TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

YG is off the hook for an alleged robbery in Sin City ... his criminal case was just dismissed on the morning of jury selection.

Sources close to the rapper tell TMZ ... YG settled out of court with the alleged robbery victim, and the guy was no longer interested in cooperating with prosecutors in the criminal case.

TMZ broke the story ... YG was facing a felony robbery charge for allegedly yanking a dude's chain off his neck in a 2018 altercation at the Cosmopolitan Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, before making off with the diamond-laced pendant.

We're told YG maintained he never stole the chain from the man, though he admitted the bling snapped off when the two were in a fight.

YG’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, tells TMZ … "Justice was served expeditiously, we would've had the same result if the case went to trial."

Mommy-to-be Rihanna lit up the night with her Mother's Day get-up ... stepping out for date night with Boyfriend A$AP Rocky.

The two hit Giorgio Baldi in Santa Monica Sunday, RiRi wore a sparkling set with lots of cutouts, but made sure to stay warm with a fur shawl. It'll be Rihanna's last Mother's Day without a kiddo of her own ... as it's expected she'll give birth in the next few weeks.

Rihanna and A$AP are frequent fliers at Giorgio Baldi -- it's actually one of her favorite places to grab dinner -- but one thing's for sure ... there are ALWAYS cameras there, so you gotta imagine RiRi knew they'd get her flashy fit.

Of course, pregnancy hasn't slowed RiRi down much. She and A$AP recently enjoyed visiting family and friends in her hometown of Barbados.

Cardi B was the perfect person to ask about mommy duty on Mother's Day -- especially since Rihanna is about to become one herself -- and her sage advice is ... (cue video).

The rapper was leaving Carbone Sunday night in NYC next to her hubby, Offset, and at least one of their kids (looks like Kulture) ... and Cardi chopped it up with our photog before getting into her waiting SUV about a lot of stuff, including words of wisdom for mom-to-be RiRi.

Check it out ... she says motherhood is something that comes pretty naturally, and she thinks the same will happen for Rihanna when the baby comes -- which should be any day now.

We also asked about Roe v. Wade, but she wasn't as chatty about that. What she did clarify, however, was her stance on fame ... and seemingly being done with it, which she alluded to about a week or so ago in sorta dramatic fashion.

Luckily, CB sets the record straight with us about what she meant ... and it sounds like she was mostly referring to her online presence more than anything. So, no -- Cardi's not scrapping music altogether. Good to hear!

Nas went from a King of New York to an Emperor in Miami this weekend -- the guy headlined a banger of a show to round out the Formula 1 event in town ... and killed it.

The rapper took the stage Sunday at Carbone Beach, where the whole joint went on a trip down memory lane to some of his early hits in the '90s ... including a ton of 'Illmatic' tracks that the crowd was vibing to in what appears to have been a pretty intimate setting.

Speaking of that audience ... it was about as star-studded as they come. Some of the A-listers in attendance -- DJ Khaled, Venus Williams, Jamie Foxx, Hailee Steinfeld, Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz, Busta Rhymes, Lindsey Vonn, Kevin Love, LeBron James, Rich Paul, Maverick Carter, Meek Mill, Timbaland, and Karrueche Tran ... among others.

Nas himself played to the spectators throughout his set, all while holding some sort of beverage in his hand. Looks like it was a boozy affair -- just about everyone seemed to have a cocktail to themselves.

Definitely a great way to end the week, and Nas's performance is right up there with Travis Scott's show from Saturday night ... where the guy rocked the mic in full capacity, the first since he's done a show like that since Astroworld.

Kendrick Lamar is a man of many faces, including some very famous ones he features in his new music video ... addressing the most infamous moments of the past few years.

KL dropped a song Sunday called 'The Heart Part 5,' where he talks about the culture at lightning-quick speed, hopscotching through different scenarios and employing the monikers of celebs to make his point -- including Will Smith, Kanye West and Jussie Smollett.

It's true ... the video shows Kendrick's face change to all of these men at different points in the song, using some fancy technology that we suppose you could equate to a deep fake.

He also features O.J. Simpson briefly while bringing up a "bulletproof Rover," seemingly referencing the Ford Bronco from way back when. Then, he transitions to Ye's face while mentioning "friends bipolar," and finally to Jussie as he says "the streets got me f***ed up."

Eventually, his face becomes Will's as he raps this ... "In the land where hurt people hurt more people // F*** callin' it culture." Of course, he's addressing the Oscars slap there.

There are two other stars he morphs into ... the late Kobe Bryant and Nipsey Hussle. In both instances, he's referring to death and reflecting on the legacy he leaves behind ... praying it's a worthy one.

The Nipsey line is especially telling ... Kendrick raps, "To my brother, to my kids, I'm in Heaven // To my mother, to my sis, I'm in Heaven// To my father, to my wife, I am serious, this is Heaven" ... going on to say he forgives the killer who sped up his demise.

French Montana could be getting dragged to court soon 'cause a rapper is accusing him of stealing his lyrics ... and, he is demanding French settles it soon, or else.

'Hot Boys' rapper Turk had his lawyers fire off a demand letter to French Montana's lawyer, claiming French ripped some of their client's lyrics for his 2021 song, "Handstand".

According to the letter, obtained by TMZ ... Tab Virgil Jr., aka Turk, claims French lifted lyrics from his group's 1999 hit, "I Need A Hot Girl" without permission ... and say, FM's track with the stolen lyrics has already scored more than 17 million views on YouTube.

In case you didn't know, The Hot Boys was a hip hop group formed in the '90s ... the members were Lil Wayne, B.G., Juvenile, and Turk.

The song, "I Need A Hot Girl", was a huge hit for the group and even appeared on Billboards Hot 100.

In French Montana's song, Doja Cat and Saweetie join him to sing "I need a project b****, a hood rat b****. One don't give a f*** and say she took that d***". These are close to the exact lyrics Turk claims he wrote and performed in the throwback song.

A source with direct knowledge tells us French had actually purchased the beat and the hook with the understanding all was clear. However, there must've been some sort of confusion ... nonetheless, we're told French's team is already working to rectify the situation.

Megan Thee Stallion looked more like Megan Thee Rag Doll in NYC this weekend -- and that's because her boyfriend was having his way with her in the club ... woof!

The femcee was hosting a party Saturday night in the Big Apple in honor of her new single, "Plan B," which she debuted at Coachella a few weeks ago. Seems like it was a rager, with MTS and her man, Pardison Fontaine, leading the charge in the hot and heavy department.

Check it out ... at one point, Pardi picked up Megan and started bouncing her up and down with hip thrusts, this as she had her arms wrapped around him. Yeah, it's pretty hot.

Even before this pony ride, it looks like Pardi had a firm grasp on her/the sitch at large -- literally carrying her upstairs like nothin'. It's wild ... Meg's not a small girl by any means -- she's reported as 5'10", so for him to be able to hoist her up like this is ... impressive.

Anyway, once they were in their own zone ... the dirty dancing continued, with Meg twerking and Pardi coming in for a taste. Looks like they're all about showing off PDA early and often -- which is great for everyone else taking in the show.

Travis Scott made his move Saturday night ... performing at his first public venue since last November's Astroworld tragedy.

Travis headlined at E11EVEN during the Miami Grand Prix weekend. It was not for the faint or weary ... T.S. showed up at 3 AM. He first beelined it for the DJ booth, told the crowd he'd be back in 10 and then warned people when he re-appeared, everyone "better lose their motherf***ing minds!"

He did indeed come back 10 minutes later and hopped on the stage ... the sold-out crowd went nuts.

Travis' set lasted around 45 minutes, and he did not disappoint ... with "Sicko Mode," "Antidote," "Pick Up the Phone," and "Goosebumps."

What's interesting ... Travis didn't seem uneasy about going full throttle, telling the crowd to take shots as he gripped a bottle of 1942 Don Julio. Travis was happy to throw some loot into the audience.

Logan Paul was there, and at one point he screamed, "The one thing I know about you is that you turn the f*** up!"

Toward the end of his set, Quavo jumped on stage ... they did "Dubai S**t" and ended up handing the mic to a fan who was super impressive.

Travis did not blow out of there ... he stayed until 6 AM. Prior to his performance, Travis grabbed a bite at Prime 112.

There were tons of celebs on hand ... Future, Tyga, Zedd, will.i.am, Busta Rhymes, Joakim Noah, Danny Amendola, Damson Idris, Travis Kelce, P.K. Subban, Terrence J, Teyana Taylor, Karrueche, Carnage, Alec Monopoly, and Todd English.

Travis has performed after Astroworld, but only at private events, like the pre-Oscars event and a Coachella after-party.

Drake's DM to one dude's wife may have crossed the line, but it's all love and the guy is actually a big fan ... so says the troll himself!

As we reported ... Drake clapped back to a guy named Cedric, by DM'ing the dude's wife. He wrote, "I just followed your girl cause she prob miserable and needs some excitement in her life".

Drizzy followed up by messaging Cedric's wife, Toni saying ... "I'm here for u ma".

It all started after Cedric took a jab at Drake on Instagram on a post where Drake defended Tee Morant -- father of NBA star Ja Morant. Cedric chimed in referencing a rumor that Drake doesn't write his own music, obviously, hitting a nerve for the 6 God.

Of course, the beef sparked lots of reactions from folks on social media, but we talked to Cedric and his wife, Toni, and they were actually in good spirits over the whole thing.

Cedric says, he felt Drake took things a little too far, by messaging his wife ... but he finds the whole situation hilarious. At first, he didn't think the comment would go anywhere, and he was shocked when a little trash-talking escalated into Drake actually DM'ing his wife.

Cedric says he's actually a huge fan of Drake. His wife, Toni, was all smiles over the dustup. She says, she's not interested in going on a date with Drake, because she's super happy with her hubby ... but she insisted they all meet!

Snoop Dogg's son, Cordell Broadus, got his brand new whip jacked ... but the car was recovered pretty quickly ... this according to cops who were hot on the trail.

LAPD sources tell TMZ ... Cordell's 2022 BMW X6 was jacked Wednesday in L.A. We're told a tracking company located it, passed the info on to the LAPD and cops rushed to retrieve it.

Officers found the BMW and took the alleged carnapper into custody.

As for how the car was stolen ... we're told someone left the keys in the car, making it an easy steal.

The alleged culprit already had an active warrant and was booked on a charge from that incident -- burglary of a motor vehicle. Cops say they found stolen items in Cordell's BMW. The D.A. will now decide whether to charge the guy.

Jack Harlow SZN is officially upon us with the release of his new album "Come Home the Kids Miss You" -- and his label boss, DJ Drama, says Jack's impressing his peers as much as fans.

The project touts all-legend features -- Drake, Lil Wayne, Pharrell and Justin Timberlake -- and even a hidden one from Snoop Dogg on the song "Young Harleezy."

Generation Now's honcho was on "TMZ Hip Hop" this week to set the record straight about any misconceptions the "First Class" rapper is mooching off the culture he loves so dearly.

After Drama discovered Jack in 2018, he helped Jack get to this point, and maintains good music and "bodies of work" -- not race-baiting or gimmicks -- will prove the young emcee's value to the game.

Drama himself has grad student level skillz in both the music biz and street hip hop culture. His legendary Gangsta Grillz series was just culminated to fit Tyler, The Creator's "Call Me If You Get Lost" album ... which won the Best Rap Album Grammy this year.

He's also overseeing the budding careers of GN artists Lil Uzi Vert and Seddy Hendrinx.

Harlow's "First Class" shooting to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 reignited the ol' white rappers debate online, and on the "TMZ Hip Hop" set, but DJ Drama isn't pressed. He's certain Jack will earn the respect of doubters everywhere.

Snoop Dogg and his Mt. Westmore groupmate Ice Cube are about to be a lot closer … now that Snoop is a part-owner in Cube’s Big3 basketball league … TMZ Hip Hop has learned.

Snoop and PayPal co-founder Ken Howery dropped $625,000 together to purchase a 40 percent stake in BIG3 team “Bivouac” that went winless last season due to injuries.

BIG3 opened the floodgates for people to grab a stake in the franchise team through NFTs... which is exactly what Snoop and Ken did.

They weren't the only ones, either. Popular NFT hubs DeGods, Gary Vaynerchuk and VeeFriends, Bill Lee and MyDoge/DogeCoin, and Krause House all got in the spending spree, copping all 25 Fire-Tiers of the Killer 3’s, Trilogy, Aliens and Ball Hogs, respectively.

Snoop has become one of the space’s most avid NFT collectors … even touting his newly re-bought Death Row Records will be a 100 percent “NFT Label”

Snoop and Howery reportedly purchased all 25 Fire for Bivouac priced at $25,000 each. In other words, the team’s stock was divided into blockchains for sale. Remaining editions will be available come Saturday, May 7 for hungry Discord members.

DJ Carnage alarmed his million-strong Instagram following by announcing his retirement -- at just 31 years old -- but instead of saying goodbye, they can say hello ... to Gordo, anyway!!!

He joined us Friday on "TMZ Hip Hop" to officially announce the end of his "Carnage era" and birth of Gordo, his new stage name and persona dedicated to making dance and house music that slaps.

Carnage hinted at a burnout from all his travels, which include doing records with Migos, Wiz Khalifa, Lil Uzi Vert, Tyga and the late Mac Miller ... just to name a few rap superstars.

He sounds plenty invigorated about his upcoming Gordo transformation, however, citing hip hop, house and even techno as primary influences for his experimentation. Papi Gordo dropped some knowledge on us, regarding the birth of techno, too.

BTW, he's got a bone to pick (playfully, we think) with Drake ... as they both have been vying for the title of the best "Papi" for some time. Naturally, Drizzy came through and doused champagne on the Carnage retirement announcement -- but Gordo fired back while chatting with us.

Day one Carnage fans can take comfort in knowing he's going out with a bang, having announced a batch of farewell dates nationwide.

Mary J. Blige absolutely cannot be stopped in 2022.

Fresh off her Super Bowl LVI appearance and the release of her 14th studio album, "Good Morning Gorgeous" ... Atlanta's bestowed the Queen of Hip Hop Soul with her very own "Strength of a Woman Day."

The slogan is borrowed from Mary's previous album and marks the official kickoff to the Live Nation and Pepsi-sponsored "Strength of a Woman Festival & Summit" this Mother's Day weekend.

Thursday night's celebration went down with ATL City Councilwoman Keisha Sean Waites presenting an award to MJB ... as 2 Chainz, Kandi Burruss, celebrity stylist Misa Hylton and music exec Kenny Burns attended.

Mary will perform this weekend ... along with Chaka Khan, City Girls, Ella Mai and a host of other standout women of color. The festival will also have musical and technological workshops to inspire and educate.

Next month she's getting the Icon Award at Billboard Music Awards ... which her longtime pal and mentor Diddy is hosting.

The man who killed Nicki Minaj's father, Robert Maraj, in a hit-and-run has pleaded guilty.

Charles Polevich pled guilty to one count of leaving the scene of an incident without reporting and one count of tampering with physical evidence ... both felonies.

He was facing up to 7 years behind bars on the felony count alone, but it looks like he won't get nearly that long of a sentence. Judge Howard Sturim committed to sentencing Polevich to no more than one year in jail, along with community service and suspension of his driver's license.

As we reported ... Robert Maraj died at the age of 64 ... after being struck in a hit-and-run accident back in February 2021.

Nicki later opened up about the tragedy on her website saying ... "I can say it has been the most devastating loss of my life." She added, he was very loved and will be very missed.

Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott have left all the drama behind ... as they got super touchy-feely on the beach in Turks and Caicos.

Kylie and Travis took their kids, Stormi and their little boy along ... sorry, we still don't know his name. As we reported, he was named Wolf at birth, but apparently, his parents didn't think the name fit, so they presumably found a new one, but haven't shared it.

Kylie's on the beach in a flowing white dress while Travis is walking shirtless.

It's interesting ... these are the latest pics showing the gradual emergence of Travis Scott after the Astroworld tragedy. He's performed some -- mostly to small groups, but will be performing at various festivals this summer.

Speaking of ... Travis is set to perform Saturday in Miami ... at E11EVEN during the Formula 1 Grand Prix.