Music

Lyfe Jennings says Charlamagne tha God and others who are crucifying his new song -- which invokes the word "slave" -- don't have a clue, 'cause it's just naughty sex talk.

We spoke with the R&B singer a few days after Charlamagne and comedian Amanda Seales teamed up on social media to put a spotlight on Lyfe's new tune, entitled "Slave." It's got some seemingly questionable lyrics, which CTG and AS mocked mercilessly.

For the record, Lyfe sings the following ... "Got your ass hoppin' like a frog / Got your legs shakin' like two wet dogs / This ain't the part we fall in love / This is the part we kiss and f**k." Then he explicitly mentions slaves, saying ... "I'm gon' beat it like a slave / So you don't run away / Got the whips and chains / Call me master."

In Charlamagne and Amanda's defense ... the lyrics are very explicit and references to beating slaves and whips and chains frankly do conjure up images of African slavery.

But, Lyfe's calling BS on that notion because he says they're completely off-base. In Lyfe's eyes, it's all about his intent ... and this was meant to be nothing more than an homage to BDSM, which the music video does make crystal clear.

He even tells us a very popular book-turned-movie inspired this track. We'll give ya 50 guesses.

Aaron Carter is sticking to his guns ... meaning he won't give up his myriad of firearms -- which he keeps loaded -- despite a rash of apparent mental health disorders and a new attempt to place him on a psychiatric hold.

Aaron was on "TMZ Live" Monday and told us cops showed up at his home Sunday night with the intent of taking him away on a 5150 hold. The singer says he warned deputies he had loaded weapons scattered around his home -- but also convinced them, and a mental evaluator, he was not a danger to himself or others.

Aaron says he doesn't know who sent the authorities to his home -- though he believes it was someone really close to him -- but he's adamant about one thing ... he ain't giving up his guns.

Aaron got super defensive when we asked if he disclosed his bipolar diagnosis when he applied for his firearms. He says he's not bipolar, seemingly refuting what he revealed earlier this month on "The Doctors."

He also insinuated the clip from that show was somehow edited to make it seem like he was diagnosed with a slew of mental disorders ... when he actually is not. For the record, producers for "The Doctors" say it "was not edited in any way."

Ex-Blink-182 singer Tom DeLonge and his wife are NOT staying together for the kids ... he's calling it quits after nearly 2 decades of marriage.

According to docs obtained by TMZ ... DeLonge filed for divorce in San Diego County Superior Court after 18 years of marriage to Jennifer DeLonge. They've known each other since high school and got married on May 26, 2001 in San Diego. They have 2 kids together ... 17-year-old daughter Ava and 13-year-old son Jonas.

As for why they're splitting up ... the founding Blink member cited "irreconcilable differences." They list December 29, 2017, as the date of separation. He's asking for joint legal and physical custody of their kids.

As far as spousal support ... he wants the court to figure it out later.

Ric Ocasek's cause of death has been revealed -- The Cars frontman died of heart disease.

According to NYC's Chief Medical Examiner ... Ocasek died of hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. In layman's terms, that means he had heart disease caused by high blood pressure.

Pulmonary emphysema is also listed as a contributing condition to his death, and law enforcement sources tell us he had a history of cancer. His manner of death is listed as natural.

As we reported ... The Cars lead singer was discovered unresponsive Sunday at his townhouse in NYC and pronounced dead at the scene. He was reportedly found in his bed by his estranged wife, Paulina Porizkova.

Ocasek started the band in the '70s and they busted through to stardom with their 1978 song, "Just What I Needed." They went on to have a number of hits, including "My Best Friend's Girl," "Good Times Roll," "Bye Bye Love," "Let's Go," "Shake It Up" and their biggest hit ... "Drive."

Ric was known for his distinct voice and became known as a new wave rock pioneer.

He was 75.

RIP

Kanye West thinks he's found the next big thing ... because he flew all the way to the middle of nowhere Indiana to show his support for a family band with which he has a special connection.

Kanye surfaced in tiny Batesville, Indiana following his Sunday Service in Atlanta ... attending a free concert and helping raise cash for Infinity's Song and singer Victory Boyd, who are signed to Jay-Z's entertainment agency, Roc Nation.

It was a pretty surreal scene ... Kanye introducing a sibling band for a free show in a tiny venue called Walhill Farm, with about 140 people in the crowd. Not exactly Coachella.

Our sources say Kanye is super close with Victory's father, John Boyd, whom he looks to for spiritual support. Ye did his part to help out Sunday, and we're told there was a freewill offering going around the venue, and Infinity's Song raised around $3,500 for their tour.

Kanye didn't perform, but he had a front row seat for Infinity's Song's performance, and he described Victory and her siblings as "the future of music." High praise from Yeezy.

After the concert, which ended with a rendition of "Amazing Grace," we're told Kanye brought Victory and John on his private jet and flew to Belgium.

Teammates who dance together ... win together?!

That's what Russell Westbrook and James Harden are hoping for after partying together at the Drake concert Saturday night in Vegas.

The Houston Rockets stars looked like BFFs while dancing it out to "SICKO MODE" at XS Nightclub at the Encore.

It's good to see these guys having fun as they get ready to reunite on the court for the first time since the Oklahoma City Thunder days.

The guys played in OKC together for 3 seasons before Harden was traded to the Rockets in 2012.

Westbrook was just traded to the Rockets this past offseason -- and it's clear the guys are stoked about playing together again.

The Rockets are coming off a disappointing 2018-19 campaign -- losing in the Western Conference Semi-Finals to the Golden State Warriors -- because many people expected them to win a championship.

The burglars who made off with $1 million worth of jewelry at Poo Bear's pad had a hiccup during the heist ... because the hitmaker's safe was too damn heavy to simply carry away.

TMZ has obtained this surveillance video from Poo Bear's security cam at his massive Hollywood Hills crib ... and you see 3 burglars casing the joint before finding a way inside and running off with his valuables.

We broke the story ... the heist was discovered last week, and the bad guys stole an entire safe filled with a treasure trove of bling. We're told one of PB's staffers discovered a smashed window, and when they went inside, the lockbox was nowhere to be found.

In the surveillance footage, you see one burglar struggling to make it up the driveway with the safe. They get to to the base of the driveway, rest the safe on a ledge, seemingly ask an accomplice for help and then strain as they carry it off and disappear into the dark.

Another burglar has a different plan ... pushing a large black box down the driveway. The third burglar takes the easy way out, running off with what appears to be a duffel bag -- no heavy lifting required.

It was a birthday bummer for Poo Bear ... the guy who produced tons of hits for Justin Bieber, Usher and Chris Brown was celebrating his 41st birthday in Tokyo when the burglary went down.

Ric Ocasek -- the frontman and lead singer of the rock band The Cars -- has died.

Police say Ocasek was discovered unresponsive Sunday at his townhouse in NYC, and was pronounced dead at the scene -- according to an NYPD spokesperson. It's unclear for now how he might've died. He was reportedly found in his bed by his estranged wife, Paulina Porizkova.

Ocasek started The Cars back in the '70s and made a name for themselves with their 1978 song, "Just What I Needed." They went on to churn out a number of hits, including "My Best Friend's Girl," "Good Times Roll," "Bye Bye Love" and many others.

Their first Top 20 single, "Let's Go," arrived from their second album, "Candy-O" in '79, with other hits to follow such as "It's All I Can Do," "Double Life" and more. Their biggest hit to date, "Drive," peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and topped other charts as well.

The tune was prominently featured in the 1985 event Live Aid, where it was used as the background song in a montage depicting famine in Ethiopia.

The Cars were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame just last year, where they reunited to perform at the induction ceremony.

Ocasek is survived by his five children. He was 75.

J Lo celebrated the premiere of her new movie, "Hustlers," in grand J Lo fashion ... with back-to-back parties and a surprise trip to a Miami theater.

J Lo hit up South Beach Saturday night and partied at David Grutman's newest restaurant, Papi Steak. Grutman presented J Lo with a massive cake ... it's the second one she scored in 2 days. The first was courtesy of her fiance, A-Rod. BTW, the cake sounds delicious from Divine Delicacies Cakes -- 5 tiers of chocolate -- Godiva and Nutella. And, there's vanilla rum, coconut, guava cream cheese and other stuff. That's what $4k will get ya.

After the party, she went to a nearby movie theater in Miami Beach showing her flick and surprised everyone.

The flick did well -- $33.2 mil for the weekend, and it's expected to come in second, behind "It Chapter Two." Her movie also stars Constance Wu, Cardi B, Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart, Lizzo and Julia Stiles.

BTW, seems like there's a party everyday for J Lo ... the shindigs for her 50th birthday went on longer than Nick Jonas and Priyanka's wedding.

Diddy and Lori Harvey aren't taking their relationship to the next level just yet -- as in becoming parents -- but they're heading in that direction ... sources close to the couple tell TMZ.

As we reported ... Diddy and Lori set off pregnancy rumors last weekend coming back from another romantic getaway in Cabo, after Diddy and Lori became super handsy with her belly.

Turns out, it wasn't a hint she's having a bambino ... they were just playin'.

Sources close to the couple tell us Diddy was touching her tummy because he was complimenting her on her tight abs ... as she was flaunting them with her open shirt.

Here's the thing ... we're told the rap mogul and Steve Harvey's 22-year-old daughter are getting very serious. The fact they've been inseparable the past few months -- in NYC, Italy and elsewhere -- paints a pretty clear picture.

Nate Dogg is getting a fancy new tombstone on his grave ... designed by the same guy who just gave Eazy-E's final resting place a face-lift.

Cemetery Tim, the man behind Eazy-E's updated gravestone, tells TMZ ... Nate Dogg's family hit him up this week looking to spruce up the rapper's plot with a new headstone. The original headstone is kinda basic, and the elements have taken their toll.

Nate's loved ones saw how CT worked wonders with Eazy-E, and they wanted something similar for Nate.

We broke the story ... Eazy-E got an extravagant tombstone on what would have been his 55th birthday.

Nate Dogg, who was 41 when he died back in 2011, is buried in his native Long Beach, CA at Forest Lawn cemetery ... and we're told his family is talking to Tim about their vision for the new tombstone.

The headstone will take about 60 days to be designed, manufactured and delivered ... and we're told the target date for the unveiling is December 1.

If Eazy-E is any indication, Nate's family will be pleased with Tim's vision ... nobody does it better.

2 Chainz rang in his 42nd birthday on an ominous night -- which was immediately canceled out with better vibes after what Diddy gave him as a gift ... sparkly new booze!!!

The Atlanta-based MC was hosting a birthday bash Saturday night at The Gallery at Ravine in his hometown, which was decked out in the "Friday the 13th" theme ... honoring both the movie and the fact that it actually was FT13 in real life. To make things even creepier, a full moon was out too.

DJ Khaled came  out, as did Jermaine Dupri, Jeezy, Remy Ma, T.I. and Tiny ... and, of course, the Bad Boy honcho himself. Most everyone seemed to stop and pose with 2C.

When Diddy got up to the cameras, he busted out a gold bottle of his best s*** -- White Grape Ciroc, which is apparently the first of its kind to the hit the market. 2 Chainz was honored as the first recipient ... and he seemed fairly stunned by the gesture.

Lil Wayne says he can't perform with Blink-182 in St. Louis because he was kicked out of his hotel and cops came swarming -- but we've learned there's two sides to this story.

Wayne tweeted out the crappy news Saturday morning, saying he wouldn't be able to do the show later tonight at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre -- where he was set to take the stage with B-182 and Neck Deep -- due to some BS at his the Ritz Carlton.

He said, "Sorry not doing the show tonight in St Lou kuz I was just kik'd out the ritz and 12 got invovle so I gotta slide. Tht y'al f w me out here. Dam slime. It's all luv tho."

While Wayne claims to have been booted from the facility, the Clayton Police Department's interim Police Chief, Mark Smith, tells TMZ that Weezy and his crew were NOT asked to leave ... and that they left voluntarily after a verbal dispute with the hotel staff.

Smith says police were called to the Ritz around 10:00 AM CT due to a "disturbance" in the lobby involving several men, some of whom we're told included Wayne's entourage. We're told a responding officer saw a man in LW's security yelling at a clerk behind the desk.

We're told officers spoke to several witnesses -- including staff members -- who told police they'd received several complaints of marijuana smells coming from Weezy's room. Cops say the staff claimed to have called up to Wayne's room, asking him to open his balcony doors to mitigate the smell ... and, allegedly, he got pissed and came down to confront 'em.

Smith tells us the hotel staff did not file a complaint with police, and they found no evidence of a crime that'd been committed. No one was arrested as a result.

Now, sources close to Weezy tell TMZ that the reason he and his team came down to confront the staff had NOTHING to do with weed ... and everything to do with bad protocol.

We're told the front desk kept forwarding calls from an obsessed fan, who apparently knew Wayne was staying there and in which exact room too. Instead of taking them off the scent, our Weezy sources say the staff continued to send the call to his room ... making him irate.

We've reached out to the Ritz Carlton for comment on the fan-forwarding allegation ... so far, no word back.

Whatever the real reason ... it's clear that Wayne's not comfortable in St. Louis. This would mark at least the 3rd show he's completely bailed on for his Blink-182 appearances this summer.

John Legend had an interesting take on Felicity Huffman's 14-day sentence in her college bribery scandal case ... people are angry at the wrong thing.

John just said, "I get why everyone gets mad when rich person X gets a short sentence and poor person of color Y gets a long one. The answer isn't for X to get more; it's for both of them to get less (or even none!!!). We should level down not up."

Okay ... time for a few opinions. First, John's right, especially when you're talking about equivalent crimes. But, in some cases, long sentences are appropriate. They need to be handed down fairly, with equality for all.

Now the bigger issue ... a lot of people think prosecutors won the Felicity case. That's just ridiculous. Prosecutors suffered a blistering loss. When they announced they were filing 50 cases, they talked about how other prospective students were being denied admission because of bribery by rich parents. There was talk of years in prison ... even decades for wrongdoers.

The prosecution got shut down by both the probation dept. and the judge. As the probation dept. said in its sentencing recommendation, there was no "intended loss." Translation ... the law doesn't consider the possibility some other student was denied admission because Felicity had her daughter's SAT test rigged. You may not like that, but that's what the judge said.

The key is "loss," and the judge said there was none, and it undercuts the core of the prosecution's case. Prosecutors drastically lowered their sentencing recommendation to 1 month, and they didn't even get that.

Fact is ... 14 days behind bars is what someone gets for stealing a bottle of wine from a liquor store. Prosecutors in the college admissions scandal spent millions and now say the point is not the amount of time, but the fact the wrongdoers got some time. You will never hear those words uttered privately among prosecutors, because the amount of time DOES matter.

"F**king FaZe up, bitch!!!"

Think Offset is stoked to be part of the FaZe Clan, one of the biggest teams in gaming?!?

HELL YEAH!!!

The Migos rapper, who's a huge gamer, recently became an investor in FaZe Clan -- and when we spotted him out in NYC, he couldn't contain his excitement!!!

"I'm with FaZe Clan -- FaZe Up, bitch!!!"

Offset says gaming is becoming the "biggest s**t in the world" ... and he's right -- predicting it'll be a $30 BILLION industry by 2022.

"Big money," Offset says ... "but the thing is I do it for the kids, for the culture. It's a way to get your mind away from things."

Offset says he believes gaming "is a good thing for mental health" because it can help alleviate stress.

In fact, Offset says he wants to launch a project to help spread his message but warns our TMZ photog ... "Don't steal my idea motherf**ker!"

Brody Jenner is kicking things up a notch with Josie Canseco ... and making out with his new girl on horseback!!!

Brody and Josie hopped on a couple of steeds for a super romantic date ... holding hands and sucking face as they rode their horses through an open field. Talk about couple goals.

Looks like Brody is still going strong with Josie and firmly putting his breakup with Kaitlynn Carter in the rearview.

Brody and Josie have been going out A LOT in Hollywood, but now they're taking their relationship from the party scene to a scenic outlook. Nothing quite like Mother Nature.

The last time we saw Brody and Josie hitting the town, he said she was marriage material. Easy to see why Brody is falling for Josie, she's a total dime and knows how to ride!!!