TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Late rap icon Tupac Shakur has officially been honored with his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame ... and the occasion brought out his fam, friends and everlasting supporters.

Tupac's sister Sekyiwa Shakur held back tears as she addressed the massive crowd Wednesday while speaking on her brother's accomplishments ... summing up his legacy as one filled with passion and perseverance.

Fans and friends -- including YG, Mike Epps, Naughty By Nature's Treach, and ceremony MC Big Boy -- completely shut down part of Hollywood Blvd to pay their respects to Tupac, who is still hailed as one of the best rappers of all time.

Tupac was previously inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2017 and has a pair of Diamond albums to go along with his 75 million records sold and the Hollywood star simply dots the "i" in Thug Life!!!

Angela Yee was no fan of B. Simone's attempt of turning her pain into profit mourning her bestie Jacky Oh's death ... and called her out on the air about the issue.

Angela and Jasmine Brand were discussing the viral fallout Wednesday from B. Simone's recent call to her Instagram close friends' circle ... where she encouraged followers to join her behind a paywall to get a glimpse of her grieving process.

Fans were calling for B. Simone's head this week over the post and Angela thinks the social media influencer's timing couldn't have even been more off, despite being broken up over Jacky's abrupt passing.

TMZ broke the story ... Jacky died in Miami, and since-deleted photos of her with a cosmetic surgeon have caused fans to believe she may have died following some kind of procedure.

D.C. Young Fly, Jacky Oh's longtime partner and father to her three kids, broke his silence this week in a statement ... "We thank everyone for their well wishes and ask for privacy during this difficult time.”

Blueface is in hot water with the law yet again, this time showing up to court for one issue and getting arrested for another ... after police claim he was involved in an alleged robbery.

According to docs, obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, BF was taken into police custody Wednesday and charged with a felony. As for why he was in court in the first place, he was supposed to have a preliminary hearing for his attempted murder charges.

TMZ broke that story ... BF was arrested back in November after prosecutors claimed he discharged a firearm into a house, building, vehicle or craft. In the new case, the alleged robbery was a direct violation of the stipulations the court placed on him after that case.

50 Cent's Hollywood juggling act has landed him back on the big screen ... as the latest action hero addition for the fourth 'Expendables' film!!!

On Wednesday, 50 and Lionsgate shared the official "Expend4bles" trailer ... which features the "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" rapper as a weapons specialist who's getting his balls broken as the new guy on the team.

The plot seems to center around the usual deranged terrorist bent on taking over the world ... but 'Expendables' fans aren't on board for its dramatic acting.

The franchise has grossed just shy of a billion dollars, with $804 million to date!!!

Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, and of course, Sylvester Stallone are returning from the previous installments with Megan Fox, Andy Garcia, Tony Jaa and Iko Uwais joining as newbies.

Tupac Shakur's biological father Billy Garland is revealing he initially hated his late son's classic tribute "Dear Mama," because Pac labeled him a "coward" ... and told the world he was dead when he's clearly alive.

He's also not a fan of Hulu's record-breaking docuseries "Dear Mama: The Saga of Afeni and Tupac Shakur" ... as he claims director Allen Hughes tricked him into doing an interview for the project.

The ex-Black Panther recently voiced a gang of gripes with Tupac tribute channel "The Art of Dialogue," where he explained he'd been attempting to find Tupac for several years after being separated, and realized "someone" had lied to him about his existence.

Billy was able to get over the disses in 'Mama,' and now calls the song "beautiful" ... while also claiming he bumps his son's music daily.

Allen Hughes isn't getting the same pardon from Billy, who says he feels FX's 'Dear Mama' blindsided him. He says he didn't know his testimony would be leveraged against the legacy of Afeni.

Billy says had he known Allen's true intentions, he wouldn't have sat done for the interview. He also takes issue with the project's insinuation Tupac suffered from bipolar disorder.

Lauryn Hill shocked fans at the 2023 Roots Picnic by using her headlining performance to orchestrate a mini-reunion with the Fugees ... a complete and total surprise for Pras, who we've learned was shocked at the request to join his former bandmates.

A rep for Pras tells TMZ Hip Hop he was able to make the performance happen last minute, as he's currently awaiting sentencing after being found guilty of conspiracy and fraud in April.

Pras' admiration for his Fugees bandmates Lauryn and Wyclef Jean runs deep ... he considers them family and their longtime bond paid off for Sunday night's impromptu Roots Picnic performance.

We're told the invitation to perform was so sudden, there was no time for rehearsal ... but the legendary hip hop trio managed to belt out 6 songs from the classic multi-platinum album "The Score" for the crowd.

Due to Pras' looming sentencing, a lot of people think this was the Fugees' final performance for a long time, but not necessarily.

Nicki Minaj is being dragged to court over some alleged unpaid bills for custom jewelry ... but her attorney says she's not responsible, and claims the jeweler is just using her for publicity.

The rapper is being sued by a West Hollywood jeweler who claims they loaned out some bling to the rapper -- a pretty standard transaction for celebs, but the jeweler claims some of those pieces came back damaged ... which is not standard.

According to a new lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Nicki's stylist Brett Alan Nelson signed a contract with Roseark jewelry store, with Roseark agreeing to loan Nicki jewelry for a public appearance.

The store claims the contract called for Brett to return the bling within a week and pay for any damages the jewelry might incur under his watch.

In the docs, Roseark claims Nicki's stylist failed to return 66 pieces of jewelry by the agreed upon deadline, and, when Brett finally forked over the bling, there was noticeable damage to a set of earrings and a leaf ring.

A source close to Nicki tells us ... everything was returned on time as promised and it was only after items were in the jeweler's possession for some time that the store complained about a missing stone.

The jewelry store says it sent invoices to Brett for the damage, which it says totals $26,239.50 plus interest. The folks at Roseark claim they haven't gotten paid, despite their repeated attempts to collect.

So, Roseark is suing Nicki and her stylist for the money ... even though it appears Nikki never had any direct dealings with the jeweler.

In fact, Nicki's attorney, Jordan Siev, tells TMZ ... "We have not been presented with any evidence that any of the jewelry at issue was damaged by Nicki. This lawsuit appears to be nothing more than an ordinary insurance claim by the jeweler designed to generate publicity for itself and extract a payment to which it is not entitled. We will defend the lawsuit vigorously."

Lil Tjay is in police custody once again ... his lawyer says the rapper got arrested in NYC -- second time this year -- and this time it all went down live on Instagram.

Tjay's lawyer Dawn Florio tells TMZ ... the rapper was filming a short clip for a music video when cops arrived on the scene in Manhattan, and took him in for reckless endangerment.

He captured his arrest on video, too, as he happened to be live streaming Tuesday during the ordeal. Some folks in the crowd told him to stop resisting as his phone ended up in someone else's hand.

TMZ broke the story, the 22-year-old was arrested in January after a traffic stop in the Bronx while en route to shoot a video with Ice Spice. Law enforcement sources told us cops found a handgun in his vehicle, resulting in him getting booked for weapon possession.

Of course, the guy's also lucky to be alive after getting shot 7 times in a 2022 New Jersey robbery.

We've reached out to the NYPD's press office for comment ... so far, no word back.

Young Thug’s biological brother, and YSL artist, Unfoonk is behind bars for violating the terms of the probation put in place after his plea deal in the Georgia RICO case.

The judge in Fulton County officially revoked Unfoonk’s probation Monday, and sentenced him to 9 years and 6 months in prison after he was charged with firearm possession by a convicted felon ... among other offenses.

Judge Ural D. Glanville scolded Unfoonk during the sentencing ... reminding the Atlanta rapper of their conversation in May about the strict conditions of his probation, especially when it came to possessing a gun!!!

Back in December, Unfoonk (born Quantavious Grier) took a plea deal in the ongoing YSL RICO trial, in which he got credit for 2 years time served, and was placed on probation for the next 10 years.

2 Chainz is mourning the sudden loss of his beloved French bulldog, TrappyGoHard, his adorable sidekick for nearly a decade.

2 Chainz posted the sad news on Monday and said the loss is hitting him like a ton of bricks.

The Atlanta rap star praised Trappy for his laid-back demeanor, and fondly recalled how he was able to make the pooch a permanent part of his entourage for worldwide treks.

2 Chainz got Trappy from a top breeder back in 2015, and they instantly became a recognizable duo.

The "T.R.U." rapper says he's confident their union inspired fans to acquire French bulldogs of their own, and openly admitted his love for Trappy runs greater than his care for some humans out there!!!

Trappy was a regular on 2 Chainz's "Most Expensive S**t" series and also made frequent cameos in interviews and social media.

Losing a pet can be just like losing a family member in most cases ... and 2 Chainz's dog was a bona fide star.

Bobby Shmurda is distancing himself and his ears from today's generation of rappers ... claiming to only catch wind of new hip hop music when he's out partying in the club.

The Brooklyn MC got real candid firing off his anti-rap opinions on a recent appearance on "The Danza Project" podcast, where he called out the gamut of today's rappers for leading younger listeners astray with exaggerated narratives of their gangster tales.

Bobby says hip hop is supposed to uplift people, not influence negativity, so he actively stopped following the culture, and chooses instead to bump reggae these days.

He says his connection to rap has been lost to the point that a popular new rapper could diss him on a song, and he would be oblivious to the whole thing!!!

Bobby isn't alone in his thinking there are too many dark clouds hanging over the rap scene these days.

TMZ Hip Hop recently caught up with Ty Dolla $ign and he told us his upcoming dance EP is a direct counterattack to what he calls a negative music overload.

What's odd about Bobby's hot take is that his own catalog features some less-than-happy-go-lucky tracks.

Rick Ross' 2nd annual car show was a huge success ... and that's not only coming from the thousands of folks in attendance but Fayette County officials, who were initially reluctant about the whole thing.

Fayette County staff tell TMZ ... Ricky Rozay's event planners did a great job communicating with officials, and working with the county to make sure the event went on as smoothly as possible.

Now, that's not to say everything was perfect. We're told there were about 19 medical emergencies during the show, but EMS personnel were on site to help.

Four of those people were transported to a hospital, and only 1 case wound up being serious.

Our sources say the Fire Marshal made sure Rick and co. were meeting code, and the Health Department checked on food vendors -- everything passed with flying colors. Also, sheriffs were on hand for added security during the event.

We're told, even the traffic was also a whole lot better compared to last year's nightmare at the event.

You'll recall, Fayette County initially rejected Rick's permit to have the car show, saying it wasn't in compliance with zoning ordinances.

County officials also said last year's inaugural show went down without their approval -- despite being a huge success in Rick's eyes -- and they didn't want a repeat of that.

Of course, Da Boss wound up getting a permit with some strict guidelines for the massive event held on his massive Promised Land estate in Fayetteville.

Turned out to be another one for the books ... with a ton of celebs and other folks coming out as RR hit the stage and showed off a range of whips and vendors on his property.

Ice Spice and Latto both had the same idea when it came down to celebrating their big-time looks at this year's Hot 97 Summer Jam ... as we've learned they ended up at the same NYC hot spot to get turnt!!!

Sources close to both camps tell TMZ Hip Hop ... Ice and Latto ended up at Sei Less restaurant with their respective parties, and we're told Latto's long-rumored flame 21 Savage eventually joined her private room of 20 people to toast to the occasion!!!

Latto was still buzzing with the hysteria of her Summer Jam performance ... where Cardi B brought her out to perform their new collab, the "Put It On The Floor (Remix)" and her good mood was felt firsthand by the dining staff ... as we've learned she tipped waiters a whooping $2k tip to accompany the $6k bill.

Not to be outdone, we're told Ice also celebrated in her own separate private room ... just hours after being surprised by Rob Markman, on the Summer Jam stage with her first RIAA certification... a Gold plaque for her blowup single "Munch."

The Capitol Records signee released "Munch (Feelin' U)" in July 2022 through Worldstar Distro ... and the rest is now history on a trophy for her wall!!!

Misa Hylton -- the mother of Diddy's eldest son Justin Combs -- is none too pleased following their son's DUI arrest ... and it appears she thinks his dad hasn't been the strictest parent.

TMZ Hip Hop broke the story ... JC was busted for running a red light around 8 AM on Sunday morning, and eventually hauled off and booked on a misdemeanor DUI charge.

Shortly after the news broke, Misa launched into a tirade on Instagram aimed at Diddy, suggesting his "reality show" lifestyle led Justin down the wrong path.

Naturally, mothers tend to be overprotective of their sons and Misa told her followers to expect the absolute worst should anything ever happen to her Prince JC.

UCLA, the college where JC once played football, and one of Diddy's high-ranking employees also felt Misa's mama bear wrath via a few stray shots.

She also brought up (or scoffed at rather), Diddy's recently filed lawsuit against alcohol giant Diageo where he alleged racist and unfair treatment as a brand ambassador.

Misa thinks Diddy should invest in selling something healthier for the culture and his suing the bank that got him rich hints at a fall from grace!!!

Yung Gravy is on the mend from a nasty nosedive that left him with multiple fractures, but the charismatic rapper isn't up in arms over the music festival accident ... even if that arm's currently in a sling!!!

TMZ Hip Hop linked with Gravy at LAX, where he said he's got no beef with the Hangout Music Festival, the Alabama event, where he recently took the tumble while working the crowd.

Gravy says HMF is graciously covering his medical bills, and took the blame for him tripping over a wooden plank.

The fall was that much harder because the "Betty (Get Money)" rapper happens to be 6'6" -- and his height made it mandatory we get his thoughts on DDG proclaiming tall dudes are outta style in 2023.

Now, DDG's dating the 'Little Mermaid' herself, Halle Bailey, so he's brimming with confidence right now -- but surprisingly, Gravy agrees with him!

He told us he's happy to see the little guys get some shine after being overlooked ... although he does consider himself an exception in this circumstance.

On cue, Gravy did provide an exceptional musical update -- he tells us he's fresh off a trip from Cambodia and recorded music with one of the YSL rappers. 👀

Diddy's eldest son, Justin Combs, was arrested for DUI this weekend in L.A. ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us Justin was arrested Sunday morning near Beverly Hills after a cop saw a vehicle run a red light. This occurred around 8 AM -- and the incident was also shot by an eyewitness. In pics obtained by TMZ, you can see JC interacting with the officer.

We're told the officer initiated a traffic stop, where Justin was found to be the driver. After a preliminary investigation, our sources tell us the cop felt there was enough probable cause to cuff him and haul him to jail on suspicion of driving under the influence.

It's unclear what sort of sobriety tests Justin might've been put through, but we know he was booked on a misdemeanor DUI charge ... and that his bond was set at $5,000. No word on whether he's still in custody or not.

Justin is Diddy's first kid, whom he had with Misa Hylton. Like Puff's other children, he's taken after his father and gotten into showbiz -- serving as an actor, producer and entrepreneur, among other things.