Music

Soulja Boy isn't wearing Gucci bandanas anymore, and he sure as hell ain't about to rap about them ... because he thinks the brand is "racist as f**k!!!"

The rapper is still raging mad over Gucci's blackface scandal -- and we got this video of him stopping his Sunday performance at the High Times Dope Cup in Adelanto, CA ripping the company a new one.

Soulja starts rapping "Gucci Bandanna" before stopping the show and bashing Gucci over its disastrous decision to sell a sweater resembling blackface. SB doesn't hold back, calling the sweater "racist ass s**t" and telling Gucci to "suck my d**k!"

Young Drako is still on board with the Gucci boycott, and that's gotta suck for them ... because he says he's spent over $1 million on Gucci in the last 10 years!

Big Sean is marking his birthday by opening up to his fans about battling depression and anxiety ... revealing how he coped with his issues, and how he came out stronger on the other side.

The Detroit rapper, who turns 31 on Monday, scrubbed his Instagram except for 3 new videos he posted late Sunday night ... detailing a spiritual journey he took starting around this time last year on his birthday. Sean says he felt lost and stepped back from life to examine why.

When his usual meditation wasn't working, Sean Don says he took the next step ... getting himself into therapy and talking about his issues -- namely, his growing discontent with his work and the state of the relationships around him, some of which he calls "toxic."

Turns out ... getting on the couch did the trick.

Sean says his therapist told him he needed clarity ... clarity on who was around him, on what he was doing ... and for what purpose. He explains that revelation put things into perspective and helped him re-prioritize a lot of things in his life.

Along the way, Sean says he also started doing things by himself for himself ... like skydiving. Now, he says he's back in love with music ... and doing better than ever.

Forget Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga ... here are two WWE superstars performing the smash hit "Shallow" IN THE WRESTLING RING -- and it's pretty amazing!!

The guy with the guitar is Elias -- who's a pretty talented musician when he's not bodyslamming people.

Dude teamed up with Finn Balor at a WWE live event over the weekend where they put on a musical show for the crowd ... and they loved it!!

Elias took the Bradley Cooper part of the song from "A Star Is Born." He sounded great.

Finn, on the other hand, is no Lady Gaga. Good effort though!

Of course, Bradley and Gaga's version of "Shallow" won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 2019 Oscars ... where the movie stars performed the song live.

It's been covered by a TON of people since the movie came out ... from Alicia Keys to Kelly Clarkson.

A meeting between R. Kelly's alleged "sex slave," Azriel Clary, and her family wasn't dictated by the singer himself, nor was it his fault the whole thing fell apart ... so says his lawyer.

Clary was supposed to meet with her family -- for the first time in years -- Saturday night in Chicago. R. Kelly's attorney, Steve Greenberg, tells TMZ the plans fell through after Azriel insisted on changing the location last minute. We're told she wanted the meeting with her family to take place at Trump Tower Chicago in a conference room on the hotel side of the building -- not in R. Kelly's residence there -- as opposed to a previously decided spot.

The previous location was a different hotel, one block away, but Greenberg says Azriel made the switch the day before the scheduled meeting. It's been reported that Kelly was the one who pushed for the change -- supposedly wanting his security there too -- but Greenberg says that's false.

He tells us Azriel is the one who suggested Trump Tower as a means to control the media circus she thought her family would orchestrate around the meetup. She wanted say over who could get into the building by having it at Kelly's place, where she lives with him.

When her family got word on that, they pulled the plug entirely. Greenberg says the singer was never going to be at the meeting.

Michael Avenatti -- who reps Azriel's family in this matter -- tells TMZ ... "On Friday, R Kelly’s camp tried to abruptly change the terms of the meeting at which time my clients and I decided not to participate because the terms were not acceptable. We are now attempting to reschedule the meeting on agreeable terms so my clients can see their daughter."

The Jonas Brothers are poppin' in Miami ... with some bright ass colors that are clearly an homage to "Miami Vice."

Nick, Joe and Kevin are down in South Beach shooting their next music video. They're on a yacht and looking very Crockett & Tubbs -- the main characters on the classic TV show, for you kids. The pastels are a nice throwback ... although only 2 of the bros were even alive at the height of "Miami Vice."

The bros were also seen wearing matching blue suits ... laughing it up while sitting and holding vintage tanning reflectors. Bronze, baby!! Guessing this was also for the music video ... though nobody would blame 'em for trying to get some color. When in Rome! Joe was also spotted with his boo Sophie at the Prince x Unknwn dinner at Swan on Friday.

It's unclear what music video they're shooting but it could be the trio's second release from their upcoming new album. You'll recall they released their "Sucker" music video earlier this month ... featuring their significant others Priyanka Chopra, Sophie Turner and Danielle Jonas.

That music video -- shot in England, btw -- took the world by storm. No sign of the lady Jonases down in the 305, but just in case you need a refresher ... here it is, Sucker!

Lil Wayne's a lyrical genius who freestyles on all of his tracks, but there was a time when he'd put pen to paper for all of his lyrics ... now a notebook filled with them can be yours for a pretty penny.

The notebook -- written in 1999 when Weezy was an up-and-coming 17-year-old rapper -- is on the market for a cool $250k. The folks over at Moments in Time are handling the sale of the rare collection ... featuring lyrics from "We On Fire" and "I Feel" during Wayne's time with the rap group "Hot Boys."

We're told the person who owns the notebook says he found it in a car that once belonged to Cash Money Records. He says when the dealership he works for took ownership of the whip, the guy rummaged through what was left behind and took possession of the notebook.

Check out the pics and notice the notebook has some water damage. That's because, according to the owner, the notebook came close to getting destroyed when Hurricane Katrina hit.

He says he stored the notebook in a box in his garage. When Katrina hit, he evacuated and when he returned, his home was all but destroyed ... as were most of the things in his garage, except for a few items, including the notebook.

Suffice it to say ... whoever scores the notebook's getting his hands on rare hip-hop history.

Add Johnny 3 Tears -- singer and bassist of Hollywood Undead -- to the list of musicians relieved their old songs have been wiped from Myspace ... but he feels bad for other artists ... and Tom.

The rocker tells TMZ ... the old social media network's massive screwup -- it deleted roughly 53 MILLION music files uploaded from 2003-15 -- was actually a good thing for his band, but it sucks for artists who lost songs important to them.

Johnny also has his doubts the Myspace blunder was completely on accident, and echoes a tech blogger's theory it was a cost-saving measure.

3 Tears tells us his old buddy, Tom, the co-founder of Myspace, wouldn't have tolerated this ... and it tells a sad tale of the company's downfall.

Kanye West's Sunday Service seems to be drawing Hollywood types left and right ... seeing how Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom are the latest to pay a visit.

The recently engaged couple were spotted attending Ye's outdoor concert Sunday in Calabasas -- which also doubles as a church service of sorts. They were definitely dressed for the occasion ... Katy was decked out in a pink outfit that seemed perfect for Easter season, while Orlando went more caj with a jacket and jeans.

Tyler, the Creator was there too ... making a brief cameo on Kendall Jenner's Instagram Story. Oh, and Courtney Love showed up as well, BTW.

Speaking of the KarJenner brood -- the whole fam was out in force this week for Kanye's spiritual gathering. Khloe, Kourtney and her kids and, of course, Kim K and her children were all in attendance too. No sign of Kylie among the flock though.

The new celeb sightings follow DMX's appearance last week, when he gave the "morning prayer" to kick off the service -- which has been running weekly since at least January.

3/25 -- The rapper and his creative barber tell TMZ ... the 3D haircut was a delicate affair that required mastery precision. Check out the vid ... they REALLY paid attention to detail. Joc also told us his new shower routine to keep the hairdo intact.

Yung Joc is back on his hair cut game -- this time he's paying tribute the late and great Tupac Shakur by getting him imprinted on his head ... in 3D, no less.

Joc showed off his new 'do Sunday on social media, and it's a VERY detailed portrait of Pac with the haircut he was rockin' on "Juice" -- a flattop, if you'll recall.

Even crazier ... Pac's "hair" is actually popping out of Joc's own head, as the barber left a patch of his hair to capture the real-life effect. In his video, you can hear Joc's pals admiring the work, and for good reason ... it looks incredible.

He notes he'll have to be careful with it since it's on the side of his dome. Like he says, one scratch can screw up the image.

This isn't the first time Joc has played around with different hairstyles ... he tried to one-up Usher a few months back with a retro pompadour 'do that was a throwback to the '50s and '60s.

Going from that to this is a BIG change ... so we'll obviously have to be on the lookout for Joc's hair moves from now on. Duly noted ...

3/24 -- R. Kelly's request to travel to Dubai looks shaky at best now -- 'cause the Dubai government is coming out strong against the singer, saying he has no business coming there ... at least as far as they're concerned. The Dubai Media Office issued a statement Sunday, denying R. Kelly's claims that he might need to fly there for potential gigs ... with the agency saying there were no planned concerts for R. Kelly that the government was aware of.

The DMO also shot down claims by R. Kelly's legal team that he had plans to meet the sheikhdom's ruling Al Maktoum family ... calling BS and saying, "Authorities in Dubai have not received any request for a performance by singer R. Kelly nor are there any venues that have been booked."

8:02 AM -- The hearing has wrapped up. Greenberg formally asked for a copy of the sex tapes but the judge did not rule on whether Kelly's team will get copies just yet. Greenberg added the sex tapes should be protected from public viewing.

Also, Kelly's motion for permission to travel has been continued.

7:20 AM PT -- Kelly has just arrived to court. The hearing is now scheduled to start at 7:45 AM PT.

6:40 AM PT -- We will be live streaming inside R. Kelly's pretrial hearing in Cook County Courthouse. It's scheduled to start around 7 AM PT.

R. Kelly and his legal team are demanding to get their hands and eyes on the alleged sex tapes that prompted the 10 counts of sexual abuse ... and they're hoping to walk out of court Friday with them.

Kelly's attorney, Steven Greenberg, tells TMZ ... prosecutors will begin handing over discovery materials during a court hearing Friday in Chicago. He says there's no guarantee what they'll get right off the bat -- could be police reports, case material from Kelly's 2008 trial but, obviously, the items they're most anxious to see are the 2 tapes Michael Avenatti turned over to Cook County prosecutors.

Greenberg says he hasn't seen the tapes -- which Avenatti claims show Kelly engaged in various sex acts with a 14-year-old girl -- so he can't really begin to mount a defense strategy. Once he does get them, a couple different things could happen.

He'll immediately order a full forensic analysis of the tapes ... if he and Kelly believe the tape does show the singer. If they don't think it's Kelly, Greenberg says he'll speed things up to trial.

For now, it's a waiting game since Kelly's team has no idea what prosecutors will hand over.

Kelly might also ask the judge to let him travel to Dubai for work -- he had to surrender his passport when he got arrested. Sources close to the singer tell us he could potentially get a gig there, but doesn't have anything booked yet.

Greenberg says he's not sure the judge will hear that request Friday, but it's on their "to do" list because -- make no mistake -- Kelly's desperate to make some cash.

3/25 -- For the record, Dre and Iovine donated a whopping $70 MILLION to the University. The department they funded -- The Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation, was established to promote entrepreneurship, computer science and engineering, audio and visual design, and the arts. Dre and Jimmy wanted to inspire innovators.

3/24 -- Dr. Dre has deleted his Instagram post in which he touted his daughter's acceptance to USC with "no jail time." Lots of people pointed out how tone-deaf it came off considering he and Jimmy Iovine made a multi-million dollar donation to USC and literally have a portion of the school named after them.

Dr. Dre's rubbing a little salt in the wounds of Lori Loughlin, Felicity Huffman and all the other parents involved in the college bribery scandal ... while gloating about his USC-bound child.

The music mogul and proud papa just shared a photo with his daughter, Truly Young, holding up her Certificate of Admissions letter from the University of Southern California ... and added a savage jab.

Dre wrote ... "My daughter got accepted into USC all on her own. No jail time!!!"

As we've reported ... Huffman, Loughlin and her husband are facing criminal charges for allegedly paying to get their kids into the prestigious school by fraudulent means.

Loughlin's daughters have already formally left USC and could be banned from campus forever.

Dr. Dre clearly doesn't think he has any reason to worry about something like that happening or any legal issues with her attending the college.

Some folks might take umbrage with the rapper's claim that his daughter got accepted on her own, though -- he and Jimmy Iovine founded the USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy a few years back ... and there's a hall on campus named after them.

That may have had a little something to do with it ... just maybe.

The wrestling ref who's threatening a lawsuit over the viral dreadlock-cutting incident is "blatantly racist" and has NO CASE ... so says Lil Jon ... who tells TMZ Sports the guy's claims are ridiculous.

High schooler Andrew Johnson -- who is black -- was forced to either cut his dreadlocks or forfeit during a December 2018 match. The story made international news .... and the ref was accused of being racist.

As we previously reported ... the ref, Alan Maloney, is claiming he's been defamed in the coverage following this ... and he's demanding $100,000 in damages.

Enter Lil Jon -- who has famously shown off his dreads throughout his career -- and he explains why Maloney's actions were inexcusable.

"Dreads are considered to be like a man's crown, that's a lion's mane ... it's sacred," Jon says.

"For this guy to be blatantly racist as he was on that one and to claim he can't get work or whatever, well ... too bad, you shouldn't have been an a**hole."

Maloney says he was strictly following the rules that prohibited wrestlers from having long hair ... but many people have called it a bogus excuse to cover up racism.

Lil Jon agrees with them.

Akon's ready to show off the most prized artist on his roster ... his own son!!!

The singer tells TMZ ... his 15-year-old son, Jahvor -- aka Jah -- is getting ready to drop his first EP with some major help from his favorite producer. Akon tells us Jah will appear on his Konvict label sometime in June. We got a sampling from one of the tracks, called "Locked Away" and it features, of course, Akon.

Goes without saying ... Jah's got his pops' voice.

Ya might be thinking ... Jah's song is about his dad doing time behind bars back in the late '90s and early 2000s, but you're dead wrong. Akon tells us, "My son wrote the chorus and his verse to symbolize how a kid could be mentally 'locked up' and can't escape the inevitable ways of the streets [and] becoming a product of the environment."

Deep stuff.

Akon's kids are incredibly talented. His other son, Ty Pittman, was recently featured on MattyBRaps' "Let's Dance" track. It's already racked up over 500k views on YouTube.

As for Jah ... Akon says he's aiming for a June release because that's African-American Music Appreciation Month.

6:40 PM PT -- Barbra issued a new statement adding an apology, saying ... "I am profoundly sorry for any pain or misunderstanding I caused by not choosing my words more carefully."

She adds ... "I didn’t mean to dismiss the trauma these boys experienced in any way. Like all survivors of sexual assault, they will have to carry this for the rest of their lives. I feel deep remorse and I hope that James and Wade know that I truly respect and admire them for speaking their truth."

1:15 PM PT -- Streisand's clarifying some of her interview comments in a statement to the Washington Post, saying ... "To be crystal clear, there is no situation or circumstance where it is OK for the innocence of children to be taken advantage of by anyone."

She continues ... “The stories these two young men shared were painful to hear, and I feel nothing but sympathy for them. The single most important role of being a parent is to protect their children. It’s clear that the parents of the two young men were also victimized and seduced by fame and fantasy."

Barbra Streisand believes Michael Jackson was a child molester, but she also believes his victims got a bonus and the sexual attacks didn't kill them ... this according to a new interview.

Streisand was interviewed by The Times in the UK, and shared some bizarre thoughts about MJ and the 2 accusers featured in "Leaving Neverland" -- Wade Robson and James Safechuck.

Streisand seemed sympathetic to Jackson, saying, "His sexual needs were his sexual needs, coming from whatever childhood he has or whatever DNA he has."

She believes Robson and Safechuck were indeed molested by MJ, saying the HBO documentary was painful to watch.

That said, she went on to dismiss the horror of child molestation, saying, "You can say molested, but those children, as you heard them say [in the documentary] they were thrilled to be there. They both married and they both have children, so it didn't kill them."

Streisand wasn't done. She said, "I feel bad for the children. I feel bad for him. I blame, I guess, the parents who would allow their children to sleep with him. Why would Michael need these little children dressed like him and in the shows and the dancing and the hats?"

Streisand says Jackson once asked her to do a duet, "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" ... but she turned him down.

Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott are planning a family vacation with one goal in mind ... healing their damaged relationship.

Sources close to the couple tell TMZ ... the fam's first order of business when Travis gets a break from his Astroworld tour next week is a family trip with no distractions -- so they can focus on spending time together with baby Stormi.

As we reported ... Kylie, Travis and Stormi went to dinner as a family Thursday night, the first time we've seen them all together since the billionaire accused the rapper of cheating. We're told the parents' relationship is getting back on track after an epic blowup, but a family vacay will go a long ways towards mending their wounds.

What's interesting ... they chose to chow down at Sweet Chick, a restaurant which is co-owned by Nas. It's super popular, and it's a scene. Paparazzi are almost guaranteed, so it's clear they wanted to be seen.

Kylie and Travis are serious about the "no distractions" part of the trip ... we're told they're clearing their schedules and asking a travel agent to find a beach in another country, where they can relax in peace.

Looks like Kylie's already looking forward to enjoying some family fun in the sun.

DMX had a great night out on the town Friday night ... in a car that was reported stolen.

X and his crew hit up STK restaurant inside the W hotel in Westwood and had a great time. At around 1 AM they left the restaurant and went to the valet to retrieve their cars. A member of X's team asked the valet to get his Corvette but couldn't find the ticket. The valets at the W are sticklers for tickets, but the valet recognized X and made an exception, as he eyed the Corvette parked nearby.

The valet drove the car up to DMX and his entourage, and everyone took off for a nightclub on the Sunset Strip.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, a guy who had just finished dinner approached the valet with his ticket and asked for his Corvette. Oops. The valet explained what he had done, and the real owner called the cops to report the car stolen.

Apparently, the valet knew X and Co. went to the club so police showed up and got the car back.