Music

If this isn't the most Mariah Carey move of all time we don't know what is ... 'cause teaching her twins backup vocals is pretty legendary.

Mariah put Moroccan and Monroe to work Wednesday night, teaching them the backup vocals to her 1994 classic "All I Want For Christmas Is You." You can tell the kids have listened to this song once or twice ... they jump on cue when the song starts.

Roc and Roe -- as Mariah's dubbed them -- are definitely into this. You can see Moroccan crack his fingers and dab before putting in some work. Mariah kicks things off before the kiddos jump in with their I's and O's.

Mariah says the kids have been practicing the vocals ... and bravo, 'cause they nailed it.

Here come some feel-good vibes, courtesy of "Empire" star Jussie Smollett, who is donating a ton of cash to charities heading into the holidays.

We're told Jussie is taking proceeds from his tour and latest album, "Sum Of My Music," and passing along $125,000 to charities supporting his most beloved causes.

Jussie is paying it forward to groups like the Black AIDS Institute, Flint KIDS, South Africa's SKY Foundation, the Trayvon Martin Foundation, the Human Rights Campaign, Know Your Rights Camp, ACLU and the Anthony Burrell Dance School.

Jussie, who plays Jamal Lyon on "Empire," is no stranger to good deeds.

As we reported ... he recently hooked up a double amputee, 6-year-old Kayden Kinckle, with a handicapped-accessible van in a tearjerker of a surprise.

Becky G claims she's getting left high and dry in a $525 MILLION water deal -- and she's pointing the finger directly at her former music producer, Dr. Luke, in a new lawsuit.

The core of this story is Core -- the bottled water company which is reportedly in the process of being bought out by Keurig Dr Pepper for half a BILLION dollars. Dr. Luke owns a significant piece of Core.

21-year-old Becky G has been pushing the brand on social media and in her music videos since she was a teenager -- but claims she only agreed because she felt if she didn't make Luke happy, he would "squash" her career.

"Dr. Luke made it clear both directly and implicitly that [her] ability to have a music career would be tied to [her] continuing involvement in promoting Core," Becky's lawsuit reads.

Becky says she feels Dr. Luke turned her into a "singing billboard" in the hopes of making the company culturally relevant ... and dangled the release of her album over her head to make her continue the promotion.

Becky claims she was eventually promised 50,000 shares of stock in the company -- but now that Core is about to cash out, the company is trying to slither out of the deal.

The singer has now sued Core -- claiming she should be paid the standard rate for a brand ambassador, which is anywhere from 20% to 50% of the company.

Do the math ... Becky wants between $105 mil and $262 mil (based on the $525 mil valuation).

Look, endorsement for equity deals can pay off HUGE -- just look at 50 Cent who reportedly sold his interest in Vitaminwater for between $60 million and $100 million after they got bought up by Coca-Cola back in the day.

Becky is not suing Dr. Luke personally -- just Core Nutrition -- but in the court docs filed by Ben Meiselas of Geragos and Geragos, she definitely paints him as the bad guy.

We reached out to Core and Dr. Luke for comment -- so far, no word back.

Your eyes are NOT deceiving you ... an artist has magnificently brought this Mac Miller photo to life with the stroke of a pen.

The artist is 20-year-old Danielle Franks -- aka Moe -- and she hails from Cornwall, England. Moe tells TMZ ... the drawing took her just over a month to complete using Cintiq 13HD on her iPad. It's basically pressure-sensitive stylus pen.

The drawing is based on a photo snapped by Todd Cole for the August issue of The Fader. Moe tells us one of her followers on Twitter asked her to draw that photo. She did ... and it's become a viral sensation.

Since she tweeted the drawing on Tuesday, it's gotten nearly HALF A MILLION likes and more than 100k retweets. And, get this ... Moe tells us she came THIS close to shuttering her website because she struggled to sell her art. But business has been booming since she tweeted the Mac drawing. So good, in fact, all proceeds from the drawing will go to the late rapper's foundation, The Mac Miller Circles Fund.

You can get your hands on a drawing -- printed on silk paper -- for around $40. Business has been so good ... celebs are now lining up to work with her, including Willow Smith.

If Tekashi69 had access to his cell phone in prison, he'd see there's practically only one rapper everyone is listening to Wednesday on their way to work ... and it's him.

Despite a federal indictment that could get him locked up for life ... the Brooklyn rapper DOMINATED the charts less than 24 hours after his album, "Dummy Boy" dropped. We checked ... and 4 of Tekashi's tracks were in the top 5 on iTunes.

He rounded out the top 10 with tracks landing at No. 8 and 9.

Tekashi's whole album is also topping the charts, and he's getting residual success too. His mixtape "Day 69" -- released earlier this year -- has re-emerged at No. 51 on the chart.

"Dummy Boy" is also killing it on Amazon where it's top-paid digital album. What's amazing is all this comes on the heels of a snag in his distribution deal that delayed the record's release.

The success is really paying off for 6ix9ine's old label too. D!zzy from ScumGang Records tells TMZ ... they secured publishing rights on "Dummy Boy." The album was first supposed to drop with 10k Projects -- who fronted a ton of cash for the project -- but was switched to ScumGang last minute.

Tekashi talked a lot of trash on ScumGang this year, but we're guessing all this dough rolling in should help squash that beef -- and for what it's worth -- 10kP will get a refund for the cash they fronted.

It's interesting ... Tekashi's been embroiled in serious legal trouble for more than a year, yet top artists like Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, A Boogie and Tory Lanez are still lining up to work with him -- even if there's a very real risk of a drive-by shooting.

Ariana Grande is putting on a brave face, somehow finding a way to soldier on after the huge upheaval in her life -- the loss of her beloved ... ponytail.

AG proudly rocked her new shorter 'do Tuesday night in L.A. while out for sushi dinner with her big bro, Frankie. Her fans were shocked last week when Ariana posted a pic revealing she'd chopped her famously long locks -- but this is the first time we've seen the cut in public.

Honestly, it doesn't look all that short. Definitely shortER, but looks like there's still enough to make a ponytail if she wanted.

The big question now ... which style will we see when her highly-anticipated music video for "Thank U, Next" comes out. As we first reported, it's gonna drop on Friday.

It's Priyanka Chopra's world and Nick Jonas is not just living in it ... he's living it up.

Nick and Priyanka were decked out in traditional Indian suits in her hometown of Mumbai Wednesday as they kicked off pre-wedding festivities. Priyanka wore an embroidered pastel blue suit and Nick sported a pink kurta.

They were outside Priyanka's parents' house as they headed to a puja -- think prayer service.

The couple's reportedly getting married this coming weekend in Jodhpur ... which is about a 12-hour drive outside of New Delhi. Nick's been 100 percent committed to following Indian traditions leading up to the big day. Remember ... the couple had a roka ceremony at their engagement party.

They're both "all in" -- bindis and all -- as the countdown continues.

Tekashi 6ix9ine has 99 problems, and one of them is allegedly pilfering a pile of money from Fashion Nova only to double cross the company on his new album, "Dummy Boy."

Tekashi's album "Dummy Boy" dropped Tuesday ... and one of the highlights is the track "MAMA," which features Nicki Minaj and Kanye West. The lyrics include, "Splish splash apple bottoms make that ass phat." It's catchy, but it has messed up a deal with Fashion Nova.

Record company sources tell us Tekashi inked a 6-figure deal with the clothing company, to include branding in his music video -- and according to the deal the lyric in question was supposed to go this way --  "Splish splash Fashion Nova make that ass phat."

Fashion Nova maybe naively believed Tekashi would deliver, so they gave him the entire amount up front. At first, it seemed things were hunky-dory, because the teaser to the track that Tekashi posted on Instagram included the Fashion Nova lyric.

Fashion Nova believed its deal with Tekashi was solid during the shooting of the music video for the song, which was derailed by a real shooting. And, check out the pic we got ... Fashion Nova is emblazoned on the screen with those phat asses.

Now we come to how Fashion Nova got screwed. The music video never got finished, and it's not going to be completed now that Tekashi is in custody. As for the song itself, when it was released the lyric was changed so the reference to Fashion Nova was deleted and replaced by Apple Bottoms.

As for why it was changed ... a source tells us Nicki Minaj was enraged because Cardi B has hooked up with Fashion Nova for a new clothing line, so she asked Tekashi to 86 the brand from the song and he obliged.

4:00 PM PT -- The judge has granted the TRO, staying the arbitration until the next court date. Spiro tells TMZ that the order "is a victory for everyone."

To paraphrase Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing" ... Jay-Z wants to see some black faces on a list of potential arbitrators to handle a legal battle over his company's logo, and until he does ... TMZ has learned he wants to pump the brakes on the case.

According to docs, obtained by TMZ, Jay-Z's lawyers are requesting a restraining order that would put an immediate halt to the lawsuit Iconix Brand filed against him. In the docs, Jay-Z's attorney, Alex Spiro of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, says they've been given a deadline of Nov. 30 to choose an arbitrator in the case, but the list of candidates they've been given is, quite frankly, too lily white.

TMZ broke the story ... Iconix Brand says it paid $204 million for merchandising rights for the Roc Nation logo. Iconix sued Jay because the logo got slapped on a bunch of MLB gear without its permission. Both sides have agreed to handle the dispute in arbitration, rather than open court.

However, Jay's legal team is clearly concerned the lack of diversity could hurt their chance of getting a fair shake in the case.

In the docs, they say they initially got a list of 200 potential arbitrators, NONE of whom were African-American. After they complained, they got a new list of 6 arbitrators "of color," but one of them is a partner at the law firm repping Iconix ... a clear conflict of interest.

Jay-Z's team wants the restraining order so they can determine if the other candidates have similar conflicts. Bottom line ... they need more time and more black arbitrators.

After Travis Scott wowed the Madison Square Garden crowd -- which included his baby girl -- he got in some QT with Kylie Jenner. Just another Tuesday night for the fam.

The couple was spotted together after Travis rocked MSG as part of his Astroworld tour, and from the looks of it ... no one enjoyed his performance more than their 9-month-old daughter, Stormi. Seriously, she could barely contain herself.

Travis shared the stupidly cute vid of Stormi giggling and bouncing as she watched him on a monitor backstage. She almost seemed to be matching his moves as he performed "Quintana."

Before the show, Kylie posted a pic referring to Travis as her "hubby" ... adding more fuel to rumors they might have secretly wed.

As we reported ... Travis called Kylie "my beautiful wife" at a show last week in Houston.

Could just be cute nicknames for each other, but then again ... secret marriages are kinda the in thing -- as in Cardi B and Offset ... and Justin and Hailey.

The L.A. celebrity burglary ring is WAY bigger than we thought -- officials say a total of 10 gang members were a part of the group targeting stars like Rihanna, Yasiel Puig and LeBron James.

Officials had previously arrested 4 people in connection to the crime wave -- after video captured a couple of guys breaking into Puig's home and raiding his bedroom.

1 of the initial 4 suspects is apparently off the hook (the mother of one of the other suspects) but now 7 new men all between the ages of 18 and 25 have been arrested and charged with various crimes.

The charges include everything from criminal street gang conspiracy to 1st degree residential burglary and home invasion robbery.

In total, cops say the burglary crew hit more than 24 homes -- and had at least 12 more rich and famous targets in their sights, including Viola Davis.

The key to solving the case ... cops say a neighbor of NFL star Robert Woods had called police to report a robbery at his house. Cops located the suspect and, during the arrest, they found items connected to the other high profile cases.

In total, cops say the group stole more than $1 MILLION in property -- including $50,000 cash, watches, purses and a vehicle. Cops say one of the suspects also had a firearm.

Swae Lee already has his musical touch on the new 'Spider-Man' movie -- but he's not just gonna stop there -- the Rae Sremmurd rapper wants to actually BE the Marvel superhero.

We got a half-naked Lee in NYC Tuesday night -- where it hit a low of 15 degrees -- leaving Rockefeller Center ... but the temps didn't seem to bother him at all. Swae's all over the soundtrack for the newest Spidey flick, "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" ... so we asked, what about a black Spider-Man?

Lee was all over the idea ... promoting himself as the perfect candidate for the role.

Michael Blackson thinks Kim Kardashian should quit blaming ecstasy and spend way more time sucking up to Ray J for his sizable role in launching her celebrity.

We got the comedian at LAX Tuesday and asked him about Kim claiming she was high on ecstasy when she and Ray shot their infamous sex tape, and in a word ... he's disappointed.

Michael thinks it's wrong for her to make it seem like the drug is the only reason she banged Ray J on cam, because that doesn't give enough credit to Ray's family jewels.

As we first reported ... sources close to Ray J insist Kim never touched ecstasy during the taping of their sex tape. Michael thinks it's a bit fishy for Kim just now mentioning the drug ... so many years after doing the deed.

Beto O'Rourke's long and winding road never lead to The White House ... but he did imagine himself as one of the Beatles.

We got the guy everyone's talking about -- including Barack Obama -- as a likely contender for the Democratic nomination for Prez in 2020.

As he traversed the terminal at Reagan National in D.C., our photog asked if he ever had dreams of becoming Commander in Chief, and he was quick to answer.

As for Obama recently hyping Beto -- saying the almost Senator reminded him of himself -- O'Rourke gave his best, "Aww shucks."

Tekashi69 had a distribution disaster on his hands after his new album leaked over the weekend, forcing him to cut a last-minute deal to make sure "Dummy Boy" hits the streets Tuesday ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to Tekashi tell TMZ ... "Dummy Boy" is being officially released Tuesday through Create Music Group. The album was originally set for distribution through Caroline and Capitol Music Group, but we're told the two sides had a disagreement after 'DB' leaked online, and Tekashi turned to Create because he wanted his music released ASAP.

Our Tekashi sources say the rapper felt comfortable working with Create because the two have a longstanding relationship. Create is 6ix9ine's main music publisher, but it's the first time he's using their distribution arm.

For Tekashi, the official album drop is a bit of good news in an otherwise terrible month ... he's been behind bars since Nov. 18 in his federal racketeering case, and he's currently hoping to get out on bail.