Music

Cardi B has come a long, LONG way since dropping her debut album last spring -- so if the woman's a little late to a scheduled speaking gig, so be it ... folks will wait for her.

The "Money" MC showed up a few hours behind schedule Sunday to the Beautycon Festival in NYC, where she was set to speak on a panel about "money moves" and the keys to success in the beauty world. Apparently, Cardi had people waiting for a good 3 to 4 hours.

She eventually showed though, and looked great as usual -- wearing a fur and wide-brimmed hat with matching heels. CB talked about success ... and she's had a lot of it lately.

Saturday actually marked the 1-year anniversary of her Grammy-winning album, "Invasion of Privacy," which she celebrated with a mega gig in Vegas ... performing at the new Kaos Nightclub at Palms Hotel ... alongside the likes of J Balvin and G-Eazy.

Justin Bieber is stomping out any thoughts Shawn Mendes is the current Prince of Pop -- but the title might be up for grabs ... if Shawn wants to skate for it.

JB responded to an IG post Shawn threw up on Sunday -- a magazine cover of himself with the headline, "Prince of pop." Biebs told his fellow Canadian pop star pal to pump the brakes ... 'cause Justin insists he's still the chosen one of the genre.

According to Bieber, Shawn has a long way to go and a lot more records to break before he can touch the crown. He didn't seem malicious about it though, describing his ribbing as being delivered in a "Canadian voice" -- something they'd both understand.

Justin has an interesting proposition for Shawn though, telling him if he wants ... they could decide this Prince of Pop thing once and for all over a game of hockey.

It sounds like Justin's taking even more shots, 'cause he says he's heard Shawn's a "bender" on the ice ... meaning he can't skate. And, of course, we know Justin can.

FWIW ... it's understandable why Shawn would think he's dethroned Justin. Dude hasn't released very much new solo music since 2015 ... and Shawn's been grinding nonstop for a while now.

Granted, JB's been focusing on his personal life and well-being -- and ya can't knock him for that -- but someone was bound to step into the PoP convo eventually.

There's zero doubt Kylie Jenner's fully behind her man Travis Scott ... but surprisingly, the Adidas ambassador's also kicking it with Nike.

Kylie and Travis were seen out shopping over the weekend in Bev Hills and appeared to be in great spirits. The rapper sported a huge grin on his face with Kylie in tow. It was just last month when we saw Kylie doing a little retail therapy ... after you-know-what.

But, check out Kylie's feet. She signed a lucrative deal with Adidas last August (after ditching Puma) but is seen rocking her rival's main competitor.

The move comes on the heels of recently launching her latest collaboration ... the "Reveal Your Voice" collection featuring a new colorway on the Adidas Falcon.

Worth noting ... Kylie's wearing Travis' shoes, the Travis Scott x Jordan 1's.

Business aside ... it appears Kylie and Travis have handled their own personal business. We last saw them out grabbing some grub. They've since also gone on what Kylie dubbed "baecation" as all seems to be good in their neck of the woods.

Amber Rose is having a rough early pregnancy ... because she has the same sickness Kate Middleton had to endure.

Sources close to Amber tell TMZ ... she's 13 weeks pregnant and is suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum ... a severe type of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. We're told Amber was hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for a few days, getting IV treatments because she was sick and losing weight.

It's not all bad though ... we're told Amber and her boyfriend, Alexander "AE" Edwards, are thrilled about having their first child together. We're told the pregnancy wasn't planned, but they weren't taking precautions because they're deeply in love.

The baby boy is due in October, close to Amber's birthday ... and we're told she's excited to share the same sign -- Libra.

Amber publicly announced her pregnancy Thursday, and we're told she had a gender reveal party at her house a couple of weeks ago ... but it was purely a family affair.

Kate battled the condition through all 3 of her pregnancies ... and now Amber's had it for both of hers.

Kanye West is the latest huge star to pay tribute to Nipsey Hussle ... and he did it with his Sunday Service.

Ye was holding his weekly outdoor concert Sunday -- per usual -- but at one point during the show ... he played audio of Nipsey's voice delivering some inspirational words about encouragement over music that was beginning to build, courtesy of Kanye who was DJing.

The choir and live band take it from there, as they start to play out what sounds like a hymn for Nipsey. You can also see North West getting into the vibe too.

Kanye's shout-out to Nipsey follows J. Cole dedicating an entire song to the L.A. rapper during his inaugural Dreamville Fest Saturday. Big Sean held a special moment for Nipsey at the same event.

Chris Darden repping Nipsey Hussle's alleged murderer is having repercussions he might not have seen coming, so says the guy's daughter ... who's now getting harassed.

Jenee Darden -- one of Chris' adult children -- posted a statement on IG Sunday, saying she's been receiving "vile" comments and messages ever since the news broke last week that her dad was serving as Eric Holder's defense attorney.

Darden pled not guilty on behalf of Holder after he was charged with murder, but his mere presence in the courtroom took many people aback ... as he'd previously served as one of the prosecutors on the O.J. Simpson case, which he lost.

Jenee says there's been tons of backlash aimed at her because of Chris' recent decision to rep Holder, which she says is unwarranted ... because her father is a grown man and picks the cases he wants to take on. She says she has no say on any of that.

She also says she found about Chris' involvement in the case like everyone else ... scrolling through social media.

More interestingly, Jenee appears to be siding with Nipsey and his grieving family over her own father ... saying she grew up in a community similar to Nipsey's and understands why it's hit so hard for so many people to lose a mighty figure like him to a senseless murder.

Jenee goes on to say that the folks who are attacking her online should channel their energy toward continuing Nipsey's legacy by strengthening communities and continuing to uplift one another.

J. Cole took a moment during his sold-out Dreamville Festival to honor the late Nipsey Hussle -- and it was quite a special sight to behold.

The North Carolina grown MC was in Raleigh Saturday night, where he packed out Dix Park with no less than 40,000 people who flocked to his inaugural music festival. At one point during the show, Cole performed his hit, "Love Yourz," which he dedicated to Nip.

It was a touching tribute, with video footage of the slain L.A. rapper playing on a giant monitor behind JC the whole time.

Even before Cole got a single line of lyrics out, the crowd took over and sang the opening verses of the track. It seems like a live band was used for the performance too ... which sounded great.

Cole ended "Love Yourz" with an explicit shout out to Nipsey, telling the crowd to make some noise him and to not put their lit cellphones down. The crowd happily obliged.

Big Sean also paid a special tribute to Nipsey during his Dreamville Fest set, going in on what sounded like a fresh freestyle that he appeared to write specifically for the moment.

Sean sent a sweet message to Nipsey himself too, saying he could still feel his energy while going on to thank him for his talent and work in his community.

1:02 PM PT -- Sources close to Slim Jxmmi tell TMZ that the guy Slim swung on in the DJ booth was a lighting guy that had gotten into it with Rae Sremmurds own personal DJ (who we're told wasn't actually DJ'ing for the night) prior to the altercation ... and that Slim was just defending his own dude. Our Slim Jxmmi sources say it had nothing to do with being mad about a song not being played ... it was simply retaliation for a lighting guy getting handsy with his crew.

We're being told differently by other people that were there -- who insist the guy with the hat who Slim Jximmit jumped on was, in fact, the DJ for the night ... not a lighting guy. Our sources say there was some sort of verbal back and forth between him and Slim right before the fight broke out.

Slim Jxmmi wasn't about to stand for a DJ blatantly refusing to play a song he'd requested -- but he would fly for it ... right into the guy's booth with a clenched fist.

The Rae Sremmurd rapper got into it with an amateur DJ Saturday night during a paid gig at the University of North Florida's OZFEST Spring concert. In footage of the altercation, obtained by TMZ, you can see SJ leap into the DJ's area and start swinging.

Eyewitnesses tell us Slim was pissed the DJ wouldn't play a song he'd asked him to play during the performance, and that he and the guy even went back and forth a bit before this blowup.

We're told it was quickly broken up, and cops weren't called either. After Slim Jxmmi cooled down backstage for about 15 minutes, our sources say he actually reemerged to finish his set alongside his brother, Swae Lee, who was also there but didn't perform.

And, get this ... the DJ finished the set too! We're told everything carried on like normal afterward. So it was seemingly a happy ending.

This isn't Slim Jxmmi's first dust-up BTW -- he was involved in a violent street brawl down in New Zealand just earlier this year ... where a woman appeared to be part of the battle.

A word of advice to Young Slim ... chill, bro.

Nipsey Hussle's killer became further enraged when his first shots didn't finish off the rapper ... and Nipsey talked back to him.

Sources at the scene of Nipsey's murder tell us ... after Eric Holder allegedly shot Nipsey twice and the rapper fell to the ground, Nipsey raised his head and said something to the effect of, "You shot me, you got me, I'm good."

We're told Holder -- who had already started to walk away -- turned around and walked back in Nipsey's direction when he realized the rapper was still alive. That's when Holder fired additional shots at Nipsey ... those bullets, eyewitnesses believe, that killed him.

In the surveillance video, you clearly see Nipsey -- who was wearing a white bandana -- raise his head after the initial shots were fired. You can also see Holder approach Nipsey while he lay on the ground, fire more shots, back off, fire again and kick him before running into an alley.

Holder was arrested in Los Angeles Tuesday and has since been charged with 1 count of murder, 2 counts of attempted murder and 1 count of possession of a firearm by a felon. His bond is $5 million. An unidentified female who drove Holder away from the crime scene was questioned and released.

As for Nipsey's funeral ... our sources say it will be taking place on Thursday at the Staples Center -- in order to accommodate everyone who wants to attend. Those close to the rapper were scoping out some of L.A.'s biggest venues.

Ray J and Princess Love are VERY serious about finding their missing pooch -- and by that, we mean they're willing to pay $20,000 to anyone who finds it.

PL announced Saturday night that one of the couple's Maltese dogs, Boogotti, had gone missing from Ray's parents' Calabasas home, and she pled with the public to give her a holler if anybody located it. Then on Sunday, she upped the ante ... by offering a $20k reward.

Princess Love says they believe Boogotti might be in the neighboring Woodland Hills area, and that anyone who thinks they might've found him should DM her with a photo of the pup.

Sources close to the couple tell TMZ that Ray J's parents were dog sitting over the weekend when Boogotti escaped through a gate on their property around 3 PM Saturday. We're told RJ and PL are flying back from NYC Sunday to help track it down.

If you're wondering just how important this little canine is to the family, just consider how much money's been spent on it ... including this $20k reward offer. Ray J dropped $30k on a party for the dog in 2015, and the couple's also dropped at least $5k in vet bills for their other dog, Coco.

10:22 AM PT -- Big Boy from 92.3 the REAL just came down hard on Kodak Black, saying he won't tolerate disrespect like this toward royalty in Nipsey Hussle and Lauren London. BB says hip-hop culture has a tendency to look the other way on moments like this, but he argues that has to change ... and that people from the community have to hold one another accountable, including Kodak. It doesn't sound like Big Boy is committing to not playing Kodak's music on the airwaves like Justin Credible did, but he does say he hopes this helps change minds going forward about ya say about who.

Check out his full statement above.

Kodak Black apologized for something he clearly should not have done in the first place ... disrespected Lauren London, the grieving girlfriend of Nipsey Hussle.

Kodak went on IG Live Saturday with his mea culpa, though somewhat half-hearted. He said he was sorry for disrespecting her, "even though I didn't."

As you know ... on Saturday a video circulated of Kodak calling Lauren "that baby" and "whole widow out here." He went on to say he was willing to give her a year of "crying and s***" before making a move on her.

Justin Credible from Power 106 in L.A. tweeted the station was "appalled by the disrespectful and poor comments" and they would no longer play his music.

Former welterweight championship boxer Andre Berto told us Saturday in Bev Hills, what Kodak did was super disrespectful, because Nipsey Hussle's murder was so fresh, and Kodak would serve himself well by staying out of L.A.

In Kodak's "apology," he did say Nipsey inspired him to do more in his community.

As we reported, there will be a huge memorial service for Nipsey -- who was murdered a week ago Sunday -- at L.A.'s Staples Center.

12:23 PM PT -- Turns out, R. Kelly DID perform Saturday night during his paid club appearance in Springfield, Illinois. He briefly sang the opening line to his hit "Bump N' Grind" to a very accepting crowd ... which we're told comprised of no more than about 50 people tops.

In fact, sources on the ground tell us R. Kelly's gig appeared to come together in an odd and somewhat ragtag fashion. First off, Kelly was supposed to perform at the Spring Break Jam festival at the nearby Illinois State Fairgrounds Saturday night ... just a stone's throw away from the Dirty South Lounge where R. Kelly showed up. He was included in a flyer for the Spring Break gig back in December but was removed from the lineup in January when s*** hit the fan for him.

It seems like this appearance he did at Dirty South was either already lined up or came together after the fact. Nonetheless, we're told the Spring Break Jam folks were continuing to sell tickets at the Fairgrounds itself for R. Kelly's appearance after the show ... even though he wasn't officially a part of their concert anymore.

Our sources say R. Kelly tickets were initially being hawked for $100 a pop Saturday night but were later dropped in price to $50 as a way to get more people to come to Dirty South.

Like we said, no more than about a few dozen heads showed out for R. Kelly ... but they were treated to an up close and personal performance when he finally emerged around 2 AM.

R. Kelly came out of hiding Saturday and made a club appearance.

The embattled singer showed up at Dirty South Lounge in Springfield, Illinois Saturday night/Sunday Morning. He didn't perform but talked to the patrons. Some of them even hugged him and took selfies.

Kelly even pulled out a stogie as he interacted with the crowd.

R. Kelly went on Instagram Saturday, knowing he would make the club appearance, and asked the media to take it easy on him ... fact is, appearances are one of the few ways he can make money at the moment. We don't know how much was paid for the appearance.

As for why he went on Insta, Kelly is struggling to pay child support to his ex-wife, Drea Kelly. He was jailed briefly for the delinquency but released after a friend ponied up the dough.

As you know, R. Kelly is going to stand trial for 10 counts of criminal sexual abuse involving underage girls. There are ongoing investigations and additional charges could be filed. The Cook County State's Attorney is in possession of additional videos that allegedly show R. Kelly having sex with at least one underage girl.

Zachary Levi -- the superhero in the new DC Comics flick "Shazam!" -- ought to add an 8th superhuman strength to his arsenal ... superb singing!!!

We got video of Zachary out at a bar Wednesday night around 11 PM in NYC's East Village where he randomly decided to pop in and take a swing at the mic for a little piano sesh. Gotta say ... dude hit a freakin' home run.

Check out the clip ... Zachary -- who was there with friends when he decided to get up and perform -- belts out 2 incredibly popular tunes ... Frank Sinatra's "L.O.V.E." and a snippet from the famous musical "Little Shop of Horrors Suddenly Seymour." Listen and prepare to be amazed.

BTW ... true Zachary fans know his voice has been legit for quite some time. He teamed up with Mandy Moore back in 2010 for Disney's "Tangled" ... where you can see him sing his ass off.

R. Kelly is trying to get some cash in the bank, but before what seems to be one of his first paid events in a while ... he's already getting ahead of potentially bad optics.

The embattled R&B singer took to Instagram Saturday to record a video of himself in front of what appears to be his Trump Tower residence in Chicago. He says he's gonna be at an event tonight in Springfield, IL ... one that's gonna line his pockets, apparently.

R. Kelly asks the media for a big favor -- to "take it easy" on him, as this is one of the few ways he can make money at the moment. In the clip, he says if and when the media sees him in the club with a couple drinks in his hand -- which presumably means photos or video of this will be leaked at some point -- just know he's only there to collect a check.

It sounds like R. Kelly was anticipating his appearance getting out to the public, and wanted to get ahead of a bad look of him partying in the middle of a serious criminal case. It's unclear where exactly he'll be Saturday night ... he didn't mention the venue by name.

As we've reported ... R. Kelly's been stuck between a rock and a hard place financially these past couple months, with people having to put up major dough not once but TWICE to get him out of jail. He's partially blamed his ex-wife for hindering his ability to make a living.

NBA YoungBoy has officially been charged in his weed case ... and it could have a serious impact on a separate and ongoing criminal case.

The rapper was charged with 2 misdemeanors -- possession of less than an ounce of marijuana and disorderly conduct -- stemming from a case back in February in Atlanta ... this according to court records obtained by TMZ.

As we first reported ... YB was busted along with a female companion, Starr Thigpen, after he allegedly ordered her to get housekeeping out of a room that was supposed to be unoccupied. Starr allegedly struck one of the maids in the face before cops arrived and arrested both of them.

Here's where things could get tricky for YB ... as we first reported, the rapper was indicted in Waycross, GA back in March 2018 for allegedly beating the hell outta his then-GF. One of the charges he faced was felony kidnapping.

We've reached out to the Waycross D.A.'s office to see if the new misdemeanor charges will impact the 2018 case, for which YB's currently out on bond. We do know this much ... YoungBoy has a status conference in front of the judge in the kidnapping case next week.

Stay tuned ...

Kodak Black doesn't seem to care that Lauren London just lost Nipsey Hussle to a brutal murder, 'cause he's already contemplating when and how to holler at her.

The Florida rapper posted a video to his IG Live, which began getting circulated Saturday -- and it shows KB hanging out with some buddies of his and openly talking about Lauren like a piece of meat that he wants for himself in the wake of Nipsey's death.

Check out the clip -- he calls Lauren "that baby" and a "whole widow out here," while also musing that he'll be the best man he can be to nab her next. He says he's even willing to give her a whole year of "crying and s***" before he makes any potential moves on her.

One of his friends asks if Kodak's shooting his shot, but he says he isn't ... he insists he's just being friendly, and wouldn't mind being a shoulder for her to lean on. Kodak also says she "can call my line."

Keep in mind ... it's been less than a week since Lauren's long-term partner and father to her child was gunned down in his own neighborhood. She said she's lost at the moment without him.