Money

Fat Joe and his buddies closed down a legendary NYC restaurant, but the busboys kept the party going ... and he thanked them with a fat gratuity.

The rapper grabbed dinner at Rao's in Harlem Wednesday night with bail bondsman Ira Judelson and DJ Shortkutz, and after all the other diners had left ... the busboys went to the jukebox and blasted Joe's "All the Way Up."

We're told he loved it and launched into an impromptu jam sesh with the entire waitstaff, so naturally they cranked up "Lean Back" after that.

Joe stuck around to take selfies and chat with everyone before picking up the $300-400 tab ... and leaving a few hundred bucks for tip to say thanks for the turn up.

Ja Rule borrowed a huge chunk of change less than a month before the disastrous Fyre Festival ... and now the lender's come-a-knocking for some payback.

The Fyre hits keep coming for Ja and Billy McFarland. EHL Funding says it loaned the duo $3 million on April 10 -- 18 days before the festival -- to help cover costs. Gotta wonder where the dough went -- based on how Fyre turned out -- and now EHL is concerned it's not going to be repaid.

According to docs, obtained by TMZ, Ja and Billy are supposed to make weekly payments for the next year. EHL says it received a few payments on time ... totaling just under $900k, but it's been radio silence since April 21.

After nearly 3 weeks, the lender's pissed and says Ja and Billy have defaulted on the loan -- so, it's suing to get all the money back, plus interest ... STAT!

We've reached out to Ja and Billy's reps. No word back.

Meek Mill's putting the dirty back in 30 ... blowing bags o' cash at a nightclub filled with go-go dancers just days after celebrating his 30th birthday.

Meek hit up ACES early Thursday morning in NYC where he dropped a cool $20,000 on the dancers. We're told he showed up with his crew around 2 AM and ordered 10 bottles of Don Julio 1942. The good stuff's gonna cost ya.

T.I. was also there admiring the scenery and dropping stacks, but the night clearly belonged to Meek ... who grabbed the mic, spit some lyrics ... then made the move. The rain was real!

Beyonce has NO right to trademark her daughter's name for a bunch of different products ... according to a company that already has the name.

Blue Ivy, the company, filed docs to block Bey's company from getting the trademark. TMZ broke the story ... Blue Ivy's mom filed her application earlier this year to own the name "Blue Ivy Carter" for a slew of products -- cosmetics, mobile devices, video games, etc ...

But according to the existing company -- which was in biz 3 years before Jay Z and Beyonce's kid was born -- the Carters are trying to pull a fast one. Blue Ivy's owner Veronica Morales points out Jay is on record as saying they have NO intention of actually selling any products ... they're just trying to stop others from doing it.

This is the second time the company -- an event planning firm, btw -- has tried to block Beyonce ... who initially tried to get the trademark without "Carter." Adding the last name hasn't helped.

Milla Jovovich's giving her 9-year-old daughter a sweet incentive to read ... whether she jumps on that deal is another story.

We got Milla at LAX Wednesday and wondered if her daughter, Ever Gabo -- who starred in "Resident Evil: The Final Chapter" and recently was featured in Vogue Italia -- gets to spend her own hard-earned dough.

DC Young Fly's got a deadbeat agent who's done nothing for his career, but keeps cashing in on his success ... at least according to the rapper himself.

The "Wild 'n Out" star claims in a new suit ... Archive Entertainment's Bobby Patterson suckered him into signing a contract in December 2013 with promises of record deals, movie and TV roles, and his own line of merchandise. Young Fly agreed to pay him a huge cut too -- up to 65% of his record sales plus another 35% of his merch or endorsement deals.

Problem is -- DC says Patterson's done jack squat to help him out, and hasn't covered any of his expenses to launch his music career like he agreed to. He also bailed on the merch.

Young Fly also claims he landed all of his film and TV roles on his own since signing on with Patterson ... but still forks over big bucks for nothing.

Tarek and Christina El Moussa hired a guy to find homes for them to flip, but he claims the "Flip or Flop stars haven't paid him a dime, and are now more than $30k in the red with him.

Jonathan Schmier is suing the reality TV stars for stiffing him on deals for 5 homes in North Carolina. In docs, Schmier says the couple's company -- Next Level Property Investments -- hired him last year to lock potential flip-worthy Carolina pads.

He says he was told the El Moussas, who normally only shoot in SoCal, would be branching out to the East Coast.

Schmier says he delivered what they wanted, but never got what he wanted ... a paycheck. In the suit, he says he was promised $5,000 per home ... plus he wants minimum wage for the hours he logged. Grand total owed -- $37,800 ... according to Schmier, anyway.

We've reached out to reps for Christina and Tarek.

Aaron Hernandez's attorney, Jose Baez, says his legal team is in talks with the NFL player's former agents to see how the abatement of his murder conviction will affect his contract with the Patriots.

There are theories that with the murder conviction erased, the New England Patriots will be on the hook to pay out the remainder of his contract to Aaron's estate ... a number reportedly around $6 million.

Baez says Aaron's family and legal team are still grieving over Aaron's death and while they're exploring their options, they're not rushing to action.

As for prosecutors suggesting that Hernandez planned to kill himself in a plot to exploit the abatement doctrine to force the Patriots to pay out his family ... Baez says it's a long shot theory and "I don't give it any shred of credibility at this point."

Former "Dance Moms" star Abby Lee Miller is going to prison for a year and a day after a federal judge handed down her sentence Tuesday morning in federal court.

Miller had been indicted on 20 counts of fraud connected to hiding $755,000 in earnings from the government. During the trial she took the stand and begged the judge for mercy, saying she had fallen victim to the sudden fame that came when "Dance Moms" took off.

Abby will reportedly serve her sentence in a federal facility near L.A. ... and after she gets out she'll be on supervised release for 2 more years. She will also have to pay about $160k in fines.

Doesn't sound like it, but she got off easy. She could have gotten 5 years in prison and $5 mil in fines.

Deadline first reported the sentence.

Post Malone needed a little pick-me-up before his show this weekend -- so, naturally, his pal hired a mariachi band to belt out his hit single to the tune of about $1,000.

Sources close to Post tell TMZ one of his buddies, Rich Chigga, ordered a song request from the best Yelp-reviewed mariachi band in Miami ahead of the rapper's gig Sunday at the Rolling Loud Festival ... 'cause he felt Post needed to get hyped before taking the stage.

We're told Rich met with the band ahead of time and gave 'em the lyrics to Post's single, "Congratulations" ... which they rehearsed before being dropped off at Bayfront Park by Postmates. Yes, they also deliver people.

The original cost was supposed to be $350 for a couple hours, but Post showed up super late and the tab ran up to $900 quick ... coming out of Rich's pockets.

For what it's worth -- again, $900 -- it looks like their version was Post approved. Felicidades!

Big Sean's latest concert was extremely expensive -- not for fans -- but for the bottom line on his tour ... after a downpour seriously damaged his stage.

Sean was a headliner at the Power 106 Powerhouse show in San Bernardino, CA -- along with Lil Wayne and DJ Khaled Saturday -- when a freak storm hit the outdoor venue. His video wall, which is a big part of his act, was drenched ... and after a 30 minute delay ... Sean had to carry on without it.

We're told damages are expected to run about $60k -- it's a big TV, after all.

Here's the screen in better days ...

LaVar Ball says his Big Baller Brand already has a QUARTER MILLION in sales -- with at least 495 people buying his $495 shoe.

LaVar appeared on FS1's "Undisputed" Monday morning to talk about Lonzo Ball's new ZO2 shoe -- which launched last week.

Ball wouldn't say exactly how many pairs he's sold -- but says the number is greater than 495.

He also says people have bought the special $995 edition of the shoe -- but he hasn't said how many.

Ball also fired back at Shaq who criticized his shoe price last week -- asking O'Neal why his own son doesn't wear the Shaq shoe when he plays.

It's clear LaVar is all in on the brand.

Ja Rule and Billy McFarland had no intention of throwing a first-class music festival ... they knew it was going to be a disaster but figured they could screw a lot of people out of money before it became apparent ... this according to accusations in new legal docs.

The class action suit that was filed against the festival as well as the organizers has grown to more than 300 strong, this according to attorney Mark Geragos, who filed the class action lawsuit. Geragos claims in new docs some of the concertgoers suffered from bacterial infections, heat exhaustion and other illnesses and are still undergoing treatment.

The lawsuit claims the festival was a front for a Ponzi scheme and the attendees were "unwitting pawns." Typically, Ponzi schemes target the elderly but Geragos says this one was directed at "seemingly successful millennials."

The suit demands $100 million in damages.

Chris Bosh and his wife are being sued by the porn magnates who created X-Art (admit it, you know it) ... who claim they rented a sick beach mansion from the NBA star that was literally filled with crap.

The people behind the suit are Colette and Brigham Field -- who created the erotic video website X-Art -- which features people hardcore banging each other in classy settings. It's so popular, they were profiled by GQ.

The Fields say they rented a 10,755 square foot super mansion in the Pacific Palisades owned by the Boshes in Dec. 2016 ... and plunked down $138k to cover the 1st month's rent ($46k) and the security deposit ($92k).

Problem is ... the Fields say shortly after moving in, they noticed crazy toxic mold, leaks, plumbing issues, rat droppings ... and worst of all -- the Internet access was horrible!!

The Fields say it was so bad they "had to seek medical assistance for sickness and rashes that they suffered from the time when the mold could be seen and smelled."

In the lawsuit, filed in L.A. County Superior Court and obtained by TMZ Sports, the Fields say they tried to get their security deposit back but the Boshes refused ... and have since let other people stay in the home.

They're demanding the $92k deposit back plus unspecified damages. We reached out to the Boshes for comment, but no word back.

We also contacted X-Art ... but not for anything to do with this story.

Big Boi ran off with $40k after blowing off a Georgia concert, according to the promoter ... but the rapper's camp insists the concert is worth waiting for and it will come sooner rather than later.

James Griffin tells TMZ he booked the Outkast rapper for $80k to headline his Freaknik festival in Sylvania, GA and wired half the fee to his manager.

About 20 days out, James says Big Boi's manager complained about the rest of the lineup and mentioned the rapper might not show if other big artists didn't join the bill. James says he booked rapper Dae Dae just to make them happy.

When the show finally rolled around Big Boi was nowhere to be seen.

Big Boi's camp insists they told James he wouldn't show up unless they changed the date, but they say he'll perform at some point for sure.

James says he doesn't want a do over and plans on suing Big Boi to get his $40k deposit back.

11:05 AM PT -- TMZ has confirmed 2 more people have received funds from Nicki, with one payment being for $800. Everyone else waiting for theirs ... sit tight.

Nicki Minaj didn't just talk the talk (or tweet the tweet) -- TMZ has learned the rapper ALREADY started transferring thousands of dollars to college students who asked for her financial help on Twitter.

The story is great ... a fan sent Nicki a meme Saturday night on Twitter jokingly asking if she would fork over a check to cover some college fees.

Nicki replied, "Show me straight A's that I can verify w/ur school and I'll pay it. Who wants to join THAT contest?!?! Dead serious. Shld I set it up?"

As you can imagine, Nicki's timeline BLEW UP with requests from students -- and Nicki responded to more than a dozen offering to hook 'em up.

Some people asked for help with student loans costing thousands of dollars ... others asked for less in tuition fees, books and other school supplies. Nicki was pretty thorough in her questioning why these folks really needed the money.

We checked in with some of the lucky beneficiaries who told us Nicki has already started to send the money. She asked for bank info through the DMs, and one person we spoke with said he already got $500 from Minaj.

By the way, Nicki says she might open up the vault again in a month or 2 ... so, get those report cards ready!