TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

BlocBoy JB is a wanted man in his home state of Tennessee ... according to police, who say he's facing multiple criminal charges.

The Shelby County Sheriff's Office tweeted out the news Saturday about the local Memphis MC, saying BB JB -- real name James Baker -- is wanted for possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia, being a convicted felon in possession of a handgun, and for theft of property.

It's unclear what incident these charges stem from, but cops are asking the public for any information about his current whereabouts.

BlocBoy's Instagram story has been quiet over the past 24 hours, but he posted a photo of himself with a tagged location of Memphis, TN just last weekend.

You'll recall ... BlocBoy JB is one of many celebs currently suing the developers of Fortnite for allegedly ripping off his Shoot dance and throwing it in the game ... calling it the Hype dance.

2/8 -- A spokesperson with the Georgia State Patrol tells TMZ ... a trooper noticed an orange Corvette fail to signal when changing lanes before speeding past cars in a reckless manner.

Cops say the Corvette also sped past the trooper and swerved in and out of traffic at a high rate of speed before getting stuck in traffic. But, as the trooper finally caught up, the Corvette tried accelerating and change lanes but was unable to do so due to the traffic.

That's when the trooper gave the rapper verbal commands -- get out of the car and lay on the ground, and cops say Lil Baby complied. The spokesperson said the rapper -- gov't name Dominique Jones -- was taken into custody without incident. Cops say a crowd did gather -- which is how the video was taken of the incident -- but said they were peaceful.

Cops say the rapper was turned over to a detention staff without incident. He was charged with failure to use a turn signal, reckless driving and fleeing or attempting to elude.

8:08 PM PT -- Law enforcement sources tell TMZ Lil Baby has now been released.

Lil Baby just got arrested by police in Georgia who hauled him out of his car on a highway to slap the cuffs on him ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Lil Baby was arrested Thursday in Atlanta for failure to signal, eluding police and reckless driving. We're told he's expected to be released once he posts bond later tonight.

The video of the Atlanta rapper's arrest is wild ... it shows Lil Baby face down in the middle of the street, with his hands behind his back and a police officer pinning him to the ground. Lil Baby is in the tracksuit, laying down outside the orange Corvette.

As we reported ... Lil Baby started off the week like a boss, arriving at the Stripper Bowl in a helicopter!

What a difference 3 days make.

We reached out to the Atlanta Police Department, but they say they had nothing to do with the arrest.

Originally Published -- 4:50 PM PT

BlocBoy JB is following suit with a lot of other artists by filing his own suit against the creators of Fortnite for allegedly stealing a dance he popularized ... TMZ has learned.

BB JB just sued Epic Games -- the company behind Fortnite Battle Royale -- for allegedly ripping off his dance the "Shoot" and throwing it into their game with a different name ... the "Hype" dance.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, BlocBoy claims he's the creator of the dance, and that Epic Games didn't get permission to use it in Fortnite. Once again, he claims that while he hadn't registered a copyright on the dance when Fortnite used it ... he says he's in the process of locking it down now.

He's being repped by David L. Hecht and Sandy Lal.

Lots of other rappers and social media figures have filed similar suits -- including one Alfonso Ribeiro, who's got beef with the "Carlton" dance being used in the game, as well as Backpack Kid, who claims the game creators stole his move, "The Floss" -- and they all seem to have the same claim ... we popularized a dance, and therefore its ours.

Good luck, fellas.

Quavo knows the way to a woman's heart, because he's lavishing his rapper girlfriend with some custom diamond jewelry ... and the super sweet gesture cost him a fat check!

We're told the Migos rapper ordered some cute snowflake bling as a Christmas gift for Saweetie ... and he hit up Icebox in Atlanta for the diamond pendant and chain, which we're told carries a price tag of around $75,000!!!

Our sources say the snowflake jewelry is loaded with baguette diamonds, just like Quavo's new $250k diamond grillz. We're told Quavo rolled into Icebox right before Christmas to personally scoop up the bling.

Orlando Brown has an explanation for why he was rocking snake eyes on "Dr. Phil" -- and, as it turns out, he might've just been in a festive mood.

TMZ has obtained a new clip previewing Orlando's upcoming appearance, in which Dr. Phil attempts to help Orlando amid claims he's suffering from a mental disorder. Phil addresses the elephant snake in the room ... what's with the contacts, bro?

Orlando bursts into laughter and describes them as some sort of homage to Michael Jackson's "Thriller." Phil tried to play off the awkward moment by calling it a Halloween gag.

The interview was shot around mid-October ... so it kinda makes sense.

Still, the MJ reference comes off as troubling ... especially in light of Orlando's friend telling Dr. Phil that OB sometimes claims Michael is his father.

As we reported ... Orlando's pal says the one-time Disney Channel star has burned just about all his bridges.

Lil Baby's showing he's a real hands-on dad ... especially when it comes to giving his son the bling he deserves.

The Atlanta rapper wanted to do something special for his 3-year-old boy, Jason, as sort of a late birthday/early Christmas present ... and also to celebrate his new album dropping. So, we're told he went to Icebox with a $25k budget and they went to work ... and so did Lil Baby.

We're told the rapper wanted 2 pieces for his boy -- a "Baby Jason" pendant and a smaller "Jason" one -- and he personally wanted to be a part of making it.

Lil Baby stopped by the shop and they showed him how to set some of the diamonds. When it was all said and done, his son was dripping in 7 carats of VS diamonds and 14 karat white gold ... hanging on rope gold chains.

Father and son picked up the Icebox ice Thursday and wore them to his show that night at the Roxy in Atlanta. Gotta say ... the kid looks dope.

7:00 PM PT -- Law enforcement sources tell TMZ, Kim went to bed early last night, because she wasn't feeling well and when family members went to wake her Thursday she was non-responsive. Paramedics pronounced Kim dead at her home.

As for the cause ... we're told she was battling an illness -- either the flu or pneumonia -- over the last few days and was being treated with Saline and vitamins. Authorities are also looking at a recent trip Kim took to Africa, to determine if she contracted a disease.

No illegal drugs were found.

The coroner will perform an autopsy and perform toxicology tests.

5:02 PM PT -- The coroner's van just left Porter's home.

Kim Porter, the model and actress who dated Diddy for 13 years, was found dead Thursday at her L.A. area home ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us they got a call to Porter's Toluca Lake home around noon. Police are still on the scene right now.

According to emergency dispatch audio the call came in as a patient in cardiac arrest.

A source connected to Kim tells us she'd been suffering flu-like symptoms, and possibly pneumonia, for several weeks, but it's still unclear what exactly caused her death. Another source says Kim had contacted her doctor just yesterday complaining she wasn't feeling any better.

Diddy and Kim's relationship spanned more than a decade with several breakups and makeups. They started dating in 1994 and broke up, for the last time, in 2007.

They have 3 children together -- twin girls Jessie James and D'Lila were born in 2006, and she had their son, Christian, in 1998. She also has a son, Quincy Brown, from her previous relationship with Al B. Sure!.

The whole family was last together, in public, supporting Quincy at last month's premiere for his movie, "The Holiday Calendar."

Kim worked as both a model and an actress, and she made appearances on Diddy's show, "I Want to Work for Diddy."

Diddy's rep Cindi Berger tells us, "Sadly, I can confirm the passing of Kim Porter. I ask that you give the families privacy at this time."

Kim was 47.

RIP

XXXTentacion's murder happened in plain view of surveillance cameras, and the haunting video was played in public for the first time Thursday during a Broward County court hearing.

The video shows X walking into the motorcycle dealership in Pompano Beach, FL ... and you see two of the suspects follow him into the building. Later, his BMW is stopped on the street by the gun-wielding suspects.

Surveillance cameras recorded what we'd already known -- that X struggled with his assailants before they opened fire at point-blank range. One of them actually walked around to the passenger side and got into X's car before fleeing the scene.

As we reported, the suspects made off with a Louis Vuitton bag and $50k in cash.

WPLG was in court as prosecutors played the video during a discovery and bail hearing for Robert Allen -- one of 4 suspects charged with the June murder of the rapper.

LeBron James has officially put Kid Ink's Clippers fandom on life support ... 'cause the L.A. rapper tells TMZ Sports he'd root for King James' Lakers in a playoff series with the Clippers!!

The 32-year-old has been all-in with the Clips since he was little ... telling us, "I ride for the underdog."

But, with LBJ in L.A. now ... Kid Ink's doing the unthinkable -- DUMPING HIS OLD TEAM!!

"I've always been riding for LeBron James since high school," he says.

Now ... Kid Ink's not fully ready to commit the L.A. treason ... telling us he atleast won't rock Lakers gear when he cheers on LeBron at Staples Center.

But, you gotta hear the dagger he inserts into Clip City's heart when we ask who he'd root for in a scenario where LeBron has the ball in closing time against the Clippers.

21 Savage was looking out for 21 Savage when he pulled out a gun at that party, so cut the kid some slack for trying to protect himself ... says his friend and fellow rapper, BlocBoy JB.

We got BlocBoy at LAX and asked him about the intense showdown at a pool party he attended in Georgia last weekend. As we reported ... a group of people crashed the shindig and rubbed Savage's crew the wrong way. It got heated, but things escalated when someone from the crashers' crew pulled out a gun, prompting Savage to do the same.

Hip-hop superstar Kid Ink has some advice for NBA GM's looking to hold on to their jobs long-term ... TAKE TRAE YOUNG AS EARLY AS YOU CAN.

We got Ink out at a party for Ethika underwear when he began raving about the record-breaking Oklahoma freshman, who Ink says is his favorite basketball player on the planet.

Ink says Young -- who's averaging 28 points and 9 assists a game (that's after a mini-slump, mind you) -- should be the first player selected cause the dude's got game ... and SWAG!

There's only one point the Ink-Young lovefest won't go to, and that's when we asked Kid if he'd be getting a tattoo (he has hundreds) of Young to show his respect for him.

"That's taking it a little too far."

We get it.

How are the L.A. Angels looking after their killer off-season?

"Lookin' like we about to whoop the Dodgers’ ass" ... and the Yankees' too -- so says ScHoolboy Q.

If you couldn't tell, ScHoolboy's a die-hard Halos fan ... so now that they've added Shohei Otani (AKA the Japanese Babe Ruth), we had to ask the rapper how his squad measured up with the rest of MLB.

Q shot high -- telling us they'd win the battle of Los Angeles AND take out the reigning A.L. champs!!

Guess he's not feelin' the Judge/Giancarlo combo as much as Jimmy Fallon.

Takeoff from Migos is really into space-themed bling, and he just took it to another world ... with an E.T.-looking dude in a diamond space suit.

The piece is plastered in 30 karats of VVS diamonds and includes the official NASA logo for a nice, legit touch. We're told the intergalactic pendant costs $60,000 -- or just under 4 Bitcoin, at last check.

Elliot Avianne, of Avianne & Co Jewelers in NYC, handed off the piece to the rapper this week in Miami.

Takeoff's alien space traveler is the newest addition to his collection of cosmic jewelry ... joining his detachable spaceship ring and his galaxy chain.

We're thinking someone needs a sit-down with Elon Musk, stat!

Rapper ScHoolboy Q's got an ice-cold reality check for Lonzo Ball -- saying the Lakers superstar needs to get the hell out the studio and "STICK TO BASKETBALL."

With Lonzo droppin' more tracks in recent weeks, we had to ask Q if he wanted to get in on the aspiring emcee's career like DJ Mustard and DJ Quik.

His answer -- "HELL NAH! 'Cause I rather see that n***a score some points and get some damn assists."

But Q ain't hatin' ... telling TMZ Sports he just wants Lonzo to be great on the court.

FYI, dude's a huge Lakers fan, but beefs hard with the Dodgers -- straight-up TRASHING the National League champs for chokin' away the World Series.

Playboi Carti will NOT face domestic battery charges stemming from an alleged assault on his GF.

TMZ has learned the L.A. City Attorney will not file charges but instead hold an informal hearing with the rapper and his GF to discuss how best to avoid what went down back in July at LAX.

We broke the story ... Cops said Playboi and his GF got into a heated argument before he admittedly grabbed her by her backpack and yanked her out of the terminal.

The hearing could end with a stern warning, or an order for one or both to enter a counseling program on ways to manage conflict. What's clear is this -- he won't faces charges.

We're told charges could still be filed if he screws up within the year of the incident.

Rap star Kid Ink better hope the L.A. Clippers can win without Chris Paul next year, 'cause if they don't ... he's gonna become a walking TMZ billboard!!

The "Supersoaka" spitter is a HUGE Clips fan! Our camera guy, a big Miami Heat supporter. So when we ran into K.I. out in NYC, we tested his confidence in the team with a wager:

If the Clippers finish with a better record than the Heat next season, our photog will have to get a tattoo of Kid Ink's Batgang crew logo permanently etched on him. But if the Clips end up below Miami in the win column, the rapper's gotta get the TMZ logo tatted on him!!

FYI -- the MIA won 41 games last season. The LAC, 51 ... but that was with CP3.

For being such high stakes, the dude doesn't seem worried one bit. On the other hand, he already has like, a million tattoos. So what's one more?