TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Quavo's mourning of Takeoff hit its apex Thursday evening with a high-powered listening session for his album, "Rocket Power" ... which he's dedicated to the late Migos rapper.

TMZ Hip Hop obtained video from inside the Hayden Planetarium in NYC, where Quavo previewed the album for some lucky fans, and spoke openly about his pain.

He told the crowd he's been floating through life since Takeoff's death -- comparing it to an out-of-body experience -- and thanked fans for still rocking with him.

Takeoff was shot and killed back in November, just as he and Quavo were revving up the promotion for their joint album.

Luckily, he left behind material Quavo was able to use for this solo project, and Takeoff actually helps kick off the album with the song "Patty Cake."

Drake's son Adonis is definitely giving dad's "It's All a Blur" tour a 5-star rating -- after attending a show last week, he's got one track ringing in his head and coming out of his mouth ... constantly!!!

As proof, Drake shared a pair of videos Thursday where Adonis couldn't stop saying "21, can you do something for me?" That's the opening line from "Rich Flex," the lead track from Drake and 21 Savage's "Her Loss" album.

Adonis was in attendance for Drake's Inglewood tour stop on August 12, and showered his dad with support ahead of the show with a handmade card that said, "Dad I hope you have a great concert."

The end result is Adonis jumping up and down on the couch, still shouting the "Rich Flex" lyrics and Drake added the caption, "Comes to one drake show..."

Drake had asked the audience to refrain from throwing bras as his son was in attendance ... but it was his own father, Dennis Graham, who broke the rules ... by trolling Drake with a super-sized bra big enough to be a hammock!!!

One of French Montana's recent compositions of La musica de Harry Fraud is getting them both dragged into court -- the artist behind the track's sample claims the song dropped before they finalized a deal.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, an artist named Skylar Gudasz is suing French, Harry Fraud, French's Coke Boys and Cocaine City label imprints, Sony Music and others for copyright infringement.

In the suit, Skylar says she was contacted by someone claiming to represent French around May 2022, and they inquired about licensing a sample to her 2020 song, "Femme Fatale."

She says that is the song that was eventually used for French and Harry's hit song, "Blue Chills" from their "Montega" album last year.

Skylar says they were still hashing out the licensing deal, when she was shocked to see the song get released in June 2022. Skylar says her contact on the licensing deal reacted to the unexpected early release by texting, "Oh jeez" ... and then contacted French's lawyer.

Skylar says she watched "Blue Chills" get featured on subsequent deluxe and vinyl releases of "Montega" -- all without a licensing agreement in place -- before reaching her wits' end.

She's now going after damages, including all the profits she says were made off 'Chills.'

50 Cent may have run through millions of dollars worth of jewelry throughout his rap career, but says there's a point where you gotta draw the line -- taking aim at Busta Rhymes over his gigantic gold chain!!!

On Thursday, 50 shared BTS footage from his recent "Get Rich" tour stop in Charlotte, where he kicked it with DaBaby, Busta and others backstage.

50 immediately got on Busta's case for his oversized adornment ... joking how he doesn't have any real friends to break the news that his gaudy jewelry was gawdful!!!

One may think that's a shot at Busta's longtime right-hand man Spliff Star but he seems to be cosigning the nonsense -- he's also been spotted wearing a statue's amount of gold around his neck!!!

Busta's been rocking the chain since May when his jeweler TraxNYC unveiled the whopper in a box bigger than the one that contained Jumanji.

Damian Lillard is set to release his fifth studio album "Don D.O.L.L.A." this week -- a feat he says is only reserved for legit artists and not ones halfway committed!!!

TMZ Hip Hop obtained video of Dame previewing the album last night at Soho House in West Hollywood ... where he told the crowd he considers himself a seasoned rapper at this point, listening to criticisms to always improve on his craft.

The NBA star says March's season-ending injury gave him time to beef up the album ... which boosts guest appearances from Rick Ross, Mozzy and longtime collaborator, Lil Wayne ... who's appeared on ALL of Dame's albums thus far!!!

Several pro athletes also dabble in making hip-hop music, but Dame says he earned his stripes freestyling for "4-Bar Fridays" on IG before graduating to SoundCloud.

Ne-Yo is insisting he maintains a healthy relationship with the 3 women with whom he shares his 7 children ... and he says the secret to being stress-free is an easy one: parents aren't allowed to sling mud in front of the kids.

The R&B star broke down his reasoning to former video vixen Gloria Valez in a podcast clip Thursday, explaining any headlines he and his exes make bickering could possibly affect the children down the line, so they refrain from doing so.

Ne-Yo shares 3 children with ex-wife Crystal Renay, 2 with ex-fiancée Monyetta Shaw and 2 with ex-girlfriend Sadé Jenea ... but says everyone gets along ... as the kids refer to their half-siblings' mothers as the "extra moms."

He credits his mother and sister for upholding his support system in raising the kids — but isn't shy about dealing with the occasional friction. Baby mothers and fathers are known to mirror immovable forces and unstoppable objects, after all.

Crystal and Ne-Yo have been showing positive PDA as of late, despite ending their union and Ne-Yo's new dilemma is convincing his kids to adjust to his fame.

The fact a handful of Britney Spears' supporters are blaming Plies for sabotaging Britney and Sam Asghari's marriage isn't lost on the "Bust It Baby" rapper ... and he's been trolling them all morning with plenty of glee!!!

A highly amused Plies hopped in his whip and took to IG on Thursday to troll the internet after we broke the story of their split and then covered Sam's divorce filing ... laughing manically while blasting Britney's iconic "...Baby One More Time" to the speaker's max volume!!!

Plies has made it a point to boost the buzz of several of Britney's bizarre dancing videos ... his IG is reminiscent of a mini BS shrine already after months of reacting ... and some passionate fans have already named him to be the scapegoat ... without any concrete evidence, of course.

Britney may be more concerned with buying herself a horse instead of her crumbling nuptials at the moment but as we reported, a pretty explosive argument and cheating allegations forced Sam to file for divorce ... and the situation could possibly take even more downturns.

Sexyy Red and Sukihana are twerking in the face of their critics in the aftermath of Hip Hop's 50th anniversary -- dropping their salacious new "Hood Rats" video with support from Summer Walker, Saucy Santana and more!!!

Directed by Des Gray, both Sexyy and Suki put their "acting" chops on display throughout the mini-film ... infiltrating a very suburban country club before launching into a barrage of booty-hole-licking lyrics.

The pair was also apparently feeling patriotic while writing the song ... Suki makes a play for President Biden with the line, "I swallow n**, I really feel like an elephant/Tell Joe Biden I wanna suck on the President!!!"

We're guessing the First Lady won't be streaming 'Hood.' Historically, Commanders-in-chief and oral sex is a touchy subject!

Rapper Webbie and YouTuber Funny Marco add comedic cameos to the vid but the real payoff for fans comes courtesy of Summer and Saucy's rump-shaking inclusion ...  which set the internet ablaze a couple of weeks ago thanks to the parking lot party they had.

Drake was in a VERY generous mood at his latest tour stop ... spoiling a lucky young lady with a pink Birkin bag!!!

Champagne Papi performed at L.A.'s Kia Forum in Inglewood Wednesday night, dangling the pink prize in front of fans as he crooned in full-blown Toronto patois.

Drake then picked out the lucky female, as the crowd went insane ... and ordered his security to make sure she secured the bag safely. Birkin bags can run well past five figures in retail, so she definitely left with an investment.

We should note, Drake's no stranger to the famous bags, he once admitted he's been collecting them for years, simply to satisfy the woman he eventually calls his wife.

Not to be outdone, Drake's father, Dennis Graham, delivered a gift he had been planning for weeks ... the biggest bra ever and with a note that read, "Dad's wishing 'BIG' things for you, I love you and making sure you're breastfed correctly!!!" 😂😂😂

Drake's fans have been in a bra-throwing competition since we broke the story about Veronica Correia earning a modeling offer after throwing her size 36G bra during the tour in June.

But it looks like Dad's got this one won.

One lucky Colts fan got a rare piece of memorabilia from Anthony Richardson this week ... 'cause the rookie quarterback gifted the kid a signed cleat right off his foot!!

The incredible gesture happened at Indy's training camp on Wednesday ... when the 4th overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft met with supporters at the Grand Park Sports Campus.

In clips from the scene, you can see the large crowd begging Richardson for his autograph ... but he took it a step further by taking off his white Nike cleat and signing it before handing it to a young girl ... and her reaction is priceless!!

The 21-year-old was able to hook up a couple of fans with his John Hancock before a team staffer drove him and his little brother -- who was wearing his helmet -- off the field.

By the looks of it, Richardson would still be there right now signing for fans if he didn't get whisked away!!

Richardson is definitely becoming a fan favorite ahead of the season ... besides being named QB1 this week, his old rap verse from a year-old music video has also gone viral, with fans saying he should drop a mixtape.

"I need this rap with him coming out the tunnel on GameDay," one fan tweeted.

Doja Cat reportedly lost thousands of social media followers last month when she blasted diehard fans for worshipping her career -- a small price to pay, she thinks, to find her genuine supporters!!!

Doja posted an IG story Tuesday where she explained she had no regrets about ripping her rabid fanbase for calling themselves "kittenz" -- she actually referred to their social media rejection as a weight lifted off her shoulders.

She wrote, "Seeing all these people unfollow makes me feel like I've defeated a large beast that's been holding me down for so long and it feels like I can reconnect with the people who really matter and love me for who I am and not for who I was."

The clarification coincided with Doja's Harper's Bazaar cover story where she further vented about fans to Angie Martinez, saying ... "My theory is that if someone has never met me in real life, then, subconsciously, I’m not real to them. So when people become engaged with someone they don’t even know on the internet, they kind of take ownership of that person.

She adds, "They think that person belongs to them in some sense. And when that person changes drastically, there is a shock response that is almost uncontrollable ...  I’ve accepted that that’s what happens."

It's also clear Doja's fine losing some of that fan induced-pressure. As she said in Harper's ... "I put my wigs on and take them off. I shave my head or my eyebrows. I have all the freedom in the world."

Chris Brown's affinity for the timestamp "11:11" has led him to shape his entire next album around those digits ... and if the stars align for him, he'll have a pretty groovy concept to market!!!

The R&B superstar outlined his developing album plans on Wednesday, revealing his wishes for the album to be named "11:11" ... as it will be his 11th full-length project.

CB says the album will fittingly have 11 songs, and he's looking toward November 11 (11.11.23) for the release date.

For many, 11:11 is a symbol of good luck and spirituality, which CB is clearly hoping to drum up after his last LP, 2022's "Breezy," didn't get the reception he hoped for.

It only debuted at No. 4, forcing CB to lash out against the lack of fanfare, which prompted T-Pain to call him out over the tantrum.

EST Gee didn't feel like his upcoming album was getting enough plug time during a chat with Bootleg Kev -- so, talking turned to walking, as he bolted midway through the convo!!!

Kev had been trying to inquire about EST's past stint as a football player, but the Kentucky-born rapper wasn't feeling the topic, as Kev seemed kinda hazy on details of the question.

EST expressed his desire to discuss his album "El Toro 2," and was noticeably bored as he fiddled with his ashtray.

When Kev inquired about EST signing with Yo Gotti, EST decided he was both done and finished and removed himself from the studio. The interview lasted about 20 minutes before the meltdown and Kev claimed EST was 2 hours later for the meeting.

Shortly after, EST hopped on IG to scold Kev for posting the interview while his vacated seat was still warm. He also denied the football questions made him mad, and said it was more about the wacky questions about porn star Brian Pumper and UFOs!!!

Kev tells TMZ Hip Hop he got the vibe EST didn't want to be there from the start, but hopes they can do another interview down the line.

Quavo's swinging for the fences with his new album ... using the Atlanta Braves' stadium as his stage to give ATL a taste of the project!!!

The Atlanta rapper hyped the crowd inside Truist Park ahead of the Braves vs. Yankees game with his unreleased single "Who Wit Me?" ... a chant he got the crowd repeating on command.

The track will appear on Quavo's "Rocket Power" album that drops Friday -- the title being a nod to his late nephew Takeoff, who Quavo also honored by wearing the commemorative merchandise he recently launched to celebrate Takeoff's birthday.

Beyoncé is setting the record straight on her feelings toward Lizzo -- not only is she back to name-dropping the artist in song, she also singled her out with a loving shout-out.

Bey was bringing the house down, per usual, Monday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in ATL, and performed "Break My Soul (The Queens Remix)," which supports her fellow female artists -- including Lizzo -- by shouting them out.

You may recall, Lizzo was notably absent from the song's callout section during a Beyoncé show earlier this month, but she was back on the lineup a couple of days later. Bey took things a step further this time, though -- saying, "I love you, Lizzo!"

The crowd certainly took that as a sign -- one fan in the crowd even responded, "OK!"

As we reported, Beyoncé ditched Lizzo's name at a Massachusetts show on August 1 ... coming directly after the "About Damn Time" singer was slapped with a lawsuit from 3 of her former dancers, claiming she created a hostile work environment with alleged sexual harassment and fat-shaming, among other things.

Lizzo, for what it's worth, has denied the allegations against her ... and it looks like Beyoncé's got Lizzo's back, and then some.

Kanye West is again connected to presidential politics because his former publicist has been indicted along with Donald Trump for allegedly engaging in an organized conspiracy to overturn election results in Georgia.

Trevian Kutti, once a publicist for Kanye and R. Kelly, is on video trying to strongarm election worker Ruby Freeman to confess to police she engaged in election fraud by tampering with ballots -- a claim that has proven false.

Kutti allegedly went to Freeman's home and ID'd herself as a crisis manager, and somehow got the election worker to travel with her to the police station, where she is seen on body cam video, threatening Freeman with jail time.

Kutti has been charged with 3 crimes, including violating the RICO statute. A RICO conviction has a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years in prison.