TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Polo G's lawyer thinks cops in Miami did the rapper dirty by only releasing parts of his 2021 arrest that make him look like the bad guy ... but Miami PD is denying it released the bodycam footage.

Polo's attorney Bradford Cohen tells TMZ this is something he's never experienced in his decades of work ... law enforcement releasing what he calls "heavily redacted" body cam footage, and only "the parts that disparage the defendant."

Cohen says there are crucial moments in his arrest that were left out of the released video -- "They didn't show him getting slammed to the ground or the reason why was pulled over. Of course, they wouldn't show that."

The video does show Polo verbally berating one of the arresting officers, but Cohen says that is "part of being a police officer out in public, people are going to say things you are not going to like."

He thinks Miami PD was embarrassed because it had no probable cause to stop him or arrest him last June, and the case has been largely dismissed after Polo completed anger management classes.

Here's the wild card, though -- we asked Miami PD why it only released portions of the arrest, and a spokesman told us the department did NOT release the footage ... which first popped up Thursday on Twitter.

Guys and gals, take notes ... Russell Wilson and Ciara just put on a clinic for how to celebrate an anniversary -- getting in a romantic dinner in Italy AND personalized fireworks for the occasion!

TMZ Sports has learned ... the couple -- who have been across the pond for the last few days -- hit a swanky restaurant on Lake Como on Thursday to celebrate their sixth year of marriage.

The two looked very much in love as they dined ... but we're told they had to jet out of the place in somewhat of a hurry -- as they had a fireworks show to get to.

According to witnesses at the scene, the fireworks -- which lasted several minutes -- were shot out of a boat that had a sign reading, "Happy Anniversary."

Russ had made it known he was stoked for the day prior to the romantic evening ... writing in an emotional Instagram post, "God has blessed us for the past 6 years of Marriage with our 3 beautiful children and an overflow of laughter, love, & life."

"Cheers to forever. Happy Anniversary my love @Ciara ❤️ I Love You Mrs. Wilson."

Cardi B isn't standing, or sitting, for anyone getting handsy with her -- even her fans -- because she went off at the end of her show in London Friday night.

Cardi had just wrapped up her performance at the Wireless Festival, and was in the front row amongst fans. She was sitting on the shoulder of a security guard when she looked down into the crowd and started using her microphone to fend off someone.

We can't tell from the video exactly what was happening that pissed her off so much, but she got in a few good shots with the mic before dropping it on the crowd.

Seems like there was no further conflict after that. We've reached out to Cardi's camp to get some more detail about what went down.

This was her second consecutive night performing live -- just last night she was in Norway ... the first of several European dates she has coming up.

Russell Simmons and Boyz II Men singer Shawn Stockman are not seeing eye-to-eye when it comes to the current state of R&B -- and one thinks the other just has to get on board with the changing times.

We caught up with the OG hip hop mogul in West Hollywood to pick his brain on Shawn’s recent Twitter rant about R&B losing its identity, and blending into the rap world. Well, the Def Jam co-founder says it's not a matter of blaming one genre or another ... it’s simply a cultural shift.

You can hear Russell start to get peeved as he slams the notion of grouping rappers and singers together. He explains there are subgenres of rap and singing that fall underneath the same umbrella for commercial purposes.

Translation: hit records are blending the genres -- that's the culture right now -- but the unique genres of R&B and rap are still out there too.

We didn’t stop there ... Uncle Rush -- who was instrumental in the careers of Jay-Z, DMX, Method Man, Foxy Brown and many more -- also touched on the overnight wealth many rappers are enjoying lately.

Earlier in the week, we spoke to Yo Gotti’s new artist GloRilla after she received a $500K signing bonus for joining the CMG Squad.

At 64, Russ says he’s lived long enough to know shiny trinkets and lavish spending won’t make him whole.

While he advised GloRilla and other young rappers to save their bread, Russ also recognizes Gen Zers have to experience life on their own terms.

Ciara is back in her dance bag with her new single “Jump” … this is after fans have spent weeks debating whether Drake and Beyonce are abandoning their core sound to crossover into the dance scene.

Directed by music vid ace Dave Myers, the R&B princess showcases her jumping magic moves with body-positive dancers ... between shots of pop-locking on telephone wires, twerkin' in traffic, or doing cheers with the Winston-Salem State cheerleaders — who flew into Los Angeles just to be part of the shoot.

Cici’s new song comes on the heels of her signing a new label deal with Republic and Uptown Records weeks after she called out her former home Epic Records for “not believing” in her vision. The label let her walk hassle-free, though, with her masters.

The video also sports the high-energy talent of the new Los Angeles-based rap group Coast Contra, who tell TMZ Hip Hop ... the song will live “in the heart of every living creature with some rhythm!”

Consisting of twin brothers Ras and Taj Austin, Eric Jamal and Rio Loz, Coast Contra has been attracting famous co-signs from Swizz Beatz, Questlove, LL Cool J, Timbaland, Kevin Hart and now Ciara. It's a great follow-up to their debut album, “Apt. 505,” which dropped in March.

The Weeknd is being forced to postpone his first stadium show in his hometown of Toronto ... the result of a phone and Internet outage causing major issues north of the border.

Abel was supposed to have a big show at Rogers Centre Friday night in Toronto, the start of his After Hours til Dawn tour ... and he says he’s crushed and heartbroken by a factor totally out of his control.

Rogers Communications, one of Canada’s largest telecommunications companies, is experiencing a major outage affecting millions of wireless phone and Internet customers ... and Live Nation says the outage makes it impossible to put on the show until cell and Internet service are restored.

The Weeknd says he’s been at the venue all day and the last-minute postponement is out of his hands due to the outage. Abel says he tried his best to have the show go on but says operations and safety are compromised.

Festival season is in full swing throughout Europe, and Roddy Ricch is making one thing clear ... he's got no patience for fans who wanna rush his stage.

Roddy was performing “The Box” at Openair Frauenfeld Festival in Frauenfeld, Switzerland as a rando gets up to join him ... Roddy's security was quick to take the guy down, but RR wanted in on the action too.

You can see Roddy figure out what happened, and wind up to give the fan a few kicks of his own. As soon as the area was cleared, Roddy resumed performing his classic record like nothing took place.

A wider angle of the incident also captured his ice-cold stare down.

Boosie Badazz is willing to die on Pied Piper hill with his firm belief that R. Kelly got screwed by a federal judge -- but the facts don't exactly support that argument.

The Louisiana rap legend's been pissed off ever since the judge hit Kelly with 30 years in federal prison. Remember, the singer was found guilty on a slew of sex crimes -- but Boosie insists none of them warrants such a stiff sentence.

He absolutely flipped out in a VladTV interview, claiming he knows of dozens of cases where killers and rapists were given just 10 years in prison -- and, to Boosie at least, Kelly's crimes amount to little more than manipulation of women.

As he so eloquently put it, "[Kelly] wasn't tying them to the bed. He was masterminding bitches!!! Older n****as do it all the time!"

This seems like a good time to remind Boosie, and others, R. Kelly was convicted of 9 federal sex crimes ... including human trafficking, obstruction of justice and kidnapping. That last count was for holding women against their will.

So, while Boosie thinks Kelly got the book thrown at him because he's Black and rich ... the jury clearly felt there was plenty of actual, and relevant evidence to convict him on ALL counts.

Perhaps the most offensive part of Boosie's rant was his suggestion Kelly should get a lighter sentence so he can return to society, and counsel women on how to avoid "predators."

Lizzette Martinez, one of Kelly's victims, has the total opposite take ... telling us he deserves a life sentence, because she doesn't believe he can be rehabilitated.

Kelly's attorneys have said they plan to appeal the case ... a move we're guessing Boosie fully supports. One thing he didn't discuss is the fact Kelly could be sentenced at least 2 more times when he stands trial in another federal case and a Minnesota state case.

Doja Cat's quiet efforts to hook up with Joseph Quinn are now out there for the world to see -- and she's pissed at his co-star Noah Schnapp for blowing her cover by posting their DMs.

Doja went live on TikTok Thursday night to address what went down, and you can tell she was trying like to hell to keep cool about it -- she realizes the 17-year-old actor might not have known better, but she thinks that excuse can only go so far.

To be clear, Doja was only chatting with the kid because she wanted him to hit up Joseph, who plays fan-favorite Eddie Munson in the latest season of the Netflix series.

Noah posted a now-deleted TikTok Wednesday that showed his brief chat with Doja ... where she asks about hitting up Quinn.

She checked herself pretty quick in the convo, though -- after asking Noah to set it up, she says no, asking "Does he have a GF?"

As for Noah's loose social media lips -- she says it's "borderline snake s***," but she hopes that's not who Noah really is and it was just a one-time slipup.

Drake and The Weeknd are 2 of the biggest artists … EVERRR, and they just both happen to be from Toronto -- and Drake's celebrating that ahead of a milestone for his friend.

The Weeknd’s playing a huge hometown show Friday night at Rogers Centre, and Drizzy got in his feels a bit ... reminiscing on hearing Weeknd's music before he was a Billboard-breaking superstar.

He thanked OVO capo Oliver El-Khatib for putting him on back in the day and plugged the stadium show for Abel's After Hours til Dawn Tour ... which was delayed several times during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Weeknd was a literal instrumental part of the success of Drake's 2011 breakout album "Take Care" where he worked on several tracks before he himself blew up on the commercial scene a couple years later.

Earlier this year, Both Drizzy and Weeknd signed new record deals with Universal Music Group rumored to rival NBA contracts in terms of cash money.

Don't be surprised if Weeknd brings out Drizzy on stage tonight. With him being in town, you should probably expect it! BTW, there are still some seats left for it ... if you're in the Six.

Superproducer Murda Beatz has brought sand to the beach ... through his "NO MÁS" collaboration with pop star girlfriend Anitta!!!

If you remember, TMZ Hip Hop broke the story open the musically inclined pair were dating and now we have the consummation of their union ... in the form of a track.

Looking to have the summer on smash, the new video is set in the sunny rays of MIA and features plenty of product placement!!! MB kicks off the video betting high on Drake's Stake gambling app ... as he pours himself plenty of Bacardí along the way.

The new video also finds MB linking up with Quavo and J Balvin ... with the Latin Trap star putting his Air Jesus moves on display by walking on water in a pair of Jordans.

On the track, MB says he's proud of the fact he brought America, Colombia, Brazil and his home country Canada together and shouted out song producer Pharrell ... who couldn’t make the video shoot for whatever reason.

Young Thug's nephew is in police custody after allegedly shooting his girlfriend in the face and killing her ... TMZ Hip Hop has learned.

Fardereen Deonta Grier was arrested Wednesday after cops were called to a residence outside Atlanta. East Point PD spokesperson Allyn Glover tells TMZ ... when officers responded, Grier was crying and his girlfriend, Destiny Fitzpatrick, was dead in a pool of blood by the front door.

Glover says Grier told cops he was Young Thug's nephew, the son of YT's oldest sister ... but it's unclear why he chose to share the information. A source close to Young Thug confirms the relation.

As for what happened ... we're told Grier first told responding officers he was fending off 2 armed, masked intruders, but officers say he eventually admitted to shooting Destiny in the face. A neighbor allegedly heard arguing in the residence prior to the shooting.

Grier was arrested and charged with murder.

As you know, Young Thug is currently in custody as well ... on a wide range of RICO charges after being denied bond multiple times. His fellow YSL artist, Gunna -- also charged in the RICO case -- was in court Thursday trying to get released on bond, but a judge shot it down.

Summer officially started in June ... but it's not really here until Magic Johnson and his famous pals hop aboard a $150K a day luxury super yacht and cruise to some of the most beautiful places in the world!

The 62-year-old Lakers legend and wife Cookie, along with LL Cool J (a staple on the summer vacation), toured an ancient citadel called Acropolis of Athens ... and it looks like they had a great time.

LL and Magic -- complete with a spear and shield -- even posed with a man dressed as an ancient Greek warrior, in addition to taking in all the sights.

The boat trip has been a tradition for years ... going back to at least 2017 when the Hall of Famer dropped $680K weekly on a yacht that he lived on for several weeks. Johnson hasn't missed a year since ... not even a global pandemic could stop him.

In addition to LL ... other celebs like Samuel L. Jackson (who may be on this trip, too), Rodney and Holly Robinson Peete, and others were on the trip in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021.

As for the actual yacht -- named the Solandge -- it's pretty darn incredible. The 85-meter ship has 8 staterooms for 12 guests. It holds a crew of up to 34. The yacht was initially built in 2013 ... and it got a facelift in 2019.

Solandge has just about every amenity you could dream of ... including a jacuzzi, swimming pool, sauna, gym, helipad, and movie theatre.

To rent the yacht, it'll cost you about $1 million a week.

Unclear where the group, who also made a stop in Santorini, intends to go next in the Mediterranean.

Saweetie tapped in to throw the first pitch at the Dodgers game on Thursday ... and it was quite an impressive toss -- especially considering she had on some massive nails and high heels!!

The "Best Friend" rapper was at Dodger Stadium for the ceremonial event for Filipino Heritage Night ... and 50 Cent and Conor McGregor need to take note, 'cause she put them to shame.

While the ball doesn't technically make it to the plate, we gotta give her credit for even getting it that far ... as she was wearing Louboutins and 4-inch nails.

Saweetie showed off a close-up of the nails before the game ... and yeah, they're long as hell and icy to boot.

As for the game against the Chicago Cubs, the Dodgers won 5-3 ... so maybe she's a good luck charm and will get invited back to the Chavez Ravine again sometime soon.

The team thanked Saweetie for stopping by ... and she said she can't wait to come back, so maybe part 2 is on the way??

Miami Police have released body cam footage of Polo G's 2021 arrest, and it all unfolds like a night the "RAPSTAR" would probably love to forget.

The footage is related to the story TMZ broke back in June 2021 ... Polo was arrested right after his "Hall Of Fame" album release party with both cops and the Chicago-bred rapper claiming they were roughed up in the process.

Charges of Resisting an Officer Without Violence were later dropped after Polo completed anger management classes and the newly released footage shows why those were probably necessary.

One portion of the video shows an officer inside a police cruiser using his computer ... as Polo is yelling at him off-camera about his career choices in becoming a cop.

Polo's insults seem to roll off the officer, but then their convo touches on an all-too-real scenario of a cop being killed in the line of duty, leaving his kids fatherless.

Later in the video, Polo is seen getting medical aid as he pleads his case, claiming cops caused him to "blackout" when they first apprehended him. Meanwhile, cops alleged Polo was kicking their car like a madman during the arrest.

His mother/manager Stacia Mac gave a play-by-play commentary of the chaotic incident at the time, claiming her son was racially profiled following the party.

Yo Gotti's CMG The Label is looking to chew up even more hip hop real estate with the announcement of its first compilation album dropping July 15.

On Thursday, Gotti put his best spitters on the frontline via the "Steppas" video, which features Moneybagg Yo, Blac Youngsta, EST Gee and Mozzy. 42 Dugg's also on the track, but only on audio, as he's currently incarcerated on parole violation charges.

The Benmarc-directed clip has prison shoutouts to both 42 and Pooh Shiesty and has the rappers looking like some regular G.I. Joes.

TMZ Hip Hop can confirm all members of CMG will make the final album cut, which includes Drake collaborator BlocBoy JB, R&B starlet Lehla Samia and newest signee 'F.N.F.' rapper GloRilla … who signed earlier this week and thanked her haters for her new icy chain and $500,000 signing bonus.