TMZ Hip Hop - Page 22

Metro Boomin says the St. Louis storms that left 5 people dead and $1 billion in damage left him in a somber mood ... and the superproducer is taking initiative to get his hometown back to greatness!!!

Rodney Boyd, founder and partner with Nexus Group, tells TMZ Hip Hop that Metro immediately reached out to United Way of Greater St. Louis, and donated resources and that they were able to deploy food trucks into some of the most devastated areas on Sunday ... just hours after the storm hit.

Metro’s contribution to the United Way of Greater St. Louis not only funded efforts for big picture strategy, it also allowed first-responders to be fed, and assisted the hundreds who went days without power and water.

Diddy's twin daughters Jessie and D'Lila graduated from high school on Thursday ... and the family presented a unified front while the Bad Boy mogul fights for his life on trial!!!

The Combs twins recently conquered their prom and walked the stage at Sierra Canyon School in L.A. with hundreds of other students -- as Quincy, Justin, Christian, Chance and even Baby Love cheered them on!!!

Later, the fam bam celebrated at a home graduation party, where Justin blessed the twins with some new bling that will surely come in handy for their future career as biz owners and brand influencers.

Rapper Skilla Baby has been hospitalized after he was injured in a drive-by shooting ... which police are calling a "targeted attempt on his life."

Edward French, the lead investigator on the case for the Redford Township Police Department in Michigan, tells TMZ ... Skilla Baby -- whose real name is Trevon Gardner -- was driving alone in the 8 Mile and Beech Daly area of Detroit around 7 PM Thursday night.

French says the suspect's car pulled up alongside Skilla's vehicle and fired roughly 25 rounds ... causing the rapper to swerve off the road and crash into a commercial building. The impact left significant damage, creating a large hole that had to be boarded up.

Kid Cudi taking the stand in Diddy's trial has disgusted Young Thug ... who left a big breadcrumb indicating he thinks the "Day 'N' Nite" artist was snitching!!!

On Thursday evening, shortly after Cudi thanked his fans for supporting his "stressful" court appearance, Thug took to X and posted "Dam cudi a rat lol" -- before quickly deleting his diss.

Of course, screengrabs live forever on today's internet ... but it shouldn't be all that surprising Thug roasted Cudi's cooperation.

Jamie Foxx is once again addressing the wild conspiracy theory that Sean "Diddy" Combs tried to kill him in 2023 -- when he suffered a serious medical emergency he later confirmed was a stroke.

The actor and comedian spoke on the rumor during a Hollywood Reporter roundtable Thursday, confirming the disgraced music mogul -- who is currently in the middle of a sex trafficking and racketeering federal trial in NYC -- did not try to off him.

However ... he admitted he did "flip" over one theory -- that doctors were trying to clone him, but make him white, so he could "sell better overseas" -- while he was hopped up on a mix of doctor-prescribed drugs.

Diddy's defense team just entered a bunch of glamour shots of Cassie as evidence in the criminal trial ... and their point is her career wasn't hurt by the Diddy freak-offs, as Cassie and prosecutors have claimed.

Check out the photos ... Cassie's all glammed up doing photo shoots, working on music videos, going to events and rubbing elbows with major celebrities.

Diddy's defense is using the photos to rebut prosecutor's claims and some of Cassie's testimony ... where she said she spent all her time doing freak-offs and recovering from the sex romps that her career was stifled.

The second week of testimony in the Diddy trial is in the books ... and prosecutors continued to try and prove their racketeering case against Diddy, with the help of Kid Cudi.

Cudi took the stand Thursday and told the jury about a couple incidents from his 2011-12 love triangle with Cassie and Diddy ... including a break-in at his home and a Molotov cocktail dropped in his Porsche.

Kid Cudi said Diddy broke into his home and rummaged through his Christmas gifts after finding out he was dating Cassie ... and he said he was convinced Diddy had something to do with his Porsche getting torched too.

Remy Ma had plenty of time today to discuss her estranged husband Papoose and his GF Claressa Shields -- over 80 minutes of "shEther" to be exact!!!

The lengthy IG Live came before the microphone finished cooling off at "The Breakfast Club" where Shields admitted Pap needed to handle his beeswax  ... but still declared she there was zero "ill will" towards Remy, AKA "The Elephant in the Room!!!"

Well, Remy went full tusk echoing Claressa's comments ... while passively unloading on Pap, even quipping he's assumed the role of "wife" at one point.

Justin Bieber is one of the millions of fans ready to see Chris Brown rage on stage -- and gave him a warm welcome back on the 'Gram!!!

C. Breezy racked up over a million likes with his "first day out" post, a pic of him hopping off a private jet fresh from out of the slammer after he posted over $6 million in bail.

Biebz dropped into the comment section and wished him a "welcome home" under Chris' "Cook, remain humble" caption ... these pop megastars have been tight for years!!!

Suge Knight has no doubt Diddy would have shot at him if Diddy tracked him down at a famous restaurant in L.A. ... but his story will never be heard at Diddy's trial, even though it feels pretty important to the prosecution's case.

The former Death Row Records owner tells TMZ ... his rivalry with Diddy was so bad back in the day, Diddy would have had no choice but to use a gun if their paths ever crossed in public.

That almost happened back in 2008 at Mel's Drive-In ... because Diddy's former personal assistant testified this week he went to the famous diner to get cheeseburgers for Diddy, and bumped into Suge.

Nicole Brown Simpson's sister is making a bunch of comparisons between the trials of O.J. Simpson and Diddy ... and she sees a lot of similarities between her sister and Cassie.

Tanya Brown says the Diddy trial feels a lot like O.J.'s "Trial of the Century" ... mainly because of abuse allegations and the power dynamics of both couples.

Cassie gave four days of intense testimony last week in Diddy's federal racketeering and sex trafficking trial in NYC, and Tanya says folks following the case should not be quick to judge Cassie because they haven't walked in her shoes.

A former makeup artist for Diddy and Cassie just testified for the prosecution in Diddy's federal sex trafficking trial in NYC ... and she told the jury she saw injuries to Cassie's face after an altercation with Diddy following a Grammys party at Prince's house.

Mylah Morales says during Grammys weekend in 2010, she went to a party with Cassie at Prince's Los Angeles estate ... and then they went back to a hotel room. She says Diddy burst in and asked, "Where the f*** is she?"

Morales told jurors Diddy went into a room where Cassie was and shut the door ... and Morales said she heard screaming and yelling. She testified Diddy stormed out and then a "distraught" Cassie emerged with a swollen eye, busted lip and knots on her head.

Kid Cudi didn't let Diddy allegedly orchestrating the fire-bombing of his car ruin his love for Porsche ... judging from the cheeky song title he picked for his last album's lead single.

The hip hop star released the track "Porsche Topless" for his "Insano" album back in June 2023, over a decade after his convertible literally had its roof blown off by a Molotov cocktail.

At the time of its release, Cudi told listeners to envision “Imagine ur floating high up in the bright blue sky on a nice warm summer's day” ... clearly pushing down the bad memories of seeing his beloved car cooked extra crispy in his Hollywood Hills driveway.

Diddy's hotel reservations came with a few warnings ... because his booking profile carried a few notes attached to it -- mainly about messes he and his companions made in the room.

Frédéric Zemmour -- general manager of L’Ermitage Beverly Hills -- took the stand in Diddy's federal sex trafficking and racketeering trial in NYC Thursday, and he was asked about how Diddy booked rooms in the fashionable hotel over the years.

Zemmour explained the hotel uses a system called OPERA -- a software hotels can use to aggregate reservations, create loyalty programs and more -- and, he said one feature on it allows hotel employees to enter notes about specific guests.

Kid Cudi detailed the damage his Porsche sustained from a Molotov cocktail during his testimony in the Diddy trial -- an incident he thinks Diddy was involved in -- and now we're seeing some of what jurors were shown in court.

Photos of Kid Cudi's car fire aftermath were just entered as exhibits in the case ... and they appear to show what Kid Cudi testified about in terms of fire damage from a Molotov cocktail.

Cudi told jurors someone cut a hole in his Porsche's convertible top and dropped in the fire bomb ... and photos show a large opening in the soft top that appears to have been slashed open, and there looks to be some melted fabric.

Kid Cudi says Cassie played him like a fiddle during their 2011 fling.

The "Pursuit of Happiness" rapper testified Thursday in Diddy's federal criminal trial in NYC, and he talked a lot about his brief relationship with Cassie.

Cudi admitted he felt like he was played by Cassie when she told him things were over with Diddy ... only for her to get back with Diddy after they broke up.