TMZ Hip Hop - Page 6

The internet is still buzzing about whether or not Drake and Kendrick Lamar's iconic rap battle hurt the culture overall but Top Dawg Entertainment President, Terrence "Punch" Henderson is simply chalking it up to the circle of hip hop life!!!

The Top Dawg Entertainment President addressed the state of rap with TMZ Hip Hop at his label's 12th annual Christmas charity concert that boosted big names such as Kendrick Lamar, SZA, Dr. Dre, and Snoop Dogg!!!

A lot has happened within the culture in the past few weeks such as Hot 97 ending its decade-plus running "Ebro in the Morning" show and VIBE Magazine firing the bulk of its staff ... Punch says it's all been a transition period that's changing by the second.

YouTube music stats won't be represented on the Billboard Charts next year after a dispute the streaming giant called an "outdated formula" ...radio and podcast host Bootleg Kev agrees!!!

TMZ Hip Hop linked with Kev at TDE's 12th annual Christmas giveaway ... boosted by appearances from Kendrick Lamar, Dr. Dre, SZA, and more!!!

the Real 92.3 personality tells us Russ was right on the money in his criticism of Billboard refusing to acknowledge YouTube as an equal to DSPs such as Spotify, Apple Music, and more.

Tory Lanez is focused on being released from prison after 3 years into his 10-year sentence for his involvement in the 2022 Megan Thee Stallion shooting case ... because he believes there's new evidence to free him!!!

The embattled "Color Violent" artist gave his first broadcast interview from prison to NBC News this week and maintained his innocence ... citing the newly surfaced evidence is “overwhelming."

The evidence stems from Megan's recent defamation trial against blogger Milagro Gramz ... Tory is seeking the bullet fragments from the shooting that were never turned over, and Megan's medical records -- after Gramz's attorney discovered a document that wasn't originally identified in the 2022 trial.

Charlamagne Tha God is here to stay at "The Breakfast Club" and iHeartMedia, despite hater reports ... the radio czar just signed a new $200 million deal with iHeartMedia!!!

Much speculation surrounded Charlamagne's status with iHeart in the wake of the shake-ups at Hot 97, which led to the departure of Ebro Darden, Peter Rosenberg, and a few others.

However, Charlamagne broke the news through Forbes on Friday, expressing his desire to expand his Black Effect network into the "BET" of podcasting!!!

Top Dawg Entertainment's annual Christmas Concert was once again the talk of the city of Watts with plenty of gifts and cheers being distributed ... and performances from several of the biggest artists, EVER!!!

TMZ Hip Hop was live and direct inside the renowned Nickerson Gardens housing projects once again to take in the festivities, which included blockbuster performances.

Kendrick Lamar and SZA shut down the evening, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg spread "California Love," and R&B sensation Mario performed "Let Me Love You."

Ebro Darden's morning show exile from Hot 97 last week blindsided the entire Tri-State area ... including DJ Drewski, who found out about his coworker getting canned like everyone else -- on the internet!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with Drewski outside Johnny Donovan's 9th annual Celebrity Christmas Party this week, which benefits Little Flower Children Services.

Drewski is thankful to still have a job this holiday season and was aware his station was making changes. Still, he thinks Hot 97 skimmed out on the HR protocol, giving everyone the heads up "Ebro in the Morning" had been canceled.

Mustard is on the beat and on his ex-wife Chanel Thierry's case, claiming she's been blasting him on social media ... and now he's asking a judge to give him full legal custody of their kids over it.

In court documents, obtained by TMZ, Mustard -- whose real name is Dijon McFarlane -- says he wants sole legal custody of his and Chanel's three children -- Kiylan, 13, Kauner, 10, and Kody, 6.

The ex-couple shared legal custody of the kids under the previous order. At the time, the judge also specifically prohibited both of them from speaking in a "negative, disrespectful, or derogatory manner to or about the other" in their children's presence or "within hearing distance of the child."

In new court papers filed by attorney Samantha Spector, Mustard alleges Chanel violated that order by making disparaging social media postings about him ... including Chanel posting to Threads on October 26, writing, "Dijon I know you are reading this, I'm so sick of your s***. You suck."

"The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants" became ground zero for panicked parents testing their cover-your-kids'-eyes reflexes ... 'cause Ice Spice rolled in to the family-friendly affair practically naked!

The rapper -- who has a role in the flick and contributed the original song "Big Guy" -- went shockingly bold at the NYC premiere for the PG-rated movie Wednesday, rocking a sheer lace getup that left little to the imagination, flashing her thong and plenty of bare cheek.

Ice was posing up a storm in front of that bright, bubbly SpongeBob backdrop ... a wild juxtaposition, considering this was a kids’ movie premiere with families everywhere.

Bianca jumped out of her 20s and into a bathtub -- completely nude -- for her 30th birthday.

The black-and-white video, taken by husband Kanye, came just before the two reportedly split for a brief couple of months.

Before officially confirming their romance, the pop star and former Canadian Prime Minister were seen dining together at swanky Montreal hotspot Le Violon.

Wiz Khalifa is facing a potential 9-month stint in Romanian prison for weed ... but he's hoping to find an alternate solution to a definitive sentence just handed down by that country's government!!!

Thursday, Romania's Constanța Court of Appeal upheld an appeal filed by DIICOT Constanța Territorial Service -- a prosecutor's office in the country -- to sentence the "Young, Wild & Free" rapper to 9 months ... despite a previous citation that only fined him 3,000 lei -- roughly $700 USD.

Sources close to the situation inform TMZ Hip Hop that nothing is set in stone just yet ... his team is currently in the process of appealing the sentence.

AEW Star MJF made his surprise return to the ring Wednesday night across the pond in England ... and not only did it shake up the championship scene -- but it also sent the internet ablaze when he compared a wrestler to Diddy.

The former AEW World Champion looked like he hadn't lost a step in the three months he was away from the company ... and unfortunately for Swerve Strickland, he found himself right in his crosshairs.

"You really remind me a lot of this famous musician," MJF said. "You guys have a lot in common. You both call yourself moguls, you both rock chains, you both rock way too much baby oil and you're both dogsh*t rappers."

It was at that moment that the crowd realized where he was going.

50 Cent is currently surveying the square footage of the building where Maino and his rap pack podcast at -- but the "Hustle Hard" artist is telling TMZ Hip Hop, break out the contracts!!!

We caught up with Maino out in Jersey on Wednesday, just a few hours removed from his viral dust-up with 50 Cent, where the G-Unit soldier threatened to have his operations shut down!!!

ICYMI, Maino, Jim Jones, Fabolous, and Dave East have a podcast named "Let's Rap About It" -- and they gave 50's documentary on Diddy at least 4 thumbs down, calling it more of a "mockumentary" for what they called an exploitation of Sean Combs.

Blueface's mother, Karlissa Saffold Harvey, is praying that his new GF Nevaeh develops some common sense dealing with her son -- after spelling his name wrong in her brand new neck tattoo!!!

Nevaeh debuted the signature ink last night on IG during some NC-17 time with her boo ... only problem is that she forgot the "H" in Blueface's government name, Johnathan!!!

According to Karlissa, her son's name has a holy connotation ... fashioned after Bible verse John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Karlissa says she gave her son life with an "H" attached to his name and clowned away in her IG comments with her followers.

21 Savage is taking it upon himself to patch Atlanta's torn hip hop culture back together ... by calling out Young Thug, Gunna, Quavo and Offset to get their ish together!!!

His new album is titled "What Happened To The Streets," and on Wednesday, he openly questioned what happened to the unity between YSL and the Migos!!!

21 snapped on Thug and Gunna first -- mainly Jeffrey -- for going into his RICO trial with the understanding Gunna wasn't a street dude ... but he clearly wasn't trying to leave the crew, or let alone have Thugga locked up for life!!!

The lawsuit filed against Diddy, Druski, and Odell Beckham Jr. that attempted to paint them as sexual predators at a party in 2018 has been tossed out ... because the judge ruled none of the defendants ever got served the papers, and the plaintiff couldn't lock down a lawyer to handle the case after her original one dropped out!!!

On Wednesday, a federal judge in California dismissed the case brought by a woman named Ashley Parham, who filed a suit back in October 2024, claiming she had been assaulted by Diddy, Druski, and Odell Beckham Jr. at a party in Orinda, Calif.

The people she went after immediately challenged the claims ... OBJ questioned ever having been to the area, Druski dropped receipts of his empty bank account to prove he wasn't even a celebrity at the time, and Diddy -- who was hit with several similar lawsuits -- also slammed the claims.

Chrisean Rock is currently in the painful process of having her gigantic Blueface portrait face tattoo lasered away ... but he doesn't care -- his new GF Neveah has inked his name on her neck!!!

Blueface put Neveah on primetime blast via his IG Story, revealing her new autographed tat of his real name, "Johnathan," placed squarely underneath her chin ... perfect for his favorite position.

The rapper questioned her loyalty to the ink while taking a shot at Chrisean ... "No cover-ups, laser removal -- none of that weak sh*t!!!"