TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Dr. Dre's estranged wife, Nicole Young, is being investigated by the LAPD for alleged embezzlement ... sources close to the case tell TMZ.

We're told Dre's business partner, Larry Chatman, recently went to the police and filed a report, claiming Nicole withdrew hundreds of thousands of dollars from their business account without authorization ... something Larry had previously alleged in legal letters fired off to Nicole's side in the past few weeks.

In the report to LAPD, Dre's team claims Nicole embezzled $385,029. We're told LAPD detectives are aware Larry believes Nicole is the culprit, and they're looking into it now. For the record, Dre did not file the report.

As we previously reported ... Dre's called out Nicole for 2 withdrawals -- which total the $385k -- in their divorce case. Nicole has said she had a right to the money in that corporate account because her name is on it.

If charges are brought forth from this, it's possible Nicole could do time.

Nicole's legal team has previously told us Chatman's claims against her are nothing but a smear attempt and a PR stunt as she navigates her pending divorce from Dre. Her attorneys maintain she's done nothing wrong thus far.

We've reached out to Nicole's lawyer again about the police investigation ... so far, no word back.

Tory Lanez has just been ordered to stay the hell away from Megan Thee Stallion after a hearing for his felony assault charge.

Tory appeared by phone for Tuesday's hearing in L.A. County court for what was supposed to be his arraignment ... but his attorney, Shawn Holley, requested a continuance. It was granted so he did not enter a plea. The judge, however, issued a protective order against Tory ... and now he's gotta stay at least 100 yards away from MTS, and not contact her.

His bail was set at $190k ... which he'll be posting via a bondsman present at the hearing. The hearing comes on the same day MTS wrote an op-ed for The New York Times on why she speaks up for Black women, saying she's not afraid of criticism and being adamant that saying "protect Black women" should NOT be a controversial topic.

She also addressed the Tory Lanez case, saying, "I was recently the victim of an act of violence by a man. After a party, I was shot twice as I walked away from him. We were not in a relationship. Truthfully, I was shocked that I ended up in that place."

Meg added, "My initial silence about what happened was out of fear for myself and my friends. Even as a victim, I have been met with skepticism and judgment. The way people have publicly questioned and debated whether I played a role in my own violent assault proves that my fears about discussing what happened were, unfortunately, warranted."

As we reported ... The L.A. County D.A.'s Office slapped him with 1 count of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, and 1 count of carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle. The D.A. also alleges Tory inflicted great bodily injury on Megan.

If convicted, the rapper/singer faces up to 22 years and 8 months in prison.

Tory defended himself publicly last week and said he deserves his day in court. As we told you ... the rapper broke his silence Friday morning and reminded fans the "charge is not a conviction."

Kanye West appears to have one final trick up his sleeve in the last-minute blitz of his presidential campaign ... let go, and let God.

Ye just filed legal docs to lock up the rights to "God Save America" -- which he wants to slap on shirts, sweaters and hoodies in what seems to be a final-ditch effort to push his message that was front-and-center in his 1st campaign ad ... bringing faith back to politics.

Unclear if this is a campaign slogan -- like Barack Obama's famous HOPE or Trump's Make America Great Again -- but it sure reads like one. The phrase also feels like a play on "God Bless America" ... both patriotic, but kinda sanctimonious too with "Save" swapped in.

Kanye filed for the trademark last week, which lines up closely with the release of his debut campaign ad ... something that just hit the ether Monday, 3 weeks before voters hit the polls on Nov. 3. Some people feel this ad -- and maybe now this new catchphrase he wants to lock up -- is too little, too late. That, or maybe just in time ... depends on who you ask.

"As promised, the Lakers win the 'ship, I'll go get that tat."

That's Snoop Dogg making good on his promise to the Lakers -- getting some brand new body ink to commemorate L.A.'s 17th NBA title.

The rap legend hit up his pal, Mr. Cartoon, on Monday night -- and got a pretty large piece on his right forearm.

The piece includes Kobe Bryant's initials on his wrist -- along with the Larry O'Brien championship trophy above that ... with the Lakers team logo right below the gates of heaven. Pretty cool tattoo.

"Anything for the Lakers, everything for the Lakers, all things for the Lakers," Snoop said ... "F*ck the Clippers."

"That's championship sh*t -- something the Clippers don't know nothing about!"

During the session, Snoop gave tons of love to his tattoo artist, Mr. Cartoon -- who's famously worked on stars like 50 Cent and Slim Thug.

"Only by the best man -- that's the only man who do my tattoos, the one and only. Mr. Cartoon."

After the ink was dry, Snoop threw on his purple and gold Lakers jacket and went on his way.

"We the west and we the best ... f*ck outta here!"

Kanye West has a lot of ground to make up, if he's serious about running for President -- so, his first political ad for the job, is either right on time or way too late.

Ye's campaign just debuted the ad on social media, and it features Kanye looking as Presidential as possible -- at a podium with an American flag behind him -- sending a message about faith, religion and prayer.

Kanye's sharing his vision of America's destiny ... talking a lot about the importance of family. There are even some old photos of a younger Ye with his fam.

As we reported ... Kanye is telling folks in California he's still gunning for President, not VP, and he's urging voters to write him in on their ballots.

Drake is having a family reunion of sorts to ring in his only son's birthday ... an occasion that his own mom and dad appear to have attended.

Adonis turned 3 Sunday, and Papi posted a few shots of them celebrating at what looks to be his Toronto mansion. You see him smiling over his blonde-haired boy who's having a ball, with a bunch of black, white and silver balloons all around them in the background.

While he didn't give a full peek into the festivities, you can only imagine what dad had in store for AG ... by the way the kid's smiling here, we're guessing he had a blast and then some.

Drake's mother, Sandi Graham, also appeared to be there for the birthday shindig -- he posted a shot of her holding Adonis close with the same outfit he had on in Drake's pics. She's wearing a mask, and the kid seems to have a lot of love for grandma.

Dennis Graham -- Drizzy's father -- also posted a birthday shout-out to Adonis on his own IG feed, although it's not entirely clear if Dennis was there while Sandi was ... Adonis is wearing different clothes in his photo. Either way, the boy seems to be a chip off the old block ... he was seated at a piano and hammering away at the keys next to his grandad. Dennis says he's proud to see Adonis is gonna carry on the Graham tradition (AKA, music).

It's unclear if Adonis' own mom, Sophie Brussaux, was there to celebrate ... but either way, she didn't miss the opportunity to wish her son a happy birthday either. She posted her own loving tribute to her and Drake's son, attaching some killer shots ... plus a little insight into Adonis' birth.

She writes, "3 years ago, I was finally meeting you for the first time, after a long 24-hr labour. I’m so proud of the little man you’re becoming, I love you more than life. The world is YOURS! We did that @champagnepapi 💝"

Cardi B turned 28 Sunday in spectacular fashion, and it looks like -- we say LOOKS like -- she and Offset may have worked things out.

We're just here trying to connect the dots, so here's Cardi laying on top of Offset, giving him a lap dance of sorts. But wait, there's more...

Meg Thee Stallion posted video of Cardi multitasking at a club in Vegas ... dancing with a bottle of D'USSE VSOP cognac.

The party moved to a private home and actually got wilder! They danced till early, early Sunday AM.

It ended with a pretty amazing gift from Offset ... a Rolls-Royce, with Kulture's name embroidered on the seats. They shared a kiss that sure looks coupley.

Offset partied with Cardi throughout the night and when he gifts her the Rolls he's pretty handsy. We don't know if they've mended fences. As we reported, Cardi filed for divorce, saying she was just sick of arguing. Well, no arguing happened Saturday night.

Cardi posted a video Friday of a billboard that read, "Happy Birthday Mommy Love, Kulture" ... the vid includes a pic of Cardi and Kulture wearing pink getups, along with sunglasses and purses.

She captioned it ... "Thank you sir  😏😏😏I love it" ... seems like the billboard was Offset's doing.

It's time to party with Cardi ... socially distanced of course ... the sexy singer turned 28 today and we're celebrating the big day with her sexiest selfies!

The rapper certainly has a lot to celebrate with all the money moves she's been making ... Cardi has been releasing hit after hit since her 2018 album and with her recent song "WAP" debuting No.1 on the charts, it's no wonder if she'll be turning up on her bday!

Take a look through our gallery of all of Cardi's booty-ful shots to see all the hot mama moments she's been sharing!

Kanye West just confirmed he is definitely NOT down to be second banana in this election -- he says he wants the whole enchilada or nothing at all.

Ye's campaign just sent out a note letting voters in Cali know he's gunning for President, not Vice Prez ... and although he's a VP candidate for the American Independent Party on California ballots, he'd actually prefer folks to write him in as the main guy.

He says, "I am campaigning to be the next President of our great country -- not Vice President. The political party in California that listed my name as its VP candidate has done so without my knowledge." Ye adds a direct plea to the good people of the Golden State.

His remarks end with, "Californians, I ask for your vote for President and urge you to write in 'Kanye West.'" Kanye's request comes on the heels of what a buddy of his recently did ... namely, writing him in and snapping a photo of their ballot to prove they voted Ye.

Mail-in ballots have started to be sent out to folks here on the West Coast -- and the moment of truth is upon us ... even a few weeks before actual election day. The pic Kanye posted got tons of people riled up on Twitter this week ... who couldn't believe someone had actually cast their ballot for the rapper/producer.

Kanye West is having himself a take-your-daughter-to-London weekend -- which is proving his little girl takes after her pops ... namely, that she experiences a slip of the tongue at times.

Ye and North are across the pond right now, where they're doing a little bit of this and a little bit of that. On Friday, they attended Kim's SKIMS launch -- sans mama bear -- and come Saturday ... they were hitting up a fashion show in town and grabbing a bite in between.

That's where North let the paparazzi know how she felt about them hounding 'em -- shortly after lunching at a posh sushi spot, she flashed her tongue at a photog snapping pics from across the street. Dad saw the act, and playfully covered up her mouth with his hand.

It made for a sweet father-daughter moment -- which is great to see considering Ye's been having a bit of a rocky presidential season these past few months. Despite that, he hasn't lost sight of the end goal next month ... in fact, he and NW were both rocking "Vote Kanye" gear while they were out there hitting the town. So, clearly ... his heart's still in this race.

Former rapper Logic dropped an insane amount of loot for a Pokemon card -- more than a quarter-of-a-million bucks!!!

The card in question .. a super-rare, first edition Charizard. Pokemon trading cards have skyrocketed in value over the last few years. Back in 1999, when Pokemon became a thing, the card had almost no value ... now you can buy a house for the cost of a prized card.

As for how much Logic paid ... a whopping $226,000!!! It broke the record for Nintendo collectibles.

There have been other gigantic purchases in the world of Nintendo and Pokemon. Logan Paul plunked down $216k for a base set booster box.

As for what makes Logic's card so rare ... It's shadowless ... meaning the typical shadow on the right side of the art is absent.

Tory Lanez is defending himself publicly following his felony assault charge in the Megan Thee Stallion shooting ... arguing he deserves his day in court.

The rapper broke his silence Friday morning after the L.A. County D.A.'s Office charged him Thursday with one count of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and one count of carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle.

Tory's responding by reminding fans the "charge is not a conviction." He also posted emojis to say "time will tell" ... and the "truth will come to the light."

As we reported ... The D.A. also alleged Tory inflicted great bodily injury, and if he's convicted, the rapper/singer faces up to 22 years and 8 months in prison.

The charges came on the heels of Tory releasing an album on which he claims his innocence in multiple songs.

Prosecutors had been mulling over a charge of felony assault with a firearm against Tory after Megan said she was shot back in July.

Previously, he'd only been arrested for possession of the firearm cops found in the SUV the night of the shooting.

With the new charges ... prosecutors are straight-up pointing the finger at Tory as the man who pulled the trigger ... leaving Meg with a gruesome foot injury.

Tory Lanez has been charged in connection with the shooting involving Megan Thee Stallion ... just weeks after the singer released an album claiming his innocence.

The L.A. County D.A.'s Office hit him with one count of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, and one count of carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle. The D.A. also alleges Tory inflicted great bodily injury.

If convicted, the rapper/singer faces up to 22 years and 8 months in prison.

As we reported ... the prosecutors had said they were mulling over a charge of felony assault with a firearm against Tory after Megan said she was shot back in July. Remember, Tory had been arrested but only charged with possession of a firearm. Prosecutors are now explicitly pointing the finger at Tory as the man who pulled the trigger ... leaving Meg with a gruesome foot injury.

It took Meg some time before she went public and accused Tory by name as the person who shot her. She didn't mince words saying ... "Yes, this n***a Tory shot me. You shot me, and you got your publicist and your people to these blogs lying and s**t, stop lying!"

As we reported, sources connected to Tory say there were mitigating circumstances -- and based on what we know ... we believe Tory's going to say it was an accidental shooting. Megan didn't help the D.A.'s effort with a social media caption -- which has since been deleted -- that said she had her back to the SUV when she was shot in the heel. That might indicate she didn't see it with her own eyes when Tory allegedly pulled the trigger.

You'll recall ... video of the incident showed cops pulling over the SUV in the Hollywood Hills -- with Tory lying face-down on the pavement and Megan gingerly tip-toeing ... leaving bloody footprints with each painful step.

Kanye West is in the home stretch of his Presidential campaign, and he's laser-focused ... on making money off a pricey line of 2020 Vision merch.

Ye unveiled a collection that included $60 hats and $160 hoodies Wednesday night while the legit VP candidates were debating. The items included messages like, "Vote Kanye" and "God Save America."

Now, he's not completely ignoring his actual campaign -- Ye also listed a brief summary of his Presidential Platform.

Among other things, Kanye says he wants to restore prayer in classrooms, reduce household and student loan debt, work on equality in the criminal justice system and take care of the environment.

He does not go into detail about how he'd accomplish those goals ... but that's typical for politicians.

What's odd is the guy who claims he's really running for President hasn't made a single public campaign appearance since South Carolina back in July, when he cried while talking about abortion.

Megan Thee Stallion's attack on Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron -- calling him a "sellout negro" -- won't draw him into a war of words, because he says his philosophy is ... sticks and stones.

AG Cameron went on 'Fox & Friends' Tuesday to respond to Meg's "Saturday Night Live" performance ... and he said the disparaging remarks she made about him are the same ones he's faced since college. He says it's nothing new, especially for a Black Republican.

ICYMI ... Meg name-checked Cameron during her gig ... comparing him to Black people who sold their own back into slavery -- and the wall behind her read at one point, "Daniel Cameron is No Different."

Cameron says he agrees with MTS's message of needing to protect Black women, but says as it pertains to Breonna Taylor's case -- he insists he did his job, and refuses to cave to the public narrative ... which is he fought to clear the involved officers off wrongdoing ... instead of prosecuting someone for killing Breonna.

He also said Meg's remarks don't hurt him, and only expose the intolerance the "tolerant left" claim to embrace.

Rick Ross has reason to smile ... and not just 'cause he's THE Boss, but because he's a Boss with a brand new set of chompers.

We're told the rapper recently headed down to Colombia for an appointment with celebrity and renowned Colombian dentist Dr. Mario Montoya, who performed a 6-hour procedure on Rick Ross to give him a brand-spankin' new smile.

The procedure included 12 veneers on top and 12 on the bottom ... and they were 100% porcelain. You can see from the before/after pics ... the doc did an outstanding job. The "Hustlin" rapper was so excited about his new smile ... dude wasted no time showing it off.

Now, the procedure Rick Ross got usually runs about $10,000. We're told he got the procedure for free 'cause .... he's THE BOSS. Can't argue with that.

Montoya's built a reputation as the guy to go to when ya need a new smile. As we reported ... Tekashi69 also flew down to Colombia for a procedure that lasted about 5 hours.