TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Nicki Minaj’s not messing around in her beef with Megan Thee Stallion ... cracking a joke about MTS’ mother who passed away a few years ago.

Here's the deal ... the 41-year-old hopped on the streaming platform Stationhead Friday to take a few more shots at MTS -- the culmination of a day full of back-and-forth between the two rap icons.

The rant started off pretty standard -- saying Megan threw people under the bus like DaBaby and Tory Lanez ... and she included Thee Stallion's mother in that category as well.

Minaj then expanded, adding, "You better go conjure up your mother and apologize. That's disgusting."

The choice of words is important here ... cause MTS' mom passed away from brain cancer back in March 2019, and Megan's talked a ton about how her mother influenced her.

Back in 2021 -- while accepting the Glamour Woman of the Year award with tears streaming down her face -- she said, "I want to thank my mom because she taught me how to be the woman that I am" ... so, this Nicki diss was meant to cut Megan deep.

As for why she said it, Nicki seemed to answer that question to some extent ... reminding Megan fans that her family's constantly a "focal point" of criticism -- and she's clearly getting sick of it.

As we reported ... this round of beef popped off when Megan seemed to reference Nicki's husband, Kenneth Petty, in her new track "Hiss" -- making a "Megan's Law" reference that many interpreted as shade toward Petty's legal trouble.

Nicki responded by putting out a rap that got "#Bigfoot" trending ... but clearly wanted to make more of a statement than that. BTW, fans are kinda split on Nickin's comment about Meg's mom -- though a lot seem to feel she went too far.

Bottom line ... this beef's starting to get real nasty -- and the ball's in Megan's court.

Justin Timberlake's musical comeback will put him back in A-list contention ... at least, that's the prediction his producer Larrance Dopson wants fans to stamp!!!

TMZ Hip Hop spoke with the "1500 Or Nothing" maestro Wednesday at LAX, where he gushed about JT's new album, a project he's heard first-hand -- because he worked on it with Timbaland!!!

Last year, JT blessed 1500 or Nothin's music academy with scholarship money and their partnership was dipped in bronze ... leading up to the album's creation.

We gave you the scoop last week ... JT is set to release his upcoming 6th LP "Everything I Thought I Was" after scooping up all the trademarks -- and Rance promises he's going to blow up the game, again, with the album.

JT officially jumpstarted the project Friday with the lead single "Selfish" -- which was met with fairly mixed reviews online ... but fans were loving the live rendition during his Memphis homecoming concert last week. It just may be a grower, not an instant shower.

Rance also had time to stick up for Drake after Yasiin Bey (a.k.a. Mos Def) kicked him out of rap's b-boy section, declaring his music was too happy-go-lucky to be classified as authentic hip hop.

Later for all the rappity rap talk, according to Rance, who says Drake uses fewer words than even the most skilled MC and still nets a pop-sized audience.

Teyana Taylor says Iman Shumpert's playing dirty in their divorce war, claiming he's slowly shutting down all the utilities in the home where she lives with their 2 children ... TMZ Hip Hop has learned.

In a new court filing, Teyana's attorney says she woke up this month in the Georgia home they used to share, only to discover the WiFi and cable was cut off, and one day later, the water stopped running ... and she's fully laying blame on Iman.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, Iman moved out back in October, and shortly thereafter, Iman's brother -- who handles his personal affairs -- told Teyana, Iman intended to shut off the power.

Since then, she claims Iman hasn't paid a cent of child support, or covered any of the kids' expenses ... including food and clothing costs.

With the water, cable and WiFi now gone, Teyana's attorney says they're concerned he's going to follow through and cut off the gas and electricity.

On top of that, Teyana claims Iman left her holding the bag on $200K worth of home renovations he started 3 years ago.

In the docs, she says Iman told her his money is tied up in investments, and proposed she cover the cost and he would reimburse her -- but she's yet to see a penny from him.

Mind you, it's not like Teyana can't afford to turn on any utilities that get shut off -- she's clearly got the cash to handle that, but her attorney's court filing makes it clear ... this is about holding Iman accountable.

Since their divorce is pending, Teyana's attorney points out the court put a standing order in place ... meaning both parties are supposed to maintain the status quo on their home and finances until the divorce is finalized.

Snoop Dogg is rallying the hip hop troops this year ... the Boss Dogg is embracing his role as Def Jam's executive consultant to unite rappers on the East and West Coasts.

On Friday, Snoop helped Benny The Butcher usher in his new "Everybody Can't Go" album with their "Back Again" collab and dropped gems on his posse of The Game, Hit-Boy, Big Hit and Death Row Records co-owner Harry O at the opening of the ThirdEyeRaz-directed music video.

Snoop offers the group one of his trusted catchphrases -- you can't spell the West without "the ES," -- a nod to the East and West Coast unity.

He's also urging the hip hop community not to wait for something tragedies -- like Nipsey Hussle or Pop Smoke's murders -- for them to connect and work together ... a synergy this group has employed for years.

Benny's not waiting ... he recruited Lil Wayne, Jadakiss, and several more for his new record.

Ditto for Game and Big Hit, who just released their "Paisley Dreams" collab album and Hit-Boy produced it all, including Benny's "Back Again" track.

Snoop's fellow legend and one of Def Jam's architects, LL Cool J, told us not too long ago that unity is much needed in hip hop ... but beef is still to be expected all the same.

Ben Shapiro is diving headfirst into the rap game -- he's got a new single and an accompanying music video, and it's doing numbers ... this despite some poor reactions.

The famous conservative talk show host and editor of The Daily Wire -- who's known for his skill on a mic, but not in the MC capacity -- was featured on wrestler-turned-rapper Tom MacDonald's new single ... supplying the guest verse with bars!

Their track together is called "Facts" ... and Ben's 16 takes aim at actual rappers in the game, like Nicki Minaj, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion ... among others. He's wearing a hoodie in this thing as he raps about making money off compound interest, all while his haters live with their parents. Yeah, it's classic Shapiro ... dude loves to flex his intellect.

Anyway, the song's pretty polarizing ... and not just because of the lyrical content, which references culture wars and defunding the police. In terms of listen-ability, it's ... jarring.

As you can imagine -- Ben himself is controversial, and has a ton of haters too ... so, it's no surprise the track's generating a ton of bad reviews on social media right now, with lotsa folks calling it cringe, uncool, goofy and a contender for the worst verse of all time.

In his rap, Ben calls on his supporters to download and stream the song ... and that looks like what's going on, because it's doing pretty well on the music charts. So ... a win?

'Facts' is currently No. 2 on iTunes, between Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake ... and Ben's doing an early victory lap on social media ... taking more shots at Nicki along the way.

Mary J. Blige shocked Lovers and Friends festival fans just by announcing yesterday she would NOT be performing, and her name was put on the flyer by accident -- but lo and behold, she's back!

On Friday, MJB was re-added to the lineup, and it appears the "error" was really about where she'd been placed on the promotional flyer -- because she's been bumped up several slots to reflect her headliner status ... and she's now happily posting about the event.

Shortly after the changes, Mary posted a smirking emoji and money bag on her IG -- so, basically, she's chuckling all the way to the bank.

Lovers and Friends had originally squashed MJB's name in between the likes of Snoop Dogg, Alicia Keys, Ashanti and several other recognizable music legends.

The updated artwork moves her billing up to the top of the third column, now dwarfing Gwen Stefani, Nelly Furtado, Ciara and more.

Essentially, on the day Lovers and Friends tickets went on sale, the event's promoter had to bow to the Queen of Hip Hop Soul.

Soooo .... let's get crunk, 'cause Mary's back!!!

Joseline Hernandez has finally learned her fate following that wild 2023 fight backstage at a concert in Miami ... the reality star will have to maneuver carefully now that she's been sentenced to two years probation.

TMZ Hip Hop obtained docs of Joseline's plea deal that lays out the terms of her sentence ... she ended up pleading no contest to a slew of charges, including resisting an officer with violence, battery on a law enforcement officer, and more after prosecutors say she hit the officers trying to keep her from pummeling Lex.

The Love & Hip Hop: Miami star will now be subjected to random drug testing and will have to enroll in a 29-week batterer's intervention program class online to learn how to better de-escalate situations.

Joseline is also barred from having contact with the victim and the victim's family ... and will have to write a letter of apology to the off to the deputies involved in her arrest.

As we reported, Joseline grew enraged after Floyd Mayweather and John Gotti III's exhibition bout and was basically accused of creating her own boxing match afterward with repeated attacks to Lex's noggin.

A sexual assault lawsuit against Trey Songz has been dismissed ... with the judge saying the woman never responded to Songz's motion to dismiss, so her complaint is outta here.

Here's the deal ... the singer-songwriter was originally sued back in June by an unnamed woman for allegedly exposing her breast at a Connecticut casino back in 2013.

This is an allegation she initially floated in 2022 through a demand letter to him, but didn't officially sue until Summer 2023. In her original demand letter, she was asking for north of $5 million to settle it out of court -- but he never played ball, so she ended up suing civilly.

You'll recall ... this woman -- who filed as a Jane Doe in her suit -- claimed Songz had pulled out her breast from her bathing suit top during a "Foxwoods Liquid Sundays with Trey Songz" event and even claimed there was video evidence to back up her claim.

She alleged it was done without her permission, and that it amounted to sexual assault -- something Trey and his team had been vehemently denying from the very beginning.

Anyway, this lady amended the original complaint in July -- and then again in September before Songz filed a motion to dismiss saying the statute of limitations barred her claim ... which the judge granted, although he gave her another chance to amend it a 3rd time.

She did exactly that, but her renewed claims looked incredibly similar to the earlier ones ... prompting Songz to file another motion to dismiss. That was back on December 29 when he did that ... and apparently, Doe never responded to Songz's motion to dismiss this time.

Blueface still has a little ways to go for his current jail sentence, but there's a good chance Chrisean Rock will be waiting at home for him when he comes back!!!

On Friday, Chrisean burst onto IG with a newfound faith in the father of her baby boy -- she updated her profile pic with one of the "Thotiana" rapper's mugshots but more shockingly, announced she was moving back into one of his houses!!!

Fans were confused and displeased ... the last time these 2 were spotted publicly, they both had conflicting stories but left every indication they had a fight, and a very bloody one at that!!!

She also posted a pair of new pics with their kid, but went out of her way to show support for Blue by making sure her "Jonathan" signature face tat was visible.

TMZ Hip Hop broke the story ... Blueface is slated to be behind bars through Summer '24 but his manager, Wack 100, is pushing for an earlier release.

Eminem used his entire guest spot on the new Lyrical Lemonade album to unload on his longtime nemesis Benzino so badly ... he joked about never getting a feature with his daughter Coi Leray.

On Friday, Cole Bennett recruited Em for the new track "Doomsday Pt. 2," a reprise of Juice Wrld and Cordae's duet that samples his "Role Model" song, and Slim Shady wasted no time going at Benzino's throat -- or his lack thereof!!!

Em opens his bar with, "Now I got a riddle (What?), one condition, you mustn't laugh ... What is the opposite of Benzino? (Uh, what?) A giraffe!" -- and then goes for the jugular, rapping ... "Go at his neck, how the f*** is that? (Yeah) How can I go at somethin' he doesn't have?"

Em also claimed Benzino was swimming up to his neck in debt, and was a frequent creep at motels, but also flashed his trademark humor by bringing up CL ... "Well, I guess then I regret to inform you/Hate to spoil the day (What?) But this doesn't bring me no joy to say/Guess that Coi Leray feat's in the toilet, aye???"

Em and Benzino's beef is almost older than Coi herself ... the two warred over album review ratings in the past when Benzino was co-owner of "The Source" and the feud is still brought up in interviews to this day.

Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion are at each other's throats right now after trading shots on respective diss tracks -- but Nicki's going low ... swiping at MTS' extremities.

It all started on Friday, when Megan made good on her promise to continue to fire back at her critics from the Tory Lanez trial ... and released a new track titled "Hiss" that picked up where the last one, "Cobra," left off. While going off on haters, she also shaded NM.

Meg starts the song clawing into her ex-boyfriend Pardison Fontaine further (“He can't move on, can't let it go/He hooked, nose full of that Tina Snow) ... and fans think she went on to throw jabs below the belt at Nicki Minaj and her husband Kenneth Petty!!!

As we’ve reported, KP is a registered sex offender and Meg let her snake bite sink deep … rapping, "These h**s don't be mad at Megan, these hoes mad at Megan's Law/I don't really know what the problem is, but I guarantee y'all don't want me to start/Bitch, you a p***y!!!"

Megan’s Law is not only a cool name flip, it’s the name of the federal law that makes it mandatory that registered sex offenders have their info made public … venomous lyrics indeed. There's another line in there that mentions R. Kelly, and some believe this too might be some sort of reference to Nicki -- although the connection isn't entirely clear.

Anyway, Nicki immediately went into attack mode after the song dropped, liking several anti-Megan tweets, including many that made fun of the size of her feet.

She also previewed a new track of her own -- which is currently unnamed -- that she recorded almost immediately after hearing Meg's new track ... and some of the lyrics are absolutely scathing.

One line in particular caught people's attention -- Nicki raps, "Bad bitch she like 6 foot, I call her bigfoot // the bitch fell off, I said get up on your good foot." Nicki has also been liking a ton of memes/pics that depict Megan's feet (which Nicki seems to think are quite large).

The bigger shot here, though, is the fact that Nicki is referencing Meg being shot by Tory Lanez -- something her fan base loved to hear, but which some have said goes too far.

Anyway, in the wake of all this ... #Bigfoot soon became a trending topic on X, and Nicki hissed back further at Megan on IG … clowning her flow to make the H-Town hottie sound like some sort of UGK wannabe. Like we said, their back-and-forth has been brutal.

Megan dropped an IG Story laughing at the drama she caused online but Nicki claimed to have the last laugh seeing her name trend online.

10:08 AM PT -- Memphis PD says a cause of death for Rick Buchanan has yet to be determined, and more interestingly ... that there's no sign of foul play in terms of how he died. Of course, they say they're still investigating.

A local DJ in Memphis, who just so happens to have the same moniker as a very famous rapper, appears to have been murdered in gruesome fashion ... via beheading.

Rick Buchanan -- otherwise known as "Slick Rick" in the area, no affiliation to THE Slick Rick -- was found dead Wednesday by his brother -- who told FOX13 reporter Walter Murphy that he walked into his sibling's home and discovered he'd been decapitated.

Buchanan's sibling, John, relayed the horrifying incident to the outlet, saying ... "I walked in and found him, and I just called 911." He goes on to describe exactly how he found him.

John adds, "I thought his coat was up over his head like it was cold or something. I ran out and then I ran back in. And, then I realized it was something worse." Rick's brother goes on to explain Rick was still holding his keys in this state, and that his pants were pulled down. He also says his back door was ajar ... so, to say this is suspicious is an understatement.

One other thing ... Rick was actually shot during a robbery in Memphis back in 2014, which he survived at the time -- but John says he was never the same after that.

He says it had become hard for Rick to find work, and that he became a bit of a recluse -- this despite being a huge personality known in the community for years ... who was big on performing. Now, John and the extended family say they're trying to piece things together on what exactly happened to Rick -- and, of course, making funeral arrangements, etc.

The obvious question ... what are cops saying? FOX13 cites Memphis PD as only saying they're investigating. On its face, it sounds like an outright slaughter and butchering.

50 Cent dodging a criminal charge for decking a DJ with a microphone doesn't mean he's out of the woods ... 'cause he's now staring down the barrel of a hefty lawsuit.

TMZ Hip Hop obtained the docs filed by Bryhana Monegain, the Los Angeles-based radio host for Power 106 who was hospitalized following 50's Final Lap Tour set inside the Crypto.com Arena on August 3, 2023.

According to the suit ... once 50 realized his mic was malfunctioning, he opted to throw it in the crowd, where Bryhana claims it struck her in the face and wrist ... resulting in severe and permanent injuries.

Her alleged injuries, specified in the docs, align with the story we broke at the time ... Bryhana says she suffered a concussion and a forehead laceration, among other bumps and bruises.

Bryhana's since returned to work at her afternoon radio slot, but says she continues to suffer from emotional distress over the incident.

She's suing for the wages she lost during her recovery, in addition to medical expenses and other damages.

We know 50, through an attorney, had previously denied intentionally harming anyone -- but that was when he was being criminally investigated over this ... which he's now clear of.

Snoop Dogg once pushed his luck blowin' ganja clouds in Michael Jackson's direction, which would've been an epic moment -- but the King of Pop wasn't with the smoke.

While speaking to Andy Cohen, Snoop recalled the moment he pissed off MJ ... back in May 2008, both superstars attended and performed at late fashion designer Christian Audigier's Vegas birthday bash.

Following their sets, Snoop says he hightailed it back to his dressing room and lit up a blunt -- where he was put on high alert that his dressing room was right next to Mike's.

Snoop says he hopped up in disbelief, opened the door, and blew a bunch of smoke into the hallway ... and MJ was standing right there looking at him and told him, "Snoop, don't do that."

That smokey encounter didn't damage their relationship too much ... Snoop says he and MJ collaborated on a long-lost track for a philanthropy project, but he has no idea where the vocals are now.

Taraji P. Henson's unforgettable role in the 2001 film "Baby Boy" recently serves as a source of lyrical inspiration for Lola Brooke ... an inclusion that delighted the "Color Purple" actress, especially in wake of her recent comments about Hollywood!!!

BBC Radio recently asked TPH's thoughts on Lola's lyrics from her single "You" where she raps, "Bitch, I go Taraji for my 'baby boy' (for my baby boy)."

Taraji starred as Yvette opposite Tyrese in the John Singleton-directed hood drama but she says she was floored that the Brooklyn rapper used her real name and she reposted the clip of the music video -- the start of a beautiful friendship.

Lola went on to DM Taraji thanking her for sharing her music and the two exchanged admiration for one another.

Mary J. Blige was announced as one of the many R&B powerhouses at the upcoming Lovers & Friends Festival ... a major flub on their part she says, because it's a conflict of interest to one of her main interests!!!

On Thursday, MJB crushed fans hoping to see her at L&F with a shocking announcement ... her annual Strength Of A Woman summit was going down just a week after and she would be too busy to give Usher and Ludacris' fest the time of day.

MJB was originally billed wedged in between a stacked lineup of fellow legends and superstars such as Janet Jackson, Alicia Keys, Ciara, Snoop Dogg, and more ... but that's yesterday's news now.

Fans may be disappointed but Mary's SOAW events are also noteworthy. Just last year, she partnered with Pepsi for $200k worth of donations to the Atlanta community.