TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Joey Badass is currently in the middle of a national tour and just hit a speed bump named Delta -- he's blaming the airline for damaging critical gear he needs to perform.

The rapper/actor landed in Portland Tuesday afternoon for his 1999-2000 Summer Tour's stop ... but says he quickly discovered his studio rig equipment was broken during the flight. It wasn't even in its case!!!

JB then proceeded to rip Delta for smashing up the knobs and buttons before finally putting an invoice on it: $12,000. And, he says this isn't the first time it's happened.

There’s still a considerable number of West Coast dates left, including stops in Los Angeles and Seattle -- but at this rate, he might have to do a cappella shows.

Joey's gotta feel like he can't win -- he made the switch to Delta from American Airlines after accusing AA of racism back in 2018.

His new album, entitled “2000,” drops on Friday -- maybe that will bring some better luck his way.

50 Cent and director Josh Stolberg have an instant promo for their upcoming horror flick, "Skill House" ... it's so terrifying, even the film's crew is losing consciousness on set!

TMZ Hip Hop obtained this footage ... it's the camera operator's reaction while filming a particularly bloody scene, and whoever's behind the lens has a weak stomach ... because he passed out on the spot.

The clip opens up with an extremely bloody actor and you can see the camera become wobbly almost immediately as the cameraman loses consciousness (but thankfully not his lunch!).

If you're squeamish too, you get why the guy went down -- 50 still couldn't believe it when he shared the gory story on Instagram ... and he was just getting it secondhand.

We're told Fiddy wasn't on set at the time but several other cast members, including Amira Mertaban, were present -- Amira was actually the first person to rush to the cameraman's side. Medics stepped in, and we're told the camera guy is fine ... he'll be back on set to finish the film.

Hollywood SFX legend Steve Johnson is credited (or blamed) for creating the gut-wrenching scene. He and Stolberg -- who worked on the last 2 'Saw' movies -- seem hellbent on pushing the limit on "Skill House."

Kodak Black claims he had a perfectly good reason for having several oxycodone pills when he was busted last weekend … his legal team insists he needs them to deal with serious pain.

Kodak's attorney Bradford Cohen tells TMZ ... the "Super Gremlin" rapper has battled chronic pain after getting shot in February during a scuffle in L.A. over Super Bowl weekend. Cohen says Kodak was prescribed pain pills to take as necessary to deal with that injury.

What's more, prior to the shooting, Kodak alleged he was assaulted by guards during his stint in a Kentucky federal prison, before Donald Trump commuted his sentence and released him. We're told he suffers ongoing pain from the attack and the meds help with that pain.

Cohen says he's handed over proof to prosecutors that the pills were legally prescribed, in an effort to resolve the matter STAT.

Lil Baby is in especially high spirits heading into his Washington, D.C. tour stop with Chris Brown, and briefly clued us in on Gunna and Young Thug's moods ... even though we interrupted his Future flow.

The 4PF Records CEO kindly stopped his rapping rendition of Future’s "Back to the Basics" Tuesday afternoon outside Reagan National Airport. We caught him right at the "DC sniped it" line, so yeah ... he was getting hyped for the Capital One Arena show.

We asked if he had any update on how Thug and Gunna are holding up on the inside, and LB pumped the brakes on the lyrics. He assured us both YSL superstars are in good spirits and added a thumbs up, which is rarely faked in this day and age!

Earlier in the week, Gunna was able to video call with some relatives, and a short clip posted online was filled with laughs ... a good sign, for sure.

And just last week, Young Thug’s sister says she paid him an in-person visit that yielded similar vibes.

Both Atlanta-based rap stars have to wait until at least 2023 before they see trial but a friend like Baby is sure to keep them plugged in the rap world.

Desus and Mero’s Showtime series’ untimely demise put the spotlight on internal negative intentions … at least that's Charlamagne Tha God's take as he digests the surprising news.

Charlamagne pointed out how numerous outlets rushed to cover the breakup in spite of D&M’s 6-year TV run on Showtime and Vice ... and blamed the “culture” for rushing to highlight failure over success.

The Breakfast Club host didn’t specify which culture he was referring to, but D&M’s brand intersected the worlds of music, movies, comics and ... generally speaking, all things NYC.

The show’s official Twitter account closed the curtain Monday on Desus and Mero’s run -- all but citing the irreconcilable differences fans suspect behind the split.

A $345K+ factory Rolls-Royce wasn't enough for Floyd Mayweather ... "Money" upgraded his whip with an authentic mink fur-lined car seat for his little baby grandson that cost $18,000!

TMZ Sports has learned the undefeated boxer hit up his longtime car guy Obi Okeke -- aka Doctor Bugatti -- who arranged to have the seat lined in the real fur ... and then they installed it in the 2022 Rolls-Royce Cullinan.

Luckily, we have video of the finished product ... and you can see the seat perfectly matches the interior of the luxury car.

And, that's because the car's also mink ... though the interior was done previously. Floyd wanted the car seat to match the interior ... and that's exactly what he got!.

The car seat also features "Kentrell Jr." stitched in highlighter yellow thread ... the name of Floyd's grandson. His daughter Yaya and NBA Youngboy are Kentrell's parents.

Ever since Kentrell Jr. was born, Mayweather's clearly been loving the role of grandpa -- from spoiling the baby boy with gifts to bringing him to the boxing gym.

Issa Rae's latest HBO series "Rap Sh!t" is about to debut, and she says you can expect to see characters spitting lyrics written by her favorite rappers ... all women!

Issa shouted out PineappleCITI, NCognita and Dreezy, who tells TMZ Hip Hop ... writing for the show was a breeze, seeing as how she's written for hip hop and R&B artists in the past.

She's sworn to secrecy as far as naming any co-collaborators for the show, but Dreezy assured us a few upcoming hot tracks have her fingerprints all over them.

"Rap Sh!t" -- which drops Thursday on HBOMax -- is centered around 2 Miami women looking to get ahead with their music, and, naturally, they also experience all the sinful spoils of the industry.

It looks and feels much like the life of City Girls Yung Miami and JT ... mainly because they're co-executive producers with Issa and several other people.

Dreezy also tells us the backlash behind women rapping about their bodies is a moot point, mainly because sex sells everything ... including rap, and "women are sexy AF!!!"

She claims women rappers have just as much variety as men, citing love songs, party songs, get money music, heartbreak and bad bitch music as different subgenres.

French Montana is accusing record labels of embracing street violence related to their artists, and actually capitalizing off rappers’ deaths.

Comparing his entry point to today’s star rappers, French told Akademiks ... record labels are now taking life insurance out on artists in anticipation of them being killed in action.

French says when he began buzzing in the late 2000s through NYC aficionados Max B. and Dame Grease, labels and artists actually distanced themselves from street drama but now they’ve learned how to monetize the murders.

Over the past few years, rappers such as Pop Smoke, King Von and Drakeo The Ruler were all killed … and subsequently had albums released posthumously to the public.

French also says today’s rap game is more dangerous than in the past, and blames social media for escalating the beefs saying, “One day a full war [can] go on.”

Fellow NYC-bred rap stars Nas and Jim Jones have both sided in the past with French and his notion that being a rapper is the world’s “most dangerous” j-o-b.

We recently caught him in NY as he broke down the complicated culture ... reacting to his friend/collaborator Lil Tjay’s shooting. His message: urging all hip hop artists and entourages to stay safe.

If Aaron Judge seems to be moving just a tiny bit slower at Tuesday night's All-Star Game ... now ya know why!!!

The New York Yankees superstar was spotted partying in L.A. the day before the mid-summer classic on Monday ... hitting the Fanatics ASG bash in downtown -- and rubbin' elbows with Travis Scott and some NBA superstars while there!!

TMZ Sports has some pics from the festivities -- and you can see Judge, rockin' a custom blazer with a white shirt underneath, seemed to be enjoying himself big time as he chatted with the celebs at the venue.

AJ was grinnin' ear to ear while talking with Scott and Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin -- and he later posed for a pic with the two plus Joel Embiid and James Harden.

No word on what time Judge left the venue ... but don't worry, Tuesday's game doesn't start 'til 5 PM PT -- so dude's got plenty of time to recover if it did happen to be a late night.

Jason Derulo and Jena Frumes are co-parenting their son without a hitch, under completely different roofs -- and she's doing so under a brand new one ... TMZ Hip Hop has learned.

The R&B/pop star leveraged his Billboard and TikTok success to purchase a $3.6 million, nearly 5,000 sq foot fortress back in March, but it wasn't for himself. We're told Jena and their son Jason King live there exclusively, with plenty of room to, ya know ... wiggle.

The swanky pad checks off 5 bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms and features a pool with built-in spa and waterfall features, a soundproof movie theater -- plus an outdoor farmhouse and BBQ area.

Jason copped the house this past March amid a career resurgence that saw his TikTok following and bank account swell substantially.

Fans were initially shocked to see Jason support Jena at her recent runway gig during designer Luli Fama's Miami Swim Week show ... especially after cheating allegations fractured their relationship last September.

Drake's brand new home apparently already had an unwanted visitor ... cops arrested a man there who claimed the rapper was his dad.

LAPD tells TMZ ... cops were called to the rapper's Beverly Hills-adjacent mansion last Friday after an employee saw someone near the pool house.

Police questioned the 23-year-old ... the man claimed 35-year-old Drake was his dad and he was just waiting for him to come home ... but obviously cops weren't buying it.

The man was arrested for misdemeanor trespassing ... we're told the guy never made it inside the house.

Drake plunked down $75M for the estate a few months back, buying the property from "Take That" singer Robbie Williams.

We're told Drake wasn't home during the incident. As we reported, he's been spending time in Sweden, where he apparently had his own run-in with police.

Lil Durk says he’s taking a break from social media, but that’s not why the Chicago rapper is trending -- that's all about a wild casino brawl, where some folks think Durk got slept!

The viral footage shows a man with blonde dreadlocks KO’d. There's no doubt the guy goes down, but the ID has definitely been in question.

Well, turns out it’s neither Durk, nor his doppelganger, Perkio who caught the viral haymaker.

The man on the receiving end of the bruising is actually a self-proclaimed Houston venture capitalist by the name of James Lett IV, who, by the looks of things is enjoying his newfound fame -- posting his face to prove the punch left no dents, and bragging about his increased social traffic.

Judging from the OG poster’s timestamp, the fight appears to have gone down over 4th of July weekend inside a Florida casino -- but it got hot online following announcements from both Durk and Perkio.

Durk announced an Instagram and Twitter hiatus Monday just as the video began to trend … which only fueled rumors it was him.

Durk gave a shout-out to his fallen brothers King Von and D-Thang and also reiterated the same timeout speech to his Twitter legion.

It appears he’s just focusing on making his next hit, and not ducking comments about the fight video.

DaBaby’s heinous remarks about HIV patients cost his Dua Lipa feature maximum exposure, but according to one of his Billion Dollar Baby artists ... he still made off with a pretty penny.

Stunna 4 Vegas poured the tea, revealing -- at least according to him -- DaBaby got $350,000 last year for appearing on DL's “Levitating (Remix).”

In his VladTV interview, Stunna went on to vouch for DaBaby’s character, saying he was in good standing with all his fans and funds.

During DaBaby’s “cancelation” period, he says DB’s cash and car flow didn’t stop. They say there's no such thing as "bad" publicity, and that's totally true in this case ... if Stunna's stats are accurate.

Remember, as that controversy was exploding ... DaBaby had dropped a Lil Wayne collab that got him back on the Billboard chart. The song peaked at No. 2 and went 4x platinum.

But he eventually had his credit snatched from the Billboard charts after the July 2021 backlash from Rolling Loud engulfed the internet.

Dua immediately ripped into DB … citing how she was “surprised and horrified” at her collaborator’s words and distanced herself from the situation in a fiery response.

Boosie Badazz is back to his happy place -- his own personal car lot -- after nearly blowing a gasket following his now viral run-in with Georgia law enforcement.

In a video posted to his newly minted Instagram -- yes, he's back -- Boosie reminded himself he’s overcome hard times, and basked in his beautiful collection of mostly black cars.

Boosie is clearly in a good mood … rapping along to Louisiana classic hip hop Mac and Soulja Slim’s “Can I Ball.”

Throughout his car tour, you can see a Chevy Corvette, Ford Mustang Mach-E, Cadillac Escalade, a Rolls Royce Phantom and several more-high end vehicles

Boosie was just the passenger when he and another man were pulled over and cuffed last week on the side of the highway -- and cops claim they were following safety protocol when they handcuffed the men.

Kanye West is no longer headlining Rolling Loud Miami, and while many thought Travis Scott would have been the perfect fit to replace Ye, the festival's founder says it wouldn't have been possible after the deaths at Astroworld.

Ye was scheduled to perform as Friday night's headliner, but Rolling Loud announced over the weekend that he would no longer be taking the stage due to circumstances out of RL's control ... Kid Cudi, who has his own beef with Ye, was named as the replacement.

Fans got pissed, demanding Travis Scott should've subbed in ... but RL co-founder Tariq Cherif posted a comment on social media saying, "venue won't allow travis because of astroworld deaths."

What Tariq didn't make clear, why would the venue, Hard Rock Stadium, feel Astroworld was Travis' fault? An RL spokesperson tells us, "All artists are in consideration for the event. But, in this case, each situation had logistical challenges and Travis wasn’t an option for this upcoming week."

We spoke with sources familiar with the festival's planning who tell us there simply wouldn't have been enough time to arrange production logistics - like security and get insurance - to cover Travis' performance. We're told it's just not possible to land someone of Travis' level with such short notice.

As we've told you, Travis and his team have maintained he didn't know the severity of what was happening in the crowd -- and video of cops calmly watching his performance while chaos was unfolding in the audience seems to support Travis' claim of not knowing how bad things actually were.

The Astroworld music festival resulted in 10 deaths, but the investigation into the failures that led to those deaths continues ... there's also billions of dollars worth of open litigation in connection to the festival.

As for Rolling Loud Miami, Cudi, Future, Lil Durk, Latto, Kendrick Lamar, Lil Baby, Curren$y and several others are still scheduled to perform ... so even without Ye and Travis, there's still plenty of talent for fans to get excited about.

Better get to your seats early for the Nick Young vs. Blueface boxing match later this month ... 'cause Swaggy P tells TMZ Sports the fight is going to be over in a matter of seconds!!

The ex-Lakers star made the prediction to us out in L.A. earlier this week ... saying it'll only take him about 15 ticks to knock out the "Thotiana" rapper.

Nick said he's confident for a myriad of reasons ... but explained he believes Blueface's lifestyle is ultimately why he'll dump the 25-year-old in Round 1.

"He's a rapper," the former hooper said. "They've got to be in the studio all night. You've got to drink, you've got to smoke. We don't do that type of stuff."

Blueface, meanwhile, was just as confident that he'd beat Young when we spoke to him out in L.A. this week -- telling us he has plans to actually toy with the 37-year-old in the fight to make him "look bad."

As for post-fight plans, Blueface says he's going to box further after the Young tilt, telling us he's already got a match planned for late August.

Young, meanwhile, says if the money's right ... he'll continue boxing -- adding, "I'm just going on a knock-a-motha-f***as-out tour."