TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

T-Pain revealed he’s wiser and $400k poorer now that his “Big Ass Chain” means nothing to him -- but O.T. Genasis knows from experience ... you can spend money on a lot worse!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught the “Cut It” rapper out in Hollywood and he feels Teddy Pain shouldn’t feel ashamed of dropping 6-figures on his now obsolete chain ... mainly because it bought him some exposure that was priceless!!!

T-Pain openly admitted on Nappy Boy Radio that diamonds and gold had depreciated on his watch ... but keeps the chain handy to remind himself of his "dumbest" purchase ever!!!

O.T. says mentioning the chain instantly rang a bell for him ... and he thinks T-Pain’s chain worked wonders for his branding and marketing aspects.

Diddy's son Christian "King" Combs is kicking off the year reaffirming his love with his boo thang Raven Tracy ... and his fav love language is apparently physical touch!!!

The 2 linked up toward the end of 2022, and Raven closed out Thursday evening penning a rather lengthy and affectionate IG love letter to Christian ... with a saucy video attached.

With SZA's new hit "Snooze" playing, Christian goes in for a hug ... and sticks around for a five-finger embrace of Raven's apple bottom, much to the keen eye of her IG audience ... who think the interaction had him at half-mast. 🙈

Christian appeared to be foreshadowing any wild comments and flipped the bird to whoever it may concern ... while flexing his washboard abs for good measure.

Raven called their union God-sent and says Christian prioritizes their relationship ... which is impressive because he's all about grinding in the studio these days.

Kanye West isn't just hanging around town with a mystery blonde, he's also married to her -- they recently had a private ceremony to celebrate their love ... TMZ has learned.

Sources connected to the couple tell TMZ the woman is Bianca Censori, she hails from Australia and she's worked as an architectural designer at Yeezy for several years. She's also been a brunette until switching things up to the short blonde look we've recently seen.

Our sources say Ye and Bianca recently had some sort of wedding ceremony -- though we're told it doesn't appear they've filed a marriage certificate to make it legal.

Still, he's treating her like wifey ... Ye was wearing a wedding ring this week when he and Bianca arrived at the Waldorf Astoria in Bev Hills -- and we're told the ring symbolizes his commitment to her following the ceremony.

Just last month Kanye released a new song, titled "Censori Overload" -- another tribute to his new woman.

While the lyrics don't seem to directly tie him to her, there are some possible clues as to why he wanted a quickie wedding ceremony. The line, "And The Bible said, 'I can’t have any more sex til marriage'" seems kinda relevant!

TMZ broke the story, Ye and Bianca were spotted sharing a meal and chatting at the Waldorf earlier this week. We hadn't really seen them together prior to that meeting, but she's also hit some Kanye-adjacent events, including a Balenciaga show in May.

If you make a song called "GOATED.," it's only right you get one of the greatest of all time to be in the music video ... and that's exactly what rapper Armani White did -- enlisting none other than Floyd Mayweather to bust a move in his new visuals!!

TBE makes a quick cameo in the West Philly M.C.'s project that dropped Thursday night ... showing the boxing legend working out at BOXR Gym in Miami -- hitting the bag, doing push-ups and even dancing along to the track, which features Denzel Curry.

The 50-0 champ looks like he's having a helluva time in the vid ... even giving Blanco a few training tips throughout the song. Whatever he told Armani must've worked -- 'cause the next scene shows the "Billie Eilish." rapper knocking out a goat mask-wearing opponent in the boxing ring.

AW also gives a tribute to another G.O.A.T. -- Michael Jordan -- shooting another scene at a gymnasium where he dons a custom black and red #23 jersey.

Cardi B is set to have a big 2023 musically — her long-awaited sophomore album is being cut as we speak!!!

Fans' suspicions about an Instagram page with the handle @albumcb2 were confirmed when the account shared an IG Story with Cardi in the studio -- originally posted by her longtime A&R guy, Brooklyn Johnny.

The @albumcb2 page still has a bare-bones look to it and, for now, Cardi is the only follow.

Cardi’s new project has some big ‘Red Bottoms’ to fill. Her debut, 2018’s “Invasion of Privacy” ... went 3x platinum and spawned 2 Diamond-selling singles “Bodak Yellow” and “I Like It,” featuring Bad Bunny and J Balvin.

The album appeared to be ready in July 2022 when she linked with Ye and Lil Durk for her "Hot Sh*t" single, but she declared she wasn't ready for her privacy to be invaded once again.

That being said, there's no better time to launch a new project than when you have a Super Bowl ad coming.

New York City native and singer Kelis was just 23 years old when she went viral around the world with her 2003 hit song "Milkshake" -- a song that has since been a dance jam and is still popular amongst all ages to this day!

The banger was part of her "Tasty" album and also featured songs "Millionaire" featuring Andre 3000 and "In Public" featuring her ex-husband Nas. "Milkshake" became even bigger in 2004 after it was featured in the movie "Mean Girls."

Kelis has since stepped away from singing and is now living the farm life!

Gunna has at least one rap friend still in his corner amid allegations he rolled on Young Thug ... and that's his "Elon Musk" song partner DDG, who says he's not switching up on his collaborator.

Tekashi 6ix9ine has been on the warpath about artists who, in his eyes, didn't keep the same "snitch" energy for Gunna as they did for him. He called out DDG to Akademiks for not dropping a "🐐" emoji on his IG page like he did for Gunna.

Akademiks eventually got DDG to respond, and the "Moonwalking in Calabasas" rapper explained he's not down with the so-called street code ... or showing fake love for peers.

He admitted he and Gunna weren't exactly BFFs, but didn't feel he'd been keeping it buck if he abandoned him over public hearsay -- aka the rumors Gunna snitched.

DDG also rejected 6ix9ine's claim he was playing favorites ... he said he simply never had a relationship with Tekashi. He says if they were cool, he wouldn't have switched up on him either during his trial and subsequent cooperation with the feds.

Gunna's return to Instagram this week was met with mixed reviews -- including those from his own YSL camp.

Lil Gotit (and his mother) recently put a moratorium on folks posting about his late bro Lil Keed -- as Gunna did, which drew an angry response from Gotit.

Ray J is coming to the defense of Eddie Murphy -- whether or not he needs it -- by warning Tyrese to shut up about Eddie's Golden Globes joke referencing the Will Smith slap.

An incensed Ray J hit the comment section Thursday on The Jasmine Brand to voice his disapproval of Tyrese's sentiment that everyone, including EM, should stop bringing up Will's infamous slap of Chris Rock at last year's Oscars.

As Ray sees it ... Tyrese is in no position to give Eddie advice, seeing as how his resume doesn't have any classics to measure up to "Beverly Hills Cop" and "Coming to America."

He also seems to think Will isn't above an encore performance, suggesting he might have to unload on Tyrese to get him in line.

It's clear there's bad blood between them, because Ray added, "You know how i feel about you and your antics.!"

We're not sure where Tyrese's sense of humor went -- Eddie all but brought the house down with his joke. It might be a little old, but it was brilliantly delivered.

Foxy Brown is defending her honor -- just like Shawnna -- against Keith Murray's recent rampage, and she's under the impression the Def Squad rapper's had one too many illicit substances.

The veteran Brooklyn-born rapper dragged KM for filth on her IG page late Wednesday night ... calling him all sorts of "crackheads" and "dope fiends" for his remarks.

She noted how KM's attire alone should've tipped viewers off to his erratic behavior.

KM claimed -- during an interview with "The Art Of Dialogue" -- to have received mind-blowing oral sex from Foxy back in the day while she was dating DMX ... and it's this very type of dialogue that has been getting him in constant trouble!!!

Ludacris' former label standout Shawnna also laid into KM with claims of drug abuse following another nonsensical interview where he made claims of sexual conquests where she's concerned.

Akademiks says he's genuinely concerned for Blueface's career ... especially after his GF Chrisean Rock's admission she smacked him upside the head with a glass of Hennessy!!!

A viral clip from their reality show "Crazy in Love" showed Chrisean cleaning a gaping, bloody wound from the back of Blueface's head ... the aftermath of yet another domestic violence incident between the couple.

Ak scoured Instagram and found plenty of comments about Chrisean's antics superseding Blueface's musical potential -- a sentiment shared by people in the rapper's camp.

Blueface's manager Wack 100 recently confronted Chrisean on the show ⁠... telling her Blueface hasn't carved out a hit since they've been running amok.

That's harsh, but true -- he hasn't made the Billboard Hot 100 as a solo artist since 2019!!! 😩

Ak also shared a personal conversation he had with Offset about having a smaller profile than his wife, Cardi B ... and the Migos rapper allegedly told him the pressure helps his own hustle.

TMZ Hip Hop recently learned Cardi and Offset have a McDonald's Super Bowl commercial on the horizon ... indicative of their synergy as a couple and business people.

Kanye West appears to be getting quite comfortable with the new mystery woman he's been spotted with around Los Angeles ... sharing a meal and good conversation.

We've obtained a photo of Ye and the mystery blonde Monday inside the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills. We're told the pair seemed quite comfortable, chatting while they ate. Unclear why, but Kanye's been spotted at that hotel a lot lately -- so it's possible he's calling it home these days.

The blonde is the same woman he was seen with as they entered the hotel earlier this week -- we don't yet know who she is, but we haven't seen them together outside of the recent sightings. So, if they're indeed an item, it's a new thing.

As we reported, Kanye was previously linked to Julia Fox and Chaney Jones, but both relationships seemed to drop off before getting serious -- at least for Ye. Remember, Chaney did get that tattoo. Oops!

Ye's been rather MIA since his appearance on Alex Jones' "InfoWars" where he announced his love for Hitler and Nazis.

T-Pain is wishing he never slapped down 6 figures on his infamous "Big Ass Chain," but wants it to be a living cautionary tale for other rappers looking to ice up.

Mr. Penderazzdown was speaking with Oliver Tree on his Nappy Boy Radio segment when he admitted the hefty purchase ran him about $400k back in the day. The most painful part, though … he says the chain's now depreciated to about $200K!!! 😓

T-Pain relived the chain’s origin -- he says a random fan dared him to get the diamond-encrusted wonder with the words "Big Ass Chain," and he did it on a whim!!!

The fan still has never been ID'ed to this day, and T-Pain says he keeps the chain around as a reminder not to be dumb with his moolah.

Financial literacy and rapper's extravagant purchases are like oil and water, but Charlamagne Tha God recently set off the conversation about depreciating assets with a simple, yet hilarious, post.

Quentin Miller says he's utterly disappointed in Big Sean's behavior when it comes time to pass out songwriting credits, because he claims Sean Don went MIA on him.

QM says he and Sean first met through Drake circa 2014 while working on their classic duet, "Blessings." He says Sean was impressed with his input, and recruited Quentin to work on "What You Expect" -- Sean's 2021 joint EP with Hit-Boy.

Things started out smooth ... Quentin says he and Sean got close and frequently bounced ideas off each other. When he noticed "Blessings" had won a BET Award, he figured it spelled prosperity for their future collabs.

But then, 2 weeks before the EP release ... QM says Sean stopped responding to texts, and all future communication went through Sean's management.

To make matters worst, QM claims it took 3 months to get his name on the credits and proper publishing once it was officially released -- without his paperwork being signed.

In hindsight, he says he would’ve asked for cash up-front if he knew it was gonna be a ghostwriter situation, but he thought it was gonna be a legit deal.

Dr. Dre has his sights set on a lucrative music deal, one that would sell the rights to some of his royalties and master recordings ... and we're told the price tag is well over $200 million -- WAY MORE than is being reported.

The music mogul is close to selling off some of his music assets in two separate deals ... one with Shamrock Holdings, and another with Universal Music Group ... according to Billboard.

The possible Shamrock deal looks like this ... Dre sells his artist royalties from two of his solo albums -- his share of N.W.A artist royalties, plus his producer royalties and the writer's share of the music where he doesn't own publishing rights.

The potential deal with UMG is a little different ... Dre sells the master recording of his first solo album, "The Chronic," plus his share of some Kendrick Lamar music.

Dre's not selling all of his music ... Billboard characterizes these transactions as mostly "passive income streams" that generate about $10 million annually ... and he's NOT selling his ownership stake in his record label, Aftermath.

Sources close to Dr. Dre tell TMZ ... the actual selling price is actually tens of millions of dollars higher than the $200 million figure Billboard is reporting.

Congrats, Dre. 💸

Joe Budden isn't vibing with Gucci Mane's massive string of losses within the 1017 Records roster, and he sharing his opinion in that unique Joe Budden kinda way!!!

On a recent episode of the 'Joe Budden Podcast' ... the outspoken host called for a thorough background check from record labels and owners, A&Rs, etc. when they're bringing a new artist into the fold.

Gucci and his wife Keyshia Ka'Oir were recently entangled in a hefty war of words with Big Scarr's family over payment for his funeral -- but Joe feels Gucci is putting the young artists in a position to be hit with tragic circumstances.

Joe points out hip hop has put up record numbers in the past 10 years when it comes to deaths, RICO cases and overdoses -- and he's blaming those stats on a lack of good A&R skills, and the "death" of real musicianship in rap.

Despite putting out several releases in the past couple of years, Joe's analysis of Gucci's label isn't without merit.

In addition to Scarr's passing, Gucci's flagship artists Pooh Shiesty, Foogiano and Ralo are currently incarcerated ... as are his rookie rapper Mac Critter, on murder charges, and former signee Hoodrich Pablo Juan in a RICO case.

Another rapper, Baby Racks, lasted about 24 hours before he was dropped from the label for speaking ill of the city of Houston following Takeoff's shooting death.

J Prince is coming to his family's defense following Takeoff's murder ... as his son J Prince Jr. has the center of controversy and conspiracy theories since the dreadful November 1 shooting.

The Rap-A-Lot Records founder was a guest on Chris Gotti's 'Givin Them The Business' podcast where he spoke to the rumors Prince Jr. was cold and heartless for walking past Takeoff's lifeless body immediately after the shooting.

J Prince points out the clip the internet witnessed was only a few seconds throughout the entire day Prince Jr., and their cousin Mike, had spent with Takeoff. He also said Prince Jr. was frazzled from having to go to a bathroom to wash Takeoff's blood off his hands.

Prince Jr. had allegedly reached behind Takeoff's head in an attempt to administer aid, but the Migos rapper died at the scene at the age of 28.

J Prince's statements will likely provide some clarity to social media users, but naysayers should know Houston Police don't consider anyone else a suspect except Patrick Xavier Clark, the man they arrested and charged for Takeoff's murder.