TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Kelly Rowland is passing on an opportunity to explain exactly what happened on the "Today" show ... and as she makes clear here, she only wants to discuss her new movie.

The singer was directly asked about her recent "Today" controversy during an interview Wednesday with WGN News in Chicago -- where she was plugging her upcoming movie, "Mea Culpa" ... and based on this alone, you can tell she ain't gonna spill the beans.

The news anchor asks Kelly if she can clear up what happened on "Today" -- because, as he notes, there's all these different reasons out there as to why she bailed on cohosting the show. Remember, some suggested she was actually peeved over Beyoncé questions.

Anyway, Kelly sticks to her guns here ... and kinda dug her heels in on refusing to talk about it -- and we'll be honest, it's kinda awkward. Check it out ... she says straight up, nah.

Kelly explains that she's not going to talk about it because she wants to keep the spotlight on her new Netflix film ... though she does say she loves the "Today" show and Hoda Kotb.

Like we said ... it's bizarre that continues to refuse to just address the elephant in the room. In fact, you could argue that her trying to ignore it is only making the legend grow -- and at this point, it seems to be all anyone wants to talk about ... even though she insists on just promoting. On its face, her strategy seems to be backfiring ... but she's not cluing into this.

While Kelly's not getting into the deets -- we did get to the bottom of this ourselves ... as we first told you, the true reason why she bolted from the "Today" set was, in fact, the dressing room thing. Namely, her not being satisfied with NBC's rinky-dink rooms to get prepped.

Some have accused her of being a diva -- but Hoda and co. appear to be falling on the sword for Kelly ... profusely apologizing and begging her to come back, while also publicly acknowledging their dressing rooms do actually suck. It's been a little cringe to watch, TBH.

Of course, Hoda and them have since invited Kelly back ... and they're hoping for a whole do-over, with refurbished and upgraded dressing rooms ready for the Destiny's Child alum.

Based on what Kelly's saying here ... it sounds like she might, perhaps, take 'em up on it.

A FOX News host is under fire for suggesting Donald Trump's new sneakers will win over Black America -- and one rapper from Detroit seems ready to cosign that message.

Raymond Arroyo was on the air and talking about DT's "gold" kicks -- which cost about $400 -- and he said something controversial ... namely, implying all Black people love sneakers, and because of that -- Trump's new endeavor will bring them over to his side in droves.

Here's what he said ... "This is connecting with Black America because they love sneakers. This is a big deal, certainly in the inner city. So when you have Trump roll out his sneaker line, they're like, 'wait a minute, this is cool.' He's reaching them on a level that defies and is above politics."

Naturally, Arroyo's comments sparked outrage online -- with many calling his sentiment outright racist ... and playing into harmful stereotypes that just aren't true. As many rightly noted ... Black people are NOT a monolith, and neither is any other group for that matter.

And yet ... Peezy -- who's got a pretty big following -- appeared to back Arroyo's argument ... hopping online to explicitly plug Trump's "Never Surrender" shoes, and even saying he's trying to get his hands on a pair. Indeed, he endorses Trump here -- and slams Biden as well.

Peezy put out an APB for a size 13 for the sold-out sneakers ... while making his political affiliations clear ... saying "F*** Joe Biden, I'm rocking with Trump," before adding a "f*** Kamala Harris" for good measure. He also said "Free Trump" ... so yeah, he's a fan.

Of course, Peezy is in no way speaking on behalf of others here -- he only represents himself and his own views -- but it is interesting that he's coming out swinging on behalf of DT and his kicks.

Big picture though ... Arroyo's remarks are being viewed as problematic, but by the same token -- there's clearly some Black people who actually dig Trump and his merch. Again ... not a monolith -- so no surprise there, really.

We'll say this ... if Trump is able to sway more African Americans to vote for him this year -- it probably won't be because of these shoes, specifically -- despite what FOX News thinks.

Drake's 2011 sophomore effort "Take Care" is close to crossing the 10-million sales mark, marking an inevitable Diamond plaque certification ... simply par for the course, says producer Chase N. Cashe.

He believes it's Drake's best album -- and not because he worked on it!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with the veteran songwriter after reports jumped the gun on Drizzy's big boom ... the 2011 album is actually sitting at 8x platinum according to RIAA ... just a couple of carats short of absolute glory!!!

Chase co-produced the track "Look What You Done For Me," with OVO 40, one of Drake's most emotional records, as touches on relationships with his mother, uncle and late grandmother.

It was a moment of honesty for hip hop as a whole ... the track has generated hundreds of millions of streams without being a promoted single and Chase says it's just one of the many examples of Drake making timeless music with every drop.

Chase also has a record with Beyoncé from the 2013 "Epic" soundtrack in his storied discography ... and thinks she'll do great in the country music space -- after she comes through with a few big records that match the magnitude she brought to R&B.

Kodak Black has been sitting in Florida jail for weeks after his arrest for drug possession back in December triggered a probation violation ... but we've now learned the "Super Gremlin" rapper finally got out on Wednesday and will no longer have to deal with supervised release.

According to court docs, Kodak admitted to violating the terms of his supervised release but the judge sentenced the rapper to time served without any further supervised release ... and it sounds like it's all due to Kodak's lawyer really going to bat for his client in his drug possession case.

Ever since the arrest, Kodak's lawyer Bradford Cohen has argued that lab testing proves the substance Kodak was caught with wasn't cocaine, but rather a prescribed medication ... insisting his client was the victim of a false arrest.

Lab tests determined that to be true and Cohen even sent a fiery letter to the Mayor of Plantation, FL, Nick Sortal over it, saying the officer's conduct exposed the city to a federal civil rights claim.

New reports suggest the real reason Kelly Rowland walked off the set of "Today" was because of being peppered with Beyoncé questions -- but that's BS ... so say well-placed sources.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Kelly arrived last Friday just before 8 AM -- already in full glam -- and she and her team began complaining about her dressing room from the jump. We're told "Today" staffers explained their dressing rooms were notoriously "dumpy, glorified closets."

The sources go on to say Kelly and her team were "quite upset," and asked who had the dressing room upstairs. They were told that room was taken by J Lo, but they were then offered a few options. We're told Kelly and her team liked none of them, and 7 minutes before air, they said, "We're gonna leave," and they booked it.

The sources say there's no truth to the notion Kelly's breaking point was Savannah Guthrie repeatedly asked KR about Beyoncé during her sit-down in the second hour of the show.

These reports claim Kelly has a stipulation for interviews that Beyoncé and Destiny's Child questions were off limits. Whether that's true or not ... we've been told squarely that's not why Kelly left.

That jibes with what the main characters have said over the last couple of days ... including Hoda herself, who explicitly mentioned dressing rooms Monday while extending an olive branch to Kelly.

Also ... Sherri Shepherd leaned into the dressing room dust-up while welcoming Kelly on her own show ... and they played it up further with BTS footage, showing the dressing room Kelly got -- and telegraphing it was way better than what "Today" offered.

Now, on the issue of Kelly being peeved about questions regarding Beyoncé/DC -- there may actually be some truth to that ... as she did come across as a bit annoyed with Savannah, and she proved to be annoyed in other interviews this week too.

With that said ... that's not why she left "Today" on Friday. It was, indeed, dressing room problems. Now, that's not to say Kelly isn't welcomed back to "Today" -- 'cause she is.

Bobbi Althoff has been trending all week for all the wrong reasons -- a video purporting to depict her in a sexual manner has been circulating ... but she's calling it out as fake as hell.

Here's the deal ... this clip has been floating around online for the past few days -- and anyone who's anyone can tell it's a straight-up deepfake ... superimposing what looks to be Bobbi's face onto a woman who's masturbating on a bed, all in front of a camera.

Some idiots on X have been feeding into and recirculating it as real -- claiming it was "Bobbi's nudes" -- but the influencer herself is pouring cold water on all that by speaking out.

She posted a screengrab of her name trending on X/Twitter -- which was apparently popping off in the "Rap" category -- and noted that what people had been losing their minds over was not, in fact, her ... but rather, just a computer image trying to pass as her.

Bobbi wrote, "Hate to disappoint you all, but the reason I'm trending is 100% not me & is definitely AI-generated." She also posted a video addressing it ... and stamped it down there too.

So, there you go ... Bobbi's saying it ain't her -- and if you're familiar with her brand ... you'd know she would NEVER record herself doing something like that. BA is a bit of a prude -- and she's also a mom ... so definitely not the type to be raunchy just 'cause.

Granted, she is single these days -- her husband recently filed for divorce -- but still ... this ain't the sort of thing Bobbi would post. It had "fake" written all over from the jump.

Funny enough ... Bobbi was probably hoping to be trending over her latest cringe-y interview -- this time, she talked to Wiz Khalifa ... and it's just as good as all her others. Unfortunately, pervs had her name going around for something super gross ... what else is new?

Kim Kardashian is a proud mama after North West's career has been cemented on the Billboard Charts ... she's one of the youngest artists to ever do it!!!

On Wednesday, all 16 Songs from Kanye West and Ty Dolla Sign’s "Vultures 1" album hit the Billboard Hot 100, including North's breakout feature on the track "Talking."

North's contribution debuted at No. 30 on the Hot 100 -- causing Kim K to beam with pride for her "baby" resharing a post on IG.

NW also made her premiere on Billboard's Emerging Artists chart -- an incredible feat for the 10-year-old ... but Jay-Z and Beyonce's daughter Blue Ivy still holds the record for the youngest artist to crack the Billboard charts.

At 7, Blue appeared on her mom's Grammy-winning "Brown Skin Girl” song giving her the Hot 100 record ... and made history as an infant via the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop by cooing baby noises on dad's 2012 "Glory" song.

"Vultures 1" also gave Chicago rapper Bump J his first taste of Billboard Chart success.

As we reported in December, Kanye has a star-studded album for Bump in the works -- Swizz Beatz and Metro Boomin are just a few of the producers slated to carve out hits!!!

The party seems to just be getting started ... "Vultures 1" is expected to top the BB 200 next week too!!!

Kanye West knows how to get noticed even when he's seemingly trying to stay under the radar, but he really isn't.

Case in point ... Ye popped up at a professional soccer game Tuesday in Milan, Italy -- and he was wearing a black mask over his head, covering every inch of his face. The hood of his dark jacket was also drawn tightly over his skull.

But Ye obviously wasn't hiding from the crowd. Everyone has seen the rapper donning face masks for a while now and it's become a part of his latest style.

Earlier this month, Ye attended his son Saint's basketball game in L.A., while sporting a white mask similar to the one worn by the famous "Friday The 13th" character, Jason Voorhees.

More recently, Ye was spotted at the 2024 Super Bowl wearing an Alexander McQueen mask emblazoned with a white crucifix between his eyes.

At the soccer game in Milan, Ye was joined by his wife, Bianca Censori, who chose to go maskless with her black hair slicked back. The pair appear to be still going strong after taking their relationship public in January 2023.

Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign's 'Vultures' album still reigns supreme on the charts -- a win Hitmaka says his team can partially take credit for, and he thinks Ye will get stronger from it.

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with Hitmaka on Tuesday and the super-producer basked in the 'Vultures' success -- his Makasound Records co-founder Prince Chrishan scored 4 records on the project and Hitmaka tells us he's already hightailed it to Italy to work on part II.

Between joints like "Paid" and "Fuk Summ," Hitmaka believes Kanye won people over with solid music but still thinks he's one of God's faves and will always luck up when the going gets tough ... something Ye would probably agree on wholeheartedly.

Hitmaka's always looking for his next big record and in light of Nicki Minaj's attempts to recruit Katt Williams for her Pink Friday 2 Tour, we hipped him to the fact that the "Barbie World" rapper's little sister Ming Luanli is following in her footsteps and jumpstarting her own rap career!!!

Nicki and Hitmaka worked together on her debut album back in 2010 and he tells us he'd love to keep it in the family and get Ming to the top like big sis.

DC Young Fly is graciously asking the person responsible for swiping his bookbag to return it pronto ... because its sentimental value outweighs the financial gain in this caper.

Apparently, DC had a gig at the Hollywood Improv last night but discovered his bag had gone missing following the let-out of the show -- and he suspects it got taken by a thief.

The comedian/actor hoped on IG this morning with a passionate plea for the bag to be returned to him ... and it's incredibly sad, because he says there was something inside that was of the utmost importance to him.

According to DC, no cash or jewels were taken but, as it turns out, the backpack actually contained the death certificate of his girlfriend, Jacky Oh!, with whom he had 3 children.

As we reported ...Jacky died last May due to complications from cosmetic surgery and like we told you, no foul play was suspected in her death. It was just a tragic accident.

DC's not asking for anything crazy here ... he literally just wants his bag back, and is hoping his message reaches the right people and that they'll do the right thing and return it.

Offset is campaigning for Cardi B to get her butt back in the studio a release her 2nd album ... it's been nearly 6 years and she's acting like a scaredy cat!!!

On Tuesday morning, Offset teased fans with a preview of Cardi's unreleased music by muting the sound but still throwing on the screw-face to give off the impression the track was too hot to handle.

He motivated Cardi further captioning the post, "Stop being scary and drop the album sh*t goes crazy 🔥🔥🔥🔥 @iamcardib"

Cardi made history with 2018's "Invasion of Privacy" album -- the first album to have all songs get certified platinum but has cited anxiety as the reason for the lengthy delay.

A year ago, Cardi scrubbed her IG account to start the album rollout ... eventually releasing her "Bongos" collab with Megan Thee Stallion ... but that buzz has since crashed and burned despite Cardi adding a bit of elbow grease to the promo effort.

Offset's been supportive from afar amid his separation from Cardi.

Usher's Super Bowl halftime show had a lot of people raising eyebrows over his Alicia Keys moment -- something he's not sorry about ... but he is apologizing over something older.

On Monday, Usher zoomed in to The Breakfast Club to address his PDA with Alicia Keys at the SB but also came clean about the internet resurfacing his 2014 VMA performance with Nicki Minaj.

During their set at the time, Usher bumped and grinded on Nicki's booty onstage -- and then smacked it with his hand. It got overlooked back then ... but it's been resurfacing lately, with many accusing him of being out of pocket and inappropriate, similar to how he handled AK.

Usher explained to Charlamagne Tha God that dances in Jamaican culture generally involve people getting handsy -- but does admit he was wildin' a bit when he put his handprint on Nicki's Pinkprint, and he seems to feel somewhat about it in 2024.

On the issue of hugging Alicia from behind, though -- which also caught some backlash -- Usher isn't bending the proverbial knee ... saying it was just part of their routine for 'My Boo.'

The R&B powerhouse was also quizzed about the time he was referenced in an episode of "The Boondocks" where a married woman fanned out and turned into an Usher groupie in front of her husband ... all based on the real-life experience of producer Carl Jones and his ex-wife.

Usher blamed the woman's transgressions on the "Usher Effect" but denied any sorcery of the kind contributed to his sexified duet with Alicia as millions watched on in speculation.

Alicia's husband Swizz Beatz immediately laughed it off and Usher tells 'TBC' he also had a hardy har with the couple over the various memes. Long story short, he and Alicia (and Swizz) are all good. But, with that said, he might also be more mindful going forward.

Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign have the No. 1 album in the game after much controversy -- a controversy Lil Tjay says won't ever contain the wave.

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with the Trench Baby ahead of his trip to Dubai and while he was impressed with the success of Ye's "Vultures 1" ... 148,000 equivalent album units to be exact ... Tjay thinks the project would have tripled in sales with his usual major label support.

Ye actually placed some blame on the existing streaming service agreements when we spoke to him about the album's release ... but it's his 11th consecutive No. 1 project, a big win nonetheless!!!

Ye also blew off the perception that he's "canceled" after his antisemitic comments -- something Tjay apparently agrees with wholeheartedly.

Tjay notes the worst-case scenario is being blocked from the music industry machine -- something that Ye has already experienced releasing the album independently.

On February 15, Ye had to do an emergency swap after his original distributor, FUGA, abandoned ship before Create Music Group's Label Engine hub welcomed him with open arms.

Travis Scott, Lil Durk, Freddie Gibbs and North West were among the guests who helped get "Vultures 1" to the top of the charts but Tjay's calling dibs on the next album.

Suge Knight says he has an ID on an alleged social media hacker that he says Snoop Dogg reacted to in a recent fake post ... but understands why people think he's doing the smack talking.

On the newest episode of his "Collect Call" podcast, Suge claims to Dave Mays that a guy named "John" from Atlanta is the one responsible for the nonstop string of negativity on his X and Facebook accounts.

Suge accuses the guy of attempting to start a race war ... a recent swipe at Snoop got the legendary rapper's attention and he offered prayers for Suge's spirit.

Suge admits the posts totally matches his energy and tone but is adamant he's not behind the avalanche of animosity on his social media handles.

The incarcerated Death Row Records founder didn't let Snoop and his business partner Michael “Harry-O” Harris off the hook, though.

GloRilla wants to sink her teeth into Damian Lillard -- and the Memphis rapper is willing to knuckle up with anyone who's standing in her way!!!

After the Milwaukee Bucks superstar snagged the MVP honors at last night's NBA All-Star Game in Indy, GloRilla snagged a photo-op of her own ... asking which woman Dame belonged to and marked her territory with a stiff warning.

"Whoever she is can’t whoop me so I really dgaf," Glo wrote on X.

Hopefully, there won't be a need for fisticuffs. Dame filed for divorce from his wife Kay'La last October and has been pushing to get a championship after leaving his longtime Portland Trailblazers team.

Glo's clearly choosing up ... The Milwaukee Bucks superstar had the NBA on Dame Time all weekend.

He partied hard on Saturday after winning the 3-point contest, where he became the first player since a guy named Michael Jordan to win an ASG event and MVP.

Chrisean Rock seems to be responding to a lawsuit on social media ... penning an angry tweet calling out an unnamed person for wasting money on a lawyer.

The rapper took to X to vent her frustration in an expletive-laden tweet calling out a "big back bitch n****" for going after her money -- and saying this person's not getting a cent.

Now, Chrisean didn't say exactly to whom she was referring ... but we do know she's involved in one major lawsuit right now over an alleged assault at Tamar Braxton's show back in November.

As we reported ... TV personality James Wright is suing Chrisean for allegedly assaulting him backstage at Braxton's concert. He claims she left him with multiple face lacerations and two broken teeth.

Wright was reportedly hospitalized after the show in Downtown Los Angeles ... and Tamar later opened up about the alleged incident during an emotional Instagram Live.

We also got video of Chrisean breaking up a prayer circle before the concert ... but sources told us this had no bearing on the alleged incident -- and everyone laughed off the moment.

Despite the lawsuit, Chrisean seems pretty committed to keeping her money where it is ... at least if her tweet is any indication.