TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am says he doesn’t dig Tupac and Notorious B.I.G.'s music, and he has a good reason for not following the status quo of worshipping the late rap icons -- he doesn't relate to their music!!!

Will was a guest on veteran rapper Skillz's podcast, “Hip Hop Confessions” ... and says the legends' music didn’t “speak to his spirit."

He also speculated ... had he absorbed Biggie and 2Pac's raps, he would’ve been stuck in his L.A. hood instead of touring worldwide with his multi-platinum group.

It’s an interesting take, especially since Will has credited late N.W.A co-founder Eazy-E -- AKA “The Godfather of Gangsta Rap” -- numerous times for jump-starting his career.

Will says acts like A Tribe Called Quest, Eric B. and Rakim and De La Soul were way more influential to BEP than Pac and B.I.G. ... which is totally evident in their music.

Kendrick Lamar gave Rolling Loud fans an Instagrammable moment when he linked with his “Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers” collaborator Kodak Black on his home Florida turf.

K. Dot summoned Kodak for their song “Silent Hill” from his recent album, which resonated with the Miami crowd -- besides the home cooking for Kodak, Mr. Morale” is 2022's biggest rap album.

Kendrick’s pgLang protégé, Baby Keem was also in the mix, and the duo performed “Family Ties."

As for Kodak's appearance, his lawyer Bradford Cohen says it took some doing to make it happen. He tweeted about his efforts to spring Kodak from his arrest last week, so he could be on stage with Kenny.

The surprise collaboration helped cap a weekend's worth of rap festivities, that also featured Kid Cudi storming off his Kanye West-replacing gig … only for Ye to pop up with Lil Durk regardless.

Lil Baby, Future, Saweetie, Gucci Mane, Fivio Foreign, Playboi Carti, Dreezy, Soulja Boy and many more also were on hand for RL and there are still NYC and Toronto dates left to close out the year.

Unlike Frank Sinatra, Fivio Foreign's got regrets, and it sounds like he wants to mention this particular one -- about his entry into the rap game -- to a lawyer.

The Brooklyn rapper was on the "Million Dollarz Worth of Game" podcast when he talked about signing his first contract with former Bad Boy Records star Ma$e in the late 2010s. No, Fivio never says the word "tricked" while breaking it down for Gillie Da Kid and Wallo267 -- but it's clear he's pissed about his paltry $5k signing bonus.

Rappers have grown accustomed to big budgets these days and Fivio’s early beginnings sound similar to several other young musicians' come-up stories: naive about the biz, but eager to start their careers.

Fivio claims Ma$e pretended to point out specifics in the fine print of his contract to get him to sign right away. Again, he doesn't use the phrase "snake oil salesman," but there's a strong insinuation.

He also says the manager who introduced him to Ma$e pressured him to sign on the spot without consulting a lawyer first.

The final hint of Fivio’s regret came when he revealed Ma$e had failed to get him a G Herbo collaboration after all this time, but he finally got one in the works -- off the strength of his own name.

That MDWG interview wasn’t the only shot Ma$e’s had to eat -- Diddy’s mom recently interrupted a Bad Boy roll call on her son’s live stream to give stern warnings to the Harlem World rapper.

Lil Uzi Vert and City Girls' JT are one of the hottest couples in hip hop and that means 24/7 ... even when there's fan temptation to be had!!!

Uzi, who recently adjusted their pronouns, was gracious enough to give some camera time to a flirty fan who decided to seize the moment and shoot her shot.

When Uzi began freezing up, the fan asked about the rapper's shyness (they're a megastar after all!) and Uzi eventually cracked ... they had JT on the brain!!!

The fan (sort of) apologizes for the video ... claiming her memory was a little hazy regarding the status of Uzi and JT's relationship, which is hard to believe, seeing as how they've been together since 2019 and exchange lavish gifts ... such as McLarens.

Both Uzi and JT were out in Miami over the weekend as they both rocked the Rolling Loud stage during separate sets.

Dave Chappelle recently hit a minor setback when protestors essentially forced his Minneapolis show to switch venues -- but Fat Joe thinks Dave's critics should realize he's an equal opportunity offender.

We caught up with the Don Cartagena Monday in NYC on Monday, and he said comedians like Dave Chappelle always intend for their jokes to hit the funny bones without striking emotional nerves. He also feels Dave tells jokes about everyone, not one particular group more than another.

Call it a game of Comedy Operation ... Joe acknowledges there are sensitive subjects to address -- especially within the LGBTQ+ community -- but he feels laughter is the best medicine for most issues.

Minnesota protestors, particularly angry over Dave's Netflix special lineage, successfully thwarted the comedic legend from doing his show at First Avenue, forcing him to move to a new venue with just a few hours notice. Joe wishes those angry about Dave would understand love outweighs hate when it comes to comedy.

Kylie Jenner might've hinted at a 3rd baby on the way, which could be here a lot sooner than we think ... after leaving a string of pregnant-themed emojis on Travis Scott's latest post.

Travis put up a pic of himself on Instagram Sunday, with the caption "Got there in a New York minute" ... while fans flocked to the comments, begging the rapper to drop his new album, Kylie had something else on her mind.

She replied with a tongue-out emoji, followed by 4 pregnant women emojis ... and speculators were at the ready.

Some folks think this means she's pregnant again, while others see it as a push for TS to give her another bambino -- one person noted, "Kylie baby girl you haven’t even introduced your second baby."

There were even some who thought the whole thing was fake ... "She's all about playing that game."

As you know, the baby formally known as Wolf was born in February ... but the name didn't stick and 6 months in they still haven't revealed the new moniker.

Kylie and Travis have been fueling the rumor mill lately ... she caught people's eyes last week when she flashed her hand toward the camera, with a big rock on her ring finger.

Lil Wayne is currently mourning Robert Hoobler aka “Uncle Bob” -- the police officer who saved 12-year-old Wayne's life following a suicide attempt.

Weezy broke the news of the loss Monday on IG, where he posted ... “RIP uncle Bob. Aunt Kathie been waiting for u.”

According to Nola.com, Bob’s family said he was found dead in his home Friday. The former New Orleans officer was a double amputee, and his police peers always spoke fondly of Bob.

He was the responding officer when Wayne attempted suicide by shooting himself in the chest. Wayne's always credited Bob with not only responding, but rescuing him when he got on the scene.

Bob spoke to TMZ in August 2021, and said Wayne had offered to him financial assistance for life, if he ever needed it.

Wayne previously thought Uncle Bob had already passed -- he rapped about it in the 2015 track, "London Roads" -- but he was alive, got in touch with Weezy ... and they resumed their friendship.

Gregg Popovich gave a speech at Jay-Z's social justice summit this weekend -- once again making his positions on the issue crystal clear in a rousing speech.

The Spurs coach was in NYC Saturday, where Roc Nation was hosting the event and honoring attorney Barry Scheck with an award for his work on the Innocence Project ... which helps exonerate wrongly-convicted people in the country.

Watch Pop's address here ... he sounds as passionate as he usually does when talking about this sort of thing. He talks about what he sees as the state of America and its persistent racism -- something he says he knew always existed, but never to the extent that's been revealed through RN's or Scheck's advocacy.

He goes on to praise the Innocence Project for the number of individuals they've been able to get out of prison -- upwards of 375, he says -- which got a round of applause.

It's an important matter, and it's cool to see GP so fired up about it. You can tell this stuff is top of mind for him these days -- that is, when he's not in the middle of a game.

Travis Scott made it to Rolling Loud after all ... yet another twist in this weekend's big bash.

During Future's headlining set Saturday, he brought out the MC to thunderous applause ... and an even stronger performance. Travis ran through at least two of his songs, perhaps more, and spent a good amount of time on stage.

The crowd was loving it ... and Travis certainly seemed back to his old self in a traditional festival setting -- this being more comparable to Astroworld than any show he's done since. For his part, TS was absolutely pumped ... and you could tell he enjoyed being here.

It made for a good litmus test of how concert-goers and festival-goers feel about Travis hitting the stage in this capacity again ... and the consensus is, they want him there.

While we're sure the Rolling Loud crowd who caught Travis was stoked, you gotta wonder why he wasn't hired to just hold this slot down if he was gonna be there regardless -- similar to Kanye, who also randomly showed up on Friday night for a cameo appearance ... this after bailing on his own scheduled appearance last minute.

Xzibit is lying to the court about his financial situation simply to avoid writing some big checks to his estranged wife for spousal support ... at least according to her.

The former "Pimp My Ride" star's estranged wife, Krista Joiner, claims in new legal docs Xzibit is making it seem like he's fallen on tough times when in reality he's got millions in cash.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Krista claims Xzibit's brother told her he takes home over $1 million a month from cannabis companies and stores the cash in multiple locations using bank-sized vaults. She says the bro also told her he personally stored $20 million for Xzibit in various vaults and brings X cash on demand.

In the docs, she paints a much different financial picture of Xzibit than he has. As we first reported, the rapper claims he isn't making any money from his weed ventures and is struggling to make ends meet.

Krista, who filed for divorce in February 2021, also says X is lying about her going behind his back to get a new lease on a 2021 Bentley, dragging her feet on the sale of the family home and living in the mansion with her new boyfriend.

She claims Xzibit is full of baloney ... and she's accusing him of trying to sway the court's opinion so he doesn't have to cut her huge monthly checks.

His estranged wife says she's the one having a tough time financially ... claiming she recently lost her job and has no earnings to support herself or their son.

And, get this ... Krista claims Xzibit has been ignoring her requests for gas money, food and haircuts for their son, and says she had to go through attorneys to beg X to pay for their kid's inhalers.

Kid Cudi was no substitute for Kanye West at the Rolling Loud Festival Friday night ... at least according to some fans who pelted Cudi with objects, including a bottle to the head ... and Ye got some lyrical licks in too.

Cudi was on stage at the jam-packed event in Miami when some hecklers -- clearly Kanye fans -- started yelling at the "Day N Nite" rapper and throwing objects at him.

Getting more and more angry, Cudi stopped his performance and screamed into the mic, “I will f**king leave … If I get hit with one more f**king thing — if I see one more f**king thing on this f**king stage, I’m leaving!”

Then someone from the audience hurled a bottle, hitting Cudi on the side of the head. Cudi dropped the mic and said nothing as he turned and walked off the stage.

Fans were undeterred, chanting Kanye's name, and they got more than they expected. Lil Durk took the stage and guess who walked out as well ... none other than Kanye, who made a grand entrance to the mighty approval of the crowd.

Kanye belted out his hit, "Father Strech My hands, Pt. 1" from "The Life of Pablo" album, which the rapper recorded with vocals from Cudi, which has gotta be a dig.

The fans were clearly choosing sides ... Kanye and Cudi are in a massive feud, after Kanye called Cudi out for being friends with Pete Davidson. Cudi responded by calling Ye a "dinosaur."

Cudi landed the headlining gig after Kanye bowed out of the festival at the last minute without providing a reason.

Blue Jays ace Alek Manoah just pitched in front of a sold-out stadium full of fans and celebs at the All-Star Game -- but there's one guy he really wishes would have come to watch him throw ... Drake!!!

Manoah made it clear to TMZ Sports just before he took the bump at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Tuesday that he really wants the "God's Plan" rapper to catch one of his games.

"Come watch me pitch!" Manoah said in a message to Drake.

The 24-year-old even offered some incentive to the entertainer if he does make the trek to one of his outings soon ... telling us, "We'll give him a uniform!"

Of course, Drake is a big Blue Jays fan -- he's worn the home team's jersey at his concerts in the past ... and even famously put a pic of Joe Carter on his "Back to Back" hit's cover art.

But, it's obvious he's far more into Toronto's basketball team than its baseball team ... and it seems Manoah is trying to work his magic to get that to change.

DaBaby is in good spirits ahead of his Rolling Loud Miami performance this weekend, and it’s probably because his checks clear on time.

DB was the latest guest on the Nelk Boys podcast and he addressed his artist Stunna 4 Vegas’ recent claim Dua Lipa's team coughed up $350,000 to get the Billion Dollar Baby CEO's verse on the “Levitating (Remix).”

While DaBaby did admit the number could have been that high, he was leaning closer to around $300K.

BTW, it's debatable if it was worth it for Dua Lipa, since she ended up cutting DaBaby from the track after his homophobic rant at Rolling Loud 2021.

DB says he's moved past last year's drama ... and, apparently, so have promoters. He said he's getting upwards of $200K for a simple club appearance and added, he always gives smaller venues their money’s worth by performing extra songs.

As for bigger venues, DaBaby says he just rocked South Korea's Olympic Stadium ... for $450K!!!

Eminem's been in the game so long, it's getting hard to recall some pretty epic moments ... and Shady's slim memory was on full display during a recent hang with Snoop Dogg.

The 2 legendary Super Bowl LVI performers were chilling in a studio to promote their recent collab “From The D 2 The LBC” … when Snoop brought up Eminem’s cameo in Dr. Dre’s “Still D.R.E.”

The single was famously written by Jay-Z, and the video directed by Hype Williams featured a pre-superstar Em chasing a flock of groupies. While that might sound like a precious memory to most of us … Em totally blanked.

It’s also one of the few rap videos with a billion views on YouTube …so, it’s a big deal!

Snoop kept trying to jog Em’s memory … and eventually, his brain did get up and running. Hey, considering the insane career run he's had since 1999 when the video was shot, it’s okay for him to have a few lapses every now and then.

Both Em and Snoop have been collaborating for years, and recently helped Dre cement their legacies with the Super Bowl halftime show performance in L.A.

Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar, 50 Cent and Anderson .Paak were there too and the performance earned five Primetime Emmy noms.

Their latest joint is locked in for Em’s “Curtain Call 2” -- his second greatest hits collection -- and he’s going with an arcade game theme for the project’s rollout.

Rowdy Rebel's brother Fetty Luciano is facing an attempted murder charge, and was just arraigned.

The Brooklyn rapper is accused of opening fire on July 10 ... shooting 3 people, including a security guard, at a Long Island luxury hotel's private pool party.

Although Nassau County prosecutors requested the GS9 member remain in custody, a judge set Fetty's bail at $200k in cash or a $400k bond.

About 200 people were reportedly at the party, and the injured security was attempting to break up a fight between 2 people when the shots rang out.

Fetty turned himself into Glen Cove Police officers on Thursday. In addition to the attempted murder charge, he's also facing reckless endangerment and weapons charges.

DJ Khaled is riding a tidal wave of buzz going into his next album and he's just impressed the person who probably matters the most for the project ... his Roc Nation boss Jay-Z!!!

Khaled and HOV closed off a private listening session in New York City yesterday for his upcoming "God Did" album -- and Khaled put Jay's stamp of approval on public display!

The 2 moguls absorbed the album over champagne and cigars, and you don't have to take Khaled's word on the quality of the record ... based on the pics, it's written all over Jay's face.

No video previews yet … the songs still have to be cleared, but HOV's excitement is as strong a review as any artist could hope to get.