TMZ Hip Hop - Page 16

Nelly's legal team is firing back at police after the rapper was arrested at a Missouri casino ... they say he was "targeted by an overzealous, out of line officer."

Nelly's attorney, Scott Rosenblum, tells TMZ ... Nelly had won a jackpot at the Hollywood Casino in St. Charles Wednesday morning when the arresting officer falsely told him they needed to run a background check before giving Nelly his money.

Rosenblum says Nelly knew this claim to be bogus because he had won bigger jackpots at the same casino, and in those instances, he received his winnings without a background check and no issues whatsoever.

Kanye West's former chief of staff is taking Ye's dentist to task, claiming the doctor has been supplying Ye with nitrous oxide for recreational use ... but the dentist says the chief made up the allegations for attention.

Milo Yiannopoulos -- Ye's chief of staff for two years before departing the company earlier this year -- submitted an affidavit to the California Dental Board claiming Ye's dentist, Thomas P. Connelly, provided Kanye with nitrous oxide for recreational use.

Yiannopoulos claims Connelly provided the gas for cash ... taking in upwards of $50K every month, even when the gas led to distressing signs from Ye -- including addiction to the substance.

Kamala Harris has been drawing major musical acts to her campaign events ... and now she can add one more to the list -- DJ D-Nice.

The Harris for President Campaign tells TMZ ... DJ D-Nice will perform at Harris' rally this Saturday in Vegas. We're told both the VP and her Democratic running mate, Governor Tim Walz, will take the stage.

D-Nice will be serving up tunes and hyping the crowd during the event. There aren't many people better on the 1s and 2s ... you'll recall, D-Nice's "Club Quarantine" DJ sets on Instagram Live became a massive hit during the pandemic, sometimes drawing more than 100K people at a time.

The man charged with felony murder in the shooting death of rapper PnB Rock has just been found guilty.

A Los Angeles jury on Wednesday convicted Freddie Lee Trone on one count of murder, one count of conspiracy to commit robbery, and two counts of second-degree robbery ... stemming from PnB Rock's September 2022 slaying.

TMZ broke the story ... PnB was gunned down inside a Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles restaurant in Los Angeles as he sat and ate with his girlfriend.

Kanye West is blaming it on the booze ... saying he was under the influence when he fired off those antisemitic statements in '22 that got him seriously canceled.

The rapper dropped this bombshell on Candace Owens' podcast -- which was filmed in 2022 but just released Wednesday ... saying in his words, "You wanna know what alcohol I had inside me? Hennessy."

Ye acknowledged Hennessy turns people "gray" -- and brought out his demons real quick -- which he says is what happened in this case.

1:33 PM PT -- The Missouri State Highway Patrol tells TMZ the incident occurred at 4:45 AM Wednesday. The agency has a gaming division, with troopers stationed at the Hollywood Casino in St. Charles.

Nelly was asked to show his ID to police and his info was run for verification in accordance with Missouri Gaming Commission regulations.

Police found Nelly had an active warrant for no insurance from a previous traffic stop conducted by Maryland Heights Police.

Drake has just confirmed a long-suspected theory about one of his hit songs ... as the rapper has dropped never-before-seen footage from the studio.

The hitmaker released a bunch of archival footage from the last several years ... including one telling video, where he makes a big confession about his 2016 anthem, "Too Good," featuring Rihanna.

Watch the vid ... as Drake dishes to his mother -- who is off camera -- that he wrote the song with former flame Serena Williams in mind.

Cardi B is getting close to releasing a bunch of new music, and it looks like she has a couple names in mind for her upcoming album ... or at least a couple of singles.

According to new legal docs obtained by TMZ, the rapper filed trademark applications for two phrases ... "Defamation of Character" and "Intrusive Thoughts" ... which she says she wants to use for music albums.

Cardi's trademark applications also state she wants the phrases for music videos and downloadable music files, plus potential other uses ... basically everything an artist would need to make money off their music.

Drake has so much content sitting on his hard drive ... he had to start a new Instagram account to get it out to the fans!!!

On Tuesday, Drake directed fans to his newly unveiled Instagram account @plottttwistttttt, featuring 3 new songs ... "Housekeeping Knows," featuring Latto, dance vibe joint "Blue Green Red," and the war-ready "It's Up," co-starring 21 Savage and Young Thug.

The reunion with Thug and 21 is definitely for the streets ... Drake calls for YT's freedom while emphasizing how he's not afraid of any opps on "It's Up" ... pretty testy words in the aftermath of his Kendrick Lamar battle!!! 👀

Anthony Edwards celebrated his 23rd birthday in epic fashion last night in Paris ... his family, friends and teammates all shocked the superstar baller -- as did Gunna, who gave the party a full-blown performance!!!

Sources connected to the party tell TMZ Hip Hop AE's management team, led by Justin Holland, wanted to do it big for his "Jordan year."

They outsourced to Eva Paris, a private event planner, to curate the experience, and they ran a ruse under the pretense of checking out a spot for a teammate following a team dinner.

Janet Jackson fans, get ready ... 'cause she’s gearing up for a Las Vegas return with a new residency, TMZ has learned.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us ... Janet’s in the final stages of signing a residency deal with Resorts World. We're told the plan is for the show to kick off in December. Our sources say she's also set to ring in the New Year with a special NYE performance at the famous venue.

We’re hearing Janet’s residency at the Resorts World Theatre will be a relatively short stint ... but the final details and dates are still being hammered out.

Rihanna is not retiring from being an absolute beauty ... she's turning heads at a famous carnival in her homeland.

RiRi hit up the Crop Over Carnival in her native Barbados on Monday ... wearing a revealing ensemble complete with pink, orange and yellow-feathered wings.

Rihanna's showing off her boobs here too ... as you can see, the girls are busting out of her bedazzled gold outfit.

Kai Cenat's services are being requested to help endorse Kamala Harris for President after Adin Ross went all out for Donald Trump ... and even gave him a Tesla Cybertruck!!!

On Monday, Adin gave a chunk of his Gen-Z audience a taste of political fodder when he hosted Trump to dish on -- and diss -- Joe Biden and Kamala, the American crime rate ... even "relatable" topics like Young Thug's current RICO trial.

It didn't take long for Kai's name to become a trending topic across social media SIMPLY for being Adin's counterpart, but Kamala supporters think he needs to step in and provide balance to the Force!!!

Donald Trump is as defiant as ever coming off his NABJ appearance ... 50 Cent's "Many Men" track is still his theme song, despite producer Darrell "Digga" Branch's objections.

Trump ramped up his presidential campaign Monday by hopping on Adin Ross' Kick stream to speak to first-time Gen Z voters.

The ex-prez casually walked out to a track from 50's "Get Rich Or Die Tryin'" album blaring through the room ... and he got a standing O.

Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott appear eager to offload their Beverly Hills home ... as the former flames have slashed the listing price once again.

The ex-couple's first home together -- which they nabbed for a notable $13.4 million back in 2018 -- hit the market again back in February ... when they asked for $17,995,000. Mind you, this was significantly less than their first attempt at unloading the property ... as they previously listed the abode for $21.9 million back in 2022.

KJ and TS didn't get any takers back then ... and it seems that's the case today, as according to online records they are now asking for $15,995,000. If math's not your strong suit, this is a $2 million drop in price ... which likely speaks to the exes' urgency of wanting to ditch the mansion.

Lil Uzi Vert may have millions of female fans looking to dominate his attention, but sorry ladies ... he says his heart belongs to JT, permanently!!!

The "Just Wanna Rock" star was recently out in New York City and all set to give his two cents on Lil Yachty's opinions regarding Atlanta dominating over NYC fashion ... when a female fan barged into the interview showing him her phone number.

Uzi immediately lost his train of thought and told the young lady he couldn't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with when it comes to his bond with JT -- and refused to get her digits!!!