TMZ Hip Hop - Page 33

Serena Williams says her now-famous Super Bowl dance was "absolutely not" shade aimed at her ex, Drake.

The tennis legend was adamant during a recent interview with Time that her brief appearance at Kendrick Lamar's halftime show during the Eagles vs. Chiefs championship tilt was merely meant to be a shoutout to her hometown -- and nothing more.

The Compton native insisted she "would never" take a shot at Drake like that ... calling those who thought it was a diss "sad."

Diddy is looking to beef up his legal defense team ... with an attorney famous for defending Young Thug in court.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Georgia attorney Brian Steel wants to be admitted to practice law in the Southern District of New York so he can help defend Diddy at trial.

Brian's known for repping Young Thug in the rapper's YSL RICO case.

Tokyo Toni thought it would be a good idea to invite a stray fan to live with her ... an idea that exploded in her face when the two women began throwing blows!!!

On Tuesday, Tokyo let fans into her turmoil for the past 6 weeks since she opened her heart and the doors to her home.

Tokyo says the woman posed as a fan -- and as a music producer who was down and out and needed to get back on her feet.

Diddy's legal proceedings have created a new beef within his old Bad Boy camp ... Stevie J and New Orleans rapper Chopper of Da Band fame are now in a war of words -- and it's all over rapper Eve!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with Stevie J and Miala Doche, the rock artist he's currently developing, and asked him about the lingering rumor that he's selling his musical catalog.

Stevie's produced some serious money-makers in his discography -- Notorious B.I.G.'s "Mo Money, Mo Problems" and "Notorious Thugs," Mariah Carey's "Honey" and even his ex-girlfriend Eve's biggest hit, "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" with Gwen Stefani.

Diddy wants a Black woman in his corner when his federal trial begins -- in less than 3 weeks -- and that's why he's searching for a new attorney to add to his defense team.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Diddy's lawyers are searching for a Black female attorney to join his current trial team of Marc Agnifilo and Teny Geragos.

Keep in mind, the mogul's attorneys have already raised race as a critical part of its defense ... accusing the feds of trying to take down a rich, successful Black man.

Stevie J has been one of the few Diddy supporters who's never wavered throughout the numerous lawsuits and charges ... and he wants the world to know the embattled Bad Boy mogul is doing just fine!!!

TMZ Hip Hop bumped into Stevie in Bev. Hills on Monday full of energy, calling for Diddy's freedom.

We thought he was on a hot lunch date -- but turns out, the woman accompanying him is his new artist, Miala Doche.

K-Ci of Jodeci has officially bounced back after a recent pneumonia scare, and he's invited to the cookout ... as in Charlie Wilson's "R&B Cookout Tour"!!!

On Monday, Uncle Charlie announced the 21-city excursion that will also feature the talents of Babyface and El Debarge.

We broke the story back in February ... K-Ci was hospitalized after going down with pneumonia.

8:23 AM PT -- Sean Kingston's attorney Zeljka Bozanic tells TMZ ... "Mr. Kingston’s bond has been posted and he is in the process of being released."

He's back to home detention, with GPS monitoring, and is required to surrender his passport.

Sean Kingston was in lockup Tuesday 'cause he couldn’t cough up the $100K cash bond tied to his federal wire fraud case.

Kingston, who got hit with a guilty verdict last month alongside his mom, Janice Turner, on all five charges, is now sitting tight at the Federal Detention Center in Miami, TMZ has learned.

Following his conviction last month, he was confined to home detention pending sentencing on the condition he could post a $100K cash bond. But now that the singer and rapper is unable to come up with the money, he's been taken into custody.

Lil Nas X is dealing with a concerning medical situation ... revealing he's lost movement on one side of his face.

The "Old Town Road" hitmaker took to Instagram Monday night from his hospital bed, revealing he's unable to move the entire right side of his face -- even demonstrating it by smiling, with the left side of his mouth lifting while his right side stayed still.

Surprisingly, he didn't seem to sweat the issue at all, laughing as he showed his 10.4 million what was going on. Cracking himself up, he said ... "Bro, I can't even laugh right, bro. What the f**k. Ah! Oh my God."

Ray J and Princess Love are technically still married despite filing for divorce four times -- and they recently exercised their marital right to suck each other's face off in public!!!

A source close to both Ray and Princess tells TMZ Hip Hop the controversial couple have always maintained a "hot or cold" relationship, even amid the multiple divorce filings.

All signs pointed to the meter being red-hot at last night's Millennium Tour in Miami.

Drake will have to wait another week to see if his latest breakout hit will hit No. 1 ... Kendrick Lamar is STILL in his way!!!

On Monday, the latest Billboard Hot 100 chart emerged with Kendrick and SZA's melodic duet "Luther" still stingy with the top spot for its 8th week in a row!!!

Drake's "Nokia" single has been climbing the charts and hit a new peak position of No. 2 ... the traction just wasn't enough to topple "Luther."

Diddy says the feds have him all wrong and he's just an innocent man ... because he's pleading not guilty to a couple new charges against him.

The Bad Boy Records founder appeared in court Monday in Manhattan for his arraignment on two new charges ... one for sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and another for transportation to engage in prostitution ... a couple things he says he definitely didn't do.

Feds tacked on the charges in a recent superseding indictment ... the third one we've seen so far in the Diddy case. Diddy showed up in court today with white hair and a short beard, and pled not guilty to the superseding indictment charges.

YK Osiris hasn't released a song in 2025 yet but that may change very soon -- after the R&B singer just took a bruisin' in the boxing ring!!!

Over the weekend, YK and streamer Scam Likely engaged in high-octane fisticuffs in a kickboxing match hosted by Kick and Stake ... resulting in YK losing by unanimous decision in the 3-round bout.

YK hopped on IG Monday to admit he was taking his lumps in stride and retreating to his OG profession of belting out songs -- as opposed to chasing a championship belt.

Chris Brown and Karrueche Tran gave Team Breezy nostalgic vibes of yesteryear when the former lovebirds were spotted together at Coachella ... and that's exactly where the vibes will stay.

There will be no romantic reunion!!!

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ … the singer-songwriter and “The Chi” actress bumping into each other at Coachella was nothing more than a friendly surprise -- and it wasn't the first time since their 2017 split.

Things are heating up between Cardi B and Stefon Diggs ... the pair was once again spotted together (this time in an NYC club), with the rapper giving the football star a sexy dance!

Offset, Cardi's ex-hubby, even weighed in on the budding rumored romance.

Fresh off signing a $69 million deal with the Patriots, Diggs hit up a Manhattan nightspot with the "WAP" rapper ... where she was seen giving him a seductive lap dance.

Palm Springs was moving slow for day 3 after an absolutely insane Saturday night ... but the celebrity partiers pulled it together and rallied for one more debaucherous day in the desert for the Coachella Music and Arts Festival headlined by Post Malone!

Justin Bieber shared shirtless selfies relaxing after hosting his exclusive party at the fest, David Dobrik and Natalie Noel were photographed blissfully spending some time off their feet and Landon Barker mustered up a peace sign while sitting poolside on his Sunday with his sis.

Alabama Barker and some friends dipped into the Sunday vibes by hanging poolside at an estate and sharing some hot shots and heart hands while wearing some revealing swimsuits.