TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

The crowd at Kushstock did exactly what they wanted to do -- get super stoned -- because one of the acts swapped out a simple fog machine for weed smoke that got blasted into the audience!!!

Rapper Chucky Chuck gave his fans an experience they'll never forget, though the memory might be a little foggy ... posting the vid from this weekend's festival in Adelanto, CA with a caption that says, "F*** a fog machine."

The artist says he worked with 2 custom cannabis creation companies to make the impossible possible -- building what looks like a leaf blower attached to a big pipe -- with a bunch of weed inside, of course.

It looks like the audience was loving -- and inhaling -- every second of it ... it's called Kushstock for a reason, people.

Lizzo acknowledged the fact Kanye West name-dropped her on primetime television to decry obesity -- but it sounds like she's taking the high road ... straight to Canada, apparently.

The singer was performing at Toronto's Scotiabank Arena Friday when she stopped at one point in the show to address Ye's comments about her during his appearance on Tucker Carlson's show this week -- and her response was to seek refuge there up north.

Lizzo says everyone in America has something to say about her, this while she just minds her business. She prefaced that with "fat, Black, beautiful" to hit her point home.

She then asks if she can stick around, to which the audience cheered. Lizzo openly wondered if she could marry someone for dual citizenship ... and got a good laugh.

She didn't mention Kanye explicitly ... which is a similar approach she took when Aries Spears recently trashed her. There, too, she didn't really lay into him ... but simply said she'd let her success do the talking -- despite people wanting her to "clap back." Ditto for Ye, it seems.

Remember, Kanye used Lizzo to make a point about folks supposedly booing the notion of bettering themselves through weight loss ... something he called "demonic" and the "genocide of the Black race."

Kanye West's 'White Lives Matter' tees aren't gaining traction with his hip hop peers ... and count his former Roc-A-Fella label boss as the latest deflector!!!

TMZ Hip Hop recently sat down with Kareem "Biggs" Burke and picked his brain about Yeezy's controversial clothing, and there was no half-stepping -- right off the bat he said, "I condemn the shirt. I'm not with that."

Biggs says the fact Ye created the "WLM" shirt as a counter to BLM ... makes it potentially disastrous to the movement. He says he'd love to see Ye focus on repairing the community -- not harming it.

He notes it's important not to misconstrue the BLM movement with the corporation ... which has been under fire due to some execs allegedly misappropriating funds, including the purchase of a $6M mansion.

Aside from the fact others are already capitalizing and copycatting, Biggs says Kanye's shirt hurts the families of slain victims such as Trayvon Martin, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Breonna's mother has already fired back at Ye for looping her name into one of his 'WLM' rants.

Kanye and Biggs' relationship dates back to the start of Ye's professional career when he first signed to the Roc in the early 2000s.

Biggs co-founded the label with Jay-Z and Damon Dash, and it went on to sell millions upon millions of records -- many of those being Ye's creations. But, that past glory isn't getting Ye a pass with Biggs.

Biggs is far from alone with his thinking amongst music execs ... Diddy recently doubled down on his stance that Ye's "WLM" shirt was a dangerous concept.

Puff is adamant we shouldn't cancel The College Dropout, but more so turn the page on this most recent chapter as quickly as possible.

Coolio’s fellow old-school rapper Tone Loc says life on the road won't be the same now that he's lost his touring partner of nearly a decade!!!

We caught the "Wild Thang" OG outside of LAX, where he opened up about Coolio's death leaving an immense void in his life -- a painful absence he's already felt during his last few performances.

Their friendship runs several decades deep -- Tone tells us Coolio, along with Young MC and the late Shock G, actually performed at his brother's funeral around 16 years ago.

Tone says he and Coolio were regulars on the "I Love The 90s Tour" circuit for the past 6 years, as was Vanilla Ice … who’s also been in mourning since Coolio’s death last week in Los Angeles.

TMZ broke the story -- Coolio died suddenly on September 28 while visiting a friend's home.

At the age of 59, he was still an active hip hopper … with gigs in Vegas and television appearances on "Wild ‘N Out" and "Futurama" already scheduled before he passed.

Tone's DJ M.Walk also chimed in, telling us about his special bond with Coolio ... and it's clear they both miss him dearly, having linked up more than 20 years ago.

Kanye West wore his 'White Lives Matter' shirt at his daughter's basketball game ... right behind Kim Kardashian, no less.

The controversial long-sleeve was on display Friday night while North played in Thousand Oaks with other kids -- plus, a bunch of parents on hand to watch. Ye was rocking it proudly, and he was within arms reach of the mother of his children too.

Kim doesn't appear to acknowledge him in the photos, and eyewitnesses say she never turned to look in his direction either while they were both there. We're also told KW had a cameraman with him who looked busy. No word of any trouble due to his wardrobe choice.

What we do know ... Kim completely avoided him outside of this seating arrangement. We're told she actually moved her car to the opposite side of the building once he rolled up ... in order to avoid any run-ins afterward. Indeed, her focus was all on North for this outing.

It's interesting ... Ye seemed pretty animated here, and he wasn't trying to hide what he was wearing either. If anything, you could argue he was trying to draw attention to himself.

He's obviously sticking to his guns on this -- remember, he first trotted out the 'WLM' shirt earlier in the week during a fashion show ... and after a lot of criticism, he doubled and then tripled down online. Eventually, he went on Tucker Carlson's show to try and explain.

Even at this point, though, Kanye's rationale behind the move isn't all that clear. He did say he thought Black Lives Matter was a scam, but aside from that -- he hasn't thoughtfully laid out his position ... although he has thoroughly described the backlash coming his way.

Justin Bieber believes Kanye West has gone way too far to carry on their friendship, after Ye attacked his wife, Hailey, claiming she got a nose job.

If you missed it, Kanye went after Hailey on social media after she defended Vogue Editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, whom Kanye attacked. Ye called Hailey "nose job Hailey Baldloose" and told Justin, "Get your girl before I get mad. You spose to be my friend right," after posting an old article from 2016 about Hailey and Drake out on a date.

Sources close to Justin and Hailey tell us they're obviously hurt by Kanye's attacks -- especially since they were there for him in 2020 when he was going through a tough time in his life -- traveling to Wyoming to visit him at his ranch.

It's obvious, but we're told both believe Kanye crossed the line, especially because Hailey never attacked him in her defense of Gabriella ... she only said supportive things about her friend after Kanye publicly ripped into her. What's more, Hailey claims she's never got a nose job.

Our sources say Justin has always been super supportive and sensitive to Kanye's issues, but this time, he's gotta distance himself and stand up for his wife.

Judge Mathis thinks Kanye West is degrading African-American with his antics -- and by extension, he believes Ye makes Adidas look bad too ... giving 'em every right to break up.

The TV magistrate went scorched earth on KW Friday in L.A. where he told our photog what he thought of the shoe company looking into its options as it pertains to their relationship with Ye ... and according to him, they likely have the legal ground to kick him to the curb.

Of course, nobody but Adidas and Kanye know the specific terms of whatever contract they have -- so all of this is totally speculative. Still, based on his experience ... Mathis says there's likely a morality clause that gives the 3-stripe honchos an out if they choose.

The reason ... most of these agreements, per JM, have something in them that says the individual (in this case, Kanye) can't make the company look bad and/or exhibit behavior antithetical to their principles/mission statement -- often written vaguely to give them cover.

Considering all of Kanye's anti-Black rhetoric this week -- not to mention over the last few years -- Mathis believes Kanye's crossed that line more than enough times for Adidas to pull the plug and cancel their partnership ... even if that means no more Yeezys.

Jim Jones agrees with Wiz Khalifa ... President Joe Biden's move to pardon marijuana convicts is right on, but if you ask the Harlem Capo, it's the first thing 46 has done right in a long time.

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with the Dipset legend as he conducted boss business around NYC. He's stoked over Biden's move, especially since he's the CEO of his own cannabis co. -- Saucey Farms & Extracts.

Jim co-founded the company with his partner, celebrity jeweler Alex Todd, in 2018 and says at the time there was moderate opposition to them getting things off the ground.

He now sees New York as a completely different place -- recreational cannabis was legalized in 2021 -- but he's warning up-and-coming weed entrepreneurs that the government will still make it hard for average hustlers to get a slice of the pie.

Jim thinks marijuana will become ubiquitous ... and the government will buy up all the farming -- effectively squeezing out the 'lil guy.

He's urging anyone with a stake in the cannabis game to get their licenses and permits because he says no one will be able to match U.S.A.'s bankroll.

Speaking of cigarettes, the celebrated rapper is diversifying his portfolio with the addition of a tobacco company he runs with his fellow Dipsetter, Juelz Santana.

Kanye West says Hollywood bullied him so much for supporting Donald Trump, he wasn't able to talk about it anymore ... which left him wondering what's the point of being famous.

Ye made the claim in the second part of his interview with FNC's Tucker Carlson, saying it "drove me crazy not to be able to say I liked Trump." He was especially shocked that people would go after him, because -- as he puts it -- he's Kanye!

Ye dove deeper ... questioning why he had worked so hard to get famous -- with millions of adoring fans and a massive platform -- if Hollywood didn't want him to use his own voice and connect it to his own opinions.

Ye's complaints build on what he told Tucker in portions of the interview that aired Thursday ... when he said he respects Russell Brand and Candace Owens for going against the grain and speaking their minds, no matter the consequences.

He also gets into his relationship with another former Prez ... Barack Obama. Ye says their connection faded "soon as I wasn't supposed to be saying the things I wasn't supposed to say as a rapper" -- but adds, he would talk to Obama if they ran into each other.

President Biden's decision to pardon all federal prisoners convicted of simple marijuana possession is sitting very well with rappers like Wiz Khalifa ... who tells us he hopes it's just the first step towards more pro-weed legislation.

Referring to Biden's announcement, Wiz tells TMZ Hip Hop ... “It’s awesome to see things are moving in the right direction. Cannabis laws have negatively impacted people for way too long.”

The Prez outlined his plan for marijuana reform this week ... speaking to that negative impact, and there's widespread hope that the next move could be federal decriminalization of cannabis ... if not outright legalization.

Outside of Snoop Dogg, Wiz is arguably rap music's smokiest cat ... and has been perfecting his own Khalifa Kush brand for some time now.

In addition to his KK and Khalifa Mints strains, he also sells supported merch and delves heavily into the art of cannabinoid science ... through hits of a Taylor Gang-branded, gravity-infused bong!!!

The White House says the Justice Department is actively working to make legalization a reality, but has yet to reveal any sort of timetable.

Beyoncé is calling out music duo Right Said Fred for accusing her of sampling their biggest hit without permission ... she says it's BS and the group was paid handsomely for the song.

Here's the deal ... Right Said Fred ripped Beyoncé as "arrogant" for allegedly sampling their hit "I'm Too Sexy" on her new song "Alien Superstar" without asking or paying them in an interview with The Sun.

Now Beyoncé's camp is firing back, telling TMZ the accusations from Right Said Fred are erroneous and totally false.

Beyoncé's team says not only did she get permission to use the song, Right Said Fred spoke publicly of their gratitude for being on her "Renaissance" album and they were paid a "substantial portion."

Queen B says she has the receipts ... Beyoncé says she asked Right Said Fred's publisher for permission to sample the song composition on May 11, with the publisher approving the use on June 15, prompting an August payment to RSF.

Right Said Fred also claimed they didn't have a co-writer credit on Beyoncé's track ... but her team says that's just not true either. Instead, Beyoncé says RSF writers own more than any other writer on "Alien Superstar" and have a co-writer credit.

Master P is helping a child blinded by gun violence achieve a dream to become a published author ... with the announcement of his new line of books.

The No Limit Records colonel tells TMZ Hip Hop he was directly inspired by the perseverance of Malachi Roberts ... a Kentucky-born kid who tragically lost his sight at age 5. Malachi and his mother were innocent bystanders, shot in a December 2002 drive-by while they were in their own home.

Now, 7 years old ... the prodigy's launching his own series of children's books in collaboration with Master P and Snoop Dogg's developing Snoop Loopz cereal brand.

The pioneering rapper recently made the trek to Louisville for the grand announcement ... the first book, "Adventures with Malachi: Teamwork Makes the Dream Work" will feature characters from Snoop's cereal.

P says the goal of Snoop's Broadus Family Foods is to help all kids like Malachi be able to overcome adversity ... especially those rooted in issues impacting their neighborhoods.

He's confident that planting seeds of diversity in the children's minds -- and grocery stores -- will help them go on to become future leaders in society.

P says the books will be dropping in 2023 and, naturally, they will be available in braille.

Diddy's attempts of reasoning with Kanye West over the "White Lives Matter" T-shirt controversy are falling on deaf ears ... with Ye dropping f-bombs while tripling down on putting the controversial gear on the market.

On Friday, Kanye posted an iMessage exchange between him and Puff -- making it crystal clear that he didn't approve of Diddy's 'Breakfast Club' interview.

According to Ye's perspective, Diddy is trying to put a wedge in between his earnings and is under the impression that Jewish leaders sent the Bad Boy Records rapper to silence his messages.

When Diddy attempted to meet up in person, Ye desecrated his character ... calling Puff a federal agent before telling him he accepts the future apology when he comes to his senses and supports 'WLM.'

Kanye has been steadfast in his cause all week with zero care about who gets bulldozed along the way.

During one of the recent rants, he skewered Offset for liking posts that slammed 'WLM' and also threatened A$AP Rocky and Rihanna's romance by claiming the Harlem rap star cheated with fashion designer Yoon Ahn.

Neither artist has responded to Ye, but Yoon vehemently denied the claims, labeling him a false prophet while A$AP Mob member Nast told Kanye to pipe down.

Ye set things off on Monday at his Paris Fashion Show ... calling Black Lives Matter a "sham" while relishing in support from Candace Owens and Antonio Brown.

Freddie Gibbs is putting his side hustle skills on display -- while chilling courtside for a Brooklyn Nets preseason game, he made it clear he's ready to check in to the game at a moment's notice!

The "Too Much" rapper showed off his quick reflexes when a loose ball bounced out of bounds and into his lap. Freddie flashed his ball-handling skills on an unsuspecting cameraman ... but was probably wearing too much jewelry for real PT.

Just ask Kurtis Blow ... rappers have always coveted playing on the NBA hardwood, and Gibbs is no exception, telling his manager Lambo he had to show off his handles in the moment.

Gibbs also found time to connect with Nets' All-Star guard Kevin Durant ... who actually appears on Gibbs' new album '$$$' ... and the two had a nice exchange on the sidelines en route to BK getting smacked by the Heat 109-80.

KD isn't the only star Gibbs reunited with through his latest project. The Grammy nominee recently detailed how he reconciled with former label boss Jeezy ... on the song "Rabbit Vision" -- as well in a new interview.

Speaking to Bootleg Kev, Gibbs says he ran into Jeezy at the airport and they hugged it out after falling out nearly a decade ago over artistic disputes.

Gibbs admits he dragged the beef too far, and chalks it up to a learning experience.

Ray J uploaded a slew of worrying posts to his social media Thursday night ... ones where he heavily contemplated taking his own life, and causing serious alarm.

Fans briefly saw his concerning messages on his Instagram page ... with video of what looks to be him sitting high above the ground.

One caption reads, "If it wasn't 4 my Kidz I would jump off and die tonight."

Another upload shows his feet dangling off the side of a ledge, showing the ground below -- that caption says, "SHOULD I JUST JUMP off and end it rit. Now!!! ????"

He took to his IG story, too ... writing, "trying to figure it out -- maybe this life was a illusion--" He continued, "-- maybe the next life was my real reality." His concerning posts have since been taken down, but fans online have been sharing their love and support for Ray ever since.

There is good news ... we spoke to a source close to Ray who told us he's been with Princess Love. We're told he was drinking and put the posts up ... the source says Ray was not hospitalized and was "messing around."

Coolio will remain near and dear to his children's hearts -- and not just figuratively -- because they're designing jewelry to keep his ashes close.

According to the rapper's death certificate, obtained by TMZ, Coolio's body will be cremated ... and, we're told that's prompting his 7 kids to come up with the idea for some special bling.

Coolio's rep tells TMZ ... each of his children will get a pendant to hold the ashes, along with a necklace.

A few other close family members will get them as well.

We're told each of his sons and daughters will get to pick customized inscriptions for their jewelry.

The rest of Coolio's ashes will go into an urn once all the necklaces are distributed.

Coolio's always loved being a dad, according to Vanilla Ice -- who got pretty emotional when he told us how much Coolio always had family on his mind ... even in his final days.