TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Michael Jordan got the red carpet rolled out for him at Usher's show over the weekend ... getting prime seats, a shoutout during the concert -- and even a sexy dance from Tiffany Haddish!!!

His Airness pulled up to the "Let It Burn" crooner's performance at Park MGM in Las Vegas on Saturday ... and almost immediately, king treatment commenced.

Jordan, his wife and a couple other friends were walked to some chairs in a VIP area that seemed to feature bottle service.

Then, as Usher was singing, Haddish cruised over to Jordan's group to give the NBA legend a show of her own ... gyrating in front of the former Chicago Bulls star -- while he clapped and laughed.

Usher himself then made sure Jordan felt special in the audience ... pausing his whole act to acknowledge that the hooper was in attendance.

"We love you, Mike," he screamed as everyone went crazy.

Of course, the conduct toward MJ shouldn't surprise anyone ... after all, he's the NBA's G.O.A.T. -- and he and Usher are longtime pals.

In fact, they famously collaborated to make an ultra-rare version of one of Jordan's signature shoes back in 2014 -- kicks that Usher actually broke out during Saturday's show.

"I'm putting them on because I want to be like Mike!" Usher said.

Blac Chyna and Tyga are at odds over custody of their son King Cairo -- a battle that was pretty obvious from the guest list for King's 11th birthday bash!!!

TMZ Hip Hop obtained footage from inside the event which went down Sunday in L.A. ... it was a private party, strictly for close family and friends. Not shockingly, that did NOT include Tyga.

While King's pops wasn't there, we're told roughly 25-30 kids turned out to help KC celebrate ... and Chyna -- or Angela White as she's now known -- belted out the birthday song, complete with the MLK remix.

Chyna's mom Tokyo Toni was also there cutting a rug as the whole party jammed to a Blueface track!!!

Sources inside the shindig tell us it was produced by Royal Game Bus, who kept the kiddos busy all afternoon ... providing them with Oculus Quests, a cotton candy machine, candy bags and all the games they could play.

It's obvious the kids all had a great time, but the same can't be said for King's parents.

TMZ Hip Hop obtained court docs from the latest court bout between Tyga and Angela ... she's petitioning for equal joint custody, but he's not backing down.

Jermaine Dupri entered the dissatisfied hip hop customer chat Monday -- immediately after his protégé Bow Wow -- by declaring war on the social media algorithms he blames for ruining the culture.

The So So Def mogul arrived at his moment of clarity by watching a video of Jay-Z, posted by his friend Isaac Hayes III, where Hov questioned the hip hop community for steadily building up social media platforms instead of building its own.

JD then revealed a recent encounter with TikTok opened his eyes wide to the BS when one of his songs got struck with a copyright infringement claim, and it became clear to him the culture had relinquished too much of its power.

The Atlanta rap star praised the industry's contributions of yesteryear -- he says Jimmy Iovine, Diddy, the late Andre Harrell and others cared for the craft -- but believes most of today's figureheads could all be bought ... LVRN Records notwithstanding!!!

JD says he also heard nothing but negativity regarding the recent BET HH Awards ... critiques he was able to dodge thanks to his So So Def 30th anniversary showcase that reunited him with Bow, as well as Ludacris, Nelly and Da Brat-Tat-Tat!!!

Bow mirrored much of JD's gripes earlier today in a Twitter rampage of his own.

Soulja Boy isn't down to sit back and let his laundry list of "rapper firsts" be disrespected -- so he's going off on Lil Yachty for making what he considers treasonous remarks.

Yachty recently claimed he and Post Malone were the first rappers to adopt streaming on Twitch ... an erroneous statement, because SB's been on Twitch since 2013 as opposed to Yachty's 2016 entry date.

Soulja hopped on IG Live and gave Yachty a mouthful of disses while flashing stacks of cash in the camera to remind the red-haired rapper he comes from old money. He also threw in some homophobic slurs, referencing Yachty's painted nails.

Drake didn't escape the wrath either, as SB warned he too was skating on thin ice ... but he didn't explain that beef any further.

Drake and SB haven't had much interaction lately, but the "Crank Dat" rapper landed one of the biggest "Breakfast Club" moments when he dissed Champagne Papi in the name of Pusha T several years ago ... 20 million views and counting.

J. Cole's infamous lyrics about Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith -- from his classic track, "No Role Modelz" -- are now, obviously tainted, and Cole's navigating that slippery slope by nixing the line from live shows.

Cole was recently spotted performing the "2014 Forest Hills Drive" cut during a recent show where he muted himself when it came time to deliver the lyric about "Will & Jada love."

The Dreamville rapper sheepishly commanded the crowd to fill in the blanks ... seemingly understanding he could no longer rap it with conviction.

Fans have been ribbing Cole about the dated bars for days now, especially in the wake of Jada revealing she and Will separated 7 years ago.

On a brighter note, Cole earned his 1st ever #1 hit Monday on the Billboard Hot 100, courtesy of running laps around Drake on their "For All the Dogs" duet ... "First-Person Shooter."

Bow Wow still hasn't found much hip hop worth championing this year, and he's voicing his complaints about it by pointing a finger industry's lousy, in his words, A&R execs.

The veteran MC launched into a Twitter tirade Monday, questioning if record labels even give a damn about the artists they sign!!!

Bow used a sports analogy to make his point -- a (smart) boxer wouldn't get into the ring without properly training, and he says artists releasing music should be no exception.

Clearly, he thinks the artists & repertoire folks -- who are supposed to find and develop new talent -- are sleeping on the job.

The "Shorty Like Mine" rapper went viral earlier this year for ripping today's crop of music during the BET Awards, but he thinks that message still hasn't gotten through to artists who care about making quality hip hop.

KXNG Crooked literally just told us the same thing Bow's ranting about -- he feels today's record labels are run by clowns, and, as a result, we're all living in a circus!!!

Tupac Shakur's brother Mopreme says Diddy called him personally to deny involvement in the Las Vegas murder, and while folks like 50 Cent continue to fuel that rumor ... it sounds like Mopreme still wants an official verdict.

On Monday, Pac's bro was back in the hot seat for "Art Of Dialogue" -- the same platform where Tupac murder suspect Keefe D told on himself -- and Mopreme dug into his memory vault to recall the Diddy phone call.

At the time, they hadn't met, but Mo says the Bad Boy mogul knew exactly who he was and what he was about -- and wanted to tell him "man-to-man" the killing wasn't on his hands.

Mopreme says Diddy dialed him "sometime in the 2000s" ... which aligns with the 2008 Los Angeles Times story written by Chuck Philips that implicated Diddy in Tupac's murder.

The Times eventually retracted the story after the FBI reports it cited were found to be falsified.

Mopreme admits finding answers behind Pac's death has been a chore, and doesn't know what to make of Diddy's phone call to him.

For what it's worth, Keefe has previously claimed Diddy was orchestrating behind the scenes. It's unclear what he'll say in court now, should he actually stand trial for Tupac's murder.

Drake's kicking off the week with yet another No. 1 album to his name -- his 13th in total -- and he's celebrating with 6-year-old son Adonis, who's probably ready to step into his father's shoes sooner than people think!!!

Adonis turned 6 on Sunday, and his father blessed him with a global gift ... a music video for his "My Man (Freestyle)" ... his rapping debut that was plugged at the end of the song "Daylight" from the now #1 album, "For All The Dogs."

There's apparently more in store -- Drake also shared footage of Adonis performing an unreleased track at his birthday party yesterday, commanding the crowd as if they'd paid for 'Blur' tour tickets.

The basketball-themed "My Man" visual shows just how Adonis has gotten comfortable with his dad's glitzy lifestyle as he and his buddies emulate the pros.

Interestingly enough, Adonis is also the lead for the only other "Dogs" visual to date, the album kick-off single "8am in Charlotte" ... Drake clearly wanted his son to share the shine.

The LP attracted 402,000 U.S. sales thanks to a whopping 514 million streams ... and also had its fair share of negative reviews, most famously spearheaded by Joe Budden.

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.