TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Gillie Da Kid's son YNG Cheese was shot and killed in Philly on Thursday evening, TMZ Hip Hop can confirm as heartfelt tributes flowing in for the "Million Dollarz Worth Of Game" podcaster.

Philadelphia police tell us they responded to a shooting around 8:24 PM on the block of 5800 Mascher Street and when officers arrived, they found three shooting victims, including YNG Cheese, real name Devin Spady, who had been shot in the back.

We're told YNG Cheese later succumbed to his injuries after being transported to a nearby hospital ... prompting his cousin and Gillie's 'MDWOG' cohost Wallo to take to IG for a heartfelt eulogy, where he promised to continue to speak out for good.

Cops are still investigating but tell us they are currently looking for a potential suspect with a light complexion male, either Black or Hispanic.

YNG Cheese was 25.

Drake is letting the dogs out ... as in, he's leaving his hotel in a dog mask -- which, let's be honest, beats him covering the Baha Men.

The rapper made a major fashion statement Thursday as he headed over to his performance at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn wearing a doberman mask over his head.

Champagne Papi also had a glass of wine with him ... and paid homage to his Big Apple surroundings with a New York Yankees baseball jersey.

Drake's currently on the road for his "It's All a Blur" U.S. tour with 21 Savage, and Thursday marks the third of 4 straight shows at Barclays ... with three more NYC shows on deck at Madison Square Garden.

G Herbo's letting out an "aht aht" for haters who think his world is crashing down following his recent string of legal drama.

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with Chiraq's finest Thursday outside LAX, and he assures us he ain't worried 'bout nothing ... just like French Montana used to sing.

When we asked about his mounting cases, he said his workload still dominates his time and he's simply focused on doing the right thing.

Chicago Police would beg to differ, after busting Herbo for illegal gun possession a couple of weeks ago. We'll say this, if he's sweating the case ... he's doing a great job of hiding it!!!

Herbo also took a plea deal Thursday in his 2020 wire fraud case -- confident in his decision, and the belief his team would never rat on him.

Switching gears, several videos of the late King Von -- from his time behind bars -- have inexplicably leaked on the internet, showing prison fights and other eyebrow-raising scenarios.

Herbo and KV were friends and Von's estate recently nabbed Herbo to kick off Von's posthumous album "Grandson" with the song, "Real Oppy."

Damon Dash is throwing major shade on his time running Roc-A-Fella Records with Jay-Z ... declaring Nas the winner of the historic rap battle against his camp, although his reasoning is mainly because he wasn't doing the coaching.

The veteran music mogul spilled his thoughts on the "That's F***ed Up" podcast and proclaimed Jay lost the battle when he dropped "Supa Ugly," the follow-up track to his classic diss "Takeover" and released after Nas released his blistering rebuttal "Ether."

Dame says he was away making millions for Roc-A-Fella when he heard "Supa Ugly" on the radio and couldn't believe his ears because he thought it was extremely wack.

The curse-filled counter opened up its own can of worms ... it inserted Nas' child's mother Carmen Bryant into the melee and forced Jay to apologize at the behest of his mother.

Dame blamed Irv Gotti for orchestrating the diss dud and didn't bite his tongue and pooh-poohed every collab the Murda Inc. founder did with Roc-A-Fella.

Irv helped produced several songs for the Roc ... including Jay and Ja Rule's 1998 breakout hit "Can I Get A..." but Dame maintains all his contributions were trash!!!

Swizz Beatz felt it best to channel Al Pacino's Scarface out in Miami for DJ Khaled's We The Best golf tournament ... judging from the new "Tony Montana" track he spun to get his fellow rap stars grooving!!!

TMZ Hip Hop obtained video from Timbaland giving Swizz a grand intro Wednesday as he deejayed Khaled's pre-party.

Swizz let the beat drop on the Scarface-inspired track ... and began rapping about waking up and putting on a suit like the infamous fictional gangsta.

Khaled and son Asahd, Diddy, and Jeezy all approved of the track, and sources at the party tell us the room was quite the royal hip-hop royal ballroom, mixed with pro-athlete elites.

We're told Quavo, Fat Joe, Bun B, Angie Martinez, Cedric The Entertainer, all convened under the tent with the likes of Matt Barnes, Bubba Wallace, Terrell Owens, Gary Sheffield ... and many more!!!

Diddy also got a sneak peek grab at the winner's trophy and hoisted it like it was throughout the function.

Forget the PGA, Larsa Pippen and Marcus Jordan were all about the PDA at a golf tournament Thursday ... touchin' and smoochin' each other all over the course.

The couple attended DJ Khaled's inaugural "We the Best Foundation Golf Classic" in Miami ... and the two -- as they've been for most of the past few months -- were inseparable.

They shared a golf cart for most of the day -- planting kisses on each other while riding from hole to hole. They could hardly keep their hands off each other on the greens as well ... getting in embraces in between putts.

Jordan, though, was able to separate himself from Larsa for at least a few minutes to get his ball up and down the fairways -- and his swing didn't look too bad!

His attire wasn't shabby either ... check out the sweet, pink Jordan 4 cleats he sported for the occasion!!

As we've previously reported ... Jordan and Pippen began their romance in late 2022 -- and despite Michael Jordan's apparent disapproval of it all, they've been going as strong as ever.

In fact, Pippen said on her and Marcus' "Separation Anxiety" podcast earlier this month she's "never been this happy with anyone."

G Herbo just cut a plea deal in his federal fraud case ... and could end up spending a good chunk of time behind bars.

According to his plea agreement, Herbo will plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of making false statements. Prosecutors agreed to dismiss the remaining counts.

He faces up to 20 years on the wire fraud count and up to 5 years for the false statements.

As we told you at the time of the arrest, Herbo, music promoter Antonio Strong and several others were accused of running an identity fraud ring to obtain stolen payment card information in order to buy private jet flights, exotic car rentals, a luxury villa during a Jamaican vacation and high-priced "designer puppies."

Feds claim they intercepted several messages showing the men participating in the scheme.

Under the plea deal, Herbo will also have to pay around $140k in restitution to Planemasters, Epic Jet, Woof Woof Puppies and other companies.

TMZ Hip Hop just broke the story of Herbo being arrested in Chicago for gun possession, and he also had a hearing for that case.

Finesse2Tymes is being accused of living out his rap name ... as Houston cops say he stole a rental car, and he's been brazenly driving it around the city for months!!!

According to the court docs we obtained, a man named Ronald Bell rented an Infiniti QX80 SUV on Feb. 28, 2023 from a Houston-area Enterprise location ... marked with a return date of March 10, 2023.

Authorities say the return date came and went so Enterprise sent Bell a notice to bring it back.

Cops say when they finally got in touch with Bell, he fessed up to Finesse being the one actually driving the vehicle.

The report states Bell set up a three-way call with Enterprise and the Rap-A-Lot Records rapper on April 20, where Finesse told the rental car employee his money was tied up in a Zelle twist-up but would have the vehicle returned in a few days.

The docs say when Finesse failed to return the Infiniti by April 24, Enterprise reported the vehicle, valued at $72k, as stolen and HPD issued a warrant for his arrest.

To make matters worse, cops say the stolen rental car continued to be spotted floating around the Houston area ... including a well-known recording studio in the area.

On April 25, HPD questioned a woman outside the studio, who told them she had recently been hired by Finesse days prior to run errands.

Popular rapper Superstar Pride has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder, after police say he's the triggerman in a shooting death.

The Panola County Sheriff's Office in Mississippi says deputies were called to a residence Wednesday afternoon, where they found a 40-year-old man dead from gunshot wounds ... cops say the ensuing investigation led them to believe Superstar Pride was the suspect.

The "Painting Pictures" rapper surrendered to authorities a few hours later, and deputies say he was booked at the Panola County Detention Center. Prosecutors charged him with first-degree murder.

The home Las Vegas cops raided in connection with the Tupac Shakur murder case was lit up with police lights in the dead of night, creating a chaotic scene ... seen in this new video.

TMZ obtained dramatic footage from Monday night's SWAT operation when Vegas Metro PD descended on the quiet Henderson, NV neighborhood around 10 PM ... honing in on one house and shouting for the people inside to come out with their hands up.

Watch for yourself ... you hear an officer talking through a megaphone, telling a woman to drop her cigarettes and comply with his demands.

Eventually, he starts to bark orders at a man as well ... telling him to turn around, put his hands in the air, and walk backward. It's unclear if these 2 people were the only ones inside, or if they were detained or arrested.

As we reported ... cops were executing a search warrant, but we still don't know what their probable cause was to obtain that warrant. Once inside, though, they seized hard drives and photos of possible suspects in Tupac's murder ... according to an ABC News report.

TMZ broke the story ... the house is owned by Paula Clemons, who's married to a former Crip named Keefe D. For years, he's claimed his nephew, Orlando Anderson, fired the fatal shots at Pac just off the Vegas Strip in 1996, and that he was in the car with him at the time.

We don't know for certain Paula or Keefe are currently living at Henderson home. Neighbors in the area tell TMZ the couple they've seen in the house moved there in 2016.

We're told they've always been nice, saying hi to folks ... with no suspicious behavior.

TMZ also knows cops were here at this address for about 2 hours conducting the search. The big unanswered question is whether they found anything that could close the Tupac murder case.

Rolling Loud Miami kicks off this weekend with plenty of side projects to accompany the main adventure, just like the youth basketball clinic the organizers slam-dunked Wednesday.

Festival founders Tariq Cherif and Matt Zingler, teamed up with the Miami Heat players Udonis Haslem & Haywood Highsmith and 50 kids from the Miami Gardens Life Skills & Summer Thrill camp ... as the official tip-off for the Rolling Loud Miami Week.

Udonis, being a Miami native and a 20-year vet of the Heat says the Rolling Loud clinic was especially personal for him, as he sees his former self in so many youth today.

Tariq assisted with both the DJing duty and skills training and we're told all the kids at the event had a blast.

Rolling Loud Miami Week will be booming with local community initiatives with familiar sponsors designed to inspire and inform the kids ... great time-fillers for their current school-free days.

On Thursday, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America will team with DGK Skateboards for a skate park clinic, that'll provide the 50 youth participants with skateboards and safety equipment to instill the basics.

Then on Friday, the Black Music Action Coalition will host a rally with NY Congressman Jamall Bowman and Georgia Congressman Hank Johnson to discuss the ongoing controversy of targeting rapper's lyrics.

Of course, the 3-day music fest will bring things home ... with Playboi Carti, Travis Scott and A$AP Rocky serving as the headliners this go around.

Eminem famously went from performing in hole-in-the-wall clubs to emerging as the best-selling rapper EVER -- but he's admitting a couple of icons who came before him almost made him trash his old rhymes!!!

Slim Shady revisited his humble hip hop beginnings for The New York Times' 50-year celebration of the genre ... which also features testimonies from marquee rap stars like 50 Cent, Krayzie Bone, Bun B and Trina.

Em credited his Uncle Ronnie and Aunt Edna for fostering his rap stan-dom and remembered being enamored by LL Cool J, Run-DMC and Kool G Rap ... all of whom eventually inspired him to rap.

But, when Nas and Naughty By Nature hit the scene in the early '90s, Em says he became unsure of himself ... and almost quit the dream that made him a legend.

Em says he bumped NBN's self-titled debut album all summer, so much so, Treach's rhyme skills gave him a serious case of writer's block.

When Nas' debut, "Illmatic," dropped a year later, Em memorized it front to back -- but, again, he says the Source's "5-mic" rating gave him anxiety ... he worried he'd never measure up.

Em recalls being jaded about rapping for several years before he started crushing local open mic nights in Detroit ... and obviously went on to sell a bazillion records.

There's no shame in "Illmatic" giving any young MC nerves -- it's widely considered one of the greatest albums ever, and is even being preserved in the Library of Congress!!!

We actually just spoke to Treach, and he basically alluded to NBN powering through a bit of infighting, but says he's still rapping with the same intensity Em loved back in the day.

A former detective who worked on The Notorious B.I.G. murder case -- which overlapped with Tupac's murder -- says Vegas PD might finally be able to close the infamous case ... especially in light of whose home they raided.

Greg Kading gained extensive knowledge of both Pac and B.I.G.'s murders while he was with LAPD, and joined us Wednesday on "TMZ Live" to offer insight into the Henderson, NV raid. We broke the story ... Vegas cops searched the home of Paula Clemons Monday night, and they say it was in connection with the still-open Tupac murder case.

Paula's husband is a guy named Keefe D, and Kading says Keefe has spoken openly about his involvement with Tupac's murder for years now -- alleging his nephew and fellow Crip Orlando Anderson was the trigger man that fateful night in 1996.

Kading says Keefe first confessed to this way back in 2009, during a police interview conducted by Kading. He says they struck a deal with Keefe, so they couldn't use the info he provided to prosecute him -- but he says that deal went out the window the moment Keefe started telling his story in public.

Kading suspects Keefe still thinks he's safe from prosecution, but the fact cops now appear to be zeroing in on him -- or at least, his loved ones -- will probably make him realize he's mistaken.

As for why Vegas cops are jumping on this now -- Kading tells us they might have been working on this in recent years, and only now have all the pieces lined up to prosecute someone.

Ice Spice says she and Taylor Swift immediately hit it off when recording their hit record "Karma" ... and they still keep in contact via text to this day!!!

The "Munch" rapper relived her experience working with the pop powerhouse with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1 ... openly admitting she was having a crummy day until her manager told her TS was requesting her for a collab.

Ice says Taylor wasn't acting Hollywood once they pulled up to the studio either ... the "Midnights" singer was actually waiting for her outside, eager to collaborate.

The song immediately became a hit when it dropped in May, and is one of the reasons Ice is tied with Morgan Wallen for most Top 10 hits in 2023.

According to Ice, Taylor keeps her LOLing at all times, dubbing her "the funniest person ever" as they still keep in frequent contact via text.

Collaborations aren't always guaranteed to create friendships, but Ice also counts her newfound partner-in-rhyme Nicki Minaj as well as Drake as mentors — and soaks up all the advice they give her!!!

Next up for Ice, is the deluxe follow-up to her debut EP "Like..?" which arrives on Friday.

The home cops raided in Vegas this week in connection with the unsolved Tupac murder belongs to the wife of a guy who says he was in the car with a man who shot and killed the late rapper.

TMZ has confirmed the address where Vegas Metro executed a search warrant Monday night ... it's owned by a woman named Paula Clemons -- who's married, we've learned, to Keefe D.

Folks familiar with Tupac lore know exactly who Keefe D is -- he's a former Crip, and for years now he's been doing interviews claiming to be the uncle of the late Orlando Anderson ... who's been suspected, at least on the streets, to have been the shooter.

Orlando and his crew -- including Keefe -- were in Vegas that night ... and Orlando was actually jumped by Tupac, Suge Knight and other Death Row affiliates at the MGM Grand. It's an altercation that was caught on surveillance video ... and many thought Orlando might have orchestrated a revenge shooting after the Mike Tyson fight that night. FWIW, Orlando himself had denied any involvement before he was killed in a shootout himself.

As for Paula, she also owned a home in Compton in the '90s ... what's interesting, in 1998, the L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. recovered a gun in the backyard of a Compton home ... a home the Sheriff's Dept. said belonged to the girlfriend of known Crip who was in Vegas the night of the murder.

As we reported, cops raided Paula's Henderson, Nevada home Monday. The reason the raid is significant is because, to obtain that warrant, police had to show a judge there was probable cause to believe there was evidence in the home connected to Tupac's murder.

Cops are not saying what they recovered from Paula's Henderson home.

We covered it all on the latest of The TMZ Podcast, available on all podcast platforms.

Yo Gotti's co-ownership of MLS soccer team D.C. United has opened new doors for the "Rake It Up" rapper ... making a trip to the White House to hang with the First Lady!!!

The CMG boss kicked off his MLS All-Star Week on the South Lawn of the White House Monday as an invited guest. Gotti was part of a youth soccer clinic designed to raise awareness for the sport with future generations.

Sources tell TMZ Hip Hop that Gotti and Jill Biden had a great chitchat on the South Lawn about his own children's growing love for soccer ... and he connected with officials from the Biden-Harris Administration throughout the day.

Gotti joined D.C. United in 2021 and has been proactive in ingraining himself in the soccer community.

We're told he'll be joining the TV booth for the MLS All-Star Game later this evening, as 2 D.C. United players and their coach Wayne Rooney are on the roster.