TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Yo Gotti's romantic spark with Angela Simmons is burning brightly -- the Memphis rapper is ranking her numero uno at the top of his list.

TMZ Hip Hop found Gotti beaming with pride at iHeartRadio in NYC Tuesday where he expressed his thoughts, calling AS "The One."

Naturally, Gotti's signaling of Angela also doubles for promotion of his new single "The One" which follows the CMG couple across a tropical island getaway as they savor the moment.

The vid's reminiscent of a whirlwind honeymoon ... and Angela's got a birthday coming up next month, so the stakes to top the recent escapade are higher than ever.

Although Gotti was mum on his future with Angela, he seems intent on splurging on his darling, telling us he plans to give her the world.

Tory Lanez has just been sentenced to 10 years in prison after being found guilty of shooting Megan Thee Stallion.

The rapper's sentencing was handed down Tuesday in L.A. after almost a full two days of sentencing hearings. Tory was facing over 22 years in prison. The sentencing was actually delayed several times over the last few months, at one point Tory begged the judge, "Please don't ruin my life, sir."

As we reported, Tory was found guilty in December of shooting Megan. Video, obtained by TMZ, from the now-infamous moment back in 2020 showed Megan limping near their SUV and leaving behind a trail of blood.

Tory was found guilty of all 3 charges against him -- negligent discharge of a firearm, assault with a semiautomatic firearm, and carrying a loaded and unregistered firearm.

The jury verdict was met with serious pain from Tory's family as it was read, because several members -- including his dad and stepmom -- shouted, "This system stands before God!" Some of his family members were even escorted out of the courtroom.

Sources connected to the case told us the Canadian rappers' lawyers were in contact with immigration officials before the verdict came in ... saying they were informed there was a strong chance he could be forced to leave the country, but obviously that hasn't happened.

A petition also grew online after the verdict in support of Tory ... and Tory even hired high-powered lawyer Jose Baez to work on his appeal.

Baez, who won an acquittal for Casey Anthony back in the day, joined us on "TMZ Live" in January, telling us he was all in to help Tory out -- adding he was pretty confident in getting the job done, claiming there were numerous procedural errors during the trial.

LL Cool J's involved in multiple celebrations this week to commemorate hip hop's 50th anniversary -- a full-circle moment for the legendary rapper who always knew rap music was going places!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught Uncle L out Tuesday in NYC, where he expressed gratitude his chosen profession blossomed into one of the biggest cultural phenomenons ever witnessed.

LL's "Rock The Bells" tagline isn't just the name of his SiriusXM radio show and festival ... it's a cut from his debut album "Radio," released all the way back in 1985!!!

That predates social media, podcasts, streaming ... virtually everything hip hop is known for these days, but despite the changing landscape, LL is still keeping his skills sharp for the booth and the road.

He tells us he's geeked over his upcoming tour with The Roots, which he describes as mixtape-type show that lasts a few hours, with plenty of special guests!!!

Offset and his legal beef with Quality Control Music -- the label behind his career as a member of Migos -- has ended ... with signs pointing to a settlement.

According to docs, obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, Offset filed to dismiss the suit against QC with prejudice Tuesday, ending a lengthy legal battle in which Offset claimed the label was trying to control the rights to his solo music and not honoring a deal they struck.

Sources close to Offset tell TMZ Hip Hop the superstar rapper won't be re-joining QC as a solo artist ... but we're told all disputes and differences were smoothed over.

Offset is currently releasing music on Motown ... his most recent single features wife Cardi B and he's got plenty of other songs in the works.

The compromise is par for the course for Offset this year ... he patched things up with Quavo ahead of Takeoff's birthday tribute as well.

The eBay listing has officially closed for the microphone Cardi B chucked into her crowd, spawning a police investigation ... making a killing on the auction block.

The eBay bidding war came to a close Tuesday morning, and the Shure Axient digital mic made a grand total of $99,900. The auction started at only $500, but got over 120 bids in about a week.

It's an impressive price to go out at, but it's got quite the story behind it -- as we reported, Cardi asked the crowd to splash her with water at Drai's Beachclub in Vegas ... but she got pissed when someone later tossed ice and a liquid on her, resulting in the mic chuck.

The rapper was named as a suspect for battery when a woman who claimed to have gotten hit by the mic went to the cops ... but Cardi was cleared last week by officials.

Philly won't be taking the main stage for Made In America this year, in fact, no one will ... as the festival has canceled its 2023 event, citing "severe circumstances."

The star-studded lineup was set to include Metro Boomin, Ice Spice, Latto, Coi Leray, Doechii, Mase and Cam'ron ... with SZA and Lizzo as the headliners.

Lizzo is currently under fire for allegedly putting her former dancers through hell ... though the singer has called the claims total BS. It's not clear if her current controversy has anything to do with the festival's cancelation.

The festival's statement reads, "Due to severe circumstances outside of production control, the 2023 Made In America festival will no longer be taking place." Continuing, "This decision has been difficult and has not been made lightly nor without immense deliberation."

Top Dawg Entertainment rapper Reason is getting a harsh dose of criticism from the very label exec who's overseeing the album Reason's about to release. Awwwkward!!!

Reason was venting his frustrations with TDEl to Smac and T Rell on the "Back on Figg" podcast last night ... when TDE co-president Anthony “Moosa” Tiffith Jr. called into the show and cut down Reason's mutiny by, essentially, calling him a lazy artist.

Reason's last album dropped back in 2020, but the California rapper blamed Top Dawg Ent. for stalling him out on release dates, and failing to get him Latto and EST Gee features for his upcoming album.

At one point, Moosa put both Smac and T Rell on the spot and asked them to name 10 songs from Reason, which they couldn't ... effectively embarrassing him on the spot.

To add insult to injury, Moosa claimed former TDE co-president Dave Free -- who's since started his own label with Kendrick Lamar -- never wanted to sign Reason and compared his star power to a "substitute teacher!!!" There's a spitball that hurts.

Moosa said other TDE artists such as Doechii and Ray Vaughn are doing more with less than Reason and doesn't feel an EST Gee feature could elevate his career.

The Wilson family is getting bigger -- Russell and Ciara just announced they have another baby on the way ... courtesy of a sexy silhouette video of the singer showing off her bump!!

The Denver Broncos quarterback and R&B star broke the news on Tuesday with footage Russ took during their anniversary trip in Japan a few weeks ago ... showing Ciara several months along in her pregnancy.

In the clip, Ciara danced to her new single with Chris Brown, "How We Roll" ... and used lyrics from the song to bring the message home.

"You look at me like that again, we make another kid ... You my heart I’m your rib" 🥰😘❤️" Ciara says in the tune.

This will be the third kid for the lovely couple ... and Ciara's fourth. She also has a son, Future Zahir, with rapper Future.

Wilson definitely spoke this bundle of joy into existence --  remember, the 34-year-old begged his wife of seven years for another kid when Ciara was hosting "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" last year.

"We definitely can, but we've got a little time before we get there," Ciara said on the show. "But, I'm down to do it again with you!"

Iggy Azalea's letter of support for Tory Lanez -- ahead of his sentencing for shooting Megan Thee Stallion -- is triggering an avalanche of backlash, but the "Fancy" rapper says it's totally unfair.

For starters, she didn't know her passionate plea would be for public eyes, but she's doubling down on feeling Tory doesn't deserve more than 5 years for the shooting.

Iggy barked back at her haters after it came out in court that she asked the judge to give Tory a "transformational, not life-destroying" sentence -- a point with which she says many people agree.

Iggy's sliver of mercy for Tory was met with disrespect ... especially when it was revealed Megan herself felt the complete opposite, as she felt her attacker's shown a blatant lack of remorse since the July 2020 shooting.

Before the trial, Iggy and Tory were working on music together -- a project he was greatly excited about when we spoke to him about it, but it never happened.

Iggy says she and Tory haven't been in contact for months, but she still fully supports prisoners, in general, being rehabilitated.

DJ Casper, the creator of the internationally famous "Cha Cha Slide," has died after a battle with cancer.

The artist passed away Monday, according to his family. He'd been diagnosed with liver and kidney cancer in 2016 -- something spotlighted in a Chicago interview that chronicled his health challenges, as well as his contribution to music.

Casper is most famous for his catchy dance song, which he first cooked up in the studio back in 1998, and which he tweaked and re-released in 2000. The "Cha Cha Slide" has gone on to become a go-to favorite and staple at weddings and parties all over the world.

The making of the track is well-chronicled ... DJ Casper said he first made it with the intention of it being used for his nephew's aerobics class, but upon seeing how well-received it was -- and how much play it got in local fitness clubs -- he thought it had potential as a single, and made a second version for wide release.

The track got some radio play in Chicago and then blew up in the years to come. The infectious line dance, similar to the 'Electric Slide', literally gives you step-by-step instructions throughout the dance ... which is partly what's made it such a party staple.

Millions have danced to it over the years -- in addition to your cousin's wedding, the song's also been featured in tons of movies and TV shows ... like "SNL."

"Cha Cha Slide" had done well on several worldwide music charts, and is certified platinum in the UK. It's easily DJ Casper's main claim to fame.

Casper was 58.

RIP ... and cha cha real smooth.

Flavor Flav is proving once again he's a die-hard Swiftie ... 'cause the rapper was feeling the love from Taylor Swift's parents at her latest L.A. concert, and they even gave the guy an important task!

Flav showed his support for Taylor at her "Eras" Tour stop Monday night at SoFi Stadium, decked out with a ton of friendship bracelets to trade with other fans, and he had huge hugs for Tay-tay's parents, Scott and Andrea Swift.

FF said "Papa Swift" gave him a bunch of guitar picks to pass out in the crowd ... along with the bracelets and his own Flavor Flav-themed buttons.

Safe to say the guy was busy all night long, mingling with the 70,000 or so Taylor fans. Pretty remarkable that the 64-year-old hip hop icon is now a Swiftee ambassador of sorts.

Flav wasn't the only celeb in the crowd ... folks like Tiffany Haddish, Cameron Diaz, Sofia Richie, Zoe Saldana, and Ashley Greene were also singing along to Taylor's hits.

YK Osiris has a lot of explaining to do ... says celeb jeweler Seth Grossman, who claims the singer never paid him for a $20,000 Audemars Piguet watch he agreed to buy YEARS ago.

Seth tells TMZ Hip Hop, he first came into contact with YK through Sean Kingston, one of his longtime clients and associates. They met up in early 2020 before the COVID-19 shutdowns, and Seth claims YK convinced him to sell the AP he was wearing ... which you see YK try on, and happily flaunt, in the video above. Bling, bling baby!!!

Seth says he wasn't up on YK's music at the time but checked his YouTube and confirmed he was a legit star, and proceeded to fire off an invoice for the timepiece.

According to Seth, YK took all of his info so his accountant could wire the $20K ... but that wire transfer was essentially a pipe dream because Seth claims he's yet to see a dime!!!

At first, Seth claims YK was responsive with excuses ... but then the runaround began, with multiple phone number changes.

Seth says the times he was able to confront YK, the "Worth It" singer threw Sean under the bus with false claims that he'd returned the watch back to Sean.

In another instance, he claims YK blamed his own father for stealing all his jewelry as payment for managing his son.

Seth, founder of Essential Watches, is still pondering taking legal action against YK, but would rather pour his time and energy into running his Bev Hills boutique, 90210 Watches.

Tekashi69's claim the tattoo artist who inspired his name used to be on heroin is costing that man dearly ... at least according to the ink master himself, who says his wife left him over that drug abuse allegation.

Takashi Matsuba spells it out in his ongoing civil suit against the rapper -- and in the new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, he says he's entitled to a default judgment because Tekashi's old lawyer withdrew from the case and Tekashi's failed to retain new counsel.

But, in re-explaining the alleged harm he's endured, Matsuba makes this startling confession -- "I lost a number of friends, but by far the most important one is my dear wife. We divorced last year, because she no longer trusted me after Hernandez's false statements about me were broadcast on Hulu and Showtime."

Matsuba goes on to explain that his tattooing business has essentially collapsed by "the false suggestion that I may be a drug user."

You'll recall ... Matsuba was pissed over a couple 6ix9ine documentaries that name-dropped him -- one on Hulu, and another on Showtime. While he seems pissed about the Hulu reference, it's the Showtime doc that's in his legal crosshairs ... they're defendants too.

Megan Thee Stallion is still reeling from the Tory Lanez shooting incident ... she says she can't bring herself to be in the same room as him and hasn't found peace.

The "Savage" rapper was NOT in court Monday for Tory's sentencing, despite prosecutors hinting otherwise, but she did provide a statement that was read in court ... and it was emotional.

Meg says she struggled with showing up to court because she couldn't bring herself to be anywhere near Tory, who is awaiting sentencing after being convicted of shooting her.

What's more, Megan says she hasn't had a moment of peace since the July 2020 shooting ... and she ripped Tory, accusing him of making a mockery of her emotional trauma, treating it like a joke and refusing to take accountability.

Megan says Tory's blaming everyone but himself ... she says he first tried to blame the system but is now blaming his childhood trauma ... and she says if he had ever shown contrition she may have been able to heal her emotional wounds sooner.

Tory was expected to be sentenced Monday, but the hearing ran over time and will pick back up Tuesday.

Prosecutors want a judge to sentence Tory to at least 13 years behind bars, though he's seeking a shorter sentence.

Kanye West just officially made his return to the stage, all thanks to Travis Scott, who like Ye, is very familiar with the masses turning against him.

Travis is currently performing a massive show in Rome -- on the heels of the release of his "Utopia" album -- and surprised the crowd by bringing out Kanye. Before Kanye appeared, Travis told fans there's, "Only one human being on this mother f****** planet that has ever walked side by side with me through anything and every mother f****** thing."

The crowd erupted as Ye got on stage, performing "Praise God" -- a song featuring Travis from his "Donda" album. Clearly a bit rusty, Ye missed most of his lyrics but was saved by the backing track. He also went on to perform crowd favorite "Can't Tell Me Nothing."

Kanye's appearance marks his first big performance since he made antisemitic remarks, more than doubled down on said remarks, was dropped by Adidas, and lost billions. Remember, he told Alex Jones he loved Hitler -- among other things.

Many in music and entertainment have distanced themselves from or totally cut Kanye out, but Travis still clearly has an allegiance to his friend.

Kanye West just can't seem to get enough of Bianca Censori's backside ... grabbing a handful of booty while out in Rome for Travis Scott's concert.

Ye packed on the PDA with his wife Monday in the Italian capital, hugging and touching each other's butts. Apparently, it's not always poison.

Kanye seemingly kept an eye, and a hand, on Bianca at all times ... admiring her figure as she showed off her curves in a skin-tight outfit.

It wasn't just lust though ... Kanye and Bianca shared some sweet moments too, lovingly holding hands on the street.

On this occasion, Kanye was barefoot while Bianca was wearing heels, which is kind of her thing ... and Yeezy was rocking all black while his wife dressed in all white.

As we've reported ... Kanye's shown a huge affinity for Bianca's booty this year, be it in Santa Monica or in Japan, and it's more of the same over in Italy.