TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Flavor Flav is reflecting on the tumultuous drug-bingeing past he says nearly cost him his life and did cost him almost $1 million/year -- and he's convinced God allowed him to survive to share his story.

The Public Enemy hype man came clean on DJ Akademiks' 'Off The Record' Spotify podcast ... admitting getting off drugs was the hardest obstacle he's ever overcome.

Flav claims he spent $2400 per day on crack and hid it from those closest to him, including Chuck D and his other PE bandmates.

The Long Island-born rap legend first revealed his crack addiction in his 2011 book, "Flavor Flav: The Icon The Memoir." He tells Ak he was his own biggest and best customer, on account of having a lot of money during his heyday.

Flav also frowned upon today's hip hop landscape ... noting how rappers are filling their lyrics with drug use, which doesn't leave him very hopeful for the future.

He predicts crack will be around as long as there are humans -- a claim on which Boosie Badazz would, no doubt, cosign.

The rapper ranted about today's drugs being too strong. He'd been reacting to Gangsta Boo's death -- which some believe was a fatal OD -- when he offered some wildly irresponsible advice about getting high.

Miami's Club LIV was the location for a Young Money-sanctioned movie last night ... with Lil Wayne, Drake and 2 Chainz all gracing the stage to celebrate the birthday of DJ Stevie J!!!

Drake was seemingly in a great mood last night after winning big betting on the Super Bowl-bound Philadelphia Eagles ... and you can see his enthusiasm as he surprised the crowd by rapping along to performances of Wayne's "Steady Mobbin'" and 2 Chainz' "Watch Out."

The event was thrown by Michael Gardner and Louis Oliver and hosted by Wayne ... who was in his element ripping through a flawless rendition of his classic tongue-twisting track, "A Milli."

Drake eventually grabbed the mic, joining Wayne on their platinum collaboration "The Motto" and for his own "Her Loss" opening track, "Rich Flex" ... giving the crowd an impromptu concert on Sunday for David Grutman's club at Fontainebleau.

Meek Mill celebrated the Eagles' big win with a freestyle rap on Sunday ... taking shots at 49ers fans by dropping bars on one of the most iconic diss tracks of all time.

The Philly rapper posted his video to Instagram right after Philly whooped San Francisco 31-7 in the NFC Championship game ... punching their ticket to Super Bowl LVII.

Meek used the beat from Tupac's "Hit 'Em Up" to send his message to the Niners ... which, of course, was a diss track to Notorious B.I.G. -- and to this day, remains one of the top verbal attacks in the rap game.

"This for all my 49ers fans right here ... First off, f*** ya clique and the team you claim," Meek starts off.

"Northside, Southside this an Eagles game. Y'all claim to keep it playa, but we packed ya bag -- plus the other quarterback, y'all couldn't even pass it back."

Of course, Meek is referring to S.F. rookie quarterback Brock Purdy, who injured his elbow in the first half. To make matters worse, his backup, Josh Johnson, left the game in the 3rd quarter with a concussion.

BTW, Meek was watching the game in the Lincoln Financial Stadium suite with an A-list crowd -- Kevin Hart, Lil Baby, James Harden, Joel Embiid, Michael Rubin, and former Eagles receiver DeSean Jackson.

Chrisean Rock has hinted at getting married to Blueface, but it seems the wedding might've just been for show ... or for the camera, rather.

The volatile couple were seen on what appears to be a set Friday -- the day CR said she'd be saying "I do" during a visit to a bridal shop in DTLA. A lot of photos/clips have since leaked showing what they were up to, and it looks like they were shooting a music video.

You can see BF suited and booted in a white tux, surrounded by a group of pals -- one of whom is actually a fellow rapper, DDG. You can also hear music playing in the background as they pose in front of a professional video camera ... the telltale signs this is a production.

In other words, the whole idea of actual nuptials that Chrisean was teasing doesn't seem to have gone down in reality -- although, they certainly went all out to make it feel authentic.

Chrisean was decked out in a white bridal gown ... which she presumably picked up the day she was talking out loud about all this. And then, there's the ring ... a purported photo of which has since been posted -- and it has all the sparkle of a damn nice rock.

Meanwhile, on social media, Chrisean and Blueface have been posting clips of what seems to be new music on the way from both of them -- so it all adds up this is just make-believe.

Of course, the interesting thing about this is the fact that Blueface and Chrisean are on solid terms once again ... this just a week after a massive blowup/breakup that spelled trouble to the outside world. Remember, she announced she was pregnant -- and Blueface denied it was his/dumped her.

Shortly thereafter, they were involved in a scuffle on the street ... and things looked bad.

It would appear they've made up again and are back to work. Not only are they romantically involved, but Blue and Chrisean obviously have a working relationship too ... their reality show, and joint projects as well. So, it probably isn't so easy for either to just walk away.

Kanye West is the named suspect in a battery investigation after a heated exchange with a photographer escalated to the point of Ye grabbing and throwing the woman’s phone.

Check out the video, Ye’s clearly upset — accusing the woman of following him — all the while she continues to record.

The woman exclaims, “You’re a celebrity!” but that’s enough for Ye, who grabs and throws the woman’s phone into the street.

He then hops into his SUV where his wife, Bianca Censori, is patiently waiting.

A law enforcement source tells us Kanye’s the named suspect in a battery investigation, deputies from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department were called to the scene around 4:30 PM and were provided video evidence of the incident.

It’s currently unclear if the woman is a professional photographer or was just taking videos of Ye as a citizen.

We should note … the whole thing happened near a sports complex where North West had a scheduled basketball game.

Sada Baby shocked fans earlier this week, announcing he was done with lean and cigarettes after spending upwards of $20k on the habits per week ... a move he says not only benefited his health, but his pockets too!!!

TMZ Hip Hop chopped it up with Sada, who openly admits he pushed his body to its limits, calling it an "immature goal" that backfired ... comparing himself to late Temptations frontman David Ruffin, who infamously died of an overdose.

Sada says his addiction forced him to mentally disregard the rising cost of lean and even admitted being muddy influenced some of his biggest songs ... but he no longer wants to be a hypocrite in the streets for fans who actually look up to him!!!

After merging with Asylum Records (a division of Warner Music Group), Sada shared he's now an independent artist and says he's eager to finally make streaming money from his own music and will receive his masters and royalties in due time.

The money's there to make -- Sada says he's dropping a mixtape next month but is really anticipating the release of his debut album with possible features from Chris Brown, Marc Rebillet and Sevyn Streeter ... and beats from Hit-Boy, Hitmaka and Mustard!!!

Sheek Louch thinks Pusha T did himself a favor by choosing to part ways with Kanye West following his 2022 string of hate and antisemitism.

The LOX legend recalled how disappointed he was in Ye's antisemitic rants when DJ Vlad alerted him Pusha had quit his longtime gig as GOOD Music President over those very same outbursts!!!

Sheek applauded Pusha for choosing to bounce away from Ye ... calling him "solid" while voicing some pretty hefty complaints of his own about the embattled megastar.

Back in August 2021 when Ye was rallying the troops for his "Donda 1" album, he called upon a sleep-deprived Sheek, Jadakiss and Styles P to fly on a private jet in the middle of the night to work on the project.

The LOX had just beaten Dipset in their historic Verzuz battle but still agreed to help Ye for the culture.

Sheek says once they got there, Ye thanked them for coming ... through his mask — which he didn't remove one time — but even crazier, that was the last time they saw him!!!

Sheek floated the idea of telling Ye to suck a 🍆 — the ultimate form of disrespect in his book — if he reaches out to do a track in 2023, but doesn't think Ye and Pusha should beef going forward.

One person who strongly disagrees is proud Ye loyalist Consequence ... who's currently dragging Pusha's name in the gutter for abandoning ship!!!

Pusha T is firing back at Consequence's latest interview that painted "disgust" on his recent departure from Kanye West's GOOD Music, in a theological fashion ... with a quote from the Bible that outlines his views on the entire debacle.

The "It's Almost Dry" rapper took a page outta 1 Corinthians 6:7 ... quoting "suffer yourselves to be defrauded," a call for Cons to focus on the bigger picture and not attempt to clean up Ye's mess.

Push is heavily rumored to be restarting his Clipse duo with brother No Malice, who's a devout Christian, which probably explains why he's rattling off bible verses like they live on Genius.

Push started his 2023 off Kanye-free ... having cut ties with Ye and GOOD Music after years by his side over his antisemitic rants, but Consequence says his reasoning was total BS.

Cons says Kanye prevented Push from getting on stage at a Donda performance in Chicago and has been on some taking-his-ball-home-ish ever since!!!

Cons says Push's real loyalty is to Pharrell, but he expected more outta the Virginia rapper, after hanging around all these years.

He also blamed Push for bringing tensions with Drake into Good Music, revealing he's actually been to Drake's crib but never stepped foot inside Push's house!!

Kanye West's GOOD Music is a dub as we know it -- Push, Kid Cudi, Big Sean, Desiigner -- have all departed with less than stellar things to say about Ye and Consequence wants to know where's the loyalty!!!

The TikTok community was dealt a devasting blow this week, with Randy Gonzalez of popular father-son duo Enkyboys dying after a battle with stage-4 colon cancer.

Trae Tha Truth is feeling the loss as well ... having befriended both Randy and Brice over the years and collaborated on several skits.

We caught Trae out in NYC as he attempted to find silver linings in losing his friend.

The Houston rapper said Randy was a "fighter" to the end and also praised him for being brave enough to share his cancer diagnosis with the world back in April 2022.

TMZ broke the story ... Randy passed away on Wednesday morning in hospice, leaving behind his wife Kimberly, 3 children and nearly 16 million followers on social media.

Trae tells us he spoke to Randy's wife following the sad news, and he's in early talks to continue on his legacy.

If there's any silver lining, Trae predicts Randy's children -- especially Brice -- will go on to accomplish big things to make their father proud.

N.O.R.E. made a splash guest-hosting on "The Breakfast Club" this week when he fueled rumors Future was upset with Drake for collaborating with 21 Savage -- but Freebandz rapper Young Scooter says that's nothing but cap!!!

Scooter swatted down the rumors on IG with a below-the-belt homophobic dig at N.O.R.E. ... claiming the "Drink Champs" host was turning shock jock on the radio simply for views.

Without naming any sources but the "streets," N.O.R.E. claimed Future felt his and Drake's 2015 album "What a Time to Be Alive" lost its importance in the wake of the success of Drake and 21's "Her Loss" release.

An interesting take ... seeing this sentiment wasn't brought up when Future and Lil Uzi Vert dropped their "Pluto x Baby Pluto" joint album in 2020.

Plus, Scooter is Future's right-hand man -- and since Hendrix rarely responds to anything himself -- there's good reason to take his word on this.

Drake's Los Angeles mansion came under attack after a man allegedly broke in, alerting the rapper's security, who in turn called the cops.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ, officers responded Thursday night to Drake's home after his security reported seeing an unknown man leaving the house -- carrying something in the process.

We're told the suspect had disappeared by the time cops arrived, and a search around the neighborhood started. Our sources say just a few hours later, a man matching the suspect's description was spotted walking down a street.

Cops stopped and arrested the man -- who we're told was carrying an item from the home -- which is believed to have been taken from Drake's place.

Our sources say Drake was not home at the time of the break-in.

This isn't the first time Drake's had to deal with an intruder -- TMZ broke the story, a man was arrested at the same place back in July for misdemeanor trespassing ... with the 23-year-old suspect claiming the 36-year-old rapper was his pops.

Drake's not the only rapper taking over the Apollo Theater these days ... Lil Kim headlined the Harlem Festival of Culture there, and shared the shine with her Brooklyn rap descendant Lola Brooke!!!

Kim brought out Lola Thursday night to perform her breakout hit "Don't Play With It" ... rousing the crowd as the rappers shared a quick embrace before Lola started ripping the mic.

Lola's head was still spinning after her cameo, and she gushed over the moment on Twitter -- where she also got Missy Elliott's stamp of approval.

Lola and her independent label, Team 80 Productions, just inked a deal with Arista Records earlier this month, as "Don't Play With It" makes a push on various Billboard charts.

Yung Gravy is getting a legal Rick-rolling from the man himself ... Rick Astley is suing the up-and-coming rapper for allegedly ripping off the singer's voice from his most popular hit.

Astley filed legal docs Thursday in L.A. claiming Gravy's hugely popular "Betty (Get Money)" uses an impersonated version of his own voice from 1987's "Never Gonna Give You Up."

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Astley says Gravy and his producers -- including Dillon Francis -- "conspired to include a deliberate and nearly indistinguishable imitation of Mr. Astley's voice throughout the song." He's also suing Nick Seeley (aka Popnick), the vocal impersonator.

Astley says he never gave Gravy, or anyone involved in "Betty (Get Money)," permission to use or impersonate his voice -- and because Gravy did so, he's spoiled any future chance for Rick to collaborate with another artist in the future.

We should say, however, Gravy did license the instrumental from Astley's '80s hit ... just not his voice.

What's more ... Astley's lawsuit points to some examples where Gravy allegedly claimed he knew he was in murky territory for impersonating Rick, including an interview with Billboard where he said he "basically remade" Rick's voice, "because it makes it easier legally."

"Never Gonna Give You Up" was a huge hit for Astley, shooting to the #1 spot. "Betty" has been Gravy's most successful song thus far -- reaching Gold in the U.S., Canada and Australia.

Chrisean Rock says she's got a very big day coming up, she's getting married -- and she's already locked down a wedding dress for the special occasion -- though there may be some serious concern if she's exchanging vows with Blueface.

Witnesses tell TMZ Chrisean stopped by Anita’s Bridal Boutique in DTLA Wednesday afternoon and told staffers she needed the perfect gown for Friday. Yep, Chrisean said she was getting married and was dress shopping only two days before the big day.

Our sources say she walked around and spotted a dress on a mannequin she instantly loved. We're told she only tried it on one time, didn't ask for any alterations and paid a down payment.

We should say, dresses at Anita's ain't cheap -- ranging from $3.5K-$7K -- so it's pretty clear she's serious about the whole thing.

One big mystery ... she never specified who she was getting married to. Of course, she and Blueface have been together for quite some time -- but they're also always performing for cameras -- so maybe she'll pull something out of left field for the special occasion.

Chrisean recently announced she was pregnant, but it's worth noting she and Blueface are also known for their blow-up fights, so it's always possible things go completely sideways before exchanging any vows.

TMZ broke the story, shortly after her pregnancy announcement, Chrisean was filmed getting into a massive brawl with other women -- an obvious concern for someone carrying.

Kanye West just can't quit Balenciaga -- even though the brand ditched him over his antisemitism, he took his new wife for some retail therapy there ... but their trip also included a subtle callback to Nazi Germany.

Ye and Bianca Censori hit up the upscale Bev Hills clothing store Wednesday night on Rodeo Drive, loading up with several bags filled with merch. He's not a billionaire anymore, but the spree is a reminder he's still VERY rich.

We're told the couple also spent some time in a nearby Neiman Marcus ... but it's unclear if KW and BC left that store with any sweet threads.

BTW, Ye appeared to be wearing a t-shirt with a coat of arms of the German Reich ... used before the Nazis adopted the swastika. It's also got the word "Bundeswehr" written above -- the name for the federal defense forces in Germany. This coat of arms is a current logo of the German Army.

That aside, it's still a little odd Ye's shelling out big money at the same place that cut ties with him in October ... while the brand didn't go into detail, you'll recall companies were dropping him left and right at the time after he went on several antisemitic rants.

Ya gotta figure they're making him pay retail now.

As you know, Kanye and Balenciaga have quite the history -- even opening for the company's Paris Fashion Week show weeks before he was canned.

FYI -- Balenciaga went through its own post-Ye scandal ... coming under fire in November for a photo shoot where kids held BDSM-themed teddy bears, and another with what appeared to be legal docs related to a child pornography case buried on a table.

Juice WRLD’S ex-girlfriend, Ally Lotti won't be spending any time behind bars if she stays out of trouble for 6 months ... thanks to the plea deal she struck in her cocaine possession and shoplifting case.

According to court documents, obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, Ally was accused of felony possession of methamphetamine, cocaine or heroin ... but that charge was dropped along with misdemeanor theft of property.

Ally ended up pleading guilty to misdemeanor possession of instruments of crime, and got a 1 year suspended sentence and 6 months probation. If she keeps her nose clean during that period, the case will be dismissed.

Her boyfriend, Carter Jamison, who was also arrested for property theft, pled no contest to that charge and got the same sentence as Ally. Each paid $1,160 in fines.

As we reported, a security guard spotted Ally and Jamison attempting to steal a bunch of items earlier this month from a Walmart in Arkansas.

Cops say the store's security cams caught Ally and Jamison at a self-checkout station, where they failed to scan several items ... including wall mirrors, a bed frame, a bath towel and a digital scale.

According to the docs, the arresting officer found capsules of cocaine in Ally’s pocket and purse.

Their high-profile attorney, Bradford Cohen, told TMZ a different story … Cohen says Ally and Jamison thought they had scanned and paid for all the items. He also said a Walmart employee confirmed the purchase by checking their receipt. He added that his “clients would never take something intentionally and this seems like a misunderstanding.”

Still, Ally did plead guilty to a crime.