TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince reunited on stage for the first time in years last night in L.A. for the Grammys ... a full-circle moment for the legendary pair!!!

The dynamic duo performed a rendition of hits -- "Brand New Funk," "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It," and "Summertime" -- inside YouTube Theater in Inglewood as part of the Questlove-co-produced "Grammy Salute to 50 Years of Hip-Hop" special.

Will was reportedly taping "Bad Boys 4" when Quest tried to get him for the Grammys' celebration of hip hop's milestone birthday during the award show back in February -- but his hometown brethren pulled through this time around!!!

The Fresh Prince was decked out in a Phillies jumpsuit and allowed his world-famous DJ to showcase his skills on the wheels of steel -- much to all the rappers' delight in the audience.

Flavor Flav couldn't contain his excitement and surprised Will on stage with a bear hug as he was finishing up his "Summertime" performance ... and was soon followed by DJ D-Nice, Chance The Rapper and tons of other giants of hip hop!!!

Will and Jazzy Jeff won the first Grammy presented for Best Rap Performance with 1988's "Parents Don't Understand," and were also the first hip hop act to perform at the awards.

The special is set to air on Paramount+ in December and also features Queen Latifah, E-40, Rakim, Latto, Big Daddy Kane, DJ Quik, Too Short, Remy Ma, YG, GloRilla, Gunna and many more.

Lola Brooke is certain Lori Harvey will bounce back after her most recent split -- from "Snowfall" star Damson Idris -- and says she wouldn't mind scooping a few pointers from her on juggling men!!!

TMZ Hip Hop gauged Lola's reaction to Lori's latest breakup on Tuesday, and the "Don't Play With It" rapper didn't want to believe the hot couple was done ... since she totally bought into them being a couple.

Lori's fans, like Lola, had their fears confirmed Tuesday when the couple announced they were headed for Splitsville by releasing a joint statement about having mutual "love and respect," but needing to walk separate paths.

In the past, Lori's been linked to the likes of Diddy, Future, and Michael B. Jordan -- to name a few -- and all Lola wants to know is how she can get the men flocking to her the same way!!!

Snoop Dogg just made good on his promise to send T-Pain a verse for a new track -- and it probably happened a lot faster than the Auto-Tune King thought it would.

T-Pain sent Snoop a text Monday with a harmless inquiry about getting a collab started, and Tha Doggfather told him all he had to do was send the beat, and he'd handle the rest.

And that was even before he heard the instrumental ... an excited Snoop told T-Pain the track was jamming and he'd return fire in just 2 days' time.

On Wednesday, T-Pain confidently told his IG followers Snoop was a man of his word, and announced their "That's How We Ballin'" song would be released this Friday!!!

Tinashe says she's been getting stalked by a guy who showed up at her front door and tried to get inside ... she now wants extra protection from the court to prevent it from happening again.

The singer just filed for a temporary restraining order in L.A., and per court docs -- obtained by TMZ -- the singer has been dealing with the guy for a while. Tinashe says the whole thing reached its tipping point last week when she says the guy surfaced outside her house.

In the paperwork, Tinashe says she's been getting randomly tagged on IG by a guy named Ramon Oppikofer since 2022 ... whom she says she doesn't know at all. Tinashe says it started as seemingly harmless digital fanfare but turned real on Oct. 27 -- when she claims he showed up to her brother's private birthday party ... totally uninvited.

Tinashe goes on to explain that Oppikofer apparently handed her a hotel room key -- which she says she gave right back to him and tried laughing it off. Things turned extra scary, however, after he allegedly arrived out of nowhere outside of her L.A.-area property a few days later ... during which, Tinashe claims he was simply lurking up and down her street.

She says she called cops that day, but he was gone by the time they arrived. The next day, Nov. 2, Tinashe claims this guy came back ... and this time, allegedly rang her doorbell -- only to get no response. She says he returned later that same day in an SUV ... pulling up in front of her house and calling out her name -- only to be confronted by people Tinashe was inside with. She says the man took off again ... but wasn't done just yet.

Tinashe claims that exact same day, he returned YET AGAIN -- this time, allegedly ringing her doorbell ... getting rebuffed by her father who was with her, and then allegedly breaking into her actual house. Tinashe says she fled to an area of her house and locked herself inside ... and claims Oppikofer attempted to open the door. She says some music studio co-workers who were on site confronted him and told him to scram ... and he did.

Tinashe says Oppikofer continued to lurk outside, and that cops eventually showed up and arrested him. BTW, law enforcement sources confirm all this to us -- saying he was booked for misdemeanor trespassing ... but was released shortly thereafter.

The reason, we're told ... L.A. County's no-bail policies -- and that's something Tinashe cites in her TRO request here ... saying she needs this court-ordered protection to keep Oppikofer away, as she fears he's going to show up to her place again and potentially do worse.

She says she's scared for her life ... and is begging a judge to sign off. As of now, her request has yet to be granted -- but the situation sounds dire.

6:16 PM PT -- Rocky's high-powered attorney, Joe Tacopina, grilled Relli on cross in court today ... and it proved to be a combative back-and-forth that delved into the alleged victim's personal history with Rocky -- including the nitty-gritty of what led to them falling out ... as well as how, exactly, he came to report the alleged crime and when.

The whole purpose of this questioning, it seems, was to get Relli to admit that he seemingly dragged his feet in raising this issue with law enforcement ... with the implication being that he may have had ulterior motives. That's certainly what Tacopina was driving at, anyway.

Relli, meanwhile, reiterated he only waited a bit to report this out of fear of retaliation ... and insisted he was a gunshot victim, period. He also denied trying to extract money out of this situation. Like we said, the exchanges were testy ... and it proved to be heated at times.

Now, a source directly familiar with the proceedings today tells us they feel like Relli got exposed, and that his case likely won't hold up in front of a jury due to inconsistencies addressed in the prelim. Of course, time will tell if that actually comes to pass.

5:10 PM PT -- A$AP Rocky's first day in court for his criminal trial appears to have just wrapped, 'cause the dude just left the building ... and he's looking cool and confident on his way out.

Check out this video of Rocky cruising out of the front doors of the DTLA courthouse he's been in all day ... where one of his former A$AP Mob members testified he shot him 2 years ago. As you can see, AR was in a damn good mood ... signing autographs and smiling wide.

From the looks of it, he's not all that worried about this case ... despite how serious it is.

A$AP Rocky's former fellow Mob member -- who claims Rocky shot him 2 years ago -- just testified Rocky also threatened to kill before pulling the trigger.

Terell Ephron -- who went by A$AP Relli when he was rolling with Rocky's crew -- took the stand Wednesday in a preliminary hearing to AR's assault case in Los Angeles.

Of course, Relli is the key witness/alleged victim here ... so he went under oath to explain what he alleges happened on Nov. 6, 2021 -- which is that his old pal opened fire on him and struck his hand with at least one of the shots.

While in court, Relli recounted how he and Rocky first came together and how A$AP Mob formed back in the day -- but also described how their relationship started to fray when Rocky's career skyrocketed, as others in the group were kinda left behind.

Relli says he began resenting Rocky for moves he perceived as dishonest, such as allegedly promising to help support a slain A$AP Mob member's family ... which Relli claims Rocky never did. All their bad blood allegedly came to a head that fateful night.

According to Relli, Rocky called him and demanded to know where he was, and they ended up meeting at an L.A. hotel -- which he thought might be a chance to squash their beef. Instead, Relli claims Rocky and some goons rolled up on him ... and things got heated, with a gun allegedly being drawn.

Relli claims harsh words were exchanged, and Rocky put the gun to his stomach ... allegedly saying, "I'll kill you right now." Relli testified Rocky didn't shoot right then and there, but claims the bullets started flying shortly thereafter as they separated.

At that point, Relli says he felt his hand get hot and knew he'd been hit ... and alleges Rocky fired around 4 times before taking off running and leaving him there on the street. Relli says he didn't go to cops until a full day later out of fear.

As we told you ... Rocky has already pleaded not guilty to 2 counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearm. Cops swarmed his pad last year and conducted a raid right after he landed back in L.A. from a Barbados trip he was on with Rihanna.

Rocky himself is in court today and heard all of Relli's testimony -- he was seen stepping outside during a lunch break ... and they're set to resume the hearing on November 20.

No sign of RiRi anywhere ... looks like Rocky's dealing with all this with just his lawyers at the moment.

Breakout R&B singer Tyla arguably has the R&B hit of the year with "Water" ... but Trevor Jackson's rendition is tarnishing some of that shine, at least that's the reaction he's getting online.

The "Grown-ish" star dropped his "Water" cover earlier this week along with a visual showing him performing the track and getting extremely animated as he strived to hit the notes ... which left his face distorted with emotion.

It's really the perfect fuel for memes, more than anything else, in this day and age!!!

Trevor's a seasoned R&B artist in his own right and covers popular songs every Tuesday as part of his "TMix" series, but fans accused him of doing the absolute most for this round.

TJ embellished Tyla's OG lyrics a bit with sexual overtones, and added even more naughty emphasis with his bump-and-grind body language!!!

Some argued it might be time for men to dig into their own creative juices, and leave ladies' artistic expressions alone.

The writing's on the Billboard wall ... the Hot 100's Top 10 is currently made up of all female artists for the 2nd time in history!!!

Pharrell's latest feat as Louis Vuitton's creative director is a $1 million dollar crocodile-skin handbag, which some might call high fashion -- but PETA insists it's a barbaric display of animal cruelty!!!

TMZ Hip Hop obtained an open letter Tuesday, penned by PETA's Senior VP Lisa Lange and addressed to Pharrell, which reads ... "Dear Pharrell, This is an invitation the likes of which you’ve never been offered before."

The correspondence is filled with references to Pharrell-produced hits, yet there's nothing joking about it as Lange says ... "When you were made men’s creative director of Louis Vuitton, we hoped animals would get lucky and that you would choose vegan fabrics, which are the preference of today’s ethical and environmentally conscious consumers. But we aren’t happy to note your newest design, the "Millionaire" Speedy bag, which is crafted from crocodile skin, because when it comes to animals being used for fashion, it isn’t beautiful—it’s abuse."

Lange also accused the Neptunes' superproducer of sitting idle as the crocs get mutilated for their skin -- a complaint she also recently leveled at Offset for his birthday bag blowout for Cardi B.

The letter continued, "A PETA Asia investigation found workers at LVMH’s suppliers cutting live crocodiles’ necks open and ramming metal rods down their spines while they were still conscious. Another investigation revealed that workers at facilities supplying LVMH struck pythons repeatedly on the head, suspending them in the air, inflating their bodies with water, and disemboweling them -- even as they moved about."

Lange wants Pharrell to go to a crocodile factory farm, where she says bags like the Millionaire Speedy are made ... and she's warning it won't be a fun trip to the zoo.

In her words -- "You’d want to bring along nose plugs and high boots to wade through fetid, waste-filled water. If we go to an indoor tank, also bring a flashlight, because you won’t see daylight. There are no blurred lines here. Killing wildlife for a bag isn’t cool—it’s cold. Are you up for this trip?"

Jeezy sat down with Nia Long for an hour-long conversation about several weighty topics -- including his divorce from Jeannie Mai -- but many viewers think he's still speaking in code about the split.

According to Jeezy, he and Jeannie attempted counseling sessions to fix what he deemed was broken in the marriage ... but ultimately he told Nia the damage had been done and being "responsible for himself" was the best course of action.

Jeezy expressed how he was saddened over the situation, but never actually explained exactly why he filed for divorce from Jeannie.

Let's keep it real, that's what fans really wanted to know -- especially after sitting through the entire hour-long chat.

Clearly, Jeezy's not ready to give up those nuggets just yet, which makes sense when you consider the divorce isn't settled yet.

As we reported last week, Jeezy just dropped his 29-track double album, "I Might Forgive ... But I Don't Forget," highlighted by the song "Don't Cheat" ... a theme he kept reiterating throughout the interview.

On the flip side, both Jeezy and Nia unpacked a lot about their traumatic upbringings and failed relationships. Nia's currently battling for custody with her ex, Ime Udoka, after his NBA cheating scandal earlier this year.

Nia also admitted to solely dating drug dealers in high school, which gave her a different perspective on men.

Timbaland is facing the backlash head-on after his "muzzle joke" aimed at Britney Spears -- he's apologizing to her and her fans, who had a riotous response when his remark went viral.

On Tuesday, during a TikTok streaming session, Timbaland admitted his faults, saying ... "I’m sorry to all the Britney fans, even to her" -- and added he was in the wrong for attempting to block her right to speak out.

Fans thought Timbaland's reaction to Britney's "The Woman in Me" memoir -- particularly the bits about Justin Timberlake -- was in poor taste.

While on a panel last week with 9th Wonder at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, Timbaland quipped JT needed to "put a muzzle" on Britney, blaming today's social media climate for her actions.

Fans thought Timbaland was being insensitive and he saw their perspective, and when some of them asked if he respects women, he fired back a hearty "hell yeah."

JT and Tim go way back -- but so do JT and Britney. In her book, she says they both decided to have an abortion when she got pregnant back in 2000 ... among other shocking revelations from her heyday.

Sexyy Red is under the impression she's the 2nd coming of Boosie Badazz -- a bold claim the Louisiana rapper's not mad at one bit!!!

TMZ Hip Hop chopped it up with Boosie Tuesday at LAX, and he wholeheartedly embraced the "Pound Town" rapper's comparisons. He tells us he's just as ratchet as Sexyy, and has been swimming in money and motion for years ... so, for him, the similarities stack up.

The comparison is catching on with others, too -- certified hitmaker Chrisean Rock also validated Sexyy's claims so the nickname just might stick ... and the fact they're recording a track together will help.

Boosie tells us they'll be making a chart push as soon as Sexyy sends her verse back for their song, which is produced by platinum-selling Beatking.

In fact, Boosie's popped the lid off several projects he's got in the works -- he told us about a new movie, and albums with newly freed Cash Money rapper B.G. and Tha Dogg Pound's Daz Dillinger!!!

What really has his juices flowing is a big pending appearance -- he says he's booked for the 2024 Grammys, alongside his fellow trap rap kings T.I. and Jeezy. He told us he was on his way to shoot it.

American actress Chloe Greenfield was just 7 years old when she played Lily Smith -- B-Rabbit's younger sister who grows up in a mobile home in Detroit, Michigan -- in the drama film "8 Mile" back in 2002.

Chloe shared the big screen with Eminem as the up-and-coming rapper who wants better for his life, B-Rabbit, Brittany Murphy as being sweet (and a little rough around the edges) and B-Rabbit's love interest, Alex, and Anthony Mackie who goes after B-Rabbit and his crew with violence, Papa Doc.

Chloe also acted in the popular medical series "ER."

Rick Ross is looking back at the infamous moment his ankle monitor sounded while meeting with President Obama inside the White House -- and, now at least, it brings him nothing but LOLs!!!

Complex's Speedy Mormon asked Rozay to detail the embarrassing moment during his co-interview with Meek Mill to promote their joint album ... and he recalled trying to maneuver around D.C. in spite of being on house arrest at the time.

We broke the story back in 2016 ... Ross was among the hip hop heavyhitters invited to the WH for Obama's Brother's Keeper youth initiative when the ankle monitor went off. He'd been fitted with the device after his 2015 arrest for aggravated assault and aggravated battery.

Rozay remembers hearing the thing beeping outta control, and says he slumped in his seat hoping no one would notice -- but, it's totally the Secret Service's job to notice. He says agents sprung into action seeking out the source of the noise.

Obama totally heard the ankle monitor and commented, but the MMG rapper won't spill the deets on what was said. Although, he seems to think Busta Rhymes, who was also there, will!!!

Also in attendance were J. Cole, Wale, Chance The Rapper, DJ Khaled, as well as Nicki Minaj, who was dating Meek at the time.

Meek says he was also on house arrest at the time ... and learned of the incident after Nicki came home cussing him out that he wasn't capitalizing off the moment.

12/4 1:07 PM PT -- C-Knight's family tells TMZ ... the rapper has not been buried because the family does not have the money to put on a proper funeral for him.

They are seeking crowdfunding from fans via their GoFundMe.

C-Knight, a member of hip hop group The Dove Shack, has died ... TMZ has learned.

A family member tells us C-Knight, real name Arnez Blount, passed away Tuesday after it was decided to take him off life support, weeks after first being admitted to the facility for a stroke.

TMZ broke the story, C-Knight's father told us his son was hospitalized mid-October after his blood sugar was at a scary level -- a result of his diabetes.

While getting dialysis at the hospital, he somehow suffered a stroke and went into cardiac arrest. He was resuscitated by doctors and put on life support ... but had been in an unresponsive state -- with medical staff telling the family there were no signs of progress.

C-Knight's father last told us they were waiting on the results of a crucial MRI to hopefully see any notable brain activity -- but his family kept optimistic while they waited.

The Dove Shack played a big part in the West Coast G-Funk music movement in the 1990s ... jumping in the game with fellow big dogs like Warren G and Snoop Dogg.

C-Knight, along with Bo-Roc and 2Scoops, put out some memorable hits like "Summertime in the LBC," "This Is The Shack," and "Smoke Out."

He was 52.

RIP

Offset's already letting his youngest son Wave set it off in the booth -- hip hop's literally in his blood and the rap prince got his first taste of the artist limelight.

On Tuesday, both Offset and Wave made their debut performance with Vevo's CTRL series to perform "On The River" ... the kickoff track from Offset's recently released album, "Set It Off."

Wave didn't actually make his rapping debut -- à la Drake's son -- but the 2-year-old tyke didn't skimp on bringing his energy to the shoot. Watch the clip, in particular ... he got super amped up toward the end of his dad's performance.

The kid already knows ya gotta finish strong!

Offset recently tipped us off a family collaboration was coming -- in addition to another bombshell revelation ... he's dropping another album in just a few month's time.

BTS' Jungkook just dropped his debut solo album, entitled "Golden" ... but he can go ahead and bust out some platinum instead for a big celebration.

His "Seven" collab with Latto just crossed the million sales mark, a milestone that comes on the heels of the track becoming the fastest to reach one billion streams on Spotify!!!

Jimmy Fallon broke the news to Jungkook on 'The Tonight Show' last night -- prompting the pop star to hit his best rendition of Michael Jackson moves!!!

Later on in the interview, JK attempted to teach Jimmy the dance to his new single "Standing Next to You" ... but the talk show host couldn't get down with the MJ-esque crotch grab at the end of the routine!!!

Timbaland happily came to Justin Timberlake's defense when the topic of Britney Spears' best-selling memoir came up -- but his response has Britney's army of fans declaring war on the superproducer!!!

Fans caught wind Tuesday of the sly remark Tim made during his Oct. 29 live interview with 9th Wonder at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts.

In response to Britney's "The Woman In Me" memoir -- in which she says JT got her pregnant back in 2000, and they decided to abort the baby -- Timbaland told the D.C. crowd his "SexyBack" collaborator should've "put a muzzle on that girl."

He also said he doesn't blame Britney for having loose lips, because that's what you have to do to go viral, and that's the name of the game in the current social media era of showbiz.

The audience got a good chuckle over Tim's response but Britney's fans are doing the opposite of laughing -- they're calling for him to apologize, and think he's actually harboring a now decades-old vendetta against Britney.

Back in 2007, Timbaland told MTV that Britney dissed him and JT, and she needed to apologize if they were ever going to work together.

That didn't happen .. Britney went on to drop her "Blackout" album with beats from Timbaland's former protégé Danja, and, clearly, there are still lingering tensions!!!