TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Tank is feeling the love while promoting his new album, “R&B Money” … yet he's not about to give his pal Ginuwine a pass for his dance moves -- if you can call 'em that.

Ginuwine recently went viral following a performance where fans thought his dance moves were so washed, someone eventually memed him into Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video.

Tank wholeheartedly agreed with the fans while speaking to Loreal on "The Morning Hustle" … ranking G's dance moves a -2 on a scale of 10. Damn!

It was all jokes but Tank wasn’t kidding when he revealed Ginuwine and Tyrese muffed the opportunity to reunite TGT -- their short-lived R&B "supergroup" -- for his album.

The trio only released one project together in 2013, but Tank told Atlanta radio station Majic both G and Tyrese moved like dinosaurs in the studio ... and didn’t meet the “R&B Money” deadline.

It's all good, Tank still had plenty of friends who were more prompt ... Chris Brown, Rotimi and Alex Isley appear on the new record -- while Jamie Foxx, OT Genasis, Pleasure P and many others recently helped Tank celebrate "retirement."

No time for the same 'ol G anymore!

'Power Book: II' stars Michael Rainey and Gianni Paolo are stoked for the upcoming season of 50 Cent's hit series ... and his upcoming Tycoon Weekend, especially since Fiddy and Floyd Mayweather are friends again!

We ran into Mike and Gianni hanging out in L.A., and they tell TMZ Hip Hop ... Fiddy's long-running public feud with the boxing champ came to a halt at the request of Mo'Nique while she was doing stand-up!!!

The 'Power' pair say Mo'Nique stopped her Las Vegas show midway to put Floyd and 50 on blast, putting the gears in motion for them to repair their friendship.

50 recently told a version of the story on "The Breakfast Club," admitting there was a bit of stubbornness on both ends ... but the rest is harmonious history.

Floyd is set to make an appearance at the Autograph Show of Texas in Pasadena and Mo'Nique was cast in one of 50's other popular TV series, "B.M.F."

Mike and Gianni also revisited their early days being on the 'Power' set ... and recall T.I. originally being cast in the role of lawyer Davis MacLean ... only to be replaced by Method Man by the time filming started.

Like Floyd, 50 and T.I. have a bit of a testy history, and the 'Power' connection would've ironed out their previous issues. We've reached out to Tip for some clarity ... we'll let you know when we hear back!

At any rate, look for 'Power Book: II' to return sometime in November this year. Gianni recently hit the TMZ Verified podcast where he went into detail on his role as Brayden Weston and the upcoming season feels loaded with surprises!!!

JID's new album "The Forever Story" drops Friday but the Dreamville rapper is already plotting and planning the project that follows it.

Rumors have been swirling that DJ Drama is set to flood the hip-hop space with new rap star-led 'Gangsta Grillz' mixtapes ... and JID confirmed the next issue of his Leonardo DiCaprio mixtape series will be one of them!

Meek Mill, Tory Lanez, EST Gee and several others have been in talks to do a 'Gangsta Grillz' this year, which is perfect for JID's goals.

He says his aim is to recreate that old-school mixtape feeling by scooping other rappers' beats and flipping them into original songs.

"Me and Drama are really gonna do it right," JID confirmed in a new interview, referring to his "DiCaprio 3" mixtape.

The last "DiCaprio" project dropped in 2018, and JID said the actual Leo's now aware of his presence ... through their mutual friend Q-Tip -- from A Tribe Called Quest -- who texted Leo and let him know the project was 🔥🔥🔥.

The last time we talked to JID, he half-joked he could've been the 4th Migos member ... which is interesting as rumors persist there could be an open spot.

Offset filed a complaint against Quality Control Records earlier this week for ownership over his solo career -- all but leaving Quavo and Takeoff to sweep up the dust as the new duo Unc & Phew.

With the signature of Gov. Gavin Newsom, the state of California is set to pass an unprecedented rap lyrics bill that will block prosecutors from using artists' work as circumstantial evidence.

Strange Music rapper X-Raided knows firsthand how bill AB-2799 could've changed his life -- he spent 26 years in prison on 1st-degree murder charges, but tells TMZ Hip Hop about "95 percent" of what prosecutors used to convict him wouldn't be allowed with the new bill.

The Sacramento-born rapper was convicted in 1992 with several others for the murder of a community activist inside her own home, but X-Raided says prosecutors never found a murder weapon in his case.

They instead argued he used something similar for his debut album, 1992's "Psycho Active" where he was pictured with a gun placed next to his head.

He recorded several albums while locked up and was eventually paroled in 2018 ... and wound up joining forces with Tech N9ne to tour once again.

A similar bill recently hit a wall in NYC despite the backing of Fat Joe, Jay-Z, Meek Mill and others … and X-Raided says it's the progressive politics of Newsom that's made the difference in the Golden State.

X-Raided wants his experiences to steer past, current and future inmates in a better direction.

The voice behind Capitol Records’ very short-lived artificial intelligence rapper project is speaking out … and he’s actually thankful the label treated the contract like toilet paper.

Real-life rapper Kyle The Hooligan hit Instagram following Capitol’s decision to end its FN Meka deal and says the creators -- Factory New heads Anthony Martini and Brandon Le -- ghosted him after getting everything they needed to power the character … like the ability for it to use the N-word.

Kyle says Factory New approached him with the idea with promises of equity and percentages, but then went M-I-A on their culture vulture mission.

He admitted to waiting for FN Meka to become a success before he could recoup massive damages ... but says he'll happily settle for performing at its funeral instead.

News of Meka's signing went wide on Monday, but by Tuesday the label backpedaled ... apologizing to the Black community for the obvious rapper stereotypes -- gaudy jewelry and glorifying prison life -- built into the character's appearance and lyrics.

Kyle is calling the cancelation karma … as are several other notable figures in the music industry.

We spoke to hip hop superproducer Hitmaka Wednesday on "TMZ Live," and he blamed Capitol’s “capitalistic” mindset for letting FN Meka thrive. He added that if the label allowed its employees -- particularly those of color -- to speak up, it might not have this mess on its hands.

Starz' hit strip club series "P-Valley" is, notably, losing a couple of famous fans -- Lil Duval and Plies are going viral for hating on the show's gay sex scenes, but one of the stars says the rappers' critiques are BS.

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with Nicco Annan at Dash Radio ... he plays Uncle Clifford on the show, and his character has an ongoing sexual relationship with a rapper named Lil Murda, played by J. Alphonse Nicholson.

That plotline on the show is what set off Plies and Duval's complaints, but Nicco told us he thinks they're living under a rock, and it's time they crawl out from under it.

What he meant is simply that both men -- whether they know it or not -- have relatives, friends and work associates who are part of the LGBTQ community ... and "it's time they started to see them."

ICYMI ... Lil Duval lashed out at Starz for not having a "gay advisory" for straight viewers who aren't accustomed to seeing gay sex scenes.

And, just last week, Plies claimed scenes involving Nicco and J. Alphonse "traumatized" him, and he vowed never to push play on another "P-Valley" episode.

Nicco thinks Duval and Plies weren't really offended by "P-Valley" ... but they knew their reactions would make headlines.

Lil Tjay's making a grand return to the 'gram -- his post on Wednesday is his first controlled appearance since being shot back in June, and he says he's got new music on the way.

The "Trench Baby" rapper was still in a neck brace as he addressed his 7 million Instagram followers with a bit of weary energy ... thanking them for their countless DMs and support through his recent rough patch.

His PSA follows the Bronx billboards popping up in his hometown simply telling the world he had returned and he doubled down and promised fans music was coming.

Tjay also acknowledged he was shot seven times -- as well as being one of the lucky individuals able to survive such acts of violence.

The return announcement was met with great excitement from Tjay's rapper friends ... Bobby Shmurda, Lil Zay Osama, Rowdy Rebel, Calboy and several others who wished him well going forward.

TMZ Hip Hop broke the story ... Tjay underwent emergency surgery after he and another friend were shot during a botched robbery in Edgewater, New Jersey on the morning of June 22.

Police identified a man named Mohamed Konate as the assailant, charging him with 3 counts of attempted murder while 2 of Tjay's accomplices were slapped with gun charges.

Nick Cannon is the gift that keeps on giving -- and in his case, that gift is children, because the guy is having himself another baby ... #10!!!

The TV host broke the news Wednesday with his latest partner -- this time, it's ex-girlfriend (and already established baby mama) Brittany Bell who's carrying his new kid. They did a maternity shoot together, and BB's quite far along -- in the third trimester, it seems.

Brittany is barechested for some parts of the video -- with Nick right beside her, and at times, behind her -- and he even cradles her belly at certain points. There's more footage that shows them wearing matching outfits and hanging out at home with their kids.

Nick writes, "Time Stopped and This Happened," going on to tag Brittany and adding the hashtags #Sunshin and #SonRISE. He seems to be telegraphing ... they're having a boy.

He's been spotted with Brittany of late -- who seemed to be trying to hide a baby bump -- so perhaps this isn't all that surprising. They've obviously remained close ... very close.

Like we said, Brittany has already given birth to two of their kids -- Powerful and Golden -- and now, they're due for a third. This is Nick's tenth child, and he's got another on the way.

Remember, another partner of his -- Abby De La Rosa -- is currently expecting and due in October. That's baby #9 ... he just had baby #8 with Bre Tiesi last month. We know -- it's hard to keep track at this point ... but the big takeaway here is that NC is in double digits.

Offset’s legal filing against his ex-label Quality Control has opened up a can of worms … and they’re crawling in every direction!

Quality Control CEO Pierre "Pee" Thomas reacted to the breaking news that Offset was suing for solo independence with disdain — calling the estranged Migos rapper’s complaints "lame."

Offset — and his wife Cardi B sharply fired back at Pee … Offset claiming Pee had him blackballed for the past two years without even communicating.

Cardi echoed the lawsuit’s details … Offset paid QC millions to obtain his solo rights as an artist, but when he released his “5,4,3,2,1” single last week, he says QC tried to claim ownership, effectively ticking him off in the process.

Retired NBA star Gilbert Arenas says he's happy to still be breathing after he cost Irv Gotti and Ja Rule $175k ... claiming he purposely busted up a bet they had on a game he was playing in -- and they were FURIOUS over it!!

Arenas -- who was on the Warriors at the time -- said he was playing a road game against the Rockets when he overheard Gotti and Ja mentioning they had bet on the Dubs to cover the spread that night.

Agent Zero says he had no idea what the spread was, but made it his mission to spoil their night ... knowing he had to score some more points to kill the bet.

Arenas said his Warriors were losing to the Rockets, led by Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley, and with the game out of reach, he came down the court and threw up a half-court three-pointer.

Naturally, the wild shot went in ... sinking any hopes Gotti and Ja had of cashing out that night.

"[I] came down and shot it," Arenas said. "And I could see the disappointment in their face. I won. I won the game. We're going back to the locker room, and I'm sitting there like, 'Yeah, I hurt somebody's feelings today.'"

"I didn't know how much money they had on the game. I didn't really know it was about betting, but I knew I hurt [Gotti's] feelings. I knew I hurt his feelings. He was disappointed even though they won. He was disappointed, so that means I won."

Thanks to a recent interview on the "Drink Champs" podcast, we now know that Gotti and Ja bet $175K on the Rockets to cover the spread against Gilbert's Warriors.

"We wanted to kill Gilbert Arenas after that," Gotti said on the podcast. "The whole arena knew we had 175 [thousand dollars] on this. The refs knew. Everyone knew."

Megan Thee Stallion's following up her "Traumazine" album release by playing some legal hardball -- forcing J. Prince and Carl Crawford to sit for depositions in the lawsuit over her contract.

Megan filed docs Tuesday notifying the court her lawyers will be grilling 1501 Entertainment honcho Crawford, as well as Prince ... the Rap-A-Lot Records founder, who Megan claims has been advising Crawford on business dealings.

The date and place are already set ... J. Prince goes first on October 24, and Crawford follows the next day -- both depos will be taken at an office building in Houston, and they will be recorded on video.

It's a major power move for Megan, who, as we've reported ... is suing her label, 1501 Entertainment, because she believes she satisfied the terms of her contract with her last 2 albums -- "Something for Thee Hotties" and last week's release, "Traumazine."

Megan says Crawford and co. aren't viewing those projects as albums, simply to keep her tied to 1501 -- but she says she's done with the label. She wants out, and she wants a judge to force Crawford to cough up royalties and other money she says 1501 owes her.

She says that number is at least $1 million, but wants a proper accounting to determine the actual damages.

Tensions boiled over on Tuesday morning ... when Megan, Prince and Crawford all volleyed accusations that ranged from the 2 men mishandling her business to Megan conspiring with Roc Nation to get out of her contract.

Getting an industry powerhouse like Prince to sit for a deposition is no easy task, and Megan's hope could be this forces Crawford to settle the lawsuit beforehand.

While Migos continues dodging break-up rumors, Offset's going to war with the group's record label ... filing a lawsuit over his solo career.

Offset filed docs, which TMZ Hip Hop obtained, and in them he accuses Quality Control Records of ignoring a deal they made back in January 2021.

According to the suit, filed Tuesday, Offset says he negotiated his solo deal, and "paid handsomely" for his artist rights ... but now that he's dropped a new solo project, he says QC isn't honoring the deal.

He just released the Baby Keem-produced solo single, "54321" … which he says QC incorrectly tried to claim as its own, an action he calls "hostile."

Offset also plans on releasing another song entitled "Code" with Moneybagg Yo this Friday, presumably just on Motown Records, the label he signed with for his solo career.

Migos sparked break-up rumors earlier this year when Quavo and Takeoff began releasing music under the moniker "Unc & Phew." Quavo was willing to talk about everything -- except the alleged split.

Offset's Migos deal with QC remains in place -- but when it comes to his solo work, he wants the court to declare QC does NOT own anything he's made since January 15, 2021, or in the future.

Lil Yachty may have been born in August -- but the trendsetting rapper celebrated his 25th birthday with Drake like he was October's Very Own!!!

Yachty, Drake and several other friends took a coast on Drake's "Air Drake" private jet ... toasting to more life over chicken wings and Sprite.

Yachty was clearly in OVO mode -- debuting a new owl tattoo and even pulling up to Drake’s PJ wearing the Canadian megastar’s Chrome Hearts jeans, which he accidentally ripped!

Released as a merch rollout to support Drake's 2021 album "Certified Lover Boy," the collection has since grown hard to come by online ... and is extremely expensive.

Drake and Lil Yachty have been friends for years … Yachty recruited Drake for his platinum "Oprah's Bank Account" and cameoed in Drake and Future’s diamond-selling "Life Is Good" video.

Kanye West has been wearing a lot of black lately, but he's thinking blue for his future ... at least when it comes to landing a logo for his clothing line.

Ye's filed two new trademarks, obtained by TMZ, for a bizarre blue design he hopes to lock down as a logo. Unclear what the motivation is behind the logo ... it's a solid blue circle encased by another blue circle with jagged edges.

Interestingly enough, Kanye filed for another variation of the logo back in July, one without the color blue ... but it appears he's changed his mind.

However, this time the docs state, "The color(s) blue is/are claimed as a feature of the mark." Kanye fans might recognize the shade of blue is slightly similar to the same one he used on his "Jesus is King" album ... but we can't see any correlation between the album and logo.

As for the logo's use, the documents state it'll be for retail stores, online ordering services and online retail store services including clothing, footwear and headwear.

TMZ broke the story, Ye recently filed docs to land a trademark for "YZYSPLY" for retail stores -- so it's always possible the new logo and stores could go hand in hand.

Kodak Black is lending a major hand to Haitians cut off from food and water -- due to extreme gang violence -- by sending more than 35,000 bottles of H2O.

Kodak heard about the Caribbean nation's crisis, and decided to do something to help the situation -- dropping $50k to get tons of bottled water shipped there from Florida ... according to the rapper's attorney, Bradford Cohen.

We're told Kodak is using cargo ships to send over alkaline water, and the labels on the bottles read "LAST" because Kodak wants this to be the last time anyone in Haiti goes without water.

Once the shipment reaches Haiti ... Kodak and his team are working with Haitian government officials to ensure the bottles get to their intended destinations.

Cohen says Kodak is calling for a ceasefire in the rising gang violence that's turning Haiti into a war zone ... and the water donation is just his latest step in an ongoing effort to help the island.

Capitol Records is pulling the plug on its AI rapper FN Meka, and calling the unconventional and controversial signing an insensitive move on their part -- in retrospect, that is.

The label went public with Meka's contract on August 12, but Tuesday it did a complete 180° … apologizing to the Black community for not thinking things all the way through.

Sources close to the situation tell TMZ Hip Hop ... Factory New, the company that concocted FN Meka, was virtually blindsided by the news, learning of their shredded contract just moments before Capitol announced it was cutting ties.

We’re also told by label sources ... some angry staffers blame Capitol’s lack of diversity for the deal getting a greenlight, in the first place. One source claims the label has very few senior-level Black executives running departments.

FN Meka -- an artificial intelligence rapper with computer-generated lyrics -- featured overly exaggerated African-American tropes ... which triggered a major backlash.

Many fans and pundits took issue with the AI entertainer (or its creators) using the n-word, and romanticizing run-ins with police.

The virtual rapper’s debut single “Florida Water” single actually features Gunna, who is currently incarcerated.

We recently spoke to Krayzie Bone of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony about the situation ... who felt the dawn of the AI rapper is not only inevitable, but ultimately bad for human rapper job security down the line.