TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are in marriage counseling with their relationship on the rocks, but it didn't stop them from lavishing each other with over-the-top Christmas gifts.

Sources close to the couple tell TMZ, the 2 spent Christmas together at home with their 4 kids. Kanye gave Kim 5 ... count 'em 5, of the new 2021 Maybachs!!!

It's a pretty expensive gesture from Ye ... the starting price for the Maybach SUVs are just under $200,000 a pop, so figure about $1 million.

Kim returned the favor too ... our sources say she gave Yeezy several James Turrell pieces worth north of $1 million.

Kanye's a huge Turrell fan ... we're told the artist's work has been a leading inspiration behind the visuals Ye uses in his Sunday Service projects, including blue and red lighting and the fisheye camera lens used during the Easter service at Coachella.

Kanye also shot his "Jesus is King" film at Turrell's Roden Crater project in northern Arizona.

Absurdly expensive gifts aside ... the fact they spent the holiday together makes sense. As we told you ... Kim and Kanye remain in lockstep when it comes to their family and parenting, and doing Christmas BIG is a sign of that.

But, of course, while they're in marriage counseling, we're also told divorce is on the table.

Our sources say the Kim and Ye are still on speaking terms as they try to work through their issues and figure out the next steps, which could possibly include divorce papers.

Some alleged criminals apparently saw Dr. Dre was in the hospital because they tried breaking into his home ... law enforcement sources tell TMZ.

Our sources say 4 men were on Dre's Pacific Palisades property Wednesday around 2 AM. Security spotted them as they were casing the house. Before they could get to the main structure, security confronted them and quickly called police. The men fled, but cops arrived almost immediately and chased the 4 would-be burglars, catching and arresting them.

Law enforcement believes the men saw our story -- that Dre was in the hospital after suffering a brain aneurysm -- and saw a window of opportunity.

The 4 men were arrested for attempted burglary and are currently in custody.

As we first reported, Dre suffered the aneurysm Monday and was rushed by ambulance to the hospital where he remains in the ICU. Doctors are trying to determine what is causing the bleeding. He's in stable condition and is lucid.

Dre sent a message Tuesday night saying he's doing well and thanked everyone for the prayers and well wishes.

Dr. Dre is at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after suffering a brain aneurysm ... TMZ has learned.

Sources connected to Dre and with direct knowledge tell us, Dre suffered the aneurysm Monday and was rushed by ambulance to Cedars and was taken directly to ICU, where he remains Tuesday.

Our sources say the 55-year-old music mogul is stable and lucid, but doctors don't know what caused the bleeding and they are doing a battery of tests.

As you know, Dre is in the middle of a very contentious divorce with his estranged wife Nicole. As we reported, Nicole wants $2 million a month in temporary spousal support and $5 million for attorney fees, but Dre says he's been paying all of her expenses so the $2 mil demand was outlandish. He also says the attorney's fees are outrageous since her lawyers have only been working on the case for a few months.

And, as we reported, Nicole wants a judge to reject the prenuptial agreement she signed in 1996, claiming Dre ripped it up early on in the marriage. Dre strongly denies that.

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West have been in marriage counseling, and we've learned the subject of divorce was looming for much of 2020, but they haven't given up.

Multiple sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ, the marriage was in deep trouble for the last half of 2020. In fact, we're told Kim was ready to pull the plug on the marriage at one point but it was when Kanye was going through a serious bipolar episode and she felt it was cruel to do it when he wasn't well.

They have been living separately for a few months ... with Kanye spending the majority of his time in Wyoming while she has been in Calabasas with the kids. They were absorbed in personal business projects and didn't focus on making any final decisions.

Kim has gone back and forth, we're told ... at times thinking divorce was the only option but other times believing there was a chance to save the marriage. That's why they took a family vacation late last year ... to see if they could repair things.

Everything got put on hold for the Christmas holidays, but now the issue is front and center. Kim's had disso queen Laura Wasser on retainer for years for various reasons, and the subject of divorce was discussed months ago, but Kim never gave the green light to file.

Her ambivalence is understandable, what with 4 small kids. They married in May, 2014.

We're told no final decision has been made, and it's telling they've been in counseling for a while.

We're told their issues have been neither contentious nor ugly, but they do have lots of differences ... from lifestyle to politics. They are, however, fully aligned on parenting.

One thing our sources wanted to make clear ... there is no third party.

Dr. Dre's full of it if he says he doesn't have the cash to keep supporting his estranged wife's lifestyle ... at least that's what her accountant says in new legal docs.

Nicole Young filed docs detailing how much she claims the couple spent over a 3-year period and how much dough Dre has on hand right now ... and it's impressive.

According to the docs ... Young's CPA says Dre has a whopping $262 MILLION available right now in cash and Apple stock. The accountant says selling Apple stock was the primary source of funding their lifestyle from 2017-19, and believes that will continue to be the case.

So, just how much were they spending during that time? The CPA claims their marital living expenses were $2.3 mil PER MONTH -- and despite spending about $245 mil over that 3-year period ... their available cash still increased by $26 million. Hey, Apple's been a good investment.

Based on these figures, Nicole's accountant insists Dre's got plenty of funds to contribute to Nicole's attorney fees, and "maintain the status quo" of their lifestyle.

Of course, that's a big part of the spousal support battle in their divorce. We broke the story ... Dre has warned Nicole she needs to learn to start spending less and claims he's giving her more than enough to live on for now.

As we reported ... he says he's been dishing out $293,306 a month to her while their divorce plays out, but she's filed docs seeking $2 million a month in temporary spousal support.

Eminem already apologized to Rihanna for an old leaked diss by saying sorry on his new track, "Zeus" ... but he's going the extra mile to show just how sorry he is.

Shady opened up about the leaked snippet of "Things Get Worse" during a SiriusXM interview Monday, saying he doesn't have any recollection of recording the verse in which he raps that he sides with Chris Brown ... this shortly after CB assaulted Rihanna in 2009.

Em's controversial verse -- "I'm not playing, Rihanna, where'd you get the VD at?/ Let me add my two cents/ Of course I side with Chris Brown/ I'd beat a b***** down too/ If she gave my d*** an itch now." He scrapped it from the final version of his 2019 collab with B.o.B.

The rapper says he told his manager after the leak that he had no idea how someone got it, but also claims ... "I have zero recollection of even remembering doing that verse." Eminem added ... "The rhyme scheme doesn't even sound, like, familiar to me. So I was caught off guard, too. I was like, 'What the f***?! I said that?'"

Shady says it's no excuse, and calls it "f***ing stupid" of him to record the verse, but claims at the time he was re-learning how to rap due to his addiction issues. He says he believes he just went with it because it rhymed ... but adds he should have thought better of it.

On "Zeus," Eminem addresses Rihanna directly with the lyrics ... "And wholeheartedly, apologies, Rihanna/ For that song that leaked, I'm sorry, Ri/ It wasn't meant to cause you grief."

Bobby Shmurda's 2021 is off to a good start, because the incarcerated rapper could get sprung early -- as soon as next month -- if he can stay out of trouble.

The Department of Corrections just updated the Miami rapper's conditional release date to February 23, 2021 ... which is about 10 months earlier than when his sentence was expected to end at New York's Clinton Correctional Facility.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... this decision was made by the Time Allowance Committee, which consists of prison staff, but not the parole board. We’re told the Committee reviewed Shmurda's behavior and participation in prison programs and decided to bump up his conditional release date.

If he is released, he'll be under parole supervision, but we're told any mess-ups or bad behavior between now and Feb. 23 could nullify the earlier conditional release date ... and he'd likely have to serve out his full sentence until December 11, 2021.

As we first told you ... Shmurda was denied parole in September due to multiple violations while in prison -- including allegedly having a shank, fighting and drug possession. The possibility of a February release would seem to indicate he's turned things around since the parole board's rejection.

As we reported ... the rapper copped a plea deal back in September 2016 to conspiracy to possess weapons and possession of a weapon.

Nicki Minaj's being sued for more than $200 million over her song "Rich Sex" ... which a Queens rapper claims she ripped off after he played it for her.

Jawara Headley -- a Queens rapper who goes by Brinx Billions -- is suing Nicki, claiming he let her hear his version of "Rich Sex" sometime before 2016. In docs, obtained by TMZ, Brinx claims Nicki told him it would be extremely marketable and become a global hit.

But, Brinx -- who calls himself a songwriter, artist, music producer, composer and rapper -- claims Nicki jacked his song and put it on her "Queen" album. Although, he's not credited as such ... Brinx insists he's the sole author/creator/composer/writer/producer of "Rich Sex."

Brinx says he's known Nicki since 2007, when they met on MySpace, but he's still pissed his pal allegedly ripped specific lyrics, such as ... "It ain't such a thing as broke and handsome." Beyond lyrics, he says her song also has similar music, musical notes, musical arrangement, musical beats and musical rhythm.

Brinx is suing Minaj, along with Universal Music Group, Young Money, and Cash Money, for more than $200 million in damages. We've reached out for comment, so far no word back.

Snoop Dogg is finally speaking out after being dissed by Eminem on a new song -- this after Snoop kinda dissed Shady himself -- and it sounds like a good old-fashioned hip-hop beef is cookin'.

The Doggfather left a telling comment on an Eminem fan page's IG post, which laid out clips of Marshall recently explaining why he called out Snoop by name on his new track, 'Zeus,' which was released earlier this month as part of his 'Music to be Murdered By' deluxe album.

Snoop's thoughts to Em's justification ... "Pray I don't answer that soft ass S***." He added a bunch of laughing emojis after, so it seems this might be all in good fun. But still ... testy.

ICYMI ... Eminem, earlier this week, broke down why he took shots at Snoop on 'Zeus' -- saying he was responding to comments the Long Beach rapper made over the summer on 'The Breakfast Club,' where he said Em wasn't a top 10 rapper in his eyes, and that he could live without Eminem's contribution to hip-hop if he had to choose historical impact.

Snoop also said Eminem wouldn't be anybody without Dr. Dre -- something Em actually agreed with. His whole thing is Snoop's tone, which he says he took as disrespectful and unnecessary in making his point. Em says everyone's entitled to their opinion about the best rappers to do it, but he was taken back by how flip Snoop was about writing him off.

As for what Eminem actually said about Snoop, it wasn't as fiery as you might think. Lyrics go ... "And, as far as squashin' beef, I'm used to people knockin' me / But, just not in my camp / And diplomatic as I'm tryna be / Last thing I need is Snoop doggin' me / Man, Dogg, you was like a (Yeah) damn god to me / Nah, not really (Haha)//I had "dog" backwards / But I'm startin' to think, all these people takin' shots at me / S**, it's no wonder."

Remember, Snoop and Eminem run in the same circle -- they've both worked extensively with Dr. Dre ... so it's understandable why Shady was shocked to hear Snoop talk about him the way he did. To us, it doesn't sound like Snoop was taking special aim at Em with ill-intent, but the latter clearly took it that way.

Nicki Minaj and Kenneth Petty know how to make a cute kid.

We'd like to give a shout out to their son, but we don't know his name ... they haven't said. The kid's only known to everyone outside the fam as "Papa Bear."

At any rate, the 3-month-old kid is beyond adorable. Nicki captioned the pic, "“#PapaBear thank you so very much for choosing me to be your mama 🎀🦄🙏 .”

Papa Bear's already stylin' in designer onesies. Of course, he has the requisite bling ... a Papa Bear necklace. That's not his real name, right?

Nicki posted the pic with gratitude ...“Wishing you guys a happy & prosperous New Year. Thank you for your love & support throughout this journey. It’s meant so much to me. Becoming a mom is by far the most fulfilling job I’ve ever taken on.”

Nicki added, “Sending love to all the superhero mothers out there. Big hugs to all the women who have been pregnant during this challenging time.”

Minaj also shared a sweet video of her son on Twitter.

“Best of 2020,” she wrote alongside the clip.

Nicki gave birth on Sept. 30 in L.A., posting a pic and making her feelings clear ... "I am so grateful & in love with my son," she shared. "Madly in love. My favorite liddo boy in the whole wide world."

Nobody does December birthdays like Diddy -- he toasted his son Justin Combs' 27th with a luxury-filled bash in wide-open Miami.

Diddy led the crowd in singing "Happy Birthday" to Justin during the Wednesday night celebration that started at Swan restaurant, and eventually moved to Victory Restaurant & Lounge. Both joints were packed to the gills with folks popping bottles and a custom Dior cake for Justin.

It's 2020, so the first thing that hits you looking at the video is ... no one, besides the staff, was wearing masks. That's life in Florida these days, where there are few COVID-restrictions.

Justin's gift from Pops was a Rolex, but not just any Rollie ... it's a custom-made one Diddy says he designed as a sort of family crest!

Just last week, Diddy also hosted a Miami yacht birthday party for his twin daughters D'Lila and Jessie -- and an 80th bday event for his mom, Janice Combs. Remember, she got $1 mil and a new car!

Lil Pump still doesn't buy there's a pandemic and still refuses to wear a face mask -- but after JetBlue banned him, he's still flying commercial. What could go wrong?

Pump was at LAX Tuesday night getting ready to board a flight. Interestingly, he hopped out of a van without a mask ... which, of course, is mandatory at at LAX as COVID-19 cases surge in L.A., the new epicenter of the pandemic.

A photog immediately asked him if he's still gonna go maskless ... after the JetBlue incident. You'll recall, Pump got banned upon landing in L.A. because the airline says he gave crew members a hard time and refused to put on a mask during the flight.

Well, the rapper was flying Delta this time ... but watch the video, it doesn't seem like it's gonna go much better. Pump flat out says he doesn't even believe COVID-19 is a real thing -- and although he did pull up a covering over his face as he walked through LAX ... he's not even trying to wear it correctly.

You'll recall ... after the JetBlue incident, he raged out and said he would NEVER wear a face mask.

Ya gotta wonder how the folks, especially the crew, aboard his Delta flight felt when they saw him get onboard.

Young Thug's latest stop on his Let's-Disrespect-Rap-Legends tour lands on the doorstep of Jay-Z ... whom he claims doesn't even have dozens of songs people know by heart, unlike himself.

YT made the controversial comment on an episode of the Barstool podcast 'Million $ Worth of Game' ... where Thug boastfully claims his own tunes are anthems -- songs a whole stadium can rap along with him at the drop of a dime.

He went on to say that's very rare in hip-hop -- and then invoked Jigga's name by saying, "Jay-Z ain't got 30 songs like that, where the whole stadium finna sing." Thug immediately got an awkward pause out of most everyone in the room ... with Gillie da Kid trying to be nice and correct him, saying Jay DOES have a lot (an understatement).

Young Thug tried backtracking a bit, explaining he wasn't targeting Jay specifically -- but simply using him as an example of rappers he's seen perform where, apparently, the majority of the crowd doesn't know a song. It's an eyebrow-raising claim, and here's why.

Jay's catalog runs incredibly deep -- he's literally got 100 songs that have appeared on Billboard's Hot 100 ... 21 of which went Top 10, and 4 going #1. Young Thug, by contrast, has 4 Top 10s and two #1s. It's not close.

Of course, his shot at Jay -- which is being torn apart online -- comes one month after he openly talked down on a fellow Atlanta MC ... none other than OutKast's Andre 3000.

During an appearance on T.I.'s 'ExpediTIously' podcast, Thug said he couldn't rap two 3000 songs to save his life ... adding that he never paid attention to the guy, and also claimed Dre wants the younger generation of rappers to kiss his ass. All kinds of trash, really.

One last thing ... Thug apparently has bad blood with Lil Wayne too, and says he thinks he's qualified to take on Weezy in a Verzuz battle ... because of their equal "influence."

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky's romantic holiday trip to Barbados has been anything but boring ... and the new couple just ramped things up with a wild ride on the Caribbean.

Rihanna and A$AP certainly weren't afraid to show a little PDA on their chartered catamaran Monday. The two also hit the water on a jet ski and hopped in an inner tube for some high-speed action.

The couple celebrated Christmas together on Rihanna's home turf, and from what we've seen, the holiday thas been action-packed -- boat trips, dinner dates and plenty of time with friends.

A$AP is Rihanna's first serious relationship since her split from billionaire Hassan Jameel in January. The two dated for nearly 3 years.

Before this holiday vacay, we'd seen A$AP and RiRi strolling the streets of New York City just after it came out they were dating. It's way better seeing them down in Barbados ... less clothing, more smiles!

Gucci Mane should just up and move to the North Pole after this ... 'cause the dude is iced like never before -- literally, he says his wife hooked him up with some legendary bling.

The rapper got the ultimate jewelry set for Christmas -- courtesy of his wife, Keyshia -- who placed a custom order for a Cuban link chain, bracelet ... and a giant pendant with a shoutout to their child together. Gucci claims it's the biggest Cuban link ever made, and word on the street is he's right.

Sources tell us the 3-piece set was done by Pristine Jewelers in NYC -- and there's a total of 540 carats of diamonds, and, get this ... it all weighs a whopping 10 kilos. That's about 22 pounds to us 'Mericans!!!

All this set's missing is a 5 pound nipple ring. Hope Guwop's been working out!

We're told the chain clocks in at 32 inches in length and 2 1/2 inches wide, while the pendant is half the size of a Subway footlong. Speaking of that, it reads "ICE DADDY" ... which we're told was meant to honor Gucci and Keyshia's newborn boy, Ice.

Another reason for that 'Daddy' title? We're told the set is worth $2.5 MILLION!

Lil Pump will NOT be flying with JetBlue anymore -- at least that's what the airline's saying, because it claims he refused to wear a mask while up in the air.

A rep for JB tells TMZ ... a customer on one of their Saturday flights from Fort Lauderdale to L.A. became verbally abusive with crew members, and also took off his face covering mid-flight ... and then failed to put it back on, even when asked.

We're told JetBlue called in to LAX to tell them to have cops on standby -- apparently he was that unruly -- but it doesn't appear Pump was arrested when they touched down. LAX Airport Police tell us they have no record of an arrest or incident involving the rapper.

TMZ has also obtained correspondence from the flight deck that day -- in which the captain was detailing exactly what LP was doing ... and what needed to happen when they arrived. At first, he says Pump was simply noncompliant with their mask policy, but later said he was sneezing and coughing into a blanket sans mask (perhaps on purpose) ... and that more than just a supervisor needed to meet them, as Pump had to be dealt with "firmly."

The last correspondence sent says Pump finally obliged and put on his mask -- but the dude wasn't finished with JetBlue at that point ... he later took to social media to cuss 'em out.

In a since-deleted video, Lil Pump says "f*** JetBlue," and goes on to say he will NEVER wear a mask in 2021. Seems like his pro-Trump vibes are still going strong post-election.