Music

Pras says he doesn't know why the Dept. of Justice is putting him at the center of a scheme to help a Malaysian financier funnel millions into the country -- but he's got a hunch it's due to his skin color.

We got the Fugees rapper at LAX where we asked him about this crazy new civil lawsuit filed by the U.S. DOJ. He's accused of conspiring with Jho Low in 2017 to sneak tons of cash into U.S. bank accounts. Allegedly, Low's intention was to bribe DOJ officials to influence a criminal probe into his alleged misuse of international dough.

The feds filed suit to recover some of those funds -- but Pras is not listed as a defendant. He's mentioned because of his business dealings with Low. The DOJ's still investigating and says criminal charges against Low and/or Pras could be coming.

Complicated, right? That's how Pras reacted to the allegations, but he did have one possible explanation for the suit ... they're pointing at him because he's black. At least that's the "vibe" he's getting.

Low has been tied to other celebs he lavished with gifts, which are now being seized by the feds. Leonardo DiCaprio reportedly received Marlon Brando’s 1954 Oscar from Low, as well as a Pablo Picasso painting, and supermodel Miranda Kerr was gifted jewelry and a see-through grand piano.

Nicki Minaj has a long history with her new boyfriend, because she first fell for him when she was a teenager -- and she feels he's changed since his checkered past.

Sources close to Nicki tell TMZ ... her first relationship with Kenneth Petty happened when she was a 16-year-old living in Queens, and she calls him one of her first loves. As they say, what's old is new again ... she's been showing him off in pics from a romantic getaway for her 36th birthday.

We're told Nicki understands Kenneth has a troubled past -- he's a registered sex offender convicted of attempted rape -- but she's confident he's matured since his time in NY state prison in the late 1990s. Nicki believes in second chances and has faith he'll be good to her.

As we reported ... Petty was convicted of first-degree attempted rape in April 1995, when he and his victim were both 16. Sources close to Nicki say the full context of the crime is Kenneth was dating the victim -- and her mother filed the charges because she didn't approve of him.

Our sources say Nicki and Kenneth still have great chemistry, despite all the years between their relationships. We're told she was very stressed out before they got back together, but she's much happier since rekindling their romance.

12/11 2:00 AM PT -- The judge issued the TRO. Courtney's lawyer, Howard King, tells TMZ, "The escalating verbal harassment and threats of Sam Lutfi left no choice to Courtney and her family but to seek protection. The Cobains are grateful for the anti-harassment order issued by the Los Angeles Superior Court against Mr. Lutfi and the powers it provides law enforcement to assure that Mr. Lutfi terminates all contact with the family."

Courtney Love has broken in a big way with her ex-manager, Sam Lutfi, and she's just filed to get a restraining order because she says he's harassing her and her family unrelentingly.

We've learned Courtney has just filed legal docs saying Lutfi has been demanding money from her for services he says he rendered ... and he is now so pissed off he's incessantly harassing her with emails, texts and phone calls.

Courtney also wants the judge to prohibit Lutfi from harassing her daughter Frances Bean and Courtney's sister.

The judge has yet to rule.

BTW ... both Courtney and Sam are being sued by Frances Bean Cobain's ex-husband, Isaiah Silva, for allegedly orchestrating a break-in at his house and trying to steal Kurt Cobain's famous 'MTV Unplugged' guitar ... which is in Isaiah's possession.

Kodak Black got down on one knee and gave a lucky woman a ring ... though it's unclear if he's engaged. Let us explain.

It went down Sunday night at Santa's Enchanted Forest in Miami. The 21-year-old rapper and the chick, Yung Miami from Miami-based rap duo City Girls, were near a concession stand when, out of nowhere, he kneeled ... presumably to ask her to marry him.

You see the crowd congratulate the couple after he puts what appears to be a purple Ring Pop on her digit. Yeah, a candy ring. Another giveaway it's a fake proposal ... Kodak places the ring on Miami's right hand.

Whatever the case ... you know Kodak's really into her.

BTW ... check out Kodak's outfit. Pretty shweet.

A lot has happened to Meek Mill since he allegedly sent goons to jump Safaree Samuels more than a year ago -- and that's exactly why Safaree says it's all water under the bridge.

Our Raquel Harper chopped it up with Nicki Minaj's ex about her other ex, Meek, whom Safaree accused of orchestrating the would-be jumping that went down during the BET Awards last summer ... which Meek, of course, denied.

Welp, Safaree's changed his tune since then ... saying he's seen just how much Meek's been through and how much he's grown as a person since walking out of prison. He even tells Raq they were recently in the same vicinity and things were copacetic.

Funny how petty stuff like ex-girlfriends and verbal jabs fall to the wayside when s**t gets real. Also ... time sure does fly, right?

Lil Xan briefly left his rehab facility to prepare for his post-rehab living arrangements ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to the rapper tell us ... Lil Xan left rehab Saturday in order to go sign papers for a new house he bought in his hometown of Redlands, CA. The new crib is where he'll set up shop once he's completed in-patient treatment. We're told he'll have round-the-clock staff monitoring him to keep him on the straight and narrow.

Xan wasn't allowed to fly solo for the house mission ... we're told a nurse from the rehab center accompanied him. After signing the house documents, he headed back to rehab on Sunday.

Remember, he just checked himself in last weekend to begin treatment, and our sources say he'll be there about another week. After that, he'll shift to outpatient treatment at home. We're told his new place has a studio, so he'll be able to work on new music. His album "Be Safe" -- inspired by his hero, Mac Miller, is set to drop next month.

Xan had told us in mid-November he was immediately heading to rehab -- but he didn't begin until December. His camp says a scheduling mix-up with the facility caused the delay.

12:25 PM PT -- A rep for Ty Dolla $ign tells TMZ ... "[Ty] understands from his attorney Steve Sadow that the indictment in Fulton County, Georgia is merely the next mandatory procedural step in the process of resolving Ty's case in that particular criminal justice system, and one more step closer to finally bringing this matter to a close. It was expected by Ty’s legal counsel and came as no surprise whatsoever."

The rep added, "Ty maintains his innocence and there is no indication to the contrary. It’s also very important to note that Ty’s jewelry and cash seized from him upon his arrest in September 2018 was ordered returned to him last week ... another clear sign that this matter is coming to a close soon."

Ty Dolla $ign's staring down the possibility of more than a decade in prison now that a grand jury's indicted him on drug charges that include felony possession of cocaine.

According to court docs, obtained by TMZ, the rapper has been slapped with 3 counts -- felony possession of cocaine, felony possession of THC and misdemeanor possession of less than 1 ounce of weed.

Mind you, this went down in Fulton County, GA where drug laws are way stiffer than Cali. If convicted, he could get up to 15 years in prison.

TMZ broke the story ... Ty Dolla was busted by cops in Atlanta who allegedly found drugs in his bag. His arrest was a pretty crazy scene -- drug dogs were barking like crazy before cops slap the cuffs on Ty.

Before that, cops paraded his entire crew -- which included Skrillex that day -- outta their limo van and searched them. Ty was the only one who got busted.

Alvin Kamara was singing -- and the girls were swooning ... 'cause after the Saints beat the Bucs on Sunday, A.K. hit up a restaurant party and SLAAAYYYYED some R. Kelly!!

It all went down at Morrow's in New Orleans -- where Kamara popped by after taking down Tampa Bay to get on the mic for some karaoke.

The star RB's song of choice? R. Kelly's "12 Play" -- and while we only got a snippet of his vocals in the vid ... dude had the crowd (full of girls) swaying!!

It's interesting -- Alvin and the Saints played IN Florida on Sunday morning ... so, pretty impressive the dude made it out to crash the bar's shindig when he got back to Louisiana.

Then again ... the Saints DID lock up the NFC South with the win AND took over first place in the NFC with the Rams' loss.

DJ Khaled and his fiancée just upped their wrist game ... with watches worth over ONE HUNDRED STACKS!!!

The famous hitmaker and Nicole Tuck always throw joint birthday parties this time of year. He turned 43 on November 26 but Nicole just turned 43 on Friday ... prompting a huge shindig thrown by Haute Living Saturday night at the Perez Art Museum in Miami for a 60-person dinner with friends and family.

While at dinner, they were surprised with these incredibly insane watches. Khaled rocked a Roger Dubuis Excalibur automatic skeleton pave. That watch runs around $106k. Nicole got a Roger Dubuis Velvet Caviar watch ... worth about $53k.

Khaled now has nearly a handful of $100k watches floating around his house. Remember, he got this sick timepiece for his 41st birthday. And, last year, Nicole commissioned Haute Living to make this watch laced with more than 600 diamonds. That one was for their son, Asahd, who was celebrating turning 1 ... sippy cups be damned.

The dual bday bash later moved over to LIV nightclub where Ciroc was flowing for Khaled's celeb pals ... including Swizz Beatz, Fat Joe, Busta Rhymes, Young Jeezy and Fabolous. We're told CIROC Black Raspberry was the drink of choice at the bash and was flowing all night.

9:40 AM PT -- Sources close to Nipsey tell us the men he was fighting first attacked him because they thought he was someone else. We're told the men accused Nipsey of starting a fight earlier in the night inside the club, but Nipsey had nothing to do with it. The whole thing was started as a result of mistaken identity and Nipsey was only defending himself.

Nipsey Hussle was smack in the middle of a crazy clash where punches were thrown and tasers were pulled ... all on the heels of celebrating Nipsey's GF's birthday.

The intense melee went down late Sunday night in the parking lot of Nightingale in WeHo. You can see the Grammy-nominated rapper and his crew throw haymakers with a couple of guys that had confronted them earlier that evening.

We got the rapper and his GF, Lauren London, arriving at the club. O.T. Genasis was also there and it was shortly after that when our camera catches the first face-off ... it's at the very end of the clip. Less than an hour later, the brawl started.

You can see Nipsey in the middle of it all ... throwing several punches as valet workers scurry to get away from the chaos. Nipsey eventually cools down but things quickly escalate again. Moments later, someone -- presumably security -- pulls out a taser and things finally de-escalate.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... cops showed up to the scene but everyone involved had already left. No arrests were made.

Cardi B spent the weekend getting ready to diss Nicki Minaj ... or so it seems.

The "I Like It" rapper dazzled in a stunning headpiece Sunday night in NYC while preparing to shoot a new music video. The headpiece quickly got our attention ... and it doesn't seem like a coincidence that it's eerily similar to the one Nicki wore in her "Ganja Burn" music video.

Our guess here ... Cardi's going after her nemesis in the new music video. We know that's not exactly a leap.

Cardi and Nicki have been at each other's throats for a while now. Nicki's also been poking Cardi where it hurts ... after making a not-so-subtle casting decision that probably reignited their supposedly-squashed beef.

Adding insult to injury ... the alleged side chick who triggered the Cardi-Offset breakup appeared in Nicki's "FEFE" music video.

Talk about Scary Spice -- Mel B says she got sent straight to the hospital after an accident left her with a severed hand and broken ribs that required immediate surgery.

The Spice Girls member posted a photo of herself on the mend early Monday that featured her in a sling ... and a gruesome (yet vague) description of what happened. Mel says she required emergency care in London this weekend after suffering 2 broken ribs, a "severed" right hand ... and a heck of a lot of pain. It's unclear what caused this, but it sounds nasty.

Gary Madatyan, a close friend who has been in touch with Mel, tells TMZ, she was staying at a friend's house Saturday night. She was asleep in an upstairs bedroom when she woke up and decided to go downstairs. We're told the staircase was narrow and Mel lost her footing and fell.

Given her history of substance abuse, there are questions about the circumstances of the fall, however, Gary and Mel B's lawyer, Taline Boyamian, say neither drugs nor alcohol played a role. Boyamian says Mel was due to fly into L.A. Sunday and take a court-ordered drug test Monday. Boyamian says Mel has a pristine record of negative tests since testing began and is almost at the finish line.

Mel thanks the doctors and nurses who are helping her recover through the ordeal, and says she was forced to cancel a book signing in New York because of the injuries.

The upside ... the other Spice Girls (sans Posh) came to visit her in the hospital, and they all posed for a sweet photo together. Staying true to their tunes we see!

As we reported ... the Spice Girls are embarking on a new U.K. tour next summer, for which the 4 active performers are set to make over $3 million each -- and possibly more if the show goes on.

Offset is madly in love with Cardi B and plans to pull out all the stops to get her back, but he thinks there's a major hurdle in his way -- the legion of haters trying to take him down.

Sources close to the couple tell TMZ, Offset was desperately trying to save his marriage before Cardi made the announcement they were done. Even she acknowledged they'd been working on it "for a hot minute now."

We're told after the text messages about Cuban Doll surfaced, Offset tried to prove to his wife nothing came of the text exchange ... and he wasn't messing around with anyone.

Our sources say Offset feels his greatest challenge now is to regain his wife's trust -- which feels impossible to him because haters keep filling Cardi's social media posts with negativity about him.

We're told Cardi reads blogs and comments, and Offset feels like he's up against all of that.

Sources tell us Offset's made one thing clear to friends -- he only loves Cardi and his daughter -- and will take every chance he can to save his family. Offset even posted a desperate tweet on Sunday saying he missed Cardi.

As for Cardi ... she seems pretty content living the single life. Seems.

George Kittle dabbed like a madman and danced his face off in the locker room Sunday ... and it's all 'cause the 49ers tight end went for 210 yards on the Broncos!!!

Kittle's been eating defenses alive this season ... already posting 1,103 yards on the year -- but he REALLY cooked Denver's D at Mile High.

Dude caught 7 balls for 210 yards and one touchdown in a win ... and teammate Marquise Goodwin got his postgame celebration on vid afterward -- and we're all grateful for it.

Kittle showed us his shoulder rolls ... then dabbed like an insane person -- and there was even a cameo from John Lynch!!

Yeah, pretty epic.

The bad news for George ... the Niners are just 3-10 even after the W and are still probably the worst team in the NFL.

The good news for Kittle ... have you seen his girlfriend?!

Beyonce and Hillary Clinton made the trek to India for a wedding ... and we're guessing Bey pocketed an insane amount of loot.

The shindig was thrown by the father of the bride -- Mukesh Ambani, the richest person in all of India. He owns an oil and gas conglomerate and is worth around $42 billion.

Beyonce performed a set of some of her hits, including "Crazy in Love," "Naughty Girl" and "Perfect."

As for why Hillary made the trip ... she and Bill are longtime friends of the Ambani fam, although Bill didn't go.

The bride, Isha Ambani, was a bridesmaid just last week when Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra got hitched.

Beyonce performed at a pre-wedding bash. These events have become cash cows for celebs -- weddings Bar Mitzvahs and such. It's not unheard of for a celeb to rake in a million bucks, and if anyone can command that kind of fee ... it's Beyonce.

2:30 PM PST -- Nicki just admitted to the allegations, writing, "He was 15, she was 16 ... in a relationship. But go awf, internet. y'all can't run my life. Y'all can't even run y'all own life. Thank you boo."

Nicki Minaj's new boo is a registered sex offender with a disturbing rap sheet that includes convictions for manslaughter and attempted rape ... TMZ has learned.

Kenneth Petty is the 40-year-old she's been hanging with, and posting pics with on Instagram. Court records, obtained by TMZ, show he was convicted of first-degree attempted rape in April 1995. He was 16 at the time, and so was his victim.

Prosecutors said he used a sharp object when he tried to force the girl to have sexual intercourse. Petty served almost 4 years in NY state prison for the crime.

And, get this ... years after getting out of the pen, Petty was convicted of first-degree manslaughter, and served another 7 years for shooting a man. He was released in 2013.

She acknowledged their hometown connection by quoting Adele's "Hello" in the caption of their latest pic -- "Did you ever make it out of that town where nothing ever happens? ... it's no secret ... that the both of us ... are running out of time."