TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Both sides have rested their case in Tory Lanez's shooting trial ... and now, the singer's fate will be decided by the jury.

The jury started deliberations Thursday, after 9 days of trial. Closing arguments from the prosecution started Wednesday afternoon, with Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott making one last effort to convince jurors that Tory shot Megan Thee Stallion ... saying the case is simply about "a guy who shot a girl, then apologized for it."

Prosecutors also pointed to Tory's "bruised ego" as a reason he shot Meg.

The defense's closing argument went hard on Kelsey Harris, claiming she was the one that pulled the trigger -- while also calling Megan a liar, and claiming Tory was trying to save the day in the aftermath of the shooting.

The defense also tried to make the point that Megan was lying about Tory because they're both artists, and she's looking to stay on top in the music game.

We've also obtained the jury sample verdict form that they'll use in making their decision ... the document has been circulating online as alleged proof to Tory's guilt or innocence -- but the jury has not yet made a decision, the document is only a guide.

The judge is letting the jurors decide if they want to come in on Friday to continue deliberations -- the day before Christmas Eve ... so it's possible deliberations could continue into next week if a verdict isn't reached today.

Lil Durk is campaigning for Young Thug's freedom after several YSL members have struck plea deals in the highly publicized RICO case!!!

The Chicago rap star sent out a call-to-action on Thursday to his 14 million Instagram followers to drop a 💚 if they'd love to see Thug free.

Durk recently scrubbed his IG account to promote Only The Family's new compilation "Loyal Bros 2" and also changed his sub-name to "FREE JEFFERY" ... Young Thug's first name.

There's been much speculation as to Young Thug's fate -- as Gunna, Slimelife Shawty, Lil Duke, Thug's brother Unfoonk and YSL co-founder Walter "DK" Murphy have all taken plea deals so far ... but none for the leader.

Boosie Badazz had an absolute ball watching the Atlanta Hawks lose a nail-biter to the visiting Chicago Bulls last night ... and couldn't contain his excitement after DeMar DeRozan gave him his winning game jersey!!!

Boosie posted a video of himself getting down to Bruno Mars' "24K Magic" in the VIP hallways of State Farm Arena -- and also got the chance to meet Hawks' legend Dominique Wilkins ... who allegedly was very familiar with the Louisiana rapper's antics already!!!

The Lousiana rapper was sitting courtside with comedian Desi Banks -- giving him a front-row view of the wild finish where DeRozan's hail Mary airball landed right in the hands of his teammate Ayo Dosunmu to sink the game-winning layup as time ran out.

DeRozan walked away with 28 points and 6 boards -- and Boosie got the NBA experience of a lifetime.

Christmas in Harlem came early this year thanks to DJ Webstar’s holiday drive … and A$AP Ferg wasn’t afraid to use a lil’ elbow grease to put together the bikes for the toy giveaway!!!

Ferg flexed his skills as a Harlem youth … personally assembling the new bikes he donated to the Dunlevy Milbank Community Center.

The “Plain Jane” rapper even joked about how kids have more tools for their toys these days — but his efforts went to a great cause.

Ferg’s fellow Harlemite rap star Dave East also supported the event sponsored by TIDAL and GAP … as did fashion legend Dapper Dan, who was honored with a Certificate of Recognition from both NYC & Mayor Eric Adams for 20 Years of Service uplifting members of his community.

Kyrie Irving could be close to finding a new sneaker partner ... so says Musiq Soulchild, who tells TMZ Sports he's heard the Nets superstar is talking to a new shoe company about a potential deal in the aftermath of his split with Nike.

We spoke to the "B.U.D.D.Y." artist at DASH radio in L.A. this week ... and he revealed to us that he got the shoe scoop after securing a pair of dope kicks from Devlin Carter at SIA Collective.

Musiq -- real name Taalib Hassan Johnson -- said he was told that Irving and Carter, who runs the "Somewhere In America" brand that's based out of Oakland, Calif., have been speaking in earnest about a future collab.

"I think that will be an awesome decision," said Musiq, who also raved about the SIA shoes he was wearing.

Of course, Kyrie is looking for a new shoe sponsor after he and Nike parted ways earlier this month ... following his suspension for tweeting a link to a film containing controversial and antisemitic content.

Irving has made it known he wants a new partner ... covering up his shoes' swooshes during a Dec. 7 game with the messages "I AM FREE" and "Logo Here."

21 Savage will now be recognized for many years to come in the state he calls home ... getting his own day to celebrate his legacy and humanitarian efforts in the state of Georgia.

The rapper and his Leading By Example Foundation were on hand Wednesday for the 4th annual holiday Grant-A-Wish event, where 100 local parents and their children gathered to receive gifts and snacks just in time for the holidays.

During the event, 21 was honored in a very special way by State Representative Billy Mitchell -- with a proclamation ceremony to officially declare December 21st as "21 Savage Day."

The honor comes as a tribute to 21's efforts in the community and for the students he's helped through his "21 Savage Bank Account" campaign to create social awareness around financial literacy. He granted a total of 21 scholarships at $1k each to get it started.

The campaign aims to encourage youth to understand the basics of managing money, opening bank accounts and saving for college.

Tory Lanez might be losing sleep at home, cuz he appeared to make up for it in the middle of his Meg Thee Stallion shooting case ... dozing off as jury instructions were given.

Tory was in court for day 8 of his Los Angeles trial Wednesday -- and while he didn't take the stand, seems like he may have taken the opportunity to rest his eyes. Courtroom eyewitnesses say T.L.'s eyes closed, and his head bounced up and down several times like someone fighting off exhaustion.

To be fair, it only appeared to happen during the jury instructions -- which don't pertain to Tory -- but still ... he's the one on trial!!!

As for the rest of the proceedings, closing arguments are set to begin after the court comes back from lunch.

As we reported, it's been an emotional trial, Meg teared up during her testimony as she told the jury, "I wish [Tory] would've just killed me if I knew I'd have to go through this." She reiterated several times she saw Tory with the gun before getting shot.

Kelsey Nicole Harris, the other woman in the car with Tory and MTS during the 2020 shooting, caused fireworks when she almost immediately asked for immunity when called to the stand.

Megan's bodyguard -- who was supposed to offer "devastating evidence," according to Megan's attorney, Alex Spiro, has seemingly gone missing ... and never testified.

A lot's gone down so far ... no wonder it looked like Tory's needin' a pillow!!!

The life and times of Soulja Boy are considered must-see TV for many — so the “Crank Dat” rapper is back with Diddy’s Revolt TV for another round of his reality show!!!

An excited Soulja Boy checked in with TMZ Hip Hop and promised nothing but fireworks for “Life Of Draco” season 2 … which launches today!!!

In the trailer, SB captured the tense text exchange between him and Kanye West — a move he tells us was completely intentional!!

SB says there was still lingering controversy after Ye unceremoniously dropped his vocals from the “Donda 1” album ... and the world needed to see how it went down from his end.

He calls the clips nothing short of entertainment but didn’t like all the clowning and jokes on social media and the record will be set straight in the series.

It’s not all drama this time around … SB also says 2022 will go down as a super special year … he welcomed his first child in the world!!!

The baby boy was just born in September but SB says he can’t wait to splurge for his 1st Christmas and bought him a red Mercedes AMG toy car he’ll eventually grow into!!!!

Boosie Badazz isn’t letting slain Migos rapper Takeoff’s name fade from memory -- he just released a touching visual for his “Rocketman” memorial song.

The somber black-and-white video features Boosie overlooking a Takeoff portrait amid a candlelight vigil as he laments on past mistakes and ills within Black culture.

Boosie also gives shoutouts to incarcerated Lousiana rap legends B.G. and C-Murder as well as Mo3 ... his former collaborator who was killed in November 2020, which resulted in Boosie catching a bullet at his public memorial.

On Wednesday, Boosie also teased the tribute track’s remix on social media … exciting fans with appearances from Kodak Black and Jeezy coming up next!!!

Gucci Mane also mourned Takeoff with a similar lyrical tribute and justice in the late rapper’s case has been moving along according.

Kid Cudi crushed plenty of his fan’s dreams on Wednesday ... revealing his once-proposed joint album with Travis Scott is no longer a thing.

Cudi shut down the album on Twitter, flatly telling the inquiring fan the moment had passed them by ... despite being a chart-topping moment!!!

Cudi and Travis officially formed their short-lived duo back in April 2020 and dropped their theme song “The Scotts” ... which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 that May.

The song became Cudi’s first No. 1 hit and was the sound of “Fortnite” for a time … but the two superstar artists haven’t hit the booth since.

Joe Budden is walking back his comments on Megan Thee Stallion following the severe backlash he received online … ultimately calling his own words “careless.”

JB owned up to his mistake on a new episode of "The Joe Budden Podcast" Wednesday at the 20:17 mark and apologized to Meg and her team, citing phone calls he received from women he admires that set him straight.

JB had been insinuating Meg was lying in her testimony -- and got absolutely reamed for it … most notably by actresses Vivica A. Fox and Claudia Jordan, who dragged him for filth on their TV show.

Drumma Boy isn't vibing with fellow producer Hitmaka's recent comments about being bored with female rappers rapping about sex -- saying Hitmaka should just move on because some women are living their truth!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught DB out in New York City promoting his new project Welcome to My City, Vol. 4. and he took issue with Hitmaka's words on the spot.

DB is a proud Memphis and used the city's latest breakout star GloRilla as an example of why Hitmaka is dead wrong. DB says GloRilla's music features a wide range of topics and he'd rather hear someone rapping their truth -- even if it happens to be sex, rather than a fake persona.

Lil Wayne fired his personal chef at the drop of a hat, this after she ditched him in Vegas to deal with a pressing family emergency ... so claims the woman in a new lawsuit.

Morghan Medlock just filed suit against Weezy for what she claims is wrongful termination, retaliation and a number of unlawful practices that she says she was subjected to when he canned her earlier this year ... just because she went to go help her injured son.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Medlock describes a trip to Vegas she tagged along for during Memorial Day weekend -- for which she says she was doing her job (AKA, cooking all LW's meals, etc). At this point, Medlock says she'd had the gig almost 2 years.

Things were going swimmingly, that is ... until Medlock says she was notified of a head injury her 10-year-old had sustained that left him hospitalized. Obviously, Medlock wanted to get back to L.A. ASAP -- but claims Wayne and co. were screwing up the flight back over shenanigans ... namely, that Weezy allegedly delayed things by toking up on the aircraft.

Instead of standing around and waiting for them to get their act together, Medlock says she hightailed it out of there on a separate flight -- notifying Wayne's assistant of the situation and assuming they'd understand. Instead, she claims she was terminated.

Medlock says after she left, Wayne's team kept asking her if she was quitting -- to which she says she clearly responded, "No." After her son was dealt with, Medlock says she tried getting back into the swing of things as head chef -- but claims she got the cold shoulder.

Eventually, Medlock claims somebody on Wayne's team texted her an ungraceful goodbye message, and she was later formally told she was being let go ... with a message from Wayne saying, "tell Chef Morghan this isn't going to work" -- or so she claims in the suit.

Joe Budden’s opinion of Megan Thee Stallion is highly unfavorable, and it’s rubbing the women of Fox Soul’s “Cocktails with Queens” the wrong way!!!

Both Vivica A. Fox and Claudia Jordan completely laid into JB during a recent episode … and despite it being a holiday-themed show, they dropped some choice words. And, we don't mean mistletoe.

Joe was dissecting the Tory Lanez trial last week on the "Joe Budden Podcast" ... and he claimed to have seen Megan do horrible things to people close to him -- a sharp counterpoint from Claudia and Vivica's view of the case.

Vivica advised Joe to sit his “bitch ass down” from speaking on Meg … implying he was just jealous to see female rappers’ presence and success in the industry at an all-time high.

Claudia wasn’t as brutal with her delivery, but she did bring up JB’s various domestic violence allegations over the years -- and accused him of 🐍 his ex-cohosts Rory and Mal outta his podcast deal!!!

She also questioned why Meg’s sexual history had become a central topic of discussion surrounding Tory's trial ... calling out a societal double standard where sex is concerned.

Red-hot Detroit rapper Babyface Ray is in some red-hot trouble after a traffic stop exposed a gang of warrants -- but the stop might not have happened if his new whip didn't fail him.

According to the police report, a patrolling officer noticed a broken-down BMW blocking the roadway and went to investigate. After getting BR's ID, the cop says he ran his name in the system only to discover several outstanding misdemeanor warrants.

We've learned the warrants were for driving with a suspended license, missing a child custody court appearance and improper possession of a weapon -- so, cops booked him into Oakland County Jail.

As for his brand new bimmer -- which we're told he'd just driven off the lot -- Babyface authorized his GF to tend to it, which meant her getting it towed.

Babyface Ray just released his new album, "MOB" and made his late-night television debut on 'The Tonight Show' earlier this month, so maybe the car was a celebratory gift to himself.

But now, he'll have to deal with some legal trouble!!! 😣

Lyfe Jennings isn’t flinching over social media slander following his viral “bad singing” moment earlier this week -- he’s embracing it, and telling youngins like Mario to stay in their place!!!

A weekend performance clip of Lyfe loudly whiffing the high notes made the rounds on social media blogs, igniting a little tension after Mario dropped a 🤦🏾‍♂️ emoji in the comments.

Lyfe tells TMZ Hip Hop ... he didn’t appreciate the way Mario piled on the negative vibes, but says it’s indicative of most R&B singers’ behavior, as he feels they have larger egos than most rappers!!!

As for the vocals, Lyfe says he’ll clear over 80 shows before the year is up and always aims to give his A-game, even if it doesn’t always rise to the top!!!

Lyfe thinks Black culture has been poisoned by too much immortality, and people need new trends to follow -- hence his graphic new music video “Till U Gone” … which was pretty quickly censored on Instagram.

The video opens with a slave master beating a slave as other slaves watch, while recording with cell phones -- a clear shot at today’s social media culture. The video also tackles other heavy topics, such as BBL surgery and street gangs.

Lyfe says now that he’s independent, he’s able to add provocative imagery to his visuals and wants to continue to release meaningful singles and speak his mind — regardless of who gets pissed at him.

That includes critics of the story he recently told about being jailed with Jeffrey Dahmer.