TMZ Hip Hop - Page 11

Nicki Minaj's stinging lyrics for Jay-Z's NFL decisions are running up the wrong side of the field, so says Memphis Bleek.

According to Jay's first musical protégé, Nicki and Lil Wayne should embrace the positioning Roc Nation has with the league -- and maybe good things will happen!!!

TMZ Hip Hop recently linked with Bleek in the NYC streets and the Brooklyn rapper rattled off plenty of soundbites, including Damon Dash's latest jab at his artistry.

Ice Spice's father, Joseph Gaston, patted himself on the back for birthing a platinum-selling rapper on Father's Day ... only for the internet to inform him he resembles one himself -- LL Cool J!!!

Joe posted a pic of himself and the "Princess Diana" rapper together Sunday, captioning the photo ... "I became a father on Jan. 1st, 2000 ... God blessed me with a Princess, proud pops."

Fans and lurkers showed how unserious they could be, bombarding Joe with LL Cool J jokes ... even adding comparisons to "That's So Raven" actor Rondell Sheridan and rogue killer cop Christopher Dorner for good measure!!!

GloRilla's "Rain On Me" track is the best gospel song of the year, according to the BET Awards ... darn near blasphemy if you ask Christian music vet, Deitrick Haddon.

The gospel singer tells TMZ Hip Hop Glo is a go for his household  ... let the Bible verse Psalm 150:6 be his guide.

But he's adamant he had to draw the line -- even if the commentary came off as hating when it comes to receiving a "Dr. Bobby Jones Best Gospel/Inspirational Award."

Drake was none too happy after Canadian politician Jagmeet Singh was spotted at Kendrick Lamar and SZA's 2nd Toronto tour date, and Drake blasted him with a diss ... whose side are you on, you "goof"???

The diss came via Instagram DM and was made public after Drake posted it to his stories ... the two Canucks followed each other back in 2019, but had limited interactions over the years.

Singh, the city's former New Democratic Party leader, quickly apologized -- and threw the Compton visitor under the bus ... "I went for SZA, not Kendrick. I was born in this city. I love this city. But real talk, I get it, I shouldn’t have gone at all. OVO and Drake have lifted up this city ... For me, it’ll always be Drake over Kendrick.”

Diddy's trial is on the verge of another jury shakeup due to one of them getting a strange text message that's left the judge with concerns this juror is talking about the case outside of court.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ the juror alerted the court on Friday about the text message, from a phone number he didn't recognize, asking him if HE was Juror No. 6 -- who'd already been in the news as someone Judge Arun Subramanian might dismiss.

We're told this other juror wanted the judge to know about the mystery text and, indeed, Judge Subramanian did have lots of questions for him about the message and the phone number from which it came.

On the 24th day of Sean "Diddy" Combs' federal racketeering and sex trafficking trial in NYC, a paralegal specialist took the stand to testify about evidence showing the travel arrangements for participants in alleged "freak-offs."

Ananya Sankar is asked about a December 2019 message from Kristina Khorram -- Diddy's former chief of staff -- in response to Ryan Lopez, a former Diddy assistant, who texts KK about spotting a male escort -- who he calls "one of the cowboys" -- in a hotel lobby, which KK replies with four "laughing" emojis, and the message "how long is he going to stay awake?"

The prosecution plays an audio file in court they say was recorded on January 30, 2023 ... and Sankar is asked to read transcripts back and forth of a conversation between Khorram and another former assistant, Dave Shirley, about a trip to a Four Seasons hotel location. KK writes, "Heads up, he's about to do wild king tonight." Dave Shirley responds about picking up some money ... and says he needs "to reup on baby oil."

Diddy's federal jury in NYC is bringing in an alternate ... because a juror has just been dismissed by the judge after hearing more than three weeks of testimony.

Judge Arun Subramanian dismissed Juror Number 6 Monday morning after hearing arguments from the prosecution and the defense regarding where the juror lives.

While the jury was out of the room Friday, the judge explained he went back to the voir dire portion of the trial and found this juror had said at different times that he lives in the Bronx, at other times in New Jersey.

Diddy's accusing the prosecutors in his case of trying to get rid of a Black juror ... and, he says he wants a mistrial if the judge goes through with the dismissal.

The rapper's legal team filed a letter to Judge Arun Subramanian Sunday evening ... claiming that -- while the Court might believe the prosecution's questions about a juror's inconsistent answers during voir dire are sincere -- the government is just finding pretense to dismiss a juror because of their race.

Diddy's team says by putting the dismissal attempt into the context of the overarching proceedings, it's easy to see that they're trying "to take advantage of an opportunity to strike yet another black male from the jury."

Judge Mathis isn't going to show up to Diddy's trial and support him ... but, he says those he's close to should -- though he's also questioning Kanye West's reason for making an appearance this week.

We caught up with the TV star Saturday in Los Angeles on the world-famous Rodeo Drive ... and, we had to ask him if he thought Kanye showing up to Diddy's trial Friday would make an impact.

Remember ... Kanye pulled up to the federal courthouse in Manhattan Friday, but he never actually made it into the courtroom. Instead, officials actually opened up a secondary overflow room just for him to watch the trial on a monitor.

Luigi Mangione, Diddy and Sam Bankman-Fried walk into the same prison ... yes, this has happened IRL, but it's also the premise of a new musical that has premiered in San Francisco!

"Luigi: The Musical" premiered at the Taylor Street Theater in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Fran this Friday, and get this -- the show was sold out!

Luigi is the star of the musical -- which makes sense, 'cause the satirical comedy discusses the theme of violence and how it's sensationalized by the media. Not pointing any fingers, of course!

Diddy's trial got the whole courtroom buzzing Friday ... but, it had nothing to do with testimony -- it was all about the arrival of another music legend.

Kanye West showed up at Friday morning ... drawing a tons of eyes -- and quite a few cameras -- as he dapped up Diddy's son Christian on the way into the courtroom.

However, Ye left the trial after only about 10 minutes ... even though court officials opened up a whole other overflow room just for him to watch the proceedings.

9:17 AM PT -- We now have new information on Kanye's shocking appearance ... with court officials telling us they had rows ready for him in the regular overflow room -- but the room became very crowded before he got there.

To accommodate him, the court opened a second overflow room ... where he sat for about 10 minutes before he bounced.

9:04 AM PT -- Kanye definitely knows how to make an entrance ... and, a very quick exit, too -- 'cause he left Diddy's trial after only about half an hour.

Kanye West's comments about supporting Diddy during his federal sex trafficking trial weren't just empty words ... 'cause he just showed up at court to support the embattled mogul.

Our cameras were rolling when Ye arrived at the federal courthouse in Manhattan Friday ... hopping out of a black car in an all-white outfit.

He shook hands with a couple people out front, then headed toward the security check-in, but, before he got to the door, he ran into Christian Combs -- Diddy's son -- dapping him up on the way in.

Diddy's ex-assistant says his boss was like a hungry bear during the "freak-offs" ... 'cause he says he needed to have a special snack at the ready meant to increase libido -- a whole lot of honey.

Jonathan Perez -- Diddy's assistant from December 2021 until he was arrested in September 2024 -- took the stand Friday and described setting up rooms for what he and Diddy's staff called "king nights" ... another term for the infamous freak-offs.

Perez says the point of setting up the rooms was to make sure Diddy had whatever he needed for 12 to 24 hours without having to bother anyone ... this included gathering food, liquor, music, red lights, condoms and lubricant.

The 23rd day of testimony in the federal racketeering and sex trafficking trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs in NYC began with testimony from a law enforcement agent who conducted the raid on the disgraced music mogul's L.A. estate in 2024.

Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Andre LaMon took the stand and answered questions from the prosecution first ... he said he works in the L.A. office of the Human Trafficking Unit, and has executed as many as 50 to 60 search warrants during his career.

LaMon was asked about photos of evidence seized in a raid on Diddy's L.A. estate last year, which were shown to the jury. LaMon testified agents found a total of 200 bottles of baby oil, along with 900 bottles of Astroglide, in various locations at the residence, and some lingerie.

Kanye West, one of Sean "Diddy" Combs' only remaining celeb supporters, is in NYC ... opening the door to the possibility he'll head to federal court to back his guy.

Ye and his wife Bianca left an event Thursday evening in the Big Apple -- he was rocking white denim from head to toe, while the missus was back in black ... matching trench coat and stiletto-heeled boots.

Normally, he's dressed more casually and she's, well ... nearly naked. We're told they had attended a graduation ceremony -- hence, the upgraded fits.

Diddy's ex-girlfriend has finished her testimony ... providing more details about her alleged fight with Diddy, and the party she attended that she says made him angry.

"Jane" took the stand again Thursday to shed more light on the physical altercation she says occurred between herself and the music mogul back in June 2024.

Remember, Jane testified earlier this week about an incident where she says she pushed his head into a marble counter and threw candles at him before hiding behind several locked doors -- all of which she alleges he kicked in.