Music

Giannis Antetokounmpo says if he was in Zion Williamson's shoes ... he would NOT sit out the rest of the NCAA season -- telling TMZ Sports, "I love basketball too much."

Don't get it twisted ... 24-year-old Giannis isn't throwing shade and says he respects whatever decision Zion makes -- but said he knows what path he would choose.

Zion -- the obvious No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft -- scared the hell out of everyone when he suffered a knee injury during the Duke vs. North Carolina game earlier this month.

He hasn't been back on the court since, and many are wondering if he'll ever suit up for the Blue Devils again ... considering he's got MILLIONS of dollars waiting for him in the NBA.

Giannis says Zion has to do what's best for him.

There's more ... since Giannis was on the court during Ja Rule's doomed halftime performance at the Bucks vs. Timberwolves game on Saturday, we had to ask about the new JA RULE CURSE!!!

Remember, the T-Wolves clowned the disgraced Fyre Festival honcho after his performance was marred by technical issues ... so Ja cursed the team for 30 YEARS!!!

But, Giannis actually has Ja's back -- saying it wasn't the rapper's fault things went south that night, and telling TMZ Sports he still loves the artist.

There's more ... we also asked Giannis if he's paying attention to all the talk about him being in the running for MVP this season -- and of course, the guy couldn't have been more humble.

Giannis is having a monster season -- averaging 27 points a game with 12.6 rebounds and 5.9 assists. BEAST!!!

Fresh off his very first Oscar win, Spike Lee's got a new legal headache ... over one of his movies from the '90s and a Prince song.

Longtime friends Prince and Spike teamed up for his 1996 flick, "Girl 6" ... with Prince writing and performing the title song for the soundtrack. According to a lawsuit filed by James Brandon, that track jacked one of his songs.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, Brandon says he was in a group called GOMAB and met with Spike's uncle, Clarence Lee. Brandon and his group had recorded a song called "Phone Sex" in 1993, and Clarence offered to get it to Spike ... for possible use in one of his movies.

Lo and behold, "Girl 6" happens to be all about a phone sex operator -- played beautifully, BTW, by Theresa Randle.

Anyway, the movie came out and Brandon says he immediately heard similarities between his song and Prince's -- such as the trumpet arrangement and at least part of the vocal arrangement.

In his suit, Brandon says his song used the hook, "Phone sex" ... and Prince's song had the same melody, but just changed the lyrics to "Girls six."

Brandon's suing the Prince estate and Spike for all profits they made off the song.

Joey Fatone says 'Masked Singer' producers had him, and all the other contestants, jumping through hoops all season to conceal their identities ... even from each other!

The 'NSYNC singer tells us just how extreme their evasive tactics got -- agents, managers and security guards were all wearing masks too. If that sounds like a pain in the ass to you, think again ... Joey says it made shooting the singing competition a ton of fun.

If you're one of the few who missed it ... Joey competed as The Rabbit, singing big hits -- including Ricky Martin's "Livin' La Vida Loca" -- all season.

At one point, he tells us he was onstage with the other 'Masked Singers' -- eventually revealed to be Rumer Willis, Gladys Knight and T-Pain -- but could only guess who they were ... just like the judges and viewers.

Chris Brown's friend, Lowell Grissom Jr., will NOT face any rape charges ... this according to the L.A. County District Attorney's Office.

Lowell had been accused of raping a woman at CB's house during a February 2017 party. The alleged victim, Jane Doe, sued Lowell and Chris back in May 2018 ... claiming she was supplied with cocaine, molly and weed and allegedly forced into performing sexual acts.

But, the D.A.'s office now says it won't file any charges against Lowell ... citing insufficient evidence.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the D.A.'s office says, "Based upon the lack of corroborating evidence and some slight discrepancies in the victim's version of the facts, this matter cannot be proven without a reasonable doubt. Therefore, with the concurrence of the investigating officer, prosecution will be declined."

Doe's attorney, Gloria Allred, claimed during a news conference the case was "one of the most horrific sexual assault cases" she had ever seen. Grissom denies the allegations and his attorney accused Allred of a blatant attempt at a money grab.

T.I.'s older sister, Precious Harris, had an asthma attack on the road, which led to her crashing her vehicle and, ultimately, losing her life.

According to the Atlanta PD traffic accident report -- obtained by TMZ -- T.I.'s grandniece, Kairi Chapman, was riding passenger with Precious behind the wheel when Precious suffered an asthma attack. They were in T.I.'s 2013 Dodge Avenger.

Kairi went on to tell cops that Precious passed out and veered into a telephone pole. The responding officer says Precious was unconscious when he arrived, noting she was breathing ... but beginning to foam at the mouth. Paramedics eventually arrived and took her to a hospital.

Cops say Kairi was treated by EMS after complaining of chest pains, but was later released. The report says both the front driver's side and front passenger side airbags were deployed.

TMZ broke the story ... Precious died Friday after just over a week in the ICU and on life support. T.I. and his wife, Tiny, shut down production of their show, 'Friends & Family Hustle,' as soon as they heard about the accident.

Her daughter wrote, "From my bestfriend on earth to My beautiful angel in heaven. I love you so much. I’m so heartbroken but the way you looked so @ peace this past week has confirmed that you are resting... no more asthma attacks... damn but baby I am going to miss you."

T.I. also commented on his sister's death, saying ... "We Love You Dearly Baby Girl...."

Precious was 66. RIP

Aretha Franklin's death was sad news for everyone except maybe one person -- the person who allegedly swiped nearly $200k from her bank account months before she died.

As we reported ... the "Queen of Soul" had assets stolen before she died in August 2018, and police in Michigan launched an investigation into someone pilfering her funds.

Oakland County prosecutors tell TMZ ... Aretha actually filed a police report in June 2018 claiming someone stole checks and managed to transfer $178k from her account. Investigators were able to ID a person of interest ... but not until after Franklin died.

We're told that's a big problem for the case, because prosecutors say they don't have enough evidence to file charges against someone on just the police report ... additional testimony from a witness to the crime and/or the alleged victim is needed.

The prosecutors tell us they weren't able to get crucial testimony from Aretha while she was alive, so they lack the evidence to confirm how the checks were accessed or whether she willingly gave the person of interest the dough.

We're told it's possible additional evidence could surface, but for now ... the case is on ice.

As we reported ... Aretha's estate is dealing with other financial issues too, including the IRS hounding her over back taxes and lawyers trying to collect on unpaid bills.

BlocBoy JB is handling a slew of criminal charges head-on -- cops in Tennessee say he turned himself in peacefully Thursday morning.

The Memphis MC was busted on multiple charges ... according to the Shelby County Sheriff's Office. You'll recall authorities over the weekend said BlocBoy was wanted for possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia, being a convicted felon in possession of a handgun and for theft of property.

Since the cops put out the alert on him, the rapper posted several videos on Instagram ... which certainly made it seem like he was NOT planning on going easily. It's unclear who or what convinced him to surrender.

BTW ... BlocBoy became a huge deal in February 2018 after dropping his hit single, "Look Alive" ... featuring Drake.

Super BTW ... BB's "Shoot" dance -- which went viral after appearing in the track's popular music video -- is the subject of a lawsuit against Fortnite.

Ariana Grande and Big Sean got their #ThrowbackThursday started a little early ... with a snuggle session in his car.

The exes were cozied up in Sean's car Wednesday night outside a recording studio in Los Angeles. For the record, Ariana was at the studio first, Big Sean showed up after ... and she came outside for the reunion.

Ariana showed off one of her pooches to her ex-bae ... great excuse to get closer. BTW, they left together in his ride.

You'll recall ... Ariana and Big Sean dated for almost a year before she pulled the plug on the relationship in April 2015. She claimed the rapper embarrassed her with his "billion dollar p***y" lyric.

They both eventually moved on -- Big Sean with Jhene Aiko ... but it appears old flames die hard.

Fast forward to last winter ... Ariana dropped her "Thank U, Next" song. The opening lyric goes, "Thought I'd end up with Sean but he wasn't a match."

But, in the music vid, her "Burn Book" shows she's still got it bad for Sean ... writing Sean's "so cute, so sweet" and "(could still get it)."

And, almost 3 months later ... it looks like Sean's getting it.

T-Pain's feeling validated after taking home the crown on "The Masked Singer," but he's not declaring himself the G.O.A.T. because he's doubling down on Soulja Boy holding that title. Umm ... okay.

We got the rapper leaving Beauty & Essex in L.A. Wednesday night, fresh off his win on the debut season of the hit FOX singing competition. During the finale, we learned T-Pain was the guy in the Monster costume who wowed judges with his beautiful voice.

T-Pain tells us this shouldn't have been such a big surprise, because his non-auto-tuned voice was featured on his first album. Still, he seems pretty happy people have noticed again.

Speaking of getting noticed ... Pain says nobody does it better than Soulja, which is why he considers him the greatest artist of all time -- seriously.

BTW ... T-Pain released a surprise new album this week too -- called "1UP" -- so he's killing it right now. This is how the Monster does it!

Feds investigating R. Kelly are about to get their hands on "physical evidence" against the singer ... courtesy of the family of one of his alleged victims.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Joycelyn Savage's parents are set to meet with federal investigators in New York to discuss matters related to 2 separate U.S. Attorney's Office probes into Kelly -- one by the Eastern District of NY, and another by the Southern District.

We're told the Savages will provide information on witnesses and those closely associated with Kelly ... AND turn over materials they refer to as "physical evidence." Our sources don't know exactly what that evidence includes.

The sources do say both federal investigations are "progressing very quickly" ... thanks to cooperation and testimony from several people, including Michael Avenatti and some of his clients.

As for what the feds could pin on Kelly -- we're told it could involve the Mann Act, which prohibits the transportation of minors across state lines for purposes of sex or debauchery.

TMZ broke the story, Joycelyn's parents also want to confront Kelly at his Chicago Trump Tower apartment in hopes of getting through to their daughter.

Travis Scott is as far away from the Jordyn Woods scandal as he can be without leaving the United States ... and we're told he couldn't be happier.

Our Travis/Kylie sources say the rapper, who's currently in Buffalo for his Astroworld tour, does not want to be caught in the quicksand of controversy that in many ways revolves around his baby mama.

We're told it's like a powder keg back home, where Kylie's sisters have declared war on Tristan Thompson and have been hammering Kylie to break all ties for good. Kylie's on board for now, but everyone believes she's torn because of her incredibly strong bond with Jordyn.

Short story ... home ain't a peaceful place to be these days, and Travis, who's always tried to avoid controversy, is happily 2,500 miles away.

That said, our sources say Travis has been fully supportive of Kylie and has been lending an ear whenever she needs it. But, the way he sees it ... he doesn't have a dog in the fight and he'll go along with whatever Kylie wants.

BTW ... Travis has spent a lot of time with Jordyn since he and Kylie got together nearly 2 years ago. Nevertheless, it's her friend and he's just going along for the ride.

For now ... Jordyn has been blackballed from the Kardashians. They cut all future business ties with her, and she's persona non grata at Kylie's home, where she had been living in the guesthouse.

One of R. Kelly's alleged victims says the 2 new sex tapes remind her all too much of what she went through with the singer -- but the difference is she thinks prosecutors will nail him this time around.

Lisa VanAllen was on "TMZ Live" Wednesday, and she told us the descriptions of the new tapes are basically par for the course. Lisa was one of the 2 young women on the original R. Kelly sex tape, for which he went on trial, but was ultimately acquitted in 2008. She was 17 at the time that tape was recorded.

As you know ... Michael Avenatti provided prosecutors with 2 new tapes, and he says they're depraved and shocking.

Lisa tells us everything R. Kelly allegedly does in the videos -- coaching the teen through sex, choking her, calling out her age -- sounds like the same Kelly she was dating. She also believes Avenatti is on point with his allegations about Kelly's camp intimidating witnesses in the 2008 trial.

She's written a book -- "Surviving the Pied Piper" -- about her time with Kelly, which she says included a contentious run-in with Foxy Brown. She insinuates Foxy was jealous, and tried to sabotage Lisa's involvement in parts of Kelly's shows. As for why? Just watch.

It turns out Tyga is damn lucky he only got manhandled over one repo'd car, because he actually owes nearly $130k on 2 OTHER luxury whips ... according to one pissed off rental car company.

Midway Rent-A-Car says, in docs obtained by TMZ, the rapper leased a 2012 Ferrari 458 Spider and a 2012 Rolls-Royce Ghost back in 2016. However, as he's wont to do, Tyga stopped making payments before the lease ended ... according to Midway.

The rental company says both rides got repo'd, but Tyga still owes almost $44k on the Ferrari and more than $84k on the Rolls. Grand total -- $127,789.73.

Despite multiple attempts to collect, the rental company claims Tyga hasn't squared up ... so it's suing him for the full amount plus attorney fees and interest.

We broke the story ... Tyga had an encounter last weekend with some guys who leased him a Maybach that he also stopped paying for ... and also got repo'd. The confrontation ended with T Raww getting dragged out of the club, and then attempting to pull his bodyguard's gun.

We've reached out to Tyga about the Ferrari and the Rolls and he had no comment. He might wanna avoid the clubs this weekend.

Selena Gomez is back in the studio, and the timing couldn't be more perfect -- 'cause, as of this week, Ariana Grande's more relevant ... on Instagram, anyway.

Selena was seen leaving a recording studio in L.A. Tuesday night, and ya gotta imagine she hopped into the booth and laid down some tracks. It's been more than 3 years since she released a solo album, even if she's been featured here and there with folks like Cardi B.

Funny enough ... as Selena was in that studio, AG surpassed her fellow pop star in IG followers to become the most followed woman, if only barely. On Tuesday, Ariana reportedly hit 146,286,173 compared to Selena's 146,267,801. Both ladies got nothin' on Cristiano Ronaldo, though ... who's sitting pretty at 156M-plus followers.

Speaking of Ariana, she was seen leaving a rehearsal Tuesday in Calabasas as she prepares to head out on tour. Followers or not ... the hustle never seems to stop in this biz.

Not to compare these talented ladies, but they've simply had a much different past couple years ... although neither has escaped hardship.

Selena received mental health treatment last year after having an emotional breakdown. She also had a major surgery in 2017 for a kidney transplant. As for Ari, she lost her ex-BF, Mac Miller, to an accidental overdose, and split with her fiance, Pete Davidson.

Here's hoping Selena's got new tunes on the horizon. It'd be great to hear her over the airwaves again.

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