Music

Nick Cannon still has Nipsey Hussle in his thoughts and all over his classic car ... thanks to this sweet new artwork.

Nick recently got his 1964 SS Impala's trunk repainted with a custom tribute to the late rapper -- who was gunned down in South L.A. a year ago Tuesday. It's pretty clear, for Nick ... the Marathon continues, indeed.

We're told the actor/host/rapper/comedian commissioned Jr's Kustoms to do the airbrush paint job about 2 months ago ... apparently in anticipation of the anniversary. At the moment, the car's sitting in Nick's Ncredible Motorsports warehouse in Los Angeles.

Interesting that Nipsey is still top of mind for Nick ... who made a vow of sorts shortly after the murder.

At the time Nipsey had been working on a documentary about Dr. Sebi -- a controversial self-described healer, who claimed to have the cure for several fatal ailments.

Nick implied he would pick up the baton and actually finish the film about Sebi and dropped a trailer for the project Tuesday ... we're told he's close to finishing the whole thing up.

Still, here's hard proof Nipsey's vision and legacy are still a priority for Nick.

It's been exactly one year since Nipsey Hussle was shot dead in L.A. -- but his memory lives on ... and some of the biggest athletes in the world are paying tribute to the fallen rapper.

Hussle's music definitely struck a chord with athletes in all sports -- with stars like Russell Westbrook, Kyrie Irving, DeSean Jackson and more speaking out about how much Nipsey meant to them.

"Hussle Day!! R.I.P to the legend," Russell said ... "We miss you bro!! #themarathoncontinues."

Kyrie said, "I didn't know you personally Nip, but just know you inspired me beyond measure. Thank you."

New Orleans Saints WR Michael Thomas (who's from L.A.) added, "I lost my homie and his soul still attached to me. Rest In Peace Nip Hussle the Great. I’m still lapping up for you."

Broncos star Davontae Harris said, "Today is about NIPSEY HUSSLE save the pandemic talk for tomorrow."

Other stars like Dez Bryant, Matt Barnes, Vic Oladipo and Isaiah Thomas also honored Nipsey on social media.

Hussle was shot and killed on March 31, 2019, near his clothing shop in South Central, L.A. He was only 33.

If Cardi B was serious about raising cash for Joe Exotic via GoFundMe, she's about to be stopped in her tiger tracks ... because the company won't allow it.

Money CANNOT be raised on its platform to fund the defense of inmates convicted of violent crimes, plain and simple ... this according to a GFM rep. It's in their terms of service and everyone, including Cardi, who uses GoFundMe has to abide.

Of course, the 'Tiger King' star is in prison after a jury found him guilty in a murder-for-hire plot to kill his archnemesis, Carole Baskin. He was also convicted of animal-related crimes.

Funny enough, not too long after Cardi vowed to free Joe via GoFundMe, an actual account with her name popped up to do just that. It's been yanked, though ... and the $100 it raised was refunded. We're told it was a bogus account, NOT associated with the real CB.

Cardi seems to be fully wrapped up in the docuseries, like many of us, and might have been joking about launching a Free Joe campaign. If she, or anyone else, is serious ... GoFundMe won't be a party to it.

Pitbull is telling folks how we can come together and beat the coronavirus, and it's a simple concept -- knowledge is power!!!

The Miami rapper joined us Monday on "TMZ Live," and talked about Florida's response to the pandemic. He gives law enforcement and politicians high marks, and as for the spring break crowds on beaches and boats ... he believes they're coming around now too.

Pitbull suggests people stop running from the scientific facts about COVID-19 ... and use their time in quarantine to bone up on the pandemic, but don't scare yourself out of solutions.

Translation: If science says the solution is staying home ... just do it, even though it's gonna be hard.

Pit reminded everyone ... all the information is at your fingertips, right there in your smartphone. He's optimistic that more people will follow the guidelines ... but they just needed time to adjust.

As we've told you, Pitbull and Haim Saban's "Saban Music Group" collaborated for his new empowering anthem, "I Believe That We Will Win" ... and he's donating the profits to charities fighting COVID-19.

The folks at "American Idol" tried to make it work, but ultimately they had to jettison plans to produce the show in the studio, but TMZ has learned the show may still go on.

Producers sent an email to the crew, saying, "As we continue to monitor advice from federal and local agencies, it seems unlikely we are going to be able to make it back into the studio for this season of American Idol."

The email, obtained by TMZ, goes on ... "We will continue to monitor and provide updates should any changes occur."  BTW ... we're told the crew will not be paid.

Our production sources tell us the plan is still to produce the show ... but the judges will be at their respective homes and viewers will ultimately decide who wins and who ends up packing.

'Idol' joins an ever-growing list of productions that have had to pivot in the wake of the pandemic.

The email ends on a positive note ... "In the meantime, please stay safe and healthy. We are looking forward to the day we can all work together again."

Drake's finally ready to show us what his kid looks like -- and if you had blonde hair and blue-ish eyes in your office Adonis pool ... you're a big winner.

The rapper posted the first-ever photos of his 2-year-old son, Adonis, early Monday morning, including some of him and his boy ... as well as one with his baby mama, Sophie Brussaux, in the mix too -- with all 3 of them posing for a sweet family photo.

As you can see ... Adonis is not short in the hair department!!! We don't know when Drake and fam took these pics, but at the time Adonis had blue-green eyes and a 'fro that might make the Jackson 5 blush.

Seemingly trying to explain the blonde hair ... Drake included a younger shot of his mother -- Adonis' grandma -- who did have a dirty blonde 'do.

Drizzy was certainly in some type of self-help mood when he posted these, writing ... "What is most important for you right now is to connect to your own inner light. This will create the biggest opening of all."

He continued, "Trust that you have all of the power within to make this happen, and in order to do that connect to the people and things that bring you a lot of joy. Drake got even more philosophical, telling folks to look within and ... yada, yada, yada ... you get it.

He finished with ... "I love and miss my beautiful family and friends and I can’t wait for the joyful day when we are all able to reunite. Until then please keep your lights on."

Elton John and friends -- including Billie Eilish, Lizzo and Alicia Keys -- successfully put on a concert from the confines of their own homes ... while raising much-needed funding for the coronavirus battle.

The show featured artists performing, pre-recorded, from their homes -- and while it was short on makeup and the usual perfect TV lighting ... the raw performances were pretty awesome.

Alicia Keys kicked it off with a scaled-down version of her new track, "Underdog." The Backstreet Boys followed by beaming in from their own homes with "I Want It That Way." It was interesting seeing all five of them singing individually, but ultimately getting edited together. Pretty seamless.

Other performers included David Grohl -- doing "My Hero," naturally -- and H.E.R.

In between the performances, iHeart weaved in segments featuring first responders -- nurses, doctors, paramedics and truck drivers -- talking about battling the pandemic, and the importance of STAYING HOME.

Other big marquee acts on the show were Mariah Carey, Sam Smith, Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, Tim McGraw, Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes.

The show's intent was raising money for Feeding America as well as First Responders Children's Foundation. No word yet on how much was raised, but it was definitely the best sounding telethon in quite some time.

Great causes with great music to deliver the message.

Many 'Tiger King' fans were stunned to find out Joe Exotic doesn't sing his own songs, but there's a real band behind those cat-themed country tunes ... and it hopes the hit Netflix docuseries leads to a record deal.

For those who haven't watched yet ... zoo owner/big cat breeder Joe Exotic flaunts his country music songs and videos on 'Tiger King,' but it turns out he's just lip-syncing and pretending to play the guitar. The real performers are The Clinton Johnson Band.

One-half of the country group, Vince Johnson, tells TMZ ... since the documentary premiered and became a smashing success, lots of journalists and media outlets have reached out to him ... but he'd prefer to get some calls from music labels. So far, no luck.

Vince says that's a shame, because he and the other half of the band, Danny Clinton, recorded 3 albums worth of songs before Danny passed away in October from a heart-related issue.

We're told their tracks are a lot like the ones they did for Joe in 'Tiger King' ... except they're not cat-related.

Vince tells us the band's had some prior success getting their work featured in some small films and TV shows like "Justified," but he believes 'Tiger King' could really be a big break ... and help him become a big cat in the music biz.

As for how The CB Band -- from Vancouver, Washington -- got linked up with the Oklahoma zoo extraordinaire ... Vince tells us they simply responded to one of Joe's ads to make a theme song for Joe's TV show and park, and it evolved from there.

He says how it worked was Exotic would give Vince a theme and some details, he'd write a tune and Danny would sing it. Then they'd email it to Joe.

The band did about 20 songs for Joe, Vince says, and as far as he knows ... Joe has never professionally sung or played an instrument in his life.

BTW -- Vince hasn't watched 'Tiger King' yet, but plans on it soon.

Pitbull is doing his part to lift the spirits of a frightened, uncertain world in pain with a new song ... specifically directed at beating the coronavirus.

Mr. Worldwide posted a portion of a video for the song, "I Believe We Will Win." Pit is at his beloved SLAM! charter school on the roof ... gazing out at the City Miami. He offers words of encouragement ... then breaks into song.

Some of the lyrics ..."If there's any time to check in for the world, it's right now," he says. "Now is when we take fear, and -- it's not Forget Everything And Run. It's Face Everything And Rise."

Pitbull credits his hometown with instilling a fighting spirit in him ...  "Miami taught me how to fight, and I want to give that to everybody in the world right now. Now is when we gotta stick together. We gotta fight hard, show how powerful it is when we come together."

Alright, it's time to put the masks back on ... so says Future, who's donating a boatload of custom-sewn masks to medical professionals who desperately need 'em.

The rapper's nonprofit, The FreeWishes Foundation, is teaming up with Atlanta Sewing Style to produce hand-crafted face masks for countless doctors, nurses, scientists and others working in hospitals and around COVID-19 patients. They'll have a team of 500 people dedicated to the task -- although it's unclear how many they're aiming to churn out.

Future's org said in a statement Saturday, "As most people adapt to the new normal of staying quarantined to protect themselves from the coronavirus, healthcare professionals do not have this privilege." They continued, "In addition, they do not even have enough supplies to protect themselves from contracting coronavirus."

Just an FYI ... reports say there's such a shortage of face masks right now, the homemade ones are more than welcome by the pros on the ground.

Anyway, Future's sis, Tia-Wilburn Anderson, added it was important for her, Future and their family to service their community during this pandemic and throughout the year. Sounds like they'll be working well into summer should the outbreak persist -- and all signs point to just that.

BTW, this endeavor that Future and his family is embarking on is aptly called ... Mask On. Of course, his "Mask Off" song blew up a few years ago ... so it's only appropriate he of all people would circle back.

Rep the set ... gotta rep the set.

The incarcerated Joe Exotic has one new champion in his corner -- and it's someone with a big voice and a major platform ... one Cardi B, who says she wants him freed.

The NY rapper went on a Twitter rant late-Friday night, with a bunch of messages in support of the 'Tiger King' star -- who's currently locked up for allegedly attempting to facilitate the murder of his onscreen nemesis, Carole Baskin, who Cardi doesn't like either.

She wrote of Baskin -- who runs a big cat animal rescue out of Florida, seemingly on the up-and-up -- with contempt, saying ... "Carol you think you slick bitch 😑😑😑😑." CB went on to say, "Who you think is more wrong? Narcissist joe? Or Greedy Carol? And Why?"

Very Trump-like, eh? BTW, Cardi also retweeted a meme that perpetuated a theory floated throughout the entire docuseries ... that Carole might've had her multi-millionaire husband killed and fed him to the tigers they had. She's vehemently denied that several times, and no evidence ever suggested she did that. No arrests were ever made in the case either.

The biggest vote of confidence, however, came when Cardi tweeted that she was itching to start a GoFundMe account for Joe, adding ... "He shall be free." Seems like she sympathized with his side of the story -- even though he was convicted and ultimately jailed.

As we reported ... Joe filed a $94 million lawsuit from prison pretty recently, accusing different governmental agencies of railroading him and allegedly discriminating against him with the animal cruelty charges he got slapped with and for which he was convicted.