TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Yo Gotti arguably has the strongest roster in hip hop ... an argument just made by Billboard Magazine, which placed him on the cover with his lineup of high-profile Collective Music Group artists.

But, once upon a time, the label was named Cocaine Muzik Group -- a name Gotti says 50 Cent advised him to drop years ago because the name wasn't built for commercial success.

Gotti told BB that Fiddy said, "Yo, you’re winning, but you can’t be Cocaine Muzik Group -- that’s too harsh. They’re going to be scared of that.” The Memphis rap legend had actually risen to prominence with his Cocaine Muzik mixtape series, and his last coke-tilted LP dropped in 2015.

Today the label is big business as Gotti, Moneybagg Yo, EST Gee, Blac Youngsta, Mozzy and their new artist Lehla Samia -- the new Lambo owner -- are gracing the latest Billboard cover, and talking about their super lucrative Interscope deal.

Interestingly, Gotti's laughing off the rumored $10 million deal as chump change ... 'cause he's got it like that.

Not pictured was CMG rising star 42 Dugg, who not only missed the flight for the photo shoot, but was recently arrested on delinquent warrant charges and is now facing serious prison time.

Veteran rap group Onyx isn't tripping about their recent Verzuz with Cypress Hill, even though CH is roasting Triller for not promoting the matchup like previous editions.

We caught Fredro Starr and Sticky Fingaz out in NYC who were big excited to promote their new album, "Onyx Versus Everybody," but downplayed the notion that Verzuz creators Swizz Beatz and Timbaland didn't hold up their end of the bargain when it comes to marketing.

The event went down as part of a Triller fight night card, which featured Evander Holyfield's son Evan -- getting slammed da duh duh, btw -- but wasn't streamed on IG Live the way past Verzuz battles have been.

Onyx also feels regardless if you saw the battle or not, CH got rolled up, lit and smoked like B-Real's Dr. Greenthumb cannabis brand!!!

Following the event, B-Real was so pissed at Triller/Verzuz's PPV decision, he made a 10-minute video explaining to fans why the move was a big L for hip hop culture.

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky are officially parents ... welcoming a baby boy to the world.

That's right, it's the couple's first kid together -- sources with direct knowledge tell us he was born on May 13 in Los Angeles -- but we don't yet know his name.

The last time we saw Rihanna was on May 9 in Los Angeles for Mother's Day weekend when she and Rocky grabbed dinner at Giorgio Baldi.

It was back in January when the couple announced they were expecting -- with an NYC photo shoot -- both sets of fans went nuts with excitement for RiRi and A$AP.

While Rihanna looked stunning throughout her pregnancy ... wearing designer looks and proudly showing off her baby bump, there was also some drama that went down.

As we reported, A$AP was arrested just last month in a surprise bust as the couple's private plane touched down at LAX. Law enforcement sources told us the bust was in connection to an incident where Rocky is accused of firing shots at an acquaintance, grazing his hand.

Nonetheless, Rihanna continued to support A$AP, even attending one of his shows, cheering for him backstage just a week after the arrest.

Florida rapper Rod Wave is now in the clear, legally speaking, after he was arrested for allegedly choking his girlfriend ... TMZ Hip Hop has learned.

According to legal docs, prosecutors in Osceola County, FL reviewed the May incident, and determined the case wasn't suitable for prosecution.

In the arrest report, Wave's GF accused him of bursting into their home, and choking her until she couldn't breathe because he thought she was talking to other men. The woman, who shares 2 kids with the "SoulFly" rapper, called cops, but Rod had left the scene by the time they arrived.

He was later pulled over and arrested, and even shared a cryptic video of himself surrounded by police cruiser lights.

Three days following the arrest, Rod Wave announced his next album will be entitled "Beautiful Mind." He'll now have plenty of time and freedom to complete and release it!

Flavor Flav has a new mouth to feed -- after taking a paternity test, it's been confirmed he has a 3-year-old son, who will now bear Dad's surname.

The boy's name is Jordan and his maternal grandparents, Barry and Parchi, tell TMZ ... their daughter, Kate, used to be Flav's manager for a few years -- a period during which they had a romantic relationship.

At some point, Kate -- who no longer works for Flav -- got pregnant and had Jordan, but for a good while, we're told Flav wasn't sure the kid was his son.

However, since then ... Jordan's grandparents tell us FF submitted DNA which lined up with Jordan's. Sooo, as Maury would put it ... Flav IS the father!!!

We're told child support and a custody arrangement have been established. It also sounds like Flav is spending more QT with Jordan these days -- he's taught him how to play the drums a bit -- and he's talked to Kate about Jordan taking his family name ... Drayton.

They've already filed legal docs to make it official, and there will be a hearing later this year. Jordan is Flav's eighth child, so as he might put it ... yeahhhh little boyyyy!!!

Master P has been split from his estranged wife for over a decade, but he's only now been officially declared a single man in the eyes of the law.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Master P and Sonya Miller are officially no longer a couple ... it remains to be seen if their divorce is totally finalized or if they still have some things to work out.

Believe it or not, Sonya first filed for divorce all the way back in 2013, and Master P has previously claimed they settled everything in private in 2016 ... but never submitted it to the court.

Fast forward to December 2021 -- when Master P submitted docs asking a judge to declare him legally single -- which has now happened.

Master P and Sonya got married in 1989 -- the rapper has 9 kids -- including Romeo Miller (Lil Romeo).

Kendrick Lamar's new album "Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers" is officially his last for Top Dawg Entertainment, and that has labelmates, like Sir, pondering what the future holds for K Dot.

We got the Inglewood-born crooner Thursday at LAX, and picked his brain about King Kendrick's departure. He echoed some of what TDE founder Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith said prior to 'Mr. Morale' dropping -- that Kendrick will always be family.

Sir added a note about Kendrick's business savvy, and gave a shout to the pgLang movement. He also plugged his own new music — a summer project entitled "Heavy."

The warmer months seem to be Sir's thing. His last album, "Chasing Summer," dropped in August 2019 and featured the Kendrick collab "Hair Down."

Of course, Kendrick isn't leaving TDE a serious going away gift -- 'Mr. Morale' is projected to be the biggest album of 2022, so far. Plus, he'll be kicking off a 65-date tour soon!

'BMF' star Lil Meech allegedly stole a $250,000 Richard Mille watch and got caught ... leading to his arrest for grand theft.

The 22-year-old actor/rapper -- handpicked by 50 Cent to star as his dad, Big Meech, in the Starz ‘BMF’ series -- got booked on two counts of first-degree grand theft and a separate count of organized fraud on March 14.

Cops say the actor walked into Miami's Haimov Jewelers back in February and put a down payment on the Richard Mille using his $80,000 platinum Rolex, but he allegedly failed to pay the remaining $200K balance and never returned the watch.

Cops also accuse him of trying to trade the watch for a different Richard Mille piece at a different store.

Records show Meech was released on bond the same day he was arrested. Lil Meech hasn’t reacted to charges publicly, but he recently posted an Instagram photoshoot to let fans know he’s unbothered.

Young Thug claims he's sleeping in a "dungeon" -- after being named an alleged mastermind of a criminal organization -- but jailhouse officials say he's just whining about the standard jail experience.

We broke the story ... Thug and his legal team filed an emergency petition last week, citing all sorts of inhumanity in his holding cell such as having a windowless room and being served "inedible" food.

The local Atlanta WSBTV media took a tour of a "typical" cell in the building and acknowledged the facility was "above board." One jail official said, "This is a jail, it is a detention center. It’s not the Ritz Carlton, so you have to recognize that."

The official's insinuation is pretty clear ... Thug is in jail, which is a far cry from the bottomless luxuries he's used to rapping about on his No. 1 albums. Sounds like that's why he's complaining.

Rick Ross has a parade of hot wheels rolling into the Atlanta area this weekend -- hosting a massive car expo at his own crib ... and hyping it up as a come one, come all extravaganza.

The Boss gave us the scoop Wednesday on "TMZ Live" about the car and bike show going down at his Fayetteville, GA estate Saturday ... where he'll not only be showing off his own luxury/novelty vehicles -- including a tank and firetruck, among dozens of other sweet whips -- but actually scoping out tons of others that'll be on display from different owners as well.

It's essentially going to be the automobile event of the year -- at least from what Renzel is describing to us here -- and indeed ... RR says he might be looking to buy himself.

If you follow Rick on social media ... you're probably well aware of his eclectic collection, so this type of get-together makes sense for the guy. As he explains to us, this is gonna be a who's who of car aficionados -- with gear heads from all over the world -- but not just that ... there'll even be a chance for some friendly competition and prizes!

Watch how Rick breaks down the contest ... he says he's going to extreme lengths to make sure it's fair and credible -- and even shows off what's up for grabs, besides bragging rights.

Lil Wayne once said "You don't want to start Weezy, 'cause the F is for finisher" ... and he's proving to back his words with Mark Cuban -- firing back in his beef with the Dallas Mavericks owner and saying, "I will piss in ya f'n mouth ho."

The back-and-forth between the rapper and billionaire has been brewing ever since the Young Money rapper called Luka Doncic a "ho" on Twitter last week ... prompting Cuban to respond after Dallas defeated the Suns by 33 points in Game 7 on Sunday.

Wayne didn't take the jab lightly ... unleashing a pretty disgusting response to Cubes in a since-deleted tweet.

"Mark Cuban don’t make me get u smacked boy U playing w me??" Tunechi said. "I will piss in ya f'n mouth ho."

Shortly after, Wayne followed up for good measure writing, "Ya lil bitch its up."

Now, Wayne might have been a bit of bad luck for the Suns -- as soon as he tweeted about Luka, the Mavs turned the series around and ended Phoenix's season in blowout fashion.

Yo Gotti isn't waiting around for gift cards for his 41st birthday, instead he's treating himself ... to more than a million bucks worth of super-luxury rides!!!

The Collective Music Group CEO recorded himself riding around with copious amounts of cash ... ultimately choosing to stunt on his haters with not one but two Rolls Royces off the showroom floor.

Gotti's birthday behavior is time-tested ... each year he splurges on lavish gifts ahead of his annual b-day celebration -- the star-studded Birthday Bash concert series at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.

This year's Birthday Bash 8 blowout is going down July 15 and while the guests haven't been announced, past years saw the likes of Lil Baby, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, Master P, Polo G, T.I., City Girls, Monica, Boosie Badazz and many more perform.

CMG apparently has plenty of wealth to spread around. Gotti's latest signee, R&B singer Lehla Samia, was recently blessed with a pink Lamborghini Urus just for inking her name on the dotted line.

Diddy is all about "love" these days ... maybe a little too much, because 2 women in his life are going at each other now after both were in Las Vegas where he hosted the Billboard Music Awards.

In one corner, City Girls rapper Yung Miami, and in the other Diddy's muse, model Gina Huynh -- Miami was at the BBMAs as a presenter, while Gina was a very interested spectator. She posted from the show, saying "Baby Daddy is hosting Billboards."

Diddy after-partied hard Sunday night with Yung Miami, but things got messy Tuesday when Gina shared a pic of Brother Love's lips on her cheek -- and prompted YM to fire off more than a few subtweets.

Most notably, she's saying she will continue to see Diddy no matter how many pics Gina drops on the 'Gram.

And, then it got nasty as Gina invited Miami to dine on male genitalia -- not Diddy's we're guessing -- and eventually plugged her own rap song.

Diddy, for his part, has remained mum about the women sparring over him ... at least, publicly. Seems wise.

Travis Scott is making sure hundreds of Black college students walk across the commencement stage with their diploma ... with a seven-figure donation.

The rapper awarded $1 million in scholarships to 100 students at HBCUs who are on track to graduate in the Class of 2022 ... ensuring they cross the finish line and aren't affected by last-minute financial hurdles.

The soon-to-be grads are each getting a $10,000 scholarship from Travis' previously-established Waymon Webster Scholarship Fund ... and the recipients finished their final semester with at least a 3.5 GPA.

Among the scholars ... Florida A&M University pharmacy major Nisha Encarnacion, who is from the U.S. Virgin Islands and paid her own way through college while supporting her mother and daughter, Fisk University computer science major Chisom Okwor, whose goal is to help transform developing countries in Africa, and North Carolina Central University broadcast journalism major Jordan Massey, who took on a ton of debt to get his communications degree.

Travis' sister, Jordan Webster, manages the scholarship fund ... and she recently graduated as well, with a degree from Howard University.

Travis' donations went to seniors at 38 HBCUs ... including Alabama A&M University, Central State University, Jackson State University, Morehouse College, Texas Southern University, Grambling State University, Xavier University of Louisiana, and Prairie View A&M University.

The $1 million worth of scholarships is part of Travis' Project HEAL, which as we first reported, was announced back in March and included $5 million in earmarks.

Remember ... Project HEAL was one of Travis' first public philanthropic since the tragic Astroworld concert last November, which saw 10 people die as a result of injuries sustained during Travis' set.

Jack Harlow's rummaging through some old playlists to jab back at Brandy in their growing, but playful, beef over Jack being clueless about the singer's family tree.

ICYMI ... Jack was chopping it up with his OG's at Hot 97 when it hilariously came out that he didn't realize Ray J and Brandy were actual siblings, sparking yet another cultural debate involving the 24-year-old artist.

Late last night, Brandy finally got wind of the conversation -- responding like 2Pac, threatening to out-rap JH, and sing him to sleep. Even though she later admitted she was joking, she copped to not knowing Jack was a rapper.

Seeing as how Jack has the No. 1 song in the country -- "First Class" -- we can't figure out with Brandy diss is harsher ... the shot at his rapping, or the ol' "I don't know you."

Just imagine someone asking if Brandy was a singer when her "The Boy Is Mine" duet with Monica was ruling the charts? Yeah, total burn.

Jack did some burning of his response ... posting an IG story Tuesday with a pic of Brandy and Ray J while using her own lyrics from her 2005 Kanye West collaboration "Bring Me Down" off the album "Late Registration" against her.

Lil Keed complained to his friends and family he was suffering from serious stomach pain in the days leading up to his death ... with things getting so bad he had to go to the hospital.

Multiple sources close to Keed tell us ... the YSL label rapper had his battles over the years with alcohol and drugs, but had been clean and sober of late. We're told last week he began experiencing severe stomach pain and went to an L.A. hospital to get checked out.

From there, our sources say things got worse, and Keed's organs -- his liver and kidneys -- started failing ... leading to his death.

As we reported, news of his death shocked the hip hop world over the weekend when his brother, Lil Gotit, posted, "Can't believe I seened u die today bro I did all my cries I know what u want me to do and that's go hard for Mama Daddy Our Brothers Naychur and Whiteboy."

While Keed is a YSL rapper, he was not named in the recent indictment with Young Thug and Gunna.

The Los Angeles County Coroner's office is expected to do an autopsy this week.