TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

DJ Akademiks says Ashanti needs to come clean and say the name of the producer who attempted to blackmail her songs in exchange for sex in the shower.

Ashanti was on "The Breakfast Club" last week and shared an alleged encounter between her and the mystery producer who she claims withheld a couple tracks they worked on in hopes they'd hop in the tub together.

When Ashanti refused, she says the price of the songs went from $0 to $40,000 ... prompting her to call up her goon squad to handle business.

Ak says Ashanti is doing her fellow females in the music industry a potentially harmful disservice -- as they could also fall into the producer's traps if she doesn't disclose a name.

Ak also points out the fact Ashanti's a veteran in the biz now, so she should just give up the name.

Xzibit is going out of his way to pay his achievements forward, and while he's at it ... he has some valuable advice for the rappers in the younger generation.

TMZ Hip Hop checked in with Xzibit over the weekend outside the Hollywood Palladium ... where he was assisting the nonprofit org Humanity Heroes in its quest to dole out 10K "Humanity Packs" containing essential first aid and safety items to the homeless citizens of skid row.

The West Coast rap vet says the little contributions add up along the way and the charitable works have been keeping him busy as he finalizes his last solo album.

The last time we spoke to X, he was perfectly fine hanging up his studio mic in exchange for more time with his family, and he hasn't wavered one bit on that sentiment.

He's also continuing to push his Napalm cannabis brand ... noting how they were able to survive the unpredictable economy during the 2020 pandemic.

We also gauged his wisdom for the current crop of rappers ... especially with so many of them dying or getting incarcerated at the height of their careers. X suggests the community should band together in order to set up the next generation for a better experience.

City Girls' JT apparently had a lovers quarrel with Lil Uzi Vert going into Thanksgiving weekend when she told her 2.6 million followers she was a single woman -- but the two have since patched things up.

The City Girl threw a huge 30th birthday party over the weekend where Uzi blessed her with a brand new set of luxury wheels!!!

The "Just Wanna Rock" rapper capped off her Miami bash by surprising his boo with a black x black Rolls-Royce Cullinan ... instantly inducing waterworks all over her face. We're told he bought the whip from RD Whittington, owner of Wires Only.

Following the double R reveal, JT trumped her previous tweet with more affectionate ones ... proclaiming Uzi to be the "g.o.a.t." boyfriend and revealed that her heart was full.

The inside of JT's party was just as lit as her lifestyle -- Yung Miami and Saucy Santana were a living rich flex and the venue was decked out with large billboards containing some of JT's most memorable lyrics.

The two are amongst hip hop's most generous power couple. JT actually blessed Uzi with a Mercedes-Benz V-Class and a BMW G 310 R Sport motorcycle for his birthday last August.

NBA YoungBoy spent 8 minutes unloading the weight of the world in his new track "This Not a Song 'This For My Supporters'" ... and offered up some advice to Kanye West after yet another tumultuous week.

Midway through the track, YB laments over Kanye cracking under the pressure and urged him to stay strong rapping, "It hurt my heart that Kanye let them people break his soul/How the f**k that go? N**ga, stand your own n**ga, hold your ground, you strong!"

The Louisiana rapper even suggested he'd give Kanye a couple of pointers on how to kill all his demons ... in the name of good, of course.

Ye will need at least two years of good karma if he's going to secure the Presidential bid he's currently campaigning for but it sounds like YB is gunning for his spot in the White House!!!

YB also dedicated some lyrical space to plenty of other eye-popping topics. He threatened to sue The Shade Room for alleged misquotes ... and says he'll kick out any woman who plays GloRilla's 'F.N.F.' hit song around him because it's the opposite of his character.

Despite the aggressive tone of the track, YB repeatedly demands people "stop the violence" and even defended his hometown Baton Rogue's quality of life.

LL Cool J is all for Nas and 21 Savage settling their differences in the studio ... even in the competitive arena known as hip hop!!!

We linked with Mr. Rock the Bells outside the Kennedy Center Honors Sunday night, and he had nothing but praise for "One Mic, One Gun" ... the end result of the fever started by 21 when he referred to Nas as "irrelevant" in terms of the current rap scene.

LL tells TMZ Hip Hop all generations of rappers should rock together for the sake of the culture ... but he's still fine with lyrical clashes on wax.

LL has had a full cow's share of beefs in the rap game -- infamously dissing Kool Moe Dee, Ice-T and MC Hammer on his 1990 song "To da Break of Dawn," and also partaking in one of the most memorable battles in history when he squared off against Canibus later that decade.

Sacha Baron Cohen did his classic 'Borat' bit to go after Kanye West during the Kennedy Center Honors, and Rep. Nancy Pelosi's husband was among those applauding ... as he made his first public appearance since he was attacked.

The actor/comedian reprised his iconic role for a speech Sunday night at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in D.C., where George Clooney, Gladys Knight, U2 and a few other artists were honored.

During the ceremony, SBC came out dressed as the misunderstood Kazak journalist and went right after Ye's antisemitic remarks, saying ... "Before I proceed, I will say I am very upset about the antisemitism in US and A. It not fair. Kazakhstan is number 1 Jew-crushing nation. Stop stealing our hobby. Stop the steal! Stop the steal!”

He added, "Your Kanye, he tried to move to Kazakhstan and even changed his name to Kazakhstanye West. But, we said: No, he too antisemitic, even for us."

If you're unfamiliar, the 'Borat' character is known for making antisemitic jabs -- but everyone knows it's ironic humor, because Sacha is Jewish.

He even sang a parody of U2's "With or Without You," changing the lyrics to "With or Without Jews."

Later in the evening, Borat got lost and Sacha reappeared as his normal self.

Now, while his standup was certainly a highlight from the night, seeing Paul Pelosi in the building, alongside Rep. Pelosi was just as eye-opening.

It marked his first public outing since an attacker struck him with a hammer, back in October, inside the Pelosis' San Fran home.

Paul's skull was damaged, and required surgery ... but at the Kennedy Center, he seemed to have recovered well. He was wearing a hat, possibly to conceal his injuries.

Metro Boomin has poignantly tied the theme of his new album to the recent loss of his mother -- inviting dozens of single moms to an NFL game ... with on-field access!!!

The record producer organized an awesome initiative Sunday for the Steelers' game against the Atlanta Falcons, who were hosting at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. MB -- who's originally from the area -- had some guests attend on his behalf ... a lot of them, in fact.

You see ... Metro bought tickets for 26 mothers from around the country as well as their children -- which made for a mini family parade through the tunnel and onto the main stage pre-kickoff.

Not just that, but the group here also got to stand next to the Falcons players for the national anthem ... so, better than a front-row seat. They were the main attraction! Metro himself did not attend -- our sources tell us he wanted the mama bears to have the spotlight.

It was a pretty awesome moment, to say the least ... and the reason Metro did it, we're told, was two-pronged -- one, he wanted to honor his own late mother, who tragically died.

At the same time, Metro wanted to recognize single moms for the heroes they are ... which ties into his latest project, "HEROES & VILLAINS," which is out now.

We're told this effort -- which Metro calls "Single Moms Are Superheroes," in partnership with the Steve and Marjorie Harvey Foundation -- is a way to help these ladies amid struggles they might face as solo parents. With this nonprofit he's established, they can now get more assistance than they might otherwise receive.

Back in 2004, Snoop Dogg was stylin’ and profilin’ in his Snoop DeVille for 50 Cent’s "P.I.M.P. Remix" video, and now you can roll just like him ... 'cause the classic whip's up for grabs!!!

TMZ Hip Hop spoke to Christian Bonilla, the current owner of the car ... and he has a pretty interesting tale about how it came into his possession.

Snoop’s DeVille -- a customized 1966 Cadillac lowrider -- was virtually a family heirloom at one point and even took home the "top interior" prize at the 2006 General Motors car competition.

Christian tells us Snoop’s late roll dogg, Uncle Junebug, was especially fond of the car and loved taking it for a spin. Unfortunately, we're told Snoop blew the engine, so it was just taking up space in his car lot.

Eventually, a friend of Christian’s made Snoop an offer and shipped the car to Christian.

The car is mostly intact aside from the engine that was replaced and an audio upgrade … and we bet "Still D.R.E." sounds amazing in the speakers!!!

Christian says he’s currently fielding offers for the pimpmobile, so he doesn’t have an asking price set just yet.

Before this cute guy in his Batman tee turned into a global performer, he was just throwing on his hockey skates, heading to practice and working on becoming an actor while growing up in The Great White North.

After starring in a drama series on the CTV network for 7 seasons, he propelled himself big time into the music scene and "Nothing Was The Same." When he's not selling out concert venues around the world, you can catch him partying with icon Martha Stewart.

Need one more hint? He goes by numerous nicknames.

Kanye West has reportedly shed at least one alt-right figure from his inner circle -- but it's not necessarily the guy you might want to see go first from the outside looking in.

Per Daily Beast journo Will Sommer, Milo Yiannopoulos has been fired from Ye's campaign team -- this following his crash-and-burn interview with Alex Jones earlier this week, not to mention a bunch of others that have gone up in flames and made KW look bad.

Sommer says Milo was booted after "a series of disastrous media appearances that saw the candidate praising Hitler." He adds that in an email, Milo wrote that there was a mutual conclusion reached that he oughta step away ... and it sounds like he has.

So, the question ... what about Nick Fuentes, the self-proclaimed white nationalist who's had Ye's ear for several weeks or so? Sommer reports his status in the Ye camp isn't quite as clear, but suspects the dude's probably safe ... for now.

Fuentes was alongside Kanye during the InfoWars interview, whereas Milo wasn't ... which seems to suggest this change happened over the past few days. Then again, we got video of NF at an In-N-Out just 2 days ago, without Kanye in sight, so who knows what's going on.

As for Milo ... well, it's probably for the best. Despite his efforts to get Kanye on different conservative-leaning podcasts of late -- a lot of them crumbled, like when he walked off the set of Tim Pool's podcast earlier in the week after some pushback on his antisemitism.

No word if Ye was holding that against Milo -- as opposed to, you know, himself -- but in any case ... it sounds like Kanye wants to pursue the presidency without him (and yes, that does in fact seem to be a thing again, YE24).

Travis Scott was the show to watch Saturday night during Art Basel weekend.

Travis hit the state at E11EVEN nightclub in Miami. Celebs were out in force watching ... including Larsa Pippen and Marcus Jordan ... so they're still a thing.

Lots of celebs in town, including Kim and Khloe Kardashian, Serena Williams, who went club hopping Friday. night. Unclear if they hit up the Travis concert, but it's a good bet they did.

Leonardo DiCaprio was in town, cavorting with lots of beautiful women on a superyacht. Miami mogul David Grutman was in the middle of it all ... he owns just about every hot spot in the city.

Kanye West has unveiled his bigoted views to the world, yet there's still a market for Ye24 merch as he noodles on another run for president.

A quick search on eBay and Amazon reveals dozens of listings, with everything from shirts and hoodies to hats and flip-flops ... all with either Kanye's imagery or his Ye24 slogan. It's unclear exactly who's selling the stuff ... whether it's Kanye or 3rd parties. Pricing ranges from $20-30 for hats, up to $50 for hoodies and flip-flops, plus shipping.

While we've yet to see any designs of Kanye with a swastika or anything Hitler-adjacent, some merch includes Ye holding a cross, and another where he's standing next to Iron Man.

As for the resale value of Yeezy shoes, those have remained shockingly unchanged -- despite Kanye's proclamation of loving Hitler and giving props to Nazis.

Remo from Walk Like Us, a digital marketing company working with resellers, tells us one of the more popular Yeezy designs -- the 2015 Turtle Doves which retailed for $160 -- are still reselling at an average price of $793.

Big Daddy Kane is starring in a theater production of 'New Jack City' -- which he says is touring now ... and which is going to be hosting the director of the cult classic in due time.

We got the rap legend in New York this week ... where our photog chopped it up with BDK about the Je'Caryous Johnson's 'NJC Live on Stage' -- a Broadway-like play that brings the movie to life in front of audiences all these years later.

Check out the clip, 'cause Kane's got some cool insights for us -- including the fact that actor Allen Payne (who played Gee Money in the OG) is reprising his role in this new cast!

Not just that, but Kane says Mario Van Peebles -- who directed 'New Jack City,' and also acted in it as the cop who was out to bring down Wesley Snipes' operation -- will be coming to check out the show when they come to L.A.'s Orpheum Theater in late January.

The reason that's significant -- beyond the fact that it's awesome to host MVP at all -- is 'cause Big Daddy is actually playing his character from the movie ... AKA, Stone. Kane says Mario's swinging by to take it all in, and maybe give him some notes on performance.

Ya gotta wonder if Wesley himself has caught wind of the play and if he's curious to give it a peek. He hasn't said anything about it, from what we can tell, on social media thus far.

Juice WRLD would've turned 24 Friday, and while his memory lives on through his family, friends and fans ... there's a massive tribute show on the horizon in Chicago, his hometown.

December 8 marks the third anniversary of the rapper's death, and will also be the day the United Center will fill up with supporters passionately celebrating what's being deemed as "Juice WRLD Day."

TMZ Hip Hop has learned the lineup is jampacked -- DDG, Trippie Redd, G Herbo, Cordae, Lil Tecca, Ski Mask the Slump God, Lucki, Sleazyworld Go, Tana and Bankrol Hayden are all in ... repping for the 999 movement this year.

Bankrol tells TMZ Hip Hop, “Juice WRLD has always been a big inspiration to my music and helped me through my toughest times. Opening up for Juice in 2018 to now performing at the celebration of his legacy means the world to me.”

Juice’s personal friend and collaborator DJ Scheme also tells TMZ Hip Hop the event is truly important because it flips a negative situation into a positive occasion, saying, “On the day he passed away, we get to celebrate it in a positive way so his supporters never forget his main ideal ‘999.’”

Juice died from an accidental drug overdose of oxycodone and codeine in 2019 at just the age of 21 ... but his popularity remains unchanged.

Chrisean Rock appears to have admitted to hitting Blueface ... which left him with two black eyes that she proudly showed off to their followers.

The volatile couple were both featured on a recent IG Live stream from Blueface's account, during which he said Chrisean was "10-1" but had not yet taken "his belt." While it's unclear what exactly he's referring to, Chrisean seemed to suggest it was about their fights.

She showed off a photo of Blueface from her phone -- flashing it to his own phone so the IG Live crowd could see it -- and it looks to show the rapper with a couple of shiners.

Chrisean is definitely trying to one-up Blue here, saying he looks like a raccoon there. BF, meanwhile, laughs it off ... noting he took it like a "snack" (champ?) and that he didn't even hit her back, as if that's something to be commended.

He goes on to say that if he hit her like that, she'd go to sleep ... and kinda gives himself a pat on the back for not retaliating. In the end, he tries to kiss and make up, but Chrisean isn't having it -- making for a super awkward interaction and a lot of tension.

It's more of the same from these two, frankly -- an apparently toxic relationship that seems to include violence ... allegedly from both sides.

Remember, it wasn't too long ago that Chrisean showed off what she claimed were injuries at the hands of Blueface -- only to take it back completely some 24 hours later. Their apparent nonstop ups and downs certainly seem to be laced with mutual combat, which we've seen on camera time and again.

French Montana's late Coke Boys artist Chinx Drugz is still dropping new music 7 years after he was gunned down -- a fact his wife sees as a testament to the countless hours he spent recording.

Chinx's widow, Janelli Caceres-Pickens, and his former manager, Doug "Biggs" Ellison, painstakingly compiled verses, snippets and unfinished tracks to complete "CR6," his third posthumous project, and the sixth installment in the "Cocaine Riot" series.

TMZ Hip Hop spoke to Janelli about the release and she admitted it was exhausting, yet rewarding.

She also touched on the rash of rappers who've been killed at an even more alarming rate than when Chinx was murdered.

Janelli says she's been vocal about the recent string of tragedies -- such as PnB Rock and Takeoff both getting fatally shot in recent months -- and she insists it's misplaced to blame the pattern on hip hop culture.

Instead, she says it's criminals who are ruining the vibes ... although, she admits if she and Biggs weren't A&Ring "CR6," she'd be listening to R&B.

Nevertheless, Janelli is proud of the Chinx project, citing the song "Lonely" with Offset as one of her personal faves.