TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Eminem reignited Benzino beef alive on Wednesday by reinforcing what he previously said ... director Cole Bennett gave Em the platform to bring his disses to the big screen!!!

For the "Doomsday Pt. 2," Em dons a black suit and yellow tie to reflect Cole's Lyrical Lemonade brand and the rap legend proceeds to let his foe of 20 years have it as he walks through a crumbling office building.

The Coi Leray stray and song's original slander remains intact ... Em pokes fun at Zino's physique, "What is the opposite of Benzino?/A giraffe/'Go at his neck?'/How the f*** is that?/How can I go at something he doesn't have?" ... but that's not all.

The hip hop support Benzino claims Eminem doesn't have was well represented ... Swae Lee, Big Sean, Denzel Curry, JID, Cordae, BabyTron and Teezo Touchdown all make cameos -- and their allegiances clear in the beef.

OJ da Juiceman's 'brick' lyrics and infectious ad-libs may be his claim to fame -- but Georgia officials are looking at him in a different light after they say the rapper was ridin' dirty.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, OJ was flagged for allegedly speeding in Coweta County, GA on March 4 around 10 PM ... and gave responding officers a short chase before he eventually pulled over.

After being apprehended, Coweta County sheriffs say OJ had cocaine and a 9mm handgun in his 2024 Ford Expedition and popped him on charges for drug trafficking in cocaine and other drugs, fleeing cops, firearm possession, and failure to maintain his lane.

We’re told the 42-year-old rapper has been sitting in the jail since the arrest.

OJ had a spark when he first started rap ... he was a 2010 XXL Freshman alongside, J. Cole, Freddie Gibbs and Nipsey Hussle and was aligned with Gucci Mane early on ... but has only been releasing music sporadically the past few years.

12:09 PM PT -- And just like that, the court docket for Diddy's case has been wiped of any word of a settlement -- so it seems the federal court there in NY realized they'd made a mistake.

Diddy's case stemming from a lawsuit filed by a producer he worked with appears to have been settled in court -- but it's a total mistake, and this ain't over yet ... TMZ has learned.

An official court docket update came through Wednesday on the Jones v. Combs case out of NYC -- and it suggests Diddy and Rodney Jones (the guy suing him) have come to terms and reached a settlement agreement.

Per the court docket ... a settlement conference was held Wednesday, and it was apparently revealed that Diddy and Rodney not only reached a settlement, but that the two parties would submit a draft of their agreement by next week.

The docket update also says the parties appeared for the Wednesday conference by video.

However, as it turns out ... this is NOT true whatsoever. Sources with direct knowledge -- from both sides of the case -- tell TMZ this lawsuit is still very much on, and that no settlement has been reached. We're told the court staff there seems to have screwed up.

One way you know this was a clerical error is that the judge listed on the docket for this case is not the one that's been presiding thus far -- it's a completely different judge from White Plains, NY ... and more importantly, they're not the judge who's been assigned here.

Long story short, it's a false alarm, as we're told Diddy plans to fight this case -- remember, he's denied all of Rodney's claims ... which covered a wide range of salacious topics.

The only case Diddy has settled thus far is from the Cassie lawsuit last year. On this front, though, he seems ready to go to trial if he needs to ... and Rodney's not relenting either.

Jason Derulo had to bend to the call of nature during a recent show, bringing everything to a sudden stop right in the middle of a song ... to rush to the bathroom!!!

The "Swalla" singer is currently on his "Nu King" world tour, and Saturday he was in Leeds, England .. where he abruptly halted his concert inside First Direct Arena, and politely asked the packed house for a timeout.

After realizing he wasn't joking, the UK crowd booed and groaned, but even that couldn't stop him -- Jason still bolted offstage to conduct his business.

Fans came to see him do the "Wiggle," but got his pee-pee dance, instead!!!

The TikTok master and his crew decided to poke fun at the situation with a skit of JD relieving himself in a Gatorade bottle ... but there was no photoshopping the fan's faces of disapproval during his bathroom break!!!

Betcha never thought you'd ever see Kim Kardashian and Bianca Censori together.

Well, think again, 'cause Kanye West's ex-wife and current wife were hanging out at Ye's listening party Tuesday night – and it was all caught on video!!!

Check it out ... Kim was standing with Bianca behind a police barrier, grooving and mouthing the words to a song from Kanye's newest studio album "Vultures 2."

Amazingly, they seemed chill and comfortable in each other's presence at the Chase Center in San Francisco. But one thing was obvious -- the women were not best buds or getting chatty with one another, at least in the footage posted on social media.

Still, this was totally outta left field. Even their fans were stunned and started gossiping about it on "X" after the footage spread like wildfire.

These were just some of the comments posted on the app: 'Didn't expect that'... 'What on earth would they be taking about?'... ''I don't know but this is crazy'... 'Yo WTF.'

As you know, Kim was hitched to Kanye for nearly seven years before their divorce in 2021, settling it a year later. The couple shares four children: North, Saint, Chicago and Psalm.

Enter Bianca Censori, a former employee of Kanye's company, Yeezy. The two were first seen out together in early 2023 before tying the knot in a private wedding ceremony.

Since then, they've been gallivanting around the world ... as Bianca prances around in public half naked and sometimes even more than half, wearing sheer tights.

While Kim and Bianca have seemingly had an amicable relationship, it's been reported Kim wasn't too happy about Bianca dressing in revealing outfits while around the kids.

But now all's cool and they're bonding at a Kanye event. Or is this Kim's play to calm her ex?

Stay tuned ...

Kanye West's longtime friend and confidant says Ye is happier than ever being married to Bianca Censori -- so much so, in fact, he might be ready to be a papa all over again!

We got a member of Ye's inner circle, Justin LaBoy, Tuesday at LAX ... where we chopped it up about his buddy and Bianca for a little bit. We were wondering how the couple feels about her family being ticked off lately, but he spilled some other tea.

Remember, her father came out and said he didn't appreciate his son-in-law parading his daughter around France in barely any clothing ... this after several wild outfits she rocked.

You can tell Justin doesn't wanna go there ... saying he doesn't like to speak on his buddy's wife -- but he does say he loves her, and can tell she's perfect for his good pal.

The reason? Justin tells us he's actually never seen Kanye happier than he is right now.

Justin also says Bianca's enjoying herself too -- clearly addressing the speculation from Kanye's critics that he's keeping her against her will, or brainwashing her.

Finally, we touch on something Ye himself is alluding to in recent songs -- saying "another baby is my end goal" ... which most listeners heard as a reference to Bianca.

Justin himself had some thoughts about that when we asked if Kanye was being serious -- and according to him ... he absolutely is. JLB says he thinks a "bunch of babies" are on the way for them.

Bianca's only 29, so if she's inclined to have kids ... this could be prime baby-making time. As you know, Ye already has 4 children with Kim Kardashian.

North West takes after her dad more than we thought -- 'cause one of his best friends says she's knee-deep in production for her album ... and it'll apparently be kid-friendly, literally.

We ran into Justin LaBoy Tuesday at LAX -- and he gave us some insight into how the "Elementary School Dropout" is shaping up after North announced her own project at a recent Kanye West listening event. As it turns out ... Papa Bear is guiding this whole journey.

Justin tells us Kanye is putting all his chips in on his daughter's rap career, and everyone in his camp -- including Justin, who's very much so in Ye's inner circle -- is super excited to see what she can do.

Considering she already has a verse on one of Kanye's latest hits ('Talking/Once Again') ... the feeling is, she can churn out more all by herself. Justin tells us that while Kanye is helping North, she's actually the one steering the ship in terms of creative ... which is wild.

He says North is doing beat selection, and is even picking the engineer she wants to work with. Also, she's apparently dropping a ton of freestyles on the regular these days -- so, sounds like she's gonna be doing some real rapping here for whole songs.

Not just that, but Justin goes on to tell us that North has actually had some of her friends in the studio with her already, and there's gonna be some tracks with a bunch of kids on there.

From what Justin says he's heard so far ... 'ESD' is shaping up to be a classic record.

While some might've rolled their eyes upon hearing that North was dropping her own album -- 'cause, y'know, she's a little kid and everything -- Justin says Ye and co. are very much so taking this seriously ... and based on what we're hearing, they think she can be a legit MC.

As Justin says himself ... she comes from Kanye's bloodline, and if anyone can do it ... it'd be her. Pretty exciting stuff -- guess we'll just have to wait and see what North's got.

Bo$$, who famously was the first female rapper signed to Def Jam, has died.

Rapper Bun B announced the news Monday evening, paying tribute to Bo$$ ... whose real name was Lichelle Marie Laws. Bun posted a pic of Bo$$, and wrote, “Rest in peace to my big sis Lichelle Laws AKA Boss. One of the best female MCs and a dear friend."

Bun's announcement sparked quite a huge reaction from the hip hop world ... as Jermaine Dupri, Jadakiss, 9th Wonder, Ed Lover, Lloyd Banks, Slim Thug and many others all paid tribute to the pioneering MC.

DJ Premier also weighed in, praising Bo$$ as a talented legend, and made a public plea for Def Jam to release a collab he'd recorded with her in 1993.

DJ Battlecat remembered Bo$$ for leading the way for women in gangsta rap ... and added, "Rest in Detroit Queen."

Bo$$ was born and raised in Detroit, but moved to L.A. shortly after graduating high school. She integrated herself into the local music scene, catching the eye of one of DJ Quik‘s associates.

As the story goes, Russell Simmons was the one to sign her to Def Jam, and by 1993 she dropped her first (and only) studio album, "Born Gangstaz." She found some success on the charts with "Deeper" making the Hot 100.

No word on circumstances surrounding her death, or an official cause of death ... but Bo$$ had battled renal disease, which she was first diagnosed with in 2011. A GoFundMe was also set up in her name after a 2017 stroke and seizure left her needing "costly" care ... including a possible kidney transplant.

She was 54.

Madonna had a real treat in store for her fans at her California concert Monday night … and it was none other than Cardi B!!!

The New York-born rapper shocked the packed crowd at the Kia Forum in Inglewood when she strutted out onstage without warning for a sexy two-minute-plus performance with Madonna.

Cardi's surprise appearance occurred during the "Vogue" segment in which Madonna usually brings out other celebs onstage to rate a raunchy dance-off as part of her "Celebration" tour.

Check out this video obtained by TMZ … Cardi and Madonna were seated in silver chairs next to each other holding signs emblazoned with the number "10" and the word "Chop."

The superstars rated the dancers pirouetting around them and worshipping their bodies, giving them all, of course, tens. Cardi also jumped into the contest, twerking her butt off. And you know she scored a ten!

At one point, Madonna held up the "Chop" sign, which in ballroom competitions means you're not advancing to the next round. The audience probably didn't catch that, but who cares … Madonna, Cardi and the rest were having a blast!

Meanwhile, Madonna got a little raunchy herself with Cardi, caressing her thighs throughout the segment. But that’s just expected with Madonna and Cardi didn’t seem to mind one bit.

As the song wrapped, Cardi was escorted by the dancers off the stage ... and Madonna just kept the show going.

Zita Vass says she's open to pivoting her views on wanting to say the n-word at concerts -- 'cause it sounds like she's just not aware of how or why people would possibly be upset.

We talked to the Guess model Monday on "TMZ Live," and she defended her take online from this past weekend ... where she expressed a desire to be able to say the derogatory racial slur in live music settings, especially if she was just repeating lyrics from an artist.

Zita's whole thing here is this ... if there's no hate in her heart, what's the big deal???

Welp, we tried explaining to Zita why some -- especially Black people -- might take offense to hearing her use the term ... and after a lot of back and forth, it sounds like she finally might've started to understand.

She admits there may be some ignorance on her part -- and the bigger takeaway is that she's willing to learn ... which is refreshing to hear. Of course, some just wanted to dump on her -- and that's exactly what a good amount of people did in her Instagram comments.

This conversation we had with Zita is definitely worth a watch -- it's almost like she's learning about racism (or perceived racism) live for the first time ... and seems pretty genuine about it too, surprised that some might not be willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.

Biggie's former hype man Lil Cease has gone the distance ensuring his fallen friend got the legacy he deserved ... even parting ways with his precious personal recordings, so the estate could finalize his catalog.

TMZ Hip Hop chopped it up with Cease-A-Leo at The Biggie Experience in Brooklyn, hosted by the Notorious Kids, T'yanna and CJ Wallace and the "Crush On You" rapper tells us he's sadly exhausted his stash of Biggie tracks to fill up posthumous albums.

Cease was a member of Biggie's Junior M.A.F.I.A. rap group that famously brought the world Lil Kim, and he felt it best for the family to have the music he collected over the years.

With breaks in the Tupac Shakur and Jam Master Jay ice-cold murder cases, Cease says he thinks investigators should be able to piece together evidence to bring Biggie's fam some closure, but he added ... he hasn't heard anything concrete on that front to share.

Ditto for Diddy's latest round of trauma ... Cease will forever be an OG Bad Boy but hopes for an amicable resolution for all parties for all future cases. He stressed the principle of innocence until proven guilty!

He plans on preserving Biggie's history further with a documentary, and T'yanna and CJ are doing the same.

Nicki Minaj appears to have chewed out a stagehand during her most recent tour date -- and it was all caught on video.

The rapper is in the middle of her "Pink Friday 2" tour, and on Sunday ... she was out in Seattle for a concert -- where some behind-the-scenes drama unfolded between Nicki and someone on her team, or at least someone on production.

Check it out ... Nicki and this woman -- who seems to be trying to work on NM's hair -- get into a little argument ... and it's mostly Nicki looking exacerbated/frustrated with this lady.

Before the woman can do anything for Nicki's 'do -- her boss side-steps her and shoos her away as she's getting ready to go back onstage ... getting back to business and carrying on with the show.

Some are calling Nicki's reaction a bit dramatic ... but others are actually defending her.

Comedian Rip Micheals is already back on the scene after suffering a life-threatening heart attack a few months ago -- because his condition hasn't affected his funny bone.

We recently linked up with the "Wild 'N Out" vet in NYC coming out of the gym working on his fitness, and confirmed he's currently waiting on a heart transplant as his heart is functioning at 15% ... but Rip assures us he's recovering just nicely!!! 💪🏾

Rip shocked fans last November when he posted alarming photos of himself in the hospital ICU and credits Mayo Clinic for bringing him back to life like "Thriller."

He's not out of the woods yet ... he survived another heart attack in February following his comeback concert at the Apollo Theater and continues to monitor his vitals closely.

Contrary to popular belief, Rip says he suffers from congestive heart failure -- meaning his heart attack was caused by genetics and even had some jokes for his parents for not maximizing their biological options.

His famous comic pals figured laughter was the best medicine also -- Nick Cannon advised Rip to get like him and push out multiple kids -- before things get any worse.

North West is officially following in Kanye West's footsteps as she announced her debut album on Sunday ... a title that plays off her dad's legendary catalog.

Ye gave North the floor at his "Vultures 2" listening party Sunday night in Phoenix, and she unveiled her album name -- "Elementary School Dropout."

The announcement drew thunderous cheers across the venue, as the crowd immediately recognized the title as an homage to Ye's monumental debut, "The College Dropout" ... which dropped back in 2004, long before NW was even a twinkle in his eye.

Hip Hop nostalgia aside, North's album title is interesting for another reason -- Kanye is currently crusading against his daughter's private school in L.A.

The album title's gotta have Kim Kardashian feeling some sorta way ... we know she's been upset Kanye is airing his grievances about the school on social media, instead of discussing it with her privately ... as required by their divorce settlement.

North's crack at rap stardom started with her feature on Ye and Ty Dolla $ign's "Talking/Once Again" from "Vultures 1."

That put her in historic company as one of the youngest artists to place on the Billboard charts ... and an early indicator she'll be back on "Vultures 2" and, eventually, her own record.

Zita Vass wants to know why she -- and presumably other white women -- can't say the n-word during live concerts ... and she's got quite an argument on why it should be kosher.

The Guess model posted a series of videos on her social media account this weekend ... and it was all about this hot-button issue -- namely, folks who aren't Black needing to censor themselves when it comes to singing or rapping the n-word, especially at live shows.

Zita says she's sick of doing that ... and thinks she oughta have a pass in live music settings.

She goes on to argue that African-Americans use the word as a term of endearment -- and insists she has no ill will in her heart if she were to use it in repeating back song lyrics ... going on to say she resents the notion that doing so would make her racist in some circles.

Zita also asks why the term is only exclusive to Black people ... and openly wonders why it's taboo for non-Black people to say it. She distinguishes between wanting to use the n-word generally and using it for musical purposes -- noting she only wants to do the latter.

Of course, she's catching some backlash -- with lots of people flooding her comment section to let her know why it's not okay ... explaining points that have been litigated ad nauseam.

Her IG caption for this is a little eyebrow-raising too, FWIW ... she writes, "THE N WORD - Warning #controversial #africanamericans."

Chris Brown apparently got into a little fender-bender this weekend -- and while the scrape to his sports car will probably buff right out ... that doesn't mean he was happy about it.

The singer was hitting the town very early Sunday morning in Hollywood -- leaving The Nice Guy after a little partying, we're told -- and on his way out ... he seems to have bumped into another vehicle that left the front of his Lamborghini with some major scuff marks.

The fact that his whip is white makes the black marks all the more noticeable, of course, and it looks like Chris stopped to exchange info with whoever it was he might've tapped.

He certainly looked frustrated at the moment -- but handled his biz and went on his way.

The next morning, however, Chris seems to have realized the extent of the damage -- 'cause he was photographed looking a little heated as he appeared to be addressing the mishap with a crew of people he was with while leaving a private house party just hours later.

No word on what exactly he was saying -- but it sure reads like ... "LOOK WHAT HAPPENED TO MY F***ING CAR!!!" This new angle also appears to show the bumper is slightly dented.

Like we said ... it should be easy enough to fix it -- but considering how damn pricey these cars are -- it might end up costing CB a pretty penny ... assuming insurance doesn't just handle it. In any case ... Chris wasn't happy about having to deal with it, period.