TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Jennifer Garner moved hearts this week after trying to give a homeless man the shoes off her feet -- unquestionably a sweet move, and one we've actually seen several celebs make during L.A.'s unprecedented crisis.

Lending a hand to people in need has actually been an ongoing tradition in Hollywood for years ... as we've seen some very famous faces recently demonstrate their generosity.

Take, for example, Denzel Washington ... who, just a few years ago, went out of his way to help an unsheltered man on the streets of L.A., this at the height of the pandemic in May 2020.

This gentleman was apparently having an episode in West Hollywood, and Denzel came over to comfort him as police eventually arrived and got a handle on things. Even while officers were talking to the man, DW stuck around and provided him comfort. It was quite something.

A year prior, Lil Pump was doing his own food giveaway just in time for the holidays ... handing out tons of corndogs to folks who were on the street and hungry.

BTW ... Pump was doing this on Skid Row in DTLA -- one of the most heavily populated areas for unhoused folks in the city.

Jeremy Renner, too, has proven to have a charitable spirit ... he once took his daughter with him to hand out jackets, blankets and food to homeless people in Reno, NV.

At the time, JR did this right around Thanksgiving -- setting a good example for his kid.

Speaking of Turkey Day ... it's become a little bit of a give-back pastime over the years for celebs to team up with the L.A. Mission to dish out hot meals to the needy. There've been several stars who've partaken in this ... Danny Trejo, Emmy Rossum, Kevin Hart and Lisa Rinna, just to name a few.

There's even been some community service from controversial A-listers, like Kanye West.

Before he was persona non grata in Hollywood -- as a result of antisemitic remarks he spewed last year -- the dude was prominently kind to people less fortunate.

There's that memorable time he was handing out cash and Yeezys to one homeless man, in particular, in his own home city of Chicago -- back before he and Adidas split up -- and you could tell it meant a lot to this fella that he was gifting them for free.

The company behind Tekashi 6ix9ine's Dummy Vapes brand is none too pleased with a rival company, claiming Fume is trying to poach their rainbow-haired biz partner!

TMZ Hip Hop obtained new court docs in which Dummy Vapes calls out Fume for allegedly deploying some dirty business tactics.

Dummy Vapes says it entered into a "celebrity collaboration" with Tekashi in February 2023 for him to exclusively endorse the company's vaping products.

According to the lawsuit, everything was going well until June when Dummy Vapes says it got wind of Fume, a competitor, contacting Tekashi in hopes of meeting with him ... and dangling a $1 million offer as the bait!!!

That didn't lure Tekashi, though, and Dummy Vapes claims Fume then targeted Tekashi's girlfriend Yailin la Mas Viral with a $250,000 contract.

Lo and behold by July 2023, Tekashi entered into a merchandising venture with Fume, according to the suit ... one highlighted by his controversial "Shaka Laka" collab with Kodak Black and Yailin. Fume even released 14 different vape flavors, with some even being named "Dumy Vapes by Fume."

Dummy Vapes says 6ix9ine eventually dropped a PSA where he clarified he was indeed Team Dummy Vapes while he only did business with Fume through his girlfriend's deal.

Things came to a head when Dummy Vapes claimed it dropped $60,000 for Tekashi to hop on a private jet to promote the brand at an industry event in Las Vegas ... only to see the rapper drop out "due to directives from Fume."

Dummy Vapes is now suing Fume for trying to interfere with their relationship with Tekashi, and seeking unspecified damages.

Quavo stormed Capitol Hill Wednesday morning on behalf of his Rocket Foundation, and he arrived with the clear-cut agenda of tackling gun violence ... TMZ Hip Hop has learned.

The ex-Migos frontman was joined by his mother and his older sister, Takeoff's mother, as part of the 52nd Annual Legislative Conference.

Quavo met with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senator Cory Booker, Representatives Lucy McBath, Steven Horsford, Lisa Blunt Rochester, Robin Kelly, Maxwell Frost and community organizer Greg Jackson to voice his complaints.

Quavo's Rocket Foundation was established to bring awareness for gun violence prevention on both a state and federal level.

Several of the Congress members have an active "Break the Cycle of Violence Act" campaign, and we're told all parties were working Wednesday on viable solutions in a closed-door meeting.

Takeoff was shot and killed in November 2022, and Quavo hasn't stopped honoring his legacy.

Young Nudy's one of the hottest rappers in Atlanta at the moment -- something Killer Mike can attest to after having trouble tracking him down for a feature.

Mike eventually got the song done -- their "Act Up" collab anchors the new deluxe edition of the "Michael" album -- but admits during a recent interview he had to go through Nudy's mother to make it happen!!!

Nudy and Mike are 18 years apart and Mike acknowledged their schedules -- like their respective generations -- couldn't be more different.

But, after exhausting all options of reaching him, Mike says he learned he actually knew Nudy's mother from school, and after he caught up with her, she promptly instructed her son to record the track.

Added bonus ... she told Nudy not to charge Mike one red cent for the feature!!!

The song arrived last week as one of 4 new cuts from the "Michael (Deluxe)."

Lil Kim is siding with the fans in their outrage over her Ebony magazine cover edits ... even going so far as to proclaim she didn't even recognize herself after they digitized her face!!!

Kimmy Blanco hopped on IG to drag the publication with a fiery caption ... "Who is this? Cuz that’s not the photo I approved or any other content they’ve put out. I always told Ebony it looked like a painting, but they didn’t wanna listen. They said they loved it. It’s the sabotage for me. The funny s*** about this is that this is THEIR retoucher!”

The legendary rapper was targeting Ebony's photographer Keith Major, who first opened the can of worms on Tuesday when he responded to an angry fan.

According to Keith, it was Kim who decided to go all anime on the cover -- but, obviously, both parties are currently at an impasse.

Kim reshared several comments that mirrored her point, as well as the original retouched photo she and her team say they approved despite Ebony's final rollout.

Adam "Pacman" Jones is trying to turn his most recent run-in with the law into some clicks for his new music ... using the police video of his arrest earlier this month to promote his latest rap song.

The 39-year-old posted some of the footage on his Instagram page on Wednesday ... showing him yelling at an officer after he was taken into custody at Northern Kentucky International Airport on Sept. 11.

In the clip, you can see the ex-NFL star in the back of a police cruiser ... loudly questioning a cop about why he was being arrested after he said all he did was complain to airline employees about a faulty charging port on his plane.

"Bro, I'm going to jail for being on the plane?!" Jones said. "Bro, I didn't even yell at nobody!"

Jones' video then transitioned into a snippet of his new rap song.

"Its always two sides of the story …….," Jones captioned the vid. "👂🏾👂🏾👂🏾new music. Ep coming."

Paul Wall says he wasn't always a fan of his gray hair during his days of youth, but now he's embracing the silver fox lifestyle.

TMZ Hip Hop checked in with the H-Town Grillmaster himself after he went viral thanks to a simple TikTok showing off his frosty beard.

Paul tells us it's hereditary -- his grandfather was fully gray as a teen and Paul even recalls Nelly and Ali pointing out strains of salt and pepper on the set of their 2005 video shoot for "Grillz" when he was in his early 20s. Now, he's 42 and proud of his appearance.

Paul's mature look hasn't hurt his rep with the younger generation ... he's featured on one of the hottest songs of the year in That Mexican OT's "Johnny Dang" and Drake just gave him a shoutout in front of thousands during his "It's All a Blur" tour date in Houston!!!

Paul actually credits OT for resurrecting his rap name and introducing him to a 2023 audience. He says he feels like he has a brand-new battery in his back as a result.

Drake claimed he's moving to Houston at the concert and will surely benefit from Paul's good energy ... he and his partner Johnny Dang are now offering Drake a lifetime supply of custom grills!!!

Lil Kim is one of several hip hop legends picked to grace Ebony magazine's new cover to celebrate the culture's 50th anniversary, but one of the people involved in the job isn't taking credit for the photo-op!!!

Fans took serious issue with Kim's front page spread on Tuesday, for its cutout-like appearance and NFT glow as the publication rolled out others with 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes, Rick Ross and Swizz Beatz.

Renowned photographer Keith Major, who served as Director of Photography for the project, clearly couldn't stomach seeing his work slandered in such fashion and hopped into The Shade Room to let a complainer know Kim had the final say on the cover writing, "Man, she wanted to be in control of the retouching so this is what we got."

It's up for debate if Kim even likes the cover ... she hasn't shared it on her IG yet but still has her commemorative XXL cover from May posted on her IG which says a lot.

Ray J and Bobby Brackins made good on their $25,000 promise to boost the bank account of the best mechanical bull rider in their contest, a hefty payday for just a few minutes of fun.

TMZ Hip Hop obtained video of the Ray-hosted event that went down on September 16 inside San Fran's Westwood bar, which we're told was so jampacked the owners made an exception and played hip hop all night when the airtime is generally reserved for country music.

A woman named "JC" took home the grand prize and it's not hard to see why it was an easy choice ... we're told not only was she the only one of the 7 contestants to stay on the bull-bot but she did it with flair by taking off her shirt and spinning it like a helicopter, which helped her seal the deal.

Even Ray couldn't hold on very long but the crowd wasn't there to see him be a matador -- he put on a full show and apparently, the crowd was loving each track he performed!!!

Ray and Bobby are using the fanfare to saddle up their latest linkup, "On Top," into the Billboard stratosphere.

Tamar Braxton told cops her car was "completely trashed" by thieves ... getting emotional just looking at it, as seen in the body cam footage.

The footage, obtained by TMZ, shows the singer chatting with officers Monday morning about what she says happened -- explaining it's gonna be tough to figure out everything they took.

At one point, Tamar takes a peek in the car before having to look away, saying she might cry just based on the condition of the vehicle. The cop eventually opens the door, showing some clutter on the passenger side -- but the rest of her vehicle's interior isn't visible.

Tamar says she usually locks her car, but admits she came down the night before to get something out of it, and isn't totally positive if she locked it back up.

BTW, Tamar says the culprits oddly enough left a computer behind when they took off.

With the Tory Lanez shooting trial in the rearview and a new collab with Cardi B in the books, Megan Thee Stallion's comeback is imminent.

In a new interview with Billboard published Tuesday, Meg confirmed she was closing all "old chapters" and looking forward to the future ... which includes a new album and partnership with Hot Cheetos.

Meg promised to deliver nothing but tea -- in the form of her music and revealed she is now co-producing songs with her longtime collaborator LilJuMadeDaBeat.

"Expect a lot of rawness, a lot of realness, a lot of s*** talking. Just know I’m coming and I hope everybody ready," she warned.

Meg expressed constant mental breakdowns during the Tory trial but told BB that physical fitness was the key to her sanity, something she recently shared on IG in a viral workout video.

Blueface's bringing all the drama in his life back to his music ... returning shots at Lil Baby, and pissing off one baby mama by cozying up to another -- basically, all the markers of a potential hit!!!

On the Cali rapper's new joint, the appropriately titled "Baby Momma Drama," Blueface rips Lil Baby with disrespectful bars for always being so chummy with Michael Rubin ...  "Lil Baby thought he knew me/How you let another grown man feel up on your booty?/Couldn’t be me, boy, I am not a hoochie/You n****s really industry/I am really in the streets."

Blue also addressed the recent attack on his life after refusing to talk to cops ... "Socked a n**** last week and he stabbed me" -- proving rappers save the gory details to boost the credibility of their lyrics!!!

Back to Lil Baby, he and Blue exchanged unpleasantries earlier in the year after Baby seemingly tried to swoop Chrisean Rock on the low, and apparently, their beef isn't cooked yet.

Chrisean and their newborn son Chrisean Jr. are featured throughout the Moti & Midas-directed clip ... putting a lid on their pre-birth blowout from a few weeks ago.

The family bonding was the perfect recipe to piss off Blue's other baby mama Jaidyn Alexis, who claims she ripped up her "Milf Music" recording contract after seeing Chrisean sign hers ... a moment captured in the music video.

Fans think Jaidyn's capping -- she's been a rapping homemaker all summer.

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky are doting new parents once again -- proudly showing off their latest bundle of joy to the world ... with one of the cutest photo shoots ever.

The musical power couple -- who just welcomed their latest son, Riot Rose, in August -- posed for some incredible shots at home ... with both the new 1-month-old baby, and their other kiddo, RZA.

We gotta say, the Mayers look super happy and gotta be one of the best-looking crews in all of Hollywood.

Mama and Papa Bear definitely took a similar fashion theme. RiRi is sporting a royal-blue look -- with the denim button-down -- and dad's got a pair of jeans on ... with a splashy green flannel to bring it all together.

Young RZA was also wearing jeans, BTW ... his whole getup is honestly freaking adorable.

As for Riot ... let's just say he's giving his big bro a run for his money in the cuteness department. The proud parents had him swaddled up in a blanket -- but underneath, the baby was decked out in a salmon-colored onesie.

Also worth noting, this is the first time we're seeing Rihanna since she popped. It probably goes without saying -- but she's looking damn good.

Five years later, Johnny Manziel's still the man ... 'cause the Heisman Trophy winner reunited with his old bestie, Drake, at Champagne Papi's concert in Houston!

The award-winning artist and former superstar QB linked up at Toyota Center in H-Town where Drake did his infamous walk ... where he walks through a crowd of his fans during his show during his "It's All a Blur" tour.

Manziel shared a clip on Instagram, saying he was "honored" to walk with his old friend.

"You and your music have changed my life for the better," the 30-year-old said. "Thank you for letting the kid from Texas share that moment with you #SZN."

Remember, Aubrey and Manziel became friends back in the day when Johnny was the signal-caller for the Texas A&M Aggies football team ... during the time Drake was droppin' hits like "Take Care" and "Started From the Bottom".

In fact, Drizzy made a track called "Draft Day" and mentioned Manziel ahead of the 2014 NFL Draft ... where Johnny was selected with the 22nd overall pick.

Johnny also got an "OVO" tattoo on his wrist.

It seems like Blueface's street code is preventing law enforcement from putting together a case against his alleged assailant.

The L.A. County District Attorney's office tells TMZ Hip Hop ... the case has been rejected, for now, due to Blueface's lack of cooperation with the investigation. The video doesn't clearly show everything necessary to bring a criminal case, so, we're told investigators needed cooperation from witnesses to move forward.

According to docs, Blueface refused to answer any of the responding officer's questions, refused to provide his ID and even rejected medical aid ... though he quickly posted his bloody injury on social media, assuring fans he was good.

As we previously told you, Brandon Henrysnell had turned himself in on August 24, and was booked for felony assault with a deadly weapon.

But, the case won't go any further ... as authorities reviewed the footage, and while it clearly shows an altercation, it's missing the key moment Brandon allegedly stabbed Blueface.

Akademiks and Vic Mensa going tit for tat over Chicago's rap scene is one of hip hop's most viral beefs to date -- but they've both decided to bury the hatchet now, thanks to each's personal growth.

Vic and Ak dapped it up Monday for the latest installment of the "Off The Record" podcast ... and both expressed how they've developed admiration for one another.

Vic famously went at Ak's throat in 2017 over his coverage of Chicago drill rappers and the two continued to trade shots even up until several months ago.

Vic says his remarks over the years stemmed from a place of hurt ... after seeing his slain homie Tray 57 on Ak's "The War in Chiraq" YouTube channel.

For his part, Ak says he would've reported on the culture differently in hindsight, and also admitted ego prevented him from righting his wrongs.

Their conversation spiraled for more than 2 hours, and seems to spell the beginning of a fruitful partnership down the line!!!