Music

Juice WRLD will be getting multiple shout-outs at the music festival where he was supposed to perform this weekend -- and they'll be coming from 3 of his closest friends in the biz.

Sources familiar with the plans tell TMZ ... Lil Pump, Lil Mosey and Tyla Yaweh are all planning to pay tribute to Juice during their sets at Rolling Loud Los Angeles. They're all scheduled to perform Saturday.

Juice himself was supposed to be taking the stage as well -- in fact, he was one of the bigger names headlining Saturday's show.

We're told Pump's tribute will involve performing some of Juice's songs and/or displaying a video of him behind the stage at Banc of California Stadium. It's still unclear what the other artists will do to honor their friend.

Aside from those 3 we know about ... it's a safe bet several other artists will have something to say about Juice when they get on the mic.

Post Malone's already racking up hit songs and awards, but now he can hang his cowboy hat on something else -- getting shot at in a movie by a huge action star.

The "Circles" singer is getting deeper into the acting world, starring opposite none other than Jason Statham. Based on these pics from the set it looks like Jason's a cop trying to take down Posty.

They were filming Wednesday in L.A. on the set of a film directed by Guy Ritchie. Josh Hartnett also stars in the flick. This scene looked like a real run-and-gun shootout between Post and Jason.

The movie's plot follows a "cold and mysterious character working at a cash truck company" ... and it looks like Post's character has made the bold decision to mess with him.

This isn't Post's first acting role -- he's set to make his debut alongside Mark Wahlberg in the upcoming Netflix movie, "Wonderland." He also has a voice credit in "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse," which he also contributed to with his hit song "Sunflower."

Post and Swae Lee just performed the soundtrack hit at GQ's after-party last week, and he got pretty sentimental about it.

R. Kelly's ex-wife is out to make it known she has nothing to do with the second installment of the 'Surviving' docuseries ... and has a list of reasons why she declined to participate.

Drea Kelly says the new official trailer for "Surviving R. Kelly Part II: The Reckoning" is misleading to audiences ... because it makes it looks like she was involved.

That's because the trailer shows a clip of Drea from the original 'Surviving' docuseries that aired in early 2019 -- in which she had a substantial role -- and she's not happy about it.

Drea says she's been adamant about refusing to be part of the follow-up, but despite her requests to not be linked to it ... Lifetime did it anyway.

She says she got a lot of negative backlash from the public after the series aired, but on top of that, she has many grievances with the network and production company. She says her requests to not contact her kids and family members about 'Part II' were ignored, and there has been a general lack of support, security and aftercare for survivors who participated.

Drea says she wants to reiterate -- "she has no involvement, did not approve any footage or stills of her likeness and is not actively promoting, nor consulting the follow-up series."

It's interesting because another notable person is featured in the new trailer -- Kelly accuser, Lisa Van Allen. However, she also told us herself she has nothing to do with 'Surviving Part II' because she's not pleased with how Lifetime has been handling the subject matter.

Saucy Santana says the goons who shot him and his friends in a drive-by might be from the same strip club where he was pulling girls away from straight dudes.

We talked to the rapper Wednesday while he was still in his hospital gown ... just a few hours after he and 2 pals were shot in Miami following a late night at a gentleman's club called The Office. Santana makes no bones about it, he thinks this was homophobic retaliation.

Check out his rationale ... Santana, who is openly gay, tells us he believes guys he'd seen at the club were pissed because he and his crew were getting all the love from female strippers.

He posted video of himself partying it up, and he certainly wasn't shying away from the spotlight there ... even doing a little twerking himself. He says he was just having a good time and tipping the dancers, but he believes straight guys there didn't appreciate it one bit.

Fast-forward to around 4 AM ET ... and Santana's friend's Honda was riddled with bullets. A rep for the Florida Highway Patrol tells us a white Chevy sedan pulled up alongside them and opened fire with 6 to 7 shots.

Santana and one pal were shot in the arm, and the third friend was hit in the hand. All of them were transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

A$AP Rocky is back in the land of milk and honey -- where he was once jailed for weeks on end -- and despite some stormy weather, he's having a blast with locals this time around.

Flacko was seen leaving his hotel in Stockholm Wednesday a few hours before he's set to take the stage at the Ericsson Globe arena. A$AP had one of his handlers holding an umbrella, but he's hardly trying to go incognito.

This is the first time Rocky's been back in Sweden since he was released from custody in August, during his assault trial ... and he's spending a lot of time in "the slums" ... his words. He'd told us he wanted to go to an area known as the "no go zone" to spend time with underprivileged fans -- and he's true to word.

You'll recall ... A$AP also wanted to go back to the prison where he was held for a month to perform for the inmates. Prison officials seemed open to it at first -- but he got shot down at the last second, when he finally submitted a formal request.

Sweden's Prison and Probation Service cited overcrowding at their facility and other security and logistical concerns for not accommodating the rapper.

All good though ... he's gonna do his own thing across the way in front of folks who love him. No harm, no foul.

Fat Joe won't get in between Nick Cannon and Eminem's fresh rap beef -- even though he helped start it -- but what he will support ... a good, old-fashioned battle of the bars.

We got Joey Crack in NYC Tuesday and asked for the man himself to weigh in on how this war of words is unfolding between NC and Slim Shady. After all, he did let Em get on his track, "Lord Above," and throw the initial barbs about Nick's baby mama, Mariah Carey.

In his feature, Eminem says he tried warning Nick about Mariah before the "Wild 'N Out" host "got his jewels clipped" and goes on to say Nick is "p***y whipped" ... not to mention calling him out by name. It all dates back to a decade-old beef Em seemed eager to revive.

Now, back to Joe ... the guy actually tried claiming innocence with us, saying he's nothing more than a bystander here who's worked with and respects both guys. FJ tells us he bears no responsibility -- even though it was his song that kicked this off.

Chris Brown just introduced the world to his new baby son ... Aeko Catori Brown.

CB posted the first pic of his and Ammika Harris' new son Wednesday on Instagram. He simply captioned it with his son's name. Ammika posted the same picture on her Instagram Story and captioned it, "Forever won't be enough with you."

As we reported back in November ... Chris welcomed his second child with his ex. At the time, both of them posted cryptic messages on social media alluding to the birth of their child.

Chris had posted a pic of himself smiling and looking down at something off-camera with the caption of the date ... 11-20-19. We now know he was proudly looking down at Aeko. Ammika had also alluded to the child's birth on her Instagram Story, writing ... "I was in love, when I first saw you."

This is CB and Ammika's first child together. It's Ammika's first child and CB's second child. He has a 5-year-old daughter named Royalty with Nia Guzman.

Lizzo's mic cut out repeatedly at a big gig in Indianapolis, but she didn't just get named Entertainer of the Year for nothing ... and made sure the show went on.

The "Truth Hurts" singer was the headliner Tuesday night at the 99.5 ZPL Jingle Jam at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, but midway through her second song, "Cuz I Love You" ... technical glitches made things less than good as hell.

Lizzo's wireless microphone went silent and she didn't know it, and for some reason ... nobody alerted her until she'd powered through the rest of the track unaware nobody could hear her.

Tyler, the Creator's new piece pays homage to himself, his alter ego and his latest album ... and it's helping a celebrity jeweler close out the year with a bang.

The eccentric rapper's chain features a pendant of IGOR -- the alter ego he debuted this year -- and it's dripping in a variety of diamonds. Blue, black, white and even chocolate and cognac diamonds, to be specific!

It's made out of 18k gold and comes with a shiny "T" clasp for the chain and "IGOR" emblazoned on the back.

The jeweler, Ben Baller, points out the intricacies of the piece ... including how the gradient levels of brown match Tyler's IGOR's skin tone when the light hits it, and how you can make out the curvature of the nose.

Baller's clearly proud of his handiwork -- which he says is his final piece of the decade -- and Tyler is too. Good reason for pride all round ... the thing cost $275,000!!!

LL Cool J says Andy Ruiz broke the golden rule when it comes to STAYING successful -- he got comfortable.

If you know LL, you know he's a HUGE boxing fan (see: "Mama Said Knock You Out") ... and it's obvious he was disappointed to see Ruiz blow his run as heavyweight champ.

Ruiz told TMZ Sports he didn't take training camp seriously and "ate everything" -- which is why he showed up to the Anthony Joshua rematch 15 pounds heavier than their first fight.

"At the end of the day when you step in the ring you gotta be ready. And, if you’re not ready for whatever reason it doesn’t matter, you win or you lose," LL said ... "And he wasn’t ready."

"I got respect for [Ruiz]," the rap legend explained -- but he noted, "You can’t come into the ring 16 pounds heavier!"

LL knows a little something about sustained greatness -- he's been famous for almost 4 decades -- and he had a little advice for Ruiz moving forward.

"It’s the things you do in the valley that gets you to the peaks. And, it’s the things you do at the peaks that extend the peaks. Part of being great at anything is having the discipline to stay focused when you’re successful."

Cardi B knows how to make an entrance ... especially at a courthouse where she's facing multiple criminal charges.

The rapper arrived in Queens Tuesday for a hearing in her strip club beatdown case, and was dressed in a large feather/furry coat with a long train dragging behind her. In other words ... fashion gala-ready fab!!!

She appeared to be in good spirits too ... she was flashing smiles for fans waiting nearby on the courthouse steps. It was a flashy entrance for a very brief and uneventful hearing where the next court was set for January.

Cardi pled not guilty in June to new charges, including attempted assault in the 2nd degree. Before that, she was indicted on 12 charges, including 2 counts of felony attempted assault with intent to cause serious physical injury.

As we reported ... this all came after Cardi rejected a plea deal in the case -- she was initially charged with just 2 misdemeanors for allegedly ordering an attack on 2 strip club bartenders who are sisters -- Jade and Baddie Gi -- back in August 2018.

Cardi's beef with the women allegedly stems from her belief Jade -- who's now Tekashi 6ix9ine's girlfriend -- slept with her husband, Offset.

Jade's been back in the picture recently too -- she put Offset on blast for allegedly slipping into her DMs and posted what she believes is video evidence.

Juice WRLD's death resonated with the fans everywhere, but his music might be having an even bigger impact right now ... because it's flooding almost every chart imaginable.

The rapper is running the board on digital platforms in the wake of his death Sunday in Chicago ... with several of JW's songs and albums claiming top spots on Amazon, Apple and Spotify -- seeing exponential surges of several thousand percentage points, in some cases.

Let's start with Amazon's Movers and Shakers list ... where Juice's single, "Legends," has risen in the ranks by a whopping 84,954% to reach #1 in just a couple days. Two of his other tracks -- "Lucid Dreams," both the explicit and clean versions -- are sitting at #2 and #3.

For albums, Juice's "Death Race For Love" and "Goodbye & Good Riddance" also claim the top 3 spots on Amazon's CDs and Vinyl list. In short, folks are swooping up his content.

On the Apple side of things, Juice WRLD is also toppling some of the hottest names in the game this past week -- including Roddy Ricch, The Weeknd, DaBaby and Trippie Redd. On the service's Top 100 songs chart, Juice claims 8 spots ... including #1, #2, #5 and #6.

And, if you thought your 2019 Spotify Wrapped list was set, it might just change this week based on how dominant Juice has been there too ... he's got 9 spots locked in alone.

Juice's Top 10 tracks on Spotify have also been getting tons of love (and plays) -- we're talking hundreds of thousands, especially "Lucid Dreams," which got streamed over 990k times since Sunday. Of course, Juice is no stranger to chart success -- 7 of his songs have made on Billboard, and 3 cracked the Top 10. He'll probably be up there again next week.

TMZ broke the story ... Juice suffered a fatal seizure early Sunday morning at Chicago's Midway Airport. Federal agents were there waiting for him and his entourage, and after conducting a search ... found tons of weed and a few guns on board.

We're told at some point in the search, Juice was seen ingesting multiple pills believed to be Percocet. Juice suffered a seizure shortly thereafter and died soon after that.

He was 21.

Nick Cannon's "The Invitation" is either a brilliant diss track Eminem can't possibly ignore -- or it's Nick's eulogy ... 'cause everyone thinks Em is about to destroy him.

Gotta hand it to Nick ... he pulled out every weapon in his arsenal for this one -- including dragging Eminem's ex-wife and daughter into his verses, and prison phone calls with Suge Knight talking smack about Em.

Suge suggests all of Detroit should give Eminem 24 hours to respond to Nick's diss track or kick him out of town. Again, a deeply personal shot against the "8 Mile" rapper.

On "The Invitation" -- which dropped Monday night -- Nick takes a homophobic shot at Em, rapping, "I heard your chauffeur got a video of you suckin' a c**k."

That did get Em to respond, on Twitter at least, where he demanded an apology ... from "Nicholas." It's a very Em response, and you can almost hear the birth of HIS response diss track.

This whole new beef is over the old Mariah beef that was reheated last week when Em rapped on a Fat Joe track about Mariah neutering Nick, and added, "I let her chop my balls off too before I lose to you, Nick."

Part of Nick's response in "The Invitation" goes ..."My baby mama killed you off a decade ago, You're still crying about it bitch, now who really the ho?"

Since last week, Nick's been trying -- almost daily -- to get Eminem to come on his MTV show, "Wild 'N Out," to settle the feud. Nick's diss track is just the latest, albeit well-produced, attempt to snare Em.

Whether or not Marshall does Nick's TV show, it seems certain he'll fire back with a track. Of course, 50 Cent's biased in this feud, but he more than hinted ... Nick should NOT want smoke with Em.

As far as who's winning this war right now? The internet seems to think it's Em, since #ripnickcannon was trending Tuesday morning.

Careful what you wish for?

Juice WRLD had a habit of taking up to 3 potent Percocet pills a day and would mix them with lean ... this according to his ex-girlfriend who claims the rapper became physically abusive when he tried to get clean.

Alexia Smith says she was in a relationship with the rapper for nearly a year in 2018 ... and in that time she'd see him pop pills with lean as he struggled with depression, which she says stemmed from previous heartbreaks and the feeling of being misunderstood.

Smith claims Juice also used weed, Xanax, Ecstasy, morphine and coke ... but Percocet and lean were his go-to vices. She says she tried helping WRLD get clean but, during his withdrawals, their arguments turned violent. In one instance, she claims Juice picked her off the ground and slammed her into a wall ... squeezing her so tight she came away bruised all over her arms.

Smith told the Daily Mail she started dating him in early 2018 ... and when he flew her out to L.A. where he was taking meetings with music labels, she noticed the new drug world surrounding him.

She claims that within days of arriving in L.A., someone from a label gave him morphine and cocaine. Smith says WRLD didn't use coke at the time but it wasn't long before he did.

As we first reported ... the feds were on Juice WRLD's tail long before Homeland Security agents searched Juice WRLD's private jet last week when it landed at Chicago's Midway Airport.

Joel Osteen's making it clear -- he would very much like for Kanye West and him to keep their holy get-togethers going into the new year and all over the country.

We spoke to the megachurch preacher Tuesday in NYC, and asked if he and Ye's Yankee Stadium stop next year is an omen -- meaning, more sermons and shows in multiple cities. Essentially, a national tour. Check it out ... Joel says he'd like that.

Now, he stopped short of a guarantee ... the deets are still being worked out. However, he did confirm at least 1 future location they're working on -- Ye's hometown of Chicago.

JO also told us a little bit about how he and his new partner-in-faith even crossed paths in the first place.

As for their potential collabs -- Joel might be on to something by teaming up with Yeezy. Their partnership has already paid dividends and publicity beyond their wildest dreams. You'll recall, Kanye's visit to Osteen's Lakewood Church turned out to be a ratings bonanza -- raking in millions of unique viewers across multiple platforms.

Our camera guy also got Joel's take on a subject that's been on a lot of people's minds since Ye started fully embracing his Christianity -- is he actually genuine about this???

Juice WRLD's movements had been under the microscope of federal agents since at least last month ... and TMZ has learned it started with another private jet search.

Juice's initial run-in with the feds went down on November 18 at LAX ... according to our law enforcement sources. The rapper and his entourage were boarding their flight bound for Sydney, Australia, when Customs Agents conducted the search.

We're told drug-sniffing dogs were all over Juice and co. and their luggage. It's unclear if agents found anything -- we do know the plane was eventually allowed to take off with Juice on board.

TMZ broke the story ... Homeland Security agents, operating under an FBI task force, searched Juice WRLD's private jet early Sunday morning when it landed at Chicago's Midway Airport.

As we reported, cops confiscated 70 lbs. of marijuana and 3 handguns after searching the plane. We're told Juice suffered his seizure -- which turned out to be fatal -- as agents were conducting their search. Our sources say someone in his entourage told cops he had taken several "unknown pills."

As for why the feds were so keyed in to his late-night flight to Chi-Town? It's possible it had something to do with the intel they'd gathered during the LAX search. Additionally, we're told the pilot had reported Juice's bodyguards for having handguns -- a no-no if they're not packed properly, or if the bodyguard doesn't have a permit.

We've reached out to the FBI for more detail on last month's search, but so far ... radio silence.