TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

The 3 men convicted of murdering XXXTentacion just learned their fate ... with the judge sentencing them to life in prison.

The men -- Michael Boatwright, Trayvon Newsome, and Dedrick Williams -- were previously found guilty of murder in the fatal 2018 shooting.

Robert Allen, the fourth man arrested for the murder, pled guilty to second-degree murder ... he has not yet been sentenced

Remember ... XXX was just 20 years old when he was shot and killed in June 2018 at a South Florida motorcycle dealership, in what prosecutors say was a robbery. The killers were accused of shooting the rapper as he sat in his vehicle, then running off with a Louis Vuitton bag and $50,000 in cash.

A Florida jury also convicted the three men of armed robbery ... with the verdict coming down last month, following 8 days of deliberations.

During the trial, prosecutors linked XXXTentacion's killers to the slaying through surveillance video from inside and outside Riva Motorsports, plus cell phone videos the men recorded showing them flashing $100 bills shortly after the shooting.

XXX's death shocked the rap community, and to this day tons of fans still mourn his loss.

Kanye West's private Christian school only feeds students one thing for lunch, sushi, and they apparently have to eat it on the floor without tables or chairs ... this according to a new lawsuit.

Ye and his Donda Academy are being sued by two Black women who say they were fired from teaching positions at the school for two reasons -- retaliation for sounding the alarm on alleged education, health and safety code violations -- and for their race.

According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, the women say they were the only Black teachers employed by Donda Academy when they were hired full-time earlier this year ... and they say it didn't take long for them to notice numerous health and safety violations, unlawful educational practices and extremely unusual rules at Kanye's school.

Among the alleged issues ... the women say the only lunch option available for students is sushi, every single day, and students are not allowed to bring any outside food or drink, except for water. The suit claims Kanye spends $10,000 a week on sushi.

What's more, the teachers claim Kanye did not allow crossword puzzles or coloring sheets at Donda Academy, classes could not take place on the second floor because Kanye is "afraid of stairs," and Ye didn't want children using forks or utensils.

The suit alleges Kanye did not allow artwork to be hung on walls, and no one was allowed to wear jewelry ... simply because he "did not like jewelry."

The teachers even claim Kanye didn't allow chairs, forcing children to sit on foam cushions or stand, while teachers were relegated to standing or using a stool.

Donda Academy, the suit says, required everyone to wear all black from head-to-toe ... and Nike and Adidas brands were forbidden.

The teachers claim the school doors were physically locked from the outside during the school day, and students weren't allowed to go outside until they went home ... with the entire school, pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, taking lunch and recess at the same time indoors.

The suit claims Donda Academy didn't have a janitor or a school nurse ... and there were no trashcans outside classrooms or in the kitchen. Meanwhile, they say student medications were stored in a closet with other expired medications just scattered around unsecured.

And, get this ... the teachers claim there are no lesson plans or proper disciplinary procedures in place, resulting in students going undisciplined for multiple instances of bullying and physical assaults against peers and teachers.

The teachers claim when they tried to run the alleged issues up the flagpole, they were threatened not to reach out to Kanye.

The women say they were ultimately fired ... and they're blaming their termination on retaliation and racial discrimination. They also claim their paychecks were often short up to $2,700 per pay period ... so they're suing Kanye and Donda Academy for money.

We reached out to Kanye's camp ... so far no word back.

Rihanna's got her pregnancy glow working again ... and it's clear she's looking forward to baby #2, because she's absolutely gushing about being a mom!

A$AP Rocky and his bae took their baby boy out Wednesday night in Santa Monica for dinner at their fave spot, Giorgio Baldi -- gotta start 'em early -- and it looks like he was loving it.

The 10-month-old -- whose name we still don't know -- was cheesin' for cameras as Rihanna walked out with him in her arms for the big family affair ... RiRi's mom, Monica, was there too.

There's no doubt motherhood looks good on the singer ... she was stunning in a Wu-Tang jersey, serious bling and shades, and even talked about her mommy lifestyle.

A photog outside the restaurant asked her how motherhood's changed her life, and she didn't hesitate ... immediately saying, "Motherhood is the bomb! It's the greatest."

BTW, being a mom might be the only thing Rihanna loves more than Giorgio Baldi. She's usually there at least a couple times a week -- plus take-out -- and that was before pregnancy cravings!

She celebrated her 35th birthday at the hot spot with friends and family, and even dined there right before she gave birth to their son last year

"Enough is enough."

That's the message Roc Nation is sending Italian soccer fans -- and people across the entire world -- after Inter Milan's Romelu Lukaku was berated by hateful "fans" making monkey noises during the game against Juventus F.C. on Tuesday.

Jay-Z's agency, which reps Lukaku, purchased a full-page advertisement in Italy's daily sports newspaper, La Gazzetta dello Sport, which is headquartered just a few miles from where the racist incident went down at Allianz Stadium in Turin.

"Dear Italy, Do better. Want better. Be better," the letter, translated into English, begins.

"In professional [soccer], Black players have been subjected to hatred during professional [soccer] games. The hatred has displayed itself in the form of monkey chants, racial slurs and banana peels tossed at the best players in the world, as the world watches, as the children watch, as the players' families watch."

"No one has faced any consequences for this heinous behavior. Nothing has changed. No action has been taken."

Of course, as the ad suggests, this isn't the first time a Black player -- and Romelu in particular -- has been forced to endure racist behavior from fans.

29-year-old Lukaku, who was berated on Tuesday after converting a penalty kick against Juventus in the Coppa Italia semifinal match, was targeted by a racist group of fans in 2019.

Back then, Romelu, who again converted on a PK, was subjected to similarly gross behavior after his squad defeated Cagliari.

Roc Nation talks about the power of soccer to unite and then goes on to ask people around the world to take action to stop these ugly acts.

"We call on the worldwide community of sports - players, team owners, artists, brands and all fans - to denounce this racist behavior and hold bigots accountable to a human standard. One which upholds decency, respect and compassion for others."

American R&B group 112 made waves in the music world with the hit song "Peaches & Cream" back in 2001. The group originally consisted of Daron Jones, Michael Keith, Quinnes "Q" Parker and Marvin Scandrick aka "Slim."

"Peaches & Cream" -- one of their biggest hits -- topped the music charts and scored a Grammy nomination. The group's other popular songs include "Cupid" and "Only You."

Throughout their career, 112 has collabed with some of music's hottest stars including Whitney Houston, P. Diddy and Janet Jackson.

Today, both Mike and Slim continuing to performing and tour as 112, giving stellar performances to all their fans.

Flavor Flav has officially crossed over into the Ivy Leagues ... after spending today and tomorrow at Harvard University schooling students about the roots of hip hop culture!!!

TMZ Hip Hop obtained video of the Public Enemy legend lending his expertise in the language arts to students within Harvard ... through a table read of Emily Dickinson's 1896 poem “A Clock Stopped” -- and how it tied into rapper's bars over time.

It was a fitting choice of literature, seeing that Flav donated one of his notable clocks to the Hip Hop Archive Research Institute. Professors Henry Louis Gates and Tommie Shelby were on hand to accept the timepiece.

Other guests included Lupe Fiasco, who previously taught at Harvard and now teaches at MIT, rapper Dee-1, DJ Stretch Armstrong, and Khaliah Ali ... daughter of late boxing great Muhammad Ali and longtime personal friend of Flav's.

We're told Flav still has plenty of festivities in the pipeline ... he's scheduled for a writer's workshop, a sitdown with PBS and he's volunteering to feed the homeless inside the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter with a few student groups.

NLE Choppa's "Slut Me Out (Remix)" hasn't even dropped yet, but it's already pissing off some people in the industry ... due to what they see as blatant misogyny.

The Memphis rapper teased the visual for his updated track on Monday, which raised plenty of eyebrows -- it shows him dog-walking his female costars Sukihana and "Pound Town" rookie rapper Sexxy Red by their colorful weaves.

Sukihana's rap career revolves around XXX tropes and Sexxy Red has been going viral for her song's "my booty-hole brown" lyric ... so yeah, NLE's casting for the video was, arguably, spot-on.

However, Lil Mama disapproved of what she witnessed ... only for Sukihana to get wind of the since-deleted comments, and quickly dragged the "Lip Gloss" rapper for her infamous Jay-Z stage crash of 2009.

An unbothered Lil Mama responded to Suki with an eloquent tongue-lashing -- explaining she feels Black women like Suki uphold negative sexual stereotypes, despite history proving it's the wrong route to go.

TMZ Hip Hop spoke to NLE about the track, and he claimed it was an empowerment anthem ... but good luck convincing folks of that, now that the video clip is out.

Rich Homie Quan is feeling some kinda way after being told Roddy Ricch is allegedly why he's not on DJ Drama's new song "FMFU."

An incensed RHQ voiced his frustration Tuesday with Roddy, Drama and even Gucci Mane -- who also appears on the track alongside Lil Wayne -- but doesn't have as good of a verse ... at least, according to RHQ's standards.

Sources close to the project tell TMZ Hip Hop ... Roddy had no say-so whatsoever in the matter, and if Quan has beef, it should be with Drama himself.

The track appears on Drama's new "I'm Really Like That" album, and RHQ says he recorded his track last November ... but only after he negotiated the feature, as he claims Drama's team originally gave him some trash to rap over.

When it dropped last Friday, RHQ says he was embarrassed after telling plenty of people he was gonna be on the project. Now he wants to square things with Roddy through a $10 million wager in a Verzuz battle.

If ya let RHQ tell it, Roddy's only good record is his diamond-selling track "The Box," and the rest of his catalog is absolute garbage.

There's no putting the toothpaste back in the tube now ... RHQ said what he said!!!

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.