Music

Billie Eilish's big brother says he looks up to his little sis for inspiration now that he's taking his own music career on the road ... even though he's already the brains behind her brand.

Finneas O'Connell talked to us Wednesday at LAX, just hours after his first big solo show -- sans Billie -- out in SF ... where it looks like he killed it all by himself.

The guy's a first-rate musician, and if you didn't know ... he actually cowrote and produced most (if not all) of Billie's tracks on her album, "When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?"

Considering he has usually accompanied Billie onstage when he's performed until now, we were curious how he handled the audience, and if he took any cues from Billie herself ... seeing how she's got incredible stage presence and knows how to rock a crowd.

Turns out ... Finneas actually took diligent notes on how Billie handles herself during a performance, and it sounds like he applied some of those techniques for his own gig.

Now, for the juicy question ... does he, ya know, resent folks who might show up to his shows just because they're Billie fans? Check it out ... Finneas is a class act, telling us he'll take the support either way, but he DOES appreciate one type of fan in particular.

Two members of Machine Gun Kelly's crew got busted in connection with that infamous 2018 beatdown -- captured on surveillance cam -- of actor Gabriel "G-Rod" Rodriguez.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Brandon Allen and John Cappelletty were arrested Tuesday by the Fulton County Sheriff's Office and charged with misdemeanor battery causing substantial physical harm. They were released after each posted $2,000 bond.

TMZ broke the story ... MGK's crew unleashed a can, or 2 or 3, of whoop-ass on G-Rod in the lobby of a Hampton Inn back in September 2018. In the video ... it looks like Allen and Cappelletty, who is MGK's drummer, punch, kick and stomp on G-Rod shortly after another monstrous crew member body slammed the actor.

As we first reported ... G-Rod sued MGK in June claiming the rapper ordered his crew to attack him. G-Rod also sued the hotel for negligence.

Shawn Stockman is giving Gina Rodriguez a pass for singing the n-word ... he says it's totally fine because her parents are Puerto Rican, and Latinos are black.

We got the Boyz II Men singer Wednesday at LAX and asked him to weigh-in on the backlash Gina's getting after saying "n***a" while singing along to the Fugees on social media.

Shawn says he's not offended by Gina's use of the word, and he goes one step further ... saying people of Puerto Rican, Cuban, Dominican and Mexican descent can say "n***a" because they're all different shades of black.

Gina quickly apologized after her social media post went viral, saying sorry for offending anyone and explaining her connection to Lauryn Hill and the Fugees. But, Shawn thinks Gina has absolutely nothing to apologize for.

It ain't no lie ... that "Bye Bye Bye"-inspired TD celebration the Seahawks pulled off has 'NSYNC's stamp of approval ... 'cause JC Chasez tells TMZ Sports he loved the tribute!!

'Hawks players Tyler Lockett, DK Metcalf, Jaron Brown and David Moore pulled off what might be the best TD celly of the 2019 season after Brown scored during last week's win over the Browns.

The guys perfectly copied the uber-popular boy band's choreography from their 2000 mega-hit ... so when we saw Chasez out at Alfred Coffee in Studio City, we had to get him to weigh in on their moves.

"I thought it was fun," JC tells us. "It was great to see."

As for whether the players perform an encore of the viral performance or take on another smash hit from the band's discography ... JC leaves it up to them.

There's no holding back Travis Scott when he's in the mood to go clubbin' ... not even a dislocated knee.

The "SICKO MODE" rapper hit some of the most poppin' clubs in WeHo Tuesday night ... and we got him at almost every stop. Travis made his first stop at The Nice Guy -- where we saw him walking with a severe limp ... hopping into his waiting Bentley.

We also got someone on his team loading Travis' crutches into a separate car. Travis and his crew later headed to Delilah before showing up at Bootsy Bellows. On his way out, Travis needed help from a handler.

Lauren London has just gotten a judge's approval to manage her son's finances with an eye toward the 3-year-old inheriting half of his dad's estate ... and he's poised to get a cool mil.

London was in court Tuesday to get a guardianship over 3-year-old son, Kross's estate. It's a little misleading because an estate is created when someone dies, but this case is different. Lauren is the go-to person who will handle the financials that could set Kross up for life.

It's worth noting, there was never a dispute between Lauren and Nipsey's family when it came to Kross.

A$AP Rocky says he's a sex addict ... and has been since junior high school. Those are his exact words.

The rapper opened up to NYC host and Power 105.1 DJ Angie Martinez on her show, "Untold Stories of Hip Hop," and revealed the bombshell. It's no secret A$AP's been obsessed with orgies for a long time. He talks about it a lot, but this is the first time he's gone so far to say he's addicted.

In this preview clip, Rocky says he was always a horny kid. Angie presses him, pointing out there's a difference between being horny and being a sex addict. A$AP doubled down with his sex addiction diagnosis -- although it's unclear if that info came from a trained professional. Therapist, that is.

Travis Scott has a seriously bum knee after his onstage fall at Rolling Loud -- and all signs point to him going under the knife as fast as possible.

Sources connected to Travis tell TMZ ... he went to see orthopedic specialist Dr. Neal ElAttrache this week at L.A.'s Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute. We're told he was diagnosed with a dislocated knee -- specifically, a stretch or tear in the patellar tendon.

As we reported ... Travis hurt himself this weekend while performing at NYC's Rolling Loud Festival, landing on his leg wrong while he was jumping up and down. He was hobbling around afterward but finished the show nonetheless. Total trooper!

Cardi B isn't kidding when she raps about liking diamonds, stunting, shining and million dollar deals -- enter Offset with her whopping 20-carat birthday gift, which IS worth over SEVEN FIGURES!!!

The Migos rapper reached out to Pristine Jewelers in NYC about 9 months ago -- and owner  Avi Davidov tells us Offset made it clear he was looking to score something incredibly special for Cardi's 27th birthday.

We're told Offset already had an idea in his mind -- a heart-shaped diamond surrounded by smaller hearts. The center stone is a brilliant 20 carats. The diamond ring's been dubbed the Titanic Diamond for its size and similarity to the Heart of the Ocean rock from the movie. It's complemented by a band of smaller diamonds that total 25 carats.

We're told Avi literally hand-delivered the rings on a silver platter last weekend. As we reported ... Cardi was damn near knocked off her heels when she saw the stunning rings.

Justin Bieber's personal Instagram may be more effective than the Multiple Listing Service in moving real estate ... because his one post declaring he's in the market to sell his house has generated tons of interest ... including from at least one billionaire.

Bieber -- who boasts an insane 120 million followers on IG -- casually mentioned last week he's looking to sell his Beverly Hills home ... "I'll sell it with all the furniture. MAKE AN OFFER."

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Justin's been contacted by at least 5 prospective buyers ... either directly or through their realtors. We're told one of the prospective buyers is a billionaire from a very famous family.

DMX decided to be proactive in his battle with addiction before it led to another relapse -- and potentially more legal trouble -- so that's why he's back in rehab.

Sources close to the rapper tell TMZ ... one of X's kids is very sick -- in and out of the hospital -- and the stress of that coupled with the pressure of performing again made him feel tempted to use.

We're told X knew he needed help trying to balance his home and work life without the use of drugs, so he preemptively checked himself into rehab -- hoping to learn how to deal with his issues moving forward.

Ice Cube says he knows how the L.A. Dodgers can finally stop choking in the playoffs -- SIGN MORE BLACK GUYS!!!

He's not joking ... we spoke with Cube (briefly) about the Blue Crew's habitual crashing and burning in the MLB playoffs and the rap legend summed it up this way.

"They need to get some black ballplayers."

We checked out the Dodgers roster ... and yeah, they're definitely lacking when it comes to black players.

New York City's biggest hip-hop radio station says Tekashi 6ix9ine will get no spins once he releases new music ... unless the snitching rapper's music forces their hand.

An executive from HOT 97 FM tells TMZ ... when Tekashi is released from prison and drops new music, the radio station will NOT jump to debut any of the records, and they don't anticipate playing any of 6ix9ine's music at all.

Fact is, the exec tells us HOT 97 has NEVER been a huge Tekashi69 supporter, and him ratting on former gang members is digging an even bigger hole for himself as far as the radio station is concerned.

We broke the story ... one record label is making a multi-million dollar investment in Tekashi, banking on him getting out of prison sooner than later and surviving all his snitching.

K-Pop singer and actress Sulli has been found dead, and police believe it might have been a suicide ... according to various reports out of South Korea.

Sulli, whose real name is Choi Jin-ri, was reportedly discovered Monday in her home south of Seoul by her manager, who went there because she hadn't answered phone calls for hours.

The K-pop star lived alone in the house, and according to one police official ... "It seems that she took her own life but we are also looking into other possibilities." Cops say no suicide note was found and there were no signs of foul play.

The big boss man behind the City Girls says JT is so focused on cranking out new hits ... she went straight to a studio even before hugging her mom when she got outta prison.

We got Pierre Thomas -- Quality Control Music cofounder -- at LAX and he told our guy he's expecting big things from the City Girls now that JT is no longer behind bars, and they're hard at work to prove him right.

Pee says JT and Yung Miami are busy working on their new album, and spoiler alert -- he tells us it's dropping sooner than you'd expect!

TMZ broke the story ... JT is living in a halfway house now to complete her prison sentence, and she's allowed to leave during the day to record music.

Kanye West gave Washington D.C. a taste of his new album -- and also took the opportunity to declare definitively he's a man of God now ... specifically, a converted Christian.

Ye was all over D.C. Saturday with his fam, first stopping off at HBCU Howard University to do his traditional Sunday Service ... then heading over to George Washington University's Lisner Auditorium later in the day for a listening party -- much like in Detroit.

Check out this video TMZ obtained from inside the session ... Kanye was talking to the audience in between tracks -- which sound amazing, BTW -- and said it flat-out at one point ... he's a recent convert to Christianity. Ye got a round of applause for the news.

He also went on to invoke Jay-Z's name during his speech, saying that unlike a line that he attributed to Jay -- from his song "Can't Knock the Hustle" -- Ye isn't here for entertainment anymore ... he's just here to spread the Gospel. How 'bout that?!

He did exactly that too during the get-together -- preaching about what he used to value and hold dear compared to now, while also quoting A LOT of scripture along the way.

The signs have been there for a while now that Ye's fully embraced his faith -- he's been holding Sunday Services since January, and Kim just had the kids baptized in Armenia.

Oh, and if you're wondering what Kanye's gonna rap about from now on and what his music's gonna sound like -- at least for this round -- you get a snippet of that here too. Still no official word on when this thing's gonna drop -- but hopefully soon.