TMZ Hip Hop - Page 18

El Taiger -- the Reggaeton star who was found shot in the head in Miami last week -- has died ... according to a statement posted to his Instagram.

According to the IG post, written in Spanish, El Taiger -- born José Manuel Carbajal Zaldívar -- passed away Thursday afternoon. The announcement thanked fans for their prayers over the last week as they all hoped for a miracle.

The statement says that El Taiger is now reunited with his mother in heaven ... and, the rest of his family thanks the medical staff at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami for doing everything they could to save the star.

Federal prosecutors fired back at Diddy’s attorney in court Thursday, saying he wrongfully accused them of racially profiling their famous client in the TMZ documentary “The Downfall of Diddy: The Indictment.”

In our September documentary, Diddy’s lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, said the feds were pursuing the criminal case against his client as a “takedown of a successful Black man.”

Agnifilo had said the feds couldn't nail Diddy for anything related to taxes or his business empire ... so they started poking around in his bedroom. In a grand jury indictment, the feds charged Diddy with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and transportation to engage in prostitution.

3:50 PM PT -- Shortly after we broke the story, TraxNYC hopped on IG and copped a plea to 50 Cent ... requesting 50 drop the suit in good faith!!!

The way Trax sees things, holy crosses represent forgiveness and thinks all this legality is completely unnecessary.

We might be too far gone for bygones ... 50 has responded and says he's still gonna need that payout first thing on Monday!!!

50 Cent has zero tolerance for a jeweler allegedly using his name and face to sell knockoffs of his famous chain, insisting he's never bought jewelry from TraxNYC, or allowed it to capitalize on his fame.

TMZ Hip Hop obtained docs Thursday ... with Fif suing Maksud Agadjani and his TraxNYC Corp. for trademark infringement and violating his right of publicity. The G-Unit rapper believes Trax's string of TikTok posts about him are misleading consumers into thinking he's affiliated with the imitation trinkets.

Just a few days ago, Trax posted a pic of 50 and Drake together and proceeded to show off an array of shiny crucifixes and captioned the post, "Yo @50 Cent , you should be a jeweler. Hit traxnyc.com or call 212 traxnyc."

And, in an August TikTok post, Trax offered up a cross similar to one 50 was wearing saying, "We just jocked your style, I know you watch my videos and now I'm watching your s**t and jocking your s**t just like you jocked my s**t."

50 previously warned Trax on IG his antics would land him in hot water, and now he wants a judge to stop Trax in his tracks, and make him pay up at least $5 million in damages.

A rep for 50 tells TMZ Hip Hop, "Mr. Jackson takes the unauthorized use of his name and likeness for commercial purposes seriously.

The rep adds ... when 50 made it clear he was not pleased, Trax doubled down, replying, "Don’t you got better things to worry about."

Well, now it's TraxNYC that has a lawsuit to worry about.

Ice-T recently took time out of his busy schedule making hardcore rock music and crime dramas to pre-bless comedian KevOnStage's upcoming stand-up tour -- and did so risking potential danger from Hurricane Helene!!!

According to Ice-T, he was out in the Bahamas filming the zillionth season of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" when he got the ping that Kev's family recruited him for a Cameo vid.

Ice took a time out during his break time to give Kev the shoutout for his upcoming "Back Pew" tour and says they narrowly ducked damage from Hurricane Helene -- but could see the gloom and doom in the background!!!

Kanye West is being sued by a man claiming to be his former director of intelligence ... who has alleged the rapper ordered him to orchestrate investigations into both wife Bianca Censori and former in-laws, the Kardashians.

In new court documents obtained by TMZ ... the man -- who is suing anonymously as John Doe -- claims the rapper never paid him for work done over several pay periods and caused him emotional distress.

Per the lawsuit, in December 2022, Ye had initially hired the staffer to be his campaign manager for his presidential run ... but later reworked his role to be Yeezy's "Director of Intelligence."

"Wild 'n Out" had no shortage of star power at Wednesday's taping -- Rick Ross, Waka Flocka, and G Herbo were all on the show -- but the MVP of the night was Angel Reese ... who got everyone's blood pumping with her stunning fit!

Nick Cannon's "Wild 'n Out" tour pulled up in Chicago this week ... where the rap stars and the Chi-town hooper joined the cast for a taping.

Fans cheered when the Chicago Sky forward -- aka "Chi Barbie" -- walked on stage ... especially after the packed crowd got a glimpse of her itty-bitty outfit!

Ice-T's longstanding metal-rap band Body Count just hit the wall -- with a new music video covering Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb" classic record featuring the band's very own David Gilmour!!!

Their visual, directed by Jay Scorsese, was released on Thursday, highlighting Ice-T laying down bars in the studio and Gilmour making magic with the guitar.

Ice-T raps about the pitfalls of substance abuse as scenes of distress and drug addiction are scattered throughout the video.

J. Cole shocked the Internet late Wednesday night by breaking his silence on what became of the Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar beef after erasing his own diss track from history ... the motto is love, not war!!!

On the song "Port Antonio," J. Cole takes 5 minutes addressing his POV as Drake and Kendrick went at each other's throats on songs like "Push-Ups," "Meet The Grahams," "Family Matters" and "Not Like Us."

The North Carolina-bred rap star blasts hip hop's current social media, beef-driven state and explains cutting his Kendrick diss song "7 Minute Drill" from streaming services was his way of safekeeping the greater peace.

Shocking new claim from Diddy and his legal team ... they believe the federal government "orchestrated" the leak of the Cassie beating video to the media.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Diddy's attorneys accuse the feds of misconduct in his criminal case ... namely, by allegedly orchestrating the leak of the Cassie tape to CNN.

The video in question is from 2016 and it shows Diddy brutally beating Cassie in the hallway of a swanky Los Angeles hotel during their relationship.

Dr. Dre keeps threatening his renowned psychiatrist, to the point where the guy feels he needs to wear a bulletproof vest ... at least according to a new lawsuit the doctor filed.

Dre is being sued by Dr. Charles Sophy, a psychiatrist who says he provided Dre and his ex-wife Nicole therapy and marriage counseling sessions during their union, before staying on to act as a mediator during their divorce.

According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Sophy claims Dre started bombarding him with abusive and threatening text messages 14 months after the divorce was finalized.

Lil Baby will NOT be prosecuted after being arrested in Sin City and charged with carrying a concealed firearm without a permit ... TMZ has learned.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the felony charge the rapper was facing as a result of his August arrest has been dropped.

The docs make it look like the Clark County District Attorney is declining to press charges.

Lil Durk, his Only The Family record label, and his slain protégé King Von's estate are facing a new lawsuit filed by the mother of FBG Duck, who's blaming them all for her son's August 2020 death.

On Wednesday, Duck’s mother Lasheena Weekly filed the lawsuit on behalf of her late son's estate in Chicago.

The suit claims Durk’s OTF struck gold with violence and reality rap through the actual violence committed against "FBG Duck and the public at large” -- and even chides the music industry for profiting off Duck's death.

Texas rhyme-slinger BigXthaPlug didn't lose a wink of sleep over being snubbed from Complex magazine's "20 Best Rappers In Their 20s Right Now" -- the figures in his bank account give him all the pleasant dreams in the world!!!

BigX and his 6ixers rap group had some fun with TMZ Hip Hop in NYC ahead of his upcoming "Take Care" album release.

The platinum-seller tells us flat-out he was aware of the list's existence ... much love to all those other guys, but BigX says he's pocketing more money than them with his independent grind.

Diddy's mother and his twin daughters visited him behind bars in Brooklyn, and the visit was so compelling for his mom ... she broke her silence on her son's legal troubles.

Sources close to the situation tell TMZ ... Diddy's mom, Janice Combs, and his teenage twin daughters, D'Lila and Jessie, spent time with him last week at the Metropolitan Detention Center.

We're told the four family members went to a visiting area, where they were able to hug and converse ... under supervision by jail staff.

Jay-Z and Beyoncé are livid at Piers Morgan for airing an interview with some vague, but serious allegations against them ... and their attorney is questioning Piers' ethics.

The Carters' attorney, Alex Spiro, joined us on "TMZ Live" Wednesday and we asked him about Jay and Bey's response to Piers' show 'Uncensored' broadcasting an interview with Jaguar Wright, who claimed the couple had more "victims" than Diddy.

Alex says Piers was exploiting the rumor mill by allowing these false allegations to hit the airwaves ... and he says he gave Piers an ultimatum ... remove the claims and apologize, or face a court order to take the interview down.

Snoop Dogg made the necessary steps earlier this year to ensure his rocky legal past becomes ancient history -- The Doggfather's 1993 murder charge was officially sealed earlier this year!!!

TMZ Hip Hop obtained legal docs showing Snoop asked a judge to seal the records way back in January 2024 ... the court signed off in late February, granting the petition to have his arrest sealed.

The trial was huge news at the time ... Snoop was still budding as a superstar and infamously got arrested following his passionate MTV Awards performance of his hit "Murder Was The Case," a track created around the frenzy over the allegations. Snoop and a bodyguard were accused of shooting a man in an L.A. Park in 1993.