TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Daz Dillinger is offering up yet another Suge Knight horror story from Death Row Records' '90s era, but Tha Dogg Pound rapper happens to be the boogeyman in this tale ... claiming he once strong armed the bulky CEO straight outta $2.5 million!!!

Tha Dogg Pound, and the late Nate Dogg, contributed to the 1996 "Sunset Park" film soundtrack via the song "Just Doggin'" and Daz recalled during an interview with Home Grown Radio the payment still hadn't hit his bank account a year later.

With Tupac Shakur dead and the label's future in jeopardy, Daz says he needed to get what was owed and ran up in the Death Row Records office with Kurupt and Lil Malik Hershey Loc and "hemmed everyone" up until Suge arrived.

Daz says Suge knew he meant business once he saw the determination in his eyes ... and quickly wrote him the $2.5 million check for "Just Doggin.'" We're sure the screwdriver he admits to being armed with also played a significant role in persuasion!!!

Snoop Dogg recently acquired the rights to Death Row and released the catalog onto streaming services, so Daz's royalties should be secure.

Bad Bunny and Kendall Jenner were horsing around over the weekend, and they look tight.

The Latin pop star and supermodel appeared to bond over their shared love of horseback riding Sunday at the Hidden Hills Equestrian Center ... taking turns riding horses and even riding one together.

TMZ obtained photos of the fun date ... tooling around at the corral and some nearby trails.

We've seen Kendall riding horses for years, and Bad Bunny's got a couple music videos where he hops on a steed ... so it appears they've found something else in common.

As you see, Kendall couldn't hold back a smile as she snapped smartphone pics of her new beau grabbing the reins ... and he watched her ride solo too.

Folks who were there say Bad Bunny and Kendall spent about 90 minutes riding horses ... including one very romantic ride where he's behind her, holding on tight.

It's hard to say who is the better and more experienced rider ... but it's worth noting Kendall showed up with boots and gloves, while Bad Bunny's wearing Adidas sneakers.

Giddy up!!!

Elon Musk's Twitter Blue experiment continues to attract more fallout from its high-profile users ... with a couple of rappers making it clear they won't play Elon's game just to prove it's really them tweeting.

Akon, who's been on the platform since March 2009, recently slammed Elon's verification upheaval ... looking back to the time when Twitter was a startup company that needed celebrity branding to attract more users.

The "Smack That" artist thinks Elon's money grab is essentially a smack in the face after the company once begged him, and other artists, to tweet and bring their fans to the bird app.

The Game didn't spew any venom in Elon's direction, and instead targeted consumers who purchased a blue check ... especially those he knows personally.

From Game's POV ... anyone shameless enough to buy a blue check is too phony to associate with him and should delete his contact info, pronto!!!

The rappers are echoing LeBron James, who recently set off another Twitter Blue defection with his public refusal to pay.

Fact is ... rappers' tweets make headlines all the time, so having a slew of unverified accounts out in the Twitterverse seems like a recipe for chaos. Just a hunch. 🤷🏽‍♂️

Donald Trump's attorney drawing a parallel between the former president and the legendary Tupac Shakur does not sit well with the late rapper's sister ... who says the comparison is absurd and laughable.

Set Shakur, Tupac's sister, tells TMZ ... "My brother was measured by his integrity, his principles and personal and collective responsibility," calling the recent comments made by Trump's attorney, Alina Habba, "blasphemous."

She points out her brother took responsibility during his 1994 sexual abuse trial, and says she isn't seeing a whole lot of accountability coming from DT.

As we reported, Trump's attorney made the connection on the same day he flew to NYC for his indictment. She said his legal trouble is going to boost his poll numbers, just like Tupac's record sales went up after spending time in prison.

Set says Tupac didn't get popular because of his lockup, though -- instead claiming his popularity grew because those who listened to his music "were able to measure him by his words and actions that aligned."

She goes on to praise her late brother, calling him an honorable man who stood for those needing protection ... always having others on his mind.

Set believes DT's attorney might be invoking Tupac's name as a ploy to play to the rapper's fans ... and she's hoping they don't take the bait.

Offset is taking a cue from Taylor Swift, because he's beefing with his own label over ownership of his solo recordings.

The Migos rapper is the middle of a bitter legal war with Quality Control Music, and according to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, the saga began in 2013 when Offset agreed to produce solo records for the label.

Things were well and good until 2015 when Offset claims Quality Control entered into a separate deal with Capitol Records -- the result of which was QC ended up owning 100% of any future Offset solo records created between 2018 and 2023. We'll come back to that.

In a response, filed by his attorney Bryan Freedman, Offset claims everything changed in 2021, when he and QC broke up and hammered out a new deal where he regained control of his solo work for everything he produced from January 2021 forward.

However, Quality Control says not so fast ... the label claims it still holds the rights to Offset's solo music based on the prior deal with Capitol Records, an argument Offset now insists is ridiculous.

The way Offset sees it ... QC walked away from the rights to his music when it cut the new deal with him in 2021, and he alone controls his solo masters from that point on.

Obviously, there's a ton of money at stake in this dispute, which is working its way through the courts ... and it's hard not to compare the situation to what we've seen in the past with Taylor fighting her old record label.

LSU guard Flau'Jae Johnson went from scoring buckets to dropping bars after the Tigers' national championship win on Sunday ... leading the team's celebration by performing her very own rap song!!

TMZ Sports has learned ... the freshman baller took over the mic at the Westin Hotel conference room in Dallas after the Tigers whooped the Iowa Hawkeyes, 102-85 -- and it was a party for the ages.

You can see Johnson -- who scored 10 points in the championship game -- on stage with her teammates, reciting the lyrics to her "BIG 4" track that dropped just a few months ago.

"Are you gonna rap or be an athlete? If I’m still doing both why you asking me?" Johnson fittingly says in the song.

The 19-year-old also mentions her PUMA deal ... saying, "Do it, I run it up, feel like the renegade. I got a PUMA deal, I don't get into Js."

Johnson takes her rap career just as seriously as basketball ... in fact, the 4-star recruit out of Georgia announced her commitment to LSU with a song titled "All Falls Down," which features Lil' Boosie.

On top of that, she's also signed to Roc Nation!!

Her father, Jason Johnson -- AKA “Camoflauge” -- was also a rapper out of Georgia. He was killed before she was born.

When it comes to hoops, Johnson is a problem ... this season, she averaged 10 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game and was named the SEC Freshman of the Year.

Lamar Odom is sharing how he turned his pain into purpose by investing in drug treatment centers ... saying he couldn't be happier to help others and save lives around the world.

The former NBA star joined us Monday on "TMZ Live" to explain why he acquired 3 rehab centers in California, and it's pretty inspiring -- he says his goal is to help others battling addiction turn their lives around, as he did years ago.

Lamar tells us he now feels certain he found his purpose after God saved him from his nearly fatal overdose ... adding the fulfillment he's gotten as a basketball star doesn't compare to the feeling he gets from helping others.

He says it feels amazing to see and hear how he can touch and save lives ... simply by sharing his story.

You'll recall, LO overdosed at a Nevada brothel in 2015 and suffered kidney failure, heart attacks, and several strokes.

Since then, he's done a complete 180... after he himself went through rehab.

And, he has high hopes for others to do the same. As we told you, he teamed up with Christian hip hop artist Dontae Ralston and former Hall of Fame skateboarder Dennis Martinez to acquire the facilities in San Diego, El Cajon and Lemon Grove.

The 2-time NBA champ tells us the 3 centers are only the beginning and his plan is to expand all over.

We also asked him about former "Jackass" star Bam Margera, whose struggle with sobriety has him in a ton of drama with his estranged wife and son. Lamar has a word of advice for Bam and others in the grips of addiction.

Blueface is seemingly coming to grips he's set to welcome a baby soon with his on-and-off-again girlfriend Chrisean Rock ... and he's also open to naming the child after himself.

TMZ Hip Hop linked up with the controversial couple Monday at LAX, where they opened up about their family plans, and, not shockingly, they're not exactly seeing eye-to-eye on potential names.

Chrisean rejected the "Blueface Baby" idea, but did pop the lid on some of the other names she's been debating -- both Royal Blue and Blue Royal have been ringing in her ears as of late.

The couple's toned down their public incidents in recent weeks ... following Blueface's birthday romp overseas, where he was still questioning whether he was the father of Chrisean's child.

Watch the video ... they claim they're currently in a good place, but judge for yourself.

Fans have been clamoring for the couple to do something more productive on social media besides fighting, and Blueface reveals they're releasing a couple of collab tracks later this month!!!

Chrisean just dropped a new track entitled, "Time," and seemed down for recording an album with her guy. Oddly, for Chrisean, she seemed a bit camera-shy this time around.

Donald Trump's lawyer thinks there's a benefit to the former President getting indicted in New York City ... she says it puts him on par with Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G.

Trump's attorney, Alina Habba, drew the comparison on "The Benny Show" podcast, claiming the indictment is going to boost Trump's profile similar to other celebs who went to jail ... like Pac and Biggie.

Personally, Alina says Trump is more like Biggie Smalls than Tupac ... but it sounds like there's an East Coast bias at play.

Anyway, the way Team Trump sees it ... Donald is his own brand and "he is everything" ... so the indictment will only make him more popular.

Trump's attorney believes the Pac and Biggie effect is already happening ... Alina says her boss is way up in the polls and she's calling on other Republican presidential candidates, like Nikki Haley, to drop out of the race now and get behind Trump.

Meanwhile, Trump just left Mar-a-Lago and is on his way to NYC, where he's facing more than 30 counts of business-related fraud ... stemming from his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, allegedly paying porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 to shut her trap about a supposed affair.

We covered it all in a recent episode of The TMZ Podcast.

Drake had a busy weekend living the rapper life ... dropping a new track fans expect to reheat his beef with Kanye West, and then dazzling the crowd at J. Cole's Dreamville Festival.

SiriusXM's Sound 42 premiered a new Drizzy record titled "Rescue Me" on Friday, which features audio of Kim Kardashian from the series finale of "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" ... detailing the moment she knew she wanted a divorce from Ye with Kris Jenner.

You hear Kim drop the line ... "I didn’t come this far just to come this far and not be happy. Remember that," as Drake lyrically croons about whisking away a damsel into a life of luxury.

Fan speculation carried Drake's buzz into his curtain-closing Dreamville Fest performance, where he brought out GloRilla, Lil Uzi Vert and his upcoming It's All a Blur Tour costar 21 Savage while performing a barrage of hits.

Pras Michel has his game face on as his federal conspiracy case kicks into high gear in Washington D.C., with some huge names -- including Leonardo DiCaprio -- set to take the stand.

We caught The Fugees rapper just as he arrived at the courthouse with his defense lawyer ... ahead of what could be a crucial day. Leo is a key witness, and he testified Monday morning after the court allowed him to use a side entrance to avoid the media.

TMZ Hip Hop broke the story back in October ... Leo is just one of the many high-profile witnesses who could take the stand before it's all said and done.

Former U.S. Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, and ex-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions are all named on the defense's witness list in the saga.

Pras is facing 22 years for his alleged role in a money laundering scheme with Malaysian fugitive Jho Low ... where Low's accused of acting as an agent for the Chinese government.

Leo's not a defendant, but he's been subpoenaed because the feds claim he's one of several celebs who received gifts from Low.

Travis Scott has cleared one major hurdle in the nightclub dispute where he allegedly damaged equipment and assaulted a sound engineer ... and while the criminal investigation remains open, we're told charges are unlikely.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us Travis settled with honchos at Nebula in NYC as well as the sound engineer he allegedly attacked. It's unclear how much Scott had to pony up, but the equipment he damaged was worth at least $12k.

While the settlement marks at least one victory for Travis, a spokesperson for the NYPD tells us, "This remains an active investigation." However, another law enforcement source says the alleged victim has stopped cooperating, which poses potential issues for the case going forward.

Of course, there's always a chance cops could use video of the alleged incident to go after Travis, though that's unlikely given the lack of cooperation from a victim.

It was last month when Travis lost his cool at Nebula, allegedly getting pissed at the sound engineer for turning down the volume during his DJ set. The sound engineer claims Travis punched him in the face and destroyed a video board during the performance.

As for the sound engineer, he did an interview from the hospital shortly after the incident, saying, "My neck is f**ked up. My arm is tingling. I have pins and needles going down it."

Snoop Dogg just made matters worse for The Miz during WrestleMania 39 on Sunday ... doubling up on the Superstar's beatdown from the night before by wrecking him again!!

It all went down at SoFi Stadium ... when the rap legend brought out Shane McMahon for a surprise appearance.

Shane and Miz went at it for a bit ... but Snoop intervened and set his sights on the WWE Superstar himself!!

Snoop stood over Miz, showboating for a bit before dropping him with a vicious People's Elbow and ending him with a three count.

"This is humiliating!!!" the announcers said as Snoop finished Miz.

The whole interaction came as a surprise ... as Miz was fully expecting a casual interaction with the California icon.

Naturally, the hometown guy had the sold-out crowd losing their minds ... but Snoop played it cool as if he had been in the ring plenty of times before.

Of course, Miz took a beating just hours prior -- when George Kittle and Pat McAfee threw him for a loop to end night one of the annual festivities.

Night 2 of WM39 has been filled with a ton of amazing moments ... and we're only halfway through the show -- so stay tuned for even more highlights.

WWE legend Rey Mysterio had a music superstar help him defeat his own son, Dominik, during WrestleMania 39 on Saturday ... with Bad Bunny playing a pivotal part in his win.

The whole match was set to be a star-studded event from the beginning ... with Snoop Dogg helping Rey make his grand entrance at SoFi Stadium.

When the bell rang, it was a hard-fought matchup between father and son ... but one thing that wasn't on Dominik's side was the superstar artist -- the former WWE 24/7 Champion, who patiently awaited his opportunity to help Rey out.

Ultimately, BB's move helped Rey secure the win over Dom ... which restored order to the Mysterio name.

Either way, he still played a huge role in Rey's win.

Bad Bunny is a MASSIVE wrestling fan ... but considering he has Coachella in a few weeks, we take it he was restricted from doing too much inside the ring. WrestleMania 39 has been an event to remember through one night of action ... and we can only imagine what Night 2 will hold.

DJ Drama is all for Suge Knight's pending plans to televise his life story ... but he feels Dr. Dre's narrative is even better suited for prime time!!!

We caught up with Mr. Thanksgiving outside iHeartRadio in NY, where he outlined the many platinum reasons why a Dre TV series could take off.

TMZ Hip Hop broke the story ... the incarcerated Death Row Records cofounder is prepared to begin casting for a Suge biopic series.

Obviously, Suge's saga would include Dre ... but Drama says he thinks the Doc's story is worth its own stand-alone series. As he put it, Dre's N.W.A, Death Row and Aftermath eras are all equally must-see TV!!!

Remember, Dre and the surviving N.W.A members previously told part of their story with 2015's "Straight Outta Compton" ... which won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

Speaking of movies, Drama recently channeled Tupac Shakur from "Juice" to promote his new album, "I'm Really Like That," which dropped Friday and features Lil Uzi Vert, Jack Harlow, Rick Ross and Wiz Khalifa ... among others.

Rihanna's learning motherhood is all about multitasking -- something her son reminded her of as she tried squeezing in a workout, with him riding the human equivalent of shotgun.

The singer posted a sweet home video of her at the crib with the kid -- whose name we still don't know ... but whose face we're certainly getting familiar with as time goes on. The 10-month-old was being held by his mama, and it looks like he was a little fussy in her arms.

In the video, you see her boy squirming about as Rihanna cradles him -- but, before long, she's got him distracted with what sounds like a family-friendly TV show of some sort. That seems to have done the trick ... judging by his big smile and cute cooing.

You can also see Rihanna's growing baby bump here as well ... where she's carrying her second child with A$AP Rocky. Just like we saw at the SB, it's pretty noticeable -- although it's hard to say just how far along she might be at this point. Looks like she's in the second trimester.

Gotta hand it to Rihanna ... she seems to be quite the hands-on mother ... even amid her pregnancy. Her son's been tagging along with her wherever she goes these days -- including for an overnight photo shoot she recently did, where Baby Fenty was asleep on mama bear.

Ever since we saw the kid's face in full view in December ... she's been showing off her little man a lot more on social media, and the kid's absolutely adorable. No exception here either.