TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Famous Dex is looking like a changed man these days ... and he swears he feels just as great now that he's been clean for nearly a year!!!

The "JAPAN" rapper linked with TMZ Hip Hop Wednesday at LAX, and he gleefully shared the good news he was indeed healthy, drug-free for 11 months and couldn't be any happier ... ankle monitor and all.

Dex even removed his stunna shades to show fans how clear his eyes had gotten -- a complete 180° from last September when we broke the news he reentered rehab following a stint in jail.

Dex's health isn't the only thing on the up ... he recently disclosed he re-signed with 300 Entertainment for several million dollars and tells us "Rich Forever 5" -- his long-running album series with Rich The Kid and Jay Critch -- is up next!!!!

It's been several years since Dex dropped a project, but he's been warming up ... recently connecting with his homie Warhol.SS for their "Wave Bros Pt. 2" duet.

He also shared a message to any fans also battling addiction: "Keep God first, never forget where you come from and stay humble."

Meek Mill's unloaded his larger-than-life ATL pad -- and his keys are being handed over to none other than fellow rap legend Rick Ross for a HEFTY chunk of change.

Rick recently picked up the massive mansion for $4.2 mil -- paying cash, no less, for Meek's sweet home. The rapper told his fans the house was on the market for two years before Rick came along.

This 8-bed, 9-bathrom compound is packed to the brim with amenities ... including a tennis court, playground, movie theater and a sauna. It's got the obligatory pool and jacuzzi, too.

For those unaware, Meek had all eyes on him last month when he posted on social media about his crib, looking to speed up the sale ... telling his fans he only had the place for a few years and never officially moved in.

Looks like that move paid off because it's now Rick's less than a month later.

Nav is checking off a HUGE bucket list item ... performing for a sold-out crowd in Toronto, and in the process, becoming the first Canadian rapper since Drake to headline Scotiabank Arena!!!

Nav tells TMZ Hip Hop, "Out of all my accomplishments thus far, selling out my first arena show in my hometown ranks #1. Six years ago I did my first headlined show ever at a venue in Toronto that held 600 people ... yesterday I performed at a venue 30x the size."

Still hyped about the Monday night gig, he added, "The fact my mom, dad and rest of my family got to witness and share this moment makes it priceless for me. I am grateful for the journey and for my fans who make this possible!!!"

The "Myself" rapper wasn't stingy with his stage time either -- he brought out Travis Scott, Meek Mill and Lola Brooke to share the spotlight while SoFaygo and Seren Jacob also performed.

Travis wowed the crowd with a lively rendition of his classic album cut "beibs in the trap," which Nav famously produced for him, and also stuck around to nail their "Champion" collab from 2018.

Symba thinks Doja Cat's anti-Twitter blue checkmark stance is a valid cause ... and he has zero plans to pay for his own verification either!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with the Bay Area-bred lyricist on the set of his upcoming music video, "Hell of a Feeling" with LaRussell, where we took his temp on Doja's comments.

Twitter boss Elon Musk's proposed blue checkmark sweep on April 20 could throw a monkey wrench in artists' reach and visibility, but Doja doesn't give a damn ... basically labeling the check a Veblen good.

LeBron James also railed against the change and Symba wholeheartedly agrees, although he doesn't have a ton of answers on how to separate real and fake celebs without the blue check ... and is still verified himself, for now.

Symba even thinks the Twitter Blue defection could spark some sort of cool-kids movement amongst the unverified.

Jay-Z's longtime love for Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat is being flipped into a tribute concert for the Louis Vuitton Foundation this Friday ... marking a rare live performance for Hov these days.

Roc Nation made the announcement Tuesday, in French no less, revealing Jay would be performing at the Auditorium of the Fondation in Paris. Yep, fire up that "Watch the Throne" track, stat!!!

Jay's performance is intended to pump LV's “Basquiat × Warhol. Painting four hands” exhibit ... which celebrates the 2 iconic artists' 160 canvas collaborations, and the event is also supported by Tiffany & Co., with which both Jay and Beyonce have brand deals.

Lil Uzi Vert's been going tattoo crazy lately, debuting a massive new piece on his forehead and a cross on his tongue ... leaving fans puzzled, yet still intrigued!!!

The “Just Wanna Rock” rapper paid a visit to Ganga Tattoo Studio in L.A. last weekend, and emerged with a black Cross of Saint Peter colored onto his tongue.

That might be enough for most people, but Uzi then enlisted celebrity tattoo artist Yatzil Elizalde to deck out his entire forehead with a design that sorta resembles a dreamcatcher.

Fans voiced concern that Uzi was turning to the dark side -- although, you'd think the Cross of Saint Peter would alleviate those fears.

The last time we spoke to him, he told us he's not much for religion and is far from satanic because he doesn't even believe in the devil!!!

He also stated he's completely sober ... meaning these tats were done under the influence of nothing but his own free will!!!

Warren G is fully embracing the TikTok randomness that blended his all-time classic, "Regulate," with Morgan Wallen's hit "Chasin' You" -- so much so, he's updating his bars to the 19-year-old track, pronto!!! 🔥

On Tuesday, Warren teased a remix to the mashup, rapping ... "Riding in my Chevy/I call her 'Blue Lagoon'/Pull up to the liquor store, you know what I'm looking for ... Zig-Zags, bottle and a brown paper bizag."

Warren didn't give fans a remix release date, but did tout it to be "summer vibes" which will be arriving shortly.

Morgan's currently on fire right now ... his song "Last Night" is currently No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Meanwhile, Warren and Nate Dogg's "Regulate" is the gift that keeps on giving ... just ask Megan Thee Stallion, who blazed the instrumental on her last public freestyle.

Post Malone is taking his love of chicken fingers to the next level ... custom designing a Raising Cane's restaurant near his Utah estate, complete with his own special menu item.

The chicken finger chain tells TMZ ... Post's custom-designed restaurant is opening Thursday in Midvale, Utah and it's the culmination of the rapper's longtime love of Cane's chicken fingers and his friendship with restaurant founder Todd Graves.

RC says after Post moved to Utah, he personally asked Todd for a Cane's location near his massive crib, even offering to design every aspect of the restaurant himself ... from the dining room, to the bathrooms, exterior and landscaping.

Remember ... Post and Todd are super close, with Todd making a cameo appearance in Post's 2021 "Motley Crew" music video.

As you can see, the renovated restaurant is now wrapped in solid pink with Post Malone tattoo imagery and a brushed stainless steel "1" tower. The interior flooring and walls are also solid pink, and the window wraps glow at night.

There's also Post Malone memorabilia displayed on the dining room walls ... including the outfits he wore to the 2019 Grammy Awards and 2022 Billboard Magazine cover shoot. Some of Post's personal guitars are also framed and hung inside.

With Post being a big fan of medieval armor, he designed the restrooms to look like the inside of a medieval castle ... and there's even a suit of gothic medieval armor inside.

Post Malone's also super into beer pong ... and the dining room has a track system with pink ping pong balls running through ... with color-changing filters and light fixtures.

Out in the parking lot, Post put a classic 1974 Ford F250 wrapped in brushed silver as a permanent fixture ... complete with a custom license plate.

Naturally, there's tons of Post Malone-themed merch ... including a pink vinyl-wrapped vending machine stocked with T-shirts, beanies, socks, ping pong balls, magnets, keychains, steel cups and guitar picks

In addition to Post Malone's design overhaul, this location is also serving its popular Caniac Box the "Posty Way" ... it's the custom combo Post always orders, and it comes with 4 chicken fingers, crinkle-cut fries, 2 Cane's sauces, 2 slices of Texas toast, extra salt and pepper packed, and an unsweet tea/lemonade mix to wash it all down.

Raising Cane's says folks who order the "Posty Way" get the meal with a Post Malone napkin, decal sticker and a 32 oz. collector's cup.

Marques Houston says he's a happily married man and Internet trolls poking fun at the huge age difference between his wife and him ... will just have to find a new hobby.

We caught the R&B vet out Monday evening in L.A. amid the rabid backlash against his TV One special, "Uncensored." The first trailer for it has some people irate because it highlights how he first met his young bride Miya, fueling speculation she was a minor when they started dating.

Marques insists he's not sweating the opinions of strangers, he's well aware everyone has them -- and what he really wanted to clarify is he started dating Miya when she was 18 ... and they were married a year later.

She's now 22, while he's 41. They welcomed their first child in December 2021, and he says it's been bliss ever since.

He says the online misconception began when someone allegedly published the wrong birthdate for Miya ... leading folks to believe she was underage when their relationship began.

Chloe Bailey's new album didn't get the attention she hoped it would, but her good pal Druski's telling her to brush the dust off her shoulder!!!

The '4Lifers' funnyman was out Tuesday in NYC as fans reacted to the news Chloe's debut solo album only ranked #119 on the Billboard 200 ... with just 10k records sold.

The album got a lot of attention for her "How Does It Feel" collab with Chris Brown ... and Druski himself even helped promote the single, "For the Night" -- which was aimed at Gunna -- but the track was eventually scrapped from the final album cut.

Druski tells Chloe to look on the bright side ... she sold more than a lot of other people -- including him, as he has music on streaming services as well.

Druski and Chloe got tight on the set of the upcoming film "Praise This," which also stars his homie Quavo ... and Druski had jokes for him.

The former Migos frontman recently claimed he was open to creating a gospel album, as the film is centered around a church choir, but Druski has known Quavo for years and he thinks he was big capping for the sake of the interview!!! 😂

As for Nick Cannon's intention to have baby #13 ... Druski thinks he's wildin' out and needs to cut it on new fatherhood.

NBA YoungBoy’s new album title "Don’t Try This At Home" apparently applies to everyone but him -- the prolific rapper’s throwing a huge party in L.A. while he's home ... on house arrest in Utah!!!

Sources close to the rap star’s camp tell TMZ Hip Hop the event goes down Thursday, April 20, and NBA’s team is paying $200K to rent party space at Elevate Lounge DTLA.

We’re told Team NBA is pulling out all the stops -- 50 Cent’s Branson Cognac is sponsoring, and there will be fully decked out with customized decor, sounds provided by DJ Carisma and a fan raffle. The winner gets to talk to NBA over the stream during the party.

Might sound like a standard Hollywood event, except the guy hosting will be several hundred miles away ... due to his lengthy house arrest for a gun possession charge.

NBA linked with Nicki Minaj for the album’s latest single “WTF,” which dropped last Friday and already has a couple million views.

Intruders beware at Leon “Roccstar” Youngblood Jr.'s home -- when the "Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood" star found some guy creeping on his roof, he handled it on his own ... according to law enforcement.

Cops say the platinum-selling Chris Brown producer told officers he was awakened a little past 5:00 AM Monday by an alarm alerting him someone was on the garage roof at his Chatsworth, CA home.

He says he went outside and, at gunpoint, ordered the guy off his roof ... but when he came down, an altercation broke out between them.

We're told Roccstar overpowered the guy, and then security for his gated community arrived to help detain the man until cops arrived.

The suspect was evaluated at the hospital for injuries before he was arrested for attempted burglary, vandalism, and possession of burglary tools.

Lil Baby is finally taking last October's No. 1 album, "It's Only Me" on the road ... and he's bringing several of his friends along for the ride.

The rap star revealed Monday GloRilla, The Kid LAROI, GLOSS UP, Rylo Rodriguez and Hunxho will be joining him on the 32-city tour, which kicks off in July.

The 4PF leader and Glo famously linked up backstage last year where she taught him how to do her signature dance, and the relationship has culminated into a power move of concert money!!!

At first glance, DJ Holiday has a new “podcast” that's totally unfiltered ... based on his grilling of Wiz Khalifa and O.T. Genasis.

TMZ Hip Hop obtained the video of Holiday sitting down with both rap stars and coming out the gate swinging … asking Wiz if he still misses his ex-wife, Amber Rose.

O.T. didn't get off easy either -- Holiday had the nerve to ask if he’s ever slept with Keyshia Cole!!!

The good news for all parties involved is ... this isn't a real podcast, it's a scripted scene from Holiday's upcoming "No Stress" video, which features raps from Wiz and O.T.

Still, his questions will definitely push some buttons for fans -- Wiz and Amber successfully co-parent their son, Sebastian, while O.T. had a public fallout with Keyshia after royally butchering her classic track, “Love.”

Cardi B couldn't contain her disgust after seeing the clip of the Dalai Lama asking a young boy, "suck my tongue" -- and even though her criticism made some people go after Cardi, she's not backing down.

An irate Cardi ripped child "predators" Monday, and urged parents to always know what's going on in their kids' lives.

Some fans agreed with Cardi's take on the odd video -- showing the Dalai interacting with a young boy during a public appearance -- but others brought up a shady moment from her pre-stardom past.

You might recall, Cardi admitted drugging and robbing men back in her strip club days.

She addressed the haters, head-on, saying those dudes were adult, drunk lowlifes who attempted to take advantage of her and she just happened to get the upper hand.

Unlike Cardi, the Dalai Lama's office is apologizing for the incident -- from February, BTW -- saying he "teases people he meets in an innocent and playful way, even in public and before cameras."

Doesn't seem like the "Bodak Yellow" rapper is buying what the Dalai's selling.

Nick Cannon is back on the morning show hustle ... thanks to a new partnership with Amazon's live stream app Amp, and he's keeping it in the family!!!

On Monday, Nick launched "A Morning Show You Don't Want to Sleep On" ... which costars Abby De La Rosa, the mother of 3 of his 11 children, and Mason Moussette, a radio vet who last worked in Dallas.

Abby's actually a radio vet also ... she worked for Real 92.3 years before adding to the Cannon family tree with their 3 children Zion, Zillion, and Beautiful Zeppelin.