TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Michael Jackson and Prince are two names almost guaranteed to be on every artist's collab wishlist ... but not Dr. Dre's!

The hip hop giant says he turned down both late music legends to work in the studio ... because they were just too established. He also admitted to leaving Stevie Wonder in the studio hanging after personally being asked to go half on a track. What's the big deal, Dre?!!?

The music mogul made the puzzling revelations to Kevin Hart on the new season of his "Hart to Hart" podcast and admitted shaping a new artist's career — as we saw with Snoop Dogg and Eminem — is much easier for him than helping a living legend find their sound.

Jay-Z and Robert Kraft are on a mission to thwart the rise of book bans by launching programs to reinstall teachings of slavery, the Holocaust and gender equality back into society.

TMZ Hip Hop has learned both Jay and Robert's organizations -- the Shawn Carter Foundation and the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism -- have donated $1 million to provide pro bono legal services to educators and librarians who've been targeted by local policies banning books.

The American Library Association reportedly documented nearly 1,300 demands last year to remove books -- most highlighting the Black and LGBTQIA+ communities, as well as religious minorities.

We're told the New England Patriots owner and Jay laid down the framework for underserved students to obtain scholarships and financial grants, and hopefully have their works turned into movies, plays, audiobooks, etc. to further the message.

There's also a plan to reprint banned books and have them circulated in adjacent learning centers.

The Brooklyn Public Library launched "Books Unbanned," a nationwide campaign that provides free books to kids, hassle-free, back in April 2022 ... and it's been wildly successful.

The BPL also unveiled Jay's new exhibit "The Book of HOV" on Friday, which showcases the Roc Nation rapper's legacy and written history in an elaborate fashion.

Jayson Tatum's appearance at Drake's concert on Wednesday night turned out to be a very painful experience for one fan ... 'cause during her freak-out over the Celtics star's cameo -- she wiped out down six rows of stairs.

The wild incident happened in the nosebleeds at TD Garden arena during the It's All A Blur Tour's stop in Boston ... after the rapper introduced the NBA star to the sold-out crowd.

The woman started to jump up and down when Tatum got on stage -- and she screamed at the top of her lungs, "Jayson Tatum!!"

But, somehow during the meltdown, she lost her balance ... tripped over a chair -- and then face-planted all the way down several steps.

Check out the footage of the fall ... she hit the pavement HARD.

No word on if she suffered any significant injuries ... but the TikTok user who posted the clip humorously captioned it, "big tatum fan!" -- so we get the vibe she's doing all right.

The night otherwise went off without a hitch ... and Drake seemed to be very pleased with his work inside the Celtics' home -- saying on his IG after the show, "Who else can get the Garden b(l)ooming like this?"

Lil Baby is officially a restaurateur now, after cutting the ribbon on his own Seafood Menu Restaurant & Lounge in his hometown!!!

The Quality Control rapper was flanked by a huge audience of supporters as Atlanta City Councilman Byron Amos commended Baby for opening the establishment in his old neighborhood ... which, if you're in the ATL, is located at 880 M.L.K. Jr Dr. SW.

Baby was holding his son Loyal and nodded as others received their credit for enduring the construction obstacles that delayed and threatened the restaurant's creation.

Baby's said to have been inspired by many restaurants' resilience to stay open during the trying times of the pandemic and created a spot custom to his tastes.

Baby and his partner Chad Dillon intentionally want to disrupt the local scene, and the restaurant's hook is its 7 unique custom sauces, with Baby particularly raving about the Caribbean jerk.

Lil Tjay says his comeback is officially complete ... the Bronx-bred rapper just popped the lid off his first project since being shot multiple times a little over a year ago.

We spoke with Tjay near Times Square at his "222" album release party last night -- and he's extremely confident that he's returned to the top of his rap game.

Tjay's team transformed the Brooklyn Chop House into a soiree dedicated to the "222" project, where Tjay took pics, rapped for fans and kicked it with Fivio Foreign -- who was in the building to support his friend.

The project also sports features from Jadakiss, NBA YoungBoy, The Kid LAROI, Summer Walker, and Coco Jones.

Tjay predicts fans will receive the music very well ... it's been over 2 years since he had a new project and his fate was hanging in the balance this time last year.

TMZ Hip Hop broke the story at the time ... Tjay was shot 7 times on June 22, forcing him into emergency surgery, and he's even had some legal drama amid getting this album out.

He created "222" out of sentiment ... it stands for the time on the clock Tjay says he saw when he was airlifted to the hospital after being shot.

Time apparently doesn't heal all wounds for Future ... 'cause the rapper just seemingly dissed the hell outta Russell Wilson in his latest song.

The Atlanta M.C. dropped the controversial bar in his "Turn Yo Clic Up" collab with Quavo on Friday ... rapping in his verse, "I got it out the field, f*** Russell."

Future hasn't shied away from his thoughts on his ex-fiancée and mother of his child, Ciara, moving on with the NFL quarterback ... going in on the now-married couple multiple times in interviews.

Remember, Future Hendrix bashed Ciara for having Russell around Future Jr. early in their relationship ... telling "The Breakfast Club" in 2015, "You don't bring a man around your son."

"You've known this man for a few months and you're bringing him around your kid? Who does that?"

He later went in on Russell in 2019 ... saying he's not a real man in their relationship.

"He not telling her, 'Chill out with that on the internet. Don't even talk to him. I'm your husband. You better not even bring Future's name up!" he said on Apple Music.

"If that was me, she couldn't even bring his name up. She know that. She couldn't even bring her exes names up."

Russell and Ciara have been married since 2016 ... and they have two kids of their own.

Wilson has since become a father figure for Future Jr. as well ... even spending a lot of time working on their football skills together.

Russell doesn't seem bothered by Future's constant gripes -- this past Father's Day, he said, "Future, Sienna & Win ... I Love You Forever! Glad we get to raise them together Momma! @ciara."

Drake's dad is apparently dealing with a scary situation at home ... police say they responded to Dennis Graham's place after he got some odd and disturbing phone calls late at night.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... someone called twice and texted Dennis over the course of 15 minutes Wednesday night, with the person on the other line allegedly rambling about Freemasonry and Dennis being Drake's dad, and that was enough to get cops involved.

Our sources say LAPD went to Dennis' estate after the alleged incident ... with cops taking an annoying phone calls report.

At this point, our sources say it's unclear who was contacting Dennis or what their motive was, but the case is under investigation.

Lil Durk spent the past week in the hospital with severe dehydration and exhaustion, only to be released yesterday a source close to the situation tells TMZ Hip Hop.

We're told Durk checked into a hospital on July 6, after falling ill in Ohio.

He went to the hospital as a safety measure ... but doctors told him the matter was more serious than he and his team realized and quickly admitted him.

The sudden health scare forced Durk to miss a series of shows across Europe and yesterday's ESPY Awards, and we're told he's still not been cleared by physicians to return to work in any capacity.

Durk tells TMZ Hip Hop ... "My fans mean everything to me, you’re the reason why I do this. I was looking forward to touching all of my European fans, performing this week(end), attending the ESPYs and more but after performing and traveling daily I’ve become severely dehydrated and advised by my doctors not to travel due to exhaustion. Once I get my full energy back, it’s back to business which I’m looking forward to. #StillHealing."

Jeezy knows not all moguls are created equally ... which is why he feels the story behind his success probably resonates with the common man better than billionaires like Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk.

The trap rap king joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday to explain why his new book, "Adversity For Sale: Ya Gotta Believe" offers better keys to success for the average American than most "get rich" books.

Jeezy's leaning in to his early days as a young hustler on the streets of Atlanta -- but says, even back then, he had an idea about where he wanted to end up ... and how music would help him get achieve that.

Along the way, he became one of the biggest forces to ever dominate hip hop ... yet, Jeezy told us he's always been entrepreneurially minded, succeeding in real estate, business ownership and philanthropy. He says rap just happens to be what got his foot in the door.

He hopes his book will influence inner-city youth living in violent surroundings, and show them there is a path to prosperity for them.

Kelly Rowland admits accidentally blowing the gender secret during Beyoncé's first pregnancy still haunts her to this day!!!

The ex-Destiny Child singer remembered her royal screwup while speaking on Billy Mann's "Yeah, I F*cked That Up" podcast, referring to it as the "worst moment" ever.

Back in 2011, she told Bang Showbiz, "[Jay-Z] is going to buy that little girl every single thing possible ... she won't be spoiled but she will be very well looked after" ... and her pronoun choices allowed the world to pick up on the fact the baby was a girl.

She also suggested Bey was even disappointed with her loose lips, but the moment didn't derail their friendship.

The two recently joined forces for Knowles-Rowland Project ... a $7.2 million construction for a 31-unit housing project for homeless residents in Houston.

And of course, that baby girl grew up to be Blue Ivy, who's currently dancing alongside her mother on the "Renaissance" World Tour.

Lil Wayne was undeniably a vital part of this year's ESPY Awards ... the Young Money rap star had every athlete in the building rocking when he opened the event with a sports-themed rendition of his classic banger "A Milli!!!"

The electrifying performance peaked when Wayne went into the crowd and bounced with reigning Super Bowl champ Travis Kelce, but the hip-hop legend wasn't done highlighting the festivities.

Weezy F. Baby later introduced WNBA 🐐 Sue Bird to the podium and linked up with Angel Reese, 2 Chainz and NBA champ Jamal Murray throughout the evening.

Backstage, Wayne and Quavo dapped it up, and we're told it was the first time they've seen one another since Lil Weezyana Fest last year -- which, tragically, was Takeoff's final show before he was killed.

We're also told Wayne's choice of attire was intentional -- he repped for the late Kobe Bryant in a "Mamba Mentality" sweater, and also donned an LSU hat to signify women's accomplishments ... most notably Angel and Flau'jae Johnson, who has a song collab with Wayne dropping soon.

Add this to the list of awesome things Flau'jae Johnson's done since winning the National Championship ... the LSU hoops star performed in front of a packed crowd, including LeBron James, at a star-studded ESPY's after-party on Wednesday!

Johnson put on a show for The King and other big-time celebs at Uninterrupted's after-party in Los Angeles (Uninterrupted was founded by LBJ and biz partner Maverick Carter in 2014).

Johnson performed her hit single, "Clickbait" -- a remix of Latto's "Put It on Da Floor" -- and the crowd loved it!

But, she wasn't the only hip hop artist that hit the stage ... Quavo also pulled up and did "Hotel Lobby" and "Bad and Boujee."

Of course, James was all smiles, dancing the night away ... just hours after the Lakers superstar won the award for Best Record-Breaking Performance. LeBron also announced he's not retiring from the NBA.

Ice Cube said what he said -- his once dominating Westside Connection rap group is a done deal, all because of his irreconcilable differences with Mack 10.

We caught both Cube and WC on Tuesday outside of Dash Radio for the "Dub C & CJ Mac Show" ... and Cube tells us he had no regrets about publicly deading Westside Connection earlier this week, and effectively shut down the peace talks for the group for good!!!

Cube says not even the outpouring of fans calling for a reunion can bring them back together and quite frankly, couldn't give a damn what they think regardless. 😩

On the flip side, WC tells us he still has big love for Mack 10 and wishes things could've ended differently.

WC doesn't believe the group's legacy will be affected -- he says they all still perform the group's hits -- but he will continue to be Cube's road dawg, as he did before the group formed in 1995.

The 3-man supergroup had a helluva run ... releasing the platinum-selling “Bow Down” album in '96 and delivering high-profile performances throughout the years such as Dr. Dre's Up In Smoke Tour and "Saturday Night Live."

Things, however, ended on a bloody note in the mid-00s after Mack 10 and Cube’s road manager/brother-in-law came to blows despite Mack claiming he warned Cube things were becoming volcanic.

Mack 10 recently shared his side of the story … revealing he hasn't spoken to Cube going close to 20 years, and he didn't exactly share WC's version of "love" either.

Latto's putting her fans on notice -- she's not to be played with when it comes to the trend of people throwing crap onstage, as someone found out during her Rolling Loud Germany set.

The unidentified flying object isn't visible in this video, but the "Big Energy" rapper definitely spotted something, then made direct eye contact with the offending fan ... and lyrically stated she's down to beat their ass if they try it again!!!

The fan attempted the stunt as Latto performed her fight-starting anthem "Put It On Da Floor," but the failed attack didn't disrupt her show ... she just performed angrily.

Artists have been subjected to devious fans in a post-pandemic trend of hurling phones and other items. Bebe Rexha might be the worst incident ... she was decked in the eye with a cell phone last month, but others -- including Harry Styles, most recently -- have been nailed too.

Like Latto, Adele also threatened bodily harm to concert miscreants ... although, she did it more jokingly.

Naomi Osaka couldn't wait to show the world her baby with rapper Cordae ... sharing a brief picture of her little girl -- and the newborn's already wearing a tennis-themed onesie!!

The 25-year-old superstar athlete recently gave birth to her first child ... and on Thursday, she broke her silence on the mom-umental moment in her life -- making it clear she's already excited to get back on the court.

"Well that was a cool little intermission, now back to your regularly scheduled program 🎾✌🏾💕" Osaka said on Instagram.

The four-time Grand Slam winner's friends all flooded the comment section to congratulate her ... with Sloane Stephens, Vanessa Lachey and more sending positive messages.

Osaka and Cordae have yet to spill on what they named their baby ... but the two confirmed last month they were expecting a daughter.

NO also shared other pictures from the pregnancy process ... including a selfie from the hospital bed, and a romantic picnic setup complete with "MOM" balloons and rose petals.

Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour is now on U.S. soil, and at least one fan celebrated by ridin' high in Philly on an actual horse they brought to the concert!!!

A shocked ticket holder captured the wild scene of a Beyoncé superfan striking a pose on the steed, and immediately dubbed the animal, 'Reneigh' ... the name of Bey’s holographic horse from the "Renaissance" album cover.

The horse was being handled by a cowboy (or possibly a supportive boyfriend) who was on foot. At any rate, Bey's Reneigh could probably take a few pointers from the real deal -- the touring "horse" she uses during her concert suffered a major malfunction in Europe a few weeks ago!!!

Beyonce's U.S. opener went down inside Lincoln Financial Field, where there's plenty of space and seats, but not for horses ... of courses.