TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

KD's going by a different set of initials now -- the NBA superstar played a key role in Drake's highly anticipated album "For All The Dogs" ... serving as A&R for the project!!

Drizzy dropped his eighth solo studio album early Friday morning ... and as it turns out, Kevin Durant was involved in bringing it to fruition.

The Phoenix Suns baller is listed on the credits as an A&R -- short for "artists and repertoire" -- a position that's held by someone who helps put the album together.

Durant -- who was traded to Phoenix in February -- took pride in his role ... and shared the accomplishment on his own Instagram story.

"The greatest," the 2-time NBA champ said of Drake. "6godAM ... for all of us."

Drake also name-dropped his music partner in the track, "All The Parties" ... saying, "Me and KD 'bout to turn up the art."

KD is known to be a big supporter of Drake -- he was even spotted lightin' it up in the crowd at his recent show at the Forum.

The 35-year-old forward also walked out with Drake during his Austin concert last month.

FYI, Durant has also taken a stab at being a hip hop artist himself under the name "Sniper Jones."

Drake is making a habit of putting big smiles on the faces of his fans by giving away designer bags on tour ... and the latest one in Miami came with a very important disclaimer.

Champagne Papi was performing last week at the Kaseya Center when he spotted Nicolette Valenti singing along in the crowd, and eventually he had his security deliver her a brown Birkin.

Drake picked her out between songs, but let the audience know he wasn't blessing her with a bag because of her large breasts -- which has been a thing at previous tour stops -- instead, he said it was because of the way she was singing all night.

In video capturing the giveaway, Drake tells the audience he likes to make people's days and Nicolete needs a brown Birkin to go with her brown top, and then security swooped in for the handoff.

Nicolette tells us she immediately called her mother ... Drake noticed her making the call, and after she showed him her phone, he dedicated the next song to her mom.

Birkin bags can run well past 5 figures in retail, so Drake arranged for Nicolette to get a police escort out of the venue ... and she says Drizzy's stage manager made her text him to make sure he knew she made it home safely with the Birkin.

It was an unforgettable moment for Nicolette ... and she tells us she is never selling the bag.

Tupac Shakur's murder suspect went out for his morning walk, and then suddenly found himself in handcuffs ... charged in the nearly 30-year-old unsolved case.

TMZ just obtained police body cam footage from Duane "Keefe D" Davis' arrest, and you see him walking down a residential street when cops pull up, and tell him he's being busted.

Keefe D is totally compliant throughout the interaction with Las Vegas cops ... he doesn't resist at all. In fact, his only complaint was that he was "thirsty as f***" for the bottled water he was carrying.

It's the first time we've seen the footage of Keefe D's arrest ... and he goes pretty quietly.

When officers put him in the car, he tells them he's a "pro" and climbs in the front passenger seat. He even engages in some casual conversation with one officer that makes it clear, Keefe knows exactly why he's being arrested.

In his words, he's involved in the "biggest case in Las Vegas history" ... and drops the exact date of Tupac's murder.

As we reported ... Keefe was arrested Friday and charged with one count of murder with a deadly weapon, plus a gang enhancement.

Keefe appeared in court for the first time this week ... but his arraignment proceedings ended up being delayed.

Tupac was shot and killed in Las Vegas in September 1996 ... and cops arrested Keefe over 27 years later ... saying his outspoken interviews about being involved in Pac's murder prompted them to reopen the case.

Jason Derulo is calling BS on a new lawsuit claiming he fired an up-and-coming musician after she repeatedly refused to have sex with him.

In a video statement posted on Instagram, the singer addressed the salacious allegations in the suit filed by Emaza Gibson in L.A. Superior Court Thursday.

Derulo said, "I wouldn’t normally comment but these claims are completely false and hurtful. I stand against all forms of harassment and I remain supportive of anybody following their dreams."

He continued, "I’ve always strived to live my life in a positively impactful way, and that’s why I sit here before you deeply offended, by these defamatory claims. God bless."

In her suit, Gibson says Derulo contacted her in 2021 offering her a joint contract with him and two record companies, Atlantic and Future History, to produce songs.

Gibson says Derulo chose her because he needed to bring a fresh artist to Atlantic to launch the project, and she eagerly signed the agreement, believing he was now her mentor.

She says the plan was to work closely with Derulo on a mixtape and an album, delivering the final recordings to music execs within 6 months.

But, Gibson claims Derulo had other ideas, wanting her to participate in cocaine-fueled sexual rituals called “goat skin and fish scales" to fulfill his role as her artistic collaborator.

On several occasions, Gibson says Derulo also propositioned her to have dinner with him and tried to ply her with booze to get her into bed.

When she refused his advances, Gibson says Derulo eventually cut off all communication with her and terminated her contract with him and the record companies.

As a result, Gibson says she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after she suffered breakdowns and other medical issues.

He may have a significant head start, but Drake's son, Adonis, is already making his mark in the rap world ... not only designing the cover art, but rapping on his dad's new album too.

Drake dropped "For All The Dogs" -- his highly-anticipated album -- with features from Bad Bunny, 21 Savage, J. Cole and more. However, it's on the song "Daylight" where Adonis seemingly freestyles over the beat.

The 5-year-old says, "Don't talk to my man like that. I like it when you like it. My, my, my, my man. My, my, my, my man. Don't talk to my man like that. I like it when you like it. My, my, my, my man. My, my, my, my man. You know which one you want. I don't care which one you want. You can take whatever. I don't care what you do. I will always, watchin' for you."

The kid doesn't offer a lot of context to his verse, but who cares ... it's still cute as hell.

As we reported, Adonis drew the cover art for the album, a picture of a goat -- which he says represents his dad. Unclear if Adonis was paid for the artwork or his verses, but knowing Drake, he likely got some sort of cut.

YNW Melly and YNW Bortlen are both facing witness tampering charges now, and officials say some of the tampering involved them invoking Rihanna's name as part of their system of codes.

According to docs, obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, Melly and Bortlen both actively worked behind the scenes to keep key witnesses from cooperating with authorities and testifying in their double-murder trial.

Officials claim Melly is said to have used the phone privileges of another inmate to pass word to the outside ... sometimes in calls to Bortlen, who was out on bond at the time.

According to the docs, Melly had apparently lost phone privileges due to disciplinary violations while in custody.

The docs say during some of the calls, there were references made to "Rihanna" and "A$AP Rocky's baby mama" staying behind in a "Maybach" -- which prosecutors believe was code for instructing a particular female witness not to appear at the trial. The docs note that the woman, in fact, did not show up at the trial.

Officials also say Melly developed a sophisticated system for communication -- which they say is caught on surveillance video -- where he would coordinate the delivery of hand-written messages to various cell blocks through nonspeaking cues.

Melly's lawyer told TMZ Hip Hop the claims are a "desperate attempt" on the part of prosecutors after they failed to get a conviction during the first go-around.

Kanye West didn't wanna tough it through a painful pedicure, cutting the technician off before the whole thing wrapped, and then getting back to his business.

Kanye's pal, and music partner Ty Dolla $ign uploaded the funny footage Thursday showing  Kanye's interaction with the puzzled pedicurist. You see Kanye react with a quick jolt of pain before deciding the whole treatment was over ... standing up and saying he wanted to stop.

The woman performing the pedicure tries to convince Kanye to let her finish, but he ain't budging, saying "It's my toes." Check out the look on Ty's face, he's stunned by the whole interaction.

Kanye's essentially been trekking barefoot in Europe throughout the summer -- so you gotta imagine the nail tech had her work cut out for her -- but Ye didn't wanna take a chance.

Funny enough, after he told her the whole thing was over, Kanye didn't miss a beat ... getting back to business.

Colombia has The Weeknd to thank for a huge boost to the country's economy ... his latest not only brought in a whole bunch of money, but a ton of jobs with it.

The singer performed in Bogotá -- the country's capital -- Wednesday night, working with 35 different companies in the city, which translated into a sky-high number of folks able to work for the big night. In fact, we're told 1,500 jobs in all were created through the show.

The Weeknd's been selling out stadiums across the globe as part of his "After Hours Til Dawn" tour, blowing the roof off in London, Paris, and, of course, Bogotá -- and his latest shows ended up generating over 800 million pesos.

He brought the house down at Nemesio Camacho El Campín Stadium, BTW ... with fans having a blast all night long as he sang his chart-topping hits.

Sounds like The Weeknd's Colombian fans aren't the only ones grateful that he came and put on a show ... the rest of the country's gotta be thanking him, too!

Sexyy Red is denying she's the one responsible for posting her own sex tape to social media.

The video was posted to SR's Instagram Wednesday, and on Thursday the rapper dismissed the leak as "goofy sh*t" and said her close friends would know the move wasn't in her character.

She may be one of Hip Hop's biggest open books to date -- her breakout song "Pound Town" dropped at the top of the year and created a sex-positive wave.

Sexyy's social media has been centered around controversy as of late. It was recently discovered she was hanging with a local Atlanta rapper after he posted them together ... many speculating it was done without her permission.

21 Savage is a prisoner to the borders of the United States no more -- he's got a Green Card after a years-long immigration battle -- according to his buddy, Drake.

Drake just dropped his song "8AM in Charlotte" where he makes the stunning reveal, rapping, "Savage got a green card straight out of the consulate. Where I go, you go, brother, we Yugoslavian."

The timing of the announcement is certainly interesting considering Drake and 21 have two shows scheduled in Drake's home of Toronto, Canada this weekend.

21 hasn't been able to attend any of the tour stops outside of The United States because of his immigration status ... but with a Green Card, it's now possible for him to leave the country.

As we reported, it was way back in 2019 when 21 was detained by ICE officials and the world learned the rapper was actually from the UK, and had been living in the U.S. illegally for years after his Visa expired. Authorities claimed during that arrest, 21 also tossed a bottle of codeine, and a handgun was found in his vehicle -- further complicating his situation.

In fact, it was the criminal case that then delayed his immigration case as everything got backed up during the pandemic.

Drake's son Adonis is all over his dad's new video for "8AM in Charlotte" -- in addition to being featured, he drew the cover art, but it seems he got paid bupkis for his hard work!!!

The new vid kicks off Drake's "For All the Dogs" rollout, which finally drops tomorrow after several delays.

Adonis gave a full explanation of the goat he drew for the new illustration, similar to the one he crafted for the 'Dogs' cover art -- the goat symbolizes a "Daddy Goat" AKA his father being the greatest of all time ... an opinion that got no pushback from Drake!!!

When Drake teased him about his payment for the drawing, Adonis showed he's no stranger to sarcasm at just 5 years old, dropping an "Oh, please!" on Dad to his face!!!

Who knows, the paintings could be worth millions down the line, especially if Drake's album lives up to the hype.

Flo Rida's baby mama says she's willing to settle the lawsuit over their son's near-fatal fall from her New Jersey apartment building ... but it's going to require an 8-figure payout.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Alexis Adams says it will take $40 million for her to settle the suit she's filed against the various parties she claims are responsible for her son's fall from a Jersey City building.

Remember, Alexis and Flo's 6-year-old son Zohar fell from a 5th-story window back in March and landed on the concrete pavement below ... resulting in serious injuries.

As we reported ... Zohar was rushed to a hospital and placed in the ICU ... ultimately emerging in a full-body cast and then learning how to walk again. Doctors said it's a miracle the boy even survived the 50-foot fall.

Alexis is suing a construction company and a window installation company, among others, blaming them for installing "incorrect sized guards" on the windows ... which she believes allowed Zohar to fall. Flo Rida is not involved in the suit.

King Combs says he has every intention to carve out a hip hop legacy with his own original music, but when it comes to sampling, he admits ... sometimes it's hard to say no to a hit!!!

We got the Bad Boy Jr. at LAX on Wednesday and asked just how much access he has to his father's iconic tunes for use as samples when he's in the studio.

There's currently a raging debate in the rap world over whether today's samples of popular hits (some that already contain samples themselves) are innovative, or just downright lazy.

KC notes the success he's had with blasts from the past -- his Kodak Black collab "Can't Stop, Won't Stop" borrowed from Lil Kim's "Crush on You" and topped the Billboard rap charts ... while "How You Want It?" with Teyana Taylor used Mase and Total's "What You Want" melody and went Gold.

He recently made it a NYC summer with A Boogie, Fabolous and Jeremih by riding yet another Total wave on the track "Flyest In the City" and tells us he might have to hit the studio for a few more tracks that lean into past songs.

Folks can debate all they want, but for King, the proof is in the public reception.

Westside Gunn says his upcoming album "And Then You Pray For Me" should already be appraised as a classic -- artistically and musically -- with an exclusive Virgil Abloh painting for the project's artwork.

It’s the little attention to detail WSG is telling TMZ Hip Hop will set his album apart when it drops October 13, which he guarantees will become an art collectible down the line.

The Griselda Records founder tells us he's watched the competition for months, in what's been a light year for Hip Hop and is confident he has the Album of the Year ... Rick Ross, Ty Dolla $ign, Conway and Benny The Butcher are just a sprinkling of Gunn's heavyweight features but the album's key, he says, was tailor-making it to meet Virgil's heavenly approval!!!

WSG says Virgil convinced him to get a passport to attend his 2020 Off-White show in Paris -- a life-changing moment for the Buffalo, NY native as he began using his travels for content for his raps.

He had just dropped his "Dr. Birds" verse with the infamous line, "Told Virgil, write "Brick" on my brick" and was privileged to rub shoulders with the late Pop Smoke and Takeoff on the runway before their untimely deaths.

WSG's all about his music, but doesn't want beef ... especially with a little kid like Lil Tay.

Since Lil Tay's controversial reemergence, Gunn says Griselda fans have been on his head with claims she jacked his daughter Westside Pootie's style, as she's been spouting off audaciousness for years on his album.

Gunn tells us Pootie's been inspiring the comp for years ... and has even peeped kids following in her footsteps with the hand-drawn album covers like she did with his 2020 "Sunshine" album.

YNW Melly now has his own witness tampering charge -- just like his co-defendant YNW Bortlen -- in their double-murder trial, but his lawyers think prosecutors are just trying to cover up problems with their case.

Prosecutors confirmed with TMZ Hip Hop ... they hit Melly with the witness tampering charge Wednesday in Miami-Dade County, just a couple of days removed from tagging Bortlen with the same charge.

Melly's team is set to appear in court on Friday for a hearing in which they'll argue prosecutors have been withholding key evidence about the lead investigator in the case.

Melly's attorney, Raven Liberty reacted to the added charge, telling us ... "This is a transparent and desperate attempt by the State Attorney's office to distract the public from the deposition of an Assistant State Attorney who accused this case's lead detective and lead prosecutor of felonies by falsifying and covering up evidence damaging to the state's case."

"Love & Hip Hop" star Vonshae Taylor-Morales is further distancing herself from her ruptured marriage with Gunplay ... blaming him for causing their infant daughter's medical condition as of result of his alleged drug use.

The baby girl, Osanna Ohana, was born in March with a heart defect and on Wednesday, Vonshae accused her estranged husband of abusing cocaine and ketamine behind her back during a vicious dragging on IG Live.

Before the baby was born, Vonshae says she told Gunplay he needed to be drug-free, but she says he began using, and covering up his "sniffing" by saying he had allergies.

Vonshae says she was dumb to believe the rapper, and their fights got bad when she confronted him. Eventually, Gunplay was arrested in August for allegedly pulling out a gun on Vonshae and their daughter, who was put into harm's way during the altercation.

As we reported at the time, Gunplay was slapped with several charges ... aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment, and child abuse. Vonshae also claims he relapsed in her presence.