TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Erica Mena says she's sorry for calling her reality show costar a monkey -- but she insists there was no racism behind the insult.

The ex-'Love & Hip Hop' star -- who was booted from the show for hurling the word -- tells TMZ ... "I deeply regret my insensitive comment and want to humbly apologize to anybody I hurt or offended by my thoughtlessness. My choice of words was wrong, and I take full responsibility for what I said."

She adds, "I am committed to listening to the voices of those affected and will work toward making amends. As a woman of color and the mother of two black children, I want to make it clear that my use of that word was not in any way racially driven."

Erica ends with this ... "That said, I do understand the gravity of what I said and want to use my platform to promote inclusivity and equality."

Worth noting, Erica identifies as an Afro-Latina -- with Dominican and Puerto Rican roots.

You'll recall ... Erica was cut loose from 'L&HH: Atlanta' after MTV aired the controversial episode in question -- in which EM and Spice got into a heated argument, which erupted into a fight ... and where Erica invoked the term "monkey" while she was lashing out.

That ugly moment came on the heels of yet another ... an Atlanta-area arrest that saw Erica get booked on a number of charges, including allegedly attacking a police officer.

Now that Erica's apologized, do you think she should be allowed back on 'L&HH'? Sound off by answering the question in our game below.

Ray J is taking his "On Top" motto to a new level ... offering up a whopping $25K prize to the best bull-riding cowgirl in Northern California!!!

Sources close to Ray tell TMZ Hip Hop the contest will go down this Saturday at Westwood in San Francisco as part of the promotion for his new collab "On Top" with Bobby Brackins and P-Lo.

The competition is open to non-professional female riders dressed in rodeo-style gear and will be held from 10 pm - 12 am ... plenty of time to get a decent ride in.

J. Espinosa will be spinning on the turntables and the Bay Area's own Too Short will also be in the building ... always guaranteed to be the life of the party!!!

To add more pay to the oola, Ray is also launching a 30-day #OnTopChallenge on TikTok where he'll be giving away $100 to the user with the best creative dance!!!

Expect the band to be in full party mode ... we're told the bull-riding event will predate Bobby's birthday celebration at Apt 200 in Los Angeles that Thursday and they're also putting together special edition merch to pump the song as well.

A$AP Rocky's attorney went way too far in his defense of the rapper after his 2021 shooting incident ... at least according to the alleged victim, A$AP Relli, who's now suing Rocky and his high-powered attorney, Joe Tacopina.

According to docs, obtained by TMZ, Relli claims Tacopina went on a press campaign after he was allegedly shot by A$AP Rocky .... and Relli was defamed in the process.

Relli claims he was painted by Tacopina in the media as a liar, a money grabber, and an extortionist  ... and he believes this was all the direction of A$AP Rocky.

The suit claims Tacopina spoke to various outlets, including TMZ ... in one story, Tacopina said, "Rocky didn't commit a crime. It was an extortion attempt by a former associate, who threatened to make false, criminal accusations if Rocky didn't pay him."

Relli claims as a result of the alleged attack on him, he received several death threats and has been the subject of ridicule. He's asking for unspecified damages.

As for Rocky ... his case is still pending. He has pled not guilty.

Chrisean Rock just became a first-time mother and two-time mom Cardi B has important words of wisdom to share -- like, don't ignore small things that could be early signs of postpartum depression.

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with Cardi in NYC on her "Bongos" promo swing, but she took a few moments to offer some really candid motherly advice to Chrisean.

Cardi gently warned Chrisean to always take some time out for herself, whether it be in the form of a solo outing or a quick bite to eat, as it takes some time to get used to the new full-time mom schedule.

Cardi of course is quite the family woman in between her rap career. She and Offset have a full household of their own, but the couple always looks for ways to incorporate the full brood into their routines ... such as fam trips to Disneyland.

As we told you, Cardi is currently pumping her new collab with Megan Thee Stallion -- which didn't exactly win over one of rap's biggest critics ... Joe Budden!!!

Cardi tells us as a hip hop trendsetter, she wasn't afraid to incorporate funk into the song and expand on her versatility as an artist.

Doja Cat is one of hip hop's saviors, at least on the commercial front ... her track, "Paint the Town Red" is the culture's first Billboard No. 1 song in over a year!!!

The bouncy demon-praising bop topped the Billboard Hot 100 Monday, marking the first rap song since Nicki Minaj's "Super Freaky Girl" made history debuting at the top of the chart in August 2022.

Doja and Nicki's collab "Say So" also hit number one back in 2020.

Artists can only dream of having this type of momentum going into an album release, especially when the stakes are high.

Doja's 4th album "Scarlet" drops on September 22 ... the same day as Drake's "For My Dogs." The battle for the audience's eardrums will be intense!!!

Doja appears to have partied enough for the Hot 100 milestone and then some ... burning up NYFW events with her future tour mates Ice Spice and Doechii last night.

Tink and Hitmaka's longtime artist/producer working relationship erupted in violence in tropical Cancun, of all places ... with the R&B songstress admitting to throwing blows on sight!!!

According to Tink, Hitmaka's been dodging her for months and also demanded $2 million from her after disclosing she wanted to work on her next project without him ... and those tensions boiled over when they happened to pop up at the same Mexican resort over the weekend.

Hitmaka was celebrating his 38th birthday on Saturday and Tink says she was in Cancun to celebrate her assistant's birthday, but things came to a head when she claims she spotted Hitmaka there ... enjoying the moment with several other women.

The two have been making music in a semi-exclusive relationship for the better part of the year and Tink admits her emotions (and perhaps a bit of booze) got the best of her and she attacked Hitmaka in a fit of rage ... which he claims to have captured on his phone.

He posted a screenshot of Tink allegedly flying off the handle, which had some fans calling him a snitch.

Despite being on the receiving end of Tink's anger, Hitmaka downplayed the incident and says he understands her disappointment with seeing him move on, but still maintains they're cool and will resume rolling out the next album.

That's still a big TBD ... after cooling her jets a bit, Tink returned to IG, and explained feeling royally disrespected after not getting a response to texts she'd sent Hitmaka, and isn't sure of their future.

Gunna might’ve recently been labeled a snitch by some, but it looks like even more people are still rocking with him.

The rapper performed a headlining show Saturday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn — his first in a long time — where the stadium was packed to the gills with paying customers.

The dude went through a ton of his songs, including some newer ones he dropped in his latest album — “A Gift And a Curse” — which the crowd seemed to know well as they rapped along. By the looks of it, there was a lot of enthusiasm and good vibes … almost as if nobody cared about the whole YSL scandal.

Remember, Gunna’s name has been getting dragged through the mud these past several months after he struck a deal with Fulton County prosecutors who are going after several of his label mates, including Young Thug. The perception from some fans was … dude must’ve ratted out his crew and cut himself a deal, which led to hateful comments.

Gunna denied doing that though, and has maintained he still supports Thug — which was evident in his concert this weekend. On one of the monitors, there was a “Free Jeffrey” message blaring across the screen, so it’s clear he still considers himself aligned with YT.

This was just one of 2 shows that Gunna is doing in the near future — he’s got another one scheduled in LA later this month. He’s not touring, per se, but does seem to be testing the waters on how a full-blown comeback might look like.

Blueface videos showing his young son hanging around exotic dancers at home are getting a lot of attention ... including from cops and the Department of Children and Family Services.

Law enforcement tells TMZ ... sheriff's deputies have been called to the rapper's Los Angeles-area home a whopping NINE times since May, with the most serious call for a DCFS investigation into Blueface bringing strippers around his kids.

After Blueface posted footage of him asking his son if he was gay while women stripped in a nearby room, we're told DCFS got wind of the video and launched an investigation, which led to sheriff's deputies being called to the home.

We're told Blueface still has his son, and it sounds like the DCFS investigation hasn't moved forward ... in part, because no one answered the door or picked up the phone when deputies were called to the house.

Law enforcement tells us other calls to the house include noise complaints for loud music and barking dogs.

So, cops frequent Blueface's place a lot ... but the stripper videos with his son are the most concerning.

Over at Blueface's party house in the San Fernando Valley, we're told cops have been there multiple times about parties and fights ... with Blue's neighbors making the complaints.

Cardi B says she's a little weirded out over her husband Offset's Michael Jackson tattoo, but she's gonna have to learn how to keep living with it. He's keeping his MJ memorabilia!!!

We caught up with Offset in NYC and he was taken aback by Cardi telling the world how she really feels about the King of Pop ink on his stomach ... and how it stares at her during sex.

He tells us it would be best for Cardi and him to continue the convo behind closed doors. Smart!

You can see where Cardi is coming from ... Offset opted for a tat of MJ's creepy stare from the "Thriller" video. Not exactly the best sexy-time material!!!

Offset's love for Michael dates back to his childhood but continues in adulthood. In fact, he recently channeled Mike's "Bad" era with his outfit for Beyoncé's "Renaissance" show last week in L.A.

Offset tells us performing on Beyoncé's stage was nothing short of an honor, as it allowed him to showcase his showmanship as an artist.

He had equal love for Jay-Z after going viral alongside him for hitting a mean electric side while Bey sang onstage.

Noah Lyles ain't backing off his "world champion" stance one bit ... and he's sending some loud-and-clear shade to one of the guys who had the biggest problem with it all -- Drake.

The track star won three golds (100m, 200m, 4x100m relay) at the World Athletic Games in Budapest, Hungary last month ... and following the efforts, he ruffled a ton of feathers when he said NBA players shouldn't get to call themselves champs of the globe like he could.

"World champion of what?" Lyles said, reminding those in attendance that NBA players only perform in the U.S. and Canada. "The United States?!"

His comments were hit with immediate criticism ... with guys like Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Draymond Green -- and, yes, even Drake -- firing away at him.

But, when Lyles sat down with TMZ Sports this week ... he made it clear he's not budging from his opinion -- though he did clarify that he loves what the NBA's doing, and he wants track and field to follow their model.

"I do think that the point was lost," he told us. "At the end of the day, it was talking about how I see what we do to our national championships -- I just want the same thing for our world champions. And we're a sport where we're bringing in the most medals every year -- and it's like nobody even knows because they don't pay attention."

As for Drake ... Lyles brushed off the rapper's criticism of him -- saying, "Just go home, buddy. Go home."

Joe Budden thinks Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion's new single is a 2-pack of ass, and nothing compared to their last collab... arguing it's missing a key element, or a man rather.

The rapper shared his thoughts on CB and MTS's latest song, "Bongos," in his latest episode of "The Joe Budden Podcast" -- and, per usual, he was unfiltered in breaking it down. As he explains, he just doesn't feel "Bongos" has quite the pizzazz that their last single did.

Of course, he's talking about "WAP" ... which charted well when it released, and which kinda captured the zeitgeist at the time. This time around though, JB says the magic is gone.

The reason he thinks "Bongos" won't have as much staying power is because Pardison Fontaine -- aka, Pardi -- wasn't in the mix this time around as a collaborator, or so he assumes (more on this later). If you didn't know, Pardi had writing credits on "WAP" ... in addition to other Cardi and Meg songs, and he's been a regular writer of CB's lately.

Of course, he also dated Meg for a good while last year ... that is, until they split up.

There's still no official word on why she and Pardi parted, but it's clear she's moved on with other men -- having been snapped out in public with different high-profile dudes of late.

Anyway, Joe mistakenly says Pardi appears to be missing here -- 'cause 'Bongos,' to him, just isn't it. But as it turns out, the dude is a credited writer on this song as well. JB might've flubbed in that regard, but his larger point here is ... 'Bongos' isn't as high on the "ratchet" level as previous entries of theirs, and he feels like Cardi and Meg missed the mark.

Time will tell how "Bongos" does performance-wise ... it was literally just released yesterday, to a lot of fanfare. One notable thing about it that's getting buzz is the production cost -- a reported $2 million budget just to cook it up. Also, they're gonna perform it at the VMAs.

Mount Westmore OGs Snoop Dogg and E-40 can never be accused of hogging the spotlight from the younger generation of rap.

They're both helping up-and-coming Los Angeles rapper Zoe Osama get his name out in the streets by hopping on his new track!!!

On Friday, Zoe released the new video for his "Underrated (Remix)" which finds Snoop sliding in the 2nd verse and 40 following suit with complex rhyme styles.

The track also features MoneySign Suede, the L.A. rapper who was murdered inside California's Correctional Training Facility back in April.

Per our report at the time, MoneySign was stabbed in the neck in the showers on the evening of April 26 and prison officials were unable to revive him ... but Zoe's making sure he lives on through the music.

Zoe also dedicated the song to MoneySign and several other slain West Coast rappers, including Nipsey Hussle.

Polo G's September 15 release date for his upcoming "Hood Poet" album is no longer a thing ... having endured not one, but two eye-popping arrests in the last few months that have prevented him from promoting the music.

The Chicago rap star made the somber announcement Friday, calling it a minor setback.

Sources close to Polo tell TMZ Hip Hop ... as of now, the album delay won't affect his current touring schedule.

He's scheduled to perform in New Mexico in October, blitz through Europe for much of November and also has a concert in Canada in December.

Polo's wild chain of events last month got us to this point. We broke the story ... Polo and his brother Trench Baby were arrested twice in a 24-hour span around August 23, resulting in a gun possession charge for Polo and a robbery charge for his brother.

Cops claim they found tons of guns and even a small bag of drugs following their raid of Polo's home.

B.G. famously stated "Cash Money is Army, better yet a Navy" ... and the newly freed rapper is enlisting once again, so says bossman Birdman, who's also working on a full-scale Hot Boys reunion!!!

The Cash Money CEO made the grand revelation Friday with 85 South Show, in a rare interview, harkening back to when he discovered a 13-year-old B.G. and molded him into a platinum-selling superstar.

"My lil n****'s official Cash Money ... ain't nobody else he gonna sign with besides this shit," Birdman told Karlous Miller while speculating on the other members.

B.G. was released from prison Monday, after serving 11 years and Birdman was there to greet him, immediately rekindling their union.

B.G. parted ways with Cash Money more than 20 years ago ... but not before making a name for himself and his legacy with Juvenile, Lil Wayne and Turk as the Hot Boys.

Turk recently told TMZ Hip Hop he's already geared up for the Hot Boys reunion, and with B.G. inking a new deal, everything appears to be falling into place.

Latto is moving up Coi Leray's family tree for more song source material ... using her father, Benzino, for a nifty lil punch line about his neck!!!

Young Nudy dropped off his "Peaches & Eggplants (Remix)" on Friday, recruiting estrogen energy that's been dominating hip hop as of late with Latto and Sexyy Red.

The song details the ins and outs of sexual encounters and Latto got into a name-drop bag on her verse to describe hers ... rapping, "He don't eat p****, he gots to go/Give me that neck like Benzino/Give me that neck like, "Where it go?"

Benzino, a devout gym rat, has been ribbed online for years over his head's muscular foundation base ... and fans weren't oblivious to Latto's shade!!!

Coi used Latto's name on the hook of her recent single "Isabel Marant" where she crooned, "Hop up on that couch and roll up Latto out the bag."

Of course, Latto fired the first shot when was smoking on blunts as big as Coi on her "Put It on Da Floor" track back in April ... and clearly she's up for sending more neckativity in the family's direction!!!

CEO Jizzle, the Memphis-based rapper in Young Dolph's Paper Route Empire camp who was shot during Lil Baby's concert Thursday night, appears to be OK ... and cops are still trying to find the suspect.

Memphis Police sources tell TMZ Hip Hop they're actively investigating how someone was able to get a firearm past security at the FedEx Forum in Memphis. We're told there were no other injuries reported, indicating Jizzle might have been targeted.

For now, cops are gathering video and asking the public to call CrimeStoppers at 901-528-2274 with any additional info that might lead to an arrest.

After arriving on the scene, officers discovered Jizzle with a gunshot wound ... he was taken out of the arena on a stretcher and rushed to a hospital.

Jizzle was listed in critical condition but appeared to be feeling much better Friday when he posted on IG ... lashing out at rumors of his death which were floating online.