TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Anthony Johnson's family is no longer burdened with funeral costs ... thanks to the generosity of celebs like Offset.

The late actor's widow, Lexis Jones Mason, tells TMZ ... Anthony's funeral has now been paid for, with nearly $70,000 in donations pouring in from famous folks and thousands of random donors.

We're told the Migos rapper chipped in $5,000 for the service, with Lil Rel Howery donating another $4k on the family's GoFundMe.

Lil Rel's rep tells us the comedian/actor felt compelled to help out because he sees comedy as a brotherhood.

Michael Blackson also helped raise $10,000, and in addition to donations, Anthony's widow tells us she received a flurry of calls this week from celebs like Fat Joe, D.L. Hughley, Faizon Love, Michael Colyar, Tommy Davidson, D.C. Young fly, Tyrin Turner and more.

We're told folks who called expressed their love, sent condolences and talked endlessly about how much they loved the "Friday" star.

TMZ broke the stories ... Anthony was found lifeless in a Los Angeles store earlier this month before being pronounced dead, and his family was scrambling to pay for his funeral.

With the services paid for, Anthony's widow says she's giving some of the extra money to his 4 children and she wants to use other funds to start a standup comedy school for underprivileged youth.

We're told Anthony didn't have life insurance, so Lexis wants to use some of the money to spread awareness and begin advocating for comedians and actors to get life insurance.

Lil Baby's celeb jeweler is doing more than just profusely apologizing to the rapper for selling him a fake Patek Philippe watch ... he's taking costly action so it never happens again.

Gabriel Jacobs from Rafaello & Co. tells TMZ ... moving forward he's going to hire a professional watch authenticator who will inspect all the watches he sells ... to avoid another fake watch disaster.

What's more ... Gabe tells us anyone who has purchased jewelry from him can return and have it authenticated to assure them the jewelry's legit. He says he has no issue whatsoever with that in wake of the fallout from selling Lil Baby a fake Patek Philippe watch for $400k.

As we reported ... Lil Baby posed with the watch before hitting up the Met Gala but got pissed off after watch enthusiasts alerted him that the 40th-anniversary Patek Philippe Nautilus watch was a fake.

Rafaello & Co. issued a lengthy apology, copped to the mistake, refunded the dough and gifted the rapper 4 diamond rings. Gabe, who says he quickly righted the wrong because he wants to continue working with the rapper, doubled down a week later saying his mistake was not doing enough due diligence.

In fact ... Gabe says he showed the watch in question to 2 other dealers who also couldn't tell the Patek Philippe was a fake. That said ... Gabe insists it was an honest mistake.

He says he has NOTHING to gain by selling a budding rapper a fake watch. He also told us he gave Baby $3.5 million worth of jewelry to wear at the Met Gala ... so what's to be gained by selling him a fake watch?

21 Savage's notorious ICE case from 2019 is circling back again ... the rapper's now facing gun and drugs charges in connection with the original incident with ICE agents.

According to the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office ... Savage is facing 2 new charges related to his arrest in Atlanta back in Feb. 2019 -- possession of a schedule II controlled substance, and possession of a gun.

The rapper turned himself in to authorities Thursday and bonded out right away. According to 21's lawyer, Charles Kuck, this is a state law charge related to his incident with ICE 2.5 years ago.

Kuck tells us, "Last night’s manufactured charges are yet another example of how our justice system, from ICE down to the local level, unjustly targets young Black men who seek to exercise their rights. There is no legitimate basis for these charges nor for ICE’s continued antics, and we will fight until Mr. Joseph is justly vindicated.”

As we reported back then ... Savage was arrested and placed in ICE custody because it was discovered that his visa expired and he's been here illegally for years. ICE is still trying to deport Savage to England ... something the rapper has been fighting.

What TMZ has now learned, is that during the Feb. 2019 arrest ... authorities allege 21 threw a bottle of liquid that had codeine in it out of his car, and a handgun was found inside the vehicle.

Hence, he's now been formally charged with drug and gun possession as his upcoming hearing in immigration court approaches. It's set for November.

Jennifer Hough -- the attempted rape victim of Nicki Minaj's husband, Kenneth Petty -- says she's been bombarded with hate-filled messages from Nicki's fans ever since giving her first on-camera interview about her lawsuit against the couple.

Hough's getting a flurry of disturbing direct messages and some threats ... according to her attorney, Tyrone Blackburn. He tells TMZ it all started immediately after Jennifer went on "The Real" earlier this week.

We've obtained some of the DMs sent to Jennifer, which include inflammatory insults, someone wishing death upon her, and we're told there was also a concerning tweet in which someone shared her personal contact information.

Blackburn says the scary response from Nicki's fans reinforces what Jennifer expressed in her 'Real' interview -- she's had to live her life in constant fear for years, change her phone, move and quit jobs ... all because of her connection to Petty.

If you aren't familiar, Jennifer was the victim in Petty's 1995 conviction for first-degree attempted rape in NY -- which is why he has to register as a sex offender. You may recall, Petty was charged with not registering in California, and recently took a plea deal.

In August, Hough sued Nicki and Kenneth for allegedly harassing and threatening her to not speak about the incident. On a more positive note, Blackburn says Jennifer's TV appearance has inspired other women to tell their own stories, and they've reached out to say they're standing behind her.

Drake went all out for a shin dig down in Miami ... renting out an entire Dave & Buster's and partying the night away with tons of celebs and scores of twerking hotties.

The fun and games went down Wednesday night at the D&B in Miami's Dolphin Mall ... and other celebs in attendance included Future, Yella Beezy and Alexis Skyy.

Folks who were there told us everything was free, courtesy of Drake, and the rapper played his number one album, "Certified Lover Boy."

As you can see, Drake's party people were having a blast ... the tunes were bumping and there were about 1,000 ladies in the house, many of whom got up on the arcade games and started twerking!!!

Introducing the newest member of the Orlando Magic ... a 6'2" guard from Fayetteville, North Carolina ... J. Cole!!!

Okay, so maybe not quite ... but the superstar rapper DID work up a sweat with a bunch of Magic players at a workout this week -- and he looked GOOD!!

Of course, Cole is known for his skills on the mic AND the court ... and rap legend/former NBA hopeful Master P told us back in 2020 the rapper was interested in pursuing a career in the league.

Now, Cole was able to put his skills to the test against guys like Cole Anthony and R.J. Hampton ... with the Magic posting footage of the squad hooping on Wednesday.

The vid is impressive -- Cole holds his own against the pros by draining three-point shots and dishing dimes.

Cole even got to chat it up with the guys after ... saying, "Any time I get to act like a kid around professionals, I appreciate it."

The Magic even gave Cole his own custom #15 jersey to top it all off!!

But, does Cole really have what it takes to be in the NBA?? Ex-pro Larry Sanders certainly thinks so -- he told us back in August 2020 the dude could legit make it if he worked at it.

Keep ballin' out, J.!!

Lil Peep and XXXTentacion straight-up jacked another artist's original guitar riff for their hugely successful collab, "Falling Down" ... so claims the artist in a new lawsuit.

Richard Jaden Hoff -- who used to go by the stage name K.R.i.O. -- is suing the late rappers claiming the guitar riff in his June 2018 Soundcloud track "Under My Breath" was sampled in Peep and XXX's track that dropped just 3 months later without his permission.

Specifically, Hoff claims his guitar riff in "Falling Down" is looped, sped up, filtered and equalized. He says that while Peep and XXX altered the riff, it remained substantially similar to the guitar part in "Under My Breath" and a blatant ripoff."

"Falling Down" quickly gained commercial success ... with over 20m plays on Spotify and over 21m views on YouTube. The single also hit No. 13 on Billboard's Hot 100.

The track ultimately landed on Lil Peep's second studio album, "Come Over When You're Sober, Pt. 2."

There's some weird timing here -- XXX was shot dead 5 days after Hoff dropped his track on Soundcloud. Lil Peep had already died following an overdose in November 2017 -- so, "Falling Down" was a posthumous hit for both rappers.

What's really odd is Hoff's lawsuit, for copyright infringement, is written like Peep and XXX are still alive. He's NOT suing their estates and refers to both of them in the current tense and says they're residents of California. Might be time for a Google search, Hoff.

Move over Travis Scott ... there's a new music superstar collabing with the Swoosh, 'cause Billie Eilish and Jordan Brand linked up and are about to drop brand new kicks.

The 19-year-old pop star revealed the retro Js on her feet in her IG post on Monday -- saying she's "SO excited" for the release.

"I’ve always loved @jumpman23 🥰," Eilish says, "and it was such an incredible and surreal experience getting to create these, especially in a sustainable fashion."

The new Eilish-Air Jordan collab is a lime green Air Jordan 1 KO -- that has her signature Blohsh logo on the tongue of the shoe.

There are also the Jordan 15s -- Eilish's favorite -- that will come in a tan shade.

The Grammy award-winning singer -- who's big on climate change and eco-friendly -- also announced that both pairs are "100% vegan with over 20% recycled material."

Of course, Billie isn't the first ultra-famous celeb to team up with Nike ... Scott and the brand have created some of the most coveted kicks in the sneaker game. The Scott Nike's have been sold on the secondary market for over $1k.

How will sneakerheads and music fans react to Eilish's sneakers? We'll soon find out.

Drake's jumper clearly still needs some work ... 'cause cameras have caught him airballin' yet another shot on the court -- this time in a 1-on-1 game with Tory Lanez.

The whiffed shot all went down in Miami (unclear exactly when) ... when Drake was getting in some run with his fellow rapper.

You can see in some footage of the two musicians' workout, Aubrey pulled up from deep against Lanez, shot the rock ... and then hit nothing but court.

To his credit, he didn't seem too downtrodden after the shot -- and Lanez somehow didn't even talk smack!

Of course, missing rim, backboard and net is nothing new for the "Certified Lover Boy" rapper ... 'cause, you'll recall, back in 2014, he famously missed a shot while in a layup line with the Kentucky men's basketball team.

Kanye West has a new home by the sea ... and it's one of the rarest you'll see.

Ye just dropped a fortune on one of the only homes in the U.S. designed by famed Japanese architect Tadao Ando, so the place is a house just as much as it is a work of art.

The nearly 4,000 square-foot Malibu property hit the market last year for $75 million, so Kanye got a pretty good deal at $57.3 mil to add to his collection of homes all over the country.

The house sat on the market a long, long time ... it was listed in May, 2020.  Our real estate sources say the house didn't sell quickly because it's small and it's attractive "to a very specific buyer" -- translation, it's not for everyone.

The 3-story sculpture-esque home also resembles a military bunker, with tons of concrete and reinforced steel to go with the 4 beds and 4.5 baths ... and it sits right on the beach overlooking the Pacific.

Kanye's new pad is only about a 30-minute drive from the massive Hidden Hills compound he built with Kim Kardashian ... where his estranged wife and their kids still live.

Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott were back in his hometown this weekend for family fun ... showing their daughter some lions and tigers and ... elephants.

The couple took their 3-year-old girl Stormi to the Houston Zoo Sunday for several hours. We're told they hit up all the big attractions, checked out the giraffes and seals ... and visited the elephant exhibit as well.

Of course, the family was flanked by private security guards with golf carts all day ... including when Stormi took a ride on the carousel.

As we've reported, these outings are nothing new for Kylie and Travis, who love taking Stormi to amusement parks and pumpkin patches and all that good stuff. They've always kept that up, even when they had split as a couple.

Lil Nas X racked up millions of streams -- as expected -- but, more importantly, he also raised tens of thousands of dollars for various charities with the drop of his debut album.

The long-anticipated "Montero" was released Friday, but hype for the project started weeks before when Nas X announced the album's tracklist. However, in announcing the songs, he also tied a charity important to him to each track.

A rep for Bros in Convo -- a charity out of Florida that helps Black, gay, bisexual and queer men -- tells us as of Friday night, it's received $33,140 in donations thanks to the album. The charity was tied to the song "That's What I Want."

Transinclusive Group -- a national charity that provides assistance to transgender/non-conforming people -- tells us they've gotten $5,000 thanks to promotion through the single "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)."

Organizations CH-PIER and Compassionate Atlanta, groups that work to help members of the LGBTQ community, creating safe spaces and educating the public on issues like HIV tell us they've received close to $1,000 total from the album fundraising.

CH-PIER and Compassionate Atlanta were promoted through the singles "Dead Right Now" and "The Art of Realization", respectfully.

Trinidad James is not onboard the trash Nicki Minaj train for putting out bogus information on COVID vaccines, saying she's an important voice and deserves respect.

We got the Trinidadian-American rapper Friday at LAX, and he seemed frustrated people were going after Nicki hard after she said she heard someone in Trinidad had a reaction to the vaccine that enlarged his balls. There's never been such case that was verified, and health officials in Trinidad were pissed they wasted time trying to track down the phantom person with such an affliction.

Trinidad James says Nicki and the health minister should sit down and have a chitchat, but it's unclear what good that would do ... he's already said she's off base, though TJ doesn't seem to necessarily buy it.

He also gives a peek into COVID on the island. He says Trinidad is so small, just a few cases trigger much greater concern than in the U.S., which views coronavirus on a much larger scale.

Lil Nas X popped back in a big way after giving birth, because he partied his ass off Friday night.

Nas hosted an album release party for "Montero," which dropped Friday -- his debut album.

He's having a great time, rapping along to his songs, graciously accepting a rose, taking selfies with fans ... the works.

He performed for 2 hours to a packed house. Some of the fans were frustrated because he didn't have a mic so they couldn't hear him as he sang some of his new songs and some old ones.

At one point he sat in a large chair, almost like royalty as he posed for photos.

In line with the birthing of his album, sponsors were handing out pink sweatshirts and Beats headphones.

Tory Lanez just dropped a fat stack of cash to help dozens of disadvantaged California families post bail for their loved ones through Unite The People Inc.

The rapper made a surprise visit to the non-profit in Long Beach Friday to meet some of the families who will benefit from his donation. Unite The People offers legal services to folks who are cash-strapped and gives them a fair shot with the legal system.

We're told Tory kicked in $50,000 to the cause ... and the money will help 50 families pay legal fees to bail their family members out of jail.

Tory's been a board member for Unite The People for 2 years and he says he was moved to make the donation after learning what many of the families were going through, including struggles to bring their loved ones home.

Playboi Carti has no problem flossin' his chains but the rapper's got problems paying for his shiny ice in full ... at least according to a new lawsuit.

Eliantte & Co. filed legal docs in New York claiming the "Magnolia" rapper owes $97,063.75, which the company says is the balance for 2 custom chains the rapper ordered back in September 2020.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, Eliantte, who has done jaw-dropping work for the likes of Swizz Beatz and many other celeb clients, says he quickly went to work on a 14-carat white gold diamond rosary chain and a custom diamond tennis chain.

The jeweler says PC was billed $197,063.75 for the pieces. Eliantte claims the rapper made a $100k payment on January 25, but then failed to pay off the rest of the balance despite repeated demands.

So now, Eliantte is suing to get what he's owed.