Music

Kodak Black's giving back to his community despite being behind bars, by donating hundreds of books and much-needed school supplies to students now learning from home.

The incarcerated rapper's attorney, Bradford Cohen, tells TMZ ... Kodak's sending out 625 reading comprehension books to 625 schoolkids in Broward County, FL to help offset the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Along with those books, he's also planning to include supplies and notebooks for the students with a goal of helping kids in grades 1 through 5 meet state standards in reading ... despite their new educational challenges.

As you may know, public schools in Florida are shut down until at least April 15, and we're told Kodak's team got word children were in need of learning tools ... so the rapper was happy to lend a hand. All in all, Kodak's dropping $5,000 in educational aid.

Cohen says they're ordering everything Thursday and expect a delivery in a few days. With all the new social distancing guidelines and precautions, logistics are still being worked out on how to get the books to the kids ... but we're told the current plan is to ship directly to them next week.

Kodak's currently serving a 46-month prison sentence handed down by the judge in his federal gun case in November. He's also facing 2 to 7 years to be served concurrently after pleading guilty to attempted second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

The Weeknd's new album is entirely his own ... we've learned there are no features on any of the tracks ... and he's got a special message for everyone impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Here's the deal ... The Weeknd's fourth studio album, "After Hours," is set to drop Thursday night, and our sources tell us his voice is the only one fans will be hearing.

An album without features is pretty rare by today's hip-hop and rap standards. It's not like The Weeknd's averse to collabs -- he was featured several times on Travis Scott's "Astroworld" -- which makes the decision all the more interesting.

The singer's also got a personal message regarding COVID-19 and his album release, telling TMZ ... "Let the music heal us all during these dark times."

He's got a massive, 67-date global tour, scheduled for June with support from Sabrina Claudio and Don Tolliver at US stops and Black Atlass (replacing 88 Glam) and Sabrina again in Europe.

The Weeknd's already released a couple singles, "Heartless" and "Blinding Light," and we saw him filming the music video for 'BL' in Sin City.

The singer's gotta pretty sweet bachelor pad to practice social distancing ... and now his fans have some new tunes to pass the time in quarantine.

Zac Brown is torn up over the pandemic ... he's broken up over temporarily saying goodbye to his stock-in-trade, and he's outraged that young people are hangin' out in beaches and other places.

Zac was emotional as he explained how he had to pull the plug on touring ... something all artists are now dealing with.  He says he'll figure out a way of making music, but for now, the only concern is coronavirus and keeping it from spreading as much as possible.

Speaking of spreading it ... Zac launched on all the very dim young folks on the beach in Miami and other places. Spring Break has to take a backseat to the virus.

BTW ... the CDC now says young people are getting sick -- some critically ill -- just like older people, so Zac's message is sound ... and even life-saving.

Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom are on the hunt for supermarket supplies -- just like most of us adjusting to life in a pandemic -- but the expectant parents look super comfy doing it.

Orlando and his pregnant, pop singer fiancee hit up a Whole Foods in L.A. Wednesday along with Katy's sister, Angela, and another male friend.

It looks like all 4 remained pretty chill amid the coronavirus panic-shopping many are still doing -- and they walked out with fresh produce, frozen veggies, boxes of bottled water and a plant-based protein powder called Vega.

One thing not visible in their haul -- toilet paper. Let's hope they've already stocked up.

We're told Katy and co. shopped for about 30 minutes and practiced good social distancing. She went to the car about 10 minutes before Orlando. Of course, KP -- whose baby bump is more prevalent these days -- could've just needed to get off her feet.

As we reported ... Katy revealed her pregnancy earlier this month in her new "Never Worn White" music video, referring to it as the hardest secret she's had to keep.

She and Orlando recently returned to the U.S. just before the new reality of self-isolating at home to limit the COVID-19 outbreak really set in. They're reportedly postponing their summer wedding in Japan due to the global crisis.

At least they've got plenty of water and protein to get through.

Nelly says Kevin Durant's positive coronavirus test is a real REALITY CHECK for the world -- because it proves "nobody's exempt" when it comes to COVID-19.

"Our thoughts and our strengths are with him," the hip-hop star told us in Calabasas ... "Nobodys exempt. We're all the same right now."

He added, "Nobody's bigger than the other right one. I think we're all one at the same time right now."

"It's affecting the world, man, not just the music industry. And, anybody who feels like this is personal, basically got they head in the sand."

Nelly's message echoed Nevada governor Steve Sisolak -- who didn't mince words when addressing the people of the Silver State earlier this week.

"I don't know how to make this any clearer ... this is affecting the lives of our citizens. People are dying."

It seemed inevitable, but TMZ has learned later Tuesday Joel Osteen and Kanye West will pull the plug on their big plan to throw a massive service at Yankee Stadium ... at least for the time being.

Sources involved in the production of the event tell us ... Osteen's people were in touch with the folks at the famed stadium, and we're told the Yankees are canceling events for the next 2 months, and that puts the Osteen/West service right in the middle.

We're told there really was no option, after Governor Cuomo put the brakes on any event with more than 50 people for the time being.

Our sources say Joel and Kanye are still determined to put the show on at Yankee Stadium ... but it will have to be some time in the future.

TMZ broke the story ... Joel will do a sermon and then Kanye will bring his choir to do their thing.

The coronavirus is severely screwing with another artist's schedule -- Bone Thugs-N-Harmony is reeling from cancelled gigs ... and it's not even the first of the month yet!

Layzie Bone was at LAX Monday night when he told us they were in the middle of touring up until Friday. Now the cancellations are pouring in, and sounds like that's going to be their new normal ... like every other touring artist.

Not to worry though, LB says he'll be putting his quarantine time to good use for the fan base, saying he'll be in the studio cranking out whatever music he can during the pandemic. He might wanna get comfy in there -- based on projections from President Trump and the CDC.

As for fans in quarantine ... Layzie has some music recommendations to help get ya through.

Strange times, for sure ... but it's great to see BTNH being able to move on from another controversy that was dogging them just weeks ago. Of course, we're referring to the temporary name change Buffalo Wild Wings dropped on 'em.

R. Kelly is a man truly trapped now that coronavirus lockdowns are in full swing -- he can't get to his lawyers ... even though prison officials insist it ain't personal.

Kelly's legal team tried going to see their client last Thursday at MCC Chicago -- where he's currently behind bars -- but we're told they were blocked from entering by corrections personnel ... and officials told them it was all due to the COVID-19 outbreak, which has made its way to Chi-Town.

We're told R. Kelly's lawyers not only wanted to check on his well-being but also to talk legal strategy ... something they get together to discuss frequently, especially with the ever-mounting charges against the guy. That's all coming to a temporary halt, for now, it seems.

The last time R. Kelly had a face-to-face with his attorneys was sometime last week. It was right around then that everything started getting canceled.

A rep for the Bureau of Prisons in Illinois tells us ... jail staff is suspending visits for the next 30 days -- but it sounds like they'll allow certain legal meet-ups on a case-by-case basis.

The rep says they're making their determinations with an eye toward avoiding unnecessarily exposing inmates and others. They say they recognize the importance of allowing the inmates access to lawyers and will try to accommodate that to the greatest extent possible.

Circling back to R. Kelly ... we're told his team is trying to work out a schedule to see the singer more often than what's being outlined here. Nothing's set in stone yet though.

Dierks Bentley is shutting down his famed bar in Nashville but he's vowing to sink $90k directly into the pockets of his hourly employees.

The country superstar announced Monday he's closing Whiskey Row in the heart of Nashville on Lower Broadway for a while. The 5-Hour Energy spokesman said his heart goes out to everyone affected by the coronavirus. Dierks also put his money where his mouth is.

The "Drunk On A Plane" singer said he's immediately giving each one of his 90 hourly employees a thousand bucks "to help in the short run as our community and country try to get a handle on the situation."

Dierks also implored all bar owners to follow his lead, and look after their most essential and vulnerable employees ... like bar-backs, waitresses, security guards and dishwashers.

The move, of course, comes just hours after the Trump administration announced a guideline calling for no gatherings of more than 10 people, and the city of San Francisco shutting down for the next 3 weeks.

Dierks is just one of several country singers who own bars and have taken the steps to close doors to help stem the spread of the virus. Jason Aldean closed his Jason Aldean's bar and Florida Georgia Line closed "FGL House."

There has been a slew of concert cancellations and postponements in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, and insurance companies are slamming the door on performers who dare to ask the insurers to cover their losses.

Several prominent managers of famous artists tell TMZ, it's virtually impossible now to put on a concert ... even before President Trump urged crowds not to exceed 10 people. So there have been a bunch of concert dates where the plug has been pulled, and we're told virtually every insurance company has made it clear ... they feel they have no obligation to pay up.

We're told after SARS and MRSA some of the companies excluded pandemics from coverage. And, there are others that don't have the exclusionary language but the insurance companies still claim there's an exclusion for the latest virus.

It's created all sorts of economic problems. Artists spend a lot of money before the first stop on a concert tour ... building stages, creating video packages and hiring staff. We're told a number of artists and their reps are currently fighting the insurance companies to cover the losses.