TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Bun B is preparing for a big weekend behind the grill with his Trill Burgers franchise ... one part of a history-making food court at LL Cool J’s Rock the Bells festival.

The UGK rapper checked in with "TMZ Live" Thursday to shout out the good news about Trill Mealz Food Court … which will also feature restaurants owned and operated by Nas, E-40, Jadakiss & Styles P., Mia X and Ghostface Killah!

Like he originally told us, Bun floated the so-called hip hop food court idea by LL, and the rest is soon-to-be restaurant history. It'll be the first of its kind when RTB opens on August 6.

Bun says music festivals are a total win-win -- fans get to interact with their favorite artists’ side biz, and get to experience food they might not have access to back home.

In fact, he's so confident in his burgers' flavor profiles that he says customers won't be able to tell the difference between traditional meat and vegan options!

Bun’s self-endorsements are not served with a side of cap … a panel of chefs and celebs recently named his Trill Burgers tops in the land, and handed him a $10K check, too!!!

Brittney Griner’s 9-year prison sentence for flying in Russia with a cannabis cartridge is drawing lots of disbelief and outrage within hip hop, but perhaps no one's reacting as aggressively as Boosie Badazz.

The Louisiana rapper couldn’t contain his anger as he unloaded on America, in general -- but especially on Vice President Kamala Harris ... for not doing more, in his eyes, to help a fellow Black woman.

He screamed the Veep should be on the "front lines" assisting the embattled WNBA star, and claimed Harris' silence sets a bad example for women of color.

Boosie also speculated if it were Taylor Swift in Brittney’s situation, the U.S. government would have launched a massive strategy to secure the pop star’s freedom.

Similar comparisons have been made regarding BG’s international trial, with LeBron James being the most famous example.

After Thursday's verdict, Justin Bieber seems down for the cause too.

Now, no one's gonna confuse Boosie with an expert on international geopolitics -- but, for what it’s worth, both President Biden and VP Harris called for Russia to return BG to the U.S. ... and they've said negotiations are actively going on as you read this.

Kid Cudi and Kanye West’s cold war is creating all sorts of collateral damage, and longtime GOOD Music producer Mike Dean appears to be the latest one feeling the burn.

Dean launched into a Twitter rant after learning Wednesday night he'd been dropped from Cudi’s upcoming "Moon Man’s Landing Festival" without warning.

He clarified on Thursday that Cudi was indeed the one who cut him -- but still says he's definitely "G.O.O.D." on the live music circuit ... with or without Cudi’s help.

Dean told HipHopDX ... "[Kid Cudi dropped me] from the festival. I don’t care. I’m doing stadiums this weekend.”

What's even more puzzling is Mike and Cudi have their own long-running relationship -- he even produced on Cudi's last solo "Man On the Moon" album in 2020.

Kanye and Cudi’s friendship came to an end earlier this year, and the fallout continues.

Pusha T was forced to choose sides when he released his last album, but things came to a head at Rolling Loud Miami last month when Cudi was forced off stage by rogue Kanye fans who pelted him with objects.

Kanye canceled Cudi for being friends with Pete Davidson, and now Cudi clips Mike ... seemingly for his ties to Ye.

Ne-Yo's wife is putting an end to the couple's marriage ... filing for divorce, and claiming the singer recently fathered a child with another woman.

Crystal Renay -- who married Ne-Yo in February 2016 -- filed divorce docs earlier this week in Atlanta saying the couple's marriage is "irretrievably broken with no hope for reconciliation."

What's most shocking, Smith says that while she and Ne-Yo have three children together of their own -- he recently fathered a child with another woman. Crystal lists the couple's date of separation as July 22, 2022 ... and says she's been taking care of the three kids since the split.

Crystal is asking for primary physical custody of the kids and joint legal custody -- she's also asking for child support and alimony.

Ne-Yo and Crystal have had their ups and downs over the years, she filed for divorce back in 2020 but later withdrew her petition. TMZ broke the story, the two celebrated their love once again in 2022 in Vegas with a "second" wedding.

Judging from his overflow of Instagram activity, Kendrick Lamar is enjoying his time on the Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers tour, and fans are too ... especially when he dazzles them with magic tricks.

So, check this out ... in addition to dropping bars on stage, Kendrick's going straight Houdini on audiences!!!

Recent Charlotte concert footage shows K. Dot speeding through a performance of a 'Mr. Morale' track called “United in Grief” -- and then suddenly vanishing on the spot.

The footage didn't only wow the crowd ... the Internet's pretty baffled too by the impressive illusion.

Dressed like a ventriloquist -- creepy puppet and all -- the superstar rapper disappeared in a faint poof of smoke with no glitchy hologram work evident to the naked eye, at least.

Kendrick still has a lot of leg room left on the tour —which will be blazing all the way through August and September with his pgLang artists.

On Wednesday, he shared a ton of new performance pics and rare Instagram Story to his ‘Gram … which he hardly ever uses.

He broke down the decades-long process to create a song like "Mother I Sober" and vowed to always be an outcast in the mainstream no matter how popular he gets.

K. Dot's longtime producer Sounwave recently revealed in a new interview the next album will be here sooner than later … so don’t expect the curtain to close anytime soon.

Post Malone raised a huge chunk of change for a handful of charities by picking up a controller, putting on his headset, and playing one of his favorite video games.

The singer did a series of "Gaming for Love" live streams on Twitch in July playing the battle royale game Apex Legends for Human Rights Watch, Project HOPE, United Way and The Trevor Project.

He ended up raising over $196K through donations over the 4 nights ... part of the cash was from Respawn Entertainment, which created the free-to-play game. The company donated $40K for Post's hard work, putting him over the $200K mark.

Post's final stream went down with a 60-person tournament on a private server ... he got $76,026 in donations that night, going out with a bang.

The guy's a big fan of the video game, too -- he's popped up in content creator's streams from time to time to play some Apex with them, and even mentioned it's his favorite game of the genre during an episode of the "Full Send Podcast."

Tory Lanez recently surprised Chris Brown in Toronto with an insane diamond chain that crowned him the undisputed “King Of Pop” over Michael Jackson … and TMZ Hip Hop has all the shiny details attached.

We spoke to Imperial Jewelry in NYC who tells us they’re very proud of the latest piece, having worked with Tory a bunch on other custom pieces in the past.

Tory had actually been working on the piece all the way since March and it’s not hard to see why with all the exclusive details … all the way down to CB’s tattoos and poses.

IJ says the entire piece weighs nearly 300g total — with over 40 carats of diamonds on the pendant and another 20 carats on the chain. They wouldn't disclose how much it cost Tory, but said the piece is worth around $200,000.

And it’s more custom to Breezy than meets the eye; the back pendant features a host of CB’s musical accomplishments, such as award show wins and sales milestones.

Cordae just dropped off a new freestyle and fans couldn’t help but notice he was back to his fresh-faced look — after going viral debuting a wolverine-esque beard last weekend at Lollapalooza.

The reactions across social media were unanimously negative and likely played a part in the Naomi Osaka breakup rumors … which TMZ eventually debunked.

Cordae bounced back last night with a new freestyle titled "Ego" but couldn't help but react to an IG page’s repost of his new flow ... assuring everyone the bullies wouldn’t get the last laugh and he would be regrowing his mane in upcoming months.

The new music earned the approval of fellow hip hop peers Pusha T, Anderson. Paak and Post Malone's manager Dre London. Cordae raps about the evils of the world, prerolls and side chicks ... y'know, typical rapper headaches.

Ma$e’s viral "Million Dollaz Worth of Game" interview isn't sitting well with Fivio Foreign ... but he might have a way to get back at his ex-mentor in a way that gets them both paid.

Fivio teased a new single on Wednesday that clearly samples one of Ma$e’s Bad Boy-era signature hits “Tell Me What You Want” … much to the amusement of Rowdy Rebel and 'MDWG' co-host Gillie Da Kid.

The Brooklyn rapper posted video of himself in the studio with Young Money signee Mellow Rackz posted up firmly in his lap -- she even confirmed their relationship status in the comments.

Anyway, the point here is more about the song playing while Mellow and Fivio get cozy -- if it does get released, it could potentially pay royalties to both Ma$e and Diddy ... while giving Fivio an instantly recognizable (translation: radio-ready) track.

Of course, he could just be trolling to get back at the former-reverend Ma$e.

To recap, Fivio claimed Ma$e only fronted him $5,000 to start his rap career -- but Ma$e clarified the $5k was allegedly part of a larger $750K advance in which they both got cashed out by Columbia Records.

Ma$e got to feeling himself after his interview went viral, and returned to IG after a few months of inactivity by claiming "billionaire son” Kanye blessed him Tuesday with a pair of the ultra-rare Nike Red Octobers for Yeezy Day.

Except … those are actually Kanye’s Louis Vuitton Dons from his '09 LV collaboration and Ye publicly stated he didn’t authorize Yeezy Day.

Tennis superstar Naomi Osaka and her rapper boyfriend, Cordae, are going stronger than ever and have NOT broken up ... despite reports claiming otherwise.

The rumors began to swirl on social media this week ... when one blog stated the two 24-year-olds had called it quits.

Sources close to the couple tell TMZ Sports the Japanese pro and "Chronicles" MC are actually doing better than ever ... and they're most definitely still "happily in love."

In fact, we're told Cordae and NO have been spending even more time together recently ... which makes the initial report even more of a head-scratcher.

As we previously reported, the duo first started going public with their relationship in 2019 ... and have been each other's biggest supporters during album releases and tennis matches.

Speaking of, Cordae is fresh off a buzzing performance at Lollapalooza ... and Osaka just made her first return to the court since May, winning her first-round match of the Silicon Valley Classic.

Osaka said after the match she was "really happy" to be back on the court ... so it sounds like everything's going well for the superstar.

The driver who killed Nicki Minaj's father, Robert Maraj, in a hit-and-run was just sentenced to time behind bars.

Charles Polevich was ordered to serve 1 year in jail Wednesday after pleading guilty to two felony charges -- leaving the scene of an incident without reporting and tampering with physical evidence. On top of that, his driver's license will be suspended for 6 months and he'll pay a $5,000 fine.

Polevich was facing up to 7 years behind bars, but Judge Howard Sturim followed through with a commitment to sentence him to no more than one year in jail.

TMZ broke the story ... Nicki's dad died at the age of 64 after being struck in a hit-and-run accident back in February 2021 while he was walking on Long Island.

At the time, cops said the driver fled the scene and tried to hide the car in a detached garage at his place. Robert was rushed to a hospital in critical condition and died from his injuries.

Monica Lewinsky is taking fire from the Beyhive, after she obliquely asked Beyonce to change the lyric of one of her old songs.

As you may know, Monica chimed in over a word in Bey's song "Heated" from her "Renaissance" album -- Bey used the word "spa***n" and "s**z" ... insulting words referencing a disability. Beyonce's team said there was no offense meant and they were unaware it was offensive, so it was removed from the song.

Apparently, Monica now feels emboldened, and suggested Beyonce remove a lyric from her 2013 hit "Partition."  The lyric in question ... "He popped all my buttons, and he ripped my blouse/He Monica Lewinsky'd all on my gown."

In case you don't know -- but you should -- the lyric references Monica's famed Gap dress, in which Bill Clinton's sperm/DNA linked him to her.

Monica wrote an article years ago in Vanity Fair, informing Bey she was incorrect ... if she was set on the lyric, it should have gone like this ... "He Bill Clinton'd all on my gown." It's a solid point.

The Beyhive is infuriated at Monica, with one member tweeting, "Rap song muse is in your bio. You like the references. Only relevance you have as of lately." Another tweeted, "It's a 10-year-old song and the answer is NO."

One of the Ying Yang Twins says his collapse in the middle of a concert wasn't as bad as it looked ... insisting he's fine and pledging to take better care of himself moving forward.

D-Roc tells TMZ Hip Hop the incident is being blown out of proportion on the internet, characterizing it as just a "bad day." He says he passed out on stage due to dehydration and he's not feeling any lingering health effects.

As we reported ... D-Roc had to be carried away after collapsing 30 minutes into the Ying Yang Twins' set at a fair in Missouri, where they were special guests for headliner Vanilla Ice.

D-Roc says he was complaining about hot weather before the show and the next thing he knew he was waking up on a golf cart next to paramedics.

The rapper says he just needed water, Gatorade and rest ... telling us he's in good enough health to put on more shows and handle his daddy duties.

D-Roc provided some explanation to fans through social media, but still feels the need to set the record straight ... telling us it took less than 24 hours for him to get back to business as usual.

He says folks have been blowing up his phone ever since he made headlines, checking in to make sure he's OK.

It appears the beef between 50 Cent and "Vanderpump Rules" star Lala Kent is completely squashed -- because TMZ's learned she's been kickin' it with the rapper/producer on the set of his upcoming horror flick.

Witnesses on set tell us Lala's been popping up "multiple times" to visit 50 as he films the movie "Skill House" at the content-creating space, Sway House in Los Angeles.

For those unaware, Lala was caught in the middle of a feud between 50 and her now-ex fiance Randall Emmett in 2019. Remember, Fif accused Randall of owing him $1 million ... and taunted him by posting a clip of Lala on 'VR' talking about how she'd get expensive gifts from Randall after sex.

50 also posted texts from Randall begging him not to publicize their drama -- and then Lala got involved by saying the rapper's actions diminished the #metoo movement.

That's all behind them now. We're told Lala doesn't have any role in the movie, and has just been popping in to chat with her friend.

Seeing as how Lala and Randall had a pretty nasty break-up, we're guessing he won't be thrilled to see her cozying up to his archenemy. For what it's worth, 50 says Randall eventually paid back the $1 mil loan.

As if the Lala-Fif sighting wasn't weird enough ... this is the same movie set where a camera op recently passed out while shooting a super bloody scene for the flick.

Drake just dropped the video for “Sticky” from his new album “Honestly, Nevermind” and it’s clear he used his recent Euro vacation to double the video’s scenic locations!!!

Directed by Theo Skudra, the lush visual navigates through parts of Drake at sea in St. Tropez, Michael Rubin’s 4th of July bash and other expensive frolics throughout the galaxy.

Lil Baby and Future can also be spotted living it up … and Drake found a rainy rooftop to test out his new coat from his Nocta Nike line.

Drizzy also proved there was no cap in his rap when it came to namedropping the late Virgil Abloh … stunting inside the off-road Maybach designed by the Off-White creator in collaboration with Mercedes.

Young Thug and YSL also get a shoutout as they fight their ongoing case.

Speaking of fighting, Drake is currently battling COVID-19, so the wave of memories in this video should induce a swift recovery!

Killer Mike is sticking to his guns -- Atlanta is the best U.S. city for Black-owned clubs and small businesses, but warns that status is in jeopardy if the City Council gets its way with a pending bill.

Mike was on "TMZ Live" today ... still crunk from addressing the Council during a debate on whether to launch the so-called "nuisance" bill that could potentially cut into operation times for all sorts of establishments in ATL.

Mike tells us cities like NYC and L.A. don't have the cultural connection to the clubs like ATL does, and he openly challenges anyone to show him an equal amount of Black ownership like his hometown.

Mike was front and center at Monday's hearing -- where 2 Chainz introduced him -- and the Run The Jewels MC drove home his points with force!!!