TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Pras says folks are reading way too much into his guilty verdict for fraud -- the ex-Fugees rapper tells TMZ Hip Hop the widespread rumor he secretly worked out a deal with the feds is one big lie!!!

We caught up with Pras in Bev Hills, and while the reality of his case has to be kicking in, he told us he can't react too much for legal reasons. As he put it, "We got work to do. We'll be okay."

As we reported, a jury in federal court found him guilty of all 10 counts he was facing. During the trial, rumors he acted as an FBI informant were fueled by fake social media headlines and over-the-top reactions from 50 Cent.

Pras sternly tells us he never worked for the FBI or CIA -- he says his testimony proves it, and encourages everyone to check the transcript. He refuses to be lumped in with Tekashi 6ix9ine who cooperated with the feds while testifying against fellow gang members in court.

He makes a fair point -- Tekashi pled guilty, but Pras was found guilty by a jury. If he'd struck a deal to work with prosecutors, he would have entered a plea, and not left his fate to the jury. That's just how it works, folks.

The veteran MC solidified his place in rap history as a member of The Fugees with Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill, but the megastars were noticeably MIA following his guilty verdict.

Jennifer Hudson and Common aren't just comfortable together, they've jumped to looking like a longtime married couple that takes romantic strolls in the middle of the day.

They were out together Thursday afternoon in the Chicago suburb where Jennifer currently lives, and they were not in a hurry. We're told the couple strolled around the neighborhood for about 90 minutes ... arm in arm, looking as cozy as ever.

Folks in the area tell us they've seen more of J Hud this week. She shoots her syndicated talk show in L.A., but with the writers' strike in full swing, she's got time to chill at home with her man.

Of course, their romantic walk isn't all that surprising. Common and Jennifer first fueled dating rumors back in February, when they had a date night at celeb hot spot Nobu in Malibu.

Before the outing, fans had been speculating they were a thing ... pointing to the fact that they were spending more time together after connecting on the set of the upcoming movie, "Breathe".

Hurricane Chris recently claimed the late Pimp C threatened him and his crew with deadly force -- but the UGK rapper's widow is saying the only thing he planned on killing was a track!!!

On Friday, Chinara Butler got wind of the Lousiana rapper recalling Pimp C getting the boot from his star-studded 2007 "Ay Bay Bay (Remix)" ... and getting an earful about it afterward.

Chinara says she remembers the moment vividly, as she was the one who intercepted the email, and burned the instrumental on a CD for Pimp to drop his vocals.

According to Chinara's memory bank, Pimp C took about 2 days to submit a fire azz verse ... but was told it was sent too late to make the cut.

In true Pimp C fashion, Chinara says he grew enraged and floated the idea of doing a remix titled "A-K-K" ... as in the assault rifle, and "kill all his competition!!!" The finalized track featured E-40, The Game, Boosie Badazz, Jadakiss, Birdman and Angie Locc. Pimp clearly missed out on a banger!!!

HC remembers things a bit differently, claiming Pimp C angrily called his phone with detailed knowledge of his location.

Rich the Kid is inadvertently agreeing with Tekashi 6ix9ine ... calling out Billboard's newly minted bundle initiative as a bad move for the music biz.

We caught Rich out at LAX and he told us he's fine with "floppy artists" getting the extra boost in sales, but also feels Billboard's move could seriously water down the quality of music that ends up charting.

Billboard announced this week it's re-allowing bundle sales under the tag "fan packs" -- which allows for a limited amount of physical merch to be counted toward sales on the album chart.

Tekashi had a cow over the news ... after seeing thousands of his unit sales discounted back in 2020 when Billboard eliminated the merch rule.

Rich doesn't think sales trickery will stop his shine and says he doesn't plan on hopping on the bundle bandwagon with incentives like crappy Crocs.

Antonio Brown can't help but put that s*** on, even if he's up to his eyeballs in controversy ... 'cause the ex-NFL star hit up an Albany bar and performed his hit song for a bunch of college kids Thursday night -- and TMZ Sports has the video!!

Witnesses tell us AB arrived at Wolff's Biergarten unannounced shortly after midnight Friday ... and the whole crowd was shocked over the surprise appearance, but loved every bit of it.

Once AB was in the bar, we're told he walked right up to the DJ booth and told him to -- well, this is confusing to say -- put "Put That S*** On" on.

Our video shows the Super Bowl champ standing on a platform above the patrons ...  getting the students hyped before starting his viral song.

We're told AB stayed for close to an hour before dipping ... but he didn't leave folks empty-handed -- witnesses say he was passing out free Empire tickets to anyone in attendance.

After the bar, AB seemingly hit up a frat house ... where he crowd-surfed as more students freaked out over his presence.

AB's impromptu concert comes right on the heels of accusations he's an owner from hell for the National Arena League's Albany Empire ... with former coaches and players claiming they weren't paid and lost access to their team hotel rooms, among many other issues.

Brown denies the accusations.

On top of that, Brown has been sued by his jeweler for $1.1 million ... and a judge ordered cops to arrest him over unpaid child support payments, which he claims he made.

Young Thug's brother, Unfoonk, is a return inmate at Fulton County jail -- law enforcement sources tell TMZ Hip Hop he's been arrested and booked for firearm possession by a convicted felon.

Unfoonk joined Gunna last December in entering a plea in the high-profile YSL RICO trial ... but his latest run-in with the law could lead to a violation of his probation terms.

Cops in Atlanta say Unfoonk (real name Quantavious Grier) was pulled over in his neighborhood around 4 PM Thursday ... and during the stop, officers claimed to have smelled burnt marijuana inside the black Mercedes sedan.

We're told officers also say there was excessive tint on Unfoonk's windows, and the YSL rapper wasn't wearing his seatbelt.

They called in a police K9 to help with the narcotics search of the vehicle, and during that search ... we're told officers located a handgun in the driver's side door panel. As the owner of the car, Unfoonk was arrested for gun possession.

According to the docs, he was also dinged for criminal street gang activity -- and the much smaller infractions of improper window tint and a safety belt violation.

Add 50 Cent, Shaq and Kenya Barris to the growing list of high-powered celebs interested in buying BET, we've learned the group is making a massive push to strike a deal.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us 50 and Kenya were spotted at the Paramount offices in NYC earlier this week to talk business, and the possibility of buying the network.

As for the cash ... we're told 50, Shaq and Kenya are fully loaded and ready to make an offer with some help from CVC -- an investment company.

Of course, there's still a lot to be worked out before anything is finalized, as one source told us, "It's not a done deal, but they're deep in it."

The trio makes a lot of sense, 50 had a ton of success on Starz, and recently signed a multi-year deal with FOX that's sure to net him a boatload of cash. Not to mention, he also just announced his global "The Final Lap" tour to celebrate 20 years of "Get Rich or Die Trying" ... so he's clearly still super connected in the music biz.

Then there's Shaq and Kenya who have massive TV deals -- and Kenya with an impressive resume of producing, directing and writing credits.

As we reported ... Diddy is also among the names that have thrown their hat in the ring as an interested party. TV moguls Tyler Perry and Byron Allen are also reportedly in serious talks to buy the network.

Tekashi 6ix9ine is ripping Billboard's decision to allow artist merchandise to count toward record sales again, because he's claiming his success was the only reason it stopped doing that in the first place!!!

Billboard revealed Thursday its new rules would become effective on June 30 ... prompting Tekashi to share his own soured experiences.

Back in May 2020, Tekashi kicked off promotion for his sophomore album "Tattletales" with the single "Gooba," and accused Billboard of screwing with his numbers after its No. 3 debut ... while also alleging Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande's teams were buying their own releases to cheat the system.

Tekashi says he sold 3 million in merch for "Gooba" alone but was betrayed by Billboard, who later denied all wrongdoing, as did reps for the Biebz and Ariana.

A couple of years back, Nicki Minaj and Travis Scott faced similar controversies after Astroworld tour tickets influenced the top Billboard spot ... but Tekashi is telling his fans and haters alike they definitely made the change because of him.

Billboard is calling the newest rule change "fan packs," which allows for a limited number of merch items to be counted toward the album charts ... and Tekashi says it's all smoke and mirrors to make struggling artists appear bigger than they are.

The publication also highlighted a "day-long meeting" they conducted with record labels where one exec practically begged them to bring back artist bundles.

Sources close to the situation tell TMZ Hip Hop Fat Joe was able to regain his masters from Atlantic Records after all this time. The streaming profits are all his!!!

Fat Joe is looking back at his time spent on major labels with regret ... comparing the setup to Ponzi schemes that do anything BUT benefit the artists' bank accounts.

The Bronx-bred hip hop legend was recently the keynote speaker for The Wall Street Journal's "Future Of Everything Festival" ... and recalled being signed to Atlantic Records during the CD era of rap.

Joe says his experience was constantly having to convince execs who knew nothing about hip hop culture to prop up his releases, and he ripped the hypocrisy of artists selling millions of records ... while only receiving pennies for their musical thoughts.

He reminisced, and not fondly ... "You had to be like The Fugees, who sold 30 million records, to make a dollar. I was talking to Jennifer Lopez about it -- and you know J Lo’s a megastar -- and she was like, 'Man, you know these guys, they only give you this [amount] and you never recoup.' So, it’s a funny math."

Joe says after he dropped his 2002 album "Loyalty," the Atlantic president called him a failure to his face ... all because he was getting slaughtered by Jay-Z's "Blueprint 2," Missy Elliott's "Under Construction" and Mariah Carey's "Charmbracelet" on the charts.

To add insult to injury, Joe says they replaced his life-sized poster with one showing T.I., who had just made the execs happy by going double platinum.

After mapping out his career, Joe decided to bet on himself and negotiated his release from the label. It proved to be a wise and lucrative decision for the Terror Squad founder.

He released his next album independently ... 2006's "Me, Myself & I" and says his Lil Wayne-assisted smash hit "Make It Rain" netted him a cool $4M and the Atlantic president is still eating crow to this day!!!

Joe's always going to bat for the lil' guy. We recently got him out in D.C. campaigning for the healthcare industry to stop shady practices against its patients.

Sounds like a familiar scenario.

Ne-Yo is looking to get parental rights for his 2 youngest kids -- the ones he has with his current girlfriend that triggered the divorce from his ex-wife.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the singer's asking the court to establish parentage for his kids which he had with Sade (not THAT one) -- and he's requesting joint legal and physical custody of them, as well.

He says they had Braiden in 2021 and Brixton just last February ... and he's also hoping they'd be eligible to inherit from him as if they were born in wedlock.

As we reported, Ne-Yo's wife Crystal filed for divorce last year in Atlanta, and noted he had fathered a child to Sade during their marriage. Crystal claimed she'd been taking care of the 3 kids they shared together since their split.

Crystal was looking for primary legal custody of their children and joint legal custody ... as well as child support.

Sade's been keeping Ne-Yo in her social media posts recently, so it looks like they're at least hanging out -- but we got him at LAX last week, and he told us he's simply enjoying the single life for now.

Lizzo says she's pulling the plug on a concert in Montreal ... telling fans she just can't muster the strength to perform because of flu-like symptoms.

The "Truth Hurts" singer canceled her gig in Canada a few hours before Thursday's scheduled showtime ... saying she's sick as a dog.

Lizzo ran down a list of her symptoms in a video posted on social media ... she says she has a sore throat, headache and chills ... and she says she's only feeling worse, not better.

She also tweeted about having a 102-degree fever and says this is only the second time she's ever canceled a show due to health reasons.

Lizzo sounded tearful as she explained the reasons behind the cancelation ... wearing a face mask and covering up with a blanket.

Lizzo's been traveling a lot lately ... she performed Friday at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, then attended Monday's Met Gala in New York, as well as Anna Wintour's pre-Met Gala dinner the night before.

She was scheduled to take the stage at the Bell Centre in Montreal but is promising fans she will honor tickets at a makeup show.

Former OVO Sound artist iLoveMakonnen says he knew his days on Drake's label were numbered when the Canadian rapper allegedly started making snide comments.

Makonnen made the shocking accusations on NPR's recently shuttered "Louder Than A Riot" while discussing his rise and fall in music ... claiming Drake once quipped he was an "Eric Benet-ass-looking-n****" right before they performed together at the 2015 Wireless Festival.

Makonnen says he and Drake shared a dwindling bond prior to that moment. The Canadian megastar helped catapult Makonnen to nationwide success in 2014 via the "Tuesday (Remix)" ... which earned Makonnen his first platinum plaque, and his signing with OVO for a single deal.

But, Makonnen says Drake started treating him differently when he began showing signs of weight loss ... hence the Eric Benet crack, and he claims the label stopped promoting his EPs.

And, to make things worse, fans were literally digging up his old tweets dissing Drake!!! Whoops.

Makonnen says his relationship with Drake imploded for good at Rihanna's VMA after-party in 2016 when he attempted to reconnect, but he claims Drake met him with a facial expression that meant him bodily harm ... and he knew it was time to bounce from the label.

Makonnen came out as gay in January 2017, and believes that decision caused the dissolution of many of his working relationships, and much of his inner circle in Atlanta, too.

Cassidy is scoffing at people who are upset at R. Kelly for his sex crimes, but don't hold the same anger toward the average Joe who they observe doing the exact same thing.

The battle-tested Philly rapper spoke his mind on a recent episode of the Street Starz podcast and expressed his belief that people have a right to be upset over R. Kelly ... but should keep the same energy when it comes to seeing people in their neighborhood scoop up younger girls!

According to Cassidy's recollection, he observed plenty of middle and high-school-age girls dating older guys his entire life and feels all hoods have similar scenarios. He also didn't say anything about reporting anyone so he may be just as culpable if true 🤷🏽‍♂️.

Cassidy and Swizz Beatz scored a Top 5 Billboard Hot 100 hit back in 2003 with assistance from Robert Sylvester several years before the sexual abuse allegations poured in.

Kanye West is full steam ahead on his presidential campaign, bringing his former collaborator Milo Yiannopoulos back into the mix, and their first order of business ... firing Ye's controversial right-hand man, Nick Fuentes.

TMZ obtained emails sent from Milo -- now officially YE2024's Director of Political Operations -- to Nick, and in one he says, "Your services on Ye’s exploratory team are terminated ... and will not be required for any possible future campaign."

You'll recall, Nick is the white nationalist who accompanied West during his trip to see Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago last fall.

Milo also fired off an exit email to Ali Alexander, another one of Ye's political advisors, who was recently forced to apologize after being accused of asking teenage boys for sexual pictures.

We reached out to Milo, and he confirmed the details in the e-mails. He also says he's been in L.A. for the past week, talking to Ye about his presidential aspirations.

You'll recall, Milo was reportedly removed from the campaign team last year after Ye's controversial interview with Alex Jones ... and he reportedly blamed Nick and Ali for his firing.

Now that Milo's back in the saddle, it would seem his next mission is finding out just how serious Ye is about running for the White House -- and, after that, addressing the antisemitism West spewed for months.

R&B emeritus Ye Ali doesn't give a damn how much Nick Cannon has to shell out for his kids -- he wants his money, pronto, for an uncleared Chris Brown song he claims Nick swindled from him!!!

Nick was pleasantly enjoying his Thursday on Twitter, joking about impregnating the entire world, when Ye intercepted his message with fiery rebuttals ... making fans aware of his issues with the "Wild 'N Out" creator.

Back in 2021, Nick released his movie "She Ball" ... which featured a snippet of the unreleased CB track "Drive." Ye says he had a hand in creating the song originally cut for a Breezy studio album, and he claims RCA never gave Nick permission to soundtrack it.

According to Ye, Nick's lawyers have been stalling him out, so he felt it was time to take matters public. Nick has yet to respond ... probably because he's busy filling in for Jamie Foxx on his Beat Shazaam TV series.

We reached out to Ye to see if he plans on following through with a lawsuit. No word back -- he's plenty busy stepping on Nick's Twitter neck!!!

Lil Durk and NBA YoungBoy's lethal rivalry is coming to a close ... as both artists seemingly confirmed a peace treaty through breadcrumbs dropped for their social media followers.

DJ Akademiks informed his Twitch live stream audience of the Durk/YoungBoy truce on Wednesday ... and when the clips made their rounds on the internet, fans noted Durk liked the tweet containing Ak's update.

Additionally, the YB Instagram "fan account" -- long suspected to actually be run by the Lousiana rapper on account of its 1 million+ followers -- also shared the news for the world to see.

Durk and YB's tensions revolve around the late King Von's issues with Quando Rondo, who's signed to YB's Never Broke Again label.

Von was shot and killed in November 2020, after attacking Quando ... and the two camps have been at odds ever since.

Their peace accord is truly a watershed moment for recent hip hop culture, given the amount of blood spilled in recent years. While we're not hearing any collaboration talks, each rapper's fans are still getting new music.

YB just dropped his new album "Don't Try This At Home" to a Top 5 Billboard 200 debut and has the lead single on the upcoming "Fast X" soundtrack with the song "Won't Back Down."