TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

G-Eazy and Three 6 Mafia's Juicy J shoulda known better when they ripped off the work of some Southern hip-hop legends ... so claim those artists in a new lawsuit.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Memphis-based DJ Squeeky and Gaylon Love say they own the rights to "Looking 4 Da Chewin" and claim G-Eazy's "No Limit" straight-up sampled their 1993 Southern hip-hop classic.

Squeeky and Love claim G-Eazy never got permission to sample the track and are suing for copyright infringement. They also want a slice of the profits from G-Eazy's "No Limit" track, which enjoyed mega-success when it dropped in 2017 as the lead single in G-Eazy's fourth studio album, "The Beautiful & Damned."

It's interesting ... "No Limit" features Cardi B and A$AP Rocky, and the remix also includes French Montana, Belly and Juicy J. But, Squeeky and Love are only going after G-Eazy and Juicy J.

The Memphis artists' lawyer Alcide Honore tells us, for starters, G-Eazy's getting sued because it's his track. As for Juicy J ... he hails from Memphis, so he should have known he was rapping over a popular Southern hip-hop track that first hit the scene in the early '90s. We're told other parties could be added to the lawsuit down the road, but for now, the legal team says G-Eazy and Juicy J bear responsibility.

It's been a rough week for Juicy J and counterpart DJ Paul ... both of whom were slapped with separate lawsuits earlier this week.

Nicki Minaj's husband's past is coming back to bite him in the ass -- he's been arrested by U.S. Marshals on an indictment for failing to register as a sex offender ... TMZ has learned.

Kenneth Petty was in federal custody Wednesday -- we're told he turned himself into the Marshals. According to court docs, he'll face a judge later today. Petty moved to California in July 2019, but according to law enforcement he got pulled over in Beverly Hills in November and that's when his legal troubles started.

We're told Bev Hills PD made a traffic stop on November 15 and determined Petty was a registered sex offender in New York state but had not registered in California ... as required.

He was arrested and released on a $20,000 bond. The L.A. County D.A. charged him for failing to register as a sex offender.

It appears he still didn't check in after that because now the feds are in on the case. He was indicted in federal court for the same thing ... failing to register.

As we've reported, Kenneth's rap sheet includes a 1995 conviction for first-degree attempted rape. He served almost 4 years in NY state prison for the crime and was required to register as a sex offender. If convicted on the federal charge for failure to register, Kenneth faces up to 10 years in prison.

TMZ broke the story ... Nicki and Kenneth hit up the Bev Hills Courthouse to get a marriage license in July ... around the time the couple moved to Cali.

We've reached out to Nicki's camp for comment, so far no word back.

DaBaby's no longer sweating a battery case in Miami ... TMZ's learned prosecutors are dropping the charge but the rapper's not exactly out of the woods just yet.

The Miami State Attorney's Office says it dropped the battery charge against DB claiming one of the alleged victims would NOT cooperate. That alleged victim is a friend of concert promoter, Kenneth Carey. You'll recall Carey was the guy who got beat up and allegedly robbed on video. The other alleged victim is not seen in the video.

Even though the battery charge has been tossed, cops are still investigating the alleged robbery of Carey ... so DaBaby could potentially be charged.

TMZ broke the story ... Carey sued DaBaby claiming DB and his crew beat him to a pulp and in the process jacked his phone, money and credit card over a business deal gone wrong. That lawsuit -- Carey's suing for more than $6 mil -- is still active.

Megan Thee Stallion shoulda known what she was getting into when she signed her first contract with a record label, because she put pen to paper herself ... so says Yung Berg.

We got the "Sexy Can I" rapper at LAX Monday and asked about Meg's beef with her record label -- she claims 1501 won't allow her to drop any new tunes, because she wants to tweak her deal -- and Yung Berg says Meg shouldn't have signed the contract if she didn't like what was in it.

Yung Berg's seeing things from the other side now -- he's rebranded himself as a producer called Hitmaka and is the VP of A&R at Atlantic Records -- and explains why it's super important for young artists to pour over the paperwork before signing the dotted line.

As we reported ... MTS says she was about 20 years old when she signed a contract with 1501 and wasn't aware of a lot of clauses in it until she started getting managed by Jay-Z's Roc Nation.

Megan shouldn't be using youth as an excuse, Yung Berg says, because the music industry is big business, and there's no love lost for anyone.

Of course, Taylor Swift would likely argue differently ... you'll remember, she's in a nasty battle with Scooter Braun after he purchased the rights to her first 6 albums thanks to a deal she signed when she was young.

The good news for MTS and her fans ... YB tells us why she won't stay on ice forever.

Megan Thee Stallion says certain execs at her record label have a rep for "bullying and strong-armed tactics," but she's taking a stand by taking them to court ... and she's already won a major battle.

Meg went on the offensive by filing suit Monday against 1501 Certified Entertainment and its honcho, Carl Crawford. As you know, she's pissed about the contract she signed with the label back when she was 20, and claims it's now blocking her from releasing new music because she wants to renegotiate.

A district judge in Harris County Texas granted Megan a temporary restraining order which prevents her label from blocking the music she plans to drop on Friday.

In the suit, Megan lays out the most outrageous terms of her contract, at least in her eyes. For instance, she claims the deal calls for 1501 Certified to get 60% of her recording income. The remaining 40% goes to her, but she has to use that to pay engineers, mixers and featured artists who work on the songs.

Point is ... MTS claims there's a very small slice of pie left for her when it's all said and done. She also says her live gigs currently benefit the label more than her.

According to the suit, the contract calls for all money from Megan's touring and live performances to be paid directly to 1501 Certified. She says the label is supposed to give her a proper accounting of what she's owed -- but claims what they've provided is incomplete, and "purposefully and deceptively vague."

Megan also claims Crawford has been using his relationship with Rap-a-Lot Records founder J. Prince to intimidate people in the industry. In the suit, she claims Crawford pressured a producer to hand over beats by saying Prince would be pissed. Megan claims, "Prince is notorious in the industry for strong-armed intimidation tactics, and the comment was taken as a physical threat of harm."

Megan thinks Prince has had a hand in an online smear campaign against her ... including the recent story about her getting arrested 5 years ago.

All of these headaches simply aren't worth it to Megan, who says in exchange for signing the contract she got a measly $10,000 advance. Hence, her desire to renegotiate.

She's suing Carl and 1501 Certified Entertainment for at least $1 million in damages. Megan is not suing J. Prince.

BTW, the temporary restraining order she got also prevents the label from attacking or abusing her on social media. Megan's attorney, Richard Busch, tells TMZ, "We are very happy the Court granted our TRO and thrilled that the world should be able to now hear Megan's new music on March 6. We will now proceed with the other claims set forth in the [lawsuit]."

North West is going worldwide ... performing in Paris at her dad's Paris fashion show, and while she's still honing her rapping skills, ya can't say the kid ain't cute ... and loud!!!

Kanye managed to score 6-year-old prodigy North for his Yeezy Season 8 show ... part of Paris Fashion Week. While his models stood silently behind him, per usual, he gave North a mic and she did her thing ... busting out a rap that seemed to double as a review of Ye's new line.

Check it out ... sure, ya might not be able to understand every word outta the kid's mouth, but c'mon ... that's true of most rappers. We definitely made out "cool," "cute" and a whole lot of "YEAH!!!!"

Her Paris debut comes about a week after she showed off her skills at school -- where she was a bit more articulate and audible. Just like then, Ye was by his kid's side in full support.

He's definitely been encouraging her creativity ... which we've also seen on display at Sunday Service.

At this rate, we'll likely see North open for Kanye at his next concert. Might be time to remix one of his and Jay-Z's "Watch the Throne" hits!!!

Doctors tried to save Pop Smoke's life by opening his chest after he was rushed to the hospital with multiple gunshot wounds.

Pop Smoke's death certificate, obtained by TMZ, says doctors performed a thoracotomy on the left side of his chest -- meaning they opened his chest, most likely attempting to remove bullets. As we first reported, he was hit multiple times when masked assailants broke into the Hollywood Hills home where he was staying.

Pop Smoke's cause of death was a gunshot wound to the torso, according to the document. It says the time between the shooting and his death was "rapid."

The rapper -- born Bashar Barakah Jackson -- died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center at 5:12 AM.

The document also reveals his body was transported back to his native Brooklyn. Pop Smoke's family held a private ceremony last weekend for close friends and family.

Megan Thee Stallion says a simple request to renegotiate her contract turned into a stalemate that's keeping a lid on any new tunes.

The rapper took to IG Live Sunday to call her out her record label, 1501, claiming they're not allowing to drop any new music for the time being -- all because, as she claims, MTS asked them to tweak some fine print in the deal she's signed with them at a young age.

Megan says she signed with 1501 when she was about 20 years old, and there were a lot things in her contract with them she simply wasn't aware of -- that is, until she started getting managed by Jay-Z's Roc Nation, which pointed a lot of stuff out to her.

Long story short, Meg says everything was all good and dandy until one day she approached the label and asked to renegotiate ... at which point, she says things went "left."

Megan claims as a result of her asking ... the label has put her and any new tunes on ice. She likens the move to nothing more than greed in its purest form -- and it's clear, there's beef.

Interestingly enough, we actually spoke to the co-founder of Meg's label, ex-MLB player Carl Crawford, and he told us he basically discovered Meg and helped put her on. Didn't sound like there was much friction between her and them at the time -- seems things have changed.

The bad news is for fans, of course -- 'cause if what she's saying is true, it can mean a whole year without some 'Hot Girl' seasons to bless us. Shame ...

Waka Flocka is bringing self-awareness and self-deprecating humor to a whole new level -- saying he was a wack rapper at the peak of his career ... but honest nonetheless.

The hip-hop star was chopping it up with the team at Everyday Struggle, where he made the startling declaration ... that he was wack, he knows he was wack and probably should've stopped rapping way earlier than he actually did. His words, folks ... not ours.

Check out his explanation for yourself ... WFF says he made a massive amount of money around 2012 -- $30 million, apparently -- and says he'd achieved what he'd set out to do in the rap game ... which is to get rich. He insists he didn't need to keep going.

It's funny ... the Everyday crew tries to convince him otherwise -- that he's not wack and actually contributed a lot to the game -- but he remains firm, explaining his hip-hop idols are hardcore lyricists like Nas, KRS-One and others. He says he's simply not near them.

His one saving grace, according to him, was his ability to keep it real. Waka says people probably respected that more than his rapping ability.

Waka might be a little too hard on himself here -- fact is ... the dude put out tons of songs that landed on the Billboard charts, and while they weren't the most lyrically complex ... they were fun as hell for what they were -- and enjoyed by many.

Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott are back together ... at least that's the signal she's giving, and pretty clearly giving at that.

Kylie posted a bunch of pics from the Houston Rocket's Western Conference Quarterfinals back in 2017. It's when she was pregnant with Stormi. Kylie and Trav certainly look couply. She captioned the photos, "It's a mood."

She posted pics of Travis whispering in her ear, another staring into each other's eyes ... get the picture?

Kylie also modeled shoes Travis released Saturday ... Nike SB Dunk low trainers. BTW ... they've gone from $150 a pop online to $1,000.

Pop Smoke's murder is still a mystery, and police are making little progress in finding suspects due to a variety of issues ... but they're still pressing on.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... detectives have hit a road block in the rapper's murder investigation, specifically with regard to witness testimony. We've heard it before -- a lot of people are simply refusing to talk. But also ... a lot of the info they're getting is sketchy.

Our sources say among the potential witnesses cops have spoken with, stories have either changed or are provably untrue. Also, because nobody was outside or nearby Pop's house when the crime occurred ... they have no neutral witnesses.

To make matters worse ... we're told investigators have wasted time looking into videos posted online allegedly connected to the murder, but they've all ended up unrelated to the case.

Likewise, with the case being bi-coastal -- Smoke was killed in L.A. but lived in NYC -- cops have had to spend extra time and effort tracking down people.

Finally, even though the murder appears to be a targeted hit and not a robbery ... our law enforcement sources say they're still having trouble coming up with a motive.

Cops are working all leads and resources possible in the meantime, but it seems they're in desperate need of a break in the case.

Diddy's ready to get down to recruiting in the ATL for his "Making the Band" reboot ... and he's relying on some serious hometown talent to help him get it done.

Production sources tell TMZ ... the music mogul's locked down Quavo, Monica and 112 to serve as advisers when 'MTB' kicks off its official open casting call Friday in Atlanta's famed Center Stage Theater.

And, get this ... Quality Control Music honchos Pierre "Pee" Thomas and Kevin "Coach K" Lee -- who claim Cardi B and Migos, among others, to their label -- have also signed on to help Diddy find the next R&B supergroup.

The casting call goes from 10 AM to 6 PM ... with invitation-only callbacks slated to go down Saturday. The casting call will eventually make its way to Houston, Charlotte and NYC.

And, speaking of Charlotte ... DaBaby's lending Diddy a hand in his hometown. He's already signed up to help there. The show returns to MTV later this year.

As we reported ... Diddy made a surprise announcement back in July 2019 about a possible "Making the Band" reboot. He had some doubts but ultimately forged ahead. And there's been no shortage of former 'MTB' stars wanting to get back in the game.

Offset's officially following the lead of his wife -- he's adding actor to his resume ... along with hip-hop star.

The Migos rapper's set to make his acting debut on "NCIS: Los Angeles" and TMZ got a sneak peek. Offset plays the role of an undercover CIA agent being approached by the show's stars -- Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J -- to save a special agent who's been captured.

Gotta say, it's pretty solid ... much like Cardi B's Hollywood debut last year in "Hustlers."

As an added bonus, Offset's guest spot will feature the world premiere of his new track, "Danger" .... which you can hear in the clip.

According to a behind-the-scenes vid ... LL says Offset hit him up about getting involved with the hit CBS show and he helped him get going, but Offset did the rest.

They say the role is significant because it's not the normal rapper-turned-actor typecast situation ... and it's clear they're pretty stoked about that.

Future says his alleged baby mama's treating her baby girl like an ATM to squeeze money out of him, and he even claims she's given the child a nickname ... "check baby."

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the rapper claims Eliza Seraphin has referred to the 9-month-old little girl by that phrase. Future's lawyers define the term as "slang terminology describing a child conceived solely for the purposes of extorting monies from the father of a child in the child support setting."

Translation: Future's claiming Eliza got knocked up just to get money out of him. TBH, it's a claim he's made before, but now he's claiming even Eliza cops to it.

In the docs, the rapper claims one of her friends alleged, during an online interview, Eliza had gone as far as researching the amount of child support Future paid to his other baby mamas ... just to see what she could get out of him.

What's more, Future claims that friend also said Eliza started taking fertility pills to increase her chances of getting impregnated by Future.

He says the kid only needs around $450 per month -- a number he based on a financial affidavit Eliza filed in court, detailing her monthly expenses. Anything above that is a money grab, in Future's eyes.

Post Malone proved he can read a crowd ... busting out an awesome custom tee honoring his late pal, Mac Miller, which got concert-goers on their feet and 100% amped.

The singer was performing Monday night at the PPG Paints Arena in Mac's hometown ... and he came out wearing an oldie but goodie that was custom-made to pay tribute to the rapper -- who tragically died of an overdose about 2 years ago.

It's a white T-shirt that's been decked out to read "RIP Mac Miller" with super-dope designs and airbrush lettering. Post originally started wearing the shirt shortly after MM passed.

Sounds like it was a good move to don it yet again in the Steel City, 'cause we're told the audience went crazy -- the energy in the place exponentially jumped, especially when Post and his shirt got splashed across the big screen monitors behind him.

The crowd was definitely into it -- you can hear them helping Posty sing along to his own tune ... even though it doesn't appear he attempted to cover a Mac Miller song while up there. Probably better that way, no one could do it quite like the man himself.

Lil Nas X got his week started with what looks to be a brand new music video -- and like he has in the past ... it seems he's about to wow us with a crazy production.

The rapper was filming Monday atop a parking structure in Downtown L.A., where a set had been built resembling an intricate tree house of sorts. It ain't your usual kid-built MacGyver job either ... the "houses" almost look like apartments.

Check it out ... you see people coming in and out of the entrances, including LNX who had an interesting outfit on -- blue coat, brown pants, and polka-dotted shirt underneath. Feels like this thing could get pretty wacky.

Remember, Lil Nas is known for his over-the-top music vids -- which are top-notch and pull out all the stops on visual effects, props, set design, costumes ... and of course, animals.

His most successful song and video to date is "Old Town Road," which has racked up over 440 million views on YouTube. His other videos haven't really come close to that, but they're just as highly produced and elaborate. Based on what we see here, he's keeping that going.

The big question, of course, is what song this could possibly be for. He already did videos for his 3 big singles off his debut EP, "7," and has recently teased "new bangers" in 2020.