Music

A$AP Rocky is getting a groundswell of support from fans on the ground in Sweden ... posters calling for his release are popping up all over Stockholm, and people are snapping pics to bring attention to his plight.

Smash Fest, the music festival A$AP performed at days before he turned himself into police in Stockholm, has started a #JusticeForRocky campaign in the country's capital ... and festival honchos tell us they've printed out and put up thousands of posters that read, "FREE A$AP ROCKY ASAP."

We're told Smash Fest created the signage to show support for A$AP and urge Swedish authorities to release him ... and people have been showing their support for the Harlem rapper by taking pics with the posters and posting them all over social media.

It's interesting ... we're told many of the posters were taken down soon after going up, but Smash Fest printed new ones and replaced them almost immediately.

One A$AP supporter in Stockholm tells us he's been walking around the city with a poster as a silent protest ... and he says most people have been sympathetic and supportive.

Smash Fest tells us they stand with A$AP and they feel sorry for fans who will miss him this summer ... as he's already missing out on tons of previously scheduled shows across Europe.

A$AP remains in a Swedish jail ... and later this week prosecutors are expected to formally charge him with aggravated assault.

Future's bodyguard was knocked the f out and a source close to the rapper says it was a racially-motivated attack.

The incident went down Monday in Ibiza, Spain at the International Airport. We're told Future had just arrived and was walking through the terminal when 10 guys approached and asked for a photo. Future said, "Not today, guys," because he was tired and had just gotten off a long flight.

We're told the guys then erupted in anger, and began hurling racial slurs and other epithets.

Our sources say Future's bodyguard stepped in and tried to block the guys and get Future to his ride on the curb.

The sources say the bodyguard actually beat up several of the guys before someone came from behind and sucker punched him. The sources claim the person who struck the bodyguard did so with a rock.

Art Neville of the Neville Brothers -- a legend in the New Orleans music scene and a funk pioneer -- has died.

The musician passed away Monday after years of declining health, according to his family. His longtime manager, Kent Sorrell, said Art's death was "peaceful" ... adding that he died at his home with his wife, Lorraine, by his side.

Art was a singer, songwriter and prominent keyboardist in the NOLA music scene for a long time. He's perhaps best known as the voice of the Carnival season anthem, "Mardi Gras Mambo," which he wrote and originally recorded in the 1950's ... and has endured to this day.

He formed multiple bands throughout the decades -- and along the way, pumped out well over 10 singles and at least a couple dozen albums between the Neville Bros. and The Meters.

The Thousand Oaks bar where 12 people were killed in a shooting rampage hosted its first public gathering at the site of the tragedy, with hundreds of people showing up Sunday night for a ceremonial tree lighting ... a tribute to the victims.

The Borderline Bar & Grill parking lot was buzzing with activity for the first time since the November mass shooting ... with the community coming together to listen to country music, line dance and remember those they lost by illuminating an oak tree that served as a symbol of healing in the shooting's aftermath.

Borderline Bar owner Brian Hynes says the oak tree -- located on the edge of the bar parking lot -- will remain lit every night to represent the 12 people who were killed. People gathered at the tree in the days after the shooting, sharing hugs, shedding tears and lending each other support.

Following the ceremonial tree lighting, the crowd stuck around and everyone sang Garth Brooks' country classic, "Friends in Low Places."

You may recall ... the massacre occurred last November during the bar's popular College Country Night, when a retired Marine stormed the venue and killed 12 people before police shot and killed him.

The man who attacked A$AP Rocky's crew will NOT be prosecuted for any crime, despite the fact that he incited the violence and persisted in harassing the rapper before A$AP finally snapped.

Swedish prosecutors just said they believe the guy who harassed Rocky attacked his bodyguard in self-defense, after being pushed and lifted by his neck. The initial video does not show anyone getting physical with the guy, but prosecutors have drawn that conclusion.

To the contrary, you hear Rocky in the first video trying to diffuse the situation, saying no one wants to go to jail.

Nevertheless, prosecutors say the guy was acting in self-defense when he hurled his headphones at Rocky's bodyguard, cutting his head.

Here's the bizarre part ... the bodyguard has already been CLEARED by Swedish authorities. So, on the one hand the bodyguard acted appropriately, and on the other he incited the violence and caused the other guy to act in self-defense. In other words, it doesn't make sense.

The man was never taken into custody during the investigation, despite the fact that Rocky was detained a day after the incident and remains in jail 2 1/2 weeks later, and no charges have been filed.

It's clear Rocky will be charged with aggravated assault ... prosecutors mistakenly said as much last week. If convicted, he faces 6 years in Swedish prison.

The Swedish justice system is apparently an immovable force, because the Prime Minister has essentially told President Trump and the State Dept. to butt out after their attempts to free the rapper.

How fed up is Le'Veon Bell over hearing he cares more about his rap career than his football one?

"Real sh*t, bro, I'm tired of social media sh*t. I'm tired of everybody telling me, 'Le'Veon, you not focused. He only want to make music. He want to play basketball. He do everything besides play football.'"

Yeah, that fed up.

It's all part of an epic airport rant the NY Jets star went on this weekend when he finally hit his breaking point over fans commenting on his social media postings.

Bell blasted everyone telling him he should do more work on the football field ... and his examples for why included the local Target worker, LeBron James and Beyonce.

"Somebody work at Target, do you think when they work from 9-5, they go home and all they doing is worrying about putting fucking shit on the shelves?! They trying to worry about what serial numbers coming up?! No!"

Bell added, "You think Bron is waking up, oh, he ain't having no Taco Tuesdays? Bron don't have Taco Tuesdays -- you think he's hooping all day?"

"You think Beyonce waking up singing all day? She don't go to work, she don't act. She doesn't do nothing with her kids, she's just waking up singing?!"

Of course, 27-year-old Bell has taken major heat from fans after sitting out all of last year's football season while simultaneously working on his rap career.

Clearly, the dude has had enough of the criticism ... 'cause he decided to start RUNNING down the stairs at the airport to prove his point!

"I'm going to give you all this one time. Run down these damn steps."

A$AP Rocky says race is not an issue in his detention, TMZ has learned ... but the reality is, he has to say that.

There's certainly plenty of smoke ... as we reported, G-Eazy -- a white rapper -- was arrested in Sweden for assault and cocaine possession, yet he only spent a day-and-a-half in jail, pled guilty, coughed up $9k and he was on his merry way.

A$AP's been in jail going on 3 weeks and he hasn't even been charged, and when that happens it will only be for aggravated assault ... an assault that was provoked by the alleged victim.

That said, our A$AP sources say he has made it clear to all in contact with him ... he doesn't think he's being held because he's black. That's consistently been his story.

Here's the reality ... if A$AP or his team DARED suggest he's being held because he's a black rapper, there would be hell to pay with the prosecutor and probably the judge as well. We've spoken with Swedish Embassy and other officials, and they're all adamant ... they do not discriminate. If foreigners suggested otherwise in court, our sources say it would be a disaster.

We're told A$AP will be charged and will then face 6 years in prison. The best defense they got is provocation by the alleged victim.

One thing's clear by now ... all the work the State Dept. and President have done trying to lobby Swedish officials hasn't worked ... in fact, it may have been counterproductive because prosecutors may not like what they consider intermeddling, and the Prime Minister is siding with them.

Jay-Z's 40/40 Club in NYC appears to have been visited by some would-be criminals who left their mark ... and now have the venue on edge.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... NYPD took a criminal mischief report over the weekend after the club's staff called cops and reported someone had jacked up their front door, in what the staff believed to be an attempted break-in.

We're told cops were shown photos of the damaged door, which looked like someone chipped away at it with some sort of instrument. However, officers noted the door had since been fixed.

Our sources also tell us that the police reviewed surveillance footage from the club, but found no clear evidence of a crime being committed. They're currently investigating whether this could've been an attempted break-in, and the case has been assigned to a detective.

Now, sources close to the 40/40 Club tell us the venue staff feels strongly this was a failed attempted break-in, based on what they've seen on their own cameras.

We're told the club is in possession of footage that shows two suspicious men hanging out in front of the building Friday afternoon, where one of them appears to come to the door in question ... according to the staff who reviewed it, anyway. The alarm didn't go off.

Our 40/40 sources also say that upon further review of more surveillance video, the staff noticed these two guys had been hanging around the club all week, with suspicious vehicles driving by around the same times as well. We're told the club feels they were staking the place out.

Now, it should be pointed out that the two men of concern are NOT suspects in the probe yet, as police didn't feel there was enough there to list them as such.

Live Nation's provoking the ire of concert lovers everywhere, because it's fessed up to the shady practice of putting tickets directly on resale sites ... before the public even has a chance to buy them at face value.

The touring company's admission comes on the heels of a Billboard report detailing a secretly recorded phone call between a Live Nation honcho and an event promoter for Metallica in February 2017 ... days before the band announced its WorldWired North American stadium tour.

During the call ... the 2 parties agreed to put 88,000 tickets directly on secondary market sites like StubHub, so people never got a chance to buy them on sites like Ticketmaster, which is actually owned by Live Nation.

The company's admitted to facilitating this scalping practice for "about a dozen artists out of the thousands we work with" ... but other than Metallica, the bands remain unknown.

Live Nation says it did it because bands know face value of its concert tickets are often lower than market value ... so the tactic allows them to recapture a cut of that money.

According to the report ... Live Nation used various covert methods to place tickets on resale sites immediately, including having employees transfer thousands of tickets into single accounts to be listed and sold on secondary market sites.

So, the next time a show sells out immediately online ... eyebrows shall be justifiably raised.

Well, this is a first ... a rapper was arrested in Georgia for weaponizing banana pudding.

Seriously.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Young Dro was arrested on July 5 for allegedly throwing a plate of banana pudding at his girlfriend during an argument at their Atlanta-area home.

We're told the two had been arguing over money -- but things got heated and the food started flying ... with both sides launching whatever delicious items they could find at each other.

Cops were called to the scene -- and despite the fact his GF made it clear she didn't want to press charges, they arrested Dro anyway.

He's now facing 2 counts of misdemeanor battery/family violence.

He's still in jail too -- according to law enforcement sources -- because he's also being held on a child support contempt order. The legal docs say he owes almost $41k in back child support, and needs to pay $10k to be released from custody.

Our Young Dro sources say the child support case involves another baby mama -- not his current GF who he had the pudding spat with -- and the rapper claims he's all paid up ... so it's a clerical error.

Young Dro's best known for his 2006 track "Shoulder Lean" featuring T.I. ... and had another hit single in 2013 called "FDB."

Kamala Harris seems to have Hollywood squarely in her corner as she continues her campaign for POTUS -- and she's got manager-to-the-stars Scooter Braun to thank for it.

The California senator attended a fundraiser that Scooter threw for her on Saturday, which took place at his own home in Los Angeles. Some very famous faces dropped by as well, including Ariana Grande, Katy Perry and Demi Lovato ... two of whom are Scooter's clients.

It was an RSVP event, and was slugged as a "Fireside Chat" with the presidential hopeful.

Scooter posted his own photos of the event, where it appears he and Kamala were seated in front of a crowd of people in the backyard of his place, with microphones in each person's hand. He captioned his pics, "Such as incredible night of supporting our brilliant friend...candidate for President of the United States of America @KamalaHarris."

He also posted pics of him, Ari and Demi at the shindig, and called them "Fam."

Now, here's where things get interesting -- beyond the celebs just being there, we mean. Scooter's feud with Taylor Swift is coming into the picture, and him hosting Kamala appears to have pissed off a lot of her fans, with tons of Swifties calling Kamala and co. sellouts, and some even vowing not to vote for her come primaries.

As you know ... Scooter now owns the master recordings to Taylor's old catalog of music, which she lashed out at him over last month.

Interestingly enough, Taylor seems to have been pretty down with Senator Harris in the past ... retweeting her here and there. But, she's been an even more vocal supporter of one of Kamala's Democratic rivals ... Cory Booker. Taylor shouted him out when he backed the Equality Act in June.

To make matters even more tangled ... Booker was out in L.A. this weekend as well, and had his own bundle of stars ... like girlfriend Rosario Dawson, Sophia Bush and Tiffany Haddish.

Cardi B's got Offset under her thumb leg -- and she proudly showed that off with a newly revealed tattoo while chatting with her hubby.

Offset posted a very up-close and personal snapshot Sunday of what appears to be a Facetime convo he was having with Cardi B, in which she hoisted up her leg and showed him a tat bearing his name on the backside of her thigh. Awww? Sure, why not.

He captioned his post, "CAN'T WAIT TO GET HOME," throwing in a bunch of tongue emojis for good measure. Offset also put a tongue-out emoji over his mug.

What's interesting about the tat is that it appears to have flown under the radar until now. We already knew Cardi was covered in ink (she's got upwards of 8 documented tattoos), but it's pretty sweet she's got her husband etched in too, considering their ups and downs.

Even more cool is the fact that Offset also has himself a Cardi tat on his neck, under a pic of Buttercup from "The Powerpuff Girls." It made its debut early last year, and CB herself sure seemed to like it in a video she posted of the body art.

Looks like Cardi returned the favor between then and now. That's amore, alright.

A$AP Rocky may actually be in even more peril as he lingers in a Swedish jail BECAUSE the U.S. government tried to help him.

The prosecutor has shown no sympathy for A$AP, despite the fact that the person he is accused of assaulting assaulted him first, and it's all on video. Nevertheless, sources connected with the case tell TMZ, the prosecutor has been immovable on the subject of release pending charges, despite the fact that the U.S. State Dept. and now the President of United States got involved.

As we reported, the State Dept. waged a full court press last Thursday, trying to get A$AP out of jail, to no avail. The prosecutor mistakenly played his hand Friday when he released a statement an indictment will be filed against Rocky. His office said it was a mistake to say that, but the intentions are clear.

Sources connected to the case actually think intervention by the State Dept. and the President -- who essentially said he would guarantee bail if they would release Rocky -- could actually BACKFIRE because they are trying to get in the prosecutor's business.

The Swedish Prime Minister as much as said so Saturday, after Trump got him on the horn and lobbied for A$AP's release, telling Trump about "the complete independence of the Swedish judicial system, prosecutors and courts." A spokesperson for the PM said, "He [the PM] underlined that in Sweden everyone is equal before the law and that the government cannot and will not attempt to influence the legal proceedings."

Translation ... butt out.

Soulja Boy is making some huge changes to his lifestyle following a stint in county jail ... and that means shrinking his social circle and shying away from social media.

Sources close to Soulja tell TMZ ... his three months in L.A. County Jail served as an eye-opener, and now that he's back home, he's cutting people off and cutting off his time on Twitter and Instagram.

The biggest change ... we're told Soulja kicked a bunch of people out of his crib in the San Fernando Valley, the same home that was burglarized when he was locked up.

TMZ broke the story ... crooks hit Soulja's home and made off with $500,000 in cash, jewelry and his iPhone -- which the alleged thieves used to go live on Soulja's IG account -- and when SB caught wind of the burglary in jail, he was convinced it was an inside job.

Soulja's inactivity on social media is also related to the burglary ... we're told he's still upset about it, and he just wants to keep to himself and stay away from the masses.

As we first reported ... Soulja was sprung from jail last Sunday, getting out 146 days early due to a combo of good behavior, time served and overcrowding. Back in April, SB was sentenced to 240 days and 265 days of community service for violating his probation.

The man who voiced the prince in "The Little Mermaid" says the guy expected to land the role in the live-action remake is a perfect fit ... and the new Ariel's a home run.

Christopher Daniel Barnes -- who voiced Prince Eric in the 1989 classic -- tells TMZ ... Harry Styles would be an excellent choice, because he actually checks all the boxes of a Disney prince in real life.

Styles is reportedly the front-runner for Eric, and Barnes says it's an added bonus he can sing ... now that some songs have actually been added for him.

Because, fun fact -- Barnes didn't get to sing any catchy tunes in 'Little Mermaid' ... and says he's the only Disney prince with that distinction.

Dave East is onboard with just about everyone else about getting A$AP Rocky the hell out of a Swedish jail, but when it comes to boycotting the country ... DE ain't doing it.

We talked to the New York rapper -- who hails from the same borough A$AP is from, Harlem -- and asked for his take on the sitch in Europe, where Rocky's been in custody for nearly three weeks now on a BS assault charge ... and Dave has some interesting insights.

First off, he tell us ... yeah, A$AP shoulda been out of that jail cell a long time ago, and agrees with G-Eazy about the notion that white entertainers are simply treated differently than black ones ... which he says comes down to privilege and racism.

Dave puts it this way ... a lot of rappers that go overseas are black, rich, flashy and probably NOT what a lot of foreigners might be used to (or like, for that matter) -- and they'll wanna put an end it to it any way they can. In A$AP's case, he suggests that means lockin' him up.

Here's the kicker though -- our guy asks Dave if he's gonna join the chorus of entertainers and others who've vowed never to perform in Sweden again for the mistreatment of A$AP.