TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Lizzo says she's pulling the plug on a concert in Montreal ... telling fans she just can't muster the strength to perform because of flu-like symptoms.

The "Truth Hurts" singer canceled her gig in Canada a few hours before Thursday's scheduled showtime ... saying she's sick as a dog.

Lizzo ran down a list of her symptoms in a video posted on social media ... she says she has a sore throat, headache and chills ... and she says she's only feeling worse, not better.

She also tweeted about having a 102-degree fever and says this is only the second time she's ever canceled a show due to health reasons.

Lizzo sounded tearful as she explained the reasons behind the cancelation ... wearing a face mask and covering up with a blanket.

Lizzo's been traveling a lot lately ... she performed Friday at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, then attended Monday's Met Gala in New York, as well as Anna Wintour's pre-Met Gala dinner the night before.

She was scheduled to take the stage at the Bell Centre in Montreal but is promising fans she will honor tickets at a makeup show.

Former OVO Sound artist iLoveMakonnen says he knew his days on Drake's label were numbered when the Canadian rapper allegedly started making snide comments.

Makonnen made the shocking accusations on NPR's recently shuttered "Louder Than A Riot" while discussing his rise and fall in music ... claiming Drake once quipped he was an "Eric Benet-ass-looking-n****" right before they performed together at the 2015 Wireless Festival.

Makonnen says he and Drake shared a dwindling bond prior to that moment. The Canadian megastar helped catapult Makonnen to nationwide success in 2014 via the "Tuesday (Remix)" ... which earned Makonnen his first platinum plaque, and his signing with OVO for a single deal.

But, Makonnen says Drake started treating him differently when he began showing signs of weight loss ... hence the Eric Benet crack, and he claims the label stopped promoting his EPs.

And, to make things worse, fans were literally digging up his old tweets dissing Drake!!! Whoops.

Makonnen says his relationship with Drake imploded for good at Rihanna's VMA after-party in 2016 when he attempted to reconnect, but he claims Drake met him with a facial expression that meant him bodily harm ... and he knew it was time to bounce from the label.

Makonnen came out as gay in January 2017, and believes that decision caused the dissolution of many of his working relationships, and much of his inner circle in Atlanta, too.

Cassidy is scoffing at people who are upset at R. Kelly for his sex crimes, but don't hold the same anger toward the average Joe who they observe doing the exact same thing.

The battle-tested Philly rapper spoke his mind on a recent episode of the Street Starz podcast and expressed his belief that people have a right to be upset over R. Kelly ... but should keep the same energy when it comes to seeing people in their neighborhood scoop up younger girls!

According to Cassidy's recollection, he observed plenty of middle and high-school-age girls dating older guys his entire life and feels all hoods have similar scenarios. He also didn't say anything about reporting anyone so he may be just as culpable if true 🤷🏽‍♂️.

Cassidy and Swizz Beatz scored a Top 5 Billboard Hot 100 hit back in 2003 with assistance from Robert Sylvester several years before the sexual abuse allegations poured in.

Kanye West is full steam ahead on his presidential campaign, bringing his former collaborator Milo Yiannopoulos back into the mix, and their first order of business ... firing Ye's controversial right-hand man, Nick Fuentes.

TMZ obtained emails sent from Milo -- now officially YE2024's Director of Political Operations -- to Nick, and in one he says, "Your services on Ye’s exploratory team are terminated ... and will not be required for any possible future campaign."

You'll recall, Nick is the white nationalist who accompanied West during his trip to see Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago last fall.

Milo also fired off an exit email to Ali Alexander, another one of Ye's political advisors, who was recently forced to apologize after being accused of asking teenage boys for sexual pictures.

We reached out to Milo, and he confirmed the details in the e-mails. He also says he's been in L.A. for the past week, talking to Ye about his presidential aspirations.

You'll recall, Milo was reportedly removed from the campaign team last year after Ye's controversial interview with Alex Jones ... and he reportedly blamed Nick and Ali for his firing.

Now that Milo's back in the saddle, it would seem his next mission is finding out just how serious Ye is about running for the White House -- and, after that, addressing the antisemitism West spewed for months.

R&B emeritus Ye Ali doesn't give a damn how much Nick Cannon has to shell out for his kids -- he wants his money, pronto, for an uncleared Chris Brown song he claims Nick swindled from him!!!

Nick was pleasantly enjoying his Thursday on Twitter, joking about impregnating the entire world, when Ye intercepted his message with fiery rebuttals ... making fans aware of his issues with the "Wild 'N Out" creator.

Back in 2021, Nick released his movie "She Ball" ... which featured a snippet of the unreleased CB track "Drive." Ye says he had a hand in creating the song originally cut for a Breezy studio album, and he claims RCA never gave Nick permission to soundtrack it.

According to Ye, Nick's lawyers have been stalling him out, so he felt it was time to take matters public. Nick has yet to respond ... probably because he's busy filling in for Jamie Foxx on his Beat Shazaam TV series.

We reached out to Ye to see if he plans on following through with a lawsuit. No word back -- he's plenty busy stepping on Nick's Twitter neck!!!

Lil Durk and NBA YoungBoy's lethal rivalry is coming to a close ... as both artists seemingly confirmed a peace treaty through breadcrumbs dropped for their social media followers.

DJ Akademiks informed his Twitch live stream audience of the Durk/YoungBoy truce on Wednesday ... and when the clips made their rounds on the internet, fans noted Durk liked the tweet containing Ak's update.

Additionally, the YB Instagram "fan account" -- long suspected to actually be run by the Lousiana rapper on account of its 1 million+ followers -- also shared the news for the world to see.

Durk and YB's tensions revolve around the late King Von's issues with Quando Rondo, who's signed to YB's Never Broke Again label.

Von was shot and killed in November 2020, after attacking Quando ... and the two camps have been at odds ever since.

Their peace accord is truly a watershed moment for recent hip hop culture, given the amount of blood spilled in recent years. While we're not hearing any collaboration talks, each rapper's fans are still getting new music.

YB just dropped his new album "Don't Try This At Home" to a Top 5 Billboard 200 debut and has the lead single on the upcoming "Fast X" soundtrack with the song "Won't Back Down."

The Kid LAROI left his server hanging with a triple-digit bill after fleeing an Irish pub & restaurant -- that's what the pissed-off manager of the watering hole is claiming.

LAROI performed Tuesday night in Springfield, MO, and afterward, he and a group of buddies went to Dublin's Pass Irish Pub & Restaurant for some food and drink.

The joint's manager, Autumn Gray, tells TMZ ... the Aussie rapper was kind to all her staff and patrons at first, even posing for photos with some excited fans -- but, ultimately, they seated LAROI and co. in a private room.

Autumn says the group ran up their bill ordering chicken wings, mac & cheese, brownies and more ... and, although they stepped outside for smoke breaks during the meal, they assured their server they weren't leaving.

Of course, that's precisely what happened according to the restaurant. When their server tried to get a head start on bussing dishes from the table ... they discovered everyone had bolted.

As soon as the manager found out about the dine and dash, she says they searched the premises but TKL and his entourage were long gone.

The total bill was $133.58 and while Autumn acknowledges it might have been a careless mistake by LAROI, she points out servers make most of their money through tips ... so, it's messed up one of her employees did all that work for free.

Autumn says she tried contacting TKL, but hasn't gotten a response. We also reached out to a rep, and so far ... no word back.

Timbaland is going against the grain of the music industry ... while most artists and execs push back against AI, he's actually embracing it with a new track featuring AI-generated Notorious B.I.G. vocals!!!

The mega-producer and Verzuz co-creator was bursting with Christmas Day excitement while introducing the song on IG ... and boldly tagged Jay-Z's engineer Young Guru, who's been one of AI's biggest opponents.

Timbaland presented his Biggie bot production as the solution for the AI debate and gave fans a taste of the song.

After pushing play, Timbaland nodded his head furiously as AI Biggie rapped about the late rap icon's typical love for the finer things in life ... while also weirdly screwing with time and space by name-dropping Nipsey Hussle and Pop Smoke.

Both slain rappers came onto the scene decades after B.I.G. died, and Pop wasn't even born until 2 years after the fact.

Guru didn't attack Timbaland's track, but instead dropped a more general, and ominous, message ... warning humans that playing with AI is like playing with fire.

No telling if the track will ever be released as a single (or if Biggie's estate would even allow it), but the reactions to AI advancement have been a mixed bag so far.

Artists like Jojo, Grimes and LaRussell have spoken to AI's upside ... while UMG boss Lucian Grainge has been pulling out all the stops to kill it.

Dr. Dre's OG secret rap weapon, The D.O.C., has been trying to get his life story out into the world, and thinks he's nearing the finish line after a bit of friction.

TMZ Hip Hop spoke to the "No One Can Do It Better" rapper in the wake of his outburst over the delay of his self-titled film, which screened during the Tribeca Festival ... damn near a year ago.

D.O.C. tells us the forces standing in the way of releasing "The DOC" have subsided, and he's now looking for a suitable distributor for the film. He wants fans to know it features appearances from Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Ice Cube and Dre that are life-changing ... to the core.

The Dallas rapper turned West Coast transplant, infamously damaged his vocal cords in a 1989 car accident, but has since resumed his rap career ... raspy flow and all. Just last month, he rapped on Codefendants' rap/rock mash-up track, "Fast Ones."

It's because he's gotten back on the mic, D.O.C. tells us he's at peace with not using AI to answer the "what if" on his career course -- even though his inbox is flooded with daily requests to license his voice for an AI recording.

Having been around during the glory and the gory days, we also got D.O.C.'s take on Suge Knight's claim Daz Dillinger actually produced Snoop's "Doggystyle" and let Dre take the credit.

Da Brat's wife Jesseca Dupart is attacking the notion they intentionally chose a non-Black sperm donor for their upcoming baby ... and her explanation is pretty in-depth.

On Wednesday, Jesseca came through with a boatload of receipts and broke the whole thing down. The couple recently conducted an interview where they openly admitted their baby's donor wasn't Black after realizing they had limited choices in the gene pool.

Brat also quipped one of the donors looked like Pinocchio's pal Jiminy Cricket.

So, yeah ... you can see how that got lumped into all the donors being cricket-faced killas!!!

Jesseca revealed her existing medical conditions also cut down her chances of carrying a healthy baby, and noted the lack of Black donors in general.

She even cited a Fox5 NY article from March that reports Black men make up less than 2% of sperm donors nationwide!!!

After weighing their options, Jesseca says she and Brat went with the best match, regardless of race.

Missy Elliott is basking in yet another historic moment in her storied career ... as the first female rapper inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame!!!

The Misdemeanor couldn't contain her excitement on Wednesday when the news broke ... admitting she's been crying tears of joy all morning as she thanked the committee.

Missy feels the honor will kick down barriers for other women in hip hop culture to get noticed by the Rock Hall, but it'll take a lot of talent and hard work to match the veteran artist's career catalog.

After getting her start producing alongside Timbaland and writing for Diddy, Ginuwine, and the late Aaliyah, she released 5 consecutive platinum albums that still impact music to this day.

The Spinners, Chaka Khan (via the Musical Excellence Award) and Zach De La Rocha and Tom Morello's Rage Against the Machine also got the nod on Wednesday -- but sadly, for deep-rooted hip hop fans, A Tribe Called Quest will NOT be joining the fold ... after getting the cold shoulder for the 2nd year in a row.

We reached out to ATCQ reps to see if they even care!!!

Consequence is buggin' out over A Tribe Called Quest's 2nd consecutive snub from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and says he and the group won't be disrespected a third time!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with Cons Wednesday as he stood outside the famed ATCQ mural in Queens, NY ... on the group's Linden Boulevard stomping grounds.

The veteran rapper acknowledged the newest inductees -- including a history-making Missy Elliott -- but blasted the HOF committee for embarrassing the group's legacy, and seems to feel a bit of race-baiting is at play ... with ATCQ dangling on the hook.

Cons also took exception with Billboard's take that Tribe needs to make a bigger fuss to get the committee's rock-minded and majorly white voting base on its side.

Always the team player, Cons tells us he's willing to lead any public campaign necessary to secure the Rock Hall nod and will go to bat for his cousin Q-Tip and the late Phife Dawg any day of the year.

Just call him Snoopstradamus!!!

Hours after Snoop Dogg predicted Jordan Poole would choke in a key moment in Game 1 of the Warriors vs. Lakers playoff series Tuesday night ... the Golden State star did just that!!

The "Gin & Juice" rapper initially offered up the Miss Cleo-like prognostication during an appearance on "First Take" ... when he correctly guessed the Lakers' defense would force Poole into a situation he wouldn't be able to capitalize on.

"We're going to be probably doubling Steph," the Lakers superfan said on the show, "and somebody else is going to be open. Jordan Poole, keep shooting. I like the way you've been missing brother."

Turns out, in the fourth quarter down 115-112 ... L.A. doubled Curry -- which led to Poole trying to make a game-tying 3-pointer from deep behind the 3-point line. But, he missed it ... giving the Lakers the big win.

Poole, though, did have a solid game otherwise ... scoring 21 points (7-15 FGs) -- but his end-of-game brick drew a lot of ire from fans, including Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal.

"I don't like that shot right there," Barkley said on NBA on TNT ... while Shaq added that it wasn't a "good shot" by the guard.

One person who didn't mind the shot was Dubs head coach Steve Kerr, who said in the postgame press conference he was happy with the possession.

Yung Miami is revealing even more about her sexuality after resurfacing with Diddy -- but this time, she wants Megan Thee Stallion to be involved.

The City Girls rapper was a recent guest on "The Jason Lee Show" when she said she's bisexual frfr and not just for play.

Jason pressed Miami about her sexual preferences and she told him about being with women in the past and being attracted to them ... but had no desire to be in a relationship with a woman.

City Girls and Megan have a handful of collabs together, including the exxxtra raunchy "Do It on The Tip" from 2020, so discussing sex isn't exactly a new topic for any of them.

Drake is saying goodbye to the Hills of Beverly ... he's unloading his estate and the asking price is a whopping $88 mil!

The house is a masterpiece, and it's massive -- 25,000 square feet. It's kinda more like a museum than a home, with enormous walls for days that support some world-class art.

The property has amazing views of city lights, canyons and even the blue Pacific.

The main house has 7 bedrooms, a library, a screening room of course, gym, game room and on and on. The house is built for entertaining, so it makes sense there's a garage that will hold 11 cars. Did we forget to mention the hidden tennis court and orchard?

Drake snagged the property just a year ago for $75 mil. He bought it from singer Robbie Williams, who purchased the prop back in 2015 for $32.7 million.

It's unclear why Drake is bailing on the house. He sold his Hidden Hills mansion last year for $12 mil ... that house had an incredible pool/grotto.

Trey Songz is now off the hook for his alleged bowling alley beatdown last year -- because we've learned the most serious charges have been dropped.

Songz pled guilty Tuesday to a single disorderly conduct violation in connection with the incident ... while prosecutors agreed to dismiss the 10 original charges against him, which included assault and aggravated harassment.

As part of the plea deal, Trey now has to complete 12 anger management classes by August, and sources close to the case tell us he's already gotten a head start on them.

As we reported, Trey was accused in October of punching a woman repeatedly in the face in a NY bowling alley bathroom, with the woman claiming he also dragged her by her hair.

Another man also claimed the singer punched him in the eye during the incident. Songz turned himself in to police a few weeks later.

Trey’s attorney, Mitchell Schuster, tells TMZ, “We appreciate the New York law enforcement and the District Attorney's office for their comprehensive investigation and careful consideration of all evidence, which ultimately confirmed what we had known all along and resulted in the District Attorney’s office choosing not to pursue any of the original charges against our client.”