TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Frank Ocean suffered a serious ankle injury after being involved in a bike accident on the Coachella grounds just days before he was scheduled to perform ... forcing a change to his production.

Sources close to the situation tell TMZ ... the accident occurred when Frank was at Coachella rehearsing his set. He wasn't onstage, though, we're told the mishap involved bikes used to roam around the Empire Polo Club grounds .. and it was serious enough for doctors to advise Frank's production be changed.

One of the major changes involved the use of an ice rink, which was built for Frank's set. Another source with direct knowledge tells us ... a casting director reached out to a bunch of L.A.-based hockey teams in March for an unspecified paid performance. Once the skaters got to the audition, they saw Frank in attendance.

We're told it became clear during the audition that it was for his Coachella set -- and over 100 hockey players were cast. They rehearsed on an elevated ice rink at Paramount Studios, and even got bused out to Coachella for a dress rehearsal the week before Frank's show.

The cast arrived at Coachella on Sunday, but were told the skating routine was scrapped. Instead, they joined Frank on stage as background dancers -- it was more walking than dancing, TBH -- and a source tells us they all got hooked up with custom Prada.

Questions surrounding why Frank arrived at his set late and how production will look for his Weekend 2 set still linger ... but we hope he's a fast healer.

Hip-hop legend E-40 will not be attending Game 2 between the Warriors and the Kings Monday night ... after he was kicked out of Game 1 for what he claims was "racial bias."

Shams Charania just tweeted the news ... saying a rep for the Bay Area rapper said 40 wouldn't be at the Golden 1 Center to see his Warriors play following Game 1's incident. TMZ Sports also confirmed the news.

ICYMI ... E-40 was escorted out of the Kings arena Saturday night after a heated confrontation with Kings fans and security.

40, a big Warriors fan, sitting courtside for Game 1, was accused of standing up and blocking the view of the fans sitting behind him during the game, causing them to complain to arena personnel.

After an alleged back-and-forth, 40 was ultimately booted from the game, missing the end of the Kings' 126-123 win over his Dubs.

The rapper sees the situation differently, releasing a lengthy statement explaining he was "subjected to disrespectful heckling" throughout the game, admitting he "turned around and addressed one heckler in an assertive but polite manner."

40 said the ordeal was another reminder that "racial bias remains prevalent," explaining "security saw a disagreement between a Black man and a white woman and immediately assumed that I was at fault."

The Warriors will look to tie up the series against Sacramento ... but they'll have to do it without their number one celebrity fan in the building.

As for 40, he'll be back in the building in San Fran this Thursday for game 3!

Rep. George Santos is apparently trying to cater to the Barbz -- he just introduced a new bill named after Nicki Minaj that's all about vaccines ... so claims one journo.

Semafor's political reporter Kadia Goba tweeted out some news she says she's privy to -- namely, a piece of legislation the New York congressman has supposedly thrown into the House of Representatives for consideration as a would-be law that bears Nicki's name.

She writes, "Ahem. Rep. George Santos just dropped seven bills in the hopper. Among them, The Minaj Act, named for -- yes, you guessed it -- rapper Nicki Minaj establishes a development period for new vaccines in order to generate public confidence."

We've searched Congress's official site and Rep. Santos's official page, which tracks what bills he's sponsored or co-sponsored, and can't find this new bill anywhere. The House is back in session today, so it's possible Goba got a sneak peek before it hits the system.

The bill would be a fascinating play by the embattled Republican, who's been mired in controversy (stemming from his many lies) from day 1.

Still, he seems to be attempting to curry favor with Nicki's fervent fan base already -- just check Twitter and you'll see they're already loving the move ... and, by extension, Santos. Of course, Nicki's history with vaccine skepticism is well-documented from the pandemic.

Remember, she had a whole ballsy story about her cousin and alleged side effects from the vaccine when they were first being rolled out ... a saga for which she caught a lot of flak.

Justin Hill, an attorney for Young Thug's YSL camp, has some serious cojones -- not only did he disagree with the judge in their RICO case, but he blatantly called "cap" on him in open court!!!

Hill was in court Monday when he was accused by Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge Ural Glanville of not making a formal assertion before court started.

Although it was deemed a moot point, Hill stood his ground and basically told the judge he's an honorable fibber as the case proceeded.

Outside the courtroom, Hill, who represents YSL member Damone Blalock aka Bali, doubled down on his choice of words. He told reporter George Chidi he felt misrepresented during the proceedings, and using the word "cap" perfectly defined the moment.

Thugger's RICO case has been filled with unpredictable hijinks -- back in January, one of his codefendants attempted to pass him drugs as court was ongoing and several others, including Gunna, have since taken plea deals.

The Weeknd's new music industry focused HBO series "The Idol" is ripe with real musicians ... and several of them got their shine on various Coachella stages ahead of the show's premiere.

On Monday, HBO rolled out the official trailer and June 4 release date for "The Idol." Spotify's biggest artist of all-time co-created the show with “Euphoria” creator Sam Levinson and Reza Fahim, and he costars in the lead role opposite Lily-Rose Depp.

BLACKPINK's Jennie Kim, legendary engineer Mike Dean and singer Troye Sivan all have recurring roles in the series and got primetime shine on various Coachella stages.

Weeknd and Mike were part of Metro Boomin's star-studded set on Friday night, Jennie performed with her hitmaking group on Saturday ... and Charli XCX brought out Troye as a surprise guest the same day.

Latto seems to have no problem picking at the scab covering her Nicki Minaj beef ... and debuted a new song at Coachella that has fans thinking she once again is firing at her!!!

The "Big Energy" rapper provided exactly that Sunday when she premiered a new track on the Sahara stage ... rapping ether like, “Bitches acting like they running shit, they really ran through” and “She thought I would kiss her ass, she mustn’t have took her meds.”

The biggest clues the song was about Nicki came during Latto's song-ending ad-libs ... "Say she got a problem, imaginary smoke/ Bitch, you said it’s up, then put on the floor”

She then walked off the stage yelling, “Pussy hoe… Let a bitch know, we tired of the subtweets this year” ... as she and Nicki's very public Twitter spat is still heavy fodder for her fans as well as the Barbz.

The two fell out after the 2022 Grammy Award noms were released -- where Nicki's "Super Freaky Girl" was absent while Latto's "Big Energy" record made the cut.

From there, an all-out war ensued, complete with leaked phone calls sparking a rift that still hasn't been resolved.

50 Cent and his longtime girlfriend Cuban Link sparked engagement rumors over the weekend after she was spotted wearing a HUGE diamond rock while watching him perform ... but fans shouldn't start cooking up about wedding day scenarios just yet.

A rep for 50 Cent tells TMZ Hip Hop ... the ring is not an engagement ring, but the couple IS very much together.

Cuban certainly helped stir the rumor pot with her IG post showing herself backstage watching her man with a Summer Walker love ballad playing -- plus, her caption had white heart and padlock emojis.

She had to know what fans would think, but again ... we're told there's no engagement.

Frank Ocean was the hotly anticipated Sunday night headliner at Coachella 2023, but he put on a lackluster performance that left many of his fans disappointed.

Eyewitnesses tell TMZ ... the singer kicked things off on a sour note, arriving for his first concert in years an hour late at 11 PM to close out the first week of Coachella. Complicating matters, Frank was hard to see on the dimly lit stage and the low-hanging lighting fixtures often blocked him from the view of the audience, who watched most of his show on large screens.

Things continued to go downhill from there. We're told Frank was lethargic throughout his limited set, so much so he couldn't sing at times. His pre-recorded vocals would play over the sound system, but he couldn't bring himself to mouth the words.

And, for some reason, Frank didn't play his most famous tunes, such as "Thinkin Bout You," cranking out other songs that were less recognizable.

Overall, it seemed, the show was disorganized with plenty of downtime and gaps of awkward silence, leaving the crowd annoyed.

Frank even wrapped up his one-hour performance with an unenthusiastic one-liner ... “Guys I’m being told it’s curfew, so that’s the end of the show.”

21 Savage is coming off a very busy weekend in the desert ... hopping on the bill last minute for the 2023 Revolve Festival, as well as assisting in Metro Boomin's star-studded Coachella set!!!

TMZ Hip Hop obtained video of 21 on Sunday blazing through his hits such as "A Lot," "No Heart," and hit Drake feature "Knife Talk."

Fans at Revolve -- a festival going down about 30 minutes from Coachella -- were notified of 21's performance just moments before he took the stage, inducing pandemonium that carried on throughout his 10-song set.

On Friday, 21 also specialized in the element of surprise during Metro Boomin's Coachella performance on the Sahara stage.

21 not only performed a solo set similar to his Revolve performance but also rocked the mic alongside The Weeknd and Diddy for their "Creepin' (Remix)" ... which has been climbing up the Billboard Hot 100!!!

Metro also spiced up his set with other superstars such as John Legend, Future, Don Toliver and legendary producer Mike Dean playing the keys ... arguably making him the producer to beat this generation!!!

The Southern California sun beat down on the Indio Desert for the third and final day of week 1 of the Coachella Music and Arts Festival ... but the celebs dug deep and found the willpower to brave the heat to go out with a bang with big performers like Bjork, Dominic Fike ... and the ever-illusive FRANK OCEAN!

While it took a little more energy to get up after two crazy days at Coachella, Bella Thorne shared a selfie lounging around in a puuuuurfect crochet Hello Kitty bikini ... While James Charles took a knee on day three in a pair of couture khaki fatigues.

If you were bopping around all the private parties you might have thought you showed up to the desert on the wrong weekend ... because lots of influencers were giving some serious Stagecoach vibes with lots of ranch-infused fashion. Olivia Culpo, Ming Lee Simmons and Paige Taylor all had on the same rootiness tootiness trend topped off with a kitschy cowboy hat.

But, make no mistake, the Coachella stages were still heavily infused with Hip Hop influence. Kali Uchis commanded the Main Stage during her Sunday performance and shocked viewer by not only bringing out Don Toliver for a surprise cameo ... but Tyler, The Creator as well!

Hip Hop hotties also made their mark on week 1. Saweetie popped on the Sahara stage alongside her musical peer Latto and was also spotted posing in The VIP with Rae Sremmurd's Slim Jxmmi and Swae Lee. Last, but not least, was GloRilla's much-anticipated performance where she was seen rocking a bright camo style that would make anyone red with envy.

Kendall Jenner and her guy Bad Bunny are clearly enjoying each other's company ... because they were spotted getting pretty close to each other as Coachella wrapped its first weekend.

The model and Puerto Rican rapper seemed to be in great spirits Sunday in Indio -- Kendall was all smiles as she kicked it with BB, who was rocking a bandana over his mouth.

The couple got tons of looks from the massive festival crowd while walking the grounds.

They're clearly beyond the point of denying dating rumors, even though we'd already seen plenty of evidence for the last month that they were an item.

As we reported, Kendall was looking like Bad Bunny's number 1 fan Friday night during his headlining performance ... dancing like no one was watching, which of course, they were.

They've been spotted out for sushi together in WeHo, at an Oscars after-party and even riding horseback together -- now after their fun weekend in the sun we can say the lovebirds are Coachella official.

Trick Daddy has officially ended an era -- his gold grills, which were in dire need of an upgrade after 30 years -- are now gone!!!

Danielle Noguera, CEO of 5 Star Smiles, tells TMZ Hip Hop the Miami rap legend had a moment of clarity about his oral health after refusing to visit the dentist for 15 years. 😳

Trick’s golden chompers were first set in 1994 and remained front and center, if you will, while he made plenty of platinum raps.

But, the permanent caps decayed Trick’s teeth so badly he had to undergo bone loss surgery and currently has temporary fillings in place as his gums heal. He'll have the bottom teeth removed next week.

We’re told Trick has spent $60k on treatment thus far, and the final treatment will be done in about two months ... with a mouthful of porcelain veneers being the final result!!!

“Love & Hip Hop: Miami” will document the entire procedure and the final results in the new season’s first episode later this year.

Judge Mathis says he has no hard feelings after going back and forth with 50 Cent earlier this month ... but he's still going forward with his own "BMF" project regardless!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with hizzoner at LAX, where he explained he and 50 haven't spoken since their social media disagreement over Mathis' upcoming biopic, "The First Lady of BMF: The Tonesa Welch Story."

The TV judge is executive producing the film and 50's ex, Vivica A. Fox, is the director ... but 50 was more concerned with Tonesa being labeled a "BMF associate," because he says her ties are more with Detroit's 263 Crew ... a gang that preceded BMF.

Regardless of what the title says, JM tells us he's a proud Detroit native looking to get Tonesa's story out in the open, which will debut on BET+ later this year.

He also doesn't mind 50's ribbing because he says they're both from the same walk of life!!!

50 infamously got shot 9 times before his rap career skyrocketed, while Mathis says he was shot twice and even showed his bullet wounds!

Leonardo DiCaprio was back in the desert this weekend trying to be as low-key as possible -- but his typical incognito look gave him away ... as did the 2 beauties he was hanging with.

The actor was spotted out and about late Saturday night and early into the wee hours of Sunday as Day 2 at Coachella came to a close. While the Empire Polo Club might've closed its gates following the headliners' sets ... there was another party to hit right next door.

Of course, we're talking about Levi's and Tequila Don Julio's Neon Carnival -- which was hosted just a stone's throw away at the Desert International Horse Park in Thermal, CA ... basically, a mini-Coachella.

As we just mentioned ... Leo was in good company -- hanging out with a couple of young women as they all got nice and snug amid the packed crowd. LDC was rocking his usual black baseball cap and COVID-friendly face mask ... which he pulled down in this rare instance. He also eventually lifted his head enough to see that gorgeous face of his.

Hey, bud! Good to see ya.

Looks like DiCaprio was with some friends for this outing too -- and by the looks of his smile ... he was having a ball. Remember, he's a Coachella regular ... having made appearances for the past several years -- and he's usually rolling with a hottie or two.

While he may have been the biggest star on the scene Saturday ... he was far from the only famous person hitting up the Neon Carnival on the late night -- there were lots of others.

Just to give a sense of who else popped in ... Lil Nas X, Janelle Monae, Camila Cabello, Metro Boomin, Lil Baby, Future, Teyana Taylor, Shay Mitchell, Anderson .Paak, Coi Leray, Olivia Culpo, Glorilla, Yo Gotti ... and a helluva lot more. A who's who, really.

Now the real question ... who's Leo chatting up though??? 👀

E-40 got the boot at the Kings-Warriors game this weekend following an apparent argument with a fan that escalated into a shouting match with security ... and his eventual removal.

The Bay Area rapper -- who's a big Warriors fan -- was sitting courtside Saturday night in Sacramento's Golden 1 Center for Game 1 of the series ... but, somewhere around the 4th quarter, he appears to have gotten into it with a Kings fan who was sitting behind him.

Per reports, E-40 was standing up a lot and blocking the view of folks a row or two back -- who were complaining. After being issued warnings from Golden 1 Center staffers on hand -- security had to get involved at a point ... which then erupted into a full-blown scene.

As you can see, 40 wasn't happy about the situation ... and was even seen yelling at a Golden 1 Center security guard -- which was also snapped up close for a dramatic photo.

Eventually, the Warriors' guys had to step in and help cool things down ... escorting E-40 from the premises as he continued to chirp with security and fans -- who were mocking him and waving at him as he left. Pretty ugly situation ... and E-40's claiming racism here.

He issued a statement to Shams Charania, saying the culprit was a white woman whom he claims was heckling him throughout the game. 40 says he finally turned around to address her directly, which then spurred security to jump in and only deal with him ... not the lady.

You can go read his full remarks, but essentially ... he says racial bias was at play -- and that despite his success ... he still got the short end of the stick as a Black man. 40 says he was humiliated and that the whole thing was jarring. He also thanks his fans for backing him.

Blueface and UK bad boy TikToker Ed Matthews are fighting in a week ... and the social media star from across the pond isn't looking to put in a full night's work -- he says he'll starch the American rapper in the first round!

TMZ Sports talked to 19-year-old Matthews earlier in the week ... just days after the bout was added to the Kingpyn Boxing card, going down April 22 at OVO Arena Wembley in London, Ed's home turf.

"It's a big fight, obviously a lot's on the line. Last minute, as well. Usually I'd be in a 6-week camp, but it's been a 2-week camp. Not that that's gonna change anything. I'll still have the same gameplan," Matthews told us.

But, that doesn't mean he isn't ready to go ... Ed, who's 1-0 in the boxing ring, says he's not only in the "best shape" of his life but, "I'm definitely the best I've ever been."

26-year-old, 6'3" tall Blueface has experience in the ring, too, but Ed says it won't matter.

"It's a first-round knockout, I've already seen it, trust me."

Matthews says he's actually a fan of Blueface, and admitted while it's likely the rapper doesn't know who he is, he will soon enough.

"It's weird actually because I used to listen to his tunes, but I feel like he fell off from the music scene a bit. I ain't heard any of his tunes in a sec, but they used to bang. it's weird, it's a bit nostalgic fighting him," Ed said.

"He definitely don't have a f****** clue who I am, but he's gonna!"