TMZ Hip Hop - Page 50

Travis Scott’s "Utopia" is the biggest rap album of the year by miles, earning its 3rd consecutive week on top of the Billboard 200 ... and a deep discount for the project's vinyl definitely helped keep it on top.

Trav raked in 185k equivalent album units in the U.S. alone last week, bringing his total to over 800k units ... nearly platinum status in just a month!!!

Out of the 185k Travis sold last week, 93k of them came from "Utopia's" vinyl record sales, which were discounted from $50 to $5 for a limited time.

Despite the low payout, "Utopia" now holds the record for biggest vinyl sales week for an R&B/hip-hop or rap album ... and it ranks in the top 10 of vinyl sales for any album -- at No. 7 -- since 1991.

Chrisean Rock is setting the internet ablaze, because she blazed up while pregnant ... and while many fans are up in arms about the baby's safety, others are actually supporting her right to light up.

On Sunday, social media users debated a recent clip from Chrisean and Blueface's reality show "Crazy In Love" ... where the two are having a mild disagreement as Chrisean blows billows of smoke in the kitchen.

Blueface seemed more concerned about money, informing Chrisean she did not accumulate $10 million in her last round of paydays -- but plenty of viewers expressed concern for the unborn child, and launched into anti-Chrisean tirades.

The CDC strongly advises against smoking while pregnant, but her actions aren't illegal and Chrisean still had some folks supporting her.

As fans argued amongst themselves, Blueface and Chrisean were able to squash their immediate differences to attend Jason Lee's birthday party Sunday night in Los Angeles.

Memphis Bleek hears the fans loud and clear ... he's totally on board to record a collab project with Jay-Z but he's not the one who needs convincing!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with the Roc Nation legend outside of LAX and he tells us he's constantly sending Jay material to record, and even gets rejected from time to time.

Bleek jokes he should've attempted the Jay duet album when his bank account was sitting at $100 mil as opposed to his current billionaire status -- but he points out, he was riding with Team Roc well before Jay started stacking commas.

Jay handpicked Bleek to rap alongside him when he was just a teen in their Marcy Housing projects in Brooklyn, and Bleek thinks their collab would be a fitting close to their "Coming Of Age" saga ... which details their relationship.

Bleek also gave us an update on Jay's storied 40/40 Club, which closed its doors without warning after 20 years this week.

What appeared to be a setback is actually the dawn of another venture ... Bleek says they're bringing the 40/40 to midtown NYC sometime in 2024, and they're already taking applications for beautiful women to handle the VIP bottle service!!!

The "My Mind Right" rapper also gave us his 2¢ on the current state of hip hop, including his earnest reasoning as to why things have gone stale. Like many of his fellow rappers, Bleek feels the genre's lacking creativity -- mainly because copycatting isn't frowned upon in the younger generation.

Drake's now having books thrown at him onstage, in addition to bras ... and it sounds like a fan got lucky the page-turner didn't smack him in the face.

Ya gotta see the video from Drizzy's Friday concert in San Francisco ... he's onstage talking to fans between a break in songs when suddenly a book comes hurtling out of the crowd, and he snatches it with one hand.

While it appears the book may have gone over his head, Drake told the book-thrower ... "You lucky I'm quick. Would've had to beat your ass if that hit me in the face."

Champagne Papi's been totally cool with women throwing bras at him during his concerts, even helping one big-chested fan go viral and land modeling deals.

But, it appears book throwing is crossing a line for Drake.

It's part of a larger trend unfolding at concerts ... Bebe Rexha got hit in the face with a flying phone, Keslea Ballerini took a friendship bracelet to the noggin and someone even threw a bag of cremated ashes at Pink.

Fat Joe made a huge splash to ring in his 53rd birthday — on a $100 million superyacht surrounded by his closet and coolest pals, including Babyface, who performed a song he’s never done live!!!

The BX bomber’s shindig went down on the Hudson River across from NYC and was hosted by Market America co-founder Loren Ridinger.

Babyface ribbed Joe for being his #1 superfan but did him a solid and performed his favorite song, “Given A Chance” a deep cut from BF’s 1989 album “Tender Lover” … and managed to bring the house down, without sinking the ship!!!

Other artists in attendance such as Jim Jones and Styles P also performed hits but Remy Ma stole the show when she grabbed the mic and rapped Lil Kim’s “Quiet Storm (Remix)” verse — in front of the Queen Bee and sent everyone into a frenzy!!!

T.I.'s son King unveiled a new set of pearly white veneers this week -- only to get attacked by internet trolls who think they're way too big for his mouth ... but now, his sister's coming to his defense.

We caught up with King's sister Zonnique with her group The OMG Girlz in NYC and asked her thoughts about her bro's new chompers, which immediately caused her to literally LOL.

Zonnique tells us King likes what he sees in the mirror, so she supports her bro, too.

King entrusted his mouth to world-renowned Colombian dentist Dr. Mario Montoya, who's worked on the likes of Kanye West, Rick Ross and Tekashi 6ix9ine. Those credentials didn't seem to matter to the internet, though, and brutal memes featuring Donkey from "Shrek" started popping up.

King's mom, Tiny, also got her teeth done and went out of her way to defend King's mouth makeover ... assuring haters her son's still popular with the ladies. Zonnique thinks people just love commenting and reacting to things that stand out, like King's teeth.

The Drake concert was far from a drag, but NBA superstar Kevin Durant was spotted taking one at the rapper's big show on Wednesday ... blowing smoke in the air right from his VIP seats.

TMZ Sports has obtained video of the Phoenix Suns hooper vibin' out at the 6 God's "It's All A Blur" tour stop at KIA Forum ... and he appeared to be locked in on the performance.

Now, it's unclear which of God's Plants K.D. was enjoying ... but we have our guess, considering the two-time champion was at the forefront of getting cannabis removed from the NBA's banned substances list.

In fact, Durant even admitted commissioner Adam Silver could smell weed on him when they met on the matter ... claiming he didn't have to do much persuading, as they were both on the same page.

Drake debuting a new look -- while kicking it with Kevin Durant -- has the creator of FUBU thinking hard about his brand's place in hip hop history, as more and more young rappers discover it.

He was on the sidelines in L.A. this week to take in NBA open runs, while randomly rocking a shirt with the FUBU logo ... proudly repping one of the most dominant fashion houses ever within the culture.

Founder Daymond John tells TMZ Hip Hop ... seeing Drizzy in the FUBU tee certainly surprised him, but he says it's a testament to the foundation he and his partners carved out nearly 30 years ago.

For the record, the pink barrettes aren't FUBU ... but we guess they work with Drake's 'do, nonetheless.

Daymond also credited Megan Thee Stallion, SZA and Chris Brown for also keeping FUBU's name strong in the streets -- on the 50th anniversary of hip hop, at that!!!

Hip Hop’s 50th-anniversary celebrations must've done little to impress Polo G or Yo Gotti … as they've both been speaking out about how the culture's failing to inspire them.

Interestingly enough, both rappers are promoting new projects -- so, their criticism could either be a marketing ploy or just honest commentary. Either way, they're not holding back!!!

Polo launched a mini-rant Thursday, threatening that his upcoming “Hood Poet” album could potentially be his last and ripping the rap game for becoming watered down and lackluster.

The Chicago rapper is arguably entering his prime as an artist -- he broke milestones with his last album, “Hall Of Fame,” shooting to the top of the charts and its single "Rapstar" also going No. 1.

Yo Gotti took his gripes to Power 106 in L.A. this week ... and also griped about the state of rap, pointing to the COVID-19 pandemic as the beginning of the low points for him.

Gotti says his contribution to the creative drought is his new DJ Drama-led Gangsta Grillz "I Showed U So" ... which dropped Friday.

Jake Paul just released the ultimate flex on his haters ... dropping a rap video bragging about his massive wealth and success -- and he recorded the whole thing during Nate Diaz fight week!!

The Problem Child shared the visuals for his new track, "Witness," on Friday ... and he put his luxurious toys, boxing career and love life on full display.

The 3-minute project includes footage from fight week and highlights from his win over Diaz -- and as it turns out, Jake even recorded himself mouthing the words to the song inside the ring after the match.

While Jake raps early in the track that he's "been tryna keep it humble for y'all," ... the lyrics are anything but -- with the internet superstar-turned-boxer listing all his favorite toys: private jets, Ferrari GTB and SF90, rare watches, and, of course, his $16 million crib in Puerto Rico.

Jake also mentions his recent milestones -- becoming a Sports Illustrated cover athlete, getting his own documentary on Netflix, as well as the Paul brothers being worth a billion bucks combined.

As for his fighting, the 7-1 pugilist spits about working harder than ever and still being hungry for more, despite all his achievements ... and how Cleveland couldn't handle his vision.

Paul even shows off his girlfriend, Dutch speed skater Jutta Leerdam, in the vid ... saying, "Gon' marry the queen of the Netherlands" as he holds her hand.

Quavo's mourning of Takeoff hit its apex Thursday evening with a high-powered listening session for his album, "Rocket Power" ... which he's dedicated to the late Migos rapper.

TMZ Hip Hop obtained video from inside the Hayden Planetarium in NYC, where Quavo previewed the album for some lucky fans, and spoke openly about his pain.

He told the crowd he's been floating through life since Takeoff's death -- comparing it to an out-of-body experience -- and thanked fans for still rocking with him.

Takeoff was shot and killed back in November, just as he and Quavo were revving up the promotion for their joint album.

Luckily, he left behind material Quavo was able to use for this solo project, and Takeoff actually helps kick off the album with the song "Patty Cake."

Drake's son Adonis is definitely giving dad's "It's All a Blur" tour a 5-star rating -- after attending a show last week, he's got one track ringing in his head and coming out of his mouth ... constantly!!!

As proof, Drake shared a pair of videos Thursday where Adonis couldn't stop saying "21, can you do something for me?" That's the opening line from "Rich Flex," the lead track from Drake and 21 Savage's "Her Loss" album.

Adonis was in attendance for Drake's Inglewood tour stop on August 12, and showered his dad with support ahead of the show with a handmade card that said, "Dad I hope you have a great concert."

The end result is Adonis jumping up and down on the couch, still shouting the "Rich Flex" lyrics and Drake added the caption, "Comes to one drake show..."

Drake had asked the audience to refrain from throwing bras as his son was in attendance ... but it was his own father, Dennis Graham, who broke the rules ... by trolling Drake with a super-sized bra big enough to be a hammock!!!

One of French Montana's recent compositions of La musica de Harry Fraud is getting them both dragged into court -- the artist behind the track's sample claims the song dropped before they finalized a deal.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, an artist named Skylar Gudasz is suing French, Harry Fraud, French's Coke Boys and Cocaine City label imprints, Sony Music and others for copyright infringement.

In the suit, Skylar says she was contacted by someone claiming to represent French around May 2022, and they inquired about licensing a sample to her 2020 song, "Femme Fatale."

She says that is the song that was eventually used for French and Harry's hit song, "Blue Chills" from their "Montega" album last year.

Skylar says they were still hashing out the licensing deal, when she was shocked to see the song get released in June 2022. Skylar says her contact on the licensing deal reacted to the unexpected early release by texting, "Oh jeez" ... and then contacted French's lawyer.

Skylar says she watched "Blue Chills" get featured on subsequent deluxe and vinyl releases of "Montega" -- all without a licensing agreement in place -- before reaching her wits' end.

She's now going after damages, including all the profits she says were made off 'Chills.'

50 Cent may have run through millions of dollars worth of jewelry throughout his rap career, but says there's a point where you gotta draw the line -- taking aim at Busta Rhymes over his gigantic gold chain!!!

On Thursday, 50 shared BTS footage from his recent "Get Rich" tour stop in Charlotte, where he kicked it with DaBaby, Busta and others backstage.

50 immediately got on Busta's case for his oversized adornment ... joking how he doesn't have any real friends to break the news that his gaudy jewelry was gawdful!!!

One may think that's a shot at Busta's longtime right-hand man Spliff Star but he seems to be cosigning the nonsense -- he's also been spotted wearing a statue's amount of gold around his neck!!!

Busta's been rocking the chain since May when his jeweler TraxNYC unveiled the whopper in a box bigger than the one that contained Jumanji.

Damian Lillard is set to release his fifth studio album "Don D.O.L.L.A." this week -- a feat he says is only reserved for legit artists and not ones halfway committed!!!

TMZ Hip Hop obtained video of Dame previewing the album last night at Soho House in West Hollywood ... where he told the crowd he considers himself a seasoned rapper at this point, listening to criticisms to always improve on his craft.

The NBA star says March's season-ending injury gave him time to beef up the album ... which boosts guest appearances from Rick Ross, Mozzy and longtime collaborator, Lil Wayne ... who's appeared on ALL of Dame's albums thus far!!!

Several pro athletes also dabble in making hip-hop music, but Dame says he earned his stripes freestyling for "4-Bar Fridays" on IG before graduating to SoundCloud.

Ne-Yo is insisting he maintains a healthy relationship with the 3 women with whom he shares his 7 children ... and he says the secret to being stress-free is an easy one: parents aren't allowed to sling mud in front of the kids.

The R&B star broke down his reasoning to former video vixen Gloria Valez in a podcast clip Thursday, explaining any headlines he and his exes make bickering could possibly affect the children down the line, so they refrain from doing so.

Ne-Yo shares 3 children with ex-wife Crystal Renay, 2 with ex-fiancée Monyetta Shaw and 2 with ex-girlfriend Sadé Jenea ... but says everyone gets along ... as the kids refer to their half-siblings' mothers as the "extra moms."

He credits his mother and sister for upholding his support system in raising the kids — but isn't shy about dealing with the occasional friction. Baby mothers and fathers are known to mirror immovable forces and unstoppable objects, after all.

Crystal and Ne-Yo have been showing positive PDA as of late, despite ending their union and Ne-Yo's new dilemma is convincing his kids to adjust to his fame.