TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Bronny James is following in his father's footsteps ... signing a NIL deal with Beats by Dre -- 14 years after LeBron James became the company's first athlete ambassador.

Bronny, 18, is making history with the deal ... becoming the first high school athlete ever to be signed by the company, which was founded in 2006 by Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine.

Beats by Dre even dropped a commercial featuring the newest member of its family ... showing 37-year-old James listening to classical music and going one-on-one with Bronny on the court.

In the video, LBJ and Bronny exchange buckets back and forth ... including a series of dunks and jump shots, all while donning Beats by Dre headphones during the game.

"The Chosen One vs. The Chosen Son," Beats by Dre fittingly wrote as a caption for the commercial. At the end of the video, "The Legacy Continues" appears on the screen.

Last week, the Sierra Canyon High School guard inked a NIL deal with Nike, who signed LeBron to a lifetime contract in 2015.

LBJ and Nike have been partners since 2003 ... when LeBron burst onto the NBA scene as an 18-year-rookie dominating the league, so signing Bronny was a foregone conclusion.

N.O.R.E. called "The Breakfast Club" on Monday morning to apologize multiple times for the comments Kanye West made about George Floyd on the latest episode of "Drink Champs" his team put out over the weekend.

The "Drink Champs" host was in full damage control mode -- claiming he didn't know Ye's statements were going to be extremely hurtful to listeners.

N.O.R.E. says he later checked Kanye for the GF and "White Lives Matter" remarks later in the interview ... but says he was too drunk to make an impactful moment. He also claimed to have uploaded the wrong edit without combing through it ... an error he says the team will correct in the future.

The veteran rapper shamelessly admitted he didn't want Ye to walk out of the interview if he was silenced ... à la "The Breakfast Club's" infamous Birdman interview where he cursed them out and demanded "Respek."

BC further grilled N.O.R.E. on why he conducted the interview to start ... citing Tucker Carlson and HBO's 'The Shop's recent debacles.

N.O.R.E. defended his show's position, noting the show isn't named "Think Champs" to stage political theater ... but says his relationship with Ye is solid and wanted to give him the courtesy to speak.

He also noted that Loud Records founder Steve Rifkind and several other Jewish associates of his were in the room and used them as gauge meters for Ye's anti-Semitic rants.

N.O.R.E. says he previously spoke to Kanye that he would go on record to denounce Ye's comments and apologized to Stephen Jackson ... who may have cooked him anonymously on Instagram while slamming Ye.

Charlamagne seized an opportunity to hit him with a "told-you-so" zinger ... to which N.O.R.E. copped to, admitting he failed as a journalist.

Darius Slay Jr. sent Meek Mill home from "Sunday Night Football" with a gift ... the Philly rapper got the Eagles stars interception ball as a souvenir.

The Eagles had been leading the Cowboys, 17-0, on "SNF" ... when Slay intercepted a Cooper Rush pass intended for wide receiver Michael Gallup.

After a short return, Slay, with his teammates nearby, approached Meek and gave the INT ball to the "Dreams and Nightmares" rapper after dapping him up.

Meek -- who had performed his iconic "Dreams and Nightmares" song before the game -- had good reason to celebrate throughout the night ... Philly was dominating the Cowboys.

In his third year with the team, Slay is having a monster season in the Eagles' secondary ... and has made it a tradition to hand over INT footballs to A-list celebs at home games.

Earlier this season on "Monday Night Football," 31-year-old Slay gifted 76ers star James Harden his INT ball after picking off a pass from Vikings QB Kirk Cousins.

Speaking of Harden, his Sixers teammate Joel Embiid -- who hit up the Phillies' closeout game against the Braves on Saturday -- got some facetime with Jill Biden at the game.

The First Lady led the "Fly Eagles Fly" song pregame ... standing alongside cancer survivors right before the Eagles and Cowboys battled it out for NFL East supremacy.

Kanye West is following in the digital footsteps of Elon Musk and Donald Trump -- buying his own social media company to speak his mind ... one that leans in his direction, politically.

The rapper/producer just agreed to buy Parler -- a one-time defunct conservative platform similar to Twitter, which got yanked offline early last year and removed from a ton of apps ... including Apple, Google and Amazon.

Since then, it's been fighting to make a comeback, and Ye's stepping up to do just that.

He says, "In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves."

Parler, for its part, said it was a "groundbreaking move into the free speech media space and will never have to fear being removed from social media again."

The terms of the purchase haven't been disclosed, and Parler notes it still has to go into a formal contract with Kanye that it expects to execute in the fourth quarter. It'd been reported Parler had raised upwards of $56 million in funding to get the site back up.

Parler was first pulled down because internet provider services claimed it wasn't doing enough to prevent hate speech and potential violence from fomenting on its pages. Likewise, KW was also recently frozen out of both Twitter and Instagram for antisemitic remarks ... among other public attacks, not to mention his "White Lives Matter" statements.

We should note ... Ye's new BFF, Candace Owens, may have facilitated things. Her hubby, George Farmer, is Parler's CEO -- although, presumably, he'd take a back seat to Kanye if this goes through.

SZA's album delay has been a cloud over the TDE singer for years, but it looks like she's been handling it by doing ... what else but recording songs. Lots of 'em!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught the Grammy winner in incognito mode at LAX, and took a shot at getting an update for the long-awaited follow-up to her 2017 monster album "Ctrl."

The album spawned 5 platinum singles -- and went 3x platinum itself -- and with music that good, it's no wonder fans have been fiending so hard.

SZA tells us her follow-up album could be dropping any day now ... which could mean tomorrow or February 2048, but she's optimistic listeners will receive the music well.

Since "Ctrl" dropped, SZA has breadcrumbed even more platinum singles ... such as "Good Days," "Hit Different" and "I Hate U" ... and says there's more where that comes from because she estimates she's sitting on 100 unreleased songs!!! 😱

There's never been a concrete reason for SZA's album delay ... she and TDE President Terrence "Punch" Henderson have traded blame for years in the public eye, but still have no project.

He recently sat down on Math Hoffa's 'Expert Opinion' podcast where he appeared to pass the hot potato to her ... hinting she can drop the album whenever she's ready.

Megan Thee Stallion is gonna take a break ... because she says she's both physically and emotionally spent.

Megan pulled double duty on 'SNL' Saturday night as host and musical guest, but before the show went live she told her fans, "Hotties im really sorry but after SNL I really gotta take a break I'm so tired, physically and emotionally."

You can understand why she's kinda at the end of her rope. TMZ broke the story Friday ... while she was in NYC preparing for the show, her home was burglarized and $300k-$400k in jewelry, cash and electronics were stolen.

And then there's the 2020 incident where she was shot in the foot ... Tory Lanez is now facing trial for the shooting.

And in 2019, her mom, Holly Thomas died from a brain tumor.

During her song, "Anxiety" on 'SNL,' Megan was fighting back tears.

A$AP Bari may have moved past his Miami car crash by scooping up a brand new Maybach, but the other guy involved sure hasn’t -- he's now suing the rapper.

A$AP Bari, whose real name is Jabari Shelton, has been hit with a lawsuit over the crash that happened back in July.

According to legal docs obtained by TMZ Hip Hop ... the A$AP Mob co-founder was driving his Mercedes-Benz "carelessly, recklessly, and negligently" when his car collided with another vehicle driven by a guy named Jorge Baez.

As you can see, the car was banged up pretty badly.

Jorge's lawyer, Jared Newman tells TMZ ... the accident left Baez with serious injuries and a bunch of medical bills. He's suing for more than $30K in damages.

As we've reported ... Kanye West gifted Bari a new Mercedes Maybach SUV just days after the wreck.

Jared says, "It was nice of Kanye West to buy A$AP Bari a new Maybach and enable him to move on like nothing happened, but something did happen and A$AP Bari must pay for his negligence."

Tsu Surf is looking at a different fight at the moment ... the renowned battle rapper was arrested in Jersey City by U.S. Marshals on Thursday after the feds indicted him over his alleged involvement with a criminal gang enterprise under the Rollin' 60s Crips umbrella.

TMZ Hip Hop has obtained the 52-page indictment in which Tsu (real name Rahjon Cox) has been charged with racketeering conspiracy and possession of firearms and ammunition by a convicted felony.

Nine other people have been hit with a litany of crimes in the indictment, including carjacking, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and cocaine, and more.

Feds claim he assisted in the shooting against a rival "Crips" gang member in March 2017 and also used his official Instagram page to coordinate an MMDA drug deal in April 2018.

Prosecutors also claim Tsu Surf had an illegal Beretta Px4 Storm .40 caliber firearm in July 2019 and later jokingly mourned law enforcement seizing the weapon on his IG a month later.

An additional October 2020 date also alleges Tsu Surf was involved in an IG drug deal for marijuana.

Does Usher like surprise birthday parties? F*** Yeah!

The superstar crooner was surprised Friday night when a bunch of his closest star pals came out to say HBD to Mr. Raymond at Nomad Library in Vegas hosted by Amazon Music.

Usher has a residency at MGM, and during his show, Chris Brown, Jermaine Dupri and Anita Baker showed up to perform, wishing the R&B legend a happy 44th. Baker sang "Happy Birthday" ... and she wasn't the only one.

After the concert, Usher got the big SURPRISE at Nomad. Dupri and Bryan Michael Cox were on the 1s and 2s as DJs for the festivities ... but stopped the music so everyone at the shindig could sing their own "Happy Birthday."

As for who showed up ... Polow Da Don, Keith Thomas, Hazel E, Kendrick Sampson, Floyd Mayweather and Johntá Austin.

The party moved to Mayweather’s Vegas skating rink at around 3:30 AM, Skate Rock City, for some late-night skating.

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West aren’t talking, but that doesn’t mean they can’t share the same space for their kids.

Ye and Kim K both showed up for North’s game Friday. North arrived with a teammate, Kim with Saint, Psalm and Chicago ... and Kanye solo.

It’s the second time in a few weeks we’ve seen both Kim and Kanye at one of North’s events … as we first told you, Kim didn’t talk with nor even look in Kanye’s direction as he showed up wearing a 'White Lives Matter' shirt to the last one.

Kim wasn’t the only familiar face for Kanye at Friday’s game … giving Nick Cannon a hug as he made his way inside.

Sources at the game tell us Kanye left before it was over, Kim stayed with all 4 kids.

TMZ broke the story, Kim’s cut off all communication from Ye in the midst of an apparent mental health episode.

In times past, sources tell us even when Kim was the target of his attacks, she’d still work behind the scenes to get him help and repair fractured relationships.

Megan Thee Stallion's L.A. home was ransacked by a pair of thieves who made their way into her bedroom -- taking hundreds of thousands in goods.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ two men, wearing hoodies and gloves smashed a glass door at the back of Meg's pad Thursday night ... giving them access inside. We're told from there, the men went into the primary bedroom.

Our sources say the crooks took an estimated $300-$400K in jewelry, cash and electronics from inside the home. Luckily, we're told Meg was not home when the men broke in.

At this time, police have not made any arrests, but we're told there's home surveillance of the break-in, and detectives are working to obtain more video and evidence from neighbors that could help them catch those responsible.

As for Meg ... she's set to host "Saturday Night Live" this Saturday. Usually, rehearsals will start Tuesday for celeb guest hosts, so it's likely that Meg's been out of town the whole week.

Future and Lil Uzi Vert's performance wasn't the only thing turned up in NYC, as it appears the thermostat was too ... check out the rapper's sweating like hell!!!

Sources at Thursday's Louis Vuitton's "200 Trunks, 200 Visionaries" show tell TMZ Hip Hop both rap superstars were pouring sweat all over the stage and their custom LV drip. Sweat or not, both put on a hell of a show, repeatedly thanking the crowd for braving the temps.

LV's "200 Trunks" exhibit traveled from France to Singapore to Los Angeles before settling in its final destination of NYC.

The two performed a barrage of classics -- both solo and from their hit 2020 album "Pluto x Baby Pluto" -- such as "March Madness," "XO Tour Llif3" and "Tic Tac."

Future has been riding high since selling his catalog for a purported eight-figure cash-out and saw his recent album, "I Never Liked You" go Gold in just a few months after being released in April.

Lil Baby has no love for DJ Akademiks, and he let it be known a couple of times on his new album “There’s Only Me.”

The controversial journalist first gets mentioned in the song “From Now On,” featuring Future … where Baby goes into Ak’s pockets, quipping “Akademiks know he ain’t as rich as me!!!"

Baby then applies further pressure on Ak via the song “Top Priority” which sounds more threatening … “‘Akademiks N****s’ think they can't get touched/Ion be on computers much, CED turnt me on to YouTube.”

Ak reacted with surprise to the tracks and has been fishing for the reason behind Baby’s aggression for some time.

On a recent broadcast, Ak explained how Lil Baby blocked him on Instagram -- only to DM him on Twitter, leaving him confused about the status of their relationship.

Ak was caught in a downpour last night ... as Baby’s disses dropped, he was busy denying rumors he was fighting with a woman in Miami after a viral altercation involving him and several women made its rounds on social media.

Ak later clarified he was actually breaking up a fight between his girlfriend and a pair of autograph seekers -- but apologized for raising his voice and blamed alcohol all across the board.

Kim Kardashian has been through the ups and downs of Kanye West's mental health episodes over the years, and while she's stepped in to help in the past ... this time is different.

Sources familiar with the situation tell us Kim has totally removed herself from the situation with Kanye ... and hasn't spoken directly to him in weeks. We're told in times past, even when Kim and her family were the targets of his attacks -- she'd be there to help him until he was mentally sound again.

We've spoken to sources close to Kanye who tell us they wish Kim was still in the picture to step in, but it just ain't happening. Our sources say there's concern Kanye could lose a lot of money while everything seems to fall around him, but there's no safety net.

Sources connected to the estranged couple tell us Kanye has made attempts to reach out, but Kim won't answer ... instead focusing her attention on their kids.

As we reported, Kanye showed up to North's basketball game last week wearing a 'White Lives Matter' shirt. Eyewitnesses tell us not only did Kim not speak to Kanye, she refused to look in his direction, and had her car moved in the parking lot in order to avoid any communication.

Akon is officially copping to using his brothers to stand in for him on stage at the height of his ascension in music ... and laughing about it now, due to the fact he never got caught!!!

TMZ Hip Hop met up with the real Akon walking into DASH Radio, and he told us the underlying reason for pulling those switcheroos back in the day was not wanting to disappoint all the fans worldwide. Put simply, he says he couldn't be in more than one place, and some days he needed to be.

All of this predated social media, and Akon says he was still fairly new on the scene -- shortly after his hit single "Locked Up" -- and raging fans couldn't tell the difference. Remember, he and his brothers are not triplets!

This wouldn't work today, seeing as how his brother Bu Thiam's become a big-time exec in the music industry.

As for his brother Omar, Akon says he would go rogue and do shows on his own, and never offered up a cut of his pay.

Neither brother has the ability to sing and Akon says the DJ gave them the royal Milli Vanilli treatment by pushing play on his songs so they could lip sync!!! 😂

Akon is more tycoon than musician these days ... but fans will easily remember when he was hot as fish grease ... dropping platinum singles left and right, and collaborating with the likes of Snoop Dogg, Eminem and Styles P.

Nicki Minaj and Latto are at each other’s throats ... arguing about which Grammy categories their songs belong in and there's nothing sacred in this war, as they're both putting private convos on front street.

Both rappers had been subtweeting each other for weeks about the Grammy's decision to move Nicki’s smash hit “Super Freaky Girl” from the Rap category to Pop, and Thursday night the feud erupted like a volcano.

As Nicki sees it, Latto should have spoken up in her defense ... seeing as how the Grammys left her record, “Big Energy,” in the Rap category, despite having the same bubbly pop sound.

Nicki then began to retweet Barbz who were dissing Latto's silence on the subject ... prompting Latto to tweet, she "can't win for losing." That's when Nicki posted a DM convo where Latto agreed with Nicki's viewpoints, but said she didn't like the fact Nicki put her in the beef.

Then the gloves really came off.

Nicki called Latto a "Karen" and "Scratch-Off" ... posted more DMs, including one where she turned down Latto's attempt to collaborate on the "Big Energy" remix.

Latto fired back, calling Nicki a 40-year-old bully, and uploaded a recorded phone conversation they had on the Grammy topic ... and you hear both women going at it!!!

Latto accused Nicki of having "only child syndrome" because, at one time, she was the only female rap star in the game -- to which, Nicki scolded her with, "You didn't do your research!"

As of now, there's no resolution, and fans don't expect one.