TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Outkast's outcast André 3000 announced today his debut solo album is dropping this Friday, totally shocking the music world ... although, it's probably not what they're expecting.

He's not doing any rapping, or speaking, for that matter!!!

André posted the album cover art for "New Blue Sun" on his IG, which is a drawing of him holding the flute he's been spotted trotting around the globe for years.

The lack of any lyrical verses is one thing folks are buzzing about, but the other is the song titles. Take, for instance, the opening track ... "I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a Rap Album But This Is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time.” Yeah, that sets the tone.

André broke down his methodology in a rare interview with NPR ... and explained although he doesn't rap on the project, he still speaks with his music. Like he could be screaming "I hate that p**** n****" and you wouldn't even know exactly.

Rap fans might be disappointed, but he did get the stamp of approval from both Frank Ocean and Tyler, The Creator ... 2 artists who credit him with some of their highest inspirations!!!

The album is billed as a "stunning 87-minute mind-bender," and André says he pulled up at Tyler's house to get his opinion ... and Frank just happened to be there.

André played them a few tracks and the music cleared Tyler's head, allowing him to crack the matrix that was his Louis Vuitton wall of trunks while Frank gave 3 Stacks 👍🏿.

Fans have been praying for news like this since André and Big Boi won Album of the Year for 2004's "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below."

YG's getting flooded with comments about a photo of what looks like a fun night at an in-house stripper party ... because some dude claims the dancer in the pic is his baby's mother!!!

The viral fuss is coming from a man named Andre Lowe, who's been campaigning for days to get YG to remove the post ... but hasn't had any luck yet.

YG was snapped making it rain dollar bills during the Halloween bash as the dancer flaunted her flexibility ... and a strong game of G-string peek-a-boo!!! The photo IS a lot, but we don't think Andre's actually losing any sleep over it.

The guy labels himself a rapper/social media entertainer who jokes all day long, so there's a good chance this whole thing is just a skit, or a bit of trolling -- either way, it's prompting some hilarious comments from people.

Andre says he's getting teased online by a bunch of hypocrites -- guys who have the same kinda girl problems as him, acting like he's a chump.

He barked back at the haters in a new video, scoffing at all the newfound "Suga Free" pimp experts.

Some people are imploring YG to cut Andre a break and delete the post -- but even more see it for what it most likely is ... a funny skit from a dude looking to exploit IG's algorithm.

Angela White -- formerly known as Blac Chyna -- and Rob Kardashian's daughter, Dream, got back-to-back birthday parties this past weekend -- and the one with her mom was a princess', well ... dream come true.

The bash went down Sunday at Famecast in Santa Monica, where Chyna -- who now goes by her real name -- went all out with a Disney theme ... namely, 'Princess and The Frog,' and Mama Bear didn't spare any expense to make it all very real.

For starters, there were real-life horses in the building -- including one that received a dye job to look like a freaking unicorn! Dream made sure to hop aboard and pose for cute pics.

Speaking of photos, just about everyone who was there -- a hodgepodge mix of a ton of Dream's friends and family members, plus her half-brother King Cairo -- snapped shots with the professional photog on hand ... and everybody seemed to be having a really good time.

Makes sense, considering everything else that was going on ... like the buffet of desserts, party bags for guests and even an appearance from Hip Hop Harry himself (from the children's show). Oh, and yes ... "Tiana" herself from the 'P&TF' flick showed face as well.

Royal Bus Divazz produced the entire event.

Like we said, this was actually the second shindig for Dream ... just a couple days earlier, her dad and aunts -- Kim and Khloe, specifically -- threw a party of their own for the bday girl ... and that one was just as extravagant, with a "spa day" theme running throughout.

Not that it's a competition or anything, but let's just say Angela gave the Kardashians a run for their money when it came to showing out for her little girl.

Kodak Black's arrest for drug possession was nothing but a big waste of taxpayer money, according to his lawyer, who wants the whole case dismissed ... claiming his pain pills were OTC and fully legal.

The "Super Gremlin" rapper was busted in Ft. Lauderdale back in July 2022, and hit with one count of possession of a controlled substance and one count of trafficking oxycodone ... but according to his motion to dismiss, obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, testing of a sample of the pills showed they were just Tylenol.

Bradford Cohen, Kodak's attorney, is also accusing the Broward Sheriff's Office of a massive cover-up involving FBI Special Agent James Mitchell, who Cohen says is biased against Kodak.

He even claims prosecutors tried to withhold a body cam video of an officer surveilling Kodak, and saying he's "always ready" as the camera was focused on the cop's firearm

Cohen says the pills that were actually tested were destroyed in the process, and officials never provided any report ... despite the results showing them to just be the over-the-counter pain med.

Babyface helped out a lucky fan with her marriage proposal ... by giving her the opportunity to get down on one knee during a meet and greet with the singer!

Babyface got a message on IG from Angelica Pichardo ... proposing to propose to her GF, Diana Rosario, at one of his concerts.  Babyface was down with it, and worked with his team to make it happen.

So, Angelica and Diana hit up the concert at The Theatre at MSG Saturday, after which they were invited backstage to meet Babyface face-to-face! During their exchange, Angelica got down on one knee and popped the question.

Angelica said afterward, "Our relationship is the epitome of a '90s love song" ... so having the "Give U My Heart" and "Every Time I Close My Eyes" singer right in front of them made the moment perfect.

Omarion's getting praise for being cool about his child's mother Apryl Jones' relationship with his ex-bandmate, but she doesn't see it that way -- instead, Apryl says the "Touch" singer dished all sorts of subliminal shade!!!

TMZ Hip Hop linked up with Apryl in Studio City, CA, where "The Comeback" actress vented about Omarion's 2-hour sit-down with "Hollywood Unlocked" host Jason Lee.

Apryl tells us she and O have been broken up for nearly a decade, so the notion of him "forgiving her" for previously dating former B2K member Lil' Fizz is lost on her!!!

While she admits her Fizz relationship might have hurt fans raised on "Scream" tours ... Apryl has zero bad things to say about him. She points out they hooked up 5 years after she and Omarion split, and still credits Fizz for helping her through postpartum depression.

As for her relationship with Omarion ... Apryl says she's woman enough to co-parent peacefully with him, but wishes he'd push forward with his career without using her in his storylines!!!

Claudia Jordan and Foxy Brown engaged in a nasty war of words over the weekend ... and it all stems from CJ's love for Lil Kim, and Foxy's hate for her!

It all began when Kim made the crazy prediction that her upcoming memoir would topple The Bible in sales.

Foxy got a kick outta Kim's confidence -- she's kept their 20-year beef alive through frequent subtweets, which prompted CJ to openly question Foxy's motives after all this time.

Foxy redirected her venom to Claudia's DM's where she essentially called CJ a D-list celebrity and ripped her for having mangled feet.

CJ clawed back at Foxy ... updating the "Ill Na Na" rapper that she had cosmetic surgery on her feet but still needed proof that Foxy got the gaps in her teeth fixed!!! 😬

R. Kelly is taking Uncle Sam to court -- 'cause he claims federal prison officials leaked a bunch of his private info to an Internet blogger ... who aired a lot of his laundry.

The incarcerated singer just filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government, a handful of Bureau of Prisons workers, and Tasha K ... all of whom, he claims, were in cahoots to publicize his private matters while he was in custody out in Chicago during his case there.

Kelly points the finger at three unnamed BOP officials at the prison he was being held at, alleging they accessed their internal system that documented what Kelly was doing within their walls ... including email correspondence, private calls, visitor logs, etc.

Kelly and his lawyer, Jennifer Bonjean, believe the officials struck an agreement with Tasha K to supply her with Kelly's personal info ... which he suspects might've been done for cash. Tasha has already addressed these claims -- which Kelly publicly made well before this suit -- and denied being mixed up in any illegal activity.

Kelly claims the info allowed Tasha -- who has a big YouTube following -- to publish unflattering pieces about RK ... which he says has hurt his rep, invaded his privacy and caused him undue emotional distress.

Kelly says the U.S. government was negligent in allowing its prison personnel to allegedly access and share this info ... and now he's asking for major damages.

BTW, the claims Kelly is making here date back to 2019 or so. Since being convicted in his Chicago case, he has been moved to a federal facility in North Carolina -- where he's serving his lengthy sentence.

Gillie Da Kid's one-on-one basketball challenge to Jamal Crawford has been accepted -- and the ex-NBA Sixth Man of the Year is strongly hinting declaring he won't go easy on Gillie!!

JC got wind of Gillie flapping his gums about him during a recent episode of "Million Dollarz Worth of Game," and promised to light up Gillie just like the infamous "Martin" episode where his face got turned into hamburger meat after challenging Tommy "Hitman" Hearns to a boxing match!!!

Gillie was attempting to convince Wallo, Cam'ron and Mase that he was a better baller than JC off the strength of his past wins against actively hooping artists such as Chris Brown, Rowdy Rebel and Rob49.

Everyone stated the obvious -- an ex-pro is more skilled than a great amateur, but Gillie argued he would get his buckets on JC in spite of their size difference.

JC is widely known for being the oldest player to score 50 points in an NBA game and now travels the globe looking for competition like the B-ball version of Ryu from "Street Fighter" ... and is promising a Gillie KO!!!

Drake and J. Cole are taking their "First Person Shooter" to another level -- on Monday, the 2 rap heavyweights announced they're hitting the road for their joint tour!!!

Officially titled "It’s All a Blur Tour: BIG AS THE WHAT" ... Cole will be supporting the extended version of Drake's highly successful tour, which reportedly raked in over $100 million during its run.

Both their mascots -- Drake's OVO owl and Cole's Dreamville logo -- graced the tour flyer and Drake made it clear they're on equal playing ground, labeling them both to be 🐐's in the game!!!

They actually previewed the tour on their 'FPS' collab ... where Cole earned his first No. 1 hit (a point Soulja Boy just made perfectly clear to the public).

But given the momentum, fans could finally see the release of Cole's long-awaited "The Fall Off" album.

As for Drake .. the tour's kinda surprising, considering just last month he said he was taking a break from recording so he could deal with ongoing stomach issues. You'd think touring would be even more grueling on him, physically, than studio sessions.

Bebe Rexha has waded into the never-ending debate over who's the better femcee between Nicki Minaj and Cardi B ... and from her POV, it's no contest when it comes to raw talent.

The singer sounded off -- in a very respectful way, of course -- on an IG Live she did this weekend ... where she and a pal went back and forth on the merits of the argument, and BR ended up landing mostly Nicki's camp in terms of who she prefers as the queen of rap.

Check out how she breaks this down ... Bebe seems to think Nicki's longevity and quality as been top-notch for a long time, plus she admires the fact that she writes her own rhymes.

Bebe's friend here jumps to defend Cardi in the same breath, noting she's quite talented too ... but concedes that it's well-known she doesn't always put pen to paper for her own lyrics, and might outsource that part of the job at times.

Both of them say this isn't meant to pit the two ladies against each other -- which they say happens far too often, for no reason other than to rile up one another's respective bases.

With that said ... Bebe makes it clear, she simply likes Nicki's rapping ability more -- but notes she does appreciate Cardi's personality and authenticity more than anything.

As we all know ... Nicki and Cardi have had beef in the past, and every now and then -- there seems to be jabs taken from either side online ... but more so among their fans.

A$AP Rocky is in hot legal water right now as he fights criminal charges in court -- and you'd think his baby mama, Rihanna, would be right by his side in public ... but she isn't.

The couple stepped out in front of cameras twice this week -- right on the heels of Rocky's high-profile preliminary hearing in a DTLA courthouse Wednesday -- and on both occasions ... they were not together. And for this weekend, they weren't even in the same part of town.

On Thursday, RiRi was photographed hitting up the San Vicente Bungalows in West Hollywood with some gal pals in tow, whereas Rocky was in a different part of WeHo ... unaccompanied by Rihanna, and instead being trailed by his own crew of fellas.

Both of them looked fairly neutral on Thursday ... but come Saturday, they were seen stepping out again (separately) and seemed a little more chipper -- well, AR was anyway.

Rocky and Rihanna were both dressed to impress, but it was only him who flashed a grin as he strolled along a street following what we're told was a late-night studio sesh in WeHo. He's got an album that's supposedly due out soon, so it makes sense he's working.

Rihanna, on the other hand, was on the opposite side of Tinseltown Saturday ... hitting up her favorite restaurant, Giorgio Baldi in Santa Monica -- which she always frequents.

Like we said, she didn't look all that happy ... sporting sunglasses and a somewhat serious mug. Considering prosecutors are going after her man on gun charges, that also lines up.

As we reported ... one of Rocky's former A$AP Mob members, Relli, took the stand and testified that Rocky had shot him in 2021 -- this after a falling out and alleged face-off. Relli even claimed that Rocky had threatened to kill him before allegedly pulling the trigger.

Rocky's attorney, Joe Tacopina, grilled Relli on cross ... but his client is due back in court later this month to see if this thing's gonna go to a full-blown jury trial or not. AR left the building in a very good mood and emanated confidence as he signed autographs.

The same can't be said for Rihanna's demeanor here, though ... she looks kinda glum.

Woman-to-woman, Xscape's LaTocha Scott thinks Bre Tiesi should've spared the world her Michael B. Jordan secret ... although she understands why she did it.

We caught the R&B vet in NYC this week and her stance on Bre's spill was quite clear ... today's social media-driven society has made it cool to let it all out on the internet but she personally lets private matters be just that!

Bre made the bombshell reveal on the Season 7 opener of Netflix's "Selling Sunset" -- even drawing a response from Nick Cannon, the father of her son, who was totally unbothered by the news.

As Nick put it, everyone's got a past!

Time brings change to situations -- be they romantic or professional -- but, one thing LaTocha tells us is still intact is her place in Xscape.

Druski's constant Birdman trolling seems to have finally caught up with him -- that is, if you buy this surveillance footage ... which shows the record exec "pulling up" on the homie.

TMZ Hip Hop has obtained some pretty shocking footage ... which we're told shows the Cash Money honcho and some goons literally dropping in and violently confronting Druski and co. at a studio session that the viral star was in late Friday night here in L.A.

Check it out ... you can see Birdman and his two friends facing off with Druski in a stairwell, and things get heated quickly -- with Baby apparently even attempting to put hands on Dru.

A minor scuffle ensues, and Druski and his pals go tumbling down the stairs as they try to escape ... making a run for it and beelining it through the halls of the studio -- with Birdman in close pursuit. We're told Dru had just finished filming for his reality show, "Coulda Been House," when this happened ... and from the looks of it, Birdman caught wind of it.

It would also appear that Birdman took something with him from all this ... namely, Druski's chain -- which he proudly flashed on social media afterward, writing ... "Surprise Party B*tch Slippin In Studio Richgang." Druski hasn't addressed the incident on any of his platforms.

Of course, the question here is ... is this real or fake??? Frankly, we're not even sure -- because this "beef" between Druski and Birdman has been walking the line of fact and fiction for a while, and Birdman himself certainly seems to think they have actual problems.

It all stems from this "Coulda Been Records" venture ... which has echoes of Birdman's Cash Money Records, right down to style and design of the logo. From the jump, Baby has made clear he does not approve -- this even though Druski has explained it's all for laughs.

That apparently doesn't matter to Birdman, who has repeatedly faced off with Druski (virtually) telling him to back down ... oftentimes in a pretty threatening way ... which seems legit.

Trinidad James is straddling the fence on record labels' decision to block artists from rerecording their music. but does think their primary reason for doing so -- Taylor Swift -- should be allowed to keep cookin' the system!!!

Ditto for Ashanti, who's been actively redoing her Murder Inc. albums in order to nab the biggest piece of the pie for herself!!!

TMZ Hip Hop got the 567 Agency exec at LAX, and he admits some newer artists might be affected by the rules changes in the wake of Taylor's historic, and financial, victory over her old label.

TS is largely responsible for the Billboard Hot 100's top 10 going dude-free twice through the boom of her rerecorded albums -- which labels are down in the dumps over because it devalues the OG master recordings. 🥴

Trinidad argues both Taylor and Ashanti were treated like slaves during their record label tenures ... and he thinks female artists tend to get the short end of the stick in the music biz.

However, speaking for the other side ... TJ says it takes $250K just to get a record off the ground, which is probably why labels are particularly tight with their budgets.

Blueface was roasted online for proudly showing off his new fiancée Jaidyn Alexis' home cooking ... which had culinary critics mocking the millionaire for eating like he was "living paycheck to paycheck."

Digging into homemade pasta topped with cheese singles and a basic side shredded salad, the rapper likely didn't expect to be dragged by online foodies ... who schooled him on shredded cheese and real, non-plastic plates for a more indulgent dining experience.

The salad wasn't let off the hook either, as one person likened it to old pencil shavings -- while others simply encouraged Blueface to "throw away the whole stove and whatever else she used to make this concoction." Ouch.

In one statement that hit a little close to home ... someone wrote, "I see why he cheats," in reference to his turbulent relationship with ex-Chrisean Rock.

Elsewhere, the home cooking was branded as "prison food," ... which Blueface may get all too familiar with if he breaks the terms of his 3-year probation for a Vegas shooting.