TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Kanye West hopes to turn his online trolling into a money-making business move ... filing to trademark phrases he's used in social media bashings against former friends.

Ye recently filed to trademark the phrases, "Good to hear from you bitch" and "Tremendez." Both were used in his fiery back and forth with his former friend Tremaine Emory.

Tremaine was one of the first to publicly call out Kanye after his Yeezy fashion show -- where he debuted the "White Lives Matter shirt -- because he was pissed Ye decided to use Virgil Abloh's name when addressing the crowd pre-show.

Tremaine wrote, "I gotta draw the line at you using Virgil's death in your 'ye' is the victim campaign in front of your sycophant peanut algorithm gallery."

He also went on to defend Vogue editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, who Ye bashed after she criticized the Yeezy show.

Not long after Tremaine's post, Kanye posted a private text convo between them, where he greeted Tremaine with, "Good to hear from you bitch" -- the inspiration for his new trademark.

From there, Ye continued to bash Tremaine on social media, "AND TO TREMAINE I'M CHANGING YOUR NAME FOREEEEEVVVVVRRRRR. TREMAIN'S NEW NAME AS THE BLM OFFICER AT SUPREME ISSSS TREMENDEZ."

Kanye also created a logo, similar to the Supreme logo -- where Tremaine is the creative director -- and swapped the word with "Tremendez" ... the other trademark he's filed.

Fugees rapper Pras is getting ready to defend himself against allegations he was part of an international finance conspiracy ... and he wants to call some familiar names to the witness stand, including a couple of former U.S. presidents.

TMZ Hip Hop obtained the decorated witness list Pras submitted, and it includes Barack Obama and Donald Trump, ex-HUD director Ben Carson, hotel czar Steve Wynn and even former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

The New Jersey-bred MC, who sold over 20 million records with Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean, is accused of receiving millions of dollars from Malaysian fugitive Jho Low ... who allegedly embezzled those funds from his own country's treasury.

Pras' attorney David Kenner tells us the feds' claim his client used illicit funds to finance the Leonardo DiCaprio film, "The Wolf of Wall Street" is also totally bogus ... and he plans to prove that in court.

Kenner says it was Low, not Pras, who funded the "Wolf Of Wall Street" through negotiations with DiCaprio and others -- and the "Ghetto Supastar" rapper simply helped network some of the interested parties behind the scenes.

Obama and Trump's potential inclusion in the case makes things rather interesting. Pras and Low are accused of illegally funding Obama's 2012 presidential campaign, as well as attempting to get the Trump administration to drop the charges.

They want both former commanders-in-chief to speak to those claims.

According to our sources, Pras's team is also denying the Fugees canceled their tour over the pending case.

Pras says he had even offered to help the authorities reel in Low, who he maintains is the real mastermind of the alleged crimes.

George Floyd's young daughter, her mother and their legal team are preparing to wage legal war against Kanye West ... announcing they'll sue him for a quarter of a billion dollars after his recent comments on Floyd's death.

Roxie Washington, the mother of Floyd's only daughter Gianna, announced Tuesday she's hired a team of lawyers to go after Ye, his business partners and his associates for harassment, misappropriation, defamation, and infliction of emotional distress. They're seeking $250 million in damages.

The family's attorneys also say they fired off a cease and desist letter, obtained by TMZ, to Kanye over his comments about Floyd's fatal interaction with Minneapolis police.

The letter reads, in part, "Mr. Floyd’s cause of death is well-settled through evidence presented in courts of law during the criminal and civil trials that were the result of his untimely and horrific death. Nevertheless, you have maliciously made statements that are inaccurate and unfounded, causing damage to Mr. Floyd’s estate and his family."

Kanye's taken a ton of heat for comments he made on an episode of "Drink Champs," claiming George died from a fentanyl overdose and pre-existing conditions, instead of Derek Chauvin's knee on his neck.

The Floyd family says Kanye's statements are "blatantly false" and "malicious" ... and they say Gianna is being "retraumatized" by Kanye's comments, which they say are "creating an unsafe and unhealthy environment for her."

In the cease and desist, the family's lawyers demand Kanye remove the interview and all of his similar statements on George from the Internet and keep Floyd's name out of his mouth.

Ice Cube is denying he's the one who influenced Kanye West's antisemitic thoughts, saying Ye roped him into the whole saga out of nowhere.

Cube's speaking out after Ye name-dropped him in the "Drink Champs" episode, when he said IC "set me up for this" and influenced him to be on this "antisemitic vibe" -- going on to say that he was going "finish the job" ... suggesting Cube laid the groundwork.

Well, the NWA star is distancing himself now ... taking to Twitter to clear up the linkage and writing, "I hate that my name was dragged into this Drunk Champs bull****. I don't know what Ye meant by his statements, you're gonna have to ask him."

He adds, "I didn't put the batteries in his back. Please leave my name out of all the antisemitic talk. I'm not antisemitic and never have been."

We should note ... Cube's been accused of antisemitism before, both from years ago -- when he released "No Vaseline," and referred to Jerry Heller as a "white Jew" and a "devil" that should have a bullet in his "temple" -- as well as bizarre stuff he was posting in 2020.

He's also publicly backed Louis Farrakhan, who's considered a well-known antisemite.

Despite that, he's now saying ... he didn't go out of his way to make Kanye say the things he's been saying lately, and wants his name dissociated from this mess.

Kanye West is a billionaire, yet he's living like a transient ... with no place to call home.

Sources close to Ye tell us as of late, he'll rarely stay in the same place for more than a few days -- living out of fancy hotels and various rental homes. We're also told he spends money like it's nothing, recently fronting a ton of cash for his Yeezy show in Paris and of course -- the alleged purchase of Parler.

What's more ... our Ye sources tell us he's recently made some very rash business decisions as well -- most notably firing Shervin Pishevar from Yeezy and losing other advisors and publicists.

We've spoken to former friends of Kanye, one who told us, "He blows through his money like it's water" ... and there's some serious concern he could fall into financial ruin.

Ye revealed during his "Drink Champs" interview he had recently purchased a $50 million penthouse -- another massive expense -- in addition to his various other real estate transactions.

As we reported, Kanye bought a house next to the home Kim Kardashian now owns in Hidden Hills. The house needs a total redo, but Kanye wanted it so he could be near his children. He bought it nearly a year ago, but there's been little to no work done to remodel it. As far as we know, Kanye never stays at that house.

Jay-Z wants to know just how much money his famous cognac line is making, and he's filed a lawsuit against his partners at Bacardi to get that information.

In docs obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, Jay-Z's company, SC Liquor, is demanding total financial clarity from Bacardi when it comes to D'Usse ... the top shelf cognac brand in which Jay and Bacardi are 50/50 partners.

Jay and the booze giant have co-owned D'Usse since 2011 ... he regularly shouts out the brand in his songs, and even drank it from one of his Grammys once to promote it. However, the lawsuit makes it clear something about the partnership -- officially named D'Usse LLC -- isn't sitting well.

In the docs, Jay-Z's co. says it needs all books and records, the location of all warehouses storing D'Usse barrels, bottles and accessories ... as well as all info regarding Bacardi's physical inventory and its inventory process.

It's unclear what's prompting Jay to demand this info, but it is clear there's a level of distrust between the partners. One sentence from the docs seems pretty telling: SC Liquor says it needs to "monitor the conduct of [Bacardi's] business to protect SC's rights as" a partner in the company.

While Diddy's turning his focus to R&B, he's leaving the door open for his heirs to control Bad Boy's hip hop empire -- and his son King Combs says he's boldly stepping up to claim it.

TMZ Hip Hop got Puff's not-so-mini-me out in NYC, where he admitted he was primed to takeover Bad Boy as his dad's career matures.

Team Combs is off to a fantastic start to their respective hustles ... back in the summer, they became the first father-son duo to hit the Hip Hop/R&B Chart's Top 10 at the same time.

Diddy released his Love Records intro "Gotta Move On" featuring Bryson Tiller, while King collaborated with Kodak Black for the new anthem "Can’t Stop Won’t Stop."

KC's record bridged a few generations ... sampling Lil Kim's classic "Crush On You" jam, and taking advantage of that time-tested Bad Boy energy at his fingertips!!!

The Prince of Bad Boy also addressed the naysayers and meme-makers ... especially the ones who accuse him of stunting with a silver spoon in his mouth.

The former Atlanta city councilmember who spearheaded the city's "Kanye West Day" is distancing herself from him ... she says she wouldn't bestow the honor now, in light of his recent controversial statements.

Natalyn Archibong was on the Atlanta City Council last year when she introduced a proclamation honoring Ye -- who was born in ATL -- with his own day, but now she is bidding him "a shocked and disgusted adieu."

Natalyn says she doesn't want to engage in revisionist history, but says she would NOT give Kanye the same proclamation now because of his recent comments about George Floyd's death and his antisemitic Tweets.

TMZ broke the story ... Atlanta proclaimed July 22, 2021 "Kanye West Day" after he launched his Donda tour in ATL.

Natalyn, the driving force behind the proclamation, says the proclamation was a one-time thing and can't be repeated or erased ... and she says there were 4 main reasons for commemorating Kanye with his own day.

She mentions Ye's Donda tour starting in Atlanta, his birth in Atlanta and his mother, Donda West, attending Morris Brown College, an HBCU in Atlanta. Lastly, Natalyn says "the proclamation was an acknowledgment of his substantial contribution to the arts."

Of course, Kanye's stoked a ton of controversy ever since, and Natalyn says the "July 2021 proclamation did not envision that in 2022, the artist formerly known as Kanye West would boldly make such ugly and hurtful statements."

YK Osiris isn't denying he broke down over no longer being in communication with Drake and Lil Baby -- but the "Worth It" singer says there's more to those tears than meets the eye.

YK clarified his emotions Monday ... saying he was actually crying for the fans and onlookers who also feel alone in the world -- which is an admission he's feeling lonely, and possibly also underappreciated.

In the new post, YK says he dishes out mounds of love to peers and people he admires, only to get nada in return and it's ripping him apart.

The good news is YK's ripping a page from the Rev. Al Green's playbook ... 'cause he's looking to represent peace, love and happiness, and he says not even the Devil can take him down.

It was a sharp departure from Sunday when YK was on IG Live addressing fans who kept likening him to celebrity associates such as Drake and Baby.

YK revealed he doesn't have many celeb friends left, and says neither of those superstars acknowledge his existence anymore.

The reality is YK's tearful post probably alarmed a lot of fans as it came the week after Ray J posted himself on a ledge with captions about possibly jumping. Just a few days later, his sister Brandy was admitted to the hospital for a possible stroke.

So yeah, all sorts of artists are under pressure these days.

George Floyd's family is openly considering a potential lawsuit against Kanye West and Candace Owens -- a case that could be similar to the blockbuster one against Alex Jones, but also different in some key ways.

Civil rights attorney Lee Merritt, who's repping the fam, tells TMZ ... he's exploring all possible legal avenues to bring a potential lawsuit over what Kanye said about George on the new "Drink Champs" episode -- and he's also looking into what Candace put out in her new documentary.

Lee's already noted a defamation lawsuit isn't possible because George is deceased, but he is looking into other possible ways the Floyd estate, the George Floyd foundation or the family members themselves could bring claims -- and one path could be emotional distress.

The Sandy Hook families were able to successfully sue Alex Jones for defamation because he called the parents actors.

Kanye didn't say anything about George's family members, but his statements -- and allegedly the Owens documentary -- could still have a negative impact on them, which is why Merritt is pursuing grounds for a lawsuit against them.

The bigger point here, though, is that Lee wants Kanye and Candace to understand statements like the ones they're putting out in the world -- namely that George died from a fentanyl OD and pre-existing conditions, but not Derek Chauvin's knee -- are false and hurtful.

Lee tells us that type of rhetoric undermines the Floyd family's efforts to pass legislation, like the George Floyd Policing Act, and their work at large. He also says it deflects blame from the officers who've been convicted in connection to his murder, especially Chauvin.

There's still a lot of groundwork to do before anything's filed -- we're told Lee and the family have to go through Candace's doc, "The Greatest Lie Ever Sold," to see what exactly she said and if there's any basis to bring legal action.

Lee says he believes he'll have a more specific outline of his potential causes of action later this week. He says the family hasn't discussed a dollar amount for which they'd try to sue, but it's a good bet they'd try to get punitive damages -- and given Kanye's worth, those damages would have to be several million to truly punish him.

Izzy Drake, the social media troll who Drake has distanced himself from should probably just throw in the towel on the whole clone thing ... as well as any chances at a boxing career.

Izzy took a pounding in Atlantic City over the weekend via a Celebrity Boxing match against YouTuber/rapper M2thaK.

Izzy was originally supposed to fight Lamar Odom ... but claims real Drake paid him off NOT to fight, which Lamar has denied. M2thaK came out the gate swinging, connecting plenty of jabs to Izzy's noggin.

The fight was far from a professional bout, both fighters contributed to their own knockdowns, slipping all over the canvas.

But, M2thaK managed to stay consistent for all three rounds ... and the refs unanimously handed the dubya to M2thaK -- and his fists of fury.

Following the fight, M2thak taunted Izzy with the newest addition to his jewelry collection ... the golden Celebrity Boxing championship belt, gloating about how Izzy's pride got left on the mat.

Bronny James is following in his father's footsteps ... signing a NIL deal with Beats by Dre -- 14 years after LeBron James became the company's first athlete ambassador.

Bronny, 18, is making history with the deal ... becoming the first high school athlete ever to be signed by the company, which was founded in 2006 by Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine.

Beats by Dre even dropped a commercial featuring the newest member of its family ... showing 37-year-old James listening to classical music and going one-on-one with Bronny on the court.

In the video, LBJ and Bronny exchange buckets back and forth ... including a series of dunks and jump shots, all while donning Beats by Dre headphones during the game.

"The Chosen One vs. The Chosen Son," Beats by Dre fittingly wrote as a caption for the commercial. At the end of the video, "The Legacy Continues" appears on the screen.

Last week, the Sierra Canyon High School guard inked a NIL deal with Nike, who signed LeBron to a lifetime contract in 2015.

LBJ and Nike have been partners since 2003 ... when LeBron burst onto the NBA scene as an 18-year-rookie dominating the league, so signing Bronny was a foregone conclusion.

N.O.R.E. called "The Breakfast Club" on Monday morning to apologize multiple times for the comments Kanye West made about George Floyd on the latest episode of "Drink Champs" his team put out over the weekend.

The "Drink Champs" host was in full damage control mode -- claiming he didn't know Ye's statements were going to be extremely hurtful to listeners.

N.O.R.E. says he later checked Kanye for the GF and "White Lives Matter" remarks later in the interview ... but says he was too drunk to make an impactful moment. He also claimed to have uploaded the wrong edit without combing through it ... an error he says the team will correct in the future.

The veteran rapper shamelessly admitted he didn't want Ye to walk out of the interview if he was silenced ... à la "The Breakfast Club's" infamous Birdman interview where he cursed them out and demanded "Respek."

BC further grilled N.O.R.E. on why he conducted the interview to start ... citing Tucker Carlson and HBO's 'The Shop's recent debacles.

N.O.R.E. defended his show's position, noting the show isn't named "Think Champs" to stage political theater ... but says his relationship with Ye is solid and wanted to give him the courtesy to speak.

He also noted that Loud Records founder Steve Rifkind and several other Jewish associates of his were in the room and used them as gauge meters for Ye's anti-Semitic rants.

N.O.R.E. says he previously spoke to Kanye that he would go on record to denounce Ye's comments and apologized to Stephen Jackson ... who may have cooked him anonymously on Instagram while slamming Ye.

Charlamagne seized an opportunity to hit him with a "told-you-so" zinger ... to which N.O.R.E. copped to, admitting he failed as a journalist.

Darius Slay Jr. sent Meek Mill home from "Sunday Night Football" with a gift ... the Philly rapper got the Eagles stars interception ball as a souvenir.

The Eagles had been leading the Cowboys, 17-0, on "SNF" ... when Slay intercepted a Cooper Rush pass intended for wide receiver Michael Gallup.

After a short return, Slay, with his teammates nearby, approached Meek and gave the INT ball to the "Dreams and Nightmares" rapper after dapping him up.

Meek -- who had performed his iconic "Dreams and Nightmares" song before the game -- had good reason to celebrate throughout the night ... Philly was dominating the Cowboys.

In his third year with the team, Slay is having a monster season in the Eagles' secondary ... and has made it a tradition to hand over INT footballs to A-list celebs at home games.

Earlier this season on "Monday Night Football," 31-year-old Slay gifted 76ers star James Harden his INT ball after picking off a pass from Vikings QB Kirk Cousins.

Speaking of Harden, his Sixers teammate Joel Embiid -- who hit up the Phillies' closeout game against the Braves on Saturday -- got some facetime with Jill Biden at the game.

The First Lady led the "Fly Eagles Fly" song pregame ... standing alongside cancer survivors right before the Eagles and Cowboys battled it out for NFL East supremacy.

Kanye West is following in the digital footsteps of Elon Musk and Donald Trump -- buying his own social media company to speak his mind ... one that leans in his direction, politically.

The rapper/producer just agreed to buy Parler -- a one-time defunct conservative platform similar to Twitter, which got yanked offline early last year and removed from a ton of apps ... including Apple, Google and Amazon.

Since then, it's been fighting to make a comeback, and Ye's stepping up to do just that.

He says, "In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves."

Parler, for its part, said it was a "groundbreaking move into the free speech media space and will never have to fear being removed from social media again."

The terms of the purchase haven't been disclosed, and Parler notes it still has to go into a formal contract with Kanye that it expects to execute in the fourth quarter. It'd been reported Parler had raised upwards of $56 million in funding to get the site back up.

Parler was first pulled down because internet provider services claimed it wasn't doing enough to prevent hate speech and potential violence from fomenting on its pages. Likewise, KW was also recently frozen out of both Twitter and Instagram for antisemitic remarks ... among other public attacks, not to mention his "White Lives Matter" statements.

We should note ... Ye's new BFF, Candace Owens, may have facilitated things. Her hubby, George Farmer, is Parler's CEO -- although, presumably, he'd take a back seat to Kanye if this goes through.

SZA's album delay has been a cloud over the TDE singer for years, but it looks like she's been handling it by doing ... what else but recording songs. Lots of 'em!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught the Grammy winner in incognito mode at LAX, and took a shot at getting an update for the long-awaited follow-up to her 2017 monster album "Ctrl."

The album spawned 5 platinum singles -- and went 3x platinum itself -- and with music that good, it's no wonder fans have been fiending so hard.

SZA tells us her follow-up album could be dropping any day now ... which could mean tomorrow or February 2048, but she's optimistic listeners will receive the music well.

Since "Ctrl" dropped, SZA has breadcrumbed even more platinum singles ... such as "Good Days," "Hit Different" and "I Hate U" ... and says there's more where that comes from because she estimates she's sitting on 100 unreleased songs!!! 😱

There's never been a concrete reason for SZA's album delay ... she and TDE President Terrence "Punch" Henderson have traded blame for years in the public eye, but still have no project.

He recently sat down on Math Hoffa's 'Expert Opinion' podcast where he appeared to pass the hot potato to her ... hinting she can drop the album whenever she's ready.