TMZ Hip Hop - Page 40

Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist officially let the pasta out of the bag in Hollywood last night -- their "Alfredo 2" album is real, cooked up and almost ready to serve!!!

The Grammy-nominated duo was hosting the world premiere of "Alfredo: The Movie," their short film shot in Tokyo at Brain Dead Studios ... moderated by our own TMZ Hip Hop's Trent Clark, who got them to fire off the release date of July 25!!!

The film follows the two along in Japan ... with scenes Freddie joked that teeter on elderly abuse -- the dangers when you pull your own stunts!!!

Freddie says just giving fans music without an accompanying art piece would be a disservice at this point in his career ... it's directed by Freddie's longtime music director Nick Walker and spearheaded by his manager Ben Lambert ... nothing broken needs fixing!!!

Freddie told the audience he's in a good space mentally and didn't need tons of guest features on the project to amplify his raps ... something Alchemist wholeheartedly agreed with.

"Alfredo 2" album opener "1995" -- a 10-year jump from "Alfredo 1's" kickoff track "1985" also dropped today, to accompany the film's rollout.

G Herbo wasn't in attendance for rapper Mello Buckzz's Chicago album release party that left four people dead, but as a guest feature on the project and close friend of hers, Swerve says he's feeling the PTSD!!!

TMZ Hip Hop linked up with Herbo in NYC on Wednesday ... a bittersweet trip considering the 4th of July Weekend shooting is still fresh in his mind.

Herbo's song "Went Legit" has been crazy this summer and just got a boost from Druski clowning around ... and he's also featured on Rob49's viral "WTHELLY (Remix)."

Destroy Lonely is being blamed for nearly killing a kid after allegedly forcing him to jump off a stage at a Romanian festival -- and now the organizers are changing the rules!!!

The incident happened last weekend at Romania's annual Beach Please hip hop festival ... a 15-year-old fan named Nicholas says he'll be on the mend for weeks with a pulmonary contusion and lesions on his liver and kidneys!!!

The footage is pretty wild ... Destroy Lonely can be seen amping the kid up multiple times until he decides to jump -- the back angle shows the Opium label rapper physically urging his rager to take the daredevil dive off the stage.

Megan Thee Stallion and Klay Thompson's romance tour continues -- this time, the new couple turned heads at a fancy event ... and the "Mamushi" rapper gushed about how special her hooper boyfriend is to her.

The pair was spotted all dolled up at the inaugural Pete & Thomas Foundation Gala in New York City on Wednesday ... a bash for Megan's nonprofit organization that provides resources for women, children and the elderly in underserved communities.

It's the second time the lovebirds have been spotted showing PDA in public since their Instagram hard launch ... and the shindig was a perfect opportunity to open up a bit about their hot love story.

Bianca Censori knows how to grab your attention --- and, in her latest batch of photos, she keeps everyone's eyes glued to her backside!

The Australian model posted another series of sexy Instagram pics shot by her rapper husband Kanye West in October but released Wednesday. And Bianca looks drop-dead gorgeous, especially when she turns around for the camera.

Check out her 3 lingerie snaps ... starting with the butt shot, which speaks for itself. All we can say is enjoy the view, people.

Troy Ave's going from hero to zero ... 'cause it turns out he did NOT stand up to an armed robber -- instead, he and his buddy staged a shootout for social media clout.

Here's the deal ... Troy's pal, chef Geoff Cole, posted a wild video Tuesday purportedly showing a gunman sneaking up on both of them outside Geoff's San Diego area home, only to have Troy whip out his own handgun and fire on the supposed assailant.

Well, sources who've been in direct contact with the bogus bad boys have confirmed the whole scene was fake. No one actually attempted to rob Geoff, and we're told Troy did not actually fire any live rounds.

Wiz Khalifa and Sean Paul have been living it up all July on their "Good Vibes Only" tour, alongside DaBaby, and IYKYK ... these two cool dudes didn't simply connect over their love for music!!!

TMZ Hip Hop obtained video of Wiz and SP kicking it backstage at the recent tour stop in Ohio, sharing their admiration for one another's music and smoking habits.

Sean Paul has several years on Wiz, but still remembers when he topped the chart with "Black & Yellow" way back when.

Nicki Minaj woke up Wednesday and continued her onslaught against SZA and Roc Nation ... screw breakfast, bring on the beef!!!

ICYMI, Nicki erupted like a volcano and spewed lava at both SZA and her manager, Top Dawg Entertainment President Terrence "Punch" Henderson -- and she's denying his "Broken Barbies" track had anything to do with her fury and heavy speculation yesterday!!!

Nicki claims Punch has been harassing her for years -- something he denies, but that's her story and she's sticking to her gunz!!!

Sexyy Red flexed her star power in London over the weekend by headlining the inaugural residency of one of the city's hottest nightclubs -- all while Wireless festivities were going down!!!

The "SkeeYee" rapper was the star of the show at Tape for its 3-night introduction of their new artist residency series.

We're told Sexyy was the chief architect, curating every single detail ... and wasn't shy about sharing the spotlight with Latto, Yeat, Zack Bia, and Ben Da Don, new XXL Freshman Loe Shimmy, and old flames DDG and Rubi Rose, albeit on different days.

Akon is assuring TMZ Hip Hop that reports of his beloved "Akon City" project being canceled are grossly overblown -- but he says there are a few haters who want to see it that way!!!

We caught up with Akon this week in NYC and got updated on his new-age city -- in addition to the country album he told us he was working on back in April.

Akon says his country classic is 60% done ... he doesn't want to rush the process and disrespect the community, and has been spending time in Nashville with Gary LeVox of Rascal Flatts to soak up that honky-tonk energy!!!

7/16 -- 2:08 PM PT -- TMZ's learned the whole shootout video ended up being nothing but a fake ... with sources in direct contact with the guy telling us no live rounds were fired, and law enforcement confirming there were no reports of a shooting or attempted robbery.

Rapper Troy Ave is his brother's keeper ... and he proved it, big time, by opening fire on a gunman who ran up on his pal, celeb chef Geoff Cole.

The shootout went down in the San Diego area -- home security footage shows Geoff pull up at home in his Bentley, Troy gets out on the passenger side ... and as both men are walking toward the garage, a would-be robber sneaks down the alley and charges at Geoff.

The Brooklyn MC immediately reacted, reaching for his own handgun as the gunman fumbled an apparent weapon -- and Troy seized the opportunity to start shooting and chasing the guy back into the alley.

7/16 -- 7:42 AM PT -- SZA's manager, Terrence "Punch" Henderson, told The Breakfast Club on Thursday that Nicki Minaj and SZA failed to connect on a song in 2020 ... but doesn't know how things went so nuclear yesterday.

Nicki Minaj was conducting her daily Roc Nation roast -- and somehow SZA got looped up in the social media posts, and 🆘 ... a new beef has been born!!!

SZA rattled off her first post of the day on X Tuesday, posting, "Mercury retrograde .. don’t take the bait lol silly goose" -- which Nicki interpreted as a direct shot at her amid her blasting Roc Nation CEO Desiree Perez.

The thing is ... SZA's in a COMPLETELY different time zone, currently on her joint "GNX" tour with Kendrick Lamar, and had just finished her show at Paris La Défense Arena shortly before midnight European time.

Skepta thinks UK rappers can outmatch U.S. rappers -- and Joyner Lucas is making him rethink that decision because, in his opinion, NOBODY CARES!!!

That's the name of Joyner's blistering diss track aimed at Skepta's bloody noggin, released on Tuesday, where JL went full Yankee Doodle Doo on his UK op.

Skepta had let his musket go bang a few days earlier with his "Friendly Fire" diss track ... a formidable effort, but fans are decisively handing Joyner the dub online.

Megan Thee Stallion and Klay Thompson are going full send after taking their romance public ... hitting up an NYC hot spot for a date night -- and PDA was on the menu!!

The new power couple was spotted leaving the celeb-favorite Carbone in the Big Apple on Monday ... and it's safe to assume they knew the cameras would be waiting for them as they made their exit hand-in-hand.

Klay, 35, sported a white polo and some navy track pants for their public debut as an item ... while 30-year-old Meg elected to go with a multi-colored dress, but the two were matching in the smile department.

Kendrick Lamar pushed his "Not Like Us" Drake diss to the forefront during his Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show in February -- and he's being honored for the performance with a pair of Emmy nominations!!!

On Tuesday, Kendrick earned 2025 Emmy Award noms for Outstanding Music Direction and Outstanding Variety Special (Live).

His performance in Apple Music's big set spliced together cultural innuendos, a PlayStation controller, women's jeans, and Samuel L. Jackson and Serena Williams ... 133.5 million viewers said it was one for the history books!!!

Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist were rumored to have an album cover leak a few weeks ago ... and now, a new trail of breadcrumbs is connecting scenes from an Italian restaurant and a Tokyo fry joint!!!

TMZ Hip Hop received several tips overnight containing flyers circulating Los Angeles advertising a “grand reopening” for a restaurant that offers prime “alfredo” with “twice the sauce.”

We called the number ... a woman speaking Japanese is asking for the type of top chef who doesn't fold under pressure.