TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

The Grammys are doing what they do ... pissing off several notable artists about nomination snubs, but H.E.R. is telling them to focus on the big picture -- like their actual art!!!

We got the R&B superstar in Bev Hills this week -- just as the nomination backlash was simmering for artists like Summer Walker ... whose "Still Over It" album didn't got get a nom, despite breaking several sales records.

Summer reacted with disappointment -- as did Kid Cudi and Denzel Curry on the rap side -- and H.E.R. feels their pain, especially when it comes to the women.

She acknowledges while it's always dope to get recognition from the Grammys, making music should be more about fun and love at the end of the day ... so folks shouldn't take the snubs to heart so much.

H.E.R. has plenty of experience with the Grammys -- she performed at the 2020 ceremony --  but knows you simply can't win them all.

She's been nominated 21 times, and has won 5 -- so, H.E.R.'s advice to fellow performers is to go with the flow.

Drake was toting a camcorder for weeks leading up to his and 21 Savage's No. 1 album "Her Loss," and now that footage's coming out in their "Rich Flex" music vid -- a party romp featuring various celebs and pro athletes.

The visual lives up to his exorbitant billing -- Drake captured A-1 activities ranging from courtside at a Toronto Raptors game with head coach Nick Nurse and DeMar DeRozan to soaking up Jack Harlow's “Come Home The Kids Miss You Tour" ... where the "First Class" rapper stopped the show to give him a special shout out.

Brooklyn Nets hostage Kevin Durant, comedian Druski, 2 Chainz and plenty of strip club singles help round out the star power for the Drake-shot clip.

Drake also got exclusive footage of Lil Wayne's grill during his surprise set at this year's Weezyana Fest, and Lil Yachty is also spotted in the clip ... having brought the Wock back from Poland.

Drake and 21 might have royally pissed off Megan The Stallion, Serena Williams, Nas and Kodak Black with their album rollout, but their antics paid off in Billboard and streaming numbers.

Their "Her Loss" debut was the biggest for an R&B/hip-hop album in 2022 with 404,000 equivalent album units -- making it Drake's 12th No. 1 album and 21's third.

Kanye West released his eleventh studio album "Donda 2" back in February ... sort of, but at least one of the contributors claims he's yet to get a dime for his efforts.

The project never hit digital service providers, and was instead released exclusively on Ye's Stem Player device -- which is currently entangled in a lawsuit with KRS-One's Boogie Down Productions.

Producer ATL Jacob could potentially have a case to sue as well, if the songs actually hit the public radar but not his bank account.

While speaking to VladTV, Jacob revealed he worked on previously touted tracks "Pablo" featuring Future and Travis Scott, "Keep It Burning" with Future again and "Louie Bags" ... which costars Jack Harlow.

Jacob says he gained a lot of production experience throughout his "Donda 2" stint but is still confused to this day about how he's getting paid!!!

According to Jacob, the "Donda 2" album on the Stem Player is full of unfinished demos ... so those who paid $200 didn't really get their money's worth. He also noted how Kanye doesn't actually own the Stem Player ... a point that came up in the court docs for the BDP illegal sample lawsuit.

Jacob produced Future, Drake and Tems' Grammy-nominated No. 1 hit "Wait For U" earlier this year, so he's not lacking accolades or money.

He says he learned a lot in terms of the album creation process and the business side, but still ... an actual paycheck would be nice.

The elusive NBA YoungBoy isn't exactly outside -- due to his legal issues -- but he's peeking his head out into public to pop s**t at his rivals!!!

The Lousiana rapper has been on house arrest since October 2021 and dedicates more focus to the studio than social media these days. He's making an exception, though, to shade a select few artists who sold their music catalogs just to keep up with his bankroll!!! That's how he sees it, anyway.

Making good on his nickname "Never Broke Again," YoungBoy dove into a mini rant while parking his whip ... bragging about owning more cars than one person could ever drive.

Future and Public Enemy's Chuck D are some of the latest rappers to cash in their catalogs ... but one particular rapper YB tends to pick bones with is Kodak Black.

The "Super Gremlin" rapper recently switched to Capitol Records from Atlantic ... and made it clear to his fans he wasn't about to be eating YoungBoy's dust.

Kodak addressed the need to level up on YB in an Instagram Live ahead of the release of his latest album "Kutthroat Bill Vol. 1" -- but will need to kick his studio time into overdrive to truly catch up.

YB has had an extremely prolific year ... releasing 4 solo mixtapes "Colors," "Realer 2," "3800 Degrees," "Ma' I Got a Family" as well as "Better Than You," his collaborative project with DaBaby.

He has another tape scheduled with his artist Quando Rondo, but fans may have to wait until 2023 for that one.

Blueface's attempted murder arrest Monday is based on an incident on October 8, where he's accused of pulling a gun and shooting at the driver of a truck ... and TMZ has obtained video of the incident.

The clip shows the rapper outside a Las Vegas club last month ... when a truck suddenly pulls up at Blueface and his crew before flooring it away. Blueface allegedly pulls out a weapon in the vid, and fires it multiple times at the driver as they sped off.

According to sources at the venue, we're told the unknown driver walked into the club earlier and the rapper's crew, who had allegedly been drinking, attacked him. It’s not clear what started the alleged altercation, but we're told Blueface wasn't directly involved in the fight.

After the beatdown, we're told the man retreated to his truck and pulled up on Blueface and his crew as they were leaving. Our sources say the man asked "Who hit me?!" and that's when the shots rang out. From there, you see the truck speed off.

TMZ broke the story ... Blueface was arrested for attempted murder Tuesday in LV ... cops on scene said they were executing an open warrant for his arrest.

Blueface's girlfriend, Chrisean Rock, was also there ... she later went off on social media, flippin' the bird to anyone who says she should dump him after his arrest.

Kendrick Lamar is set up to do a bunch of damage at the 2023 Grammy Awards with 8 nominations ...  and he's celebrating by dropping off a new music video from his "Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers" album.

K-Dot's vid for his "Rich Spirit" single debuted Wednesday, and the visual finds the Compton-bred rapper comfortable in his own skin -- and a pair of sparkling cowboy boots!!!

The music video was directed by "White Men Can't Jump" reboot director Calmatic and features Kendrick and himself fighting off demons in a barren apartment -- similar to the one seen on the 'Mr. Morale' album cover.

Kendrick has one of the highest Grammy counts as a rapper with 14, and he's now the first artist to have his first 4 albums get nominated for Album of the Year.

He didn't win the previous 3 times, but there's no shame there -- sad fact is, no hip hop album has ever received the Album of the Year award.

Denzel Curry, who's cut from the Kendrick cloth, openly disagreed with this year's noms ... but ensured K-Dot got his props this time around.

'Mr. Morale' opened up to big numbers in May -- 295K out the gate to make it Kendrick's fourth No. 1 album.

The alarming murder rate in rap these days has hip hop's OGs E-40 and Too Short searching for solutions, and they think social media's a good place to start.

In a new op-ed for The Atlantic, 40 and Short blame the current trend of social media stunting for fueling gun violence in hip hop writing, "Rappers are trying too hard to flex online to the detriment of their safety ... These dudes are getting money at a faster rate than we ever did."

The Bay Area ambassadors are 30-year veterans of hip hop ... dating back to a time before the industry had amassed actual wealth.

Now they feel rap artists are swimming in excess, and wasting their talent and money in places like strip clubs.

The Mt. Westmore duo questions why rappers can spend thousands on their outfits, hop in luxury cars and post wads of money on Instagram with no logical reason for the flex. They note, "With success comes jealousy and anger."

The year 2022 has been a particularly bloody year for hip hop ... with high-profile stars such as JayDaYoungan, PnB Rock, and most recently, Migos rapper Takeoff all being gunned down across the country.

40 and Short are calling for an intervention -- much like Louis Farrakhan did for rappers following the murders of Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. in the late 90s.

Chrisean Rock is flipping the bird to anyone who thinks she should dump Blueface after his arrest for attempted murder ... and she just might prove her loyalty with some fresh ink.

Chrisean got pissed off while Live on social media addressing Blueface's Las Vegas bust -- a number of people suggested she save herself, but CR wasn't having it! She pointed out Blueface never turned his back on her when she was locked up.

Chrisean was on the scene at the time of Blueface's arrest, and says she'll be front and center Wednesday during his first court appearance.

The ride-or-die GF also told haters she was debating getting another Blueface tattoo, and even worked in a plug for their upcoming documentary. There's always time for a promo!

TMZ Hip Hop broke the story ... undercover cops took down Blueface Tuesday in Vegas, outside a Lo-Lo's Chicken & Waffles restaurant.

He and Chrisean were sitting on a bench with their phones in their hands when the cops swarmed around, and slammed Blueface into a wall while making the bust.

Law enforcement sources tell us the 25-year-old rapper's arrest is over an October 8 incident, and he now faces 2 charges -- felony attempted murder with the use of a deadly firearm or tear gas, and firing a gun into a house, building, vehicle or craft.

Fivio Foreign is having a hard time wrapping his head around 21 Savage calling Nas "irrelevant" ... and not only because he was featured on Nas' Grammy Award-winning album a couple years ago.

TMZ Hip Hop linked with Fivio Tuesday at LAX, and he was quick to crown Nas "King of New York" in wake of 21's slander.

The way Fivio sees it ... after 28 years of prolific music making, Nas has earned carte blanche status in the rap game, and can legitimately have zero fear of ever being obsolete.

Fivio was a guest on Nas's "King Disease" -- for the track, "Spicy" -- which took home the Best Rap Album Award at the Grammys in 2021.

Fivio also saluted Kodak Black who also gave 21 a piece of his mind regarding the Nas slander, but says the best course of action for artists nowadays is to focus on their own lane.

He also deployed a 4-3 defense for another New Yorker -- the "Big Drip" rapper wouldn't stand for us giving NFL great Eli Manning's recent time in the booth a negative review!!!

Fivio maintains Eli did his thing on the new song "Giants on 3," which was recorded with another #10 ... Super Bowl XLII champion Shaun O'Hara.

Blueface was arrested for attempted murder ... and TMZ has video of the bust.

The rapper was taken down and cuffed Tuesday outside Lo-Lo's Chicken & Waffles in Vegas ... in what appears to have been an undercover operation. Eyewitnesses tell us 6-8 officers were in on the arrest, parked in unmarked cars.

As you see in our clip ... they all piled on to detain him as a crowd formed. Blueface's girlfriend, Chrisean Rock, was also there, and looked just as confused as everyone else.

Cops on scene said they were executing an open warrant for his arrest. TMZ has obtained legal docs connected to the warrant, and the charges are serious ... felony attempted murder with the use of a deadly firearm or tear gas.

He's facing an additional charge of discharging a gun into a house, building, vehicle or craft.

The incident that got Blueface arrested occurred October 8th.

Gillie Da Kid is lights out shooting the rock ... as the Detroit Pistons learned at their own training facility, and ya better believe he didn't hold back when it came to gloating!!!

The "Million Dollaz Worth of Game" podcast cohost battled Pistons assistant coach Jerome Allen Tuesday in a 3-point competition, where Gillie was talking more smack than Gary Payton in his prime. He even called out his victory before taking his first shot.

Jerome only sunk 3 out of 10 shots, and Gillie was confident he'd top that in short order.

The Philly rapper wasn't even dressed for hooping on the hardwood yet still hit several 3's in a pair of jeans and a Louis Vuitton belt that barely held them up. Jerome is also a former NBA player so the bragging rights are even sweeter.

Gillie's J was so butter, he also called out Pistons' star Cade Cunningham ... who was apparently watching the splashdown massacre from the sidelines but the former #1 draft pick didn't partake. Of course, he's injured with a sore shin, so he gets a pass on dodging the challenge.

Even at 37 years old, Gillie is one of the better rapping hoopers around, and few of his peers would disagree.

Just last year he dropped a cool 30 points in a Philly celebrity basketball game, and also got to show his stuff in Ice Cube's Big3 this past summer.

Celebrated lyricist Denzel Curry jumped out in front of the inevitable "Grammy snub" convo as noms came out Tuesday, and with just a few exceptions ... he says the Recording Academy missed again.

Kendrick Lamar, Pusha T, DJ Khaled, Jack Harlow and Future were all nominated for Best Rap Album but aside from the first 2, Denzel insisted he could name 10 acts more deserving of slots in the category -- and then he did!!!

He cited fellow MCs Freddie Gibbs, Joey Bada$$, JID and Smino as clear-cut snubs, and said he feels the Grammys care more about money, mainstream acts and "half-ass s**t" than actual culture.

Denzel's acclaimed 2022 "Melt My Eyez See Your Future" also didn't earn any nominations ... which seems like the real reason he was pissed, but the Florida rapper says his rant was bigger than himself.

If the Academy cares, DC did have one more positive note -- giving GloRilla her just due as her "FNF (Let's Go)" hit is up for "Best Rap Performance." Baby steps?

Gucci Mane no longer disses the dead in his raps -- he lyrically eulogizes them -- recently taking the time in the booth to memorialize Takeoff.

On Tuesday, Gucci dropped off his mournful new single/video combo "Letter to Takeoff" ... as director Joe Yung Spike showcases the 1017 Records boss solemnly trekking through a cemetery and its accompanying mausoleum to hammer home the effect.

Gucci bleeds his emotions on the track's lyrics ... rapping "Just left another funeral, I shed a tear / I'm still in disbelief, I can't believe it's real ... like how the f*** we gon' lose Takeoff, damn he didn't deserve it / We don't supposed to question God, but damn, Takeoff was perfect."

Gucci's tribute also pays homage to other deceased rappers such as XXXTentacion, PnB Rock, Shawty Lo and even Atlanta rapper Slim Dunkin, who infamously was killed back in 2011 after an argument over a piece of candy in the studio went too far.

Sadly, Gucci walked down this road just 11 months ago when he mourned the late Young Dolph in a similar fashion ... via a heartfelt track.

Earlier this summer, Gucci released a song "Dissin the Dead" in hopes to curve the hip hop trend of rappers ripping those who already RIP.

The trend appears to work for some ... Lil Durk recently conducted an interview where he stated he was focused on chasing a billion dollars -- opposed to chasing death in his music.

Kodak Black and 21 Savage are setting the stage for either one helluva Verzuz showdown ... or a petty social media beef, with the string of tough talk centering around 21 dismissing Nas as irrelevant.

After taking a break from Instagram, Kodak says 21 made him mad enough to return and address what he deems as disrespect.

21 and Drake just topped the Billboard 200 with their collaborative album "Her Loss" ... selling over 400,000 in the first week, prompting 21 to fire off a snarky tweet questioning rival album sales.

Kodak just dropped his "Kutthroat Bill: Vol. 1" album right before Halloween and seemed to take exception to the tweet ... as he only sold 43K.

On IG, he saluted 21 for his success, but took issues with the album sales. Kodak's view is he's been in and out of prison the last few years, and hasn't had time to generate momentum in the market.

Despite the sales differences, Kodak doesn't think he's being left in the dust and called out Drake and 21 for being 30+ in contrast to his 25 years young and promised to catch up with his next few releases.

Kodak also bigged up Nas for his music and business moves, and questioned 21's sanity ... accusing the Atlanta rapper of straight-up d***-riding Drake to get to the top of the charts.

The way Kodak sees it, hanging with Drake is cool and all but when you're from the trenches ... you sing songs like Nas' "I Can" for inspiration!!!

21 has yet to respond to Kodak since kicking off the Verzuz debate that he could beat everyone in his 2016 Freshman class -- but he did offer some sort of mea culpa after noticing that his Clubhouse comments about Nas had gone viral.

He claimed his comments were taken out of context and he would never disrespect a legend like Nas who made it possible for him to pop s*** in the first place!!!

Offset is breaking his silence on the death of Takeoff ... saying the pain he's left with after his cousin and groupmate's murder is "unbearable."

Offset took to Instagram Tuesday saying it "doesn't feel real" to be talking about his family member under such tragic circumstances, writing, "My heart is shattered and I have so many things to say, but I can't find the words" ... adding he's been waking up from his sleep recently, hoping it's just a dream -- but adds "it's reality, and reality feels like a nightmare."

He recalls all the times they'd see each other, wishing they could do so many things together just one more time ... writing, "You have left a hole in my heart that will never be filled."

He ends by asking for strength from Takeoff, hoping to get "a lil sign or a beautiful dream" from him soon -- tagging the post with, "I love you forever, 4L and after."

A new Nipsey Hussle docuseries is on its way ... and none other than LeBron James is going to have his fingerprints all over the project.

The Lakers superstar revealed the news on Tuesday morning ... announcing he and Maverick Carter's SpringHill Company has teamed up with Hussle's Marathon Films to bring Nipsey fans some new, inside looks into the life of the late rapper.

The work promises to, among other things, feature exclusive footage and tons of interviews with rap legends like Diddy and Snoop Dogg -- and Bron said Tuesday he was pumped for it all.

"It's an incredible honor for SpringHill to have a part in sharing Nipsey's story and legacy with the world," James said. "He used his gift to give back to his community and lived what it means to inspire, empower, and uplift others along the way."

LBJ added, "His words, his ambition, and his actions stick with me to this day as he continues to inspire myself, our company, and people everywhere."

The series does not yet have a title or a release date.

According to Deadline, James and Carter will receive credit as executive producers.

"It's an incredible responsibility to tell Nipsey Hussle’s story alongside his family and Marathon Films in a way that captures every facet of life from his childhood to his impact on community and culture," Carter said.