TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Quavo's dropped another Takeoff tribute track ... one that seemingly puts a cap on the Migos legacy while honoring his slain nephew at the same time.

The superstar rapper dropped a new song and video Wednesday entitled "Greatness" -- and it compiles clips of him playing basketball with Cordae, behind-the-scenes footage of his recent Grammys tribute and older images of Takeoff during the group's come-up days.

Quavo also answers questions about the Migos' future later on the track, "Came in, swept the game like a storm with the muthaf***ing flow, n***a, Take did that/ So don’t ask about the group, he gone, we gone, young n***a it can’t come back, damn!"

He also hoists up the group's collective chain they all copped to celebrate the release of 2021's "Culture III" album.

News of the legendary group's conclusion comes as little surprise to fans, especially considering the story TMZ broke about the Grammys -- Quavo and Offset had a backstage spat ahead of the Takeoff tribute.

Nipsey Hussle's pal Cowboy is satisfied with the sentence that came down on the rapper's murderer, but still believes the wound left by Nip's death is one that will never heal.

We got Cowboy outside the DTLA courthouse where the judge gave Eric Holder 60 years to life. He told us it's a big win for those closest to the superstar rapper, but he also filled us in on why it's a bittersweet moment.

While the sentencing brings an end to the tragic saga of Nipsey's murder ... Cowboy says he'll still have Nipsey's family's back -- just as he did through the trial -- because they all made an impact on his life.

As we reported, Holder was handed his lengthy sentence Wednesday after a jury found him guilty last year of 1st-degree murder. He gunned down Nipsey back in 2019.

We also got activist Najee Ali after Holder's sentencing, and he echoes Cowboy's feelings ... saying any amount of time behind bars could never bring back Nip, but he too calls 60 years fitting for the crime.

Nipsey Hussle's killer, Eric Holder, was sentenced to 60 years to life behind bars, a sentence that came months after a Los Angeles jury found him guilty of 1st-degree murder.

Remember ... Holder gunned down Nipsey in broad daylight back in 2019, and the brutal details were outlined at trial, with prosecutors telling the jury Holder kicked Nipsey in the head after riddling his body with bullets, claiming it was proof the attack was personal.

Deputy District Attorney John McKinney then told the jury Holder told Nipsey, "You're through," to which the rapper replied, "You got me."

As we reported, Holder shot 2 other people while committing Nipsey's murder ... and he was also found guilty of 2 counts of attempted voluntary manslaughter, 2 counts of assault with a firearm, and possession of a firearm by a felon.

Holder may have to keep his head on a swivel in prison ... he was previously jumped by inmates in county jail while waiting for his transportation to court. Holder suffered a big gash to the back of the head that required staples, and the injuries delayed his trial.

Kodak Black is putting his hard feelings toward Drake on full display ... and it's all over Champagne Papi's decision to record the "Her Loss" album with 21 Savage instead of him.

While talking to RAP on IG this week, Kodak shut down the possibility of any future Drake collabs, claiming to have previously told Drake he wanted to roll out a project right around now.

Kodak and 21 have a shaky history ... having previously screamed at one another over a potential Verzuz battle, and Kodak dragged 21 for his infamous Nas "irrelevant" comments -- but the beef is most likely brewing over "Her Loss" dropping around the same time as Yak's "Kutthroat Bill" album last fall.

Beyond its platinum certification, that meddling "Her Loss" album has had plenty of ripple effects among rappers.

According to N.O.R.E., Future also felt some kinda way about Drake linking with 21 for the project, as it overshadowed their 2015 album "What a Time to Be Alive" ... although Young Scooter called cap on the claim.

LL Cool J is throwing in the towel on his latest studio effort -- which would have been his first album in 10 years -- because he feels the music is pure 💩 to his own ears!!!

A frustrated LL was burning the midnight oil early Wednesday morning ... when he tweeted the official announcement he was flushing the project, saying it wasn't "worthy" for mass consumption.

LL's last album "Authentic," dropped back in 2013 -- the same year he made the critically panned "Accidental Racist" collab with country music star Brad Paisley. Hey, at least LL apologized ... lets all move on.

Now, the legendary rapper's album exit just happens to come as his ex-nemesis, Canibus, is reemerging on the interview circuit with tales of their legendary battle.

In a recent interview with Math Hoffa, Canibus revisited his "weird" first encounter with LL and detailed much of LL's demeanor, from his perspective.

As for present day LL ... just last month he was hyping his new project, boasting the fans just have to hear it.

Maybe he'll bounce back and work out the kinks, but for now, fans aren't gonna hear it. So, no ... don't call it a comeback.

Lil Duval sparked a global debate by declaring Afrobeats would put the nail in hip hop's coffin -- but RZA, one of the guys who helped put rap on the worldwide map, completely disagrees with the controversial comedian.

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with the Wu-Tang Clan figurehead out in WeHo Tuesday and he argues Afrobeats artists are doing their form of hip hop ... no different from rappers in the trap or G-funk creators out West.

Duval was reacting to last Sunday's Afrobeats takeover of the 2023 NBA All-Star Game halftime show ... led by standout artists Burna Boy, Tems and Rema ... and RZA says they deserve a chance to shine and feed their families, just like his generation did.

RZA also tackled another one of Duval's recent hip hop hot takes -- that podcasting has overtaken the music's popularity, another point RZA understood but debunked.

Rappers-turned-podcasters such as Joe Budden and N.O.R.E. have achieved much success on their platforms, but RZA tells us he and the Wu-Tang Clan just sold out shows during their "NY State of Mind" tour ... without the industry spotlight.

Canadian choreographer Laurieann Gibson was 34 years old when she first appeared on MTV's "Making The Band" starring P Diddy back in 2005. She rose to fame with the making of girl group Danity Kane, which consisted of Aubrey O'Day, Dawn Richard, Shannon Bex, and D. Woods

Today -- although she tends to stay out of the limelight -- she has built up quite the resume working with some of Hollywood's hottest stars including Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Dua lipa, and she's appeared on competition shows like "So You Think You Can Dance" and "Dance Moms."

"Boomkack!"

Kanye West is all gassed up with his new wife by his side, making a pit stop at a local gas station to fuel up and grab a quick drink.

Kanye and Bianca Censori were out and about Monday in L.A. -- Kanye was dressed in a brown leather jacket -- a change from his usual all-black look. Bianca on the other hand, went with black spandex and her signature bleach-blonde short hair.

Kanye grabbed a Red Bull inside before fueling up his Maybach SUV, unclear why they both got out of the whip, but maybe they're just that inseparable.

As we reported, it was last week when Ye popped into the L.A. County Sheriff's West Hollywood Station after a heated argument with paparazzi, informing deputies he was being harassed ... but it looks like the exchange was without drama.

T.I. is firing back at Boosie Badazz after being publicly slandered with the news their joint album was canceled all because of T.I.'s now infamous story about ratting on his dead cousin.

An incensed Tip took to IG on Tuesday, accusing Boosie of not being genuine and daring the Louisiana rapper to pull up and examine the paperwork evidence for himself!!!

The invitation was also extended to Boosie's "OG Uncle" ... who apparently had the most influence over Boosie's decision to nix the project altogether.

T.I. says Boosie spoke out of turn ... rather unintelligently and ultimately painted his former collaborator's character as flawed.

Boosie has yet to respond to T.I.'s retort but has been resharing clips of his viral interview with the captions that amuse him the best.

Warren Sapp is laughing off a riff he had with Nas back in the day, and it all started because the former NFL Defensive Player of the Year's email address referenced his hatred for quarterbacks.

Sapp's talking about the days before cell phones and social media -- just 2-way pagers communicating via email. He says that's how he and Nas stayed in touch after meeting in NYC at the top of the century.

Warren was an NFL sack king at the time, so he created the email address "QB Killer" for his 2-way tag -- which pissed off Nas, who's famously from Queensbridge, NY ... hence, the "QB's Finest" moniker.

So, the next time Warren's in NYC, he hits Nas on his pager and once he saw the "QB Killer" email ... Nas immediately got heated, according to Sapp -- and he says the rapper cursed him out until they cleared up the misunderstanding.

Da Brat and her wife Jesseca "Judy" Harris-Dupart are expanding their household roster, announcing the iconic MC is carrying a child at the age of 48.

There's a first time for everything -- Brat was the first female rapper to go platinum with her 1994 debut album "Funkdafied" and now she's expecting her first child, telling People, "It's been quite a journey."

Brat and Judy made the big reveal Tuesday, introducing Brat's baby bump in a shoot with photographer Derek Blanks ... with a gangsta motif to play into Brat's rapper exterior.

Brat understands there are some possible risks with the pregnancy, adding, "there's a lot of stuff we learned about women over the age of 40."

Brat and Judy already share Judy's three children together -- and the rapper had to overcome a few hurdles -- an embryo transfer that required surgery to remove fibroids and polyps from her body.

The couple says they chose an anonymous donor and will chronicle the pregnancy in Season 3 of their WE TV series "Brat Loves Judy."

Master P doesn't have time to entertain past artists' gripes, and he's kinda serious about proposing a law to make it illegal for them to dredge up complaints about old contracts.

P vented his feelings about this on a podcast, and quickly grew angry recalling how some artists defected from his management ... only to diss him 10, 15, or 20 years down the line!!!

The No Limit Records CEO was responding to D.C. rapper Fat Trel's recent interview where he claimed P strung him along several years ago, while supposedly helping him break into acting -- but he claims P never got him a single movie script to even read.

Trel said he was aiming to land a role in a sequel to the hood classic, "Menace II Society."  Master P tells it differently ... he explained to "The Gauds Show" the movie was like a "Menace II Society," but production kept getting derailed because the lead actor, Gucci Mane, kept getting incarcerated at the time.

P compared unhappy artists to disgruntled baby mamas, and wants a 7-year statute of limitations placed on all the bad mouthing!!!

Interesting idea ... except for the whole freedom of speech thing in the Constitution. Master P, and other moguls, will just have to cope.

Rihanna is hot off her Super Bowl performance, and she's officially hit the big 3-5 ... and what better way to celebrate than with a private bash with some of her closest peeps?!

Naturallly, RiRi hit up her fave spot, Giorgio Baldi, in Santa Monica Monday night, and the place was decked out to the max with balloons -- all for their favorite customer.

Her boo A$AP Rocky guided her into the celebration, and they were joined by Rihanna's BFF Melissa Forde and her brother Rorrey Fenty.

The location couldn't have been a surprise for Rihanna or any of her loved ones -- Giorgio Baldi's damn near the only spot she hits when she goes out for eats.

As you know, the singer's been on quite a roll recently, after performing at the halftime show last week -- revealing to the world she's pregnant once again with baby number 2.

Boosie Badazz is washing his years-long friendship with T.I. and the album they completed together ... all due to T.I. admitting he once snitched on a deceased cousin to get out of a gun charge.

In his latest sit-down with VladTV, Boosie unloaded on T.I. for randomly choosing to divulge the info about the snitch-uation ... but, as a result, he says he has no choice, but to label his longtime friend a "rat."

Of course, that's IF the story is true ... Boosie halfway thinks T.I. was lying for podcast views, but nonetheless says he scrapped the project after waking up to more angry text messages than he could read at once!!!

Boosie expressed similar sentiments when discussing Cash Money Records CEO Birdman's older brother Terrance "Gangsta" Williams ... who openly testified against a dead friend to free himself from prison after serving 27 1/2 years on a life sentence.

Tip got his fair share of support when his podcast first aired -- fellow artists like Yung Joc, Lyfe Jennings and Young Dro all called the scenario a fortunate situation, but Boosie is going 100% lactose intolerant ... he's not accepting any cheese!!!

2 Chainz is returning from NBA All-Star weekend with a sweet-and-sweaty souvenir -- Ja Morant's game-worn jersey -- and it should score him some big points at home.

The Atlanta-bred trap star had a courtside view of Ja's insane double-pump reverse dunk (and his baseline blooper), and revealed he was able to successfully barter for the collector's item after the game -- and he's planning to gift it to his oldest son, Halo.

2 Chainz is a pretty cool dad parting ways with the jersey ... it totally matched his orange Louis Vuitton sneakers, but young Halo's closet is becoming quite the shrine for NBA collectibles -- he already has a signed Luka Doncic jersey he got last year!!!

Both Ja and Luka put their superstar skills on display Sunday night, but it was Jayson Tatum who took the ASG crown ... scoring a record 55 points and grabbing 10 rebounds to earn the game's MVP trophy.

If Dad manages to snag JT's jersey too, Halo's college tuition could possibly be paid in full!!!

Lil Baby's attempt to allegedly "work" with Chrisean Rock is backfiring ... with Blueface now claiming the "4PF" rapper was actually texting him instead of his intended target.

The messy social media exchange exploded after Blueface put Baby's text message to Chrisean on blast ... with Baby maintaining his innocence by claiming he was merely a "big brother" to her.

Blueface claims Baby only met Chrisean once, and was just trying to be slick ... when Akademiks stepped in and clowned Blue for being jealous after previously downplaying his relationship with Chrisean.

Ak called Blueface a terrible manager to Chrisean for exposing every artist who's riding her current wave of clout.

During the Super Bowl, Chrisean linked with Rick Ross for a photo ... only to hear a mouthful from Blue over getting too close to the legendary rapper.

Blue says all the controversy is going toward Chrisean's music career, which he funds out of his own pocket.