TMZ Hip Hop - Page 2

DJ Hed is leery of incoming President Donald Trump's experimental cabinet picks, but says if that's the route they're going, Snoop Dogg should be qualified for something after the year he's had ... Ambassador of Cool, maybe???

TMZ Hip Hop chatted it up with the SiriusXM host ahead of his trek to ComplexCon ... Hed's a pro-Elon/Tesla guy, but isn't sure his genius will translate to his new "government efficiency" position.

Hed thinks Snoop, on the other hand, can use his celebrity for the greater good of mankind ... especially after all the Summer Olympics exposure. It's not a serious position and Hed says it should stay that way where rappers are concerned.

A prominent figure is suing the lawyer repping more than 120 of Diddy's alleged victims, saying the attorney is "shamelessly attempting to extort exorbitant sums from him," while threatening a lawsuit packed with "wildly false horrific allegations" if he doesn't pay up.

The plaintiff, identified only as "John Doe," filed his own lawsuit in L.A. County Superior Court Monday morning ... describing himself as a "high profile individual" who knew Diddy and attended events along with the mogul. He's being repped by one of the premier law firms in the country -- Quinn Emanuel.

The man says attorney Tony Buzbee and his firm threatened to unleash "entirely fabricated and malicious allegations of sexual assault -- including multiple incidents of rape of a minor, both male and female -- against Plaintiff if he refuses to comply with their demands." The suit goes on to say Buzbee's demand letters alleged the plaintiff raped the males and females while they were under the influence of drugs ... at parties hosted by Diddy.

Diddy performed a bird sacrifice hours before he was acquitted on all charges related to the infamous 1999 club shooting with Shyne ... at least according to Diddy's former bodyguard.

The story, as told in a new Hulu documentary about Shyne, goes like this ... Diddy was on his way to court to learn the verdict in his shooting case when he had his driver make a pit stop in Central Park.

A man was waiting for Diddy and when Diddy approached the guy, Diddy dropped to his knees ... and smoke started swirling around Diddy. The bodyguard, Gene Deal, thinks the burning substance was sage.

Diddy's legal team says the feds raided his jail cell and seized a bunch of privileged materials, including notes to his lawyers about his upcoming trial ... TMZ has learned.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Diddy's lawyer Marc Agnifilo claims they just found out Friday night that prosecutors are in possession of attorney-client privileged material that was seized from Diddy's jail cell at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.

Agnifilo claims the privileged materials include Diddy's handwritten notes to his legal team concerning defense witnesses and defense strategies for his upcoming trial in May.

Travis Scott had his headlining ComplexCon's grand finale interrupted by WWE legend and COO Triple H last night, but for good reason -- 'cause Cactus Jack is bringing his intercontinental heavyweight rap skills to WWE’s Netflix debut!!!

Triple H dubbed Travis "King of Hardcore" and awarded him the Hardcore Champion Belt ... his title defense to be continued in January when he performs live on "Monday Night Raw" at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.

La Flare couldn't contain his excitement and hit 'em with the "suck it" chop, and continued to rip through his newer and classic ragers such as "Nightcrawlers," "Mamacita," "I Know" and "Sicko Mode."

Quavo isn't trippin' the election didn't go his way ... Kamala Harris may not be prez but he's still going hard for gun reform in America!!!

We caught up with Huncho in LAX last week after tensions over the emotional presidential race have mostly blown over ... the platinum-selling rap star commended KH for running a solid campaign in his eyes.

Quavo met with KH and other lawmakers at the White House in September 2023 alongside his family on behalf of his non-profit The Rocket Foundation, which is committed to crushing gun violence in the country.

Beyonce is delivering a gift to her gazillion fans during the holiday season ... the singer is set to perform during the halftime show of an NFL game on Christmas Day.

On Sunday night, Netflix and Queen Bey announced she will be the star attraction at halftime as the Houston Texans go head-to-head with the Baltimore Ravens.

A promo video shows Bey decked out in a sexy red-white-and-blue outfit, standing on the hood of a car.

Lil Nas X isn't doing much to shut down dating rumors with musician Cody Jon ... planting a kiss on his fellow singer's cheek while walking around in Los Angeles Saturday.

The rapper stepped out in Studio City to do some shopping with Cody and, while the two were walking down the street, LNX leaned over and smooched him on his left cheek.

Check out the pics ... Cody smiling while Nas goes in for the kiss, making a face when his lips make contact -- though overall it seems more like he's jokingly making a face than anything.

While we don't know if Lil Wayne will be making an appearance at the Super Bowl in his hometown of New Orleans, we do know another big-time rapper will be in attendance -- Big Sean -- who tells TMZ Sports he already has tickets to the big game!

That's how confident Sean feels!

We caught up with the Detroit rapper out in Los Angeles ... and he didn't waver at all -- he's emphatic in his declaration that Jared Goff and the Lions are a lock to make the big game.

Diddy is getting creative behind bars to sway a potential jury in his favor -- and he's even used his recent birthday celebration to obstruct justice in his federal criminal case, prosecutors say.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ ... federal prosecutors say Diddy -- who is currently behind bars -- recruited family members to plot and execute a media campaign around his 55th birthday earlier this month for the purpose of influencing a jury at trial.

--You may recall ... Diddy's 7 kids posted a gushing Instagram video tribute to the music mogul and they let baby Love take center stage in the singing of "Happy Birthday." The children also wrote in the caption, "Happy Birthday Pops, we love you! 🎂❤️."

Shyne says Funkmaster Flex is a well-known hater and you don't have to take just his word alone ... he says ask Jay-Z or Nas directly, or any diehard Tupac Shakur fan!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with Shyne amid his vigorous press run for his upcoming Hulu doc "The Honorable Shyne," and he thanked Flex for the free promotion -- despite everything he's saying has been lies!!!

Shyne tells us Flex's beef with those hip hop heavyweights throughout the years shows his true character.

Mustard's personal life is getting ugly again ... he says his ex-wife is bashing him on social media, even though they agreed not to talk trash about each other ... and he wants a retraction.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, divorce attorney Samantha Spector claims the music producer's ex-wife, Chanel Thierry, has been violating the judge's order that they both refrain from trashing each other in public and online.

In one example, Mustard claims his ex tried to paint him as a deadbeat dad by falsely claiming the $275,000 equalization payment he made in their divorce settlement was only going toward back child support.

Mario is straight up denying a hefty allegation -- that he's the sultry-voiced "Wasp" on this season of "The Masked Singer" who's been bringing the house down!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught Mario and his manager Andy at LAX on Thursday and the R&B golden voice could not BELIEVE fans suspect him to be a Baltimore-born, former Ne-Yo understudy who survived a rough upbringing, so says the show's clues so far.

Mario says he's been bombarded with DMs from people convinced it's him -- so much that he's officially putting his name in the hat to officially appear on "Masked Singer" in the future. Have their people hit his, you know how the story goes.

Diddy and Kim Porter's twin daughters are sharing an emotional tribute on the anniversary of their late mother's death ... and they still can't believe she's gone.

D'Lila and Jessie honored Kim with a social media post Friday, saying ... "We can't believe it’s been 6years without you. We think about you every single second of the day. We love and miss you so much words can’t even explain."

Diddy's family is obviously going through a lot as he sits in jail in New York awaiting his criminal trial, and the twins say they wish Kim was here with them, but know her "spirit will be around forever!!"

Raekwon and Charlamagne Tha God's new Hashtoria dispensary is open for business -- and they're all about infusing culture with the joys of cannabis!!!

TMZ Hip Hop was on hand for the Newark grand opening of Hashtoria this week ... the Wu-Tang and Breakfast Club maestros co-founded the operation with attorney Bakari Sellers and entrepreneur Jedd Canty.

Rae's been crumblin' herb for a long time and is proud of his own strain "Compliments of the Chef," but assures us Method Man can smoke him and his fellow Clan soldiers under the table 👐🏾💨

Pharrell Williams had a unique approach to a swarm of animal-rights protesters -- he went full hug mode to keep the peace ... and spoiler: it didn’t exactly work.

The singer and Louis Vuitton men’s creative director was heatedly heckled outside GQ’s Men of the Year Party at the Chateau Marmont Thursday night, with one protester yelling, "What type of person still uses fur?” Pharrell, ever cool, shot back with, “I don’t. God bless you."

The drama unfolds in the video -- the same protester held up a sign to show Pharrell the impact of his apparent fur use on animals, but the singer tried to go in for a hug -- only to have his efforts totally rejected.