TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Travis Scott, Drake, Apple, Live Nation and others will now need to answer to a massive $750 million lawsuit brought against them by more than 125 fans, including the family of one who died at the festival.

The suit, filed by Houston attorney Tony Buzbee, is the first of others to come and places the blame on Travis and concert organizers for negligence in failing to properly plan the concert, train security personnel and host a safe event.

Among the plaintiffs is the family of Axel Acosta, a 21-year-old who was allegedly crushed by an "incited, unruly and out-of-control crowd with such force that he could no longer breathe."

As for the staggering $750 million, the lawsuit claims it's to cover both physical and mental health injuries as well as the loss of life.

Buzbee says, "No amount of money will ever make these Plaintiffs whole; no amount of money can restore human life. But, the damages sought in this case attempts to fix, help, or make up for the harms and losses suffered by these Plaintiffs -- nothing more and nothing less."

Travis and Live Nation offered refunds almost immediately to concertgoers, and the lawsuit addresses that offer, calling it, "... a transparent and grotesque effort of the Defendants to limit their liability, after the fact, to the families of those killed or injured."

As we reported ... 10 people have now lost their lives as a result of the Astroworld Festival -- the most recent was a 9-year-old boy.

Law enforcement continues to investigate what caused the deaths, but those in the audience say a crowd crush trapped, trampled and suffocated fans.

It's now clearer why DaBaby was recording DaniLeigh while they argued -- cops who responded to his home say she assaulted him ... on Sunday, and then again on Monday morning.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg PD says DaniLeigh was charged with 2 counts of simple assault after officers made 2 visits to the rapper's home. The first came on Sunday night ... after DaBaby had gone live on IG, showing DaniLeigh as she was feeding their 3-month-old child. Cops say DaBaby accused the singer of striking him, but police left without making an arrest.

That changed though when they went back to the house on Monday around 9:30 AM, responding to DaBaby's second claim of domestic abuse. This time, cops say their investigation found enough evidence to cite her for 2 misdemeanor assaults -- one for Monday and Sunday's alleged incidents.

During the Sunday night incident, DaBaby said, "I gotta record you for my safety. You ain't fitting to bring this Black man down."

It would appear the alleged assault had already happened, and DaBaby was recording DaniLeigh out of fear she might claim he had hit her.

On Monday, he posted a video seemingly accusing her of using their baby for Internet clout. He never mentioned anything about her allegedly hitting him. He did, however, vow to take care of their child ... despite all the drama between DaniLeigh and himself.

Travis Scott's latest Nike collab won't be hitting the shelves anytime soon -- the Swoosh has decided to postpone the "Air Max 1 x Cactus Jack" release due to the Astroworld festival tragedy.

The Baroque Brown kicks were slated to go live on December 16 at 7 AM ... but just minutes ago, Nike announced it will not go through with the drop.

"Out of respect for everyone impacted by the tragic events at the Astroworld Festival, we are postponing the launch of the Air Max 1 x Cactus Jack," Nike said Monday.

The decision comes as 9-year-old Ezra Blount became the 10th concertgoer to lose their life as a result of the chaos at Astroworld.

As we previously reported, the Houston Rockets also scrapped a promotional event featuring Scott last week -- replacing "Travis Scott Night" with a moment of silence for the victims.

On top of that, Fortnite elected to remove the Travis Scott emote from its game.

The 9-year-old boy who was trampled at Astroworld Fest and left fighting for his life has sadly died from his injuries -- making him the 10th death from the festival.

Ezra Blount passed away Sunday at Texas Children's Hospital, after being on life support since Friday, November 5, when he was among the hundreds who were injured during Travis Scott's headlining show.

The family's attorney, Ben Crump, tells TMZ, "The Blount family tonight is grieving the incomprehensible loss of their precious young son. This should not have been the outcome of taking their son to a concert, what should have been a joyful celebration. Ezra's death is absolutely heartbreaking. We are committed to seeking answers and justice for the Blount family. But tonight we stand in solidarity with the family, in grief, and in prayer."

The kid was in attendance with his father, who's reported to have lifted his son up onto his shoulders once the crowd surge became unbearable. Unfortunately, Ezra's father passed out during the ordeal ... leaving young Ezra to fall to the ground during the chaos ... and be subjected to being crushed on by the panicked crowd around them.

He sustained serious bodily harm -- ones that left him with severe swelling of the brain and internal bleeding ... and since then, his family has been hoping he'd be able to recover.

Ezra's grandfather gave a heartbreaking interview to ABC13 in Houston ... recounting his son and grandson's harrowing experience at the festival. He didn't seem to lay much blame at Travis' feet, per se -- but rather, said police and security should've stepped in.

Like we said ... Ezra had been hospitalized since the horrific event, and was eventually placed in a medically induced coma -- with the hope that he would be able to heal enough to gain consciousness again ... but that never happened.

As we reported ... civil rights attorney Ben Crump was hired by the family and already filed a lawsuit alleging negligence on the parts of multiple parties -- including Travis himself, Live Nation and others involved in organizing the festival.

Crump said, "This young child and his family will face life-altering trauma from this day forward, a reality that nobody expects when they buy concert tickets."

DaBaby booted his baby mama from his house while she was trying to feed their infant child -- or at least he tried to -- before calling the cops in a nasty fight captured on video.

The rapper filmed part of some sort of altercation Sunday between himself and singer DaniLeigh -- whom he's been seeing on and off for the past handful of years ... and whom he now shares a daughter with, who was born in August.

Unclear what exactly led up to all this ... but at some point in the night, DB started filming DL trying to nurse the kid while in bed, and seemed to be aggravating to the new mother.

DaniLeigh told him to stop, and even tried putting a pillow up between them ... which DaBaby seems to swipe away so she can be in view of the camera. Eventually, DaniLeigh took over from her phone -- and it shows the cops had been called -- apparently at DB's behest.

DaniLeigh goes on an emotional rant -- saying she's getting kicked out of DaBaby's house in North Carolina ... noting she has nowhere to go, but that she'll figure it out.

For DaBaby's part, he tried explaining what was up in a lengthy statement on IG ... which was mostly rambling. But, the gist (from what we can gather) is that he's claiming he's the victim here -- and that DaniLeigh was beating on him and chasing him, like something out of "Fatal Attraction." He says he started filming her for his own protection.

DL was a little more coherent in her own remarks ... saying she's been living with DaBaby since having their kid a few months ago -- and that he randomly asked her to scram last night ... for what she perceives was him wanting to bang another chick.

Rapper Polo G could soon be off the hook for allegedly beating the crap out of a Miami cop, because the bulk of the charges against him are now dropped.

Prosecutors tossed 2 felony charges against Polo -- battery of a police officer and threatening a public servant, according to online court records and a rep for the Miami-Dade State Attorney.

Polo's misdemeanor charge for criminal mischief was dropped too ... we're told prosecutors found insufficient evidence to move forward with their case on all 3 of those charges.

TMZ broke the story ... Polo G was arrested for allegedly attacking a cop during a traffic stop back in June.

The rapper's still facing 2 charges for resisting an officer, but they're misdemeanors -- and there's still a path for him to get those dropped too.

Kanye West is seeing double -- and so are the people of NYC, it seems, after an army of would-be clones took to the streets ... in what appears to be a tease of new music to come.

On Saturday night, a good dozen or more people were spotted near Union Square and the surrounding area -- and all of them were rocking a matching outfit that Ye himself wore a few weeks ago ... the black Gap Round jacket and the skin-colored full face mask and cap.

They did not have his Balenciaga rain boots on -- swapping those for Balenciaga dad sneakers instead -- but there's no question they were paying homage to KW's look.

As for what they did ... nothing really. Different videos and photos show them just milling about the area, minding their business in unison. Eventually, though, they did start to parade down the sidewalks together ... walking as one big Kanye clone troupe, as it were.

Nobody really said anything or explained why they were out there ... in what clearly seems to be a concerted effort of some kind. Some folks have a good hunch, though, as to the meaning behind all this -- and it may have to do with his "DONDA" album.

Fact is ... Ye has been teasing a re-release of late, with billboards springing up in major cities, promoting what may turn into another listening event -- similar to what he held down in Atlanta before dropping the highly-anticipated record.

So, he certainly appears to be up to something. With all that said, it wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility that this 'Ye' clone thing is a publicity stunt to get buzz for the newest drop, which would presumably have new mixes and/or all-new tracks entirely.

Ye has gone by a lot of nicknames throughout his career, but none have stuck quite like "Yeezy" ... and now the man who created it is naming his price for the moniker that made Kanye billions.

Philly rapper Beanie Sigel is the man Ye recently credited for the Yeezy handle ... shouting him out in a "Drink Champs" interview, and saying he's been trying for years to pay Sigel a lump sum of cash for the name.

We caught up with Beanie and former Rocafella artist Young Chris ... Beanie tells us the "Yeezy" name itself is only a tiny fraction of the brand Kanye has created ... and it's Kanye's genius and work ethic that turned the nickname into a multi-billion dollar brand. Sigel says he doesn't want Ye's money, but he'd love it if Ye could help him out in a business deal.

As for why ... Beanie says all he needs is a starter, and from there he'll work to build his own empire. You can tell it's nothing but love between the old friends.

We're told previous reports that Kanye had offered Beanie $50 million and stock options were simply based on a joke Beanie told in a club, and there was no truth to it.

Travis Scott has locked himself away in his Houston home, still devastated by the events that took place one week ago ... according to his attorney.

Ed McPherson joined "TMZ Live" Friday to talk about Travis and what happened at Astroworld. While McPherson says there's still a lot of work to be done in terms of the investigation, he remains adamant Travis had no clue as to the dire circumstances -- 8 people dead -- continued to perform.

McPherson tells us Travis is devastated, especially because the tragedy happened in his hometown of Houston, and he has not left his home there since.

Travis was supposed to perform in Vegas this weekend -- a show he's since canceled -- and a petition is growing online to stop his headline event at Coachella next Spring.

Ed says performing is the last thing on Travis' mind right now. He wants to give the families of the victims time to grieve, and has set up an email account through his team for them to reach out to him when they're ready. He's promised to pay funeral costs for the 9 people who died as a result of the show.

Travis Scott and his team were oblivious to the mass casualties in the crowd at his show while he continued to perform, so says his attorney, who claims emergency workers never relayed the message ... and Travis didn't know the scope of what happened until the next day.

Ed McPherson was on 'GMA' Friday, saying there's still a lot to do in investigating exactly what went wrong last week, but he insists his client was in the dark.

McPherson says Travis was clueless about the calamity in the crowd because he had an earpiece blaring music, blinding lights and no one gave him a heads up. As we reported, Travis even left after the concert and hit up Dave & Busters for an afterparty ... unaware that people had died and hundreds were injured.

McPherson points out the now-viral video of Travis stopping the show to get a fan help who had passed out. He also says it was hard for Travis to determine that at one point there was an ambulance in the crowd ... saying it looked more like a golf cart with lights.

When pushed as to whether or not Travis was inciting his audience to get aggressive by telling them to "rage" -- a phrase he's used for years -- McPherson says that was simply Travis trying to get his crowd into the show and have a good time.

TMZ broke the story, Houston cops were seen taking photos and videos while Travis performed 25 mins after the event was considered a "mass casualty event." McPherson says this is further evidence Travis didn't have a clue what was happening. The lawyer points out, if the cops didn't know ... how could Travis?

On Thursday, 22-year-old Bharti Shahani succumbed to her injuries suffered during the show, she was allegedly trampled during a crowd crush, suffering multiple heart attacks and being declared brain dead.

Travis Scott was more concerned with his own safety than that of his fans, and the tragedy at Astroworld should have never happened ... so says an attorney repping one of the victims.

Attorney Tony Buzbee, who is repping the family of Axel Acosta, tells TMZ ... all signs are pointing to Travis and the rest of the festival lineup going to great lengths to protect themselves from the crowd, and not putting nearly enough resources into crowd safety.

Buzbee says Axel traveled all the way from Washington to see the Houston festival and loved Travis, but the feelings were clearly not mutual, because the 21-year-old is one of 9 who perished from injuries suffered at the concert.

The way Tony sees it ... Travis and other artists are full of it when they say they love their fans, because if they really did, they would implement better safety measures at shows. Especially when they're massive 50,000-fan events like Astroworld was.

While Buzbee says he's not singling out Travis from the festival lineup, which also included Drake, watch the clip ... he clearly seems to be laying blame at the feet of the headliner.

TMZ broke the story ... Travis vowed to cover funeral costs for families of the people who died at the show, and provide mental health services to anyone impacted by the events.

Buzbee thinks that's a hollow offer -- he says the Acosta family has not heard a peep from Travis' camp and isn't expecting to get any money for Axel's upcoming funeral.

Travis' camp tells us they have been "actively exploring routes of connection with each and every family affected by the tragedy through the appropriate liaisons" ... adding families of the victims can reach out to them directly too.

Meanwhile, Buzbee is conducting his own investigation, and claims police requested full riot equipment before Astroworld's gates even opened Friday morning -- and by 10 AM cops admitted they had no control ... even with an extra 300 officers coming in to boost the overall number to 500.

Soulja Boy says fans should be more aware of their surroundings the next time they're at a crowded concert like Astroworld ... but it's also on organizers to create a safe environment.

We got the rapper in NYC on Thursday and asked him what artists are doing to prevent another deadly scene like the one we saw in Houston from happening again.

Soulja says it will take a collective effort to prevent another tragedy ... telling us it's also up to fans to enjoy themselves without getting too wild and making sure they know what's going on around them.

As you know ... the death toll from the Travis Scott show now stands at 9.

SB says people can get caught up in the concert, especially when they all have their phones out, and that's when bad things can happen.

But it's not just up to the fans ... Soulja says venues and promoters need to take the proper precautions for everyone's safety, no matter if it's looked at as an inconvenience. Interestingly, he did not mention the responsibility of the artist.

First responders were desperate to get Travis Scott fans help, even calling for the show to end in order to help those needing serious medical attention ... and you can hear the urgency in their radio communications that night.

Several audio clips have surfaced online of Houston Police officers and other medical personnel addressing the issues of crowd crushing, fans passing out and even structural issues during Scott's performance. Things are clearly dire, as one voice says, "... folks are coming out of the crowd complaining of difficulty breathing."

During another radio transmission, emergency workers can be heard saying, "... a lot of people trampled and passed out at the front of the stage."

While the audio doesn't make it clear exactly what time all of this was happening, one thing is certain ... authorities knew things were bad. In fact, at one point they flat out say, "They have to stop the show because there's people trampled and (inaudible) not breathing."

Of course, the major question now -- apart from how 9 people died -- is where the communication broke down between emergency responders and show organizers.

TMZ broke the story, Houston PD officers were spotted taking cellphone video and photos of Travis and Drake as the rappers hyped up the crowd.

According to the timestamps, the officers were seen calmly watching Travis perform between 9:57 PM and 10:02 PM.

22-year-old Bharti Shahani has died ... making her the 9th casualty from Travis Scott's Astroworld Festival.

Shahani, who was a senior at Texas A&M University passed away Thursday after injuries sustained at the event Friday night in Houston ... according to a family attorney.

As we had reported, Shahani had previously been declared brain dead, and was on a ventilator. She had gone to Astroworld with her sister and cousin, but the two got separated during a crowd surge. Bharti had reportedly suffered several heart attacks after the crowd crush and was rushed to a local hospital.

In an emotional press conference Thursday, a rep for Bharti's family confirmed she was the woman in a video -- obtained by TMZ -- that was dropped on her head as she was carried out by first responders. The rep says they want justice for Bharti and her family ... and for whoever put profits over safety to be held accountable.

Bharti marks the latest victim in the tragedy, and it's possible more could come. As we reported, 9-year-old Ezra Blount is still hospitalized and fighting for his life. His family, with the help of civil rights attorney, Ben Crump, sued Travis and Live Nation for injuries they say were caused when Ezra was trampled.

Travis has vowed to pay for the funeral costs of the show's victims and to provide mental health services to those impacted by the events.

A rep for Travis tells us, "Over the last week, Travis Scott and his team have been actively exploring routes of connection with each and every family affected by the tragedy through the appropriate liaisons. He is distraught by the situation and desperately wishes to share his condolences and provide aid to them as soon as possible, but wants to remain respectful of each family’s wishes on how they'd best like to be connected."

There's a full-court press on for Drake and Kanye West to make peace, and a key player in the negotiations is raising fans' hopes with an interesting photo ... but TMZ's learned it's not exactly what it seems.

As you know, Ye made a video plea this week -- with Rap-A-Lot Records founder J. Prince by his side -- for Drake to join him on stage for a concert to support freeing Larry Hoover. Drake's yet to respond, but Wednesday night Larry Hoover Jr. posted pics of himself meeting with Drizzy and J. Prince.

You get why folks would think Drake's moving closer to accepting Ye's offer -- and maybe he is -- but the photos aren't evidence of that. That's because LH Jr.'s camp tells TMZ they were taken a couple of months ago.

During the meeting, we're told they did talk to Drake about supporting the movement to get Larry Hoover released from prison ... but it was long before Ye extended his offer for unity.

ICYMI, Ye's plan is for Drizzy and himself to squash their longstanding feud and come together onstage in L.A. for a December 7 benefit concert in Hoover's honor.

If you're unfamiliar ... Hoover is the former head of a major gang in Chicago, the Gangster Disciples, who was convicted for a murder back in the '70s, and sentenced to 6 life sentences. Many feel he's done more than enough time for his crime, and have been lobbying for his release.

Hoover Jr. doubled down on Ye's video while speaking to TMZ this week ... imploring Drake to do the concert.

The family of one of the deceased victims from Astroworld Fest is aiming to set up a scholarship in their loved one's name -- but not before taking Travis Scott to court first.

Rudy Peña was one of the 8 people who died Friday during the concert, and his family has plans to get a fund going in his honor to continue his legacy -- and are hoping to do so at the college he was attending ... so says their attorney, Rosendo Almaraz.

He tells us Rudy's family wants to set up a scholarship at Laredo College, where Rudy was a student ... studying to become a Border Patrol agent via a criminal justice major. Nothing's set in stone yet though ... but we're told that's their intention.

As for what will fund the scholarship they hope to create ... it'd be leftover money from the $34k they raised via a GoFundMe for Rudy. We're told some of that money is going toward funeral costs, and the rest will be earmarked for the scholarship fund -- around $20k.

BTW, you read that correctly ... the Peña family is already burying their son, and they're doing it without the help of Travis because they say they haven't heard from him ... and aren't holding their breath.

Of course, he said he'd cover the funeral expenses of those who perished -- but the Peñas insist they're paying for everything themselves ... and aren't expecting or waiting for any help.

We're told no official cause of death is in for Rudy just yet -- whose body was just released to his family -- Almaraz says he appears to have been trampled badly.

One last thing ... the Peña family has filed their own lawsuit already, and they have named Travis as a defendant. They're alleging negligence and gross negligence directly contributed to Rudy's death that night.