TMZ Hip Hop - Page 13

Drake firmly believes that Universal Music Group boss Lucian Grainge may have signed off on Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" with the knowledge the "pedophile" lyrics would damage his brand -- and Drake wants the judge to force UMG to hand over any documents that could prove his hunch!!!

According to docs, obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, Drake and his legal team filed a letter motion asking the court to compel UMG to produce any evidence related to Lucian Grainge's role in approving the label's release of the mega-hit.

Since its release, "Not Like Us" has won several Grammys, secured sales and stream milestones, and even got the spotlight at the Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show, where Kendrick performed this year.

Up-and-coming Memphis rapper FastCash CMoney was killed in a BRUTAL weekend shootout -- literally 1 month before he was about to have a clean slate with the law!!!

TMZ Hip Hop obtained federal docs from 2019 confirming that CMoney (real name Cordney Smith) was slated to be released from federal probation on September 29 after he and 17 other FastCash members were convicted of Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud and Conspiracy to Possess and Attempt to Possess with Intent to Distribute Marijuana.

CMoney was found guilty of helping the criminal enterprise defraud a bank of over $240,000 and conspiracy to move more than 100 kilos of weed ... and wound up serving an 18-month prison sentence before getting released on probation.

Huge update in the T-Hood murder case down in Georgia -- cops have identified their top suspect ... and he is the son of "Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta" stars Kirk and Rasheeda Frost.

TMZ obtained the incident report from the rapper's slaying ... and the Gwinnett County Police Department says their primary murder suspect is Ky Lasheed Frost. T-Hood's mom also told TMZ ... the alleged killer is the son of Kirk and Rasheeda.

As we reported ... T-Hood was shot at his Georgia home Friday, and he later died.

Cam'ron is getting the last laugh in his random beef with actor Omar Gooding -- after booking him for a role in a film that doesn't exist!!!

Omar took offense to both Cam'ron confusing him with his Oscar-winning brother Cuba by referring to him as "Omar Gooding Junior" and using him as a backhanded example while discussing his famous "Baby Boy" role.

Omar has been rapping on the side for years and launched into a diss-track shooting spree, dropping 3 anti-Cam'ron songs to the point that the Dipset rapper's text messages began to mount up with inquiries.

Kid Cudi rapped heavily about his parties and battles with substance abuse on his early albums ... something fans can now read all about in his new memoir.

In a new interview with "CBS Mornings," Cudi revisits his rocky memory lane ... discussing how his new book, "Cudi: The Memoir," opens with a near-death experience after a cocaine overdose.

Cudi admits he had already blown up but was still in the pursuit of happiness as he coped with his newfound fame. Cocaine was his top prevention method from "blowing his brains out," as he puts it.

Floyd Mayweather's daughter, Yaya, is shutting down pregnancy rumors ... claiming she is not expecting another baby with her ex, NBA YoungBoy!

The preggo buzz started Tuesday when the star Louisiana rapper dropped a surprise mixtape, "Deshawn", hosted by DJ Khaled.

There's a song called "This Month Confessions" on the 13-track mixtape ... where YoungBoy says "I'm that n****, I got hella dope, She don't like that I'm accessible. Now Yaya pregnant, gotta make her get rid of it. This ain't the time, I told you, 'No', I made you cry, now I feel illiterate."

Ari Lennox says she's ready to give the full play-by-play about her defection from J. Cole's Dreamville Records -- now that she's finished with the "Martin" debate!!!

The R&B singer thinks the internet is absolutely insane for making her criticism go viral after she openly ranted about Martin Lawrence and Tichina Arnold's characters' interactions from the hit '90s series "Martin."

Ari says from her POV as a dark-skinned woman, she took all of Martin's jokes personally ... however, the internet largely disagreed with her observations and accused Ari of projecting her own insecurities onto a slapstick TV show.

Chicago rapper King Yella was far from a "drink champ" during his latest interview ... when the camera captured him taking a complete nose dive after his liquor intake took its toll!!!

Interviewer Cam Capone was 2 hours into his sit-down and was attempting to show Yella the video from the story we broke of Tory Lanez getting stabbed, as the rapper hooted and hollered about "clout chasers."

Yella began the interview with a fairly full bottle of Crown Royal, but by the 2-hour mark, the bottle had dwindled down to a few swigs remaining.

Sean Kingston's begging the judge in his federal wire fraud case for some home cooking ... as in, the singer wants to serve his prison sentence from the comfort of home.

Kingston and his attorney filed docs Tuesday asking the court to give him 2 to 2.5 years when he's sentenced this Friday, Aug. 15. They acknowledge official guidelines call for a sentence of 5 to 6 years, but they're hoping for a discount due to the fact Sean's never done time before, and has done a bunch of good deeds in his community.

According to the docs, Sean's organized toy drives, fed the unhoused and gathered clothing for the needy. They include several photos of him performing the charitable work. As his lawyer put it, "He did not just donate money, he rolled up his sleeves and served countless dinners to those in need."

DJ Unk's larger-than-life presence is still being felt in death ... the late "Walk It Out" rapper just received a shimmering headstone that rivals those Big Oomp chains he used to wear!!!

The blinged-out headstone was crafted courtesy of Cemetery Tim's services, who tells TMZ Hip Hop that it was Unk's wife, Sherkita, who reached out to him and provided some of her favorite photos she wanted to use for his headstone.

Unk's headstone was installed and it debuted Sunday at South View Cemetery in Atlanta.

DDG had his life tampered with when someone swatted the rapper/streamer during his paintball tournament -- and cops say they're actively looking for the culprit responsible!!!

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department tells TMZ Hip Hop they responded to a call on Sunday afternoon along the 31000 Block of Charlie Canyon Rd in Castaic -- just north of Los Angeles -- reporting a male adult was brandishing and shooting a firearm, threatening to harm everyone around him.

Sheriff's deputies arrived on the scene, drew their guns, then cuffed and briefly detained DDG ... all captured on his livestream channel for his legions of fans to witness.

Tevin Hood -- a rapper from Georgia better known as T-Hood -- was shot at his home, and later died  ... TMZ has confirmed.

The Gwinnett County police officers responded to reports of a dispute that resulted in a shooting in unincorporated Snellville Friday ... and an investigation into the shooting is currently underway.

We're told first responders rendered aid at the scene and transported a man to the local area hospital where he ultimately died from his injuries.

Sean "Diddy" Combs would be Team Trump if the President doles out a pardon ... and for a variety of reasons ... so says his longtime attorney Mark Geragos.

Harvey asked Geragos on the "2 Angry Men" podcast if Diddy would pledge allegiance to Trump in exchange for clemency.

As Diddy's longtime attorney, Mark talks to Diddy often ... and he says Diddy would absolutely become a Trump supporter overnight ... but not for the reason you may be thinking.

Freddie Gibbs wasn't lying when he told a fan he sliced and diced the orange from his "Alfredo 2" flick in one take ... his manager just posted the footage as proof!!!

It's pretty impressive stuff ... Freddie squares his shoulders like he's at home plate and takes a whack at the orange, successfully protecting the Japanese scenery from any potential scurvy outbreaks.

Director Nick Walker and Freddie's manager Ben "Lambo" Lambert can be heard off-screen expressing amazement over the fresh pulp in their face.

Leon Thomas needs a crown, robe and a royal scepter for the bang-up job he's doing in the R&B world -- words from his EZMNY label boss Ty Dolla $ign he's gotta live up to now!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with Leon outside of producer Jae Murphy's single release party to celebrate the new bop "Stop Cryin'" and got his reaction to his whirlwind past 365 days ... even getting a cosign from rapper Siya in real-time!!!

Leon's blossomed into quite the draw since winning a Grammy with SZA for "Snooze" last year ... his signature hit "Mutt" has taken a life of its own with a Platinum plaque, remixes with Chris Brown and Freddie Gibbs.

Baby oil and Astroglide were a big part of the government's case against Sean "Diddy" Combs ... but his lawyer used federal prosecutors' obsession with Diddy's personal lubricants against them ... and he tells us the moment he knew the jury was buying what he was selling.

Attorney Marc Agnifilo joined us on "TMZ Live" and we asked him if he mocked the baby oil and Astroglide elements of the case as a way to diminish the prosecution.

Agnifilo had been making light of the baby oil aspect since September 2024, when the feds started crowing in their federal indictment and ensuing press conference about finding 1,000 bottles of lubricant in raids on Diddy's homes ... and now the endgame is clear.