TMZ Hip Hop - Page 48

Tupac Shakur's estate is laying down the law on Drake ... threatening to drag him to court for using an AI-generated version of the late rapper's voice for a diss track aimed at Kendrick Lamar.

TMZ has obtained the cease-and-desist letter fired off by the attorney for Tupac's estate, Howard King, and it calls out Drake for the AI verse on "Taylor Made Freestyle" ... saying, "Not only is the record a flagrant violation of Tupac's publicity and the estate's legal rights, it is also a blatant abuse of the legacy of one of the greatest hip-hop artists of all time."

The estate goes on to say it would never have given approval for this -- and it issues an ultimatum: take down the track in less than 24 hours, and explain how it was made ... or else.

Kid Cudi won't be raging around the globe anytime soon ... his recently broken foot will require surgery and a recovery time that will keep him from touring, this according to him.

Cudi broke the news to fans on Wednesday -- saying that his Insano: Engage the Rage World Tour was canceled for good as he prepared to go under the knife.

He promised to revamp the tour once he returns back to health but is unsure when that will be ... apparently, the injury is more severe than he first thought.

Diddy's associate, Brendan Paul, has just been charged with one felony count of drug possession, and it could spell trouble for the rap mogul.

Paul, a former Syracuse men's basketball player who worked as Diddy's main assistant, was arrested in March at the Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport after feds searched his bag and allegedly found cocaine and marijuana candy. He was arrested and taken into custody, at the same time the feds were raiding Diddy's Miami and L.A. mansions.

The 25-year-old, who was extremely close to Diddy and was privy to Diddy's comings and goings, pled not guilty. His lawyer, Brian Bieber, tells TMZ, "We will be dealing with this case in the courtroom, not the court of public opinion."

Kanye West has his sights set on a new business venture, and it's all about people having sex on camera -- the guy's looking to professionally dive into porn at long last ... TMZ has learned.

A rep for Yeezy tells TMZ ... Ye's been kicking around the idea of launching his own pornography studio and brand for a while -- and now, we're told he seems dead set on doing it ... 'cause he and his partners are in advanced talks to actually get something up and running.

We're told Kanye and co. have been talking about building an entire Yeezy Porn studio -- which would be part of a broader adult entertainment division at the parent Yeezy company.

Justin Bieber, Machine Gun Kelly, Ty Dolla $ign and several other huge artists are taking the loss of rapper Chris King hard, after the Nashville native was gunned down on April 20.

According to the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department's report, Chris was standing in an alleyway with a group of friends around 2:30 AM Saturday when another group of people attempted to rob them.

Gunfire erupted, striking Chris and another man ... and both men fled the scene in separate directions.

Kanye West is copping to the fact he punched a guy last week to defend his wife's honor -- and just like his team told us ... he's sticking to the story she was inappropriately touched.

The rapper explained what happened -- from his POV, anyway -- last Tuesday night at the Chateau Marmont ... where he's alleged to have socked one of the Houston Brothers over some kind of bump-in in the lobby.

Welp, according to Ye ... it wasn't an innocent thing at all, even though our sources have insisted it was. Instead, Kanye says Bianca told him one of the bros straight up grabbed her.

Kanye West ranks Michelle Obama as his No. 1 draft pick for a ménage à trois with his wife Bianca Censori ... although, it sounds like he might just be joshing (hopefully).

Ye made the confession on Justin Laboy's podcast Monday ... this after the host asked who he'd want in the bedroom with himself and his wife. JL says he thinks he knows the answer -- but then Ye blurted out the unexpected pick ... the former First Lady.

They both burst into laughter after Ye's ridiculous (and inappropriate) response -- with KW adding, "Gotta f*** the President's wife!"

Drake floored the masses when he brought Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg into his beef against Kendrick Lamar via AI ... and Pac's brother thinks it was a step too far in the ongoing beef.

Mopreme Shakur, Tupac's brother tells TMZ Hip Hop that his issue with Drake using an AI Tupac voice is that he weaponized it ... all for a rap battle.

Mopreme tells us Drake using Pac's voice is like bringing out a tank, or even going with a nuclear option -- and he thinks the battle should be 1-on-1 ... with no outside help.

Quavo is taking his beef with Chris Brown to a whole new level -- responding to CB's "Weakest Link" with a diss track of his own that includes the voice of late Migos member, Takeoff.

The new track is called "Over Hoes & Bitches," and it dropped late Monday, with Quavo's opening verse coming in hot -- "Little bitch come dance battle with my drac' / You been f***ed your bag up when you punched Ri' in the face."

Of course, Quavo's referring to Chris assaulting Rihanna back in 2009. So far in their rap beef, he's repeatedly hit Chris with his history of domestic violence.

Eric B. & Rakim are very happy with the 2024 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees ... despite the fact they didn't personally make the cut.

The pioneering hip hop duo was on the ballot for this year's induction, but came up short in the final vote. Instead, Mary J. Blige, Cher, Dave Matthews Band, Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Kool & The Gang, Ozzy Osbourne and A Tribe Called Quest will be entering the Hall.

However, the two legends want it to be clear there are no hard feelings on their part, as they're happily congratulating their peers who will be inducted.

Busta Rhymes ain't about to stomach Hollywood-type crowds at his performance -- even if the gig happens to be in the Hollywood Hills!!!

That was the plotline when Dwyane Wade and cannabis co. Jeeter recruited Bussa Bus to perform at the after-party of their 420 "High Dining" event ... and while he was trying to do his duty, he wasn't getting high vibes from the crowd.

Basically, the audience wasn't giving Busta the energy he felt his classic tune "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See" deserved -- so, he cut the music and told the onlookers to get their minds right.

Beyoncé's shutting down the haters and showing she's more than just wigs and extensions ... by embracing her luscious, natural locks while promoting her new natural hair care line.

The singer dropped her in-depth hair-washing routine on IG Sunday ... embracing her naturally thick, glossy tresses as they were washed, conditioned, blow-dried, and styled using products from her own brand, Cécred.

While her stylists worked their magic, Beyoncé narrated, "Now that Cécred is known for the quality in what it does for your hair, I think it's about time I show y'all what it does for my hair."

So much for Sunday Funday ... T-Pain's weekend came to a crashing end in Atlanta, when a speeding driver severely rear-ended the Auto-Tune Don's vehicle, and fled the scene without a word!!!

A calm yet irritated T-Pain went live from the scene of the accident and pointed out a very valuable clue for police ... the driver had left their bumper in the street, and it was only a matter of time before they matched the silver Chevy with the missing part.

Turns out he was right ... T-Pain posted an update, letting fans know the driver had been caught, and gauging by his use of the 😈 emoji, he plans on showing the guy no mercy.

Jill Scott isn't going to let Chris Brown’s checkered past block her enjoyment of listening to him lyrically pummel Quavo, and she's been fending off critics who wished she didn't cape for Chris!!!

The ripple effect from Chris' brutal "Weakest Link" graced Jill's radar over the weekend and she couldn't help, but gush over the embattled singer's MC skills ... “@chrisbrown is amazing. How does ANYBODY sing like THAT? Dance, look, Act and Rap… like THAT?” wrote Scott on Sunday morning.

“Beyond gifted. It appears, exceptional people have to go through exceptional 🔥. There’s nothing to debate.”

Dwyane Wade's annual "High Dining" dinner, in honor of 420, went down with several of the NBA great's famous pals rolling up to join the festivities -- including a few surprises.

TMZ got vid of D. Wade and the founders of Jeeter -- the cannabis co. behind the event -- connecting Saturday night. Dwyane is a board member for the brand, so they've made a habit of blowing out 420 every year with a celeb-packed evening.

Organizers connected to the event tell us the high-grade guest list included Zachary Levi, Jay Ellis, Jeff Ross, Seth Green, Karrueche Tran, Nazanin Mandi, Jozzy, Armani White and Freddie Prinze Jr. ... who all partook in the 3-course meal along with other festivities.

His wife Gabrielle Union stood in as magician Kevin Li's assistant -- thankfully everyone kept their hands to themselves, and no one was sliced and diced on the table. 👀

The event also debuted Jeeter and the Bob Marley estate's master collaboration -- a 4.2-gram pre-roll packaged in a guitar case ... in other words, a Jah-endorsed rollout!

Bob's grandson, Grammy-nominated singer Skip Marley also performed "Jamming" and "One Love" -- and the significance of having the latest generation of Marley hitmakers present needed no explanation.

Meek Mill is regretting his latest auto purchase ... the "Dreamchasers" rapper posted a video of his new Hummer EV vehicle and the evidence is as sour as a lemon!!!

Back in March, Meek posted a flick of a wrecked GMC but recently revealed how it happened -- he claims the brake pedal fell off, and the car even started driving on him ... while it was in park!!!

According to Meek, he barely had the whip for 4 hours but witnessed several safety features fail on him, including the airbags ... which he, unfortunately, experienced during the crash!!!