TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Method Man won't be walking anyone's runway anytime soon, but his "Power Book II: Ghost" castmate LaToya Tonodeo thinks the rap legend should embrace his newfound status as a Hollywood heartthrob!!!

TMZ Hip Hop linked with LaToya at LAX on Tuesday who told us she's happy Meth is getting looked at in a different light, but understands as a woman what it's like to be treated like a piece of meat and wanting to shy away from being propped up in the public eye.

The Wu-Tang Clan rapper was recently profiled for "Men's Health" magazine and he totally railed against being called a sex symbol. His reasons were pretty simple: he doesn't think he's doing anything special to provoke such a title ... save for working out 500-lb dumbbells on occasion.

He also shared how his nutrition routines, something LaToya credits him for sharing with her on the 'Power' set ... educating her about proper dieting and protein shakes in her own fitness journey.

LaToya says as long as fans and admirers respect Meth's boundaries, all should end well.

Lil Meech is trying to save face after Summer Walker called him out, accusing him of flushing their relationship down the toilet -- he says the video of him allegedly visiting a sneaky link isn't what it seems.

A Houston-area DJ put Meech on blast Tuesday by posting the door cam vid of the "BMF" star visiting a woman NOT named Summer Walker, and it appears he stayed a while and got kinda comfy.

Well, Meech hopped on IG after the damning video began to spread to claim the woman was his cousin, and he was merely helping her with some grocery bags. We're gonna keep it a buck -- Meech seemed to be holding back laughter while offering his "groceries" explanation. Take that however you want.

For her part Summer was anything but amused after seeing the video and vented about the fizzled relationship, and her confusion over Meech's behavior.

She says Meech pursued her for years, and even played stepdaddy ... only to "embarrass" her.

Gunna's likely come to terms with the fact he's gonna have to deal with trolls ... but one brazen rap fan attempted to push the YSL rapper's limits by calling him a rat to his face.

The fan shamelessly posted footage of himself catching Gunna and his entourage exiting a building and loudly referring to Gunna as a "rat." Gunna's security guard clearly overheard the man's trolling and stepped to him, asking him to repeat the phrase.

Apparently intimidated, the troll left "rat" out of his next statement.

Gunna, who's on probation after accepting a plea deal chose to walk on by the spectacle and the video ended ... presumably without bashing the guy's face in.

Jennifer Hudson is sending some love Common's way ... saying he's quite the looker and, at least, strongly hinting all the speculation about them being an item is true.

We got Jennifer leaving Il Pastaio in Bev Hills Monday, and when we let her know the 2 of them make a damn cute couple, she didn't deny the love connection.

Here's the thing ... sources tell TMZ they've been together for months, but when we ask her to confirm, she's mostly mum about their relationship -- but check out the glowing compliment she gives the guy.

As we reported, Jennifer and Common first sparked dating rumors in February when they went to Nobu in Malibu together ... and they were spotted hanging out here and there in the months before.

We also got pics of them taking a stroll in a Chicago suburb in May -- total relationship vibes.

You'll recall, Common was dating Tiffany Haddish before Jennifer, but they split in 2021. While Common called the breakup "a mutual thing," Tiffany says that's BS -- saying he was drifting away before it ended.

Method Man is perfectly comfortable hanging up his microphone in exchange for acting these days, and loves the newfound attention he's getting from the ladies for his work on-screen.

What the Wu-Tang Clan legend doesn't love, however, is being referred to as a sex symbol ... as the inner MC in him says the words just don't make a bit of sense!!!

The 52-year-old railed against the term in his "Men's Health" cover story, where he declared, "I’m not a sex symbol. That’s the whole f**king point, man. Put the words together. Sex and symbol. What’s the symbol? I’m not doing anything. So what’s the symbol?"

Meth has been going viral on social media for his role as Davis MacLean on 50 Cent's "Power II" TV series.

M-E-T-H-O-D Man joined 50 Cent, Wiz Khalifa, Common, Ludacris, and Busta Rhymes on the health mag's special edition cover to celebrate Hip Hop's 50th anniversary ... a vital turning point as Meth says he's no longer in the business of selling records.

Drake and 21 Savage will no longer be hitting Memphis as part of their "It's All a Blur" Tour ... the date has been officially canceled after being postponed.

Ticketmaster delivered the unfortunate news for Memphis residents who had been patiently waiting to see Drake on Tuesday ... incensing several on social media as word spread around town.

A statement posted by the venue reads ... "Due to the magnitude of the production of the Drake concert, it is logistically impossible to bring the show as designed to the FedExForum on August 6th."

The tour has featured a dazzling array of gigantic stage props including huge sperm cells and a giant-sized Virgil Abloh while the FedExForum can seat around 19k people ... but the marriage wasn't meant to be this time around.

To add insult to fans' injuries, Drake received the key to the city of Memphis back in June amid the first concert's delay -- and many feel he should return the thing if he's not gonna perform.

Blueface's competence as a parent is being questioned once again ... the "Thotiana" rapper went on IG Live with his son Javaughn, and befuddled the poor kid by quizzing him about his sexuality.

While holding his daughter in his lap, Blueface was fielding questions from fans and decided to rehash the subject and, without warning, asked Javaughn if he was gay.

The kid quickly replied no, but also admitted he had no idea what his dad was yapping about.

When Javaughn tried to move on to a discussion that interested him more, Blueface refused to let it go ... in spite of his GF Jaidyn Alexis yelling for him to stop off-screen.

Blueface bluntly told his son if he ended up being gay he'd be disappointed but would still love him.

Blueface just grilled his son on this topic a few weeks ago ... while his house was full of strippers, at that.

Cardi B ain't sweatin' the Vegas cops ... 'cause she was dancing her butt off poolside the same day she was named a suspect in her microphone-tossing case.

Cardi posted a video Monday, which shows her and hubby, Offset, havin' a grand ol' time on the rooftop of what appears to be a Vegas hotel.

Both rappers are in bathing suits going absolutely bonkers -- Cardi is twerking like crazy in the pool as Offset wildly dances around her.

The two could not seem happier ... her police troubles seem to be the last thing on their minds.

Cardi was named as the suspect in a battery case after she hurled a mic into the crowd at her Vegas concert Saturday, hitting two people.

Video captured the moment someone splashed Cardi with a drink while she was onstage at Drai's Nightclub ... after she encouraged the audience to cool her off with water in the extreme heat.

Cardi clearly didn't approve of the way the liquid drenched her body, prompting her to throw the mic, which first struck the drink thrower and then ricocheted and hit a woman standing nearby.

The lawyer for the family of the 10-year-old boy who died at Travis Scott's Astroworld concert is blasting the rapper's team for accusing cops of trying to sabotage his new album with the release of their investigation.

Bob Hilliard, the lawyer representing the family of the late Ezra Blount, tells TMZ ... "For an artist making his living with music, these are stunningly tone-deaf comments about this preventable tragedy that took so many lives and injured so many."

Ezra was trampled to death at the concert and his family's lawyer is not taking kindly to the spin coming from Travis' camp.

As we first reported, one of Travis' attorneys said the release of the Houston Police Department's 1,266-page investigation was intentionally timed to hurt "Utopia" ... a stance one of Travis' reps later doubled down on.

The Blount family's attorney feels quite the opposite, telling us ... "Of course they would only focus on how the report's release date hurts their album sales instead of the facts contained inside of the report."

One of the notes tucked inside the report catching the attention of the Blounts' attorney are text messages from a contract worker, warning an event organizer that, "Someone's going to end up dead," after seeing people get crushed in the crowd.

While Travis was not charged with a crime, Ezra's family is among those who are suing the Houston rapper ... and their attorney says the police investigation is "damning" and shows Travis is among those at fault for their child's death.

Hilliard adds ... "For Mr. Scott to allow his lawyers and spokespeople to make the reckless and untrue statement that just because he was not indicted means he's blame-free is arrogant and insulting to the memory of 10-year-old Ezra as well as the other victims of this terrible night."

Offset is fessing up that his part in the recent public spat with Cardi B might have been the result of too much booze ... and he wants fans to know he's a member of the "happy wife, happy life" club.

If you remember, Offset insinuated Cardi cheated on him -- with someone famous at that -- but walked back those comments Monday as he discussed the public blow-up with Angela Yee.

Offset blamed Cardi's NYC upbringing for sparking his anger with her "pitbull mouth," but admits he was inebriated on tequila, and alluded to lying in the heat of the moment.

He claims deleting the social media post signified he wasn't telling the truth.

Cardi also denied Offset's claims in a fiery response, and the two eventually reconciled, most recently, dropping their latest duet ... a track aptly titled "Jealously."

Offset explained he and Cardi are still husband and wife even when the cameras aren't rolling, and social media trolls do have an effect on their marriage whether he likes it or not.

He says had Cardi actually cheated, not only would he be unable to overcome the betrayal ... he'd go after her side dude!!!

As for his own cheating, Offset blamed immaturity, and lean, for that bad decision in the past.

Ludacris believes the children are our future, and he's doing his part to help them lead the way ... by making a huge donation toward the renovation of a children's theater.

Back in July, Luda performed at the Hard Rock Casino in Cincinnati and pledged $50,000 to the Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati to help support its $48 million restoration campaign for the Emery Theater building.

Luda's lawyer, Darrell D. Miller, has ties to both the Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati and Emery Theater as a board member -- so, the "Fast & The Furious" star showed excellent southern hospitality by joining his cause.

Ludacris told Cincy's Local 12, "I'm drawn to the Children's Theatre's project in Cincinnati because of the plans to develop new works that hit on the topics that matter to kids today.”

He added, “The Emery project signals an incredible opportunity for more children to access the arts and see themselves in what happens on stage. As a father of four daughters and a philanthropist who's constantly investing in the next generation, I'm honored to be a part of this."

The theater is currently sitting at $30M of its $48M goal.

Music philanthropy definitely pulls at Luda's heartstrings.

Cardi B might not get away scot-free with that microphone toss in Las Vegas -- she's now listed as the suspect in a battery ... TMZ has learned.

The woman who was struck by Cardi's mic when she hurled it into the crowd at Drai's Nightclub on Saturday ... went to Las Vegas Metro PD the next day to report the incident.

She told police she'd been struck by an item -- the microphone -- thrown from the stage. Of course, the whole incident was captured on cameras during Cardi's show.

As we reported, a woman in the crowd threw some kinda liquid at Cardi while she was performing ... and the rapper snapped, immediately throwing the mic in retaliation.

The mic struck the drink thrower, but ricocheted and also hit another woman standing next to her ... as seen in the footage.

Prior to the altercation, Cardi and her DJ had implored the crowd to splash water on her to cool her off in the triple-digit weather -- but obviously, she didn't take kindly to whatever the woman threw later in the show.

We've reached out to Cardi's camp, but no word back yet.

Story developing ...

Yung Miami's brief talk show host career has her now comparing herself to Oprah Winfrey ... albeit the City Girls rapper is proclaiming herself to be the "Black" version of the legendary journalist. 🤔

Miami makes the puzzling proclamation on an upcoming episode of "Drink Champs" ... and made it an even more confusing statement by acknowledging she knows Oprah is indeed, a Black woman.

Last year, Miami shared the "Best Hip Hop Platform" award with "Drink Champs" for her "Caresha Please" series on Revolt TV, but she's only 10 episodes deep.

Oprah was enamoring television audiences since the mid-80s ... several years before Miami was even born ... and fans told her she has a bit of catching up to do before she can be mentioned in the same breath as Lady O.

There's evidence Cardi B should've anticipated a fan tossing liquid on her in Las Vegas ... because she actually asked the crowd to douse her with water and cool her off!!!

Additional scenes from inside Cardi's Drai's Beachclub performance from her Saturday show demanding the crowd to throw water on her in between songs because she was "dying" from the triple-digit desert temps -- it got up to 105° that day, so hydration was a must.

Cardi's DJ also encouraged the crowd to hose her down and she didn't care where they soaked her -- she even bent over, and directed fans toward her, umm ... WAP!!!

Now, Cardi was very clearly asking for H2O only to be thrown at her. It's hard to tell what was in the cup that was thrown when she went completely ballistic, but the operating theory is it was booze, and not just water. BTW, the fan has been extremely apologetic since the whole thing went down.

That said, one fan is claiming Cardi clocked her with the mic, despite not being the one who threw the drink ... which could prove to be a slippery situation down the line.

Beyoncé and Erykah Badu are both blazing across the country this summer on tours … but one R&B star seems to think the other is watching her wardrobe too closely, and jocking her style!!!

On Monday, Erykah fired shots directly from Mama's gun ... showing Beyoncé onstage during her "Renaissance" tour, and followed up with another of herself in order to highlight how similar their fits were -- especially the high-top wicked witch-style hats.

EB peppered the post with a touch of shade in the caption, "I guess I'm everybody stylist" ... making it clear she thinks Beyoncé's stolen her look.

Both iconic artists have been rocking hats throughout large periods of their careers and haven't drawn many comparisons, with Bey dominating the music industry's pop pyramids with the most Grammys ever ... and Erykah widely being considered a pioneer of modern R&B.

Many fans feel EB's comments were giving petty, and think she has a bit more explaining to do before she can wage a legitimate beef with the Beyhive!!!

Drake asked for bras, and now he has more than he can handle -- and the ones he's getting now are absolutely massive ... to the point that they're starting to concern him.

The rapper was performing in D.C. this weekend, where this ongoing tradition he's started continued -- in which women hurl their undergarments onstage at him ... something he said was lacking recently, only to receive a 36G bra from one notable young woman in NYC.

Welp, the Washington crowd kept the momentum going Sunday ... only this time, a couple ladies one-upped the 21-year-old from last week with even larger cup sizes. Like, way bigger!

As you can see, Drake was utterly flabbergasted by the L- and H-cup bras ... hilariously so.

He went down the alphabet with the audience to see what could possibly come next in terms of size ... and then tried finding the big-boobed woman in the crowd, to no avail it seems.

Then, Drizzy floated a would-be benefit to all the ladies who are packing up top ... free tickets. Something tells us he was joking though, 'cause that could get expensive real quick.

Like we told you, the woman who started this whole trend snagged a Playboy deal out of it -- but it feels like that gravy train might be over now, because there are clearly other women with even more sizeable assets ... and they're apparently trying to get the plug as well.