TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

T-Pain is either bored with his musical legacy or wants to carve out a different lane -- he's doing an entire album of cover songs, from almost every genre of music, and he's going Auto-Tune-less for all of it.

On Wednesday, T-Pain maintained he was answering fans' long-awaited prayers with the announcement of "On Top of the Covers" ... an album that'll tackle classic recordings such as Sam Cooke’s "A Change Is Gonna Come," Journey’s "Don't Stop Believin'," Sam Smith's "Stay With Me," Frank Sinatra’s “That’s Life” and Black Sabbath’s "War Pigs" ... just to name a few.

T-Pain just signed a new artist named NandoSTL, who will also appear on the project ... which is slated to be released on March 17.

He'll also be testing out the new music live via a pair of shows in Los Angeles on March 17 and 18.

Anita Baker's Valentine's Day show in Atlanta is earning rave reviews, especially because it was capped off with a cameo surprise from Usher mid-show!!!

Backstage looked like a scene from an award show as Jermaine Dupri assembled the troops backstage for photos with the woman of the night. Tamia and Grant Hill, Chris Webber and John Gray all said cheese with Anita inside State Farm Arena ... where Usher surprised the audience and the headliner.

The "Confessions" singer brought out a huge bouquet of roses for Anita ... only to be surprised himself when she passed him the mic, putting him on the spot!!!

Usher didn't disappoint the ATLiens and belted out a few notes from Anita's classic "Same Ole Love (365 Days A Year)," and eventually worked up a sweat himself.

AB is currently on the road with Babyface .. her first nationwide tour in nearly 30 years, which doubles as a celebration for the 40th anniversary of her debut solo album, “The Songstress.”

NLE Choppa checked off a bucket list item ... wrapping up a music video shoot with his idol Lil Wayne, and the young rap star didn't hold back his gratitude for the icon while on set!!!

Wayne was recently honored by the Recording Academy ahead of his "Tha Carter VI" album rollout ... but NLE surprised the Young Money CEO on the set of their “Ain’t Gonna Answer” collab with a bouquet of roses and a heartfelt letter breaking down Weezy F. Baby's significance to him.

NLE explained he didn't want to wait for calendar anniversaries and gifted Wayne with the impromptu gesture ... earning quite the cosign as appreciative Wayne told everyone around NLE is an inspiration for his generation.

NLE also brought up Wayne when we spoke to him about honoring his fellow Memphis native Tyre Nichols ... who was fatally beaten by police officers in January.

NLE is in the process of creating a skate foundation for Tyre, and noted Wayne's a pioneering skateboarding rapper who could teach him a few things.

World-famous gamer/YouTuber FaZe Banks says he's out a huge chunk of change after his ultra-exclusive watch got swiped at a Super Bowl party, but he's hoping cops track it down.

The FaZe Clan founder took to social media, telling folks about his stolen, one-of-a-kind Chrome Hearts Richard Mille watch ... which is worth a cool $200,000!!!

Banks says it went down at Scottsdale Hangar One in AZ Friday night ... at the big H.Wood homecoming party where Drake performed and, as we reported, big names like MGK, Cher, Lil Baby, Meek Mill and Odell Beckham Jr. were there tearing it up.

Scottsdale PD confirms a report for the stolen watch was filed, and you better believe the document highlights that approximate 6-figure value. What's really shocking is FaZe says the crook snatched it right off his body.

He says the piece fell off while he was walking through the crowd, but surveillance video shows him picking it up and putting it in one of his pockets ... only to have someone reach in and pick that pocket clean!!!.

Cardi B and Offset are spendin' Valentine's Day together at the golden arches for the unveiling of their collab meal, and they certainly weren't alone ... because a MASSIVE swarm of fans met them there.

The happy couple hit up the Times Square McDonald's Tuesday, and if ya didn't know that location is one of the busiest in the world ... you'd definitely know it after seeing the scene the couple created.

The entire staff was eagerly waitin' for them too, cheering them on as they walked up to the counter to get their grub bags.

They also had a kiss cam in the building for Cardi and Offset to snap some pics -- and they even ended up on the Jumbotron outside the restaurant for all of Times Square to see!

TMZ broke the story ... sources connected to the couple told us they shot their Super Bowl ad around Christmas time, and the final product introduced the couple's new meal to millions of viewers on Sunday.

Snoop Dogg's lockout of Death Row Records' catalog on streaming services is finally over -- Tha Doggfather's linked with TikTok's new music arm, SoundOn.

The exclusive welcome party will extend throughout the week on TikTok ... before the legendary rap tunes return to traditional digital streaming platforms.

Snoop removed the Death Row catalog from streaming in March 2022 ... and at the time, outlined a plan to have the music live on in its own metaverse within a full-functioning app.

Those plans appeared to have since fizzled. Dr. Dre recently threw a party to celebrate his own debut album, "The Chronic," returning to streaming and its original label home of Interscope.

To compensate for the lulls, Snoop and TikTok went halfsies on a custom Death Row playlist ... because not a day goes by without someone asking him to restore the catalog online.

"As the Super Bowl rolled around, I knew fans would be looking for the music from our iconic performance in 2022, so I wanted to reintroduce the most historic catalog to the people. I reached out to the folks at TikTok to make more history ... enjoy ya'll."

Drake's wish is officially granted -- he will not be grilled by a defense attorney about XXXTentacion's murder ... TMZ Hip Hop has learned.

Judge Michael A. Usan signed off on Drake's motion to avoid the deposition ... tossing the court's previous order calling for him to sit down later this month and answer questions.

Defense attorney Mauricio Padilla, who reps suspect Dedrick Williams, previously argued Drake needed to be present for questioning due to an old beef between XXX and him.

Drake's attorney, Bradford Cohen, though, told the court Drizzy has no relevant information to add to the case -- and the judge agreed.

It is possible Padilla could convince the judge there's some other cause for Drake to be deposed, and get a new subpoena -- but with the trial already underway, the clock's ticking.

Pharrell Williams has certainly served as a fashion icon over the years, but that title will now hold some new weight, cause he's taking over as Louis Vuitton's new men's creative director ... a spot previously held by Virgil Abloh.

The move was announced Tuesday by LV Chairman & CEO Pietro Beccari … who welcomed The Neptunes producer with open arms and praised his past collaborations with the brand.

Pharrell's first collection with LV will debut next June during Men's Fashion Week in Paris.

Pharrell’s acquisition makes for historic news -- Virgil, who died in November 2021 after a bout with a rare cancer, was the first Black American to be a lead designer for a European luxury house, and Skateboard P is now the second!!!

Families are left devastated after a mass shooting at Michigan State University ... and "Flavor of Love" star Deelishis says her niece was among the 3 students killed.

Deelishis first posted Monday night, asking her followers to help locate her niece in the chaos following initial reports of the shooting. She wrote, "My beautiful niece @ariellediamond_ is a student at MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY… she was in her classroom in the same building as the active shooter and we have not heard from her."

She continued, "If you know her whereabouts please dm me … in the meantime my family and I ask for your prayers 🙏🏼❤️‼️ #MichiganStateUniversity #ArielleDiamond"

Unfortunately, her niece Arielle never made it out ... the reality star later pinned a comment by another family member that said, "my sweet beautiful niece... RIP baby girl".

As we reported, a gunman -- identified by police by police as Anthony McRae -- went on a shooting rampage at MSU Monday night ... killing 3 students and critically injuring 5 others.

Hours later, he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Right now, cops are investigating the incident and have not yet found a motive for the tragedy.

O.T. Genasis thinks Donald Trump's critique of Rihanna's Super Bowl Halftime performance was outta line, considering the megastar is pregnant with her second child!!!

We caught O.T. Monday at LAX, and he doesn't cap like it was the greatest SB performance he's seen ... but he totally believes Rihanna had some limitations going into show.

And he would be right ... Rihanna admitted to changing the setlist dozens of times and sources close to the production recently told TMZ ... she concealed her pregnancy for all the rehearsals ... a balancing act in and of itself.

While O.T. disagreed with Trump's scathing attack ... he agrees with the growing notion 2 of rap's most buzzing female stars -- GloRilla and Ice Spice -- need to invest in more henchmen as their popularity increases.

Both had viral incidents this week ... Glo had a drink thrown at her as she left an Oakland nightclub, and Ice just had her show end early when a fan tried to grab her, creating all-out pandemonium!!!

Not a single Kansas City Chief was included in the 100-plus million people who caught Rihanna's halftime show on Sunday ... with Patrick Mahomes revealing Monday that Andy Reid threatened to bench anyone who left the locker room for it.

The K.C. star quarterback told Jimmy Kimmel on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" that his head coach was dead serious in his chat with the team about it all, too.

"Coach Reid told us, he said, 'If you go out to watch the performance, just keep walking,'" Mahomes said, "'because you're not playing the rest of the game.'"

Of course, players ditching halftime adjustment talks to watch the big Super Bowl show is not unprecedented -- just last year, Bengals star kicker Evan McPherson was spotted watching Dr. Dre, Snoop and Eminem do their thing instead of being at his locker with his team. One of his coaches later panned him for it.

Doesn't seem anyone went against Reid's wishes this year -- no Chiefs player was spotted as Rihanna sang hit after hit after hit on the middle of the field -- but Mahomes said he had at least been told it was a good show.

Playboi Carti was arrested in Georgia for allegedly choking his pregnant girlfriend following an argument over a paternity test.

According to the arrest affidavit, obtained by TMZ, the woman told police the rapper grabbed her by her throat and pushed her, holding her neck until she could barely breathe. She even told cops she thought she was going to die.

Police say the woman told officers she's been in a relationship with Playboi Carti for 2 years, has lived with him since July 2022 and was 14 weeks pregnant at the time of the alleged incident on Dec. 20.

The woman told cops she wanted to talk to Playboi Carti about the baby and a conversation about a paternity test led to an argument, which she claims escalated to a physical attack. She told police a witness jumped in to try and break up the fight, and when she was able to escape Carti's grasp, she ran to her car ... where she claims he attacked her again.

The alleged victim told cops Carti tried pulling her out of the car and put his hand over her mouth as she tried to use the vehicle's SOS feature to call police. When cops arrived, police say the woman had visible injuries to her neck, chest and back.

Playboi Carti [real name: Jordan Carter] was arrested for felony aggravated assault.

Key Glock isn't worried he'll run out of Young Dolph verses anything time soon -- he says they recorded so many he can't even ballpark the number.

Mr. Glizock was chillin' in AZ after Super Bowl LVII when the Memphis rapper confidently told TMZ Hip Hop he has unlimited verses with his late cuzzo Young Dolph in the stash.

The Paper Route Empire team released Dolph's first posthumous album last December -- "Paper Route Frank," which Glock appears on, and he assures us Dolph's catalog will be refreshed for years to come!!!

Glock has a busy year ahead; his Glockhoma Tour kicks off next month with special guests TiaCorine, Kenny Muney, Jay Fizzle and BigXThaPlug ... and while he was tight-lipped on giving us album features other than Dolph, he did reveal a new project in the works.

Lil Nas X and Zedd ignored a property owner's demand they not party in his swanky Hollywood Hills mansion, and then left the place trashed after the huge bash ... at least according to a new lawsuit.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the "Old Town Road" singer and the famed DJ are among the defendants being sued by landlord Daniel Fitzgerald, who owns a slew of fancy homes in the Hollywood Hills.

In his suit, Fitzgerald says when he leased the property he specifically told the tenants they couldn't have any big parties, but he says that didn't stop the tenants from allowing Lil Nas X to host a bash for 1,000 people where Zedd was paid to spin tunes for the partygoers.

Fitzgerald claims Lil Nas X, Zedd and the party promoters and sponsors knew they weren't supposed to be having a party on the property ... but he says that didn't dissuade them from throwing an epic bash in April 2022.

In addition to allegedly pissing off neighbors and getting him into hot water with local officials, Fitzgerald claims the massive rager resulted in over $25,000 in physical damages to his property ... mainly to chairs, sofas, walls and ceilings.

Fitzgerald claims the home needed extensive repairs after the bash, forcing him to lose out on a month of rent between tenants ... which he says cost him another $40,000.

The landlord claims Lil Nas X and Zedd were each paid at least $250,000 for the party ... while all he got was a huge bill for a messy cleanup.

Fitzgerald is going after LNX, Zedd and the party's sponsors and promoters for money ... and he wants compensatory and punitive damages totaling at least $1 million.

Ice Spice is more than flattered one of the most famous kiddos in the world decided to draw her portrait ... shouting out North West's fandom -- in both music and art.

We caught up with the "Munch" rapper in Brooklyn Monday, and she clearly perked up a bit when we asked about North's recently-debuted portrait of her.

North posted the freehand drawing on her joint TikTok account she shares with Kim Kardashian ... soundtracking the vid to the sounds of Ice and PinkPantheress' "Boy's a liar Pt. 2" duet.

Ice also tells us new music is on the way ... but her current tracks are doing just fine.

Her debut EP 'Like..?' dropped last month ... peaking at No. 37 on the Billboard 200, and the project also spawned her first Hot 100 hit — the Lil Tjay-featured "Gangsta Boo."

JT of the City Girls was so floored by Rihanna's Super Bowl halftime performance, she didn't seem to mind her beau Lil Uzi Vert was probably somewhere reeling over his Eagles losing such a nail-biter!!!

TMZ Hip Hop linked with JT as she was leaving SB LVII, where Rihanna's pregnancy reveal was almost as talked about as the sensational game ... depending on who ya ask.

JT admits she's never been pregnant so can't directly relate to what RiRi pulled off, but says the performance made her sure of one thing -- she proclaimed God to be of the fairer sex after witnessing Rihanna's comeback.

While JT might have left feeling like a winner ... the halftime show pales in comparison to the career leaps Uzi's hit record "Just Wanna Rock" would've seen had the Eagles won.

The song has been competing with Meek Mill's established "Dreams & Nightmares" for the official team anthem, and DJ Drama -- who first sparked the friction between the tracks -- agreed with Meek and relented, once in AZ, that both songs would deserve a spot during the Eagles' championship celebrations.