TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Platinum-selling "Moonwalking in Calabasas" rapper DDG is swatting a hip hop hornet's nest by proclaiming today's rappers are 10x better than their old school counterparts ... and Layzie Bone ain't having it!

So, in DDG's words ... Snoop Dogg, JAY-Z, Nas and others need to take a backseat to today's streaming giants -- but when we got the Bone Thugs-N-Harmony rapper at LAX, he fired off a couple of shots.

The way Layzie sees it ... hip hop is 50 years old, meaning anyone who jumped into the fray within the past few years is simply benefitting from the popularity and traction that's been built up over time.

In the 90s, when Bone Thugs sold most of their records, there wasn't an abundance of hip hop festivals, endorsement deals or even streaming platforms to run the numbers up.

So when DDG says 2022 rappers are 10x better, Layzie feels he should really say they're 10x richer -- an important distinction.

Layzie isn't tripping on old-gen vs. new-gen, though.

He says Bone Thugs-N-Harmony has a Cleveland street sign in the works and they're officially building a music industry school to mold the minds of aspiring musicians and moguls alike.

Jack Harlow is currently maximizing his "First Class" seat in hip hop ... calling on some heavy hitters to ensure his sophomore album "Come Home The Kids Miss You" doesn't slump when it drops.

Just yesterday, Harlow hinted that his album, dropping Friday, features nothing but legends and on Tuesday, he unveiled the full 15-song tracklist ... including those guests -- Drake, Pharrell, Lil Wayne and Justin Timberlake.

Pretty legendary list, for sure ... one that's sending fans and haters into a frenzy.

It's already been a big week for JH, who's coming off having the No. 1 song in the country with his "First Class" single. He attended the Boston Celtics vs. Milwaukee Bucks playoff game as the referees openly asked who the hell he was ... and attended Monday's glitzy 2022 Met Gala, where he rocked a dark chocolate Givenchy suit.

And while DJ Akademiks predicted Harlow will have the No. 1 album in the country once it drops ... foretelling the Billboard chart doesn't always bode well for artists.

In January, The Weeknd and his "Dawn FM" album lost a tight sales battle to Gunna's "DS4EVER" after it was reported Abel was crowning the chart. Additionally, 6ix9ine's 2020 "TattleTales" album was initially projected to go No. 1, but the actual sales put Big Sean's "Detroit 2" in the top spot.

Post Malone is about to celebrate a very big milestone ... he and his GF are having a baby!!!

Post tells TMZ ... "I'm excited for this next chapter in my life, I'm the happiest I've ever been, and for since I could remember I was sad. Time to take care of my body and my family and friends, and spread as much love as we can every day."

Sources close to Post say he and his girlfriend celebrated the baby-to-be with a private party for friends and family in Southern California over the weekend.

The baby will be Post's first ... the 26-year-old also has a new album, "Twelve Carat Toothache" expected to drop next month -- so ya, lot's of good things for Post on the horizon.

As for Post's girlfriend ... we are told she's not someone who has spent any time in the spotlight, the two have been happy privately building their relationship -- which will soon turn into a family.

Post's been having a ton of fun lately, performing at a Coachella party with his buddy Quavo and hitting some L.A. hotspots for dinner.

TMZ broke the story -- Post was super sweet to a fan with autism -- who was out celebrating his 21st. The fan's mom told us her son has a hard time speaking, and strangers are sometimes impatient with him ... but Post could not have been nicer.

Kanye West is getting dragged to court over one of his songs on "Donda" ... because a pastor in Texas claims Yeezy sampled his sermon without his permission.

Ye is being sued by Bishop David Paul Moten, who claims Kanye filled out the song "Come To Life" with audio of Moten's own religious speech.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Moten claims his sermon is used for 70 seconds of the 5-minute, 10-second track ... which is more than 20 percent of the song.

Moten says his voice and sermon are used in the song intro and looped throughout the song ... and he says it's the latest example of Kanye and the music industry "willfully and egregiously sampling sound recordings of others without consent or permission."

The pastor is also suing UMG Recordings, Def Jam Recordings and G.O.O.D Music ... and he's going after all of them for damages.

Mustard is calling it quits on his marriage ... filing for divorce just a year and a half after he and his wife said "I Do."

The super successful producer filed against Chanel Thierry Monday in L.A. ... in the docs -- obtained by TMZ -- he cites irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split. Interestingly enough, he also says the date of separation was Monday.

Mustard -- real name Dijon McFarlane -- and Theirry have 3 kids, ranging in age from 2 to 10. He's asking for joint legal and physical custody.

The two have been together for years, but only got married in October 2020.

Mustard mentions in his filing that the couple has a prenup.

Cardi B has had it with fame, saying the price of being a celebrity has created constant ridicule and has put a target on her back ... after some drama from her Met Gala party.

Cardi took to IG Live Tuesday and let it all out -- saying she feels like a prisoner of fame -- and that she hasn't been able to be her true self since 2014. The timing of her video comes on the heels of some now-viral clips popping up from her Met Gala after-party.

In one clip, Cardi offers a toast to partygoers at Playboy's The Boom Boom After Party, wishing them a good time and encouraging them to drink up ... but it's her snorting gesture that has people pissed.

Cardi seemingly addressed that anger in her live confessional, saying she feels like she can't even make jokes anymore without people taking it seriously.

There's also a clip of Billie Eilish at the bash, who many thought was calling Cardi "weird" as she entertained guests. Cardi squashed that rumor too, posting DMs between her and Eilish where Billie says she was only calling the partygoers taking photos of Cardi's butt "weird" ... so no beef there.

The guy who punched Tekashi 6ix9ine in a Miami nightclub says the rapper got exactly what was coming to him ... because the rapper was trying to "bully" him and his friends.

TMZ broke the story ... last week, Tekashi was punched in the back of the head -- a grazing shot, really -- as he was leaving Pilo's Tacos Tequila Garden. Tekashi told us he doesn't know the guy, and claimed there was no prior dispute.

The puncher -- who goes by ItzMrBHN on social media -- tells a different story ... he says he's run into 6ix9ine in the past, they've never liked each other and he's just tired of the artist bullying others.

He claims Tekashi was filming him and a group of friends last week, calling them the "n-word" and saying "p***y" while recording them ... which was evident in videos Tekashi himself posted on his IG stories.

As Tekashi was exiting the club, ItzMrBHN claims a security guard pushed him and stomped on his shoes ... and that set him off.

No Limit Records mogul and businessman Master P recently had his first-ever birthday party at 52 years of age, and he's stopping by "TMZ Hip Hop" to run down the festivities.

The music icon -- who's spent over half his life building an empire -- explained why birthday parties just weren't a thing for him his entire life, but says all that changed this weekend.

Thousands of fans packed the Smoothie King Center in NOLA as P was surrounded by plenty of famous friends ... and a humongous birthday cake shaped like a golden NL army tank.

Snoop Dogg, Nelly, Juvenile and the No Limit Records roster were all on deck to help The Colonel celebrate.

The funny thing is ... last time Master P was almost thrown a birthday party, back in 2013, it didn't go so well. He abandoned a live flash mob in Santa Monica before they could finish their routine because he thought he was getting punk'd!

Thankfully, things went much smoother this time around ... and you can tell from his chat with the "TMZ Hip Hop" crew that he was really moved by the whole event.

Make sure to catch the full Master P interview on Tuesday's episode of "TMZ Hip Hop," because he also gets into squashing beef with Kodak Black, his new charity supporting mental health awareness ... and has a hilarious reaction to his son Romeo Miller's twin popping up on our show. 😂

Here's where you can watch if you're in the following cities:

New York: 11 PM MY9 (WWOR)
Los Angeles: 2:30 PM FOX11 (KTTV)
Chicago: 12 AM FOX32 (WFLD)
Philly: 12 AM FOX29 (WTXF)
Dallas: 12:30 PM FOX4 (KDFW)
Houston: 12:30 PM FOX26 (KRIV), 10 PM MY20 (KTXH)
Washington, DC: 12 AM FOX5 (WTTG), 6:30 PM FOX5 PLUS (WDCA)
Seattle: 11:30 PM FOX13 (KCPQ)
Phoenix: 11:30 PM FOX10 (KSAZ)
Minneapolis: 11:30 PM FOX9 (KMSP)

Rick Ross is flashing his bubbly persona -- and, of course, some Belaire champagne -- as he ramps up for his huge car show by checking in with the crew at TMZ Hip Hop.

The Biggest Bawse appeared on Monday's episode to pour some tea on his first annual Rick Ross Car & Bike Show ... but also clarified why he was hanging with Tory Lanez over the weekend.

Fans might remember Rozay had some choice words for the Canadian singer shortly after the Megan Thee Stallion incident in 2020, and jokingly promised to get him into a Smart Car -- clever short joke!

During the interview, Rozay confirmed cooler heads prevailed, and after hanging with Tory in Vegas this past weekend -- that compact whip will pop up at Rick's car show on his Promise Land estate in Fayetteville, GA.

We got into a lot more with Rick ... including his plans to perform at the car show, his farming skills and why you won't see him whizzing around in a Tesla anytime soon.

Sounds like he's still a combustion engine guy, and car enthusiasts will see plenty of that on display come May 21 at Rick's crib.

Lil Xan is not only doing much better, but he's taking extra precautions to make sure he stays sober when he returns to life on the road.

We caught up with the rapper this weekend at BOA Steakhouse ... where he told us about his progress and how he plans to stay on track in the future.

Xan says, he is 40 days clean, after doing 30 days in a detox center and 30 days in a rehab facility. He tells us he's feeling better than ever, and blessed to finally be sober.

One element of his sobriety will be controversial to some people -- Xan says his rehab facility allowed patients to smoke weed, which he says helped him. That approach has been called "California sober," something Demi Lovato said worked for them ... until it didn't.

For now, LX is in great spirits and even showed off his GF while opening up to us about his new lifestyle. He's also looking forward to going on tour May 25 -- but, he's gonna be extra careful this time ... planning to bring a sober companion to make sure everything goes well and he isn't tempted to relapse.

As we've previously reported, Xan checked himself into a hospital in March and got 51/50'd  ... he said he was experiencing a mixture of exhaustion, dehydration and depression from things he was seeing online.

He ended up spending 3 days in the psychiatric ward before getting the green light to check into a part of a facility focused on mental health.

Despite becoming the target of some politicians, drill music is no phase or fad ... so says heavyweight hip hop producer Hit-Boy, who knows a thing or 2 about making beats that stand the test of time.

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with the Grammy Award-winning producer -- who's made gold with JAY-Z, Kanye West, Nas and Nipsey Hussle -- as he launched his "Hit-Boy OG" hybrid strain of cannabis.

When asked about the longevity of drill music, today's hottest sound in rap music, Hit-Boy didn't mince his words and certified the bass-heavy subgenre is here to stay. HB's comments are timely and right on cue, too.

On Friday, up-and-coming London rapper JNR Choi decided to upgrade his TikTok viral "To The Moon" single by enlisting UK, Chicago and Brooklyn drill features from M24, Russ Millions, G Herbo and Fivio Foreign, respectively.

BTW, we got Hit-Boy while he was at the Lemonnade Van Nuys dispensary -- owned by Bone Thugs & Harmony manager Steve Lobel -- so, it was the perfect time for him to reveal the one track that blew his mind, while his mind was blown ... "Rare" by Nas.

Originally released as the lead single for 2021's "King's Disease II" album, the explosive piano medley infamously switched into an old-school break-beat for Nas to lyrically demolish.

Makes you wonder what they have in store for "Part 3." According to Hit, he and Nas have already started vibing on it.

Tory Lanez might be on a good luck streak in Vegas -- he's still partying there after a run-in with the law ... over marijuana TSA allegedly found in his bag.

TMZ has learned Tory was stopped Sunday morning in the Las Vegas airport -- where he was attempting to board a flight outta town -- and according to law enforcement sources ... a TSA agent found a "large" amount of ganja in one of his bags.

We're told TSA temporarily detained him, but eventually let him go ... without the stash, of course. The feds are holding that. While marijuana is legal in Nevada, it's still not legal federally ... and that means ya can't fly with it.

Tory's not letting that little hiccup with the law ruin his weekend. Since he probably missed his outgoing flight, he's turned this into a biz opportunity ... and now he'll be onstage Sunday night for a performance at Drai's.

If he wants to get high beforehand, someone's gonna have to puff puff give ... 'cause Tory ain't got it!

The man that was allegedly beat up by DaBaby and his crew was apparently throwing the N-word around during his confrontation with the group ... at least according to new video.

The North Carolina rapper posted the footage himself Saturday, which appears to show Gary Prager pacing back and forth on the grounds of the mansion where the alleged beating took place in December ... and sure enough, you hear him scream "n*****s" in a rage.

DB's caption reads, "On today's episode of 'Let's Make DaBaby Look Like a Bad Person'" ... going on to accuse Prager of being a "PROUD white supremacist" ... adding that he (Prager) was "lying to TMZ & LAPD. Not knowing that he's caught on camera."

Later it reads, "These are the type of people y'all validate & let assassinate DaBaby's character." DaBaby also says Prager spat in his face, but the vid doesn't seem to show that.

For starters, nobody lied to us about this story -- DaBaby has, in fact, been charged with felony battery as it relates to this case ... so his beef is actually with Prager and law enforcement officials. DaBaby will have a chance to confront Prager's claims in court.

As for the guy screaming out the slur ... yeah, that's bad. It's unclear if him saying this occurred before or after the alleged assault -- but we suppose it doesn't really matter ... no excuse for invoking racism in any event.

DaBaby apparently thinks this will help make him look better in the public's eye -- but he seems to have bigger issues beyond just this one event, if we're being honest.

DJ Khaled turned into Adam Sandler to appease his son who was in the mood for some Mickey D's -- looking far and wide for a burger/toy combo ... and finally scoring!

The music producer went on an elaborate mission, it seems, to honor a weekend tradition he and 5-year-old Asahd apparently have -- namely, going out to the Golden Arches and securing the kid a Happy Meal.

Sounds like this is a tradition of theirs ... DJK calls is "Happy Meal Saturdays," and Asahd seems more than happy to tag along. Plus, just great father-son bonding right here.

Anyway, fast-forward to the hunt ... which was way harder than Khaled imagined. He filmed himself pulling up to a McDonald's that actually served Happy Meals ... telling both the drive-thru window workers (and his fans) that they'd struck out at 5 other locations.

He says this McDonald's was still serving Happy Meals ... and you can tell the staff was stoked to oblige, getting selfies with Khaled and asking him to drop some of his lines, which he happily did.

While Papa Bear was grateful to have gotten what he needed for his boy -- he was flabbergasted at how hard it was to come across a Happy Meal ... but there's a reason.

Word is ... McDonald's is phasing out current iterations of their staple menu item to replace the not-so-environmentally friendly plastic toys with biodegradable ones ... all in an effort to be more eco-conscious. So, it sounds like Happy Meals might be on pause at the moment.

Rihanna wants to make it clear to everyone ... she and A$AP Rocky are solid.

A$AP headlined at the Smokers Club Festival Saturday night in WeHo, and RiRi was backstage showing her support.

She's reportedly just weeks away from giving birth to her first child, but showing up at the club was clearly important to her.

There's been lots of drama over the last few weeks. As we reported, A$AP was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon last month in connection with a shooting last November in Hollywood. A$AP and Rihanna were blindsided by cops who met them at LAX and hooked Rocky up. They then searched his house for weapons but did not find the gun used in the shooting.

Rapper Pooh Shiesty won't be a completely free man even after he does his time for a wild shootout -- the artist will have some serious restrictions, according to legal documents.

Pooh's sentencing docs, obtained by TMZ, show he'll have to be on supervised release for 3 years once he completes his 63 months in prison, and the supervision comes with a bunch of rules attached.

During the 3 years, Pooh isn't allowed to associate with any of his co-defendants or gang members ... and his PO has permission to search Pooh and his property from time to time.

The rapper will also have to go through a treatment program for drugs and alcohol.

As we reported, he's currently serving the 5-plus year sentence over a South Florida shootout from back in October 2020.