Music

Drake and Kendrick Lamar's heated rap beef is the talk of every town, and Malcolm Jamal-Warner thinks that's precisely the problem -- hip hop culture is getting props for bad stuff!

The 'Cosby Show' alum vented his thoughts on Drake and Kendrick's 2024 rap war, and the 53-year-old version of himself refuses to accept the notion their fiery back and forth -- which seems to be on ice now -- was great entertainment.

MJW knows his message isn't a popular one, but thinks Black culture has been conditioned to normalize songs about murder, misogyny and even glorifying the n-word.

Metro Boomin's smack in the middle of the 2024 rap wars, but that hasn't slowed the superproducer's motion -- he performed to thousands inside the Egyptian Great Pyramids complex!!!

We got some groovy snaps of Young Metro's booming set from April 30 in Giza, where the stage sat near the Great Pyramid, the Pyramids of Khafre and Menkaure, and the Great Sphinx.

He's already a big deal in the Middle East ... a source close to the situation tells us Metro's Egyptian escapades included a meeting with officials at the royal Abdeen Palace in Cairo.

Taylor Swift is shaking things up for the start of the European leg of her 'Eras' tour ... introducing a slew of changes for the new shows, and her fans absolutely love it.

The singer kicked off the new dates for her record-breaking tour with a stop in Paris Thursday ... debuting a couple key changes right out of the gate. As eagle-eyed Swifties quickly noticed, Taylor donned a new 'Lover' bodysuit for the intro of her tour.

Instead of the pale pink and blue sequined number -- which Taylor famously wore in the concert film -- the singer wore a vibrant orange bedazzled bodysuit. She also notably ditched her getup for the 'Fearless' era, swapping in a new gold and black fringe dress.

J. Cole caught a little flak for bowing out his Kendrick Lamar battle ... but fans have been joking he's probably on a beach chillin' amid all this ... and turns out, they're half right!!!

A TikTok user named Lale says she randomly bumped into Cole at the beach on Tuesday this week and she even posted a pic of them together for evidence. Sure enough, it looks like Cole.

Lale fielded various questions from her Cole encounter in the comments ... she had gone to the beach to clear her head when she spotted the elusive rap star.

Drake's had a rough past few weeks beefing with Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, Rick Ross and having his house shot up ... and things may be taking their toll.

On Thursday morning, Drake shared an IG story from the new Netflix series "A Man In Full" ... which shows Jeff Daniels' character Charlie Croker appearing to spurt out his last thoughts as he dies on the floor.

The show's premise follows a fallen real estate tycoon looking to reclaim his empire as enemies swirl around him.

Teresa Giudice is dishing on how she scored a rare selfie with Taylor Swift at Coachella ... without even being a Swiftie.

Remember, the 'Real Housewives of New Jersey' star was in the same VIP section as the singer at weekend 1 of the music festival. Still, as Teresa recently told E! News ... she almost didn't approach Taylor, out of fear she'd bother the Grammy winner, especially since she wasn't a Swiftie.

Apparently, we have Teresa's husband Louie Ruelas to thank for the iconic pic ... as Teresa admitted he was the one who encouraged her to speak to Taylor. She added, "Jennifer Aydin [who’s] on my show, she loves her. I’m like, ‘All right. I’m doing this for Jennifer Aydin.'"

Ryan Garcia launched an all-out social media attack on Errol Spence Jr. on Wednesday ... challenging the fellow boxing star to a fight -- and doing his best Kendrick Lamar impression in the process.

The feud sparked after one of Spence's fans said they'd like to see him take on King Ry as his next opponent ... to which Garcia unloaded a number of fiery responses, including a post claiming he already told his camp to make it happen.

Garcia even threw out a date and a place ... saying he'll be ready to throw hands on August 10 at AT&T Stadium in Texas. He also seemed to be down with Spence's pitch to fight between 154 and 160 pounds (super welterweight or middleweight) ... despite that being at least 14 pounds more than what he was supposed to come in at ahead of the Devin Haney bout.

Gypsy Rose Blanchard believes in her heart of hearts she's Taylor Swift's new muse -- she's convinced one of the singer's new songs is all about her, or at the least ... inspired by her.

Sources connected to Gypsy tell TMZ ... GRB thinks Taylor’s new song "Fresh Out The Slammer" -- from her 'Tortured Poets Department' album -- might be about her December release from prison.

The reason she even suspects that ... we're told Gypsy sees a lot of similarities between the song lyrics and her real life -- almost to a T.

Cardi B is taking heat for blanking on the designer of her epic Met Gala gown right when it mattered most -- but Ayra Starr says don't judge, because it's impossible to always be perfect in the heat of the moment!

TMZ Hip Hop ran into the Afrobeats superstar Wednesday in Bev Hills, and she understood where Cardi was coming from -- the "Wap" rapper couldn't recall who put together her ridiculously huge and long gown when she was interviewed entering the Met ... and she felt the wrath of a former Vogue exec.

Ayra's no stranger to events like the Met Gala, and says no preparation can save you when your nerves take over.

Action Bronson says the best way to enjoy his KnicksTape is blunted on reality ... totally enhancing his courtside experience!!! 😵‍💫

We caught Mr. Bam Bam Baklava at LAX proudly waving the NYK banner, and he owned up to his viral moments of being completely blitzed inside Madison Square Garden.

No regrets for the Queens MC ... Action tells us that being stoned while sitting so close to the team's huddle gives his brain the 3D effect -- it's like Knicks HC Tom Thibodeau is drawing up plays from a spaceship!!!

Andy Cohen swears he doesn't know if John Mayer's body's a wonderland ... as he tries to put rumors to rest he and the Grammy winner are getting it on.

The King of Bravo sat down and addressed it head-on when he was asked about longstanding speculation he and his buddy John might be more than just friends -- and, while he says he understands why it's a hot topic, he's gonna have to disappoint the rumor mill.

Andy told The Hollywood Reporter, "Let them speculate! I honestly love John Mayer, and he loves me. But because we’re so affectionate toward each other, people don’t know what box to put that in. They assume we’re sleeping with each other, which we are most definitely not."

Indie rocker Steve Albini, who was best known for being the front man for the rock bands Big Black and Shellac, has died.

His employees at his Chicago-based studio, Electronic Audio, confirmed the sad news Wednesday ... sharing that the musician's cause of death was a heart attack.

Albini rose to fame in the '80s with his punk rock band, Big Black, which he started alongside guitarist Santiago Durango and bassist Jeff Pezzati. The group was known for controversial lyrics ... and for choosing to use a drum machine over a drum kit. They released 2 studio albums before disbanding in 1987.

Jelly Roll is feeling better than ever after finishing his first 5K, and he's already considering his next race ... TMZ has learned.

We caught up with Jelly Roll after his race Tuesday at Pasadena's Rose Bowl, where the singer declared he felt emotional over the achievement.

He added ... "I truly have lost like 70 pounds getting ready for this. I've been training a few days a week pretty hard. It was still rough. It was cool though."

Druski's crushing the dreams of many men by going public with his romance with Rubi Rose, and doing so with a serious tongue kiss -- and while some think it's giving skit, we're hearing it's the real deal.

Sources close to the situation tell TMZ Hip Hop ... Druski and Rubi are still in the budding stages of their new romance ... and they're taking things slow, but all the stars seem to be in alignment!!!

They recently hit it off during a trip to the Dominican Republic for a mutual friend's birthday, realized they had a bond and wanted to take their relationship to the next level.

Jana Kramer called out the fact Travis Kelce is a bit of a party animal -- something she doesn't think is a great quality ... and which she hopes doesn't rub off on Taylor Swift.

The "One Tree Hill" star crapped on the Chiefs tight end on her podcast, "Whine Down," where she made a pretty scathing comment about Travis' nightlife habits ... namely, the fact he seems to enjoy a beverage or two while out on the town.

She says, "To me, he’s always drunk. Every time I’ve ever seen a video he’s just always drunk." JK then pivoted to Taylor ... saying she hopes T-Swift doesn't follow his lead.

There's a rumor going around that Drake and Kendrick Lamar's shared music label tried to force them to squash their beef -- but turns out, it's totally unfounded ... TMZ has learned.

Here's the deal ... a blind item is being circulated that purports to have the inside scoop on an alleged meeting between Kendrick, Drake and Universal Music Group ... which both artists are technically signed to via distribution subsidiaries.

There's a few bullet points addressed in the blind item -- including the claim that UMG honchos tried to force Kendrick to capitulate to Drake and apologize and squash things.