TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Kanye West is going the model route again ... getting cozy with Candice Swanepoel at an event in NYC, before heading back to his hotel.

Ye and the South African supermodel were super flirty this week at a NY Fashion Week event for his new Yeezy GAP sunglasses -- they were laughing and taking tons of pictures, including one with Chris Rock, before leaving together in the mogul's SUV.

Kanye and Candice, who is also starring in ads for the futuristic sunglasses, went straight from the Yeezy Gap Shdz party to his hotel ... more evidence they're getting close.

It's interesting ... Kanye looked to be in great spirits at the GAP party Tuesday night, but as we reported, he's now pulled the plug on his partnership with the company.

Kanye's seen several different women since his divorce from Kim Kardashian ... including another supermodel, Irina Shayk, and also Julia Fox, Chaney Jones and OnlyFans model Monica Corgan. Dude's got a type.

Cardi B said "okurrrr" to a plea deal in her strip club beatdown case ... and it's a pretty sweet one that keeps her outta jail.

Cardi agreed to plead guilty to 3rd-degree assault and reckless endangerment, both misdemeanors, and her punishment is 15 days of community service.

She showed up to court Thursday -- all decked out in white -- to accept the 11th hour plea deal. Jury selection was set to begin Friday and the trial would have started on Monday, but that's off the table now.

As we reported, Cardi was accused of ordering an attack on 2 strip club bartenders -- Jade and Baddie Gi -- in August 2018. She allegedly thought Jade had slept with her man, Offset.

Cardi was arrested and booked a few months later for her alleged role in the strip club fight.

As part of the plea, there's also an order of protection that requires Cardi to stay away from the women for 3 years.

After her taking the plea deal, Cardi told us ... "Part of growing up and maturing is being accountable for your actions. As a mother, it's a practice that I am trying to instill in my children, but the example starts with me. I've made some bad decisions in my past that I am not afraid to face and own up to."

Ex-NBA hooper Stephen Jackson is speaking out in the aftermath of Philly rap star PnB Rock's murder in South Los Angeles ... saying he "checks in" whenever traveling to another city or state.

By checking in, Stak means if you're visiting a city that you're not from or familiar with, it's best to call someone who is and make sure you're good while there, alert you to any possible danger ... and it's a sign of respect.

"I check in everywhere I go," Jackson said in a social media post on Wednesday.

"Everywhere I go I call somebody from the place I'm going that I know and check in. I wanna come home to my family and I love my life. I'm checking in with my people out of respect."

Stak's message comes on the heels of PnB Rock's murder, whom many believe was the target of a robbery while eating at Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles with his girlfriend, in an area of L.A. that's seen an increase in robberies.

Jackson hopes PnB Rock's tragic murder serves as a cautionary tale for people visiting unfamiliar places.

"It's nothing wrong with showing respect when you in somebody's city or state," Jackson said.

"I always check in 'cause I know real ones everywhere. I care about my life and I'm coming home to my kids and my family. Bet that."

Former NBA player Marquis Daniels agreed with Stak -- saying in the comments, "When you outta town you gotta play by the rules or at least know what's going on."

Bhad Bhabie has already proven she's all about her business ... and now she's been invited to drop some wisdom at Oxford University!

Bhad Bhabie, aka Danielle Bregoli, has been invited to speak to students at "Oxford Union" -- arguably the most prestigious debating society on planet Earth.

So, check this out ... BB will follow in the footsteps of some pretty important people who have stood at that podium, including Presidents Reagan, Nixon, Carter, and Clinton ... Queen Elizabeth II, Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, Malcolm X, Albert Einstein, Sir Elton John, Shakira, Billy Joel ... and now, Bhad Bhabie.

The Oxford Union Prez said in the invite to BB ... "It would be an honour to welcome you to continue this fine tradition."

As you know, BB rose to fame after going viral on a Dr. Phil episode about troubled teens. Since then she's done a complete 180 ... turning her dubious fame into fortune with a rap career, brand deals and a VERY successful OnlyFans career -- $50M successful!!!

BTW, last month she teamed up with the Educapital Foundation to create a $1.7M scholarship to help 1,000 students enroll in technical and trade schools.

The target date for BB to speak is sometime in November, and it'll be on YouTube for all to see.

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony is going out with one last bang … so says the entire group with the announcement of their final tour as a five-man unit together.

TMZ Hip Hop has learned Krayzie, Layzie, Bizzy, Wish and Flesh are reuniting for Bobby Dee and Snoop Dogg's "High Hopes Concert" series … which is loaded with hip hop legends.

Following the concert series, the group will still tour as a quartet minus Bizzy's involvement ... making this particular tour a must-see for hip hop fans.

Ice Cube, Method Man & Redman, Warren G, Xzibit, Cypress Hill and Tha Dogg Pound will all be in the mix -- and we're told this will certainly be the last ride for the Bone Thugs boys as a full group.

Bone Thugs' affairs have been wobbly for decades, with various members rotating in and out of the touring lineup but Bizzy's rep August Keen assures us everyone is on board to reunite time around.

Bizzy stands as the biggest deflector and he recently called out the other 4 members on a tune called "Bizzy Get's Busy," where he spits ... "Why the f*** is Bone Thugs doing a show without Bizzy?/ I'll say it again, you should be able to say what you want if they really your friends!!!"

Krayzie wondered the same thing when the group hit the road following their Verzuz battle with Three 6 Mafia -- which turned into a boxing battle when Bizzy and Juicy J squared off on stage -- but all appears to be good in the hood, for now.

Nick Cannon is gonna have a "Game of Thrones" situation in about 50 years -- he's just welcomed a surprise (to the world, anyway) birth of a daughter, his 9th child, with model LaNisha Cole.

It feels like it was just yesterday -- it was actually a couple months ago -- we were congratulating Nick on baby #8, but he proudly announced Wednesday night he and LaNisha welcomed Onyx Ice Cole Cannon's arrival ... and the little girl's really got daddy thinking.

Nick's clearly getting fed up with jokes about his rapidly-growing brood because he said, "As we all know I am not easily triggered and have quite tough skin and have always been an open book but not everyone in my family has that same level of strength. So I pray and ask others to please project all criticism and cynicism towards ME and not the loving and precious Mothers of my children."

Nick and LaNisha were, at least publicly, linked in early 2017, but broke up shortly after that. While the model -- who'd been on "The Price Is Right" for 8 seasons -- hasn't been hiding her pregnancy, she didn't reveal Nick was the father.

Anyway, Papa C is overjoyed, and says "I vow to protect, provide, guide and love this child to the best of my abilities."

Ok, grab your scorecards: We're already expecting 2 more announcements from Nick before we hit 2023! We know Brittany Bell -- with whom he already has 2 kids -- is expecting their third, because she and Nick did a pregnancy photo shoot together last month.

Also, Abby De La Rosa, is due next month and that will also be her third child with Nick.

As a quick refresher ... Nick and Bre Tiesi had their first in July.

"Flex" rapper Rich Homie Quan is fired up these days as he's plotting a comeback to the top spot ... but he realizes things are much different in the game today than they were in 2013 when he got rich rapping.

TMZ Hip Hop spotted RHQ Wednesday in NYC, and gauged his wisdom regarding hip hop's lack of fun ... with the murder of PnB Rock being the latest dark cloud hovering over the culture.

RHQ thinks the genre's gone too soft, but also too hard in some regards, claiming hip hop needs to do away with both "bubblegum" and "shoot 'em up, bang bang" rappers.

He even bigged up Benny The Butcher as the best MC in the Empire State and urged rappers to splurge their money on property as opposed to buying expensive jewelry.

That might be a hard sell considering the messenger is iced out himself ... but RHQ is taking a veteran approach to his career these days.

The Atlanta native recently aligned his Rich Homie Entertainment imprint with industry mavens Troy Carter and Suzy Ryoo's Venice Music for his next album ... "Family & Mula," which comes out in October.

And his latest single "Krazy" features all the energy RHQ fans are accustomed to, but also ups the ante on raising awareness of the gun violence plaguing his hometown.

R. Kelly is guilty of 6 of the 13 charges he faced in his Illinois federal case ... the jury just came back with its verdict.

The jury convicted him Wednesday on the child pornography counts he faced, but acquitted him on 7 others -- including charges of conspiracy and enticement.

Remember, Kelly was facing child pornography charges and prosecutors also accused him of concealing video evidence from his infamous 2008 case and threatening witnesses.

The trial just got underway last month, with prosecutors accusing Kelly of videotaping sexual encounters with minors.

As we reported, Kelly's trial included explosive testimony ... with his former goddaughter claiming the singer had sex with her hundreds of times before she turned 18 years old, with their first sexual intercourse happening when she was only 15.

Kelly's attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, told the jury the singer was "imperfect" but insisted he was innocent.

A juror suffered a panic attack Monday, but the trial pressed forward as the judge immediately put the alternate juror in her place.

The hip-hop community is reeling in the wake of PnB Rock's heinous murder ... and it has some people referencing a 2007 song from The Game which seems to mirror the Philly rapper's tragic end.

The unreleased track is called "Murda," and it's resurfaced online because fans noticed some now-eerie lyrics you could say include a warning that could've saved PnB's life.

On the song's 3rd verse, Game raps, "When you eat at Roscoe's watch out for the chain snatchers/Take it off slow, or you might get killed/If the Grape Streets [Crips] don't catch you, the [Rollin] 60's will/Police don't give a fuck cuz they all RenPark/And what happens on Crenshaw stays on Crenshaw."

The 'Killafornia' anthem was originally slated for Game's sophomore album "Doctor's Advocate" and outlines various L.A. gang territories and habits ... which might explain why it got cut.

Speaking of Game, his fellow West Coast OG Ice-T cited him, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre and Kendrick Lamar as living Los Angeles legends who don't hit the town drenched in jewelry.

Ice, who lyrically chronicled the mean streets of L.A. all the way back in the '80s has been lecturing his Twitter followers on the dangers of the area, whether or not you're a rapper, and says going without the jewels doesn't mean your pockets are empty.

LAPD is currently on the hunt for PnB's killers after the 30-year-old rapper was murdered September 12 inside a Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles while eating with his girlfriend.

Tory Lanez doesn't appear to have a worry gene in his DNA -- his trial for allegedly shooting Megan Thee Stallion was supposed to start Wednesday, but there was no concern on his face outside court.

We got him on camera Wednesday, entering and exiting the courthouse, and when we asked about his current mental state, Tory coolly replied he was "chilling."

That level-headed response might've been due to the fact nothing really went down in court. The trial was postponed, yet again, partly because Tory's lawyer is in the middle of another case.

The new trial date will be between November 28 and December 8.

Megan's ex-best friend, Kelsey Harris, was also present at court and is scheduled to testify for the prosecution about what she saw that night. Remember, Kelsey was inside the SUV with Tory and Megan.

An LAPD officer testified in December 2021 that Megan initially reported her injury to be caused by broken glass, before later claiming the injuries in her feet came from Tory shooting her while yelling "dance, bitch dance."

She's explained that, in the moment, she was protecting Tory ... fearing that if she told cops he had a gun -- this was just a few weeks after George Floyd's murder -- the situation could get worse.

Tory's facing one count of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and one count of carrying a concealed, unregistered weapon.

Bobby Shmurda popularized his own 'Shmoney' dance but it's not rap's greatest rug-cutter as far as the "Hot N***a" rapper is concerned.

While sitting down with Complex for its "Bracket" series, Bobby named the "Chickenhead," famously shown in Chingy's "Right Thurr" video as hip hop's GOAT dance move!!!

None of the other entries had much of a shot ... once Bobby pictured women gyrating and jiggling in "Chickenhead" form, he wasn't able to keep his composure and all but crowned it on the spot during the early voting.

His explanation was clear: he's a gangsta and the most entertaining stuff grabs his attention the best, which would be the "Chickenhead" in this case.

Bobby's choice is still a bit surprising ... he picked the "Chickenhead," which originated in St. Louis, over New York-born trends like "Harlem Shake" and the "Milly Rock."

In fact, Bobby says he used to win cash money on the street doing the "Harlem Shake" in dance contests. As for his 'Shmoney' dance, Bobby yielded to Pop Smoke's "Woo Walk" ... giving the late Brooklyn artist his shine for impacting the culture.

Another interesting thing Bobby clarified in the interview ... he doesn't fancy himself as a "drill artist," especially since the movement sprung up while he was incarcerated.

Bobby says he doesn't dance much these days ... he just "swerves," which fits the vibe of his latest project "Bodboy" to the tee.

Eminem's doing a bit of closet cleaning ... in an extensive and rare interview where he details his past drug use and reveals his biggest influencers currently in the rap game!!!

In a first-person spill with XXL, Eminem admitted he still takes his music seriously these days -- so much so, he has the likes of Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, Joyner Lucas and Big Sean in his crosshairs ... on a competitive level, of course.

Eminem is the highest-selling rapper of all time, and openly admits chasing numbers and stats doesn't entice him anymore. Instead, he says watching the quartet of younger rappers' every move has become a pastime for the 49-year-old hip hop legend.

He says he's "watching them and how the fuck they're doing their s***, because they're also focused on being the best rappers."

Em continued, "I still love to rap. It's always been the most important thing to me. I still have fun writing. I have fun watching the rappers I just mentioned, and being like, OK, let me see if I can do something that inside I think I can top that. And every time the best rappers drop an album, it changes the landscape of the fuckin' game.

"At least it does for me, and I'm like, I need to be able to rap like that. Because if I don't do that, someone's going to come behind me, probably in the next couple of years, and wash me."

Marshall also chronicled his timeline of drug use, including his near-fatal overdose, and also recalled a time 50 Cent saved his butt on live television when he was too high to even answer questions on 106 & Park!!!

The painful clip is how it looks ... Em says his "wheels started to come off" as he stumbled through the 20-minute interview.

Of course, Slim Shady has been clean for years and is currently swimming in rumors he's prepping to release new music ... in addition to helping Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre on their upcoming joint album.

Nicki Minaj is making one thing VERY clear, she and her legal team won't put up with social media accounts making wild statements about her ... and now she's filed a lawsuit.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Nicki claims a woman named Marley Green -- who goes by the social media persona "Nosey Heaux" -- posted a video Monday talking about Nicki in which she allegedly said Nicki is, "shoving all this cocaine, shoving in all this cocaine up her nose. Allegedly. Thank you. Allegedly. But we all know it's true. "F***-listen, I can't even say allegedly with that 'cause I, we all know it's true. I'm not saying allegedly on that. Nicki Minaj is a cokehead."

Not only that, but Nicki claims Green has also made "vile" comments about her 1-year-old son ... calling Nicki's entire bloodline disgusting and saying Nicki needs to get her son in therapy because, "Your baby is going to be a rapist, too."

While the legal docs call Green a "nobody" and someone "whose main accomplishments in life have been a string of criminal charges, bail jumping and bad debts," they acknowledge her social media posts have still gained some traction ... and the possibility people could believe what she says.

Nicki's attorney, Judd Burstein, states the "cokehead" video on Twitter garnered more than 2,000 likes and more than 250 retweets ... spanning a significant audience.

Nicki's going after "Nosey Heaux" for defamation, claiming she's never used cocaine ... and wants a jury to decide damages of no less than $75,000.

Burstein tells us, "When this case is over, she will no longer be permitted to use the name "Nosey Heaux" because we will take her trademark from her when she does not have enough money to pay the judgment. Anyone else who spreads lies about Nicki will suffer a similar fate."

He continues, "My marching orders are to aggressively sue anyone with a media or social media following who damages her with intentional lies. Eventually, the lesson will be learned."

Trae Tha Truth's back in superhero mode -- after a stint in the villain role -- to help with Jackson, Mississippi's water crisis ... which has been a pretty disgusting situation for locals.

The Houston rapper made the trek to Mississippi over the weekend to assist with the water crisis ... helping deliver 100 water filters, groceries and enough supplies to support up to 50 families.

Trae delivered the water filters to families' doorsteps and showed them how to properly install and use the device.

He also listened to the people's concerns ... which according to some residents, date back some 30 years!!!

A video of the city's water situation went viral a couple of weeks ago ... showing a doo-doo brown substance oozing out of the faucet that barely passed for liquid.

City officials blamed everything under the sun for the contaminations -- insufficient resources, old and leaky pipes and heavy rainfall for the shutdown of one of the cities' two water-treatment plants -- but have been short to offer solutions all the same.

As of Wednesday, 150,000 Jackson residents reportedly are still without suitable drinking water.

While the road to winning back the public opinion may be a steep one, we're told Trae will be back on the road in Jackson to ensure families also get pallets of water this time around.

Trae posted his latest act of kindness on Instagram to a rather icy reception from his followers ... seeing that he's been mum on his involvement in the group beatdown of former collaborator and fellow Texas rapper Z-Ro -- after previously denying ambushing him.

The video evidence told a different story and IG commenters accused the "Asshole By Nature" of hiding behind his charity and posturing behind the camera instead of settling his beef back home.

Here's the reaction to the Robert Sarver punishment you didn't know you needed ... courtesy of City Girls rapper JT, who hilariously gave her two cents on the Phoenix Suns owner to an Arizona news outlet on Tuesday.

As we previously reported, Sarver was suspended one year and fined $10 million after an investigation into workplace misconduct accusations ... with the league finding the owner said the N-word several times, among other inappropriate actions.

KTVK 3TV in Phoenix hit the streets to ask Suns fans for their thoughts on the penalty ... and one oblivious reporter just so happened to run into one-half of the popular rap duo without knowing who she is.

"I think that he should be suspended forever," JT said in the clip. "You don't do that. Like -- one year is like, so short."

You gotta give JT props for playing the role of concerned local resident really well ... even though she's from Florida and was only in town for a concert.

As it turns out, the 29-year-old said on Twitter it was always a dream of hers to "rant" on local news ... so check that one off the bucket list!!

JT also explained her passion behind her soundbite ... saying it was in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Former G.O.O.D. Music artist Desiigner isn't denying his doppelgänger like most folks do ... he's embracing the fact he's got a brother from another in NBA star Iman Shumpert.

The "Panda" rapper spoke to VladTV about the nature of their friendship ... which dates back some years when Pusha T hilariously put them on social media -- just to confirm they weren't the same person.

Desiigner says the first time they met, he felt like he was seeing a long-lost brother.

He says he even had to Facetime his dad during the encounter -- potentially for paternity answers? 😬

Although they're not actually related, they do have more similarities than just facial features. Iman, who is married to R&B star Teyana Taylor, released his "This Car Ain't Stolen" hip hop album last month ... and loves to be just as fashionable as his "little brother."