TMZ Hip Hop - Page 3

Professional boxer Paul Bamba -- who recently became the first fighter to sign with Ne-Yo's management company -- has died, the singer announced Friday. He was just 35 years old.

"It is with profound sorrow that we announce the passing of beloved son, brother, friend and boxing champion Paul Bamba, whose light and love touched countless lives," Ne-Yo and the Bamba family said in a joint statement.

Bamba held a 19-3 record over the course of his career ... and most recently defeated Rogelio Medina Luna in New Jersey this past Saturday to be named the WBA Gold Cruiserweight world champion.

Damon Dash is claiming his former Roc-A-Fella heyday wasn't the musical dynasty it cracked up to be -- because its top dawg Jay-Z had to string along Memphis Bleek by always writing his lyrics!!!

The weathered music mogul unloaded the clip on his ex-protégé in his latest interview with "The Art of Dialogue."

Bleek staked his claim as the hungry rap rookie from up the block on Jay's "Reasonable Doubt" debut album, but Dame says he was too lazy (or incapable) to move his own career along!!!

Luigi Mangione is not hanging out with Diddy at one of America's most notorious jails ... because they're being held in totally different cell blocks.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Luigi and Diddy are not in the same jail unit at MDC Brooklyn.

Reports surfaced last week speculating Luigi and Diddy would soon be held in the same protective jail unit, but we've learned that's not the case.

Drake and super streamer Adin Ross played Santa Clauses on their 'Drizzmas' stream the day after Christmas … plenty of cash for their home teams, and coal for the foes!!!

The 6 ½-hour stream leveraged plenty of Kick and Stake promos while emulating Drake's legendary "God's Plan" video, where he gave away thousands of dollars in charity to the community ... but he also had some fun leaning into the mega rap beef sparked by Kendrick Lamar that dominated this year!!!

Drake spent plenty of time scanning fan mail and almost caught himself saying “F*** Kendrick” while reading one fan's letter ... and then later laughed off Kendrick's "Euphoria" diss lyrics aimed at his Sexyy Red friendship.

Jamie Foxx isn't turning the other cheek when it comes to the alleged assault where he took a glass to the face ... TMZ has learned he wants the perpetrator prosecuted.

A source with direct knowledge tells us the actor -- who is fully cooperating with the investigation -- wants to press charges so this type of incident does not happen to others.

No arrests have been made yet. While not named a suspect or person of interest in the investigation, we're told cops want to speak with Jasper Dolphin -- a "Jackass" stuntman who was apparently at Mr. Chow's on the night in question ... in connection to the alleged assault.

Sleepy Hallow and Sheff G are living proof that drill music can sustain a rap career -- even if their legendary counterpart Jadakiss doesn't agree!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with the Winners Circle twins at The Million Dollar Giveback: Hip Hop Holiday in NYC and they thought Jada's commentary on drill -- BK, sexy, fires -- was funny but they understand where he's coming from!!!

ICYMI, Jada threw the entire drill movement under the bus in an interview as his son Jaewon laughed on.

2024 will be remembered for many shocking events ... and here, we remember celebrities who tragically died over the last calendar year.

Liam Payne shocked the world when he fell to his death from a hotel balcony in Argentina ... and the former One Direction member's death is still under police investigation, with lots of moving parts involved.

12 years after Whitney Houston's death and 9 years after Bobbi Kristina Brown's passing, the Houston family suffered another sad loss ... the passing of singer Cissy Houston, Whitney's mom and Houston matriarch, occurred in October. She passed away at the age of 91 after battling Alzheimer's disease in hospice care.

The woman accusing Jay-Z of allegedly raping her as a teenager just got the green light from a New York judge to keep her identity under wraps ... at least for now.

In legal docs filed Thursday, Judge Analisa Torres ruled the "Jane Doe" accuser can remain anonymous at this point in the case. In the ruling, the judge also called out Jay-Z’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, saying he was being combative and trying to "fast-track" the case.

While Judge Torres did grant the plaintiff’s request to proceed anonymously for now, she noted that things could change as the case moves forward and made it clear that she intends to revisit the issue if and when the case progresses.

Isaac Hayes III -- a famous record producer and the son of Isaac Hayes -- is diving into an incident he says went down just outside his gated community on Christmas Eve ... when he filmed a woman cursing at him and making a racist remark.

Here's the deal ... Hayes shared a video on his Instagram where a woman asks him for his name -- accusing him of driving too fast in and out of the Atlanta gated community -- before adding "f*** you."

The diatribe then takes a racial turn ... with what sounds like her saying, "Why don't you be white?"

Muni Long has the best RNB song of the year of the year according to Spotify -- and one thing she's NOT gonna do is share her secret sauce with artists who can't master the recipe!!!

That was the energy the "Made For Me" singer shared with her fans Thursday after walking away from a label meeting with Atlantic Records.

According to Muni, one of the Atlantic bigwigs suggested she use her Grammy Award-winning songwriting skills to uplift the careers of the melanin-challenged artists in the stable, but Muni put her foot down ... "F*** no!" was her exact choice of words!!!

Ray J and Sukihana are blowing each other's backs out -- a tidbit exposed by Ray's estranged wife Princess Love after she got ahold of his phone!!! 😩

On Thursday, Sukihana set chaos into motion when she posted a text message from Princess via Ray's phone alerting Suki that Ray repeatedly keeps trying to go down -- and PL wants no part of that action!!!

In the text, Princess also teases Suki for being just one of many chicks on Ray's roster ... but also lets her in on a secret woman-to-woman -- Ray hates it when Suki FaceTimes him without having her weave in!!!

Viral rapper Dave Blunts wasn't about to let Antonio Brown turn him into a Star Wars meme -- and got personal with his response by throwing the former footballer's legal issues in his face!!!

In case you haven't seen him on your timeline, DB's the reportedly 500lb+ rapper from Delaware whose melodies have drawn comparisons to golden-age Texas hip hop ... and his inability to perform standing up also whiffed Snoop Dogg's radar.

AB randomly took a lightsaber-sized swipe at Dave on a pic from a recent performance, "N**** really is the black Jaba the hutt…."

Beyoncé brought the house -- make that the entire stadium -- down ... delivering the greatest festive gift of all time with her NFL Halftime show at the Texans' Christmas clash with the Baltimore Ravens.

The iconic singer gifted us the perfect Christmas-Cowboy mash-up in her hometown of Houston, performing tracks from her latest album, "Cowboy Carter" -- which all streamed live on Netflix.

As you can see, Bey was in full-energy high gear, delivering tunes like "16 Carriages," "Spaghetti," "Jolene," and "Texas Hold 'Em" ... with special cameos from the likes of Shaboozey and Post Malone.

Drake is not letting a crappy 2024 get him down, because he's fully in the XMAS spirit posing in a massive faux fur coat.

Looks like Drizzy's in Toronto, judging by the snow. He was quick to flex, posting, "Used to look up to some people then I hit a growth spurt…$$$🎁"

It's unclear if he's telegraphing a message to his detractors, in the wake of Kendrick's "Not Like Us" that caused a tidal wave of criticism claiming Drake was a sellout. The $$$ ref is undeniable -- Drake has killed it in that department.

Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott's daughter, Stormi lent a helping hand alongside her father over the weekend at a local Houston toy drive organized by Travis' foundation.

TS and Stormi were on hand at the Winter Wonderland Park toy and food drive in the rapper’s hometown where hundreds of families stopped by. All eyes were on Stormi who sported a festive red Santa hat, and a cozy coat.

During a brief break from giving out presents, Travis was seen capturing a sweet moment on his iPhone of his daughter posing for the camera.

Struggling to come up with food ideas for Beyoncé's Christmas Day halftime show? Fear not ... celeb chef Andrew Zimmern is offering up some snack hacks to help you crush it at the Dec. 25 party!!

The host of "Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern" tells TMZ Sports ... the real key is variety.

According Zimmern, there will be two types of people at Yoncé's concert -- ones who will be glued to the TV ... and the others who will enjoy the audio while making their way to the food table.