TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Lil Tjay still has a lot of bumps in his road to recovery after Wednesday’s shooting ... TMZ Hip Hop has learned.

The platinum-selling rapper still remains unconscious in the hospital ... according to sources close to the situation. We're told he's scheduled for a CAT Scan and outside of moving his legs yesterday, he's made no other bodily movements.

TMZ Hip Hop broke the story -- NJ police say Tjay was shot multiple times by a man named Mohamed Konate, who was arrested -- but also admitted to a hospital with multiple gunshot wounds.

Prosecutors say hospital video shows someone leaving Konate on the ground outside a hospital.

The 2 men who were with Tjay at the time of the shooting were later arrested for second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon -- while Konate has been charged with 3 counts of first-degree attempted murder.

Tjay was gearing up to release his "Strictly4MyFans" EP this summer led by his "Lavish" freestyle -- but now his primary goal has to be making a full recovery.

Add Lil Wayne to the list of superstar rappers taking the stage for the 2022 BET Awards ... TMZ Hip Hop's learned he'll be performing Sunday.

Weezy F. Baby is a late addition to the award show's lineup, but you can expect nothing short of an uproar performance -- and it's a big treat for his fans after a few mishaps.

Wayne recently had to bow out of a couple of festival shows -- the Governor's Ball in NYC, and Strawberries & Cream Fest in the U.K.

But, now he'll bring his infinite bag of hits to the BET Awards.

The show will be live from the Microsoft Theater in L.A. ... where Taraji P. Henson will throw down as host, and Roddy Ricch, Jack Harlow, Lizzo, Chance the Rapper and many more will perform.

As for the actual trophies, Doja Cat leads all artists with 6 nominations ... followed by Drake and Ari Lennox, Kendrick Lamar and several others.

Kendrick Lamar sat in the front row of Louis Vuitton's Men’s Spring-Summer '23 Show in Paris this morning ... a point worth noting because he was performing at the same time!!!

The French fashion house rolled out all the stops for Men’s Fashion Week as K-Dot publicly debuted a couple of tracks from "Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers" -- "N95" and "Savior."

Speaking of being a savior, Kendrick rocked a crown of thorns -- similar to Jesus Christ's -- as he sat next to his manager Dave Free and belted out the tracks.

He could be still reveling in the fact he has the biggest rap release of the year.

K-Dot also improvised lyrics to dedicate portions of the show to the late Virgil Abloh ... who the hip hop community has been mourning since his passing last November.

As the first Black man to spearhead LVHM as artistic director, Virgil's creative vision directly inspired a wide range of rappers like Kanye, Migos, Tyler, the Creator and, obviously, Kendrick.

Calabasas moonwalkers Blueface and DDG are running pretty tight these days, making music and even cutting their teeth in the world of boxing.

We ran into the 2 rappers Wednesday in Los Angeles during what appears to be a music video shoot. They were pretty tight-lipped on the subject ... but told us to check back later.

What they did want to talk about -- or rather, vent about -- was DDG’s lack of a boxing opponent in the upcoming Social Gloves event at the Crypto.com Arena.

While the “Thotiana” rapper is scheduled to fight former Lakers champ Nick Young ... DDG has been left ass out after PnB Rock just bailed on their fight.

We can definitely see why DDG wants in on the action. During a Social Gloves event last year, he put in work on TikToker Nate Wyatt’s face — fresh off from splurging at the strip club the night earlier.

French Montana's good mood dampened Wednesday morning when news broke that Lil Tjay was shot and rushed to surgery ... a moment he tweeted about with passion.

We caught up with French in NYC, and Tjay was still on his mind. After all, the two earned a gold plaque (along with Blueface) in 2019 for French's song "Slide."

While French wished Tjay a speedy recovery, he also reinforced the message that rappers have the most "dangerous" job and all the love can often be thinly veiled hate.

On a positive note, we're told Tjay is out of surgery and beginning down the road to recovery ... a fact that'll help French sleep easier.

He's on the verge of dropping his new album "Montega" with Harry Fraud, a new wave of outside music that's approved by NYC Mayor Adams himself ... who just launched a crackdown on illegal dirt biking in the city.

French has no issues with the mayor's tactics on dirt biking -- but, politically, he draws the line on prosecutors using rap lyrics in court cases.

Rapper Lil Tjay is undergoing emergency surgery after being shot ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Tjay was shot just after midnight in Edgewater, NJ. We're told at the time of this post the rapper is in surgery. The extent of his wounds and his condition have not been revealed.

We're told there were 2 shooting sites -- one at a Chipotle Restaurant and another at a nearby Exxon Gas station.

The victim at the Chipotle restaurant was shot several times and the victim at the Exxon was shot once.

We do not know the identity of the second victim.

The suspect or suspects are still at large and police are on the hunt. So far, the motive is unknown.

The incident went down in the middle of the night Wednesday in Edgewater, New Jersey.

Flavor Flav is 63 years old and living a very busy life, courtesy of a very large crew of kids and grandkids -- which is why his energy in this clip is pretty shocking!

We caught up with the Public Enemy legend when he touched down at LAX ... fresh off his fantastic Father's Day and he had plenty of jewels to share about being in the lives of his 8 children.

According to Flav, being a present parent is the best gift any child could have, and he enjoys being an active dad for his brood. He really perked up when asked about his youngest, Jordan, who was confirmed to be his son last month.

Although he didn't catch up with him this last Father's Day, Flav has been spending invaluable time with the 3-year-old and he gave us some updates about the little guy's musical skills. Start 'em early!

We're told Flav and Jordan's mother already hammered out a child support agreement, and they're successfully co-parenting.

Drake’s new album, "Honestly, Nevermind" is getting doused with mixed reviews, and Irv Gotti is definitely seeing it as a glass-half-empty ... one that makes him think hip hop needs a new kinda icon.

We chopped it up Tuesday at LAX with the visionary behind Ja Rule and Ashanti's wave of hits, and while Irv emphasized Drake is a "great human being" ... he also took him to task for his dance record.

Irv's beef is basically that famous Spider-Man quote about great power and great responsibility -- he says Drizzy's too influential to sway so far from hip hop, and his dance vibes could be a killer blow to the culture.

He even pondered about going back to his A&R days to counter the dance boom by finding the next DMX … or some other hardcore rap equivalent.

With most of the rappers singing these days, those days are likely long gone so Irv's work may be cut out for him.

There's absolutely no question -- Travis Scott is getting on with his life -- selling out his Nike collab, hitting massive stages again ... and now whipping around in a $5.5 million ride.

We got photos of the rappers brand new Bugatti Veyron Chiron Super Sport Tuesday in Brentwood -- a vehicle with a starting price of around $3.5 million. We're told the one Travis received cost even more ... and considering there are only 30 made, calling it "rare" would be an understatement.

Travis also shared a photo from inside the whip while he sat in the driver's seat -- highlighting the blue interior.

Of course, Scott's still locked in litigation stemming from the 10 lives lost at Astroworld in November. While he's allowed to move on with his life, you gotta imagine the families behind the lawsuits will feel a certain kinda way about Travis' latest flashy purchase.

As we've told you ... Travis has maintained from the beginning he had no idea of how serious things were in the crowd while he performed and people were dying.

Maxim just dropped its annual Hottest Women's list ... and this year's mix of beauty and boldness within the entertainment industry includes several of hip hop's superstars.

Starring in the “Icons and Megastars” category is Nicki Minaj ... while Cardi B, Doja Cat and Megan Thee Stallion were featured in the "Sultry Songbirds" section. Saweetie pops up in the "Maxim Cover Girls" portion.

The categories seem kinda random, but you get the point -- the magazine's telling us some stuff we already knew ... these women are quite successful and attractive.

Other celebs included in the issue ... Rihanna, Olivia Rodrigo, Dua Lipa, Kylie Jenner, Zoë Kravitz and Zendaya.

The news should hopefully brighten Doja's day as she recovers from throat surgery ... a process that apparently requires rapping Nicki Minaj songs. Probably not on doctor's orders.

Black folks are pissed off and deeply traumatized by Nipsey Hussle's murder, with a new wave of emotions coming back up during his alleged murderer's trial ... so says Luenell.

The comedy vet chatted with Raquel Harper Tuesday on the 'It's Tricky' podcast. Luenell says she lives near the area where Nipsey was shot, and to drive by the spot almost daily feels like some sort of post-traumatic stress.

She also addressed Nip's alleged killer, Eric Holder, who is currently on trial, saying, "The Black community don't hate nobody as much as they hate Eric Holder's bitch ass."

She also says there are a lot of people praying, if convicted, Holder's placed in general population. Luenell doesn't spell it out, but her insinuation's clear ... inmates are ready to get revenge.

Holder's trial kicked off in L.A. last week, 3 years after Nipsey was killed, and we've already heard the grisly details from the day Holder allegedly pulled the trigger -- including his final words to Nipsey before the rapper died.

Luenell says she's at the point where she feels she needs to move away from Crenshaw, as the reminders throughout the neighborhood of what happened to Nip have become too much to handle.

She also sends her love to Lauren London, who has a son with Nipsey and was dating the rapper when he died. Luenell believes a part of Lauren died with Nipsey.

Wiz Khalifa's currently living large in a new spot not too far from his old one, which means he has an extra mansion on his hands ... but he's trying to change that.

We've just learned the Taylor Gang general is putting his former pad in Encino up for $4,495,000 -- which is $1 million more than he originally paid for the crib back in January 2019.

Seems like a steal of a deal for the next buyer ... the super-smart home features 6 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms, floor-to-ceiling glass doors and custom fireplaces. On the more exotic end of amenities, it's got a home movie theater, a waterfall, pool and a spa.

Alan Taylor of Compass and Brian Capossela with Cap Equity hold the listing.

Wiz is currently resting his head just a few miles up the street in a newly built $7.6 mansion.

The upgraded spot has a lot of the same features as his old place ... but he's added an extra guesthouse and a gym. We know how much Wiz loves his workouts.

Bobby Shmurda’s plans of having a Hot Boy 2.0 summer are being derailed … and he says it’s all because rap producers are too damn greedy.

On Tuesday, Bobby dropped a fiery rant venting about the current state of the rapper-to-producer business, and well ... business is NOT good from the rapper's perspective, at least.

It's a gross understatement to say he's pissed off -- watch the video, Shmurda is spitting-mad!!!

He says the issue is inflation, and as a newly independent artist … the budget-balancing falls on Bobby's shoulders.

He's complaining about the expensive clearance of samples, and he's also pointing an angry finger at producers -- saying they need to stop charging $8K-$10K just because they've attached multiple writers to a track.

If you remember … an excited Bobby chatted with us last month on "TMZ Hip Hop" and told us all about his plans to drop a sizzler EP soon … and then a star-studded album follow-up featuring Quavo, Rowdy Rebel, Fivio Foreign and more.

Twista knows gun violence is a huge issue in his hometown, and he believes educating the public about proper firearm usage can go a long way toward making the country safer.

The Chicago rap veteran joined "TMZ Live" Tuesday to discuss his firearm education course, "The Gun Camp," where he trains civilians to be smarter with weapons.

In the wake of the Buffalo and Ulvade mass shootings -- not to mention the continued spree of shootings in the Chi -- gun control and reform are once again front-burner debate topics ... but Twista's firmly embracing the "blame people, not guns" theory.

He repeated the oft-used line about it being the person behind the gun who ultimately makes fatal decisions.

As for the AR-15 -- which, according to polls, most Americans support banning -- Twista says there are many misconceptions about the rifle frequently used in mass shootings. He's optimistic that if people open up to the notion there can be positive ways to use firearms -- such as organized competitions -- they'll get past what he calls "negative vibes" portrayed in the news.

Of course, when the news is reporting, not portraying, a school shooting that takes the lives of 19 children ... it's hard to focus on anything uplifting.

Still, Twista says most of the response in Chicago to his Gun Camp has been positive, and he's leaning on the idea that law-abiding, safety-minded gun owners are a good thing for all communities.

Noted hip hop historian Tom Brady is naming his champion in a crowded sea of 2022 album releases, and for him it's ... Pusha T’s 'It’s Almost Dry!'

During a literal promo run for his Brady Brand “Run” apparel line, TB12 used Pusha and Kanye’s 'IAD' collaboration “Dreaming of the Past” as he jokingly bragged about being the fastest QB in the NFL.

Pusha got wind of the drop ... retweeted and got TB12 to cosign that ‘IAD’ was indeed Album Of The Year. In their book at least, anyway.

Released in April on Good Music and Def Jam, the album split production duties between Ye and Pharrell and features from JAY-Z, Lil Uzi Vert and Kid Cudi … who said it was his last time pairing with Ye … but that’s another story.

Push recently performed cuts at Pharrell’s Something In The Water Festival and reunited with brother Malice of the Clipse and Justin Timberlake.

TB12’s the football GOAT and if his music tastes are influencing his playing … then it’s probably safe to trust his ears. Unless you're lining up against him on Sundays.

Drake, and now Beyoncé too, are sending shockwaves through the music industry with new dance music releases ... which has Joe Budden and co. wondering if hip hop and R&B's days are numbered.

Frequent 'Joe Budden Podcast' caller Vince Staples was around to answer one of these questions when the crew asked him to weigh in on Drake's decision to drop an album that's pretty much rap-less. Vince stated the internet and especially social media are making the call on what trends/sells.

Basically, he says Drake's "Honestly, Nevermind" comes down to simple mathematics.

At the end of the day, Vince feels we should all just accept the end of musical genres and just embrace the experience. To hammer home his point, he referenced his 2017 album "Big Fish Theory" ... a project that stood out for its EDM sound, but didn't get anywhere near the same amount of love.

It's hard to deny Drake's latest W, even if it's not rap -- he has the biggest dance album of all time, with beats from Black Coffee, Gordo, RY X and more.