Music

2:40 PM PT -- A spokesperson for Young Thug tells us he "did not get shot at ... somebody took a shot at the car DJ Keyz was in. He is fine. It was a minor injury and not serious. Young Thug was long gone and not involved."

Young Thug's car and 2 party buses filled with his team were targeted in a hail of bullets early Friday morning in Miami, according to multiple witnesses ... and 3 people were injured.

Witnesses tell TMZ ... Thug was riding in a Ferrari alongside the 2 buses on I-95 around 6 AM when someone pulled up next to them and opened fire. Law enforcement sources say 2 men and a woman who were on the buses were taken to hospitals with non-life threatening injuries.

Young Thug was not hit. While the witnesses say the rapper was on the scene when the bullets flew ... sources close to him say he had left the party an hour earlier.

It appears the whole group was on the way to the Miami Beach Hotel before the shooting went down. Young Thug had performed at LIV Nightclub Thursday night. He's scheduled to perform again Saturday at the Rolling Loud Festival in Miami.

Cops are investigating the shooting.

This is the second time this week a famous rapper's been targeted. As we first reported ... Offset escaped a shooting Wednesday night in Atlanta.

12:32 PM PT -- Darden just joined us on "TMZ Live" where he further explained his reason to back off of the case. He also said that while he's got a lot of haters ... his supporters really show out to help him as well. Darden hopes the same attention that people put into intimidating him off of the case will be used to stop violence in the streets.

Nipsey Hussle's alleged murderer is going to need a new lawyer -- Christopher Darden is quitting the case ... and it sounds like a wave of death threats to him and his family were just too much.

Darden says he's filed a motion to withdraw as Eric Holder's defense attorney. Holder happens to have a hearing scheduled for Friday in L.A. Superior Court, and Darden says it's the last time he will appear in court on the case.

Darden, who famously prosecuted O.J. Simpson in his double murder trial, says he's received death threats since taking Holder's case -- and the flood of hatred reminded him of the O.J. case. As he put it, "Just as they were in 1995-Cowards never change. These days these cowards don’t send letters instead they sit anonymously behind keyboards threatening a man’s mother and children."

Darden hinted he might reveal more in the future about exactly why he's bailing on Holder -- aka "Shitty Cuz" -- but made it clear to his haters that he won't forget ... "To those who issued those threats to my children please pay close attention so there is no misunderstanding. Later. F**K YOU!"

Truth is, Darden's been mercilessly berated ever since agreeing to defend the man accused of killing someone as beloved as Nipsey. One threatening tweet said, "Remember it was written in the book of life that the children shalt suffer from what the parents do."

But, Darden wants to make the point that under the Constitution, EVERYONE deserves a defense in court. He says, "After centuries of a history of black men hung from trees without trial, or after the thousands of cases of black men tried, convicted and executed without counsel ... I cannot understand why in 2019 some people would deny a black man his 6th Amendment right to counsel of his choice."

9:36 AM PT -- Sources close tell us baby #4 was born Thursday and weighed 6 lb. 9 oz.

5/10 9:05 AM PT -- The new baby West has arrived. Kim just tweeted, "He's here and he's perfect!" She continued, "He's also Chicago's twin lol I'm sure he will change a lot but now he looks just like her."

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian are about to be the proud parents of a brand spankin' new baby boy -- their surrogate's in labor!!!

Kourtney and Kris Jenner taped an episode of 'Ellen' Thursday with all of the Kardashian kids ... including Kim and Kanye's. Kourtney acknowledged Kim was supposed to be on the show but couldn't make it because there were urgent matters to attend to ... i.e., labor! And, get this, we're told Kris didn't even know.

Our sources say Mom and Dad were at the hospital Thursday night with the surrogate. Don't know for sure if they'll be in the delivery room, but she was the last time around for the birth of Chicago.

As we reported ... KW and KK hired a new surrogate to carry their fourth kid to term -- not because they were dissatisfied with the last one ... she was simply unavailable. The woman -- who was in her early 20s -- had her own child this past December ... less than 12 months after popping out baby Chicago. As a result ... the couple had to go with another surrogate.

This new surrogate's profile never became clear ... but ya gotta imagine Mom and Dad went with someone who was equally capable.

Kim and Kanye used a leftover embryo they created to bring this newest baby to life. He'll join three siblings -- North, Saint and Chi -- as the sixth member of the family.

As you know ... Kim's got a full plate. Aside from studying to become a lawyer and running of beauty empire, she's dedicating much of her time to prison reform, helping first free Alice Marie Johnson and Matthew Charles. Just last week, she helped free a man given a life sentence.

We'll keep ya posted on when baby #4 pops out ... but here's an early CONGRATS!!!

Nipsey Hussle's brother wants to take control over the late rapper's estate ... and he's asking the court to be put in charge of about $2 million worth of assets.

According to new legal docs obtained by TMZ ... Nipsey's brother, Blacc Sam, says he needs to take over Nip's affairs so he can make good on tons of business opportunities that keep flowing in.

In the docs, Blacc Sam says Nipsey died without a will ... and the docs list property worth $2,035,000. It's possible that's not all the money Nipsey saved away. As we first told you, Nipsey set up multiple trust funds for his kids and family.

Blacc Sam claims his brother's sudden death whipped up a media frenzy, and it's bringing loads of time-sensitive business opportunities because of Nipsey's life story and rap career ... so he wants to be the estate's administrator STAT.

TMZ broke the story ... Nipsey was gunned down March 31 outside his Marathon Clothing store in Los Angeles.

R. Kelly's ongoing criminal case and assortment of legal issues aren't stopping him from getting action ... at least according to several callers who want it to be known.

Sources close to the case tell TMZ ... the hotline Kim Foxx set up in January for the Cook County State's Attorney's Office -- so alleged Kelly victims could report their claims -- is being exploited by folks who want to report something else -- their sexual experiences with him.

We're told the hotline has gotten dozens of calls from mostly women, who phone in to inform prosecutors they slept with Kelly ... with some bragging about it or detailing multiple trysts.

Our sources say some men called in as well ... to gossip about women they know that allegedly banged Kelly.

We're told the volume of calls coming in from people with R. Kelly sex stories has been staggering to some involved with the case, but at the end of the day ... they are irrelevant.

Obviously, a person can have lots of consensual sex and still be guilty of sexual assault charges. Still, it's just another strange and unexpected aspect of Kelly's ongoing legal drama.

As we reported ... he just avoided another trip to jail by ponying up the back child support he owed his ex-wife Wednesday, and he's getting a do-over in a sexual abuse lawsuit he initially lost by not responding.

Of course, all of this is going down as he waits to stand trial on 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse involving underage girls.

Billy Joel got a pretty special birthday gift -- 2 of his daughters, who are 30 years apart in age, joined him onstage at his show ... to wish him a happy 70th.

Mr. New York State of Mind put on a show for a sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden Thursday night -- the 64th time he's done so -- but this concert happened to coincide with the legendary musician's bday.

So, his oldest daughter, Alexa Ray, made sure her big shot dad didn't get away without a song sung in his honor ... and brought out Billy's 3-year-old daughter, Della Rose, with her for the occasion.

Pretty sweet moment, and it even includes the awkward "... happy birthday dear Billy/Dad" confusion that almost always happens when you sing the song to a family member while surrounded by 20,000 friends.

Classic.

And, in case you're wondering ... Alexa is Billy's first child from his marriage to Christie Brinkley. He also has 2 daughters with his current wife, Alexis Roderick -- Della and 1-year-old Remy Anne.

Remy didn't get any stage time ... but we're sure Joel will have many more MSG shows to make it happen.

Jennifer Aniston went HAM on a fan trying to sneak a selfie vid with her on the street, but unlike Conor McGregor she won't be arrested for it ... 'cause it's all for TV.

Jen was shooting a scene for her new Apple TV+ show, "The Morning Show," in NYC Thursday night ... and it features her going off on a guy and snatching his phone.

Check it out -- Aniston unleashes an f-bomb rant and looks primed to punish the dude's phone, but fortunately ... Reese Witherspoon's there to talk some sense into her!

If only Conor -- or Offset for that matter -- had someone like Reese in their crew.

"The Morning Show" is an upcoming dramedy web television series starring Aniston, Witherspoon, Steve Carell, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Billy Crudup. It's described as "an inside look at the lives of the people who help America wake up in the morning."

Jermaine Jackson is slamming Quincy Jones for removing Michael Jackson references from his orchestral show in London ... Jermaine thinks Quincy's caving to outside pressure.

We got Jermaine at LAX and asked him about Quincy's decision to scrub all references to the King of Pop from his upcoming concert across the pond ... and Michael's big bro had a very stern message for the legendary producer.

Quincy's orchestral show at The O2 arena in London next month was originally billed as a live performance of 3 classic MJ albums -- "Off the Wall," "Thriller" and "Bad" -- but now Quincy is calling it a "soundtrack of the 80s."

As you know ... Quincy produced Michael's 3 biggest albums, and the 2 will forever be linked. Jermaine tells us it's grossly unfair for Quincy to try and distance himself from Michael.

So far, Quincy isn't saying what prompted the change ... but there's been a lot of media pressure in the UK to mute Michael in the wake of "Leaving Neverland." Jermaine feels Quincy is listening to the wrong voices. BTW, the movement fizzled in the U.S.

Cardi B has the Midas touch ... her new spring collection is nearly sold out after raking in over $1 MILLION bucks in the first 24 hours!!!

Our sources tell us Cardi's second collection with Fashion Nova is already vastly outperforming her first collab with the fast-fashion giant, a pretty tall order considering her first venture sold out within minutes.

We're told Fashion Nova prepared for "Season 2" of Cardi's spring-summer line collection by having nearly 5 times the amount of inventory as the first go-round ... and they're still struggling to meet the demand, with the vast majority of styles selling like hotcakes.

The numbers are impressive, but here's something else to give you a sense of just how wildly successful Cardi the businesswoman is ... Nasdaq is congratulating her with a massive billboard in Times Square!!! Now that's clout.

As we reported ... Cardi rolled out her new line as only she could, by shaking her ass and rapping during a launch party at the Hollywood Palladium. Tons of celebs showed up to support Cardi, including Master P, YG, Romeo, Lamar Odom, Nikki Bella, Swaggy P and Jeremy Meeks.

If you didn't get your hands on some Cardi B fashion merch, don't give up hope yet ... we're told Fashion Nova is planning weekly drops for each style to give everyone a chance to snag her new designs.

Just be sure to keep your finger on the trigger, or you might miss out. Okurrr!!!

Skinnyfromthe9 found himself in cuffs at the end of fun night in Hollywood, but luckily ... cops cut him a break.

Video of the incident -- obtained by TMZ -- shows the rapper standing outside a white ride being detained by a police officer, then led away toward the sidewalk in handcuffs.

Law enforcement sources tell us the car was pulled over for illegal tinted windows and for not having front plates, but during the traffic stop marijuana was found out in the open in the vehicle ... so everyone was ordered out.

We're told cops asked the rapper for his ID and he didn't have it, but he informed them he was on probation and was approved to be in L.A. Once officers looked into it ... they let Skinny and his crew go.

Our law enforcement sources say everyone got a warning, but that's it. As you may know ... recreational marijuana is legal in California, but it needs to be in a sealed container in a car or locked away in the trunk.

As for why he was in Hollywood ... Skinnyfromthe9 had just come from Cardi B's booty-poppin' performance down the street for the launch of her Fashion Nova X spring-summer line collection.

Russ says there's TONS of money to be made in the music industry ... but ya gotta get smart like Nipsey Hussle, Taylor Swift and Meek Mill.

The rapper joined "TMZ Live" and before getting down to business we got down to pleasure ... like his new single and music video "Civil War" which dropped Wednesday to much acclaim. Check out the clip ... you're NOT gonna believe how long it took Russ to shoot the sizzling vid.

We then talked to Russ about artists -- some of whom whine about not making money off of recording music -- but some getting wiser when it comes to their earning potential. You'll recall, Taylor Swift scored a new record deal last year under the caveat she had ownership of her masters going forward.

Meek Mill earlier this year tweeted, "All records labels should start letting artist have ownership" and, as you know by now, Nipsey Hussle owns a huge chunk of his master recordings.

Russ says those are huge baller moves. He should know. That exact strategy catapulted him this year into Forbes' list of top hip-hop earners at No. 20 after earning $15 million.

50 Cent is dropping a bombshell, revealing he's shutting down "Power" after its upcoming season, but on-set drama is not to blame -- he just wants to ride off into the sunset on a high note.

Sources close to production on the hit series tell TMZ ... 50 wants the show to go out on top, because he's seen too many other series run themselves into the ground. "Power" is still hugely successful as it enters its 6th season on Starz.

While there's speculation that drama between Fiddy and Randall Emmett is behind the decision to pull the plug ... we're told that's simply not the case, and there's no lingering beef between the fellow executive producers.

You'll recall ... Fiddy's character, Kanan Stark, died last season, and we're told that's no coincidence ... because 50 wanted more time to get started working on other projects, including "Power" spin-offs, which are already being developed.

As we first told you ... 50 inked an 8-figure deal with Starz back in 2017 to bring 3 more projects to life, and the contract runs through this September.

11:12 AM PT -- We've just obtained surveillance footage from the drive-by shooting ... and you can see someone hanging out of the passenger window of a car as shots ring out.

An Atlanta studio where Offset was recording got peppered with bullets Wednesday night in a drive-by shooting.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... cops responding to the shooting at the Crossover Entertainment Group studio Wednesday night were told by witnesses that Offset was there recording when the shots were fired into the building. Officers responded, but Offset was long gone by the time they arrived.

At least one witness felt the Migos rapper might have been the target of the shooting. So far, we're told cops have not spoken to Offset, but they'll likely reach out to him as they investigate.

According to Atlanta PD ... shots were fired at the building a little after 9 PM by passengers in the passing car. The bullets damaged 3 vehicles, as well as the building's exterior and at least one apartment window.

Cops received one report of someone getting shot in the leg, but officers were unable to locate a victim.

Our sources say the drive-by went down shortly after Offset went outside to chill for a few minutes. When the gunshots rang out, we're told people inside the studio rushed into another room for cover until things calmed down.

We're told there's surveillance footage of the vehicle cruising down the street and firing shots before speeding away.

Music producer and DJ Diablo -- who works with Lil Xan and Lil Pump -- is now under a 5150 hold after threatening to take his own life with a social media post that frightened his famous friends.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... after Diablo posted the suicide threat Wednesday morning, someone called cops, who showed up at his doorstep to check on him. Police put Diablo in handcuffs, and after taking him to the station ... we're told they determined he should have a mental evaluation.

During the incident, Diablo posted a video of himself in cuffs ... crying and telling his fans he was sorry.

Diablo's suicide threat was rather ominous ... he says he'll be "better of[f] dead" and thinks people and his music label will finally appreciate his work once he's gone. Diablo says he can't take the pressure from the industry anymore, and says "f*** this life" before threatening to off himself.

The post immediately drew the attention of his fans and friends, like Paris Hilton, Pump and Diplo ... who all posted concerned replies.

Cardi B was glowing at the launch of her new spring collection ... literally and figuratively.

The rapper looked bootyful in more ways than one Wednesday night ... performing at the Hollywood Palladium as she launched "Season 2" of her Fashion Nova X Cardi B spring-summer line collection. She mentioned last week at her Billboard Awards acceptance speech a new line was coming ... and here it is!!!

But, it wouldn't be a Cardi B event without a little rapping and a whole lot of booty-shaking. She performed a slew of tracks ... including "Money Bag." The sizzling performance -- seriously, look at her douse herself with some H2O -- included sets with some of her famous friends.

YG showed some love while Lil Nas X strutted out his cowboy-wearing self to perform his hit "Old Town Road" ... which Cardi raved about for hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts and staying there.

Diddy got super emotional talking about his late soulmate, Kim Porter ... breaking down into tears reminiscing on their life together.

The music mogul started crying during an interview with Essence while opening up about the pain he's anticipating this weekend on Mother's Day ... his first without the mother of his 3 kids.

Diddy says he and his children will celebrate Kim on Mother's Day, but it's still gonna hurt ... because he still hasn't gotten over her death. Diddy acknowledges it's gonna take some time to heal, if he ever does.

TMZ broke the story ... Kim died unexpectedly back in November at the age of 47, losing her battle with pneumonia. Diddy was distraught for weeks, calling her death a nightmare, and delivering a powerful eulogy at Kim's funeral.

When we last saw Diddy, he told us he was trying to soldier on and take care of his kids without Kim ... but it's clear her loss still weighs heavily on him.