TMZ Hip Hop - Page 44

Dua Lipa and the 'SNL' writers didn't let a certain gun-toting, dog-shooting politician off the hook ... and instead made Gov. Kristi Noem the punchline to kick off the show.

The singer was the host and musical act Saturday night, and shouted out her new album "Radical Optimism" during her monologue. Dua explained the album title refers to "looking on the bright side of any situation."

She proceeded to offer some examples with help from cast members in the audience, which is when Heidi Gardner stood up in a MAGA hat and said, "Hi, I'm South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem" ... opening the door for Dua to cut her off quickly.

Jim Jones got into a wild fight at the airport, taking on two men at once in unbelievable footage ... and, he's claiming he was just trying to defend himself.

New video, obtained by TMZ captures the fight ... which kicks off as Jim and two others are reaching the bottom of an escalator at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. It's unclear what set off the encounter, but it escalates quickly.

While JJ throws punches at the two individuals, they seem to land on an older man's leg, and he's clearly in a lot of pain when he hits the floor at the bottom of the escalator.

Kendrick Lamar's escalating his rap beef with Drake ... labeling him as a "pedophile" in another new diss track less than 24 hours after releasing "Meet The Grahams."

The 17-time Grammy winner released the new song -- titled "Not Like Us" -- about an hour ago ... and, in it, Kendrick finds a series of different ways to refer to Drake as a pedophile before just calling him one.

To start with, the cover art shows Drake's home with sex offender beacons all over it ... the implication's clear enough from the beginning before KL really digs in against the man he's beefing with.

Rick Ross is using social media gossip to clown his rival Drake ... joking Drizzy shot his plane down as rumors his plane made a crash landing swirl.

The rapper took to his Instagram Story Friday to crack some jokes about his plane allegedly making an emergency landing ... thanking his fans for prayers before launching into his over-the-top story.

RR claims he saw a fighter jet barreling toward his own aircraft ... saying he sees an unnamed pilot's nose like Tom Cruise from "Top Gun" -- before adding "it happened" without specifying what that is.

Usher said the show must go on ... pulling up to perform a show in Vegas despite the Lovers & Friends festival's last-minute cancelation -- and raising fans' spirits.

Video obtained by TMZ shows the popstar taking the stage at Jewel Nightclub Aria Hotel and Casino Friday night ... and, belting out some tunes with the audience after news of the festival's cancelation came in.

Check out the clip ... Usher arrives in an all-white get-up, drink glass in hand -- and, he immediately gets the crowd involved, making them sing the opening notes to a track and hyping up the whole joint.

Kendrick Lamar has the streets buzzing about Drake's other child -- a daughter he's allegedly kept hidden for more than a decade, but folks around Drake say Kendrick's pushing misinformation.

If you missed it, Kendrick and Drake's rap war intensified late Friday night as they both dropped new 6-minute-plus diss tracks -- "Family Matters" from Drake and "Meet the Grahams" from Kendrick.

Both rappers got seriously personal with vicious verses targeting each other's family members ... and K. Dot insinuating Drake has a daughter somewhere who he's kept hidden from the world.

Even Janet Jackson, Mary J. Blige, Usher, Alicia Keys, Snoop Dogg, and Lil Wayne's combined star power isn't enough to outshine Mother Nature -- who just forced Lovers & Friends Festival organizers to pull the plug ... at the last minute!

The shocking announcement came late Friday night, less than 24 hours before the all-day, outdoor festival was supposed to begin at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds. Event organizers said they were expecting a windy day and prepared for it, but then the National Weather Service issued a High Wind Warning.

With the expectation of 30-35 mph sustained winds and wind gusts over 60 mph ... they decided to cancel the highly-anticipated concert, calling it the "safest decision for our fans, artists and staff."

6:36 AM PT -- Looks like Craig David's gonna have to wait even longer to get back on stage -- 'cause Lovers & Friends pulled the plug on its big festival less than 24 hours before doors opened.

Craig David's gone from getting it seven days a week to abstinence 365 days a year ... opening up about celibacy on "The TMZ Podcast" -- saying he's now on top of his game creatively.

Craig -- famous for writing the intimate anthem "7 Days" -- says he still is celibate ... adding he decided to do it because he wanted to "park" sex in favor of spirituality.

If anyone thought rap was at an all-time low, Friday night just proved it's anything but ... with Drake and Kendrick Lamar dropping savage diss tracks within minutes of each other, and the internet is having a field day!

Drake threw the first punch minutes ago, dropping a 7 minute and 37 second track titled "Family Matters" ... where he rapped over three different beats, taking aim at not only K. Dot, but also The Weeknd, Rick Ross, Future, Metro Boomin and A$AP Rocky, among others.

Drake didn't hold back, accusing Kendrick of getting physical with his fiancee. He also hinted that Kendrick's manager had a baby with the same woman.,

Jeezy is firing back at his estranged wife, Jeannie Mai, whom he claims is out to smear him just because he didn't wanna have a second kid with her ... alleging she's out for revenge.

The rapper filed new legal docs in his divorce case with Jeannie, and he's offering up a firm defense to Jeannie's bombshell claims from last week -- in which she alleged Jeezy was reckless and abusive ... and that he'd gotten physical on at least one occasion.

Here in this new paperwork, obtained by TMZ, Jeezy once again denies any such notion -- just like he did when she first leveled the claims -- and asks a rhetorical question ... if I was so dangerous and abusive, why were you trying to have another baby with me???

Keyshia Cole's been official with rapper Hunxho for a couple of weeks, but it looks like their relationship's hit the skids -- now that his ex-GF appears to be creeping back into the picture.

Hunxho just got up-and-close and personal with his ex, and fellow rapper, Gloss Up for a new track ... and Keyshia isn't taking the news well.

Gloss dropped her new EP "Not Ya Girl: Act 1" on Friday, complete with a music vid for the Hunxho-featured single "Come Here" -- a booty call anthem that showed both Gloss and Hunxho playing out the scenes, which include a soapy and steamy bathtub!!!

A Black pro-Palestine protester was called "Lizzo" by a group of white counter-protesters during a heated faceoff this week ... and she received racist taunts likening her to a monkey.

The ugly scene went down Thursday at the University of Mississippi -- with both pro-Palestine and pro-Israel factions holding dueling protests right there on the campus, which got heated when a group of bros zeroed in on a Black female on the Palestine side of things.

She was standing there all alone and filming them ... and the men, most of whom were white, could be heard repeatedly insulting her weight -- invoking Lizzo's name to get the point across ... all while calling her a "bitch" and other explicit insults.

Drake hasn't responded to Kendrick Lamar's "6:16 in L.A." -- but Akademiks captured his own reaction in real-time after learning K. Dot also flamed him!!!

Kendrick quips on the track, "Yeah, somebody's lyin', I can see the vibes on Ak/ Even he lookin' compromised, let's peel the layers back" -- all of which was a total surprise to Ak, who couldn't believe he was being targeted.

It's not like Kendrick pulled Ak's favoritism out of thin air ... Drake actually used a sound bite of Ak ranting at Kendrick on "Push Ups" -- still, Ak maintains he checks his bias at the door when it comes to reporting.

Willis Reed, Walt Clyde Frazier, and Patrick Ewing are generally considered the greatest Knicks ever, but the trio of Hall of Famers may have to slide over ... 'cause diehard NYK fan, Fat Joe, says Jalen Brunson's on the verge of being the G.O.A.T.!

"[Jalen's] so close to being the greatest Knick ever," Crack told Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs nightly on FS1), adding ... "So close, and in such short time."

Of course, the hip-hop superstar grew up in The Bronx, New York, and has been a loyal Knicks fan through the good, and unfortunately for New Yorkers, many bad times in his 5 decades as an NYK supporter.

Kendrick Lamar's knack for deeper lyrical meanings has fans dissecting his new Drake diss under a microscope, and they're unearthing some interesting Easter eggs ... or so they think.

Fans quickly latched on to the fact K. Dot was flexing on Drake with the "6:16 in LA" title, as the Toronto rapper has several songs in his catalog named after the timestamp in a city.

Social media chatter soon revolved around religious connotations and even anniversaries like Tupac Shakur's birthday -- fans think Kendrick is avenging after Drake's A.I. trick.

Drake's awakened the demon in Kendrick Lamar, and apparently, Akademiks has too -- K. Dot just unleashed another diss bomb before they could recover from "Euphoria!!!"

On Friday morning -- 6:16 AM, to be exact -- Kendrick dropped his new track over a bangin’ Al Green sample aimed at Drake’s OVO camp allegedly leaking him info Drake was planning to use against him.

Kendrick clowns Drake for having disloyal hounds around him, dragging his manager Anthony Saleh into the mix … and also targets Ak for instigating on the sidelines and getting his facts screwed up.