TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Quavo, and presumably Migos, are off the Grammys and onboard with J. Prince's idea to protest the awards by putting on a hip hop concert to compete with it on the same night!!!

We talked to Quavo Wednesday at LAX, and he told us the Grammys don't mean a thing anymore. Take a listen, he says it's time to start "our own awards ... that appreciate the real s**t going on in the streets."

He thinks the way the Recording Academy classifies his genre is out of touch, calling it an "old language" ... especially because rappers like Quavo are the ones doing the creating, not them.

As you'll recall, Rap-A-Lot Records founder J. Prince called for artists like Ye, Drake and Nicki Minaj to put the Grammys on notice with their own Vegas concert on April 3, the night of the award show. The idea is fully in response to the Academy banning Ye from performing due to "concerning online behavior."

Prince says the only way to make change is prove Grammy ratings will drop when hip hop's biggest artists jump ship to do their own show instead.

We also got New Edition's Ronnie DeVoe and he says statements like this are necessary, because traditional award shows aren't exactly known for inclusivity.

Forget whoever comes up in Google, Soulja Boy is the original creator of TikTok ... at least, according to the rapper himself.

The "Crank That" rapper sat down with Raq on the "It's Tricky With Raquel Harper" podcast and talked about all things TikTok ... and the impact he feels he's made on the app.

Big Draco (partially) joked around saying, he created TikTok and the folks making money behind the app need to pay up. As you know, TikTok has had huge success, reaching 1 billion users.

Many songs go viral with choreographed dances on the app ... a trend Soulja says he started back in 2007 with his hit single "Crank That (Soulja Boy)." And, while he didn't quite create the app ... he raises a fair point.

All in all, though, Soulja says he's a fan of the app. He added, his song "She Make It Clap" was only able to reach new heights because of TikTok ... like climbing to no. 1 on Billboard, getting him a record deal and prompting some of Hollywood's biggest names to listen and whip out their dance moves.

Of course, it hasn't been all easy breezy for Soulja. You'll recall, he got the boot from Kanye's "Donda" album ... and Ye even trashed his verse in an interview. Eventually, they ironed out their beef and SB joked it all off.

Though he may have had some trouble getting a hit with Ye, it seems TikTok surely has welcomed him with opened arms ... and he's had huge success.

Drake is once again subscribing to God's plan -- throwing down big on roulette and giving back to the community just as much as he won ... with none other than LeBron James!

Champagne Papi made a massive donation over the weekend, offering up a cool mil in Bitcoin to the LeBron James Family Foundation -- which focuses on charitable efforts for underprivileged students, among other initiatives -- and did so in partnership with Stake.com ... an online gambling house that Drizzy uses early and often, and which facilitated this dough.

You see ... Drake actually placed a massive bet recently on one of their online roulette tables -- wagering a hefty sum on black 11 -- and when it hit ... the dude got paid out big time.

Part of that money is what was donated to the LBJ Foundation -- and Bron Bron was actually on hand in Toronto Friday to usher in the gracious gesture, hitting up a fancy restaurant in the area called Harbour 60.

It wasn't just these 2 patting each other on the back though -- Drake had a huge surprise for a local high school basketball player named Michael (of Royal Crown Academy) who's on his way to a college career. To send him off properly, Drake donated $100k to him and his mom.

Drake and co. actually captured that sweet moment on camera as well ... and it was very reminiscent of when he was handing out cash to strangers a few years back -- and just as emotional.

Damon Dash isn't here for the Grammys yanking Kanye West from its performance lineup ... insisting the Recording Academy has no place judging him or any other hip-hop artist.

We caught up with the rap mogul Tuesday at LAX, and he's so pissed about the Ye-Grammys situation that he says it's time to kick the whole award show to the curb ... telling us, "We make our own Grammys."

Remember, even though he can't perform, Ye can attend the show -- so, we asked what he thinks would happen if he wins and gets on stage to accept his Grammy. DD says it shouldn't ever come to that, because he's encouraging Ye to skip it altogether.

Damon's embracing the theory the Grammys are outdated and out of touch with hip hop -- and tells us he didn't go either when he was nominated.

He's clearly over Academy execs judging who's hot and who's not in the industry.

As Dame puts it, "They gotta respect our culture."

As we reported, Kanye was barred from performing at this year's award show, due to his "concerning online behavior" ... ya know, his online attacks against ex-wife Kim Kardashian, her new bf Pete Davidson and a slew of others.

Lots of folks have jumped to Ye's defense, including Grammys host Trevor Noah -- at whom Kanye fired some online shots -- saying he wanted the rapper to get counseled, not canceled.

Damon's idea is picking up steam. On Tuesday, J. Prince called on hip-hop artists -- including Ye, Drake and Nicki Minaj -- to protest the award show, and get together to perform an anti-Grammys concert.

He's going for the Recording Academy's neck, too ... he wants to do the concert in Las Vegas on April 3 -- the same night and location of the Grammys.

One of Young Dolph's suspected killers apparently has some enemies behind bars ... because he was recently attacked by another inmate.

Justin Johnson, who is in custody on a slew of charges including first-degree murder, was punched by a fellow inmate at Tennessee's Shelby County Jail while in the middle of a phone call Friday ... his attorney tells TMZ.

Johnson's lawyer, Juni Ganguli, says JJ was on the phone in the jail's visitation area when an inmate walked up and socked him. We're told there is no word on a motive and Johnson was not severely injured.

A rep for the Shelby County Sheriff's Office tells TMZ ... there was an incident Friday involving Johnson and another inmate, and it's under investigation. We're told there were no reported injuries.

Remember ... Johnson was named as a suspect in Young Dolph's murder earlier this year, and in January he was captured and arrested by U.S. Marshalls. He claims he is innocent.

Chris Brown couldn't pass up an impromptu performance ... taking the mic at his friend's birthday bash to sing one of his hits!

Chris was a guest at the party of Umar Kamani, founder and CEO of fashion retailer PrettyLittleThing, at La Casita in L.A. Monday night.

While he was only invited as a guest, it didn't stay that way for long -- Chris dusted off his classic, "Take You Down," and the crowd went crazy! Everyone joined in ... harmonizing with the singer -- Stevie Mackey, who's worked with the likes of J Lo and Selena Gomez, played away on the piano.

Christina Milian also took the mic at the bash! Other party guests included will.i.am, Snoop Dogg, and Tank ... most of which performed!

Rihanna might have love on the brain ... rocking a massive diamond on her ring finger while doing some baby prep!

RiRi's expecting her first child with boyfriend A$AP Rocky ... she was out shopping for baby clothes Monday in L.A. at Kitson. The huge rock -- which she's worn before on different fingers in the past -- was now exactly where it should be ... if, of course, an engagement actually went down.

She was wearing the same bling back in November on her middle finger as she was named Barbados' 11th National Hero.

The Rihanna diamond goes back to July 2021 ... she was wearing it on her right ring finger while shooting a music video with A$AP in New York.

She was also wearing a fitted tee ... proudly showing off her growing baby bump.

As we reported, the couple announced their pregnancy at the end of January. They started dating in early 2020.

Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott are going back to the drawing board on baby names ... she says they are changing their newborn son's name from Wolf.

Kylie made the announcement Monday, explaining she and Travis just really didn't feel like the name suited their son, who is not yet 7 weeks old. So, he can't say he was attached to Wolf.

It's unclear what Kylie and Travis are calling their boy now -- she's only saying it's not Wolf and they wanted folks to know because Kylie is apparently tired of seeing him referred to by that name.

As we first told you ... the baby's full name at birth was Wolf Jacques Webster and it's on the kid's birth certificate, so there will be a legal process to changing his name.

Little baby boy Webster's middle name, Jacques, is actually Travis' birth name ... so it will be interesting to see if his parents only change one name, or wipe the slate clean and start all over from scratch.

Megan Thee Stallion isn't walking away from her record label without a fight -- 1501 Certified Entertainment is suing, claiming her last "album" actually wasn't an album ... and she owes more recordings and a lot of money.

The label's countersuit, filed Monday, calls out Megan for her "Something for Thee Hotties" album release last year. Megan had sued 1501 back in February to declare the record fulfilled her contract.

Not so fast, according to 1501 ... which calls the record nothing more than a compilation of old, previously-released material. According to docs, obtained by TMZ, the label says 'Something' is "made up of 21 recordings and includes spoken interlude recordings on which MTS does not appear as well as several previously-released recordings."

As far as any new MTS material on the "album" -- 1501 says there's a mere 29 minutes worth of it, and to them, that's not enough to qualify as an album under her deal.

In the suit, the label says Megan is well aware any album she makes must include at least 12 "new master recordings of studio performances," and they have to be previously unreleased. Most importantly, 1501 says it has to approve all the tracks ... and it claims that didn't happen when Megan put together "Something for Thee Hotties."

Now, 1501 Certified Entertainment wants the judge to declare, once and for all, that 'Something' doesn't count as an album under her contract. If that's the case, she would owe the label 2 more albums.

The label also wants a full accounting of what Megan's made from "collaborations, sponsorships, endorsements, and side engagements" ... because she would owe the label a cut of that revenue. 1501 claims she's never revealed those numbers, and believes its share of those deals could exceed $1 million.

Kim Kardashian played dinner host in Miami over the weekend for some of her hottest and most famous friends to celebrate the launch of her SKIMS Swim line ... and you can bet Hulu cameras were there, too.

The whole thing went down Saturday at Swan -- David Grutman and Pharrell's restaurant -- where guests dined on pizza, prawns, artichokes, brussels sprouts and more.

As for the guestlist, Khloe Kardashian, Naomi Osaka, Karolina Kournikova, Amanda Anisimova, Malika Haqq,  Candice Swanepoel, Lourdes Leon, and Emma Grede -- to name a few.

We're told Kim opened the dinner with a toast to thank everyone for attending the big launch ... something she and her team have put a ton of work into. Hulu cameras were on hand to capture Kim's entire trip.

TMZ broke the story -- lines for the SKIMS Swim popup in South Beach were INSANE over the weekend ... Kim, Khloe and friends Olivia Pierson, Natalie Halcro, Stephanie Shepherd and Tracy Romulus all stopped by the shop before the celebratory dinner.

Doggface, aka Nathan Apodaca, is officially rolling with the big dogs after skating his way to fame ... 'cause dude has made a rapping debut alongside Snoop Dogg!!!

You might remember Doggface as the guy who went viral skateboarding to a Fleetwood Mac classic, "Dreams" back in 2020. Well, now he seems to be on to bigger and better things.

The song -- titled "Low Rider" is Klypso's and it features Snoop Dogg, Doggface and War. The star-studded video features George Lopez, Cheech and Chong, Princess Love and Dr. Miami.

We're told the music vid cost around $300K to produce, with nearly $100K going to Snoop ... and a big chunk of the budget going to production.

Check out the short clip ... we're told the music video was filmed over 4 days, partly at Snoop's compound and the rest at a Burbank studio.

The song is a spin-off of the original (by War), so it makes sense why those celebs were chosen to make a cameo ... you'll recall, Cheech and Chong, played the original "Low Rider" in their iconic flick, "Up in Smoke" ... and the tune is also the theme song for George Lopez's self-titled sitcom, "George Lopez."

Soulja Boy is about to have himself a little junior running around, because the dude is having his first kid ever ... plus, the identity of the woman carrying their baby has been revealed.

The legendary rapper made the surprise announcement Saturday, posting a video of himself at a gender reveal party in what appears to be a hillside mansion somewhere here in L.A. SB throws down an egg, and it explodes with a ton of blue dust ... AKA, it's a boy!!!

There's a young lady next to Soulja while all the celebrating is going down, who he embraces with a kiss. Sure enough, that's his baby mama, but until now, not many knew who she was ... 'cause Big Draco didn't tag her, nor has he been linked to her publicly.

We did a little digging and figured out who she is -- her name is Jackie -- and she's a celebrity hairstylist living in L.A. She posted the same video to her own IG page (among others) and has been getting tons of congratulatory messages left and right.

Now, while it's unclear how long she's been with Soulja and just how far along she is in the pregnancy ... the one thing we do know about her is she's very plugged into the biz.

Jackie's done hair work for the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Brandy, Nicki Minaj, Elyanna, The Weeknd, French Montana, Cordae, Rich the Kid, Ty Dolla $ign and yes ... even Kim K. Needless to say, she's quite successful -- and now, she's about to be a new mom.

Julia Fox is doing a moonwalk after she told TMZ her ex, Kanye West, wouldn't hurt a fly.

When we got Julia outside Barry's Bootcamp a few days back in WeHo, she called Ye's rants "artistic, creative expression," though she said she wasn't following his blow-by-blow social media attacks against Kim and Pete.

Well, apparently she started looking more closely, because Julia posted -- then deleted -- "I would like to point out that I had not seen the latest Instagram posts at the time of this video," adding, "Believe it or not I have a life and a son, and I don't have google alerts for this man!"

And then the comment that's hard to swallow ... "I thought this question was in reference to the music video."

Julia, who dated Kanye for a few weeks, says she's stuck between a rock and a hard place ... "Yeah I could just not answer questions but then it would be 'Julia is mad she salty' etc and I'm not! It's a real catch 22 so please stop F'n asking me!"

And then, as if she's as perplexed as the millions of people who follow Kanye, she said, "I wish I had the answers, but I do not. I would like to remain an Indie Queen. The mainstream life isn't for me."

Hey Julia ... even Switzerland's taking a stand these days.

Jake Paul says his $60 million offer to get Kanye West and Pete Davidson to take their beef to the boxing ring is NOT a publicity stunt ... telling TMZ Sports he wants the two to stop fighting for the sake of Ye and Kim's kids.

We spoke to the "Problem Child" about his decision to get in the middle of the biggest feud of the year ... and he says he's worried about how Ye and Kim's kids will handle watching the two grown men bicker online.

"I'm kinda sick of them going back and forth on social media and I think its affecting the kids' lives, like Kanye and Kim's kids," Jake tells us. "They're gonna be the ones that take the most trauma from this."

Of course, Kanye's antics recently got him temporarily banned from Instagram ... and he's openly argued with Kim, Pete, Trevor Noah and more over the past few weeks.

Paul -- who's been outspoken about the positive benefits of boxing -- isn't making light of the situation ... he seriously thinks this could help end the beef for good and both sides can move on.

Jake says his Most Valuable Promotions will handle everything -- as long as they show up and do their thing in the ring, they'll get their $30 mill AND some pay-per-view bucks, too.

As for the money ... Jake says that's no problem, and he's already got financial backers involved ... even though he didn't need them.

"Everyone knows I was the highest-paid boxer last year," Jake says. "I can guarantee the money myself, but we have partners and stuff. The money's good."

Erica Campbell says if Kanye West is trying to be a man of God for Sunday Service, he should practice what he preaches during the week ... something she's just not seeing.

We got the Gospel singer in New York City and asked about Kanye's contention he's a man of God ... and how it stacks up with his recent behavior toward Kim Kardashian, Pete Davidson, D.L. Hughley and Trevor Noah.

Erica says Kanye can't only follow the Lord's teachings on Sundays ... she says he needs to carry it over Monday through Saturday, but it doesn't mean being a perfect person either.

Erica thinks Ye needs to be kinder, more gracious, patient, understanding and faithful during the week ... if he's truly a man of God, as he claims.

As you know ... Kanye's been lashing out at a bunch of folks on social media and in his music, with his estranged wife's boyfriend getting the brunt ... and Erica tells us why she thinks the divorce is the root cause.

Kanye West was apparently all set to perform at the Grammys, but his online antics have now gotten him barred ... so says the guy's own team and industry pals.

Ye's rep confirmed the news to Variety Saturday, saying it was true that the rapper wouldn't be hitting the stage in a few weeks. The reason cited ... his "concerning online behavior," which the Recording Academy clearly felt might translate to a fiasco in a live setting.

His involvement with the Grammys was something that hadn't been public until now -- earlier this week, the first round of official performers was announced, but KW wasn't on the list.

His rap buddy, The Game, let the cat out of the bag about this as well -- taking to IG with a lengthy caption decrying the decision to uninvite Ye ... likening it censorship and even invoking slavery.

He writes, in part ... "Time & time again they show us that they only want to STEAL the culture, not allow you to ever be their equals. In a more than obvious move for reasons of minuscule actions."

Game went on to muse about the reasons, including the fact Trevor Noah is hosting and that Kanye's account was suspended for 24 hours this week.

He adds, "Speak your mind in this country for yourself, family or your people & you're ostracized immediately & if you push them hard enough they will stop at no ends to try and put an end to you as a whole."

As you know ... this saga crescendoed when Kanye called Trevor a "k***" for taking him to task on his own show about how he was dealing with the divorce, including publicly airing out the family's business. TN speculated it could lead to real-world violence, or worse.