TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Trey Songz has officially been cleared in a sexual assault investigation out of Vegas.

A rep for the Las Vegas Metro. PD tells us, "The LVMPD has concluded the investigation into the sexual assault allegations against Tremaine Neverson and determined that no criminal charges will be filed. If any new evidence comes to light, the case will be reopened for further investigation."

TMZ broke the story, Songz was accused of misconduct while in town to celebrate his 37th birthday back in November. Trey allegedly brought a group of women back to his room at The Cosmopolitan, and that's when the accuser had claimed things went South.

Trey's attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, tell us, "We are pleased that Trey Songz' has been cleared of wrongdoing and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department investigation has officially been closed."

They continue, "We are grateful to the LVMPD for the professional police work done and their thorough investigation, which included findings of inconsistency in witness testimony and insufficient evidence. We are pleased that Trey can now return to what he does best, entertaining."

Fat Joe says Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars has serious consequences for all POCs when it comes to demanding respect ... especially because it was Will who got violent in public.

We got Joey Crack Thursday in New York City, and asked for his take on the fallout from Will's actions, and the impact on minorities.

You can tell it pains him to say it, but Joe says Will being the culprit makes it much worse for the culture than, for instance, Fat Joe and 50 Cent beefing.

Watch the clip, he really did take that shot at himself -- but his point is people expect more from Will, because as he put it ... the Oscar winner is "the best we got."

What's more, Joe says the slap looks bad from the outside because it comes at a time when Black and brown people are demanding more respect in society.

21 Savage's battle over his immigration status isn't moving forward, and it all has to do with his criminal case ... this according to the artist's lawyer.

21's immigration attorney Charles Kuck tells TMZ ... the pending criminal charges basically paused the rapper's now 3-year-long immigration case -- and nothing will happen on that front until the criminal case in DeKalb County wraps up.

As we reported, 21 was detained by ICE officials way back in 2019 ... agents say he had been illegally living in the U.S. for years after his visa expired.

Authorities later claimed the rapper threw out a bottle of codeine during that ICE arrest ... and they say a handgun was also found in his vehicle.

Here's the crazy part -- the Dekalb D.A. didn't even formally charge 21 with possession of a controlled substance and possession of a firearm until January of this year. Think about it, a whole worldwide pandemic came and went before that much happened, and as a result ... he's still in limbo as to where he'll end up living.

BTW, we're told there are currently no pending court dates for the criminal case, so this ain't ending anytime soon.

Savage's lawyer says his client is still allowed to travel domestically, but can't leave the U.S. because he has no visa to reenter the country.

Drakeo the Ruler was overlooked in the Grammys' In Memoriam segment -- and his brother is fuming ... with some choice words for the Academy.

Ralfy the Plug -- DTR's sibling -- tells TMZ ... "On behalf of Drakeo The Ruler, Ketchy The Great and The Stinc Team, it comes off as a spit in the face disregarding the facts that we’ve created an entire movement that generated the momentum for underground emerging L.A. artists to have a platform."

Ketchy, another rapper who was affiliated with Drakeo, also died in 2021 -- and he too wasn't mentioned in the In Memoriam slideshow. Granted, he wasn't nearly as famous.

In any case, Ralfy continues with this barb about cops and free speech ... "Let alone the reality that we lost my Brother, Drakeo The Ruler, the poster child for systematic prejudices against rappers by law enforcement using lyrics against our culture and violating what they call our constitutional rights of freedom of speech- The First Amendment."

Ralfy also notes Drakeo was slain while doing what he loved most ... performing his music. He was stabbed in the neck when he was backstage at an L.A. music festival. The attacker is still on the loose.

He ends by saying, "Leaving Drakeo out of their tribute and by not giving him any acknowledgment of his existence sums up exactly what we feel the industry has been trying to do. Erase us."

Ralfy also says he and the fam appreciate all the love and support they've gotten from the rest of the community ... and promises to keep the truth alive. As you know, Ralfy actually sued the concert promoters for whom Drakeo was working the night he was stabbed.

The Kidd Creole -- a rap pioneer from Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five -- has been convicted in the stabbing death of a homeless man.

Manhattan D.A. Alvin L. Bragg Jr. announced Wednesday a New York supreme court jury found the rap legend guilty of first-degree manslaughter.

As we reported ... The Kidd Creole was arrested and charged back in August 2017 in connection with a homeless man's fatal stabbing in NYC.

The D.A. says prosecutors proved at trial The Kid Creole was walking past the homeless man on the street when the two exchanged words, with TKC walking past the man before eventually turning around, confronting him and stabbing him twice in the torso with a steak knife.

Prosecutors say a group of tourists discovered the man's body in the street minutes after the stabbing, and he was transported to a hospital where he died of his stab wounds.

The D.A. says The Kidd Creole left the scene and fled 2 blocks away to his office, where he changed clothes and cleaned the knife in a sink. Prosecutors say TKC left the office after about 15 minutes, boarded the subway and tossed the knife in a sewer near a Bronx subway station, which was recovered the next day by NYPD officers, leading to his arrest.

Kanye West is already a very wealthy man, but his bailing on Coachella left an enormous amount of money on the table ... millions and millions of dollars.

Sources with direct knowledge of the deal tell us ... Ye's deal was $8 million for his 2-weekend-long Sunday headlining gig. We're told in addition to that, Coachella was dishing out $500,000 in production costs.

However, while Kanye and his team only alerted Coachella festival that he was backing out at the last minute, it appears he hadn't been serious about taking the Coachella stage for quite some time, if ever.

Our Kanye sources say Ye really hadn't seriously rehearsed for a performance that some artists take months to prepare for. We're told he did have a team in place that was actively talking to Coachella producers, but there was still a ton of work to be done.

We're told the Coachella producers were caught completely off guard, with no plan B.

TMZ broke the story -- Kanye's spot has been filled by The Weeknd and Swedish House Mafia. Our sources say The Weeknd will earn the same amount as Kanye.

Page Six was first to report the money.

Tory Lanez is sticking up for his hair, telling the world his alopecia is to blame for the bald spot on the back of his head ... something that's been the focus of recent jokes online.

Tory wrote on Twitter Wednesday after loads of people piled on after noticing the rapper's hair was thin in a video of him leaving an L.A. County courthouse, saying, "i rap about it all the time …it’s alopecia…. What’s the big deal."

Of course, the hair-loss condition is front of mind for a lot of people after Chris Rock's joke at Jada Pinkett's expense which targeted her short hair. Jada has alopecia, and her hubby Will Smith obviously thought the joke was in poor taste ... leading to the slap.

Unclear if 29-year-old Tory really has the hair condition or if he's joking at Jada's expense.

As we reported, the artist was handcuffed in court Tuesday in L.A., during a hearing about a violation of Meg Thee Stallion's protective order. Tory tweeted about her in February, addressing Meg as "U" -- the order states he isn't allowed to mention her at all.

Drake might be the most successful music act on the planet, but the dude can't buy a bucket against NBA star Kyle Lowry ... 'cause the Heat guard says he whopped his ass in one-on-one!!

Remember, the 2019 world champ accepted Drizzy's challenge to face off against each other in Miami back in January ... with footage showing the "Way 2 Sexy" rapper bricking a 3-pointer.

Lowry revealed more details about the pickup game in an interview with Complex this week ... saying the 6 God simply can't hang with his skills.

"Yeah, I beat his ass," Lowry said. "Yeah, no chance. Drake, don’t try me again, boy."

Lowry says Drake begs him to play ones every time they're in the same city ... despite the same outcome every time.

"As a competitor, you got to appreciate it," he added. "But yeah, he don’t want that smoke."

Lowry admits he thinks Drizzy has been working hard on his game ... and applauds his dedication to the craft.

"He’s gotten better, though. He's gotten better, man. I think he's working on his jump shot a lot, working on his handle a lot. I think really from the time I’ve first seen him to the time now, he’s gotten a lot better."

The honchos at Coachella have found their replacement act to fill Kanye's slot as headliner for the biggest night of the festival -- The Weeknd will join Swedish House Mafia.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us Abel has agreed to the gig, and Swedish House Mafia -- who was supposed to headline Friday night -- will now go Sunday. The pairing makes a lot of sense, the two have the hit song "Moth to a Flame" together, released just this year.

SHM and The Weeknd also both have the same management team, under SALXCO ... so both sides were already familiar.

What's more ... the performance marks SHM's big return to the desert as well as a sort of kickoff to their album "Paradise Again," which will release April 15 followed by a world tour this summer.

We're told at this time it's unclear exactly how the show will work, if one will perform before the other, or if they'll switch off throughout the set ... however, we're told given time constraints to get a show ready, Weeknd's show will likely be shorter than usual, and he's essentially a bonus to what would've already been a kickass SHM set.

TMZ broke the story -- The Weeknd, Silk Sonic and Red Hot Chili Peppers were on the organizer's short list of acts to take Kanye's spot ... Silk Sonic shut it down, as Bruno Mars didn't believe there was enough time to get a worthy show together.

However, our sources say there were some other names being considered by organizers as well, including Justin Bieber and Travis Scott. We're told Travis was unable to get a show together because of time constraints.

Of course, Travis was supposed to headline in 2020 -- but that was canceled because of COVID -- and again in 2022, but Coachella canceled his performance after the tragedy at Astroworld. Obviously, it's a good sign for TS fans wanting to see him back on mainstream festival stages if Coachella execs were willing to start talks back up with his team.

Rapper Goonew's family thinks those criticizing the memorial service for the artist, where his dead body was propped up on stage at a D.C. nightclub, is nobody else's business ... because the service went down exactly as he would've wanted it.

The artist's mother and sister, Patrice and Ariana Morrow, tell TMZ ... when they first met with the funeral home, Patrice made it clear she didn't want anyone looking down on her son. They wanted him to be propped up on display after seeing other services do something similar.

The crown on his head was the funeral home's idea ... because he was known as the "King of Maryland." His family says he was the life of the party and loved to have fun, so they knew he wouldn't have wanted a somber funeral.

Prior to Goonew's death, Ariana says her brother made it clear he did not want to be buried in a suit. The family tells us the 24-year-old rapper didn't go to church, which would've made a casket and being dressed in a suit come off as phony. They decided to dress him in his regular clothes, making him appear as he would've if he were still alive.

His family says they've received tons of love and support from those who knew the former DMV rapper. Following the service, he was taken by horse-drawn carriage through his neighborhood, before being buried at the cemetery.

Coachella organizers are hard at work figuring out who will take Kanye's headlining Sunday spot at the festival -- and we've learned of 2 acts at the top of the list to take over.

First, who's out. We're told the organizers were hot for Silk Sonic, the dynamic duo of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak. The pair make a lot of sense, coming off a clean sweep at The Grammys, including Record of the Year for "Leave the Door Open."

We're told Bruno Mars shut it down, saying there wasn't enough time for them to get a proper show together in time for Coachella.

As for who's still in play -- there's The Weeknd, who is coming off an insane year on the charts -- a new album and an upcoming stadium tour. We're told there's been talks between both sides, which stalled at one point ... but there's still a chance he takes the stage in some capacity.

Our sources say organizers were testing the waters to see if The Weeknd would perform a few songs along with Swedish House Mafia. They were also interested in The Weeknd as a stand-alone act. Our sources say no decision has been made.

Finally, our sources say The Red Hot Chili Peppers are a name that's being seriously considered. The group is set to hit the road this summer -- and recently played a low-key show in L.A. -- so they're ready to go. What's more, our sources say RHCP makes a lot of sense, because currently there's no major rock 'n roll act on the lineup.

One thing our sources have stressed -- there are others who are being considered, but the ones we just mentioned are at the top of the list.

YK Osiris is in talks with the family of the 14-year-old who fell to his death from an amusement park ride, saying he wants to do his part by covering funeral expenses.

We talked to YK Tuesday at LAX, where he told us he's already talking through the process with Tyre Sampson's family. The rapper says he'd also like to be in attendance for the funeral, if they'll have him.

YK says he decided to get involved when ICON Park in Orlando, FL wasn't acting fast enough, in his opinion, so he wanted to make something happen for the family.

As we reported, 14-year-old Tyre was visiting ICON Park a few weeks ago when he fell to his death from the "Orlando Free-Fall" ride. The attraction, which just opened in December, reportedly plummets at 75 mph.

Tory Lanez was handcuffed in court and had his bail increased after a judge ruled he violated the protective order in his case with Meg Thee Stallion for talking about her on social media.

The Canadian rapper had a hearing Tuesday in L.A. where he was remanded into custody of the Sheriff's Department, and the judge set his bail at $350K. Prosecutors had requested he be held without bail, or at least set it at $5 million.

We're told he's in the process of posting the $350K.

The judge said Tory's tweet, where he directly addressed Meg as "U" was a violation of a protective order -- he's not supposed to contact or mention her at all. Tory fired off that tweet back in February when he said, "Good d*** had me f***ing 2 best friends ... and I got caught ... that's what I apologized for ... it's sick how u Spun it tho ..."

Prosecutors also voiced concern about a tweet from DJ Akademiks from February which read, "BREAKING: It was revealed in court few moments ago that Tory Lanez DNA WAS NOT found on the weapon in the Meg Thee Stallion case."

The prosecution believes that info was given to Ak from Tory's team. However, Tory's attorney, Shawn Holley, said that wasn't possible, because DJ Akademiks's initial tweet was wrong ... Tory's DNA wasn't on the magazine, and a sample from the gun was inconclusive.

About 15 minutes after posting his initial tweet, Ak posted a new one which reflected the inconclusive finding.

Quavo had an epic night as he celebrated his 31st Bday with a huge glow-themed birthday bash.

The star star-studded party went down Monday night in L.A. at Nightingale Plaza, with a glow-in-the-dark theme ... glowing jello shots, glow drink cups, dancers, the works.

Check out the video. The Migos rapper had the spotlight as he took the stage, rapped some songs and helped folks sing happy Bday to him.

There were a whole bunch of glowing accessories like bracelets, glasses, rings and sticks to go along with the theme. In true Quavo fashion, some of his amigos were able to sip on some drunks like the 'Huncho Rita' and the 'Cheat Code'.

Among the celebs there were Travis Scott, Offset and Takeoff ... and yep you guessed it, actress Karrueche Tran. As you know, folks have speculated that Karrueche and Quavo are indeed a thing, after they were spotted having a romantic dinner and taking a vacation to St. Martin back in January.

Of course, Karrueche told us the two are just friends and nothing more ... but we aren't buying it just yet! Either way, she was sure to pull up and celebrate the birthday boy.

Quavo's actual birthday is April 2 ... and he celebrated in the ATL with the Atlanta Hawks, but hey, the party continues.

Kanye West has left Coachella organizers with a massive headliner hole they need to plug in less than 2 weeks ... but organizers aren't pissed -- they just want him to get better.

We've spoken with festival honchos who tell us there's not currently another artist locked in to take Ye's Sunday spot. However, our sources say there's no animosity toward Kanye ... Coachella organizers understand he's been through a lot lately, and want him to take the time to work on himself. We're told if that means having to miss the gig, so be it.

It's interesting ... Coachella producers were blindsided by Ye's withdrawal. In fact, they learned about it from us. Nevertheless, no hard feelings.

The month of March saw Kanye on a social media tear, going after Kim Kardashian, Pete Davidson and others -- eventually resulting in a suspension from Instagram for the racist attack against Trevor Noah.

In fact, just before the suspension, he teased the Coachella performance with a still image of Pete Davidson's head in the "Eazy" music video and caption, "Y'all ready for Coachella?"

Our sources say Kanye's team didn't provide a specific reason as to why he was no longer going to be headlining -- but he's obviously been suffering through personal issues.

TMZ broke the story ... Kanye backed out of Coachella, and in doing so fans will no longer see Travis Scott who was supposed to hit the stage with Kanye during his show.

While he's out of the show, Kanye hasn't gone into hiding ... he was spotted in Beverly Hills Monday glued to his phone.

Erica Campbell is praising Chris Rock for showing restraint in the face of a Will Smith slap to the face ... and his ability to keep calm has only helped draw attention to his comedy tour.

The Gospel singer sat down with Raq on the "It's Tricky With Raquel Harper" podcast ... and shared her take on The Oscars moment, applauding Chris for not fighting fire with fire.

Erica says emotions can cloud judgment and she's proud of Chris for keeping a cool head at the moment ... lifting him up as an example for lots of folks to follow.

It's just one part of the silver lining Erica sees from an otherwise disappointing moment between two celebs she views as important Black figures.

Chris is doing a comedy tour and his shows have been packed -- with a surge in prices on the resale market. Erica believes Chris helped his own case by showing restraint in the moment Will slapped him, and now audiences are drawn to his tour to hear what he has to say about the incident.