TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Late Migos rapper Takeoff's funeral is set for this coming Friday, and much like his career, the homegoing will be big … going down at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

The venue, which is home to the NBA's Atlanta Hawks, has the capacity to host more than 20,000 people.

Rev. Jesse Curney, III of New Mercies Christian Church will be officiating the services, which will begin at 1:00 PM … according to Atlanta radio station V-103.

In a statement, Rev. Curney said, "I was really sad to hear the news. Kirsnick has been a faithful member since he was ten years old. He and his family were active and avid supporters of the church and the community as a whole."

Emotions in the city have been heavy since Takeoff was shot and killed on November 1 in Houston.

Graffiti artist Armondo "Ape" Monoletti crafted a mural in Atlanta, just hours after the tragic news and friends and fam of Takeoff held a balloon sendoff over the weekend in his honor.

The Houston Astros spared no expense when it came to celebrating their World Series title this weekend ... TMZ Sports has learned they popped nearly $400,000 worth of 50 Cent's champagne during their postgame party.

We're told the team unloaded just over 250 bottles of the rapper's Le Chemin du Roi Brut ... right after they finished off the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday night to win the Fall Classic.

In total, there were 250 bottles of Rose, 10 Magnums of the bubbly, and one, huge 15-liter bottle as well. The final bill for it all came out to $388,750!!

Of course, the 'Stros enjoyed every bit of it ... soaking in it for hours following their 4-1 win in Houston.

Star pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. seemed to get the most out of it though ... kickin' off Houston's epic celebration by coating his teammates in it first.

The Astros will continue the party later on Monday -- their championship parade is slated to go down at around 11 AM CT.

Post Malone is going all out for his fans these days, and his latest move might take the wedding cake -- yeah, he officiated when 2 fans tied the knot on his stage!!!

It all went down after Post's Saturday show in Seattle ... 2 excited fans hopped on stage, where PM was waiting for them and started the ceremony. The women stood face-to-face, as the rapper demanded everyone's attention and then he guided them through a few brief matrimonial steps ... as the crowd cheered from the front row.

After the couple exchanged "I do's" Post gave 'em the green light for THE kiss. Oddly, Post declared them wedded "in the eyes of space" ... but that seemed to work just fine for all parties involved!

This ain't Post's first rodeo pulling out stunts for fans during his shows ... and it looks like he's getting a good rep for being the go-to guy for whatever fans want to pull off at one of his concerts.

You'll recall, PM did a gender reveal last month during his concert in Tulsa ... letting a couple fans know they're having a girl. As they say, the Post Malone delivers!

Kodak Black took great joy in responding to 21 Savage's claim he is the top dog from their 2016 XXL Freshman class ... applauding 21's confidence, but calling him a liar.

21 was on Clubhouse promoting his recently released "Her Loss" album with Drake when he made the bold proclamation he'd be unbeatable in a Verzuz against anyone in the bunch of rappers who debuted 6 years ago.

That list includes Lil Uzi Vert, Anderson. Paak and Desiigner ... and Kodak was the first to take the bait, hopping on IG Live to accept 21's challenge.

Kodak gave 21 props for the confidence, and said any rapper worth their mettle should brand themselves invincible. Ultimately though, he thinks 21 is full of so much CAP ... he seemingly grabbed every hat in his house to drive home his point!!!

Both rappers have several platinum and gold albums, Billboard hits and guest features with superstars like A$AP Rocky, Gucci Mane, Travis Scott and more.

Lil Wayne has declared his beloved Packers' season over following yet another loss on Sunday ... and he seems to be laying the blame squarely on Aaron Rodgers for it all -- saying the team shoulda punted the QB before the year began.

Weezy didn't mince words when venting about Green Bay's 15-9 loss to the 2-6 Detroit Lions ... clearly believing the year is already done -- despite eight games remaining on the schedule.

"RIP to the season," Wayne, a HUGE Packers fan, tweeted.

The loss to the lowly Lions dropped GB to 3-6 ... and with games against Dallas, Tennessee, Philadelphia, Miami and Minnesota still left to go, the rapper probably isn't wrong to bury his favorite squad.

But, it was the second part of his tweet -- one in which he wrote, "We should've gotten rid of 12 before the season" -- that was eyebrow-raising.

Yes, Rodgers has not been good this year -- he threw three more interceptions on Sunday -- but the rapper has always been in the superstar's corner.

Before this on-the-move baby was spitting rhymes and became a global sensation, he was watching "Peanuts," singing and playing the piano and growing up in Long Beach, California with his two brothers.

This guy has been in a plethora of movies including "Day Shift," "Baby Boy" and "Training Day." But his innate talent is producing catchy beats that hit all demographics. Although his music genre mostly falls under hip hop, he 'fo shizzle knows how to 'drop it like it's hot!'

Need one more hint on who this talented guy is? Just ask his iconic sidekick Martha Stewart.

Kanye West is going to need to shell out 10 figures if he wants any chance at owning the rights to 'White Lives Matter' ... so says one of the owners of the phrase.

Ramses Ja, who got the rights to 'WLM' last month along with his radio show co-host Quinton Ward, tells TMZ ... they're not looking to sell the trademark, but any potential buyer would have to come up with a $1 billion offer to even make them consider selling.

For Ramses, the most important thing is helping organizations fighting for Black people's rights ... so a $1 billion dollar offer would make them reconsider their desire not to sell, because they could do so much good with that kind of money.

Kanye's been stirring the pot with his "White Lives Matter" shirts for a month, but he hasn't been able to sell them in America because he doesn't own the rights.

As we reported ... the trademark was acquired by an anonymous listener of Ramses and Quinton's racial justice radio show, "Civic Cipher" ... filing it the same day Ye wore the controversial look at Paris Fashion Week.

The listener transferred ownership over to Ramses and Quinton a few weeks back ... and it covers the right to sell clothing with those words displayed.

Ramses says their lawyer would take legal action against Kanye, or anyone else if the shirts are sold ... and the $1 billion price tag would appear to be an even bigger deterrent.

Kanye's no longer a billionaire after losing tons of business partners over his antisemitic rhetoric ... and Ramses says Ye has not reached out to him about the trademark rights.

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are back on speaking terms ... they just had a sideline chat during their son's flag football game.

Ye and Kim K both showed up for Saint's game Saturday at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, and they looked pretty chatty with one another.

It was a big game for Saint .... his Sierra Canyon School was playing in the season finale of the NFL Flag Football season, where all the leagues come together and play games in the home of the NFL's Rams and Chargers.

When Saint was on the field, North was chatting with her parents on the sidelines.

It seems the ice is beginning to thaw a bit between Kim and Kanye ... as we previously told you, they weren't talking to each other before this and were basically ignoring each other when they were at other recent events for the kiddos.

As you know ... there were numerous reasons Kim was exasperated with Kanye.

On this occasion, Kim seemed happy talking with Ye ... the photos don't reveal tension between the former husband and wife.

Kanye wasn't wearing his "White Lives Matter" shirt ... like the one he wore at one of North's basketball games last month, when Kim wouldn't even look in his direction.

Diddy rang in his 53rd year on the planet in true Diddy fashion Friday night ... Big party!! BIGGER names!! Lotsa liquor!! And dancing galore!!

The legendary rap mogul threw his fancy Bday bash at his L.A. mansion ... and the stars came out mostly dressed to the nines to lap up all the fun.

Travis Scott, in a sleek black suit, showed Diddy some love, hugging him as they chatted with excitement. The icons also pounded their fists against a table before everyone sang happy birthday to Diddy.

Jay-Z was also there, but he decided to go a little more casual in blue sweats with a matching blue hat. Jay toasted Diddy with Mary J. Blige, raising their shot glasses and downing the booze.

Other celebs in attendance ... Chris Brown, French Montana, MGK, Teyana Taylor, Kehlani, Tinashe and Jermaine Dupri.

Of course, Diddy was on the receiving end of gifts and several cakes that spelled out the word, "Love." To top things off, partygoers climbed onto a huge mattress in the backyard and danced their butts off ... with Diddy!!

Absent from the festivities was Diddy's new biz partner Elon Musk. As we reported, Diddy invested more than $10 million to help Musk buy Twitter.

Big Baby DRAM is one of several celebs Drake's lyrically dragging on his new "Her Loss" collaborative album with 21 Savage -- but he sees the sniping as a well-timed blessing in disguise.

The track "BackOutsideBoyz" features Drake rapping "Tried to bring the drama to me, he ain't know how we cha-cha slide..." -- picking the scab on the "Cha Cha" vs. "Hotline Bling" swagger jacking controversy from many years ago.

DRAM tells TMZ Hip Hop ... their issues turned physical in 2017, when he confronted Drake at a Coachella party -- this was a couple years after Drake had used the template from his "Cha Cha" hit to create "Hotline Bling."

After getting escorted outside, DRAM says "15 of Drake's bodyguards" were ready to pummel him, and did just that!!! While he ended up seeing pink hearts, yellow moons and green clovers ... DRAM considers himself lucky that an artist of Drake's stature is clearly threatened by him.

Which brings us to the "Her Loss" shots ... which DRAM's not losing any sleep over because it comes just as he's making a musical comeback.

DRAM says he's excited about the release of his upcoming album, "What Had Happened Was..." -- his first project since re-adopting his stage name after changing it to his gov't name, Shelley, for a stint.

The switch-up could be credited to DRAM wanting to distance himself from his 2nd breakout hit, the Lil Yachty-featured "Brocolli" ... but he's confident his new tracks will help him get over all his industry drama ... Drake included.

DRAM says he's in love mode, and doesn't pretend to be a fighter ... but he's still gonna need that 1-on-1 fight with Drake to fully bury the hatchet.

DDG is one of the most visible rappers on social media with nearly 4 million followers on TikTok alone -- so, he thinks any ban of the Chinese-backed app would be a huge setback for artists worldwide.

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with the "Moonwalking in Calabasas" rapper amid the FCC commissioner's call to silence TikTok over security breach concerns.

DDG tells us the proposal is pretty hypocritical ... since he believes American-based Instagram fills his feed with ads for objects he mentions out loud.

As a YouTuber-turned-rap star, DDG feels TikTok is the most important app for an artist's career growth ... praising various features that allow users to easily make content with their songs -- not to mention the sheer silliness of the community, in general.

He compares his social media origins to Ariana Grande's beginnings. The pop superstar had to create a new audience after initially starring on Disney Channel's "Sam & Cat" series.

DDG also says TikTok works wonders for viral moments ... recalling his 2021 Coi Leray collab "Impatient" skyrocketing once fans got ahold of it on the app.

DDG is fresh off the release of his latest album, "It's Not Me It's You" ... which boasts plenty of firepower like the cinematic "Remember Me" video and "If I Want You," his first pairing with girlfriend Halle Bailey.

Megan Thee Stallion's lawyer says hip hop artists -- like Drake, apparently -- who side with Tory Lanez in the shooting case are gonna look like fools, and he adds there's already plenty of evidence backing her up.

Meg's lawyer, Alex Spiro, joined us Friday on "TMZ Live" to remind everyone ... she's the victim here, but instead of fellow artists having her back, he says too many are calling BS.

Alex strongly believes prosecutors have built a case that proves Meg is telling the truth about Tory shooting her in the foot back in 2020 ... and, for that reason, he says Meg's doubters are gonna be eating crow.

As we reported, Drake is apparently the latest to say the H-Town Hottie is lying about getting shot in the foot while in an SUV with Tory.

There is another view of Drake's verse on "Circo Loco," which is that he was really rapping about thick women (stallions), in general, lying about getting "shots" for BBLs ... AKA Brazilian butt lifts.

Meg definitely didn't take it that way, and clapped back on Twitter shortly after his album dropped Friday -- calling out Drake and other rappers for ganging up on her simply because she said "one of y'all homeboys abused her."

Russell Wilson ditched the cold temps in Denver for a much warmer spot during the Broncos' bye week -- the QB hit up Cabo with his wife, Ciara, for some unliiiimited fun in the sun.

Russ and CiCi posted up poolside for at least part of their special getaway ... lounging in the rays while they got some R&R.

Ciara appeared to be enjoying the moment ... as the 33-year-old signal-caller was checking something out on a laptop.

Knowing the competitor Russ is, it wouldn't be surprising if he was checking out some Tennessee Titans game footage as the Broncos look to improve on their 3-5 record next week.

The vacay comes at the perfect time for Russ -- Denver hasn't gotten off to the hottest of starts, but the team was at least able to defeat the Jaguars in London last week ... allowing the couple to go into their Mexico trip on a high note.

Of course, Russ has been getting some hate from diehard fans for the slow start to the season -- they even left rude comments on his romantic Instagram post for Ciara's birthday.

But traveling isn't new to the Wilsons -- in July, Russ and the "Body Party" singer hit up Lake Como in Italy, where Ciara popped a pimple on her hubby's face. Truly romantic stuff.

Boxing star Shakur Stevenson is back in the public eye for the first time since Takeoff's tragic murder ... but he did not speak about the events that went down that night.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Shakur was standing inches away from the Migos rapper just moments before he was fatally shot twice in Houston.

Stevenson went silent on social media in the days following the shooting -- aside from a tweet honoring his friend, saying, "R.I.P Takeoff 🙏🏾"

On Thursday, Shakur returned to his usual routine by joining the "Spit Bucket Podcast" to talk boxing ... and he seemed pretty composed throughout the interview.

The topic of Takeoff was not brought up ... probably for a couple reasons.

One, there is an active investigation into what went down that night ... and there may not be much Shakur can get really discuss at this time.

The other -- the incident literally happened just days ago ... and it's understandable to consider Shakur isn't mentally ready to talk about it.

Drake wasn't only going after Megan Thee Stallion on his new album ... Serena Williams' husband was also name-dropped -- getting called a straight-up "groupie" in a new song.

The OVO rapper released his 16-track joint album, "Her Loss," with 21 Savage on Friday ... and the superstar's hubby, Alexis Ohanian, might not be a fan of a certain track called "Middle of the Ocean."

Here's what he says around the 3:35 mark:

"Sidebar, Serena, your husband a groupie
He claim we don't got a problem but
No, boo, it is like you comin' for sushi"

Fans went crazy over the bars on social media -- one person called Drake petty and another said Ohanian deserved it, as he's seemingly taken subtle jabs at the rapper in the past.

Remember, Drake and Serena were a thing back in the day -- TMZ Sports obtained pictures of them kissing in a fancy restaurant in 2015 ... before Ohanian was in the picture.

Drake also went to Williams' Wimbledon match in 2018 ... cheering her on from the crowd.

FYI, this ain't the first time Drake has mentioned Williams in his lyrics -- in his "Worst Behavior" song from 2013, he talks about the tennis legend:

"I'm with my whole set, tennis matches at the crib
I swear I could beat Serena when she playin' with her left."

Williams and Ohanian have not responded to Drake's diss ... but Meg did call him out for targeting her in the "Circo Loco" track.

Happy Friday, everyone!!!

Drake and 21 Savage's "Her Loss" album continued its feather-ruffling wave Friday ... with "Cha Cha" rapper DRAM being the latest to react to a subliminal shot thrown his way!!!

For the chorus of the song "BackOutsideBoyz," Drake and Lil Yachty rap in unison "Tried to bring the drama to me, he ain't know how we cha-cha slide..." a clear reference to Drake usurping the then up-and-coming artist.

The two had public issues back in 2015 when Drake openly admitted to borrowing from DRAM's breakout "Cha Cha" single -- to make his own Grammy Award-winning hit "Hotline Bling" ... leaving DRAM feeling a type of way.

As DRAM tells it, things got a little physical when they ran into one another at the time!!!

He awoke Friday to give Drake a piece of his mind ... slamming him for bringing up a 7-year-old issue, claiming Drizzy was too scared to face him mano a mano.

He also claims they once had an altercation where he says he physically bested Drake, but admitted the Toronto rapper's bodyguards stepped in to mop the floor with his face.

DRAM was clearly unbothered by the past events, and doubled down on his challenge to fight Drake ... but claims he'd be too "bitch-made" to hop in the ring altogether.