TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Top Dawg Entertainment threw its annual Christmas ... marking yet another holiday hit for the community that birthed the rap music powerhouse.

As they've done for the past 10 years, TDE talent put on a concert and toy drive at the Nickerson Garden Apartments in Watts, California Tuesday ... SZA, who had a HUGE year thanks to her "S.O.S." album performed several cuts for those in attendance.

The "Snooze" writer reunited with her labelmate Ab-Soul, who also performed, as did ScHoolboy Q, SiR, Zacari and their invited guest 310Babii.

Jay Rock and YG dominated the headlining set ... and also hung out beforehand, giving fans plenty of photo ops.

TDE CEO Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith was spotted connecting with the people and artists. The event is slated to continue Wednesday in Compton, where they'll set up a job fair, offer free barber services and dole out hundreds of gifts to kids.

Big Sean has a new album coming in the new year ... which probably won't include some popular Gen-Z slang, or a fiery response to Kendrick Lamar.

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with Sean Don out in Beverly Hills on Tuesday and the superstar rapper admits he hasn’t been on the scene in a while, but he'll soon enter go-mode in the studio.

For the album's content, we asked Sean if he'd be including “rizz” in his lyrics after the term won Oxford’s 2023 “Word of the Year” -- but, first, like most of us … he's gotta learn what the hell it means.

The word -- meant to highlight one's sexiness -- confuses a lot of people but never fear, Sean came up with a few provocative lines to rhyme with the word. 😈

We also got his take on the apparently leaked Kendrick track from September that took shots at him, Jay Electronica and French Montana.

The song painted Sean as a B-list sneak disser …. "You're finally famous for who you date, not how you rhyme boy/Cute ass raps, get your puberty up” … but Sean tells us he didn’t consider Kendrick’s bars a diss and they're still cool to this day.

Travis Scott had a close call during his Tuesday night concert in NYC ... almost getting knocked off the stage by a massive head-shaped prop, while also making a fast recovery!!!

The rapper was in the middle of his performance on an elevated part of the stage at Brooklyn's Barclays Center when, all of a sudden, the large cranium floated up behind him.

Check out the video, obtained by TMZ ... Travis is so preoccupied singing his song that he's completely unaware of the threat creeping up on him. The oversized skull bumps into his back, causing him to jump to a portion of the stage below.

But, Travis doesn't get flustered and continues on with his show, pausing only briefly to call a tech guy on stage and whisper something in his ear. Although it's unclear what Travis said, the technician soon dashes off stage, and the video cuts off.

Our sources say there were no other hiccups during Travis's nearly two-hour gig, part of his "Circus Maximus" tour, and the crowd had a great time.

Kanye West will no longer be tied down to the Malibu beach home he bought for tens of millions of dollars only to totally gut it ... he just put it on the market with a celeb realtor.

Ye is asking for $53 million for the beachfront home he bought a couple years ago for $57 million ... and 'Selling Sunset' star Jason Oppenheim has the listing.

This is the place Kanye was remodeling with famous architect Tadao Ando ... and it's also at the center of a lawsuit.

The Malibu mansion is huge at 4,000 square feet but there's a catch ... Kanye's renovation gutted the property, removing all the home's windows and electricity.

As we reported ... Kanye is being sued by the former project manager who was overseeing the remodel ... and the guy says they had a huge falling out over Ye's insistence on ripping out plumbing, electrical and HVAC.

Jason tells TMZ ... "The interior finishes have been removed, and this creates an unbelievably rare opportunity to buy a Picasso on the water with the ability to restore it to your own specific standards, with modern technology and excellence."

Jeannie Mai is denying Jeezy's claim that she's gatekeeping their daughter from him amid their divorce -- insisting she's just trying to keep the kid safe ... this per new court docs.

The talk show host submitted a response to Jeezy's request for a hearing to figure out a temporary custody schedule in their ongoing divorce case, and according to her latest filing -- obtained by TMZ -- she says his accusation that she's interfering with his ability to spend time with their 1-year-old Monaco is false.

Jeannie also says she's been more than accommodating when it comes to Jeezy asking for time with their daughter ... giving him all the dates he's asked for, and giving him an extended period of time with her over the Christmas holiday.

Jeannie says she 100% wants Jeezy to be involved in their daughter's life -- but says safety is her #1 concern ... and in these docs, she claims it's completely reasonable for safety to be on her mind.

Jeannie's attorneys write ... "It is essential to clarify that Ms. Jenkins’ insistence on reasonable safety measures being put in place, such as safely securing and locking away all firearms that have been unsecured in the past, as well as having familiarity and properly trained caregivers is absolutely not gatekeeping, but rather a responsible effort to prioritize their daughter’s well-being."

Her legal team adds, "These requests are grounded in Ms. Jenkins’ genuine concern for the parties’ daughter’s safety and security, especially when under the care of others and traveling across the country, and are reasonable protective measures, not an attempt to restrict Mr. Jenkins’ access to their daughter."

Around the same time Jeannie filed her response to Jeezy's divorce petition -- when she seemed to imply he might've cheated, and that it would have consequences under their prenup -- he filed new docs himself ... in which he alleged she was keeping him from seeing Monaco on a consistent basis.

Like we said ... Jeannie's calling BS on that, and instead of a hearing on temporary custody -- she's asking the judge here to just send them to mediation to work this out themselves, noting she feels like they're strong candidates for that option.

Amanda Bynes is bringing her podcast back from the dead ... switching course and soldiering on despite saying she was going to pull the plug after just one episode.

The day after saying her new podcast was going the way of the dinosaur because of a lack of big-name guests, Amanda says she's going to continue the podcast.

Amanda says her friends convinced her to reconsider giving up so soon ... and she says she's excited to record a new episode.

Remember ... Amanda said she was going to kill the podcast after the inaugural episode because A-list musicians like Drake, Jack Harlow and Post Malone weren't lining up to join her as guests on the podcast, as she hoped.

Now, Amanda says she realizes podcasts need time to grow a following ... and those big-name guests she has on her radar might join down the road.

Of course, no matter who the guests are they won't be talking about her mental health struggles or her Hollywood career.

Still, Amanda says she has some guests lined up ... and her "Amanda Bynes and Paul Sieminski: Podcast" is doing well on Spotify early on.

Kanye West & Ty Dolla Sign didn't deliver their "Vultures" album as promised last Friday, but fans won't have to wait much longer ... because they've revealed a new release date.

TMZ Hip Hop can confirm the new dynamic duo will release their album on December 31 a.k.a. New Year's Eve.

Kanye album delays aren't a new concept but this go around, Ye has a couple of hurdles to leap if he wants "Vultures" to come out in its original format.

TMZ Hip Hop broke the story ... Kanye failed to clear his Backstreet Boys-sampling single "Everybody" and may have to release an alternate version to cover his bases.

Ye also has another roadblock with Nicki Minaj stonewalling him by not clearing her verse for their collab "New Body" as well.

Nicki told her fans the song was a bit dated having been recorded years ago but most importantly, she didn't want to detract from her own "Pink Friday 2" album release success ... so she let Ye down gently.

With or without Nicki, Ye still managed to recruit Lil Baby, Freddie Gibbs, Offset, Quavo, Playboi Carti, Chris Brown, Future, Bad Bunny, Charlie Wilson, and many more.

Nicki Minaj just became the female rapper with the most multiple No. 1 albums ... which created the perfect opportunity for her ace, Foxy Brown, to flex her pettiness on the competition!!!

As you know, last week, Nicki made a splash with her new album "Pink Friday 2" -- it's all set to top the Billboard 200 this week.

She wouldn't even let Kanye West get involved in the momentum the album is so hot!!!

The project gives Nicki the record for most No. 1 albums by a female rapper ... she'd previously been tied with Foxy, whose record was set back in 1999.

Foxy collaborated with Nicki on her last album and didn't waste time hopping on IG to congratulate her ... as well as throw sneaky shade at her rivals, such as Lil Kim.

Foxy gloated all over a fan tweet that implied Kim had the same amount of time in her career to snag some No. 1's for herself ... but didn't.

The "Ill Na Na" rapper says she'll also be putting herself back in the history books with a new album next year -- her first since 2008.

A concert for Blueface and Jaidyn Alexis almost turned into an MMA match ... tossing a female fan off the stage after accusing her of throwing something at the performers.

The soon-to-be husband and wife were performing in Utah over the weekend when a piece of ice allegedly whizzed past Jaidyn -- Blueface singled out the female fan he thought was responsible for the ice, pulling her up on the stage.

Then, Blueface tossed the woman off the stage and toward Jaidyn, encouraging his fiancée to beat the woman up.

From there, all hell breaks loose, and Jaidyn throws several punches on Blueface’s orders ... luckily, it didn't appear any connected.

The woman managed to escape thanks to security, but fans are calling for Jaidyn to jump ship from her relationship with Blueface.

Drake is patting himself on the back for a year well done, admitting he couldn't do it without the love of his supporters -- and the bad intentions of his haters.

Drake took to IG Sunday to deliver a PSA to celebrate his 2023 ... he released his thirteenth No. 1 album "For All The Dogs" and closed the year as the top-streamed artist on Spotify.

Drake acknowledged he couldn't have done it without fans driving his numbers up and constantly supporting him.

Drake also lashed out at the "nonbelievers, the underachievers and the tweet-and-deleters" -- and fans instantly remembered Metro Boomin subliminally shading Drake on X a couple of weeks ago.

Metro was upset that Drake and 21 Savage's "Her Loss" was receiving more award show attention than his "Heroes & Villains" project ... although it's not totally clear why.

Both albums are nominated for Best Rap Album at next year's Grammys ... but Drake says guys like that make his stomach turn and dared anyone of them to step to his face.

Kanye West was apparently up in the air a lot over the past 48 hours -- 'cause the dude just landed in L.A. with none other than Will Smith ... this after a quick trip to the Middle East.

This photo of Will and Ye posing together with a woman for a selfie aboard a first-class flight is circulating online, and word is ... it depicts them aboard an Emirates plane that left from Dubai to Los Angeles Sunday, with KW and co. now back in the States.

If that sounds confusing, you're not alone. It's true, Kanye was literally just here in L.A. the other day ... hitting up Disneyland Thursday with his wife, Bianca, and his daughter North.

Of course, he was also just in Vegas the day after that (Friday) where he went on an unhinged rant ... and once again invoked the name of Adolf Hitler, not to mention Jesus.

It appears that sometime between then and now ... Ye hopped a plane all the way across the world to do something in Saudi Arabia, where he'd been spending much of his time over the past couple months or so working on his new album. Perhaps he went back for that?

In any case, looks like he ran into Will on his way back home ... and they boarded together.

Will was noticeably out there himself and documented it all publicly on his IG ... performing at a music fest in Saudi Arabia alongside DJ Jazzy Jeff ... and his son Jaden was there too.

Unclear who else might've been on the plane with them or to what extent they all interacted -- but from this photo alone, it's pretty clear they're at least somewhat chummy/friendly.

As for Ye ... hey, the dude's still filthy freaking rich and can go anywhere he wants at the drop of a hat. He might've lost hundreds of millions last year, but he's still got plenty of Benjamins to his name. That much is clear from this seemingly sudden 8,000-plus-mile jaunt.

Anita Baker's latest live performance is catching a little heat after she apparently got testy with the audience out in Texas -- parts of which were captured on video.

The legendary crooner was doing a show in Houston's Toyota Center Friday night and playing to a pretty solid-sized audience ... but at certain points during the gig, AB appears to have gotten into it a bit with some folks down in the front row.

There are 2 videos, in particular, that are circulating online right now -- one shows Anita telling some people right below her near the stage to stop recording ... in the middle of a song.

There's another moment where Anita could be seen/heard asking for security to boot folks.

Overall, this seems to have left a bad taste in people's mouths -- with some online complaining that Anita was more concerned with arguing with a select few ticket-buyers than doing the best job she could onstage. Others claimed she seemed to miss some lyrics ... and alleged her performance, overall, was relatively short-lived and somewhat sloppy.

Now, there's a good handful of people defending Anita ... saying the folks in the front row were, in fact, acting up and testing AB. Others said the performance, at large, was great.

Of course, the larger backdrop to this is the Babyface feud she was in earlier this year while on the road -- during which she got into it with both him and his fans in the Twitter-sphere.

Cam'ron slid into Nia Long's DMs over a year ago trying to holler, and it looks like he finally got his shot this weekend -- 'cause they linked up at a big shindig ... and took pics!

The rapper-turned-podcaster/TV host has been documenting this saga for a while -- way back in October 2022, he posted screenshots of some messages he sent Nia on IG ... this not too long after her messy split with Ime Udoka and that whole Celtics drama.

Anyway, it was a lengthy shot across the bow, where he's singing her praises ... and eventually just comes out with it and says he thinks they'd make a great couple together.

Apparently, NL never responded to that DM -- something Cam'ron made sure to tell his followers a couple weeks ago -- but now, some 14 months after the fact ... they finally got a chance to meet at Rich Paul's birthday party in L.A., where they hugged, talked and posed.

Here's the thing ... Nia actually posted this photo of the two of them cheesing first, but then took it down from her page -- but Cam'ron most certainly kept his version up, and added some extra ones to boot ... probably just to prove to everyone he had, in fact, seen her.

No word on whether this might lead to anything romantic, or if it's just a friendly hi-bye.

We actually got Nia out somewhat recently and asked her about this whole thing, and all she had to say to us (and to Cam, we suppose) was ... oh, hi there! Sounds like he got his in-person hello too.

Lord knows she's one of the most eligible bachelorettes in town these days -- aging like fine wine -- and has been one of Hollywood's most-coveted dames for a good long while.

Jeezy seemed to have his moment a month ago ... maybe now it's Cam's time to shine.

Travis Scott's custom Cactus Jack Air Jordan sneakers are up for sale ... he wore the kicks at Rolling Loud, gave them to a fan and now they're being auctioned off.

The stage-worn shoes feature blacked-out Nike Swoosh logos and the rapper's famous Cactus Jack logo, plus branding for Air Jordan and Travis' recent "Utopia" album.

Travis wore the shoes for his set at the 2023 Rolling Loud Festival in Munich, Germany, where he brought a fan onstage and gifted him the custom Jordans.

The kicks are up for sale through Goldin Auctions' December Pop Culture Auction ... and the bidding runs through Dec. 20 ... so they could make for a cool Christmas gift. The auction house estimates that they could go for around $10k.

Tekashi 6ix9ine's valuable assets could be on the auction block soon ... in order to satisfy a nearly $10 million judgment against him by a stripper who claims he hit her in the head with a bottle of champagne.

According to new docs, obtained by TMZ, a receiver has been appointed to take control of the rapper's assets -- items like his Rolls-Royce and his Florida mansion -- and sell off whatever is necessary to pay the $9.825 million judgment.

Dancer Alexis Salaberrios got the hefty judgment back in July ... more than 2 years after she initially filed the lawsuit ... but it hasn't been paid, which is why she got the judge to appoint a receiver to liquidate Tekashi's stuff.

The receiver has lots of power-- allowed to "break any locks necessary to gain access to any real property."

TMZ broke the story, Tekashi was sued by Alexis in 2021 after allegedly hitting her in the head inside Gold Rush Cabaret in Miami. Her attorney told us he tried hitting someone else for calling him a rat, but he missed and clocked Alexis instead.

According to Salaberrios, the injuries resulted in a trip to the ER, and she had to get several staples to close the wound.

Tekashi's attorney, Lance Lazzaro, scoffed at her claims, saying "It’s an attempt to shake him down."

We've reached out to Tekashi's camp for comment ... so far, no word back.

Travis Scott bailed on his show in Chicago Friday night ... and it's still a mystery why it was postponed.

The rapper was supposed to hit the stage at United Center in the Windy City around 8 PM after the gates were scheduled to open for fans to come in about an hour and a half before the event.

But the venue posted a message on X in the afternoon, explaining that the concert had been postponed with no future date announced. Once the show is rescheduled,   all tickets will be honored at the door.