TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Manny Halley, Young Thug's former manager, has no bad blood with his ex-client -- he wants to see him free again, and firmly believes the system is using "our culture" against hip hop superstars.

We chopped it up with Manny Thursday at LAX, where he told us about his time at YSL ... stressing there was never any notion about the company being a gang. He says it feels like law enforcement's using "made-up charges" to take down a successful revenue stream for Black artists.

Manny and YSL unceremoniously parted ways back in 2018 after he was awarded a 7-figure settlement from Thug's former business managers ... but he says it's still all love and wants to see Thug and Gunna free as the air outside.

Some of what he told us echoes attorney Drew Findling's sentiments about Georgia prosecutors and the RICO charges.

The YSL guys have been getting loads of support from the likes of Chris Brown, Lil Baby, and DJ Khaled. Thug even recorded a message played last week at Summer Jam to thank fans for their support.

As we've reported, Thug, Gunna and co. aren't slated to go to trial until early 2023.

Murda Beatz and reggaeton megastar Anitta are officially a pair, TMZ Hip Hop can confirm.

We're told the hip hop super-producer and Latina trap star have been dating for a few months, hung out together during Coachella and Murda recently made the trip to her home country of Brazil to meet her family ... where he made a good impression.

They went IG official this past Sunday ... which was Brazilian Valentine's Day and have been packing on the PDA ever since.

It's not all pleasure, though ... they're also making music together. On Thursday, MB announced his star-studded "NO MÁS" single featuring Pharrell, Quavo, J Balvin and Anitta -- dropping July 8.

Murda, having built his platinum empire making beats for Drake, Migos, Cardi B, Travis Scott and many more ... now has a girlfriend with whom he can drop hits.

Drake is a basketball champion and J. Cole is a pro hooper -- but none of that matters to Lil Durk because he "knows" he's the best hip hop baller out there.

We checked in with Durkio as he was checking outta LAX to get his thoughts on Drake's recent trophy win ... in his own basketball league, mind you.

Seems like an obvious conflict of interest, but Durk says he'd do the same thing if he had his own court and b-ball league.

He also perked up with J. Cole's recent stint in the Canadian Elite Basketball League ... especially while claiming he'd put Cole on a poster with a dunk!!!

He's got backup for that smack talk, though -- remember, LeBron James recently went on record putting Durk's b-ball skills over every rapper out there and Durk is clearly, and proudly, wearing that title on his sleeve.

Hip hop mogul J Prince is sounding the alarm on an alleged Houston gang member who cops say executed his ex's daughter as revenge for a breakup ... Prince says the guy needs to be held accountable

Prince -- the Rap-A-Lot Records honcho who has a reputation for getting things done in Houston -- put the alleged killer on blast Wednesday, telling his 756k Instagram followers ... "We can't have clowns like this running around purposely killing our babies and be ok with it."

Houston police say 22-year-old Jeremiah Jones is the triggerman in a child's fatal shooting, and he's been arrested following a manhunt and booked on counts of capital murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Cops say Jones "executed" 9-year-old Khylie Sorrells as possible "revenge" over the girl's mother breaking up with him several months ago and allegedly seeing other men.

Police say Jones went to his ex-girlfriend's home Monday night and got into an argument with her before shooting the woman's child in the head.

J Prince appears to be making a call to action, saying ... "Stand with me on preventing this sick individual from harming another baby. I'm not advocating violence, but we have to protect our kids."

Prince also has this to say about Jones ... "I don't care what gang he's with they are no match for us."

Nipsey Hussle's alleged murderer, Eric Holder Jr., is standing trial in Los Angeles and prosecutors just laid out the details of Nip's shooting death in court ... and it's horrifying.

Deputy District Attorney John McKinney told the jury Wednesday ... after Holder gunned down Nipsey in a Crenshaw parking lot, Holder walked over to Nispey's bullet-riddled body and kicked him in the head.

The prosecutor also told the courtroom, Holder said to Nipsey, "You're through" ... with Hussle replying, "You got me," before Holder took off from the scene.

McKinney told the jury, Holder's kick to Nipsey's head shows it was a personal attack ... while Holder's public defender is trying to frame the case as something that happened in the heat of the moment.

You'll recall ... Holder was arrested a few days after Nipsey's shooting death, and he's charged with 1 count of murder, 2 counts of attempted murder (two other people were injured by gunshots during the incident) and 1 count of possession of a firearm by a felon.

XXL just released its hotly debated Freshman List for the 15th year — and there are no noticeable snubs ... as far as Yung Bleu can see.

The budding star's the perfect guy to weigh in with his hot take, because just last year he was the center of attention when XXL left him off the 2021 Freshman List.

We caught up with Bleu Davinci outside LAX and he had no smoke for the '22 XXL Freshman List, which consists of Babyface Ray, BabyTron, Big30, Big Scarr, Cochise, Doechii, Kali, KayCyy, KenTheMan, Nardo Wick, Saucy Santana and SoFaygo.

While Bleu feels like the list doesn't have power over artists' careers anymore -- rendering it kind of irrelevant -- he was happy to see the new class members get their shine.

We also got his take on the social media debate of Michael Jackson vs. Chris Brown's talent supremacy -- and Bleu didn't go the route of his homie Tank and side with CB ... he simply stated each generation will crown their hero and both their talents are uncanny.

Bleu’s career has been thriving since the 2021 “snub” … he went on to win Best New Artist at both the BET Hip Hop and Soul Train Awards that year and his double platinum-selling Drake collab “You’re Mines Still” has over 200 million YouTube views.

And, on top of that, he'll be on CB's new album, which is dropping this summer.

Drake brought his IG moniker "Champagne Papi" to life on Tuesday -- winning a title in the Sanctuary Basketball League -- and he celebrated by sprayin' bubbly everywhere!!

The victorious moment was all caught on video -- when his NTIG teammate hit the game-winning shot in the SBL title game right on Drake's basketball court in his Toronto mansion.

Drizzy and his squad went nuts after securing the dub ... cueing up the champagne showers.

And, Drake paid homage to the late Kobe Bryant for his game strategy ... saying he channeled his inner Mamba Mentality.

"I did what Kobe did in Game 7 against the Celtics," Drake said, "Shots not falling, you play f*****g defense!"

BTW, Drake launched the SBL league last year ... and now is a 2-time champ, after his team again won the 'ship.

Megan Thee Stallion is hopeful that Tory Lanez is not only found guilty for allegedly shooting her, but that he's thrown behind bars as well.

Meg -- who's in the middle of a criminal case involving Lanez in which he's alleged to have shot her in the foot in 2020 -- did an interview with Rolling Stone, in which she touched on the legal matter ... and says she wants him to serve time.

She says, "I want him to go to jail," adding ... "I want him to go under the jail." MTS said this after reflecting/questioning why the case is dragging out so long.

As you know, Tory has denied Megan's accusations and pled not guilty to the charges against him. While there've been bumps throughout -- including him being temporarily remanded to custody for violating a protective order -- it seems the case is going to trial in September.

Megan claims her foot was injured during the shooting -- saying she had to undergo surgery, and couldn't walk for days. She says, "Both of my legs wrapped up. I could not walk. I still have bullet fragments in my feet right now. I was very scared that I was not able to be Megan Thee Stallion no more. And, I was f***ed up."

Megan also addressed the other witness in the matter -- her ex-best friend, Kelsey Harris -- saying she feels like she's sided with Tory in the aftermath. An even more triggering result, she says, is the social media backlash she's received from people who don't believe her.

The upcoming celebrity boxing match between Blueface and former NBA star Nick Young isn't too chummy, and won't be very long -- the "Thotiana" rapper is vowing to put Nick to sleep early!

Make no mistake about it, Blueface has already won the July 30 bout in his mind, because he tells TMZ Hip Hop ... "The Famous Cryp is about to be even more famous ... Nick's going down in the 3rd!"

Earlier this week, TMZ Sports hashed out the details: the proud L.A. natives will both have home ring advantage inside Crypto.com Arena where they will be on the undercard for the Social Gloves event where YouTubers Austin McBroom and AnEsonGib are the main event.

Speaking of YouTubers, Blueface has a history of sizing up social media stars for a fight.

Remember, he bashed TikToker Kane Trujillo's face in (as well as a random ring-crasher) during a July 2021 bare-knuckle fight.

Ex-NFL star, and part-time rapper, Le'Veon Bell is also on the card for July 30, but he's still waiting for a challenger.

As for the fight for L.A.'s unofficial celeb belt (which isn't a thing, yet) ... the physical stats are in Swaggy's favor, but Blueface has him beat in-ring experience.

Quavo may or may not be an ex-Migo … but he’s definitely focused on being a movie legend for the time being.

We caught up with Quay Huncho outside of LAX — fresh off his time on the set of his bank-robbing heist "Cash Out" and he had plenty of love for his costars — especially John Travolta, who gave the star rapper some potential Oscar-winning advice.

Quay says John simply told him to be relaxed on set — and be himself at times, which is a little strange considering they're actually portraying someone else.

That being said, most successful actors still don't have filmographies as acclaimed as Travolta's so, yeah.

Although there's no set release date or trailer, Quay was especially pumped, shouting out director Randall Emmett and his costars ... including Noel Gugliemi, who he flicked it up with several times on the "Cash Out" set.

Gold-selling Brooklyn drill rapper 22Gz was arrested on attempted murder charges early Sunday morning the moment he landed at JFK airport.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... 22Gz was in Atlanta since the shooting and may have thought the coast was clear for his Sunday Summer Jam performance ... but police caught up with him at the airport.

The snafu caused him to forfeit his appearance, as he was supposed to be a part of Hot 97's DJ Drewski's set.

The arrest stems from a March 6 shooting inside a Brooklyn party hall where 3 people were shot ... and police say one of the victims ID'd 22Gz as the shooter and provided officers with a detailed description of the "Twirlanta" rapper.

Despite the triple shooting ... we're told the injuries are not considered to be serious.

Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez ripped into 22Gz telling TMZ: "This shooting not only wounded the victim, but endangered the lives of everyone in a crowded club. Senseless gang rivalries fuel much of the gun violence in our communities and I remain committed to vigorously prosecuting anyone who engages in this criminal conduct."

In addition to the attempted murder charge, 22Gz is facing 2nd-degree assault and weapons charges for a pistol, along with a 1st-degree reckless endangerment charge.

Gunna isn’t taking his incarceration lightly … evidenced by a fiery letter he’s written from jail where he says America is violating his Freedom of Speech rights.

In an open letter dated on his 29th birthday — Tuesday, June 14, the incarcerated “Pushin P” rapper speaks on how his breakout year was flipped after being part of a 56-count indictment that included Young Thug and several other YSL members.

He writes, “22 & 2, just a bed & a shower, no windows just walls. Can’t see or talk to anyone. I’m writing now & still praying everyday. I was raised to fight fire with water, even tho my country’s amendments have failed me! PROTECT BLACK ART!”

T.I., who’s had several run-ins with the law throughout his rap career, immediately swooped in with words of encouragement.

Sad thing is ... Gunna wasn’t lying about 2022 being his time to shine. His album “DS4EVER” beat out The Weeknd to go No. 1 and his gold-selling “Pushin P” record set a trend.

Thug recently also broke his silence — live at Hot 97’s Summer Jam ... urging fans to sign to the Protect Black Art initiative — as did Chris Brown, DJ Khaled, Post Malone, Polo G, Meek Mill and several other high-profile artists.

Blue Ivy spent the night out with her pops Jay-Z, and fans had to stop and do a double-take after looking way too much like Beyoncé.

The father-daughter duo was at the NBA Finals Monday night in San Fran, and fans couldn't help but compare her to her mom -- the 10-year-old is rocking a new curly-haired look that's definitely very familiar.

Blue's look feels similar to queen Bey in the mid-2000s, or as one fan reacted on social media ... "Beyonce really copy and pasted her looks on her." Not everyone sees the Beyonce comparisons, though ... some still see more of her dad than her mama.

Jay-Z even got the chance to embarrass her at the game in true dad fashion ... pulling her in for a hug while on camera, and she tried to break away as she whispered, "Dad, my hair."

BTW, last night's game 5 pulled Golden State ahead 3-2, and Jay and mini-Bey even got to chat it up with Steph Curry after the game.

Trick Daddy is super pissed at Ron DeSantis for Florida's myriad financial problems, calling the Governor a "white bigot" ... but he's also blaming voters, or lack thereof.

The "I'm a Thug" rapper is the latest guest on "It's Tricky with Raquel Harper," and he rips into Gov. DeSantis when asked what life is like these days in his home state.

Trick Daddy says he feels for all those seeing their rents raised by hundreds of dollars ... but he's not blaming President Biden, a la Jake Paul, and is instead focusing his rage on DeSantis.

Raised rents aren't the only bone Trick Daddy has to pick with DeSantis ... he's also going after the Governor for Florida's so-called "Don't Say Gay" bill and super strict abortion laws.

The way Trick Daddy sees it ... DeSantis, a prospective Republican candidate for president, is singling out all types of people and their ways of life with "racist and biased" legislation.

As for his rant about DeSantis being "from another country" -- we think TD's referring to the fact his ancestors were Italian immigrants in the early 20th century.

Two people have been arrested in the shooting death of rapper Slim 400, months after he was gunned down while sitting in a driveway ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources say they arrested a man and a woman Thursday in connection to the December murder, we don't yet know their identities or if they knew Slim 400 personally. We're told the arrests were the result of a search warrant that will be sent to the D.A.

You'll remember, the entire thing was captured on a Ring cam in Inglewood ... you see a suspect walk up a driveway before confronting Slim and firing a series of shots. Slim attempts to go after the suspect, but collapses.

Shortly after the attack, he was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Slim was just 33.

Damon Dash will not be going rogue and auctioning off Jay-Z's "Reasonable Doubt" album as an NFT ... he and Roc-A-Fella Records settled the case before it got that far.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Dash and RAF have agreed to terms on a settlement -- Dame agrees that only RAF has the rights to sell an NFT of the famous album.

TMZ broke the story ... Roc-A-Fella sued DD back in June 2021, claiming Dash was trying to mint "Reasonable Doubt" as a non-fungible token in order to sell it to the highest bidder.

The record company argued the album was not Damon's to sell because the company owns it.

Under the settlement, Damon and RAF agree no individual shareholder can sell the album as an NFT -- meaning, Jay can't either -- because it's owned by the company and not any individual shareholder.

The only thing Dame can sell, according to the settlement, is his own 1/3 ownership in Roc-A-Fella Records, Inc.