TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

The Black Mamba's presence will be felt every time Drake steps foot on his insane home indoor basketball court ... 'cause the rapper has installed a touching tribute for Kobe Bryant.

Drizzy showed off the new artwork while spending some alone time at his "Sanctuary" court Monday night ... displaying a massive #8 and #24 on either side of the scoreboard.

Just like most of the world, it looks like Drake is practicing social distancing due to the coronavirus pandemic ... which means he can work on his J from the comfort of his Toronto mansion.

Of course, tons of celebs and athletes have been honoring the late NBA superstar following the tragic helicopter crash earlier this year -- from tributes like LeBron James' tattoo to Derrick Henry's new chain.

As for Drake's mansion ... the place is insane and even has a singing toilet. So, the whole isolation thing ain't all that bad for Drake.

BlocBoy JB is lucky to be alive after a stunt that came incredibly close to disaster -- he jumped from a balcony into a pool ... but nearly smashed into concrete.

Video of the rapper surfaced this week, showing him leap from what appears to be a second-story balcony at an apartment complex or hotel. His plan, if he had one, was to land in the pool. He ended up barely clearing the edge, and did NOT walk away unscathed.

Watch the video ... while he landed in the water, it had to be pretty shallow. His ankle looked a little banged up.

One of his buddies who's recording video even says BlocBoy almost killed himself. Possibly a slight exaggeration -- it was only 2 stories -- but you can tell this could've at least ended in serious injury.

Nicki Minaj's husband really wants to get back to surfing the Internet ... something he's currently barred from doing due to his pending criminal case.

Kenneth Petty just submitted legal docs, obtained by TMZ, begging a California judge to allow him to use the World Wide Web.

As you know ... Kenneth recently registered as a sex offender in Cali after getting arrested for allegedly failing to do so when he moved to the state with Nicki. One of the terms of his pretrial release -- he can't use the web unless approved by a supervisor.

According to the docs, prosecutors have already agreed to Kenneth's request ... so now, it's up to the judge to sign off.

BTW ... Petty's status as a sex offender stems from a 1995 New York conviction for first-degree attempted rape.

Kenneth, who pled not guilty to failing to register as a sex offender, has a curfew and is being required to wear an ankle monitor as he waits for next month's court date. His travel is also restricted to Southern California.

Sounds pretty boring ... especially offline.

DaBaby just got slapped back ... with a lawsuit from the woman who claims the rapper smacked the hell outta her at a recent concert.

Tyronesha Laws just filed the suit, claiming she was minding her own damn business when the rapper, "suddenly and without any warning," lashed out and brutally and violently struck her in the face last weekend during his Tampa gig.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, Tyronesha says she was in the crowd of concertgoers waiting for DB to take the stage. She says he did not simply walk on the stage to begin his performance, and instead, proceeded through the crowd with his entourage, and "without incident." Until he got to her.

She claims DaBaby expressed no remorse for his slap and points out the rapper made fun of the situation on social media when he posted a skit featuring comedian Michael Blackson.

Laws' attorneys, Matt Morgan and Chelsea Cromer of Morgan and Morgan, say the incident was "outrageous and shocking." Her legal team added, "Our goal is to deter similar conduct in the future and send a message that this type of behavior is not tolerated in America."

Remember, Tyronesha told us she was NOT the person who put a phone right in DaBaby's face. She insists she was standing next to the person who did that when DB unleashed his anger.

On the other hand, DB's lawyer, Drew Findling, told us Laws is NOT the person his client slapped and added alleged victims are coming out of the woodwork.

DaBaby is vehemently denying a woman's claim she was on the receiving end of his vicious slap -- the rapper admits hitting someone, but says alleged victims are coming outta the woodwork.

We broke the story ... DaBaby brutally assaulted a fan before his Saturday night gig in Tampa while walking through the crowd. Tyronesha Laws claims she's the one DaBaby slapped, but his legal team says not so fast.

DaBaby's attorney, Drew Findling, tells TMZ ... enhanced video shows DaBaby slapping an individual who struck his left eye with what appears to be a phone with the flashlight on -- NOT the person standing to the left or the right of the individual shoving the phone in his face.

That's interesting because Tyronesha told us she was standing next to a young lady who reached with a phone -- flashlight activated -- toward DaBaby right before he allegedly smacked her in the face.

Findling says his law firm has been contacted by multiple people claiming to be the victim, but they haven't been able to establish the real identity.

DaBaby's already apologized to the woman he struck, saying he thought he was hitting a guy and couldn't tell the difference because of the light in his face.

Clearly not the greatest explanation for the violence

Kevin Durant enlisted one of his good buddies to keep his spirits high during his Achilles recovery on Tuesday night  ... hitting up an L.A. hot spot together for a night on the town.

Oh, yeah ... and that friend is Drake!!!

Of course, KD is still working to get back on the court following the devastating injury he suffered in Game 5 of the NBA Finals last season ... and it's been going VERY well -- the dude is already dunking in pick-up games again!!

The Brooklyn Nets superstar stayed busy while his team was in town to play the LA Lakers ... hitting up The Nice Guy in West Hollywood for a good time.

FYI -- Drake and KD are solid buds despite their teams going against each other in the Finals last season ... and Drizzy was very emotional in the crowd when Durant went down with the injury.

On top of that, Aubrey loves to name-drop Durant in his songs ... so the meet-up ain't all that surprising.

DaBaby's really not sorry for smacking the hell out of a woman over the weekend ... at least according to the victim, who says his apology is sorely lacking.

The woman on the receiving end of DaBaby's brutal slap, Tyronesha Laws, tells TMZ ... the rapper's mea culpa is empty and the proof is on his social media. Tyronesha got choked up when she told us about seeing a comedic skit about the incident the rapper posted.

We broke the story ... DaBaby brutally assaulted a fan Saturday night in Tampa on his way to the stage. Tyronesha told us what led up to the insanely violent blow, saying she wasn't even the person who put the flash in his face.

She says she's embarrassed by everything that's happened since that fateful moment, telling us it's really "hateful."

She's referring to DaBaby's skit with Michael Blackson -- they reenacted the incident, clearly making light of it, but Tyronesha ain't laughing.

She says online trolls are making her life, and her daughter's, a living hell.

Tyronesha's already lawyered up ... and says she was diagnosed with a bruised cheekbone as a result of the vicious smack.

Tee Grizzley says he no longer has beef with Eminem and Royce da 5'9" ... and he's chalking it all up to a classic case of a misunderstanding.

Here's the deal ... Tee Grizzley blasted Royce after he revealed he'd advised Eminem to hold off on collaborating with the up-and-coming Detroit rapper until TG had another hit to his name.

Now, Tee Grizzley says he talked to Royce and smoothed things over ... and he wants to do the same with Em.

As you know ... Royce said he convinced Eminem to not work with Tee Grizzley just yet, so Em wouldn't get credit for helping TG blow up. Royce and Em were gonna sit back and wait, and then Tee Grizzley took a shot at Eminem.

The diss -- "I run Detroit, n****s talkin' 'bout Eminem. Talking that s**t, I kill you, him, and him."

Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott are officially a thing again ... and they have been for several weeks now.

Sources close to the couple tell TMZ ... Kylie and Travis are back together romantically but they're not quite ready to put a title on their relationship, even though they regularly sleep under the same roof, share a child and don't see other people.

Our sources say Kylie and Travis both benefited from last year's breakup ... the time apart was good for both parties because they needed some space. Remember, their initial relationship in 2017 moved very fast because she got pregnant with Stormi right after they first started dating at Coachella.

Fact is ... Kylie and Travis work well on several levels ... in addition to a strong family bond, they both lead full and successful professional lives.

There were tons of clues leading up to this official reconciliation. Kylie and Travis celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas together as a family and reunited for Stormi's second birthday party, plus a trip to Disney World.

Travis also sent Kylie flowers on Valentine's Day and she gave her own signal in her recent social media activity with her "It's a mood" post.

Now, the band is officially back together.

DaBaby brutally assaulted a fan Saturday night as he made his way to the stage, and the crowd was so enraged at him the show ended before it began.

The rapper was at Whiskey North in Tampa for his "Up Close N Personal" tour when a woman waved her phone in his direction, presumably to get a pic. Check out the video ... you see DaBaby unload on her.

Folks at the concert tell TMZ ... after the initial shock subsided, the crowd started booing the rapper. DaBaby and his crew left without performing a single song. Check out the strike from a different angle too, BTW. It's a straight up open palm slap across the face.

You can hear people shriek in horror as DB calmly walks away, and the crowd around the woman bend over to help her. Eerily to similar to another incident DaBaby's bodyguard was involved in back in September ... when the guy KO'd a girl, whom he thought was a guy.

Now, DaBaby has spoken on this. He went on his Instagram story to share a video of the incident, saying, "who know shawty government name so my lawyer can get active."

Cops showed up -- responding to a 911 assault call -- but no arrests were made.

DaBaby's had his share of problems recently. He was recently accused of beating up and robbing a guy in Miami. The battery charges were dropped but he's still under the microscope for robbery -- he allegedly jacked the guy's cellphone, credit card and cash.

Lil Baby's concert Saturday night ended abruptly after gunshots rang out and at least one person was injured.

Check out the video ... you hear the shots and then the panic in the crowd. The rapper was performing at the Bill Harris Arena in West Birmingham, Alabama when someone in the crowd began firing rounds. Some fans hit the floor ... others ran out of the venue.

At least one person was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. The person's condition is not known.

What we do know is this ... there was some sort of physical altercation before the shots rang out, so it appears this was targeted.