TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

R. Kelly is taking Uncle Sam to court -- 'cause he claims federal prison officials leaked a bunch of his private info to an Internet blogger ... who aired a lot of his laundry.

The incarcerated singer just filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government, a handful of Bureau of Prisons workers, and Tasha K ... all of whom, he claims, were in cahoots to publicize his private matters while he was in custody out in Chicago during his case there.

Kelly points the finger at three unnamed BOP officials at the prison he was being held at, alleging they accessed their internal system that documented what Kelly was doing within their walls ... including email correspondence, private calls, visitor logs, etc.

Kelly and his lawyer, Jennifer Bonjean, believe the officials struck an agreement with Tasha K to supply her with Kelly's personal info ... which he suspects might've been done for cash. Tasha has already addressed these claims -- which Kelly publicly made well before this suit -- and denied being mixed up in any illegal activity.

Kelly claims the info allowed Tasha -- who has a big YouTube following -- to publish unflattering pieces about RK ... which he says has hurt his rep, invaded his privacy and caused him undue emotional distress.

Kelly says the U.S. government was negligent in allowing its prison personnel to allegedly access and share this info ... and now he's asking for major damages.

BTW, the claims Kelly is making here date back to 2019 or so. Since being convicted in his Chicago case, he has been moved to a federal facility in North Carolina -- where he's serving his lengthy sentence.

Gillie Da Kid's one-on-one basketball challenge to Jamal Crawford has been accepted -- and the ex-NBA Sixth Man of the Year is strongly hinting declaring he won't go easy on Gillie!!

JC got wind of Gillie flapping his gums about him during a recent episode of "Million Dollarz Worth of Game," and promised to light up Gillie just like the infamous "Martin" episode where his face got turned into hamburger meat after challenging Tommy "Hitman" Hearns to a boxing match!!!

Gillie was attempting to convince Wallo, Cam'ron and Mase that he was a better baller than JC off the strength of his past wins against actively hooping artists such as Chris Brown, Rowdy Rebel and Rob49.

Everyone stated the obvious -- an ex-pro is more skilled than a great amateur, but Gillie argued he would get his buckets on JC in spite of their size difference.

JC is widely known for being the oldest player to score 50 points in an NBA game and now travels the globe looking for competition like the B-ball version of Ryu from "Street Fighter" ... and is promising a Gillie KO!!!

Drake and J. Cole are taking their "First Person Shooter" to another level -- on Monday, the 2 rap heavyweights announced they're hitting the road for their joint tour!!!

Officially titled "It’s All a Blur Tour: BIG AS THE WHAT" ... Cole will be supporting the extended version of Drake's highly successful tour, which reportedly raked in over $100 million during its run.

Both their mascots -- Drake's OVO owl and Cole's Dreamville logo -- graced the tour flyer and Drake made it clear they're on equal playing ground, labeling them both to be 🐐's in the game!!!

They actually previewed the tour on their 'FPS' collab ... where Cole earned his first No. 1 hit (a point Soulja Boy just made perfectly clear to the public).

But given the momentum, fans could finally see the release of Cole's long-awaited "The Fall Off" album.

As for Drake .. the tour's kinda surprising, considering just last month he said he was taking a break from recording so he could deal with ongoing stomach issues. You'd think touring would be even more grueling on him, physically, than studio sessions.

Bebe Rexha has waded into the never-ending debate over who's the better femcee between Nicki Minaj and Cardi B ... and from her POV, it's no contest when it comes to raw talent.

The singer sounded off -- in a very respectful way, of course -- on an IG Live she did this weekend ... where she and a pal went back and forth on the merits of the argument, and BR ended up landing mostly Nicki's camp in terms of who she prefers as the queen of rap.

Check out how she breaks this down ... Bebe seems to think Nicki's longevity and quality as been top-notch for a long time, plus she admires the fact that she writes her own rhymes.

Bebe's friend here jumps to defend Cardi in the same breath, noting she's quite talented too ... but concedes that it's well-known she doesn't always put pen to paper for her own lyrics, and might outsource that part of the job at times.

Both of them say this isn't meant to pit the two ladies against each other -- which they say happens far too often, for no reason other than to rile up one another's respective bases.

With that said ... Bebe makes it clear, she simply likes Nicki's rapping ability more -- but notes she does appreciate Cardi's personality and authenticity more than anything.

As we all know ... Nicki and Cardi have had beef in the past, and every now and then -- there seems to be jabs taken from either side online ... but more so among their fans.

A$AP Rocky is in hot legal water right now as he fights criminal charges in court -- and you'd think his baby mama, Rihanna, would be right by his side in public ... but she isn't.

The couple stepped out in front of cameras twice this week -- right on the heels of Rocky's high-profile preliminary hearing in a DTLA courthouse Wednesday -- and on both occasions ... they were not together. And for this weekend, they weren't even in the same part of town.

On Thursday, RiRi was photographed hitting up the San Vicente Bungalows in West Hollywood with some gal pals in tow, whereas Rocky was in a different part of WeHo ... unaccompanied by Rihanna, and instead being trailed by his own crew of fellas.

Both of them looked fairly neutral on Thursday ... but come Saturday, they were seen stepping out again (separately) and seemed a little more chipper -- well, AR was anyway.

Rocky and Rihanna were both dressed to impress, but it was only him who flashed a grin as he strolled along a street following what we're told was a late-night studio sesh in WeHo. He's got an album that's supposedly due out soon, so it makes sense he's working.

Rihanna, on the other hand, was on the opposite side of Tinseltown Saturday ... hitting up her favorite restaurant, Giorgio Baldi in Santa Monica -- which she always frequents.

Like we said, she didn't look all that happy ... sporting sunglasses and a somewhat serious mug. Considering prosecutors are going after her man on gun charges, that also lines up.

As we reported ... one of Rocky's former A$AP Mob members, Relli, took the stand and testified that Rocky had shot him in 2021 -- this after a falling out and alleged face-off. Relli even claimed that Rocky had threatened to kill him before allegedly pulling the trigger.

Rocky's attorney, Joe Tacopina, grilled Relli on cross ... but his client is due back in court later this month to see if this thing's gonna go to a full-blown jury trial or not. AR left the building in a very good mood and emanated confidence as he signed autographs.

The same can't be said for Rihanna's demeanor here, though ... she looks kinda glum.

Woman-to-woman, Xscape's LaTocha Scott thinks Bre Tiesi should've spared the world her Michael B. Jordan secret ... although she understands why she did it.

We caught the R&B vet in NYC this week and her stance on Bre's spill was quite clear ... today's social media-driven society has made it cool to let it all out on the internet but she personally lets private matters be just that!

Bre made the bombshell reveal on the Season 7 opener of Netflix's "Selling Sunset" -- even drawing a response from Nick Cannon, the father of her son, who was totally unbothered by the news.

As Nick put it, everyone's got a past!

Time brings change to situations -- be they romantic or professional -- but, one thing LaTocha tells us is still intact is her place in Xscape.

Druski's constant Birdman trolling seems to have finally caught up with him -- that is, if you buy this surveillance footage ... which shows the record exec "pulling up" on the homie.

TMZ Hip Hop has obtained some pretty shocking footage ... which we're told shows the Cash Money honcho and some goons literally dropping in and violently confronting Druski and co. at a studio session that the viral star was in late Friday night here in L.A.

Check it out ... you can see Birdman and his two friends facing off with Druski in a stairwell, and things get heated quickly -- with Baby apparently even attempting to put hands on Dru.

A minor scuffle ensues, and Druski and his pals go tumbling down the stairs as they try to escape ... making a run for it and beelining it through the halls of the studio -- with Birdman in close pursuit. We're told Dru had just finished filming for his reality show, "Coulda Been House," when this happened ... and from the looks of it, Birdman caught wind of it.

It would also appear that Birdman took something with him from all this ... namely, Druski's chain -- which he proudly flashed on social media afterward, writing ... "Surprise Party B*tch Slippin In Studio Richgang." Druski hasn't addressed the incident on any of his platforms.

Of course, the question here is ... is this real or fake??? Frankly, we're not even sure -- because this "beef" between Druski and Birdman has been walking the line of fact and fiction for a while, and Birdman himself certainly seems to think they have actual problems.

It all stems from this "Coulda Been Records" venture ... which has echoes of Birdman's Cash Money Records, right down to style and design of the logo. From the jump, Baby has made clear he does not approve -- this even though Druski has explained it's all for laughs.

That apparently doesn't matter to Birdman, who has repeatedly faced off with Druski (virtually) telling him to back down ... oftentimes in a pretty threatening way ... which seems legit.

Trinidad James is straddling the fence on record labels' decision to block artists from rerecording their music. but does think their primary reason for doing so -- Taylor Swift -- should be allowed to keep cookin' the system!!!

Ditto for Ashanti, who's been actively redoing her Murder Inc. albums in order to nab the biggest piece of the pie for herself!!!

TMZ Hip Hop got the 567 Agency exec at LAX, and he admits some newer artists might be affected by the rules changes in the wake of Taylor's historic, and financial, victory over her old label.

TS is largely responsible for the Billboard Hot 100's top 10 going dude-free twice through the boom of her rerecorded albums -- which labels are down in the dumps over because it devalues the OG master recordings. 🥴

Trinidad argues both Taylor and Ashanti were treated like slaves during their record label tenures ... and he thinks female artists tend to get the short end of the stick in the music biz.

However, speaking for the other side ... TJ says it takes $250K just to get a record off the ground, which is probably why labels are particularly tight with their budgets.

Blueface was roasted online for proudly showing off his new fiancée Jaidyn Alexis' home cooking ... which had culinary critics mocking the millionaire for eating like he was "living paycheck to paycheck."

Digging into homemade pasta topped with cheese singles and a basic side shredded salad, the rapper likely didn't expect to be dragged by online foodies ... who schooled him on shredded cheese and real, non-plastic plates for a more indulgent dining experience.

The salad wasn't let off the hook either, as one person likened it to old pencil shavings -- while others simply encouraged Blueface to "throw away the whole stove and whatever else she used to make this concoction." Ouch.

In one statement that hit a little close to home ... someone wrote, "I see why he cheats," in reference to his turbulent relationship with ex-Chrisean Rock.

Elsewhere, the home cooking was branded as "prison food," ... which Blueface may get all too familiar with if he breaks the terms of his 3-year probation for a Vegas shooting.

Jim Jones got highly emotional responding to Dee-1's recent criticisms about his music ... even hinting he'd take things to the ring if needed.

The Byrd Gang leader appeared on Sway's Universe Friday -- the same platform Dee used to voice his gripes over the murderous themes in the music of Jim, Rick Ross and Meek Mill.

Similar to Rozay's response, Jim opted to focus on his years of philanthropy and his fellow posse vouched for his efforts.

He also defended the content of his music ... declaring it to be rough because of the environment he was raised in but maintained his music always contains spiritual elements ... his first album was named "On My Way To Church" y'know.

Jim said he was really peeved over Dee using his name for fame and the New Orleans rapper should've contacted him offline if he really wanted to have a conversation ... but that window passed.

He denied promoting violence ... but warned Dee should keep his hand down when he sees him because he's seen shirts get wrinkled for less!!!

Sway assured Jim that Dee isn't on a clout-chasing mission but the Harlem boss wasn't convinced and said he was done talking about Dee, so that's that.

Revered producer 9th Wonder eventually entered the chat to defend Dee-1 on all his stances -- when it comes to children.

will.i.am and Van Jones want minorities to be at the forefront of tech space -- so they hosted a full-blown summit in L.A. to raise awareness for its future leaders.

The shindig was billed "Make Wakanda Real" -- like bringing the gadgets found in "Black Panther" to life -- and was held inside Will's FYI Campus Thursday night.

Tiffany Haddish, Ashton Kutcher, Jason Lee, and Quincy Jones III were just some of the supporting guests, as were dozens of innovators, tech experts and entrepreneurs.

Ashton helped raise hundreds of millions of dollars through his VC firm earlier in the year and stressed to the summit how he believes AI could help bridge the gap for underserved communities in the medical and legal realms.

LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman, actor Boris Kodjoe, InfectionAI co-founder Mustafa Suleyman, Waye Talks founder Sinead Bovell, Black Ambition Opportunity Fund CEO Felecia Hatcher also tuned in virtually to lend their various expertise to the panels.

Naturally, the biggest topic of the evening was the boom of AI ... and the Black Eyed Peas frontman got a crash course during his panel with Van and 1500 Or Nothin' producer Larrance “Rance” Dopson debating with an AI bot!!!

Will was arguing the case that AI could end up sentient and conquering humans and exchanged in back-and-forth banter with the CPU.

Chris Brown will get the chance for competitive revenge against Robert Glasper -- the Recording Academy announced noms for the 66th annual Grammy Awards, and both artists are up for Best R&B Performance!

Last year's winner Muni Long did the honors Friday morning ... revealing Chris' "Summer Too Hot" and Robert's "Back To Love" (feat. SiR and Alex Isley) would be facing off for Grammy gold.

If you recall, CB totally blew his top in February when Robert beat him out for Best R&B Album ... basically writing him off as a nobody before actually doing his homework on RG's legacy.

Rob told TMZ Hip Hop that Breezy's disses were no sweat off his brow, and he would still be down to collaborate with him, despite the poor sportsmanship.

Chris just dropped his new album "11:11" on Friday with a robust 22 tracks, including the nominated one, "Summer Too Hot." So, it appears the game is still on!!!

Music released between Oct. 1, 2022 and Sept. 15, 2023 was considered -- and neither Chris nor Rob is automatic to win the category.

Victoria Monet's ballad "How Does It Make You Feel," Coco Jones' breakout smash "ICU" and clear favorite SZA's "Kill Bill" are also up for the award.

French Montana kicked off his 39th birthday in exotic fashion ... with a Moroccan-themed soiree in the L.A., where several of his fellow hip hop stars helped him celebrate.

TMZ Hip Hop got this video from inside French's party -- the theme was "Playboy Nights" -- and it was packed with plenty of decadent temptations. Live entertainment, including a sultry fire dancer and a next-to-naked DJ, did plenty to boost the vibes!!!

French clearly had a ball ... he and Offset dapped it up and posed for photos together as the bottle service was flowing -- Travis Scott made a cameo and we're told Chrisean Rock stopped through to help lead the "Happy Birthday" serenade.

Chris Brown was also in the building, and in good spirits... he dropped his 11:11 album last night but still made time to swoop in to show French love.

The crowd was partying around a candlelit pool, and a violinist armed with a glowing neon violin also performed to spice up the festivities.

Donald Trump doesn't forget his day 1 supporters -- Lil Pump was in attendance at the former commander-in-chief's Florida rally Wednesday night, and the "Gucci Gang" rapper got some public praise.

Trump singled him out in the crowd of 5,200 reportedly in attendance in the Miami suburb of Hialeah ... prompting Pump to stand up, collect his flowers and show off his fit ... head-to-toe MAGA!!!

Flip the calendars back 3 years to 2020 and Pump was extremely vocal in attempting to get Trump reelected ... despite not being a registered voter himself.

For Pump, it's the influence that counts in the long run. He's a fan of #45's rebellious persona -- as are Kodak Black and Waka Flocka.

Nicki Minaj is very leery of social media these days and says her heart breaks for the younger generation because their entire lives revolve around being online!!!

The "Pink Friday 2" rapper got into detail about her postpartum life after having her son a few years ago, and admits she sought out other moms through social media for parenting tips ... but, overall, she still thinks the future looks bleak for folks who live on apps.

Nicki told Vogue, "It’s gotten so easy to be alone physically, where young people spend 12, 16 hours a day in their rooms on their phones, looking at these false realities, comparing themselves."

She went on to mourn some of the younger generation's late rappers ... "I’ve seen artists gone way too soon, and I wonder if that could have been avoided if they’d just had the chance to talk about what they were going through."

Gen Z has seen the deaths of Juice Wrld, Big Scarr and Mac Miller to drug overdoses in the past few years, in addition to losing Pop Smoke, XXXTentacion and King Von to gun violence, and the effects have taken their toll on the culture as it tries to push forward.

Nicki interjected in a big social media blowup this week when she convinced Soulja Boy to stop flipping out over J. Cole ... instructing the "Crank Dat" rapper to log off and woosah!!!

A rule she's applies to her own life as well, especially when it comes to politics.

T.I. says his joint album with Boosie Badazz is still coming ... when exactly though, is still up in the air with the moon, stars and rest of the cosmos!!!

We caught the "Rubber Band Man" rapper poppin' tags out on Rodeo Dr. ahead of his southern hip hop Grammy tribute performance alongside Boosie, and we had to get an update on their album.

Just like Boosie told us when he spoke to him this week, Tip promised nothing short of fireworks with his Grammy set, which also costarred Jeezy, but admitted he and Boosie's schedules have been too jampacked to pick up the collab where they left off.

The two rap heavyweights were on the verge of dropping the project at the top of 2023 ... but Boosie got the false impression T.I. was a snitch and went on an interview campaign about it.

After Tip and Boosie patched things up, Young Thug even used his limited social media privileges over the summer -- amid his own incarceration -- to plea for the album to drop, but still nada nearly 6 months later.

They're not capping about their busy schedules ... Boosie told us he's actively working on a new track with Sexyy Redd and an album with Daz Dillinger, in addition to a movie.