TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Unlike Joe Budden, Cam’ron’s not completely retired from rapping after adopting a career in podcasting, and he’s taking a baton passed by J. Cole and running with it for his own track.

On Monday, Cam expanded on Cole’s shoutout from Lil Yachty’s track “The Secret Recipe”
where Cole saluted the Diplomats rapper with the line, "I prolly put more n****s on pause than Cam and Mason Beth.”

Later on his verse, the Harlem rapper-turned-sportscaster plugged his show while taking aim at future HOF Chris Paul jumping to the Golden State Warriors ... "Say what I want, 'It Is What It Is'/Don't care who take offense/Like Chris Paul, y'all, on Golden State, it don't make no sense/Unless he 2nd unit, when the game start, he play the bench."

Steven A. Smith recently cast doubts on CP3's ability with the Dubs, but Cam and his cohost Ma$e are disrupting the world of sports commentary from a different angle -- they can professionally rap their hot takes!!!

The track eventually bleeds into a preview of Cam's upcoming Halloween-themed video, "Get Mine Regardless" where he dons a Freddy Krueger getup to slash home his point.

At 38 years old, even Chris wouldn't argue he's past his prime, but his immeasurable experience could surely prove valuable to GS' 2024 championship hopes.

Cardi B joined Kim Kardashian's Skims campaign ... adding a sexy boost to the billion-dollar brand's "Cotton Collection."

The Diamond-selling rapper says the undies make her feel "snatched" in a press release Monday, modeling an array of new colors that put all her curvaceous features on display!!!

Kim K's got quite the celebrity army wearing her labels and Cardi recently completed the trifecta along with Ice Spice and SZA of Hip Hop stars who rock Skims.

Cardi's been on the move helping hubby Offset promote his new album ... the new collab is right on brand for her.

Tekashi 6ix9ine has been arrested in the Dominican Republic ... after a warrant was put out for his arrest for allegedly unleashing a beatdown on music producers.

According to police in the Dominican Republic, Tekashi was taken into custody Sunday night at the Hotel Balcones del Atlántico in Sánchez -- located in the province of Samaná.

A warrant was out for his arrest from La Vega Prosecutor Aura Luv Garcia, who is spearheading the whole investigation.

Video of the scene at the DR jail where Tekashi was brought to showed chaos ... as you can see, folks started screaming as the cop car pulled up with him being brought inside. Some people were even scrambling to just get a glimpse of him.

Tekashi's reportedly been accused of beating up music producers in the country with a handful of other men  ... after allegedly getting into it over his new girlfriend, Yailin.

Reports say Yailin was in the studio when 6ix9ine showed up with his crew -- and the rapper was allegedly jealous of the producers spending time with his girl.

Sexyy Red's "Pound Town" navigation is leading her down the road of motherhood once again -- the superstar rapper announced she's expecting a child!!!

Sexyy made the reveal over the weekend, with the help of SZA, and on Monday, told her followers entertaining them has come with a significant personal cost.

Turns out she's been concealing the baby bump by sucking in her stomach -- even as recently as the BET Hip Hop Awards from earlier this month -- a sign she didn't want anything to derail her breakout year.

Sexyy didn't put a time stamp on when she's expecting her new bundle of joy, but the announcement didn't come as too much of a shock to fans, even though she just finished a nationwide tour with Drake.

The St. Louis rapper recently swatted down rumors she was responsible for leaking the viral sex tape that rocked social media last month -- but if it's related to her pregnancy, it will make for quite the "birds and bees" talk with her new child, 13 or so years from now.

She's clearly got the support of SZA, Mariah The Scientist and Nicki Minaj, who helped Sexyy earn her first-ever Billboard entry earlier this year by remixing "Pound Town."

Travis Scott's return to the touring world is already off to a bumpy start -- 'cause his third show so far got postponed at the last minute ... and there's still no word on why.

The rapper was scheduled to perform for a second night in a row Saturday at PNC Arena in Raleigh, NC ... where he'd just played a massive concert the night prior as part of his North America "Utopia Circus Maximus Tour" -- which has gotten rave reviews so far. Before Friday, Trav had already performed in Charlotte, NC ... so this woulda been concert #3.

Unfortunately for his fans wanting to catch him for the back-to-back ... they were out of luck, receiving news just hours before the start of the gig that Travis wouldn't be taking the stage.

A message went out to all ticket holders for the second PNC show, which reflected what was posted on the door to the actual venue -- reading, "Tonight's Travis Scott concert at PNC Arena has been postponed. Fans are encouraged to hold on to their tickets as they will be honored for the TBD new date. We apologize for any inconvenience. Thank you!"

That didn't sit well with a lot of people who'd flocked to the area -- in some cases, from far away -- to catch him live ... and some folks posted their disappointed reactions online.

WRAL News also interviewed a handful of would-be concert-goers ... who said they were given no explanation whatsoever for the postponement -- not from the third party vendor, the venue or from Travis/his team either. What seems to sting here is the fact that he was literally there on Friday ... and nothing seemed amiss. If anything, it looked like a rager.

Of course, the irony here is that Live Nation added this second Raleigh show in response to an apparent demand that presented itself way back in early September. His first concert there in town had sold out, so they threw in another -- where tickets also flew off the shelf.

It goes without saying, Trav needs this tour to go well ... it's his firs time on the road here in the States since the Astroworld tragedy -- and he could use all the good will he can get.

Taylor Swift is so popular right now she can just say a few syllables -- and everyone goes completely nuts!!

Case in point ... Taylor made a brief -- and we mean very brief -- appearance on Saturday Night Live to introduce Ice Spice for her second performance of the evening, featuring the song, "Pretty Girl."

After a commercial break, Taylor popped up on screen and gave a four-word introduction to her music collaborator on the remix of her tune, "Karma." Taylor said, "Once Again, Ice Spice."

The crowd went absolutely crazy, screaming with applause!!!

Travis Kelce also made a cameo ... after Keenan Thompson joked that he was done with the NFL talking about Taylor's romance and wanted to hear from someone who actually talked football. Travis suddenly appeared and quipped, "Yes, me!."

And that was that. Taylor and her new beau, Travis Kelce, didn't stick around to hit the stage with the SNL cast at the end of the show, but host Pete Davidson thanked them for coming.

Of course, Taylor and Travis were in town making other big news, enjoying an intimate sushi dinner that turned into a media frenzy at Nobu in Manhattan Saturday night.

Check out video of the couple strolling hand-in-hand past the sushi bar as Travis acknowledged the chefs, one of whom waved hello to him.

An eyewitness tells us Taylor and Travis sat down next to each other and were cuddling throughout the meal.

A pair of never-before-seen mugshots of both Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. are set to hit the auction block soon -- and decades after their murders, their legacies still translate into millions.

GottaHaveRockandRoll has all the goods for its upcoming auction -- to be held from Oct. 25 to Nov. 10 -- and TMZ Hip Hop has learned it will also include clear footage of Biggie's final performance ... recorded December 26, 1996, during the Sting festival in Kingston, Jamaica.

The "One More Chance" rapper performed in a wheelchair with his leg still in a cast after a car accident with Lil Cease behind the wheel -- and, tragically, it would be his last ever concert before he was murdered on March 9, 1997.

The internet has been touting grainy footage of the event for years but GHRock certifies the OG video has been unreleased, and the winning bidder will get it with a full copyright.

They'll also get a copy of the agreement Biggie signed with Sting to join the festival lineup.

Biggie's family, on his mother's side, hails from Jamaica and Sting promoter Isaiah Laing recalls the legendary rapper immediately asking to be hooked up with "the good ganja weed," and had a pleasant stay at the famed Jamaica Pegasus Hotel.

GHRock estimates the footage will net anywhere between $1 mil to $2 mil, and the mug shots are expected to attract a very large stack of Benjamins, too!!!

Tupac's OG mug shot taken with a Polaroid has never been released to the public, and is estimated to sell for $20k - $40K. Biggie's mug comes with a signed thank you note from jail, and is predicted to attract a similar amount as Pac's.

A retired Vegas detective recently testified before a grand jury that he believes both rapper's murders are linked to the same characters -- a theory that's resurfaced in the aftermath of cops recently arresting Duane "Keefe D" Davis for Pac's murder.

Drake's dad, Dennis Graham, doesn't feel his son needs to speak out about the violence in Israel and Gaza because any commentary will be held against him in the court of public opinion.

We chatted it up with Dennis at LAX and certainly didn't seem like he'd spoken to Drake, who's Jewish, about his thoughts on the Hamas terrorist attack and Israel's military response -- but he's certain it's affecting Drake just like everyone else.

Drake's silence, in particular, has been a hot topic on social media thanks to DJ Vlad ... who's been calling out Drizzy and DJ Khaled, who's Palestinian, for not using their massive platforms to speak on the crisis.

Dennis says celebs get way more backlash when they publicly address hot-button issues, and he's certain Drake would be no different.

The proud papa was still in full support of his son's work, though -- rocking "For All the Dogs" merch from head to toe. He also assured us Drake will be okay ... referring to the stomach issues prompting his hiatus from music.

Drake said he may be gone for over a year, and Dennis is his dad, not his doctor -- but he echoed much of what Drake said ... it's minor, not major.

We also inquired about Drake's co-parenting routine, on the heels of him posting a big family photo with Adonis and Adonis' mom.

KXNG Crooked agrees with Wallo's assessment of today's hip hop needing fine-tuning but thinks it'll take an industry overhaul of personnel to really get the job done!!!

ICYMI, the "Million Dollaz Worth Of Game" cohost went viral with a super lengthy, yet effective, PSA criticizing the state of hip hop in '23 ... urging artists and their teams to do more than the bare minimum.

Well, the COB rapper sees Wallo's point and expressed his own frustrations and solutions to rap's quality drought with TMZ Hip Hop this week.

Crook cites a quote he heard from former White House honoree Felecia Hatcher that's all about holding an artist's feet to the fire.

In his career, he's been signed independently and to a major label -- he was once on Eminem's Shady Records alongside Joe Budden and his current collaborator Joell Ortiz -- but Crook believes underground artists show more passion in the music than their mainstream counterparts.

The topic of trash rap music has bounced around several generations ... Ice-T, KRS-One, Bow Wow and Bobby Shmurda have voiced negative opinions this year.

Crook's assessment is pretty simple -- the wrong label execs are greenlighting album rollouts and multimillion dollar budgets, and industry quality will improve once those "bad actors" are ousted.

Kanye West apparently has a forthcoming album with Ty Dolla $ign that's all but ready to be released to the masses -- the only holdup now is ... who's gonna help him drop it???

Billboard reports that Ye's got new music on the horizon, including this joint collaboration between himself and TD$ -- which will mark his first big release since his antisemitic saga last year ... which put him on the outs with a lot of big-time Hollywood players.

Apparently, the aftermath of that is affecting KW's ability to get this album distributed right now -- but that's not to say he doesn't have options ... Billboard says he does. According to the outlet, Ye is weighing 5 different offers from smaller/lesser-known distributors.

One of those offers came from a music publishing company called Too Lost -- which launched just a couple years ago and which actually already holds the rights to Ye's music on YouTube. Now, it sounds like they're making a play to go all in on him for a straight-up album.

No word on who the other 4 offers are from, but Billboard says Kanye's going to make a decision soon -- and that the album should be released in the coming weeks ... including on all the big streaming services he'd need help from to reach the biggest possible audience.

Speaking of that ... Billboard says, citing sources, every major label is staying away from Ye right now -- and a big part of that has to do with his anti-Jew rhetoric from 2022, which seems to be at the forefront of record execs' minds considering Israel-Palestine right now.

They do note that his new album with Ty doesn't touch on any antisemitism in the songs -- at least based on what's been heard so far -- but he's still far too polarizing to get behind.

Interestingly enough ... Kanye himself doesn't seem to be over talking about Jewish people -- as he just recently filed for a trademark for the term "YEWS," which he wants to slap on a multitude of products and services. Whether that's the album name ... anyone's guess.

Jada Pinkett Smith's truth bombs continue -- now, she's claiming Tupac's bald look was no coincidence, nor was it a fashion statement ... but rather, just straight-up hair loss.

The actress's latest revelation comes courtesy of her People Mag interview ... which just dropped this nugget of news Saturday. In their sit-down with her ahead of Jada's new book, they have her quoted as talking about Tupac's baldness -- with her saying he had alopecia.

Jada says, "I don't think Tupac ever talked about the alopecia he suffered from," going on to explain that his hair started falling out around 1991 -- when he would've been about 20 years old -- shortly after he had a famous run-in with cops in NorCal.

She adds, "[H]is alopecia patterns were far more extreme than mine. I don't think Pac ever talked about his alopecia, but he also looked really good with a bald head. But that was during a time and during an era that you wouldn't -- he just wouldn't talk about it."

One thing she does firmly believe -- if Pac was alive today ... he'd probably talk about it openly.

This is fascinating for a couple reasons ... for starters, it would seem to explain Tupac's bald look in the latter years of his life, when he was most famous. While he was younger and on the rise, he rocked notable 'dos -- particularly in the film "Juice."

It's also interesting because alopecia was apparently at the center of the whole Oscars slap last year -- when Chris Rock cracked a joke about Jada, spurring Will Smith to get up there and slap him.

Alopecia proved to be a touchy subject, and even now ... Jada thinks Chris took a low blow by referring to her condition. Still, Jada says she couldn't believe Will did what he did ... especially when he called her his "wife," a term she says they hadn't used in years.

BTW, this new Tupac news follows yet another big headline from earlier in the week -- namely, Jada calling the late rapper her "soulmate" ... but insisting they never banged.

Freeway Rick Ross is giving Tory Lanez some hot tips on how to survive in prison ... saying that having a bodyguard is critical while detailing one of Suge Knight's clever maneuvers to stay safe.

We caught up with the former drug lord at LAX Friday, and he didn't pull any punches when it came to discussing Tory's recent transfer from the local L.A. jail to a California state lockup. As you know, Tory is serving a 10-year sentence for shooting Megan Thee Stallion in the foot.

Ross - who spent nearly 15 years in prison for his crimes -- says he feels sorry that Tory is incarcerated in state prison with some really bad dudes, but he wishes him well.

He says Tory might run into some issues while he's there because he's no longer with his usual clique; instead, he's rubbing elbows with gang members.

Ross warned Tory about getting involved with any gang, explaining he would be forced to take care of the members by getting into potentially violent situations.

He says Tory's successful background in music is going to be his "biggest detriment" because other inmates are going to hit him up for money all the time.

The ex-con turned book writer also advised Tory to pay $300 a month for an inmate bodyguard to shadow him at California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi.

And, finally, Ross encouraged Tory to follow Suge's lead and buy TVs for his fellow inmates to get into their good graces. Suge is currently serving a 28-year sentence for involuntary manslaughter.

Mario believes he belongs among the greats ... making a case for why he says he should be on R&B's Mt. Rushmore with the genre's greats.

TMZ Hip Hop engaged in a friendly R&B debate with the "Let Me Love You" singer in Bev Hills this week, and gauged his picks for R&B's Mt. Rushmore. You'll remember, T.I. just did the same sort of list for the trap rappers.

For Mario, the first two names came easily ... the late, great King of Pop, Michael Jackson, and the Renaissance Queen herself, Beyoncé. Then, Mario throws his own hat in the ring with an explanation of why he says he belongs.

Mario says he absorbed tons of different genres and styles from his mother and grandma growing up that bled into his own platinum-selling career.

He tells us his fourth pick would be Whitney Houston in all her glory but isn't beholden to just picking 4 artists ... he'd add Usher and Chris Brown to that rock in a heartbeat.

Mario was recently spotted in the club celebrating Offset's album release -- and posted up next to a sign that read "R&B Royalty" ... he's not removing his crown any time soon!!!

Mario also drops some advice ... saying R&B stars should focus on making timeless music as opposed to chasing hits if they want to survive.

If it wasn't for music, Rick Ross could've been a damn good basketball player ... at least, that's according to famed NBA shooting coach Lethal Shooter, who tells TMZ Sports the rapper's got the goods on the court!

Lethal -- real name Chris Matthews -- came to the conclusion after working with the "Hustlin'" artist earlier this month before he had to take a private jet to Las Vegas.

Matthews spent about an hour with the celeb ... and he was so impressed with Ross' work ethic, he said the dude could've been "elite" on the hardwood if he had chosen ball over hip hop.

"As soon he got out of the car, he didn't waste any time," Matthews said of Ross. "He was looking to train. He only took two breaks. He wanted to learn."

Matthews, of course, didn't say an NBA career would've been in Ross' future if he had picked basketball at a young age ... but he explained to us the 47-year-old could've potentially made it as a college hooper if he wanted.

"I feel like people don't realize Rick Ross is pretty tall and anything that somebody put their mind to, they're capable of," Matthews said.

"What I saw from somebody, the age that he's at, that he was learning so fast I think he could've been capable at a young age to play at an elite level as far as high school and college."

Matthews knows a thing or two about A-listers with hoops skills ... he's trained a bunch of celebs over the years -- and told us guys like Future and Mark Cuban have some underrated games.

"When I was training Mark Cuban a few months back," Matthews said, "I felt like you can tell at a young age he was one of those guys that was always gonna bring it on defense, always gonna bring the intensity."

When the 38-year-old is not helping celebrities with their jump shots ... he's going nonstop at giving back to his hometown Washington D.C. -- telling us he recently donated $18K to three different schools in the DMV area.

Westside Gunn is working his best to calm the nerves of his fans worried after he announced his latest album will be his last.

The Griselda rapper tells TMZ Hip Hop fans shouldn't get it twisted ... he's still dropping music -- it just won't be in the multi-song format like he just did with "And Then You Pray For Me."

His last project boasts 21 tracks with everyone from hip hop megastars such as Rick Ross and Jeezy to hungry new jacks like Peezy and Travis Scott deflector KayCyy.

Gunn says in turn, he'll be focused on releasing singles tailor-made to fit the public's needs and also put the possibility of having EPs exclusively produced by RZA and Alchemist out in the air.

He refers to the new project as "art" ... as a one-of-kind painting Virgil gave him before his 2021 death is used for the album cover and says fans will benefit by him dropping more music without the album wait time.

Offset didn't hold any expenses in helping Cardi B celebrate her birthday, gifting his wife 3 new crocodile Birkin bags ... a disgusting gesture as far as PETA is concerned.

PETA Vice President Lisa Lange fired off a scathing statement to the couple Friday, writing, "Instead of using his wealth and influence for good, Offset chose to funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars into a gruesome, violent industry that electroshocks crocodiles, shoves metal rods into their heads in an attempt to scramble their brains, and mutilates them while they’re still alive."

Lange feels Offset and Cardi are out of touch, adding, "PETA reminds everyone that people who still spend their money on a closet full of dead animals’ body parts either are clueless or simply don’t care about the extreme cruelty they’re perpetuating—it’s just not worth it."

PETA says they learned of the heinous treatment of reptiles through research and an internal investigation sprawling across Asia, praising luxury brands like Chanel, Burberry, HUGO BOSS and Vivienne Westwood for correcting their practices.

Cardi's birthday celebration continued last night as a dual party for Offset's new album "Set It Off" where she fed the crowd burgers ... which is another issue for the animal rights org.