild stories to share about making it.

During a new interview with DJ Hed and Chuck Dizzle for HomeGrownRadio, Roddy discussed making up with Kanye after he had the cojones to publicly diss Ye’s Grammy piss stunt back in 2020.

The 2 made up to record the “Donda” track “Pure Souls” and Roddy says the creative process was so unpredictable, one minute they’d be in the studio … then Arizona, Chicago -- basically anywhere a private jet could land.

Roddy also shared how he hilariously put Ye into a music-making frenzy -- fresh off a plane without any relaxation time -- while others, like Lil Baby, hinted Roddy should walk on eggshells around him.

RR did admit his last album, “Live Life Fast,” slowed him down a bit, but he’s ready to get back into a groove and even pondered making a DJ Mustard-produced album.