TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Be careful with these two almost identical images of Cardi B! Grab a bucket and a mop and see if you can spot the sneaky switches made to this smokin' hot shot!

The rapper -- who just gave birth to her second child -- was seen out and about in France for Paris Fashion Week a few days ago ... and we have made a few changes to the original pic! Burn through this gallery and show off your hustler skills to spot the differences between these two super similar snaps!

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West were back to being Kimye ... at least for one night.

Kim and 'Ye reunited Thursday night for dinner at Nobu in Malibu. They weren't there alone. They joined by Kim's gal pal and CMO of SKIMS, Tracy Romulus, and her Grammy winning music producer hubby, Ray Romulus.

While she wasn't trying to keep a low-pro, Kim still looked kinda mysterious in her Balenciaga getup ... a purple gloved catsuit and a long maroon leather coat.  And, THAT has Ye written all over it.

We're told despite the way things looked (romantic dinner at Nobu?!?) things remain status quo -- they're still on good terms and trying to figure out their relationship.

Bow Wow says he's got no concerns seeing Diddy with the mother of his child ... and he sounds comforted by knowing -- or, at least, feeling like -- they won't last forever.

We got Bow Wow at LAX Thursday and asked him about Diddy's latest relationship ... with Joie Chavis. Bow Wow and Joie have a 10-year-old daughter, Shai, together.

There's a laundry list of reasons he's not threatened ... but it seems the top thing on his list is the strong feeling he has that Diddy and Joie won't be tying the knot.

Mr. Moss is drawing from his long history with Diddy here ... pointing out he's known Diddy since he was 13 years old, and it sounds like he has a good handle on how the Bad Boy mogul deals with the ladies.

He says he's hashed things out with Diddy and Joie, too ... and everyone is cool with each other in their triangle, of sorts.

The Super Bowl halftime show will feature not one, not two, but FIVE incredible music acts this February ... with Dr. Dre, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg and Mary J. Blige slated to perform!!

The epic list was just announced minutes ago ... with Pepsi revealing the lineup for the big game at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Sunday, Feb 13.

The halftime show is absolutely nuts -- as the company notes, there are 43 Grammy awards and 19 Billboard-topping albums amongst the bunch ... and they'll all be sharing the stage in L.A.

The show's lineup makes a whole lotta sense to L.A. too ... Dre, Snoop and Kendrick are all born and raised in the city of angels. Jay-Z, who played an instrumental part in getting the lineup together says the event will be "history in the making."

The announcement Thursday also notes the show is expected to be "12 minutes of unforgettable greatness." Nearly 100 million people tuned in last year to watch The Weeknd perform in Tampa Bay.

Tyga says he's always felt like an underdog, so he performed as a canine on "The Masked Singer" ... but this dog don't hunt, because he's been eliminated from the Season 6 cast of masked contestants.

The "Taste" rapper yanked off his Dalmatian getup on Wednesday night's episodes of the eccentric singing competition after he got voted off, but turns out the host sniffed out his identity when he was fully masked.

After the Dalmatian rapped "Beautiful" by Snoop Dogg featuring Pharrell Williams ... both Robin Thicke and Nicole Scherzinger guessed it was Nelly, Jenny McCarthy went with Kevin Hart, and Ken Jeong guessed Reggie Bush.

Host Nick Cannon claimed he knew it was Tyga underneath the Dalmatian costume all along, but everyone else was stunned.

As for why he decided to join the show ... Tyga says he was inspired by watching Lil Wayne perform as Robot back in Season 3.

Kodak Black's violated the terms of his supervised release in his federal gun case by failing a drug test ... and now we've learned the rapper was ordered to get treatment.

You may recall ... the rapper was sentenced to 46 months behind bars in the gun case in late 2019, but he was freed by Trump when his sentence was commuted back in January as part of the ex-President's flurry of pardons and commutations.

We're told Kodak's failed drug test resulted in a court hearing this week for violating the terms of his supervised release.

According to court records ... the judge ordered Kodak to complete a 90-day stint in a residential program due to the violation. Our sources say Kodak is already in the treatment program.

Rick Ross just started cutting checks to his baby mama ... the judge in his paternity case just signed off on his agreement to cough up monthly child support payments for their 3 kids.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the "Aston Martin Music" rapper will pay his baby mama, Briana Singleton, $11,000 per month in child support.

The docs say RR also has to foot the bill for their children's health insurance, and he's got to help her pay for the kids' extracurricular expenses once the figure goes north of $7,560 ... with Ross on the hook for additional annual payments of up to $3k per child.

Rick also agreed to cut a check to Brianna's attorney for $25,000, but he can afford it ... the docs say RR's monthly income is $585k, compared to $142 a month for his baby mama.

TMZ broke the story ... Briana told Rick last year he needed to take COVID-19 tests to see their 3 kids.

Tekashi 6ix9ine might be on probation, but the dude isn't afraid to fire back if someone tests him out in public -- which is exactly what happened in Vegas this weekend.

The rapper showed up Saturday to the T-Mobile Arena for UFC 266 ... and as he was making his way in and past fans behind barricades -- he had a little face-off with someone who was NOT a fan.

Check out this video TMZ obtained of the altercation -- you see 69 ignoring the taunts from this dude, who's calling him a bitch and a ton of other insults. As he passes, the man appears to chuck something at his back, and it makes contact with Tekashi.

Eyewitnesses tell us it was the man's drink that he threw, and Tekashi circled back to look at him ... and to also a hurl a drink of his own. We're told it looked like coffee -- and it went splashing on others nearby. Security rushed in and broke it all up ... ushering T69 away.

No word on whether 6ix9ine was dealt with for this -- but sources on the scene say the guy who initiated it was, indeed, led away in handcuffs.

Anthony Johnson's family is no longer burdened with funeral costs ... thanks to the generosity of celebs like Offset.

The late actor's widow, Lexis Jones Mason, tells TMZ ... Anthony's funeral has now been paid for, with nearly $70,000 in donations pouring in from famous folks and thousands of random donors.

We're told the Migos rapper chipped in $5,000 for the service, with Lil Rel Howery donating another $4k on the family's GoFundMe.

Lil Rel's rep tells us the comedian/actor felt compelled to help out because he sees comedy as a brotherhood.

Michael Blackson also helped raise $10,000, and in addition to donations, Anthony's widow tells us she received a flurry of calls this week from celebs like Fat Joe, D.L. Hughley, Faizon Love, Michael Colyar, Tommy Davidson, D.C. Young fly, Tyrin Turner and more.

We're told folks who called expressed their love, sent condolences and talked endlessly about how much they loved the "Friday" star.

TMZ broke the stories ... Anthony was found lifeless in a Los Angeles store earlier this month before being pronounced dead, and his family was scrambling to pay for his funeral.

With the services paid for, Anthony's widow says she's giving some of the extra money to his 4 children and she wants to use other funds to start a standup comedy school for underprivileged youth.

We're told Anthony didn't have life insurance, so Lexis wants to use some of the money to spread awareness and begin advocating for comedians and actors to get life insurance.

Lil Baby's celeb jeweler is doing more than just profusely apologizing to the rapper for selling him a fake Patek Philippe watch ... he's taking costly action so it never happens again.

Gabriel Jacobs from Rafaello & Co. tells TMZ ... moving forward he's going to hire a professional watch authenticator who will inspect all the watches he sells ... to avoid another fake watch disaster.

What's more ... Gabe tells us anyone who has purchased jewelry from him can return and have it authenticated to assure them the jewelry's legit. He says he has no issue whatsoever with that in wake of the fallout from selling Lil Baby a fake Patek Philippe watch for $400k.

As we reported ... Lil Baby posed with the watch before hitting up the Met Gala but got pissed off after watch enthusiasts alerted him that the 40th-anniversary Patek Philippe Nautilus watch was a fake.

Rafaello & Co. issued a lengthy apology, copped to the mistake, refunded the dough and gifted the rapper 4 diamond rings. Gabe, who says he quickly righted the wrong because he wants to continue working with the rapper, doubled down a week later saying his mistake was not doing enough due diligence.

In fact ... Gabe says he showed the watch in question to 2 other dealers who also couldn't tell the Patek Philippe was a fake. That said ... Gabe insists it was an honest mistake.

He says he has NOTHING to gain by selling a budding rapper a fake watch. He also told us he gave Baby $3.5 million worth of jewelry to wear at the Met Gala ... so what's to be gained by selling him a fake watch?

21 Savage's notorious ICE case from 2019 is circling back again ... the rapper's now facing gun and drugs charges in connection with the original incident with ICE agents.

According to the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office ... Savage is facing 2 new charges related to his arrest in Atlanta back in Feb. 2019 -- possession of a schedule II controlled substance, and possession of a gun.

The rapper turned himself in to authorities Thursday and bonded out right away. According to 21's lawyer, Charles Kuck, this is a state law charge related to his incident with ICE 2.5 years ago.

Kuck tells us, "Last night’s manufactured charges are yet another example of how our justice system, from ICE down to the local level, unjustly targets young Black men who seek to exercise their rights. There is no legitimate basis for these charges nor for ICE’s continued antics, and we will fight until Mr. Joseph is justly vindicated.”

As we reported back then ... Savage was arrested and placed in ICE custody because it was discovered that his visa expired and he's been here illegally for years. ICE is still trying to deport Savage to England ... something the rapper has been fighting.

What TMZ has now learned, is that during the Feb. 2019 arrest ... authorities allege 21 threw a bottle of liquid that had codeine in it out of his car, and a handgun was found inside the vehicle.

Hence, he's now been formally charged with drug and gun possession as his upcoming hearing in immigration court approaches. It's set for November.

Jennifer Hough -- the attempted rape victim of Nicki Minaj's husband, Kenneth Petty -- says she's been bombarded with hate-filled messages from Nicki's fans ever since giving her first on-camera interview about her lawsuit against the couple.

Hough's getting a flurry of disturbing direct messages and some threats ... according to her attorney, Tyrone Blackburn. He tells TMZ it all started immediately after Jennifer went on "The Real" earlier this week.

We've obtained some of the DMs sent to Jennifer, which include inflammatory insults, someone wishing death upon her, and we're told there was also a concerning tweet in which someone shared her personal contact information.

Blackburn says the scary response from Nicki's fans reinforces what Jennifer expressed in her 'Real' interview -- she's had to live her life in constant fear for years, change her phone, move and quit jobs ... all because of her connection to Petty.

If you aren't familiar, Jennifer was the victim in Petty's 1995 conviction for first-degree attempted rape in NY -- which is why he has to register as a sex offender. You may recall, Petty was charged with not registering in California, and recently took a plea deal.

In August, Hough sued Nicki and Kenneth for allegedly harassing and threatening her to not speak about the incident. On a more positive note, Blackburn says Jennifer's TV appearance has inspired other women to tell their own stories, and they've reached out to say they're standing behind her.

Drake went all out for a shin dig down in Miami ... renting out an entire Dave & Buster's and partying the night away with tons of celebs and scores of twerking hotties.

The fun and games went down Wednesday night at the D&B in Miami's Dolphin Mall ... and other celebs in attendance included Future, Yella Beezy and Alexis Skyy.

Folks who were there told us everything was free, courtesy of Drake, and the rapper played his number one album, "Certified Lover Boy."

As you can see, Drake's party people were having a blast ... the tunes were bumping and there were about 1,000 ladies in the house, many of whom got up on the arcade games and started twerking!!!

Introducing the newest member of the Orlando Magic ... a 6'2" guard from Fayetteville, North Carolina ... J. Cole!!!

Okay, so maybe not quite ... but the superstar rapper DID work up a sweat with a bunch of Magic players at a workout this week -- and he looked GOOD!!

Of course, Cole is known for his skills on the mic AND the court ... and rap legend/former NBA hopeful Master P told us back in 2020 the rapper was interested in pursuing a career in the league.

Now, Cole was able to put his skills to the test against guys like Cole Anthony and R.J. Hampton ... with the Magic posting footage of the squad hooping on Wednesday.

The vid is impressive -- Cole holds his own against the pros by draining three-point shots and dishing dimes.

Cole even got to chat it up with the guys after ... saying, "Any time I get to act like a kid around professionals, I appreciate it."

The Magic even gave Cole his own custom #15 jersey to top it all off!!

But, does Cole really have what it takes to be in the NBA?? Ex-pro Larry Sanders certainly thinks so -- he told us back in August 2020 the dude could legit make it if he worked at it.

Keep ballin' out, J.!!

Lil Peep and XXXTentacion straight-up jacked another artist's original guitar riff for their hugely successful collab, "Falling Down" ... so claims the artist in a new lawsuit.

Richard Jaden Hoff -- who used to go by the stage name K.R.i.O. -- is suing the late rappers claiming the guitar riff in his June 2018 Soundcloud track "Under My Breath" was sampled in Peep and XXX's track that dropped just 3 months later without his permission.

Specifically, Hoff claims his guitar riff in "Falling Down" is looped, sped up, filtered and equalized. He says that while Peep and XXX altered the riff, it remained substantially similar to the guitar part in "Under My Breath" and a blatant ripoff."

"Falling Down" quickly gained commercial success ... with over 20m plays on Spotify and over 21m views on YouTube. The single also hit No. 13 on Billboard's Hot 100.

The track ultimately landed on Lil Peep's second studio album, "Come Over When You're Sober, Pt. 2."

There's some weird timing here -- XXX was shot dead 5 days after Hoff dropped his track on Soundcloud. Lil Peep had already died following an overdose in November 2017 -- so, "Falling Down" was a posthumous hit for both rappers.

What's really odd is Hoff's lawsuit, for copyright infringement, is written like Peep and XXX are still alive. He's NOT suing their estates and refers to both of them in the current tense and says they're residents of California. Might be time for a Google search, Hoff.

Move over Travis Scott ... there's a new music superstar collabing with the Swoosh, 'cause Billie Eilish and Jordan Brand linked up and are about to drop brand new kicks.

The 19-year-old pop star revealed the retro Js on her feet in her IG post on Monday -- saying she's "SO excited" for the release.

"I’ve always loved @jumpman23 🥰," Eilish says, "and it was such an incredible and surreal experience getting to create these, especially in a sustainable fashion."

The new Eilish-Air Jordan collab is a lime green Air Jordan 1 KO -- that has her signature Blohsh logo on the tongue of the shoe.

There are also the Jordan 15s -- Eilish's favorite -- that will come in a tan shade.

The Grammy award-winning singer -- who's big on climate change and eco-friendly -- also announced that both pairs are "100% vegan with over 20% recycled material."

Of course, Billie isn't the first ultra-famous celeb to team up with Nike ... Scott and the brand have created some of the most coveted kicks in the sneaker game. The Scott Nike's have been sold on the secondary market for over $1k.

How will sneakerheads and music fans react to Eilish's sneakers? We'll soon find out.