TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Kanye West has tipped his hand in his divorce case -- how custody is going to work.

Ye jumped on the 'Alo Mind' podcast Friday and said, "Even to this day, I'll still give Kim advice on things that can help, because that's gonna go to the kids. She's still got [them] 80% of the time -- raise those children."

The reason that's significant ... sources connected to the former couple tell TMZ, Kanye hasn't engaged with his lawyer -- whoever that is now, because he's gone through 5 already -- about the remaining issues in the divorce ... custody and property settlement.

There's a trial set for December if Kanye stays radio silent, and so far his side hasn't engaged Kim Kardashian's team about all this. But, saying Kim gets 80% is the first time we've heard any sort of structure, which is the first step in hashing out an agreement.

Kanye West is ready to expand his Donda Sports brand -- now signaling he wants to sell athletic gear ... not to mention an apparent side biz that he's hoping will take flight.

His company, Mascotte Holdings, just filed for a few new trademarks -- including one that'll significantly grow his Donda Academy in the retail space ... and a couple others that seem to suggest he's got another label in mind that's for the birds -- in this case, literally.

According to the paperwork, seen by TMZ, Ye's aiming to lock up the rights to Donda Sports ... specifically for the purpose of slapping it on a ton of products that run the gamut of sportswear and accessories he wants to hawk to potential customers.

Some of the items that could bear the Donda Sports name, if the application is approved, include ... bags of all varieties, fanny packs, luggage, wallets, umbrellas and blankets.

He's also looking to get some ol'-fashioned Donda Sports apparel ... applying for trademarks for shirts, jackets, hats, shoes and other clothes. In other words, if you can wear it ... it looks like Kanye wants to sell it to you with his new signature line plastered on top.

There's more ... in addition to wanting to trademark Donda Sports merch, it looks like Ye's got something else cookin' in the background -- something he calls "Donda Doves" (the team name) and "Dove Sports," which sounds like an offshoot to his larger 'Donda' endeavor.

For "Dove Sports," Kanye wants the exclusive right to use this label for athletic services such as training sessions, competitions, tournaments, camps, seminars, field trips and even traditional educational frameworks ... like classes, workshops and seminars.

"Donda Doves," meanwhile, seems to be more geared toward game-day equipment -- the docs indicate he wants this on baseball bats, basketballs, hockey pucks and more. He also wants to use this brand for things like posters, mugs, sporting goods and online retail stores.

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky hit the studio Friday night ... adding more fuel to the rumor mill she's gonna drop another album!

She's been seen at the L.A. studio several times recently, so the seemingly endless wait for more music may be coming to an end.

RiRi was there with BF A$AP, who is mounting an aggressive defense to weapons charges. He's been hit with felony firearms charges for allegedly shooting A$AP Relli. Relli has filed a civil suit against Rocky as well.

Rocky's new lawyer, Joe Tacopina, told TMZ Friday, "Rocky didn't commit a crime. It was an extortion attempt by a former associate, who threatened to make false criminal accusations if Rocky didn't pay him."

Tacopina tells us he has 2 eyewitnesses who back Rocky's story ... not only that Relli wasn't hit by bullet fragments, but that no shot was even fired. In other words, Tacopina says Relli has made up the story in a "get rich quick scheme."

Rapper Tee Grizzley's not only mourning his friend, PnB Rock ... he's also got drama at home after burglars made off with $1 million in bills and bling.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... burglars smashed a window at Tee's house about 2 weeks ago in his Porter Ranch neighborhood outside Los Angeles. We're told the jewelry alone they found was worth more than a mil, and they also walked away with a ton of cash.

According to the police report, no one was home at the time of the break-in, and there's an open investigation.

Tee's havin' a rough time these last few weeks -- as you know, PnB was shot and killed Monday while eating lunch at a Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles. The murderer, who's still on the loose, stole several diamond chains off the rapper.

Tee released the music video for part 4 of his "Robbery" series the day after Rock's death, opening with a "Rest In Heaven" message for PnB.

FYI, the track has nothing to do with Tee or PnB's situations ... it's a fictional story he'd been working on before either incident happened.

Memphis rapper EBG Ejizzle is screwing up a sweet plea deal that kept him outta jail ... according to prosecutors who say he's gone on a mini crime spree while on probation.

According to court docs obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, EBG got locked up on September 11, just a few months after he narrowly avoided that very fate. In May, he agreed to plead guilty to aggravated assault -- a downgrade from his original charge of attempted murder -- and he got 3 years of probation instead of prison time.

Like we said ... sweet deal. However, prosecutors say things went south quickly ... as EBG failed a drug test less than 2 weeks after starting probation. They say he tested positive for marijuana, opiates, benzodiazepines and oxycodone.

To make matters worse, the 22-year-old was then accused of posting images on Facebook of a black firearm with an extended magazine, and a semi-automatic rifle.

Several days later, he allegedly shot up a parked car, and brandished the weapon in a threatening manner. According to the docs, EBG also has an active warrant for his arrest on charges of vandalism and reckless endangerment.

Ya get the point ... prosecutors are now asking the court to revoke Ejizzle's original sentence of probation, and he's currently being held without bail.

Sports and rap fans patiently waiting for Antonio Brown to release his "Put That S*** On" music vid can stop waiting -- the former NFL superstar just dropped it with huge cameos from Young Thug and Gunna.

On Friday, AB released his "Get In My Bag" video ... a collab with the now-incarcerated Young Thug, which is on Antonio's "Paradigm" album.

The smoke-filled visual finds AB and Thug posted up rapping inside a bowling alley ... flocked by tons of female partygoers. Gunna also blends into the mix ... a stark reminder the "Drip Too Hard" rapper is far removed from the days of his freedom.

Thug, Gunna and several other YSL members have been jammed up since May on a 56-count RICO indictment in Georgia.

AB has been tight with YSL for some time. Shortly before Gunna was busted, they celebrated good times like Styles P and shared a massive blunt ... which we're sure will be waiting for him whenever he gets free!

A$AP Rocky is clear ... he did NOT shoot A$AP Relli ... pushing back against his accuser, whom Rocky says is simply trying to make a cash grab.

The rapper's acclaimed lawyer, Joe Tacopina, tells TMZ ... "Rocky didn't commit a crime. It was an extortion attempt by a former associate, who threatened to make false criminal accusations if Rocky didn't pay him."

Remember ... A$AP is accused of firing shots at A$AP Relli during a dispute in Hollywood back in November, with Relli claiming bullet fragments caused a hand injury. Relli is suing Rocky over the alleged incident, and Rocky is also facing felony firearms charges.

Tacopina tells us he has 2 eyewitnesses who back Rocky's story ... not only that Relli wasn't hit by bullet fragments, but that no shot was even fired. In other words, Tacopina says Relli has made up the story in a "get-rich-quick scheme."

Rocky hired Joe because a couple of his friends -- YG and Meek Mill -- were also successfully repped by Tacopina.

Tacopina says both the civil and criminal cases against his client are slam dunks ... "What will become abundantly clear in the upcoming months, based on facts and evidence, is that Rocky is innocent of these charges."

The former marriage of Safaree and Erica Mena is officially dissolved -- they've finalized their divorce terms ... TMZ has learned.

Legal documents obtained by TMZ show the judge signed off on the divorce September 12, after the exes came to their agreement through arbitration. Among those terms ... Safaree will dole out $4,305 a month in child support.

Allow us to jog your memory ... Erica filed for divorce in May 2021 and the two have been living separately since, sharing joint custody of their 2 young children.

The pair already unloaded their sprawling $1.3 million Georgia mansion in June and, with the marriage officially over, the docs say Erica will again go by her maiden name.

The "Love & Hip Hop" power couple were married for less than 2 years when Erica claimed Safaree was cheating while she was pregnant with their second child, and she allegedly trashed his stuff ... effectively flushing the marriage for good.

Kendrick Lamar's Mr. Morale and The Big Steppers tour is full of surprises -- just ask TikTok user @cjlove2670 ... who lost her phone during one of the shows, and just realized it now has exclusive Baby Keem content!!!

CJ took to TikTok to reveal Kendrick's Grammy-winning cousin claimed ownership of the device and filmed a couple of hilarious trolling videos before hitting the stage himself.

"N****, why the fuck you throw your phone on the homie's stage?" Keem teased from the side of the stage as the crowd revved up to Kid Cudi's "Pursuit of Happiness."

Following his apparent performance, Keem got comfy backstage and again taunted CJ ... noting the sounds of Chief Keef's "Faneto" being enjoyed by everyone in the crowd except the fan without the phone.

For her part, CJ claims she didn't throw her phone on stage but seemed glad to have it back ... however that happened.

Fat Joe's getting increasingly vocal following the murder of PnB Rock ... using the tragedy to make it clear to younger artists that there are all sorts of pitfalls -- sometimes deadly -- attached to their profession.

Joe sat down with Charlamagne Tha God Thursday evening for a special episode of 'Hell of A Week' ... and urgently screamed rappers should now be placed on the endangered species list due to the constant shootings and killings.

The Terror Squad boss also doubled down on the popular notion started by Jim Jones that being a rapper is the most dangerous job.

From his perspective, rappers now face a three-headed enemy: the police, federal agents and the most alarming ... their own kind.

The conversation with Charlamange was carried over from Joe's lengthy Instagram Live earlier in the day ... where he fumed about PnB no longer being able to be with his family.

Joe acknowledged some people in the world were just going to rob and steal by nature, but what he doesn't understand is the murder part ... especially if they've already successfully pulled a theft.

PnB was shot and killed Monday, prompting LAPD officers to put out a city-wide manhunt for his killer.

TMZ broke the story ... the Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles restaurant where the Philly rapper was murdered did a quick 24-hour turnaround to resume business hours and turned over surveillance footage to authorities.

​Some parents whose kids are enrolled in Kanye West's Donda Academy claim they're being forced to sign non-disclosure agreements ... but Ye says that's all just hype, this according to a new report.

Two families sat down with Rolling Stone and spilled the beans about the non-disclosures, which are apparently in place to keep a tight lid on things that go on at the school. In the RS article, the families were unnamed and did not provide details on the hush-hush agreements.

But, one of Kanye's consultants, Tamar Andrews, reportedly fired back, saying only parents put their sigs on the forms and insisted the entire process was informal ... whatever that means.

"Honestly, we don't care if people know about the school," Andrews told RS.

He goes on ... "The people that want to come to the school are looking for a good Christian school in that area and they know that we're there ... there is also a certain notoriety that comes with being affiliated with Donda. So, I don't know that we have to advertise, which is a blessing and a curse."

Ye launched the private Christian school in 2022, catering to pre-K to 12th-grade students. Only about 100 students attend Donda Academy, which is not accredited.

Who are these students? Well, that's still a mystery. And, it's hard to piece together who the teachers are. According to the Donda site ... the mission is to motivate its students to "grow in their faith and community through daily all-school worship and celebration at Sunday Service."

Kanye's had a lot of drama in his life lately. He'd been beefing with Kim Kardashian about her choice of schools for their kids. And, as we reported, Ye's been battling with Gap and Adidas over his sneaker and clothing line partnerships. He recently took to social media to blast the companies, culminating on Thursday with Ye spiking his deal with Gap.

New York Fashion Week is one for the record books, especially for rappers ... including Saucy Santana and Coi Leray.

The 2 blossoming rap stars were recruited for the first-ever NYC show put together by LA-based outfit The Model Experience, and they went big for their debut.

We're told more than 800 models walked the runway on Sept. 11 before Coi and Saucy took the stage -- and the "Booty" rapper made sure to throw it back when his signature hit that samples Beyoncé came on, giving the audience plenty of cake action!

Coi wasn't afraid to shake her tailfeather on stage either, although she was a lot more covered than she was while hanging out with Saucy earlier in the day.

The "Trendsetter" rapper was spotted rocking a dazzling platinum bra that barely covered her chest and caused quite the scene ... on the scene.

Kanye West's ugly divorce from Gap is no shock to folks at the company -- turns out the handwriting was on the electronic wall, several of them ... right in the heart of Times Square.

While Kanye went public Thursday morning about pulling the plug on Gap, his now-former partners started packing up his stuff, metaphorically speaking, the day before. The first part of this video outside Gap's flagship NYC store was shot in late July, back when it was smooth sailing with Ye.

Ads for his Gap Yeezy Balenciaga "Dove Hoodie" were all over video billboards at street level AND on giant screens above the store entrance.

The "after" footage, though, was shot Wednesday at 1 PM, and all visual evidence of Ye had already been scrubbed -- more than 12 hours before Mr. West announced the partnership was dead.

The reality is even before he ripped Gap publicly -- banging its stock down 3.64%, a 7-week low -- Ye's lawyers had fired off a letter to Gap ... claiming it fed him empty promises about releasing clothing and opening brick and mortar Yeezy Gap stores to specifically hawk his designs.

The Times Square footage makes it clear both sides had walked away from negotiations long before we all found out it was over. It also makes it seem Gap isn't losing much sleep over it.

Of course, neither is Ye ... who, in his unique way, explained why he's done talking to Gap.

Hip hop's most unpredictable couple, Blueface and Chrisean Rock, claim they're on the sunny side of their relationship now -- after 2 public fights -- and proved it on a NY Fashion Week runway!!!

The couple grabbed the spotlight Wednesday night at Natalie Nunn, Daniel's Leather and Zeus Network's NYFW party and fashion show. They even hit the catwalk together, and ended it on a lovely note ... with tongues down each others' throats!!!

The glitzy event didn't go down without a hiccup, however ... but this time, no one could point the finger at Blue and Chrisean.

Instead, it was rapper Maino who got into a bit of an altercation with Natalie after he snatched the mic when people were heading towards the door.

According to Natalie's recollection, Maino got on the mic only to get disrespectful, ripping Zeus Network while watching the company's pockets.

Kanye West has pulled the plug on his partnership with Gap, claiming the company double-crossed him with empty promises.

Ye's lawyers fired off a letter, obtained by the Wall Street Journal, to the struggling retail company saying Gap violated their deal by not releasing his clothing as promised, and not opening retail stores specifically designed to promote Kanye's merch.

Kanye's been grousing on social media for weeks, claiming Gap has cut him out of meetings, the creative process and has fallen way short in promotion.

He gave Gap honchos an ultimatum last month, saying, "You have to really give me the position to be Ye and let me do what I'm thinking, or I have to do the thinking somewhere else."

Apparently, the remaining Kanye inventory will still be sold at Gap, but that's it.

Kanye's also beefing with Adidas ... accusing the company of ripping off his Yeezy designs and violating their deal in various ways.

Ye has strongly insinuated he might just chuck all the partnerships and open his own retail stores.

Never a dull moment.

Just as Kanye West finds a new muse ... a previous one, Julia Fox, is speaking out about their breakup, and says she pulled the plug over his issues.

The "Uncut Gems" actress has clearly been doing some reflecting about their whirlwind romance, and says she's proud of herself for leaving Kanye as soon as she saw the first red flag.

She tells ES Magazine ... Kanye had a lot of unresolved issues he had been dealing with at the time -- “It just seems like he had a lot to work on, and I just don’t have time for it or energy ... I don’t have the bandwidth or emotional capacity for it. I’m proud of myself for that."

On top of that, Julia says she couldn't keep up with the rapper's fast lifestyle once "real life set in." Flying around the world at the drop of the hat does require a pretty open schedule.

Julia added ... had she been the same person she was before having her 1-year-old son, she probably would've held on a lot longer to the Ye relationship.

You'll recall Julia and Kanye called it quits back in February after less than 2 months of dating. Around the same time, Kanye had been firing shots on social media and hoping to get back with his ex-wife Kim Kardashian.