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Dr. Dre and Diddy’s first-ever studio session brought out the best in everyone in the room ... especially an up-and-coming artist named Pheelz, who soaked up light-years of music wisdom.

Over the course of a pretty legendary night last week, Dre took a liking to the Nigerian singer and producer ... who gave Doc the nickname "Mayowa," which means "joy bringer" in his native tongue.

Pheelz tells TMZ Hip Hop, being within arms reach of Dre, Diddy, Jimmy Iovine and others in the studio that night was a sight to behold ... and he's sure the finished product will be a win for fans.

He says growing up in Nigeria, he developed a connection with Dre through his music ... which impacted his own producing career.

In 2020, Pheelz won Producer of the Year at the Headie Awards -- Nigeria's top hip hop honor -- and says by linking with Dre, his art is that much better following the studio session.

Talk about a night to remember ... Pheelz had a front-row seat as American powerhouses Diddy and Dre joined forces for tracks that will end up on Dre and Snoop's upcoming joint album.

Sources involved in the blockbuster recording session tell us Diddy took Dre's studio coaching to heart, and their chemistry began to build on the spot.

Pheelz has been slowly building his U.S. visibility and this iconic moment will go a long way to that end. He just released his Davido collaboration titled "Electricity" ... and is set to perform at the BMI Awards in Miami next week.

Joey Badass is looking get his acting career up to the level of his rap game -- especially after his first movie role was in an Oscar-winner -- so now he's got his eye on a biopic.

In a new interview with Revolt, the Pro Era rapper boldly expressed his wish to play late MC Big L, who died in 1999.

Joey says aside from various people telling him how much he favors the Harlem rapper, he hopes to bring more visibility to Big L’s story.

We spoke with Brian Shafton, a partner at RBC Records, which owns several masters to Big L’s music, and he thinks Joey would literally crush it.

Brian also agrees the film would be huge for Big L’s legacy, especially in these streaming times.

Joey’s 2020 film “Two Distant Strangers” -- a big Netflix hit -- took home the Oscar for Best Short Live Action, so the audience potential is definitely there. Brian says the only potential problem is that Big L’s songs are riddled with so many samples ... it would be near impossible to license all the tracks for a film.

In the meantime, Joey's busy honing his acting craft with a steady role on 50 Cent's "Power Book III: Raising Kanan" -- and on the music side, he just wrapped his "2000" tour.

Just a hunch, but a Big L biopic without his music probably wouldn’t fly with fans.

Jay-Z's "Made In America Festival" hits Philly this Labor Day weekend for its 10th year with Bad Bunny, Tyler, The Creator, Snoh Aalegra, Pusha T and many more -- but Flo Milli will be there pulling double duty.

The fast-rap rookie recently joined the MIA lineup and we're told she also got recruited to host a cocktail-making session of Jay-Z's D'USSÉ cognac.

On Saturday evening, the Alabama rapper will be joined by Global Ambassador Sullivan Doh inside a VIP space where she'll dish on her recent grand debut at the MTV VMAs ... and help fans learn how to whip up some adult beverages.

The festival won't only showcase Jay's liquor line -- the Roc Nation CEO's philanthropic arm will also be busy at work during the festival.

Team Roc's Cause Village will be the hub for charitable organizations at Made in America. Clothing apparel SHEIN is joining forces with Team Roc to conduct workshops targeting various issues including social justice reform, education and animal welfare.

Tiffany Haddish and Aries Spears groomed a 14-year-old girl and her 7-year-old brother, coercing them to film explicit skits, this according to a new lawsuit ... but Tiffany's legal team is calling it nothing but a shakedown ... years in the making.

The comedians are being sued by two siblings, going by Jane Doe and John Doe, who claim they've been traumatized for life as a result of allegedly being groomed when they were children. The boy also claims to have been molested by both defendants.

In the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, the older sister says she was just 14 when Haddish gained her trust and convinced her to film a sexually suggestive video, with Haddish teaching her how to mimic fellatio for the skit.

The allegations get even more disturbing ... in the suit, she claims her younger brother was only 7 when Haddish brought him to a home where Spears and Haddish molested him while filming a "Funny or Die" video titled "Through a Pedophiles Eyes."

Tiffany's attorney, Andrew Brettler, says the lawsuit is purely an extortion attempt, telling us, "Plaintiff's mother, Trizah Morris, has been trying to assert these bogus claims against Ms. Haddish for several years."

Brettler continues, "Every attorney who has initially taken on her case -- and there were several -- ultimately dropped the matter once it became clear that the claims were meritless and Ms. Haddish would not be shaken down. Now, Ms. Morris has her adult daughter representing herself in this lawsuit. The two of them will together face the consequences of pursuing this frivolous action."

The siblings claim Haddish was friends with their mother and they say the video featuring John Doe was published online via "Funny or Die" when he was too young to consent.

In their suit, the sister says her resulting trauma has prevented her from dating because she's scared she will be taken advantage of and "led down a path of false trust like the path that Haddish led her down."

Both siblings say they have developed social disorders ... and the brother claims he is so afraid of being watched or recorded he places band-aids over all the cameras on his electronics.

Diddy's "R&B is Dead" campaign has led the Bad Boy Records founder back into the studio ... with the legendary Dr. Dre marking their first-ever musical meetup!

Sources familiar with the session tell TMZ Hip Hop Dre was actually coaching Diddy on how to say certain words and made sure they had it right.

We're told the track will likely end up on Dre's upcoming album with Snoop Dogg (who was also in the building) which the West Coast rap legends have been teasing since February's Super Bowl performance.

Jimmy Iovine, Tank, Pheelz, LVRN's Justice Baiden and others were also in the mix to keep the energy high and ideas flowing.

Seeing as it was their first time recording together, the 2 super-producers were trying to get a feel for each other's chemistry. We’re told the song felt like it was coming together nicely, and Diddy and Dre definitely “clicked” and had fun.

Diddy celebrated the moment with a post calling it a “dream come true,” and labeling Dre a "superhero."

Six months before he was arrested for DUI, Marshawn Lynch had another troubling incident on the roads of Las Vegas ... crashing his pricey Lambo at around 4 a.m. -- this according to cops.

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Dept. officers said in police documents, obtained by TMZ Sports, that Lynch was driving a 2014 white Lamborghini Aventador on Feb. 22 when he struck a curb and eventually came to a stop in a landscape area.

Officers say in the docs a man claiming to be Lynch's cousin initially took responsibility for the crash at the scene. They claim the man told them he tried to make a U-turn and "lost it."

Cops, though, didn't seem to buy the story. They said in the docs they had seen a black van pull up to the scene and pick someone up from the disabled Lamborghini -- and when they asked the man about it, they say he told them, "No I came in the van."

They say the man "then changed his story to say the van came to pick up a passenger that was in the car."

Cops say they issued the man citations -- but they later voided them when they say they proved he was not the driver of the car.

Eventually, according to the docs, cops say they were able to get in contact with Lynch -- who came to the traffic bureau on Feb. 25 for an interview about the crash. The report states Lynch "took full responsibility for the collision" and blamed the wreck on being "unfamiliar with the area due to being a new resident."

Cops said in the documents when they asked Lynch why he left the scene, he told them people began to show up and video him and he didn't want to be filmed. Cops say Lynch told them he did not know the man claiming to be his cousin had attempted to take responsibility for the crash initially.

8 News obtained police video from the scene, and in it, you can see the Lamborghini was a complete mess.

Lynch was eventually cited over the crash, and court records show he cut a plea deal with prosecutors in April to close out the case. Records show he was ordered to pay $750 in fines and fees.

Lynch's attorneys, Richard Schonfeld and David Chesnoff, told 8 News "this is a non-story" ... adding, "Marshawn addressed this matter many months ago and was found responsible for a parking violation."

Lynch was later arrested in Vegas on Aug. 9, after cops say they found him asleep at the wheel of a banged-up 2020 Shelby GT500 near the strip. Officers say they smelled booze on him -- and after they claim he was uncooperative -- they arrested him and booked him on several charges, including DUI.

Boosie Badazz was popped for speeding in Fulton County on Friday … but instead of flying off the rails like last time, he performed an impromptu concert on the spot!!!

Deputy Chief for Fairburn PD, tells TMZ Hip Hop ... Boosie was pulled over for going 73 in a 55 zone ... but before the stop, an unknown object was tossed from the vehicle.

Once stopped, police say they smelled weed, prompting a search of the car.

In an apparent act of defiance, Boosie decided to rap his classic song “Set It Off” … y’know the one that starts off with him being annoyed? 😬

During the search, cops say they found a small amount of weed, but didn't cite him for it. The same couldn’t be said for Boosie’s driving habits  ... cops say they issued the Louisiana-born rapper speeding and littering citations before letting him go on his way.

Check out the video -- at one point, Boosie strikes up a convo with an officer -- offers him a new job ... and dangles $30k in “pocket change” in the cop’s face!!!

Boosie tells the cop the gig comes with, um, unconventional benefits. The cop didn’t seem to bite so maybe the pocket change will just go towards paying the speeding ticket.

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Taurean Prince was arrested in Miami on Thursday night ... TMZ Sports has confirmed.

Jail records show the 28-year-old was booked at 7:51 PM due to an outstanding warrant. A police spokesperson tells us it stems from an alleged drug-related incident in Texas.

Further details have not yet been released.

Prince -- who looked stern in his mug shot -- is still in custody, the records show.

Prince, a star at Baylor, was taken by the Jazz in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft, but was traded to the Atlanta Hawks just days later. He's bounced around the league since, but played well for the T-Wolves after being traded to the team last year.

He's since signed a 2-year, $16 million extension with Minnesota ... and is expected to be a key player on the team this season.

Charlie Sheen has decided to settle his lawsuit with an ex-girlfriend who claimed he exposed her to HIV ... putting to bed the case that's been simmering for years.

Legal docs, obtained by TMZ, show the stipulation was filed Wednesday in L.A. County Superior Court ... the actor agreed to settle with the woman for $120K -- which will be paid to her in $10K monthly installments over the next year.

As we reported back in 2017, the woman, who filed as Jane Doe, claimed she met the "confidential male defendant" and they quickly began having sex -- eventually unprotected sex -- according to the lawsuit.

She never mentioned him by name in the initial docs, but she did note the person she was suing announced his HIV status on national TV on November 17, 2015. That's the day Sheen went on "Today" and told his story, so she wasn't doing much to conceal his identity.

She claimed he dismissively told her to take pills to prevent transmission, but told her to not believe "the convenient rumors of the medical community," saying, "You don't need to be on all that f****** s***."

Richard Simmons is feeling the love, more than 8 years after he disappeared from the public eye, thanking fans for their support and well wishes on the heels of TMZ's documentary about his life and his disappearance.

Simmons, who hasn't posted a message directly from himself on Facebook in years, broke that streak Wednesday, saying, "Thank you, everyone, for your kindness and love! ❤️ Love, Richard."

Richard's post comes just a couple days after the premiere of "TMZ Investigates: What Really Happened to Richard Simmons" on FOX and Hulu. An in-depth look into Richard's life, his success and his disappearance from public life.

We're told Richard watched the special and is extremely moved by the reaction of thousands of his fans who have sent well wishes.

While Richard's official Facebook account regularly posts old clips and workout vids -- usually getting a couple hundred comments -- the direct note from Richard clearly had fans excited, with close to 5,000 comments in less than 48 hours.

Jay Gruden's casa es Carson Wentz's casa now -- the Washington Commanders QB bought the former coach's Virginia home after being traded this offseason, TMZ Sports has confirmed.

The 7,280-square foot home sits on 3 acres in Leesburg -- an hour west of Commanders' FedEx Field stadium -- and we're told it's a popular area for pro athletes.

The crib -- detailed as a "magnificent French-Provincial estate" -- comes with 5 bedrooms, 5.5 baths, a chef's kitchen, a home gym and a 3-car garage.

There's plenty of space to watch some game tape -- from the Great Room (which has a fireplace) to the game room, where Wentz can sip on some wine from the cellar that holds over 300 bottles.

This amazing pad was listed by Bill Davis from Century 21 -- who confirmed Gruden used to hang his hat there.

Remember, Gruden started coaching the Commanders in 2014 and was fired in 2019 after a 35-49-1 record with the franchise. He's currently the L.A. Rams' offensive consultant.

Wentz was traded to the Commanders in March ... and bought the place for $3,675,000 in July.

The voice behind Capitol Records’ very short-lived artificial intelligence rapper project is speaking out … and he’s actually thankful the label treated the contract like toilet paper.

Real-life rapper Kyle The Hooligan hit Instagram following Capitol’s decision to end its FN Meka deal and says the creators -- Factory New heads Anthony Martini and Brandon Le -- ghosted him after getting everything they needed to power the character … like the ability for it to use the N-word.

Kyle says Factory New approached him with the idea with promises of equity and percentages, but then went M-I-A on their culture vulture mission.

He admitted to waiting for FN Meka to become a success before he could recoup massive damages ... but says he'll happily settle for performing at its funeral instead.

News of Meka's signing went wide on Monday, but by Tuesday the label backpedaled ... apologizing to the Black community for the obvious rapper stereotypes -- gaudy jewelry and glorifying prison life -- built into the character's appearance and lyrics.

Kyle is calling the cancelation karma … as are several other notable figures in the music industry.

We spoke to hip hop superproducer Hitmaka Wednesday on "TMZ Live," and he blamed Capitol’s “capitalistic” mindset for letting FN Meka thrive. He added that if the label allowed its employees -- particularly those of color -- to speak up, it might not have this mess on its hands.

Sylvester Stallone and his wife are calling it quits, she's filed for divorce after 25 years of marriage ... and is accusing the actor of moving assets from marital funds.

Jennifer Flavin filed docs Friday in Florida ... unclear exactly why she decided to pull the plug on their marriage, but some fans started to sense trouble thanks to a recent tattoo coverup -- the "Rocky" star removed an image of Jennifer's face from his arm.

Flavin wants exclusive domain over their house in Palm Beach while divorce proceedings wind their way through the courts.

She also made clear ... she believes Sly is hiding marital assets. In the divorce docs, obtained by TMZ, she says, "Upon information and belief, the Husband has engaged in the intentional dissipation, depletion and/or waste of marital assets which has had an adverse economic impact on the marital estate. Pursuant to Section 61.075, Florida Statues, equity dictates that the Wife be compensated and made whole by receiving an unequal distribution of the marital assets in her favor. Moreover, the Husband should be enjoined from, selling, transferring, assigning, encumbering, or dissipating any assets during the pendency of proceedings."

Jennifer wants to restore her last name -- Flavin. She also wants a judge to put the brakes on Sly moving assets from the marital pot. Closer Weekly first reported the split.

Stallone used to have a portrait of Flavin on his bicep, but recently got it covered by an image of his late dog, and "Rocky" costar Butkus.

When asked about the reasoning behind covering the ink of Jennifer, Stallone's rep told Daily Mail, "Mr. Stallone intended to refresh the tattoo image of his wife Jennifer; however, the results were unsatisfactory and, unfortunately, unfixable."

What's more ... Jennifer took to Instagram to post a photo with the three daughters she and Sylvester share, with the caption, "These girls are my priority <3 nothing else matters. The 4 of us forever."

Jennifer and Sylvester got married in 1997.

We reached out to Sly's rep ... so far, no word back.

Capitol Records is pulling the plug on its AI rapper FN Meka, and calling the unconventional and controversial signing an insensitive move on their part -- in retrospect, that is.

The label went public with Meka's contract on August 12, but Tuesday it did a complete 180° … apologizing to the Black community for not thinking things all the way through.

Sources close to the situation tell TMZ Hip Hop ... Factory New, the company that concocted FN Meka, was virtually blindsided by the news, learning of their shredded contract just moments before Capitol announced it was cutting ties.

We’re also told by label sources ... some angry staffers blame Capitol’s lack of diversity for the deal getting a greenlight, in the first place. One source claims the label has very few senior-level Black executives running departments.

FN Meka -- an artificial intelligence rapper with computer-generated lyrics -- featured overly exaggerated African-American tropes ... which triggered a major backlash.

Many fans and pundits took issue with the AI entertainer (or its creators) using the n-word, and romanticizing run-ins with police.

The virtual rapper’s debut single “Florida Water” single actually features Gunna, who is currently incarcerated.

We recently spoke to Krayzie Bone of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony about the situation ... who felt the dawn of the AI rapper is not only inevitable, but ultimately bad for human rapper job security down the line.

Florida rapper Hotboii’s career stalled last year when he got caught up in a RICO case that authorities claim involved warring gangs … but he just scored a legal victory that may help his chances of being released on bond.

Hotboii’s lawyer, Bradford Cohen, tells TMZ Hip Hop his client’s Miami gun possession case was dismissed on Tuesday … but the RICO case in Orlando remains open.

Hotboii's bond was revoked when he surrendered last month in Miami to deal with the gun case and Cohen thinks this dismissal could provide a silver lining to getting his bond reinstated.

Hotboii was also part of the 34-person indictment dubbed “Operation X-Force” … a concentrated effort to thwart the alleged crimes of rivals Army Gang and 438 Gang.

The 22-year-old rapper was riding high this past summer when Drake put the stamp of approval on his newly released “WTF” single … but saw the buzz fizzle when he surrendered to authorities last month.

Quando Rondo got caught in the middle of a deadly shooting in broad daylight in L.A. on Friday ... triggering a freak-out from the rapper.

Videos circulating online show Quando CLEARLY upset while talking to a police officer in West Hollywood right after the bloodshed. In the videos, Quando appears very animated, flailing his arms and stumbling backward.

At one point, Quando sees the police drag a body out of a black Escalade and he promptly walks away, screaming in agony.

A rep for Quando tells us the rapper is "OK," but then clammed up on us.

Law enforcement tells TMZ ... several gunmen drove to a gas station in Beverly Grove and opened fire, hitting a young man.

His friends loaded him into the black SUV and drove about a mile to West Hollywood, where they were stopped by police officers responding to the shooting scene. This was where the videos of Quando were shot and it appears he's just a witness.

Cops gave CPR to the victim, who was breathing, but not conscious. An ambulance rushed the victim to the hospital, where he died.

The suspects fled in a white sedan.

Quando is no stranger to gun violence. He and his crew were shot at in Blackshear, Georgia, back in May 2021. One of his handlers was wounded in that attack.

Then, in November 2020, King Von was shot dead at an Atlanta hookah lounge following a confrontation between his crew and Quando's entourage.