TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Memorial Day Weekend means hip hop festival season is upon us, and the So What?! Music Festival in Texas -- with some big name headliners -- is pulling out all the stops for the safety of ticketholders.

Juicy J, Trippie Redd, 2 Chainz, IDK, 24kGoldn are on the lineup for the Arlington concert, and the promoter Third String Entertainment is doing all it can to avoid anything like the tragedy at Travis Scott's AstroWorld festival last year in Texas.

Third String's Mike Ziemer tells TMZ Hip Hop their safety procedures run deep. He says meetings with law enforcement agencies like the Texas Rangers, fire marshals and other city officials started way back in January ... as they wanted to nip any potential issues in the bud.

They're also featuring "quiet rooms" for fans who need timeouts, and access to every water fountain in Choctaw Stadium to ensure dehydrated fans can get relief.

Everyone will have to pass through metal detectors upon entry ... Ziemer says they have procedures in place for active shooters, because that's, unfortunately, a painfully real possibility these days.

In terms of crowd management, So What?! actually capped the festival attendance at 20,000 -- well below the stadium's 50,000+ max capacity -- to ensure fans can have a good time without fear of overcrowding or stampedes.

Additionally, all 3 stages will have headliners performing at the same time, thereby reducing the threat of crowds rushing from one spot to another.

Just off the dome, Kentucky rapper 2KBABY has one hell of a rollout strategy for his "Scared 2 Luv" album -- as in, the giant number "2" tatted smack in the middle of his head!!!

2KBABY debuted the new ink piece on Wednesday, captioning the pic "Scared 2 Luv (S2L) ❤️💔🖤" ... which, while undoubtedly cheaper than Lil Uzi Vert's infamous $24 million diamond implant, will certainly draw plenty of attention.

Despite amassing over 30,000 comments when he posted the new tattoo ... his fellow artists Tay Keith, Zaytoven and Lil Deezy didn't exactly approve, and they jokingly let him have it in the comment section.

Sources close to 2KBABY tell TMZ Hip Hop the 'S2L' album is being primed to cut deep as the tat ... with an onslaught of singles dropping soon and he has features with DDG, SleazyWorld Go, and Bronx drill rapper B-Lovee on deck as well.

Bruno Mars' first collaborator, "Nothin' On You" rapper B.o.B., owes several stacks -- to the tune of $3 million dollars -- to his former managers ... at least according to a new lawsuit.

In the legal docs, obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, Round Hill Music and Artists Rights Management claims B.o.B. violated a deal it struck in January 2017 which requires the rapper to hand over certain royalties associated with public performances of his tunes.

B.o.B's touring company is also named in the suit and he has 20 days to respond ... otherwise, it could become a very expensive legal default.

B.o.B tells TMZ Hip Hop, "I have not seen the lawsuit but am aware my former manager had entered into agreements without my knowledge. I take my business seriously and look forward to getting to the truth of what happened."

Sean Paul is all set to release his new album "Scorcha" tomorrow, but he's also waving the flag for Jamaica's reggae artists, and demanding they get their due.

The legendary dancehall reggae hitmaker was on "TMZ Live" Thursday talking about his genre's prevalence now in hip hop and pop music. As we've all heard for years now platinum artists such as Drake and Ed Sheeran have adopted it, and, of course, Rihanna's infused the sounds she grew up with in Barbados.

Sean da Paul (ya gotta say it that way, right?) says Drizzy's never reached out personally, but he does give him credit for recording with Jamaican artists like Popcaan. However, when it comes to the awards shows, he says they tend to bypass his homeland of Jamaica and it's native artists. Translation: Where's the respect?

He also spoke on "bridging the gaps" of reggae and reggaeton by recording with current superstars such as J Balvin and Anitta.

The latest single combines the best of both worlds with legends Damian Marley and Nicky Jam assisting for the track "No Fear."

Yung Miami's "twin" mother, Keenya Young AKA "Ms. Yung 305," has Instagram thinking she's trying to get with her daughter's Quality Control labelmate Lil Baby, but she insists it's a case of mistaken emoji motives.

The proud mama, who's known to strongly support her daughter's rap endeavors, swooped in on Baby's latest IG model shoot with a trio of heart emojis ... alerting several social media outlets in the process.

Once blog Onsite! attempted to make the emoji bombs a story, Ms. Yung 305 decided she needed to clear her name by pointing out an Instagram emoji doesn't mean anything but a button push!

Notwithstanding the irony of wearing a Cleveland Indians baseball hat with an anti-racism shirt  ... Lil Baby is one of the most fashionable rappers out, so it's hard to blame Mama Miami for calling it like she saw it!

We're inclined to believe mom on this one -- she is the CEO of a kid's clothing company and beauty line, after all. So, if she really wanted a date, she'd just do what bosses do and pull up!

Eminem's celebrating a birthday Thursday for one of his most celebrated multi-platinum albums, "The Eminem Show" ... which, believe it or not, is now 20 years old!

To mark the anniversary, Slim Shady dropped an expanded edition of 'TES' while tweeting the lyrics to his Nate Dogg-featured hit "Till I Collapse" and vintage tour footage.

The new version also adds 18 extra tracks, including live performances from 1999, an unreleased "Marshall Mathers LP" song titled "Jimmy, Brian And Mike" ... and his Ja Rule mixtape-era diss, "Bump Heads," which features 50 Cent and his fellow G-Unit rappers Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo.

The infamous G-Unit/Murder Inc. beef spiraled through most of the mid-00s and would eventually involve the likes of Fat Joe, Jadakiss and Busta Rhymes, but thankfully they kept the feud on wax, as old heads say.

Kanye West is apparently back on dad duty after some time away in Japan and NYC ... grabbing some grub at one of L.A.'s hottest spots with his oldest kid.

Kanye and North West were spotted leaving NOBU in Malibu Wednesday -- marking the first time we've seen Kanye with any of his kids in quite some time. NOBU is obviously a celeb hot spot, and one of Kanye's favorites, so it's not totally shocking they decided to go there.

As we reported, Kanye was recently in Japan with his girlfriend, Chaney Jones, before he hit New York City for the Balenciaga show.

No sign of Chaney at NOBU, though she and Kanye have been linked together for several months now, and it's possible she might now be in L.A. with him.

Of course, Kanye accused Kim of holding his kids from him through a series of social media posts months ago. Kim denied that, saying he's never been barred from seeing the kids, but has also tried to maintain a routine for the 4.

Ellen DeGeneres is ending her show after 19 seasons ... and to celebrate her last episode ever, we've put together some of the standout celeb moments during her epic run.

Over nearly 2 decades, Ellen undoubtedly made a huge impact on daytime television ... sharing laughs, stunts and tears with her special guests, some of whom she's become close friends with over the years.

Of course, Ellen's greatest scares were a hilarious part of the show, where she'd startle the bejeezus out of guests with a huge surprise right in the middle of interviews.

We can't forget Ellen's most generous giveaway, when she helped an underprivileged school in Detroit ... and the countless other times she's given back to others in need.

As we've reported, Ellen announced she was ending her show, during a taping earlier this month. While she's not retiring from showbiz, she will be taking time off to decide what's next ... and she has some pretty big ventures in the can.

We do know, she recently signed a multi-year deal with Discovery ... on top of shows on NBC ("Family Game Fight!"), FOX ('Masked Singer') and HBO ("Ellen's Next Great Designer") and the upcoming Tig Notaro animated comedy special).

Russ is showing his newly founded DIEMON Records can put up visible competition with the major labels.

The proud do-it-yourself rapper released the video for his "Handsomer Remix" single ... featuring some serious star power cameos from Snoop Dogg and Tiffany Haddish.

The superstar actress provides comedy relief inside a mansion party and Snoop, well, he plays himself ... convincingly, though!

Tiffany doesn't rap on the track but she's told TMZ Hip Hop she plans to collaborate with both Snoop and Beyonce down the line.

Edgar Esteves and Logan Fields both directed the visual and Russ' new artist Ktlyn is featured on the track. It's been doing well too -- peaking at No. 40 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Russ is rather proud of the visual, and for the $300,000 he says he paid for total production, he should be. No word how much he paid Uncle Snoop, who's known to charge $250,000 a pop when he's doing his feature thing, but it's likely they worked something out.

Snoop Dogg's done it all -- from Super Bowl performances to being Martha Stewart's BFF -- but there's another wild moment we're just hearing about, involving Michael Jordan and a pretty sweet offer.

Snoop says he once turned down a whopping $2 million dollars to DJ a Michael Jordan party. Apparently, money can't buy everything, as the Doggfather revealed on Jake Paul's "Impaulsive" Podcast ... and apparently, that includes scheduling conflicts. Even for his Airness.

He also ranked Magic Johnson as his favorite "MJ," so his Lakers fandom probably influenced his decision NOT to move things around to accommodate Michael.

Snoop occasionally moonlights as DJ Snoopadelic and has become nifty with the turntables over the years, but he's also far from hurting for bread.

Interestingly, he recently told the Nelk Boys he gets $250,000 per feature on other artists' songs.

J. Cole's latest pro-basketball venture tips off Thursday and it might not have happened without his run-in with Drake during a party in Los Angeles.

Founding member of Drake's October's Very Own brand, Nicholas "OVO Niko" Corino, also co-owns the Scarborough Shooting Stars ... the Canadian Elite Basketball League team J. Cole is suiting up for -- and he told Complex how Cole approached Drizzy about being on the Shooting Stars team.

Niko said, "You know, Dreamville and OVO are family," and added, “Drake had a birthday party in L.A. last year. The conversation was, ‘I heard you have your team.’ It organically grew from there.”

If it sounds like a game of rapper nepotism, Shooting Stars forward Olu Famutimi assured fans Cole was putting in extra effort just to be seen as a "guy who can hoop."

He'll also be coached by former NBA All-Star Jamaal Magloire, who happens to hail from Scarborough ... a Toronto neighborhood.

Cole's already gotten the respect of fellow hip hop ballers Fivio Foreign and Dave East, and Kawhi Leonard's Culture Jam recently shared footage of how far Cole's game has involved.

Just when you thought the Jack Harlow and Brandy saga had come to an end, the R&B singer is trading in her high notes to drop bars ... and they might hit below the belt!!!

On Wednesday, Brandy used Jack's chart-topping "First Class" single for a freestyle with some pretty clever lyrics. Hot 97's "Ebro in the Morning" premiered the track, which is fitting since that's where Jack first revealed he didn't know Brandy is Ray J's sister.

Brandy raps "Cinderella scriptures/But that don't mean Jack in the streets/Jack of all trades/Now I'm here Jackin' for beats" ... then later acknowledges her "Queens" series cancelation and even plugs her brother Ray J's "unbreakable" glasses.

ICYMI, Jack Harlow admitted on Hot 97's "Ebro in the Morning" that he never knew Brandy and Ray J were fam ... causing many in hip hop to question his cultural IQ.

Hot topic in the industry, which we tackled on an episode of "TMZ Hip Hop." Is Jack getting a bad rep? Watch the clip, and you can be the judge.

The Doja Cat "rapper" debate will come to an end, eventually, and probably sooner than later based on her new declaration.

Doja Cat looked past her latest album "Planet Her" (which broke Billboard and Spotify records) and told Elle her next body of work will be bars-heavy. DC says, “I’ve rapped since the beginning, and I really couldn’t even sing that well to begin with -- I got a lot better.”

She added. “I use my voice as a tool to create these worlds, and it’s fine if people think that I can’t rap.”

While the public (that's pronounced Twitter) keeps arguing about Doja's skills, she's gained support within her field from artists like battle rap queen Remy Ma and Wale.

When that new music will drop is anyone's guess. DC just had to cancel her entire summer festival dates (including opening up for The Weeknd) due to tonsil surgery she has to have from vaping.

Kanye West's failed presidential bid just took another hit ... his campaign committee claims they fell victim to a fraud scheme where thousands went to pay off someone's credit card.

Kanye 2020 told the Federal Election Commission someone unaffiliated with the campaign accessed the committee's bank account, swiping $3,999 to pay off their own credit card bills.

In a letter fired off Tuesday to the FEC, and obtained by TMZ, Kanye 2020 says an investigation determined someone accessed the account three times between December and February, and the campaign was unable to get the money back from the First Bank of Wyoming.

The FEC previously flagged the transactions and Kanye's campaign took a look and is now claiming they were the victim here. There doesn't appear to have been an arrest made yet, and it appears the FEC is working to gather more info. Business Insider was the first to report the filing.

Lupe Fiasco will be dishing out higher learning as part of MIT's MLK Visiting Professors and Scholars Program, and Jermaine Dupri hopes it's the start of a new hip hop/schooling trend.

TMZ Hip Hop ran into the So So Def Records founder Tuesday at LAX, where he told us not only will Lupe make a good teacher ... but lots of other rappers could too!

It's hard to argue with JD's reasoning here, which is that students are so plugged into hip hop and every artist's lyrics that they're more likely to pay close attention to a rapper's lesson plan.

For his part, Lupe will be teaching what he knows -- rap music! He'll be joined by theater professor Eunice Ferreira and filmmaker Louis Massiah when the rap course begins in September.

Lupe's dropping a new album, "Drill Music in Zion," next month, so any future students might wanna start streaming this summer, and brush up for the fall semester.

Now, Jermaine isn't suggesting ALL rappers switch professions ... he clarifies that only those who can teach, should teach. And, speaking of higher ed, JD is set to receive an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from The Art Institute of Atlanta when he delivers this year's commencement speech.

Jermaine and his "Welcome to Atlanta" collaborator Ludacris can compare degrees next time they hook up -- Luda recently got one from Georgia State University.

If you're invited to hoop at Drake's mansion, now you better come prepared ... 'cause the rap star's basketball game has seriously improved!!!

The Certified Lover Boy's friend, Smilez, posted video of the 35-year-old in a pickup game this week ... showing the dude going off.

Clips show the rapper hit plenty of 3s and turnaround jumpers with ease ... taking full advantage of the Kobe Bryant-themed court inside of his palace in Toronto.

"Sit tight 'cause there's a lot of buckets following," Smilez said of the footage.

Drake even got in some trick shots in between getting buckets on the floor -- tossin' an alley-oop off the upper deck of the court to former Clemson Tigers athlete and dunk star Anthony Hamilton Jr.

Of course, Drake hasn't always had this kinda game -- you'll recall, he's been filmed airballing shots on multiple occasions, even as recently as 2021.