TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Druski thought his Coulda Been Records label was set to get a boost after taking an IG meeting with Birdman ... but their one-on-one left him thinking otherwise.

The Cash Money Records head honcho didn't appear to be in character when he turned the tables on Druski, accusing him of toeing the copyright infringement line with his CBR imprint, which Birdman says sounds too close to the Cash Money Brothers slogan of "CMB."

The logo similarities are also too sus for the mogul's liking.

The comedian attempted to plead his case by name-dropping Lil Wayne and Drake, but didn't sound like he was sticking to a script as he stammered in Birdman's stone face.

Birdman lightened the mood a bit when he referenced his infamous Breakfast Club interview, and told Druski to put some "respek" on his name ... but also made an offer it doesn't sound like Druski has the option to refuse.

Birdman proposed for Cash Money Records to be Coulda Been's owner and financier in exchange for Druski's elevation.

The rapper also sent a stern warning to Kevin Hart for unspecified issues ... and promised to deliver him the smoke in due time.

Drake's just one show into his extensive "It's All a Blur" Tour, and he's already dealing with the flying cell phone trend -- one pelted him in the wrist mid-performance.

The Certified Lover Boy was serenading the crowd Wednesday night in Chicago with his own rendition of Ginuwine's "So Anxious" ... when he was assaulted with the phone. It hit his left wrist, but he just watched it land on the ground, and was definitely not injured.

Confused fans in the audience wondered what they had just witnessed, but Drake couldn't be sidetracked from his mission ... he never made a big deal about the phone, and simply continued crooning for the crowd.

The phone wasn't part of the plan, but Drake did have plenty of props onstage ... life-sized tributes to both Virgil Abloh and the fertilization of life!!!

Social media has inspired concertgoers to throw phones at performers in hopes of getting an exclusive video, but the movement has resulted in disaster -- ask Bebe Rexha, who's just healing from facial injuries suffered last month when a fan hurled a phone at her head.

Stars like Adele have vowed to strike back if phones fly their way, and we just got Jason Derulo's take on the subject, who'd be proud of Drake's reaction ... because he thinks artists shouldn't take pics with devices thrown onstage.

A recent viral video accusing Colleen Ballinger of wearing blackface and performing "Single Ladies" has it all wrong ... and new footage lays out exactly what happened.

The clip shot back in 2009, made rounds Wednesday ... showing the popular Youtuber and two men performing the Beyoncé classic. Ballinger appeared to be in blackface during the number ... and was slammed on social media as a racist.

However, new video -- obtained by TMZ -- shows a different perspective. Prior to "Single Ladies," Colleen performed a song from the musical "Wicked" with Oliver Tompsett, one of the musical's stars.

Colleen wore green face paint for the tune with Tompsett -- like the Wicked Witch of the West -- and went into "Single Ladies" immediately after the song wrapped.

The sequence of back-to-back songs left zero time for Colleen to wipe off the green paint, resulting in the now-viral video accusing her of wearing blackface for "Single Ladies."

As we reported ... Colleen's under fire for what many have considered inappropriate behavior toward minors as well as racism.

Keke Palmer's boyfriend isn't gonna get a rise out of her -- at least publicly -- after he insinuated her choice of attire for an Usher concert wasn't appropriate for a mom.

The "Nope" actress is telling the world she had no regrets following the very public remarks made by Darius Jackson, the father of her son, regarding her outfit while attending Usher's Vegas residency last weekend.

Keke doubled down on her sexy wardrobe selection in a recap on IG ... that made no mention of Darius whatsoever.

She posted a pic in THE outfit, and said, "I wish I had taken more pictures but we were running late! I am telling y'all right now, if you haven't seen @usher YOU MUST GO!! HE WAS SO FABULOUS!!"

Referring to Usher, Keke added ... "Where is that pic of us all together with the King himself??"

The "king" Usher sided with his VIP guest, or at least shouted her out ... thanking her for attending his show, not to mention giving his Vegas residency yet another viral moment!!!

Darius was royally pissed off Wednesday when fans ripped him for being extra critical of Keke's sheer 'fit. He said, "We live in a generation where a man of the family doesn’t want the wife & mother to his kids to showcase booty cheeks to please others & he gets told how much of a hater he is."

As of Thursday, Keke and Darius don't follow each other on Instagram.

Hey Alexa, play "Moving Mountains" by Usher. 🎶

We covered the drama on the latest episode of The TMZ Podcast, available on all podcast platforms.

Drake kicked off his "It's All a Blur" tour in Chicago last night with no shortage of stage flair, including a moment where he spits his new poetry alongside a hologram of his younger self.

The megastar rapper lit up the United Center opening with his emotional “Look What You’ve Done" record as younger Drizzy bobbed his head wearing a Chicago Cubs' jersey.

Drake blitzed through 48 songs before the night's end and used various stage props to highlight the hit records ... paying tribute to the city's late hometown hero Virgil Abloh with a life-sized hologram of the fashion pioneer who passed away in November 2021.

The "certified lover boy" also reminded the crowd where babies come from while performing alongside a giant sperm cell.

Ghostface from the iconic "Scream" series also made a cameo, as did 21 Savage, who's co-headlining the shindig.

Trinidad James is a big fan of Drake getting a fresh coat of pink for his fingernails before heading out on tour -- and he's offering to help take Drizzy's manicure to the next level.

We got the "All Gold Everything" rapper Wednesday at LAX, and asked him about Drake's unveiling of his new look.

Trinidad's been getting his nails painted and bejeweled for years ... and he's thrilled to see another mainstream artist like Drake joining the ranks. We've seen Lil Yachty and Machine Gun Kelly do their nails, but Drake's the biggest hitmaker to jump on the wave.

The way TJ sees it ... there's a gender stigma around manicures, and he says it's good for Drake to break out of the box.

As we reported, Drake showed off his pink nails Monday on social media ... right before starting his highly anticipated tour with 21 Savage.

Get this ... Trinidad says some of his nail sets cost $7,000 and he gets his nails done 4 times a month. We're confident the cost wouldn't scare off Champagne Papi if he were inclined to do that kinda upkeep.

It finally happened ... after months of trying to link up, Lil Wayne got to meet LSU hoops star Flau'jae Johnson -- and now, TMZ Sports has learned the two are getting to work on a rap collab!!

The "A Milli" spitter and the Tigers guard got to see each other face-to-face for the first time in New Orleans on Sunday ... after Weezy's surprise performance at the ESSENCE Festival.

The two shared a big hug backstage ... and then they posed for a couple pics. They got to exchange some quick words too -- before Wayne had to get to his other obligations.

But, sources close to Weezy tell us following their connection ... they've now put the wheels in motion on a new song -- with plans to get things started on it ASAP.

Of course, Wayne has been trying to get this all going since April ... when he said on ESPN during the women's NCAA tournament that he wanted to connect with Johnson -- an aspiring rapper who's signed to Roc Nation.

At the time, Johnson was stoked about the Wayne shoutout ... tweeting, "Imagine Winning A National Championship Your FRESHMAN Year! Then Getting A Lil Wayne Feature Right After ??! What is life."

Colleen Ballinger's fall from grace is taking her to a new low -- she's getting raked over the coals for an old video of her in blackface, while singing a Beyoncé hit.

The YouTuber/comedian -- famous for her viral character Miranda Sings -- is again in the crosshairs of critics who dug up the problematic clip from her past ... a video showing Colleen with dark makeup on her mug as she sings along to "Single Ladies."

Unclear exactly what year this went down, but based on the Miranda Sings YouTube page, it seems to be sometime in 2017 or 2018 ... and while it's an unlisted post, it is still up. Some of the comments claim the blackface video was offered as an exclusive sneak peek to folks who bought Colleen's book, "My Diarrhe."

The resurfacing of the video comes at a very interesting time, because Colleen was recently accused of racism in another context -- resurfaced texts allegedly sent pertaining to her 2016 Netflix show, "Haters Back Off."

The texts, attributed to someone working with Colleen at the time, were about auditions they were conducting for the show, and the sender claimed Colleen made a crack about a Black actor ... allegedly saying, "WHERE IS HE" -- referring to the guy being very dark in bad lighting.

Of course, this latest backlash is on top of recent grooming allegations ... with people accusing her of reaching out to young fans in inappropriate ways.

Colleen responded to those claims in a bizarre apology video ... which had her singing/explaining away the behavior. It was deemed as tone-deaf, and didn't help.

Things are heating up for Nelly again, 'cause the dude's about to get a helluva lot richer after selling the rights to half of the music he's cranked out ... including his biggest hits.

Sources close to the rapper tell TMZ ... Nelly secured a $50 million deal for 50% ownership over his entire catalog -- which includes 8 albums and a ton of #1 singles that helped define pop culture in the 2000s.

We're told Nelly is teaming up with a company called HarbourView Equity Partners for this, which is forking over the dough to lock up some of his best-known songs ... such as, "Ride Wit Me," "Dilemma" and of course, "Hot in Herre." Obviously they're getting more than just that ... but those tracks are, by and large, the ones Nelly's perhaps best-known for.

In fact, a couple of these songs won him Grammys -- he snagged a statuette in 2003 for "Dilemma" (Best Rap/Sung Performance) and another that same year for "Hot in Herre" (Best Male Rap Solo Performance). He has another Grammy to his name for "Shake Ya Tailfeather."

No word yet on which parts of Nelly's catalog -- besides the above-mentioned singles -- now belong to HarbourView ... but considering the wide range of tunes he has under his belt ... you gotta figure there's more goodies in the vault that they'll now have a claim to.

It's a lot of money, obviously -- so it's great news for Nelly. Interestingly enough, things are going swimmingly for Nelly in other departments of his life ... including his business ventures, like his alcohol brand, MoShine.

Plus, he's not even done making music at this point in his career ... the guy produced a full-on country album, "Heartland," in 2021 -- and we're hearing part 2's on the horizon as well.

Seems like Cardi B and Offset's latest public beef is buried ... after publicly going after each other over cheating rumors, they're gettin' close again, publicly, in Paris.

The married artists were all over each other outside the Balenciaga fashion show Wednesday, posing for the camera as a group of onlookers snapped some pics of the happy couple.

The crowd went nuts as the 2 stepped out, and Cardi was cheesing pretty hard while hand-in-hand with her boo -- a good sign things have died down from last week's public spat.

As we reported, she wasn't holding back on Offset after he posted -- then scrubbed -- a claim that she hooked up with another dude, calling him out on Twitter Spaces for the world to hear.

She denied the cheating rumors, and even said Offset would get beat with a bottle if he ever said that stuff to her face.

Safe to say the dust has settled -- especially with no bottle marks on Offset's face.

We covered the drama in a recent episode of The TMZ Podcast, available on all podcast platforms.

India.Arie doesn't like the fact Megan Thee Stallion and Janelle Monáe show off a lot of skin during their performances -- but that criticism has the Internet ripping her as a boomer.

The veteran neo-soul singer issued a scathing rebuke of the 2 artists' live-show choices -- namely, their tendency to bare their bodies onstage ... which was again on display this past weekend during Essence Festival, where both MTS and JM grabbed the mic.

Their respective sets went viral ... in Janelle's case, it was because she ended up flashing the audience -- revealing her right breast (which had a nipple pasty). She's had a habit lately of dropping her top, but has said she feels comfortable in her own skin.

As for Meg, she didn't really do anything too crazy ... just a little twerking of her booty, which she always incorporates into her routines, and for which she's kinda become famous.

In any case, India wasn't feeling the perceived peep show they put on, and she sounded off about it on IG, saying ... "The issue is what is CONTEXT. Humanity does EVERYTHING. But does EVERYTHING BELONG IN A STAGE. No. is everything for KIDS? No."

She continues, "So when we as a culture make something like this mainstream -- it shows a lack of discretion and discernment. To those in the comments who laugh at anyone who wants these things for our culture, you certainly have that right."

India adds this though ... "Just as many folks have the right to want our MAINSTREAM International export -- our Music -- to show us in a respectful light. I'd like to on the record saying: this wont age well and that's my issue." She finishes by saying she loves Janelle and Meg, but just not how they're choosing to express themselves in this regard.

Her critique, although somewhat apologetic, is getting roasted by fans dropping memes and GIFs mocking India.

Essentially, she's getting branded a prude and an old head, who should keep her comments to herself ... and let the younguns live!

Tyga and Avril Lavigne are really enjoying each other's company after their reported split ... at least according to a new video they shot together.

Check out the short clip Tyga posted to TikTok, which shows the pair looking very comfy as they boogie to Tyga's new summer jam, "Bops Goin Brazy."

Under the circumstances, one might think Avril and Tyga are playing a guessing game with everyone ... are they back together or just really good friends?

You may recall ... TMZ broke the story Tyga and Avril called it quits after they became an item back in March. Our sources said the breakup was mutual, with both feeling the relationship had run its course.

Then came their Vegas reunion of sorts a few days ago ... the two were photographed hanging out at the Encore Beach Club after Avril performed onstage. The rapper and pop star were smiling and giggling ... and even left the place with one another surrounded by their posse. Lots of smoke here, right?

Just as sure as they'll be fireworks over the East River on Independence Day, Michael Rubin was true to tradition, throwing an insane July 4th white party bash that was, as per usual, the hottest ticket in town.

JLo and Ben Affleck were all decked out as they sauntered into the Hampton's soiree Jay-Z loaded up his whip with some pals and drove inside Rubin's gates.

Winnie Harlow was all that as she waved to the crowd, Evita style, and Emily Ratajkowski ... well, the photo says it all -- incredible!!!

EmRata showed off the goods, as Travis Scott -- who was just cleared of criminal charges in the Astroworld tragedy -- chilled with some buddies.

Justin Bieber and his wife Hailey mingled among the crowd, as Kendall Jenner and friends mugged for the cam.

Kelly Rowland looked fantastic, and Tom Brady was multi-tasking as he sipped his drink and texted away.

We're not even close to done ... Jack Harlow, Corey Gamble, Druski, Dixie D'Amelio, Fabolous, and a bunch of other members of the Rich-and-Famous Club all had a blast.

Seems like Avril Lavigne and Tyga are still gettin' along pretty well after their split ... because the 2 were spotted kicking it at a club in Sin City only weeks after calling it quits.

Avril and Tyga appeared to be in good spirits in pics and video, obtained by TMZ -- we're told Avril performed Saturday with Marshmello at the Encore Beach Club inside Wynn Las Vegas, and Tyga hopped onstage later that night.

We're told the rapper watched Avril's set from his VIP section of the DJ booth ... and she went over to him after her performance, where the two were spotted laughing and smiling together.

The pair eventually left the club together with their posse ... but not before Avril snapped pics with fans while Tyga waited next to them.

TMZ broke the story, sources told us the split was a mutual decision, with both believing the relationship simply ran its course. You'll recall, they went public in March -- a month after she called off her engagement to Mod Sun.

Jay-Z's mom has tied the knot, and if her son and his wife, Beyoncé aren't big enough names for ya ... the whole celebration was a who's who of A-listers -- partyin' it up late into the night together.

Tyler Perry and Kelly Rowland were just a couple of the big names that came through for the big day in NY Sunday night ... also packing the house were the likes of Robin Roberts, Corey Gamble, and Beyoncé's mom, Tina Knowles.

And yes, Bey and Jay were both front and center for Gloria, who said "I Do" to marry her partner, Roxanne Wilshire.

We're told the whole thing wrapped around 1 AM -- so there was plenty of fun to be had by all.

As we reported, Jay-Z's been extremely supportive of Gloria, who came out as a lesbian in his 2017 track, "Smile" ... where she jumped on the song to talk about "living in the shadows" as a gay woman.

He ended up shouting her out at the 2019 GLAAD Media Awards, thanking her for letting him tell her story.

Cardi B couldn't pass up the opportunity to hop on the mic in the streets of France ... singin' a few bars of a Whitney Houston classic while leaving the Thom Browne Fashion Show.

Cardi was on her way out of the designer's show Monday in Paris, telling the photog the event was great ... but as she approached her ride, she got offered the impromptu performance from a nearby busker.

Cardi initially shot it down, using nerves as an excuse -- but if ya know Cardi, it shouldn't come as a shock she ended up making her way to the artist, singing the beginning of "I Will Always Love You."

Folks gettin' to hear Cardi sing the hit only got a taste, though ... because she laughed her performance off before finally jumping in the car.

Safe to say, Cardi's in a better place compared to last week -- as we reported, she dragged her husband Offset online after he publicly accused her of cheating on him in the past.

She clearly wasn't having any of it ... cursing him out and claiming she'd hit him with a bottle if he ever made those claims face-to-face.