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Bobby Ramirez -- best known as rapper DTTX from A Lighter Shade of Brown -- died Monday afternoon after lying in a coma for 11 days.

Ramirez was found unresponsive July 7th on a scorching Vegas street. His family tells us when paramedics found him, his body temperature was 107 degrees and he had severe burns.

Ramirez was taken to a nearby hospital and placed on life support.

Ramirez' family tells us the 46-year-old had battled the bottle for years ... but they believe his death was due to cardiac arrest and heat stroke.

Ramirez grew up in Riverside, CA before teaming up with fellow rapper ODM in the 90's to form A Lighter Shade of Brown. The duo made several successful albums, including "Brown & Proud."

#RIP

Ice Cube refuses to stop performing N.W.A.'s legendary anti-police anthem -- despite all the recent shootings of police officers -- and his reasoning is pretty simple.

"F*** tha Police" caused a ton of trouble for Cube and N.W.A. when it was released in 1988 ... but after the attacks on cops in Dallas and Baton Rouge, we asked Cube if it would come off his playlist ... at least for now.

Remember, the track includes lyrics like ... "I'm a sniper with a hell of a scope. Taking out a cop or two, they can't cope with me."

Brandy claims the contract she signed with Chameleon Entertainment is like a ball and chain, and she has filed a lawsuit to break the shackles.

The singer has been signed to the record label since 2011 and claims in the lawsuit they promised her hundreds of thousands of dollars in production costs to make her albums. Brandy says that didn't happen after the first album.

Brandy claims the label actually tried to prevent her from recording and releasing new music, which she says put her career in jeopardy.

According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, the record label tried to pressure her into giving up her non-recording avenues of including concerts and Broadway shows.

Brandy's lawyer says in the lawsuit, "Brandy Norwood's story is 'Kesha Redux, but without the sex." As you know, Kesha also referred to her contract as slavery.

Brandy filed a similar lawsuit in L.A. back in March ... the latest lawsuit was filed in NYC.

Will.i.am put together a "We Are the World" type project involving Snoop Dogg, and it's a direct response to the national crisis over police shootings and police brutality.

The song is a remix of the Black Eyed Peas' huge 2003 hit, "Where Is the Love?"

Sources connected to the project tell us Will decided this was the perfect time because of what's happened in Baton Rouge, Minnesota, Dallas and other cities across the country.

We're told Snoop is rapping on the track, and several other artists are contributing too. Right now they're shooting a music video. It's unclear when the song will drop.

Quick refresher on the lyrics -- they're as relevant as ever ...

An axe-wielding madman attacked a German passenger train -- and more than 20 people were injured ... and several could die.

The horrifying scene played out aboard a train outside the city of Wurzburg. The train line was immediately shut down ... and police responded on foot and with helicopters above.

Police reportedly shot and killed the suspect -- a 17-year-old, originally from Afghanistan -- as he was trying to flee from the train.

At least 3 of the victims are battling life threatening injuries.

Taylor Swift is thinking about filing a crime report against Kanye West for illegally recording their phone conversation, and against Kim Kardashian for publicly releasing the audio ... TMZ has learned.

Sources familiar with the situation tell us Taylor is undecided and is trying to think through the consequences of filing a police report.

TMZ broke the story ... when Taylor's team found out about the recording, her lawyer fired off a letter to Kanye's attorney, threatening legal action and notifying him the recording was a criminal violation ... punishable as a felony.

We're told Kanye made the recording in the L.A. area -- and in California, a party to a phone conversation cannot record it unless all parties agree. Taylor had no idea she was being recorded.

NeNe Leakes' streak on "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" is finally coming to an end ... at least based on what's NOT been going on during season 9 tapings.

TMZ has learned they've been shooting for weeks now, and NeNe is nowhere in sight.

It seemed like she was possibly coming back to the main cast after being named a guest last season. She's been busy with a HSN clothing line, one woman tour, new game show and a stint on "Fashion Police."

Our 'RHOA' sources tell us producers have added at least one new cast member, and NeNe -- the only remaining OG ATL housewife -- doesn't look to be part of plans going forward.

We're told "guest appearances" are always a possibility, but as of now producers aren't counting on having NeNe.

We suspect Kim Zolciak might have 2 little words for her ole frenemy ...

Lady Gaga looked surprisingly comfortable with a solid and snug wedgie as she lounged poolside in Cabo.

Diane Kruger and Joshua Jackson are saying deuces to their 10 year relationship.

Reps for both confirmed the split to TMZ. It's kinda odd timing -- the "Inglourious Basterds" star celebrated her 40th birthday over the weekend ... reportedly with Joshua.

The longtime couple shared a home in NYC. No word on who's moving out.

Boxing great Sugar Ray Leonard is standing shoulder to shoulder with the men and women in blue.

Sugar Ray was catching a flight on Monday, and made a point of stopping to take a pic with 3 LAX police officers ... one of whom was heavily armed.

The current tensions over police brutality and police shootings were, no doubt, on Ray's mind and the cops' as well.

Taylor Swift is out of hiding ... she has erased her alter ego Nils Sjoberg from Calvin Harris' hit.

TMZ broke the story ... Swift used the pseudonym for "This is What You Came For" to keep the focus on the song and not her relationship with Harris. But now that they've declared war on each other and the cat's out of the bag, the credit has officially changed.

Swift changed the name on BMI, which protects licenses for songwriters. Swift is now listed as a co-writer, along with Calvin.

It's unclear if the change is a prelude to a bigger, possibly legal fight.

It's easy to objectify the biggest star of the Pac-12 ... especially when he has a 12-pack.

Here's Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey -- a 2016 Heisman favorite -- going topless backstage at a college football media event in Los Angeles on Friday.

Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne are together again ... or so it seems.

Sharon and Ozzy went out for a stroll over the weekend in L.A. Last time we saw them together she was sporting a wide grin at one of his concerts in the U.K.

That smile could've been about business -- she's still his manager -- but this time there's no music, and for what it's worth ... Sharon continues to smile.

Taylor Swift threatened Kanye West with criminal prosecution months ago for secretly recording her phone conversation with him ... TMZ has learned.

TMZ has a copy of a letter Taylor's lawyer sent to Kanye's attorney back in February. The lawyer made it clear, under California law, anyone who secretly records a telephone conversation with someone in the state commits a criminal offense ... and it's a felony.

A source with direct knowledge of the conversation told TMZ it was recorded in an L.A.-area studio.

The letter threatens ... "Demand is hereby made that you immediately destroy all such recordings, provide us of assurance that this has been done, and also assurance that these recordings have not been previously disseminated."

Finally, Taylor also has the right to file a lawsuit against Kim and Kanye for violating the law.

Stay tuned.

Now they've got Justin Bieber too.

He was just another "Pokemon Go" player in the crowd outside the Apple Store in NYC Sunday night.

Sure, JB could have opted to rest up before his Monday night gig at Madison Square Garden, but dude -- there was a very rare Hypno Pokemon in the area!

Witnesses say Justin was running out of Central Park with a pack of other players trying to catch ole Hypno.

As hobbies go -- it beats hanging out in trees.