TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

André 3000 may be an outcast to his Outkast faction ... but like Sleepy Brown recently told TMZ Hip Hop, he's still down by law with the Dungeon Family life!!!

The elusive MC just popped up to support Killer Mike's new track "Scientists & Engineers" ... no different than he did when Mike released his debut album back in 2003 when he was signed to Aquemini Records.

On the new track, André vents about wayward society atop the electronica beat ... rapping how he wishes he had "scientists to engineer friends" and how smoking hookah is a waste of time.

Future also adds color commentary on the hook ... and IYKYK, adds the perfect cherry on top of the Dungeon Family collab!!!

"Scientists and Engineers" will appear on the upcoming album "Michael" ... which is KM's first solo offering in over 10 years after carving out a separate legacy with Run The Jewels.

The verse is par for the course for 3 Stacks, according to Sleepy Brown ... who recently told us that Dré is on another journey and although an Outkast reunion was out of the question, the hip hop legend would still be there for his Dungeon Family crew any day of the week!!!

Ice Spice isn't taking too kindly to internet trolls who think her rap career only blew up because she's light-skinned, the 'Munch' rapper thinks everyone loses as a result of the conversation.

Ice Spice graced the newest cover of "Teen Vogue" Tuesday and addressed the social media backlash from last week's Hot 97 Summer Jam performance where she brought out Flo Milli.

Rabid fans stirred the pot and claimed colorism was the reason Ice's career usurped Flo's career, despite Flo entering the rap game several years prior ... but Ice tells the publication the issues are bigger than her.

"I feel like that's not something personal to me," Ice explained before adding ... "I feel like that's been the conversation for generations and forever, since the beginning of time. I try not to feed into negativity because I also see that when people are trying to make that point, it's not out of a good place. [They end up putting] somebody else down."

Ice's career is poppin' — she currently has the most Top 5 Billboard 100 Entries of any artist this year, catapulted by her recent collabs with Nicki Minaj and Taylor Swift ... but fame has brought out the crazies all the same.

The Bronx-born rap star says her social security number got leaked and seeing frequent photos of herself as a kid weirds her out.

The Drake curse may officially be over. The hip-hop superstar hit on two massive bets when the Denver Nuggets secured the 'chip in 5 games, profiting over 800 grand!

The 36-year-old superstar placed two bets on the Denver Nuggets back on June 1, before game 1 was played. The first wager ... risking $1 million on the Nuggets to win the series outright (pays 1.23 mil total). The second ... Drizzy put up $250K on the Nuggets winning the series in 5 games (pays $850K).

All told (assuming Drake isn't holding back any losing tickets), the rapper, minus what he risked, won $830K!

It's a good sign for many of the most popular teams across the sports landscape. Of course, Drake's notorious for rooting for, and betting on teams or athletes ... who have then had a reputation for losing.

Thus, the Drake curse.

The Kentucky Wildcats basketball team fell victim to it, and so did the Alabama Crimson Tide football team. Conor McGregor, too (though Khabib probably deserves the credit here).

Not all have fell victim. Drake's beloved Toronto Raptors won the title in 2019, Tyson Fury, who the rapper supported against Deontay Wilder in 2021, also won.

Now, you can add the Nuggets to that list.

Put away the celebratory joints ... Snoop Dogg will not be the next owner of the Ottawa Senators after all -- the NHL franchise announced Tuesday it's opted to sell its team to another bidder.

Snoop had been a part of the group that L.A.-based entrepreneur Neko Sparks had put together in an effort to buy the hockey team ... but the Sens revealed they ultimately chose to go with the offer that Toronto billionaire Michael Andlauer had made instead.

Reportedly, Andlauer and his backers will fork over right around $1 BILLION for the team as part of the sale.

Snoop has yet to comment on the matter ... but it's no doubt got to be disappointing for the rapper -- you'll recall, back when he initially became a part of Sparks' group, he said in an Instagram post that he desperately wanted the squad.

Andlauer, meanwhile, said Tuesday he was fired up to have beaten out the rest to become the team's next owner.

"I believe that the Senators' fanbase is one of the most passionate in the league," he said, "and I'm excited to take the franchise's success both on and off the ice to the next level."

Outkast will go down as one of the best hip hop duos in history ... but don't cross your fingers for a reunion cuz Sleepy Brown says the group is done for good.

TMZ Hip Hop caught Mr. Brown out at LAX Monday ... and with the 20th anniversary of Kast's monster album "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" approaching, we wanted to see if there's any chance they use that milestone to slip back into the music mix.

The Organized Noize producer laid out the obvious for us ... André 3000's cosmic defection from the group caused their indefinite end, and not even a celebration of one of the only rap projects to win Album of the Year at the Grammys can resurrect the movement.

Sleepy and Big Boi have since joined forces ... releasing their joint album "Big Sleepover" in 2021 and still wooing audiences past with their chart-topping classic "The Way You Move!!!"

Outkast has one of the best catalogs in rap music history as well. When it comes to ranking their albums, Sleepy feels the group's 1998 album "Aquemini" holds the 👑.

The eclectic LP spawned the classic records "Rosa Parks," "SpottieOttieDopaliscious" and was the first album from southern rappers to get a perfect rating in "The Source" magazine back in the day.

Tupac's father Billy Garland is showing he's not above buying into a juicy conspiracy theory, and wholeheartedly believes the United States government killed his son.

In his latest interview bit with "The Art of Dialogue," Billy claims his son was tailed by the government for years including September 7, 1996, when Pac was shot in Vegas.

Rap fans have heard the stories a million times ... Pac and members of Death Row Records' entourage stomped out Los Angeles native Orlando Anderson following the Mike Tyson vs. Bruce Seldon fight, only for him allegedly to return hours later, guns a blazing.

Billy condemned Pac's behavior that night, citing his need to prove himself to the Death Row team. He also scolded Suge Knight and the security team for not protecting the label's money maker and being too comfortable with him leading the charge.

Orlando's uncle Keefe D has implicated his nephew (and himself) in the Tupac shooting for years ... but Billy thinks his self-snitching has been a part of the government's master plan and doesn't think either of them had anything to do with the murder.

YNW Melly's career essentially came to an end in 2019 after he was arrested and charged with double homicide ... but his streaming has seen a resurgence as of late.

On Monday, Melly's trial kicked off in Florida's Broward County court, where it was uncovered the 24-year-old rapper had absolutely zero RIAA certifications on his wall at the time of his arrest on February 13, 2019 ... but now has 10 platinum plaques and 6 gold.

Fans have especially been running up the numbers for Melly's more sinister tracks ... "Suicidal" sits at 4x platinum while his signature hit "Murder on My Mind" is fairly close to Diamond status at 6x platinum.

Melly and Kanye West's 2020 collab "Mixed Personalities" is also double platinum.

The Florida rapper, born Jamell Demons, stands accused of gunning down his own friends YNW Juvy and YNW Sakchaser.

Travis Scott's "Utopia" album recently founds its way into the mix of his new Nike campaign, revamping the Nike Mac Attack kicks worn by John McEnroe during his fiery heyday.

The two longtime Nike ambassadors appeared in a new TV spot Monday to preview the Mac Attacks in their OG colorways of Light Smoke Grey/Black-White. In the accompanying photo shoot, the patented briefcase containing the master copy of "Utopia" can also be spotted.

John's been down with Nike before Travis was actually born ... but Travis has loads of Cactus Jack merch collabs underneath the Swoosh umbrella, so their ties with the brand are both deep-rooted at this point.

Cam'ron is telling Ja Morant he's seen hoop dreams deflate ... and doesn't want the embattled NBA superstar to flush his career for being too in love with the streets.

The Diplomats founder was once a top basketball prospect coming outta Harlem in the mid-1990s ... but didn't take his academics seriously and saw his career fizzle after tearing his hamstring at junior college in Texas.

Cam'ron shared pics of his basketball playing days throwing up a gang sign to show Ja how unfocused he was at the time, where he says he got kicked outta college for pistol-whipping someone.

The "Oh Boy" rapper says he's not glorifying his past actions and doesn't want Ja, who's currently awaiting NBA Commissioner Adam Silver's judgment after his latest gun-toting video, to make the same mistake.

Ja should probably listen to Cam, as he's had his own run-ins with NBA Commissioners in the past.

DC Young Fly spared no expense to celebrate the life of his late partner Jacky Oh! ... as evidenced in the beautiful photos from the mother of three's funeral service.

The celebration of life went down over the weekend in Atlanta, with Jacky getting a grand send-off ... her casket was covered in beautiful flower bouquets, and outside the church DC was surrounded by loved ones as he released a dove into the air.

As you can see, Jacky's casket rode in on a horse-drawn carriage ... and everything was white and gold.

Tons of folks turned out to pay their respects to Jacky ... including friends, family and even a few celebs.

The photos show the full scope of Jacky's funeral ... as we previously reported, video of DC Young Fly's funeral speech featured a powerful message about faith, and in the pics you see him kiss her casket.

TMZ broke the story ... Jacky, a mother of three, died May 31 in Miami at 32 years old and her official cause of death has not yet been announced, though there's speculation swirling online that she was in Miami for a cosmetic procedure.

Looking at the celebration of life here, it's clear Jacky made a huge impact on people's lives.

Floyd Mayweather might've been throwing jabs this weekend, but Joseline Hernandez was handing out haymakers backstage ... landing several on Big Lex.

The former "Love & Hip Hop" star -- dressed in light blue -- was on hand Sunday during FM's exhibition fight against John Gotti III in South Florida ... as were a ton of other Zeus Network-connected reality stars, like Big Lex for example.

Lex -- once featured on Joseline's own reality show, "Joseline's Cabaret" -- was on the receiving end of a brutal beatdown during the boxing match.

The video of her taking a whoopin' is going viral on social media right now ... and for good reason. You see Joseline holding Lex in a headlock while she wails on her -- which got so violent and tumultuous, it actually ended up leaving BL flailing and topless.

Clearly, Joseline got the better of Lex in the moment ... eventually, the women were separated. However, Joseline wasn't done using her fists -- she continued to throw punches at a bunch of different people in the vicinity (even men) ... and seemed to strike at random.

At one point, an unknown woman walking by all the commotion threw a drink in Joseline's direction ... and then got chased out of the building once JH realized where it came from.

It's unclear what precipitated the brawl -- but it obviously had Joseline in a wild state.

This wasn't the only chaos in the building that night ... another brouhaha broke out in the actual ring itself, not between the boxers -- but between their teams and management. Gotti was disqualified in the 6th for continuous holding ... and yet, he continued to battle.

Floyd's team jumped in to stop him themselves ... and that spurred an all-out rumble. Safe to say the antics made it one of the craziest sporting events anyone's seen in quite a while.

Rubi Rose's 2021 "TWORK" music video was responsible for the destruction of some very valuable art ... so says the owner of the property next to the rapper's Los Angeles filming location.

According to a new lawsuit, obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, a renowned contemporary sculptor named Analia Saban's art studio/creative space is suing Rubi, video directors Jay and Georgio Rodriguez, and her label HitCo, claiming the music video shoot involved a high-pressure fire truck hose that ended up causing major damage to the artist's building and art pieces.

Saban claims you can spot the exact moment above when the water from the fire hose breached Analia's studio ... and says the unwelcome water damaged the building, destroyed valuable art, and caused at least six figures in overall damage.

Hollywood Fire Authority, a Los Angeles-based company that rents firefighter equipment, is also named in the suit ... for allegedly failing to properly train Rubi and the crew on using the equipment. After all, the high-pressured fire hoses aren't exactly toys like water guns!!!

Analia says she has undeniable proof the "TWORK" video wrecked her studio and is suing for at least $300K in damages.

Tyga and Travis Barker are linking up again and it has nothing to do with any old family ties ... the duo's actually getting ready to drop some new music.

Witnesses tell TMZ ... Tyga and his buddy, Alexander "AE" Edwards, strolled into Travis' studio Tuesday in Calabasas ... something that's become a common sight lately.

Sources familiar with the situation say the rapper and drummer have been spending a lot of time together in the studio, and the tunes they're cooking up will be for an upcoming EP.

They plan to drop the project in the coming months.

The collab isn't all that surprising ... considering Tyga and Travis have worked on music together in the past. There's also some family history, of course.

You'll recall, Tyga dated Kylie Jenner many moons ago -- they were first linked when she was 17 and he was 24. As you know, TB married Kylie's sister, Kourtney Kardashian back in April 2022.

Travis has been rocking out with Blink-182 as of late, after sharing the stage at Coachella with his bandmates Tom DeLonge and Mark Hoppus -- their first shows in 9 years.

Kanye West celebrated his birthday with two very important people by his side, and it appears those same two people are getting along just fine ... as North West and Ye's wife, Bianca Censori, strolled hand-in-hand into his birthday bash.

Check out the pics taken from outside Kanye's party Saturday night in Los Angeles to celebrate his 46th birthday. You see North, wearing her dad's signature black boots and fingers locked with Bianca as the two made their way inside.

It's not the first time North's spent time with Bianca, but she's clearly getting more comfortable with Ye's new wife.

It also appeared North had a series of painful-looking scrapes on her face ... but we're told it's just makeup -- as the 9-year-old likes to experiment with FX looks.

Inside the bash, a DJ played a bunch of Kanye's greatest hits, there was sushi served on models and minimal lighting, mostly by candlelight.

One guest also captured a cute moment between North and Kanye where she recorded him lip-syncing to his song "Off The Grid" while Bianca watched on.

As for other celebs in attendance, it wasn't the A-list filled roster of Kanye parties in the past -- but Chloe Bailey and Ty Dolla Sign both showed face.

DC Young Fly is turning to his faith to help move his family through an incredibly tough time after the death of Jacky Oh! ... delivering a powerful message during a beautiful service for the mother of three.

DC spoke Saturday at Jacky's celebration of life as family, friends and loved ones gathered in Atlanta to remember Jacky. His message was clear and powerful -- he's a God-fearing man and isn't questioning God's plan.

Throughout his words, DC continued to tell Jacky how much he loved her and praised her as an incredible mother to their kids. The comedian also thanked those in attendance for their posts and messages of support -- saying many of them helped him through.

Looking to the future -- DC says when you see him out with a smile, interacting and carrying on, it's because of the spirit helping him through ... as his journey forward is unimaginable.

And, of course, in true DC fashion -- he had everyone cracking up at one point of his message ... saying God granted him the strength to have three children, thrusting his hips and saying, "You know I wanted 7 more."

The audience burst out laughing, and so did the comedian, before pointing to Jacky's casket and joking she was gonna beat him up for the joke.

Finally, on a more solemn note ... DC says he knows Jacky didn't leave her family, she's in heaven and her spirit is with all of them.

Nicki Minaj is the victim of a swatting prank ... one the Sheriff's Dept. says involved a caller falsely claiming Nicki's child was being abused, but also -- that her house was up in flames.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the attempted swatting went down earlier this month when child services got an anonymous call alleging child abuse at Nicki's L.A.-area home.

We're told sheriff's deputies rolled up to Nicki's place around 6 PM Monday, but after speaking with her and her husband Kenneth Petty ... and looking at their almost 3-year-old child, determined there was no abuse and everything was kosher.

Our sources say deputies chalked it up to a swatting call, and officers want everyone to know these sorts of calls are a huge waste of time and resources.

BTW, that wasn't the only thing being falsely reported about Nicki on this particular night -- sources with direct knowledge tell us another call came in around 3 AM to report that her home was on fire ... something that was also found to be completely untrue. In other words, 2 bogus calls came in a span of about 24 hours -- which is pretty jarring on its face.

For the uninitiated, swatting is a form of prank call where the goal is to get a big police response at someone's home ... and it's a growing problem for cops around the country.

Nicki's not the only celeb dealing with swatting calls. As we first reported, it's recently happened to YouTuber Adin Ross and influencer Madison Beer.