Music

Basketball prodigy Mo Bamba ain't even in the NBA yet, but that didn't stop rising rap star Sheck Wes from giving him the ultimate tribute in his breakout single ... and TMZ Sports has the backstory.

We spoke with the Harlem spitter about his uber-catchy song titled after the ex-U. of Texas hooper ... and he explains Bamba asked him for a shout-out in one of his tracks ... and Sheck did him one better!!

Sheck says he and the 6'11" Bamba spent their childhood together in NY ... and explains how their journeys are similar, despite different career paths.

FYI -- If you haven't heard of the 19-year-old MC yet ... it's just a matter of time before you do. He's signed to both Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music and Travis Scott's Cactus Jack Records.

As for Bamba ... he was a 5-star recruit out of high school and is projected to be a lottery pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.

The Weeknd was seen partying with a ton of hot chicks at Coachella ... but he isn't locked down by a single one.

Abel -- who headlined the festival on Friday -- was spotted with Chantel Jeffries, hanging out with Kendall Jenner and even being friendly with his ex, Bella Hadid. However, sources close to the singer tell us he's simply enjoying the single life ... and isn't serious with anyone.

Our sources say Bella was in the crowd for Friday's show and the two exchanged hellos, but any reports saying they swapped spit are totally untrue.

We're told after his performance Friday, Abel spent most of the weekend partying with his friends, family and the XO Crew.

Ray J doesn't have a clue about how to change diapers, but the father-to-be is about to learn from two people who have firsthand experience ... Heidi and Spencer Pratt.

Sources tell us Ray J and Princess Love will be producing and starring in their own 2-hour VH1 special that leads up to their daughter's birth. Ray's manager, David Weintraub -- who's also a daddy -- will produce and appear in the special as well.

As for Heidi and Spencer ... they seemed like a perfect fit since they have infant experience with their 6-month-old son, Gunner. Even Ray's pal, Too Short, will pitch in with parenting pointers.

They've already started shooting, and based on this clip -- about what kinda booze dads should drink -- it's gonna be interesting.

Takeoff & Quavo watch out ... Offset might've found a new companion to kill stages with, 'cause him and Ric Flair totally pinned the whole 'Tonight Show' crowd with a performance of "Ric Flair Drip."

Offset kicked off the proceedings, strutting his way through the first verse before Flair came out and drove the crowd wild, showing that at 69 (lol) he can still style and profile with the best of them.

We're not sure how far Offset and Ric will take this whole thing -- remember, they already dropped an epic video for the song together -- but the robes match, the swag matches and the struts are identical.

The beef between Adrien Broner and Tekashi69 keeps getting crazier ... with Broner now saying he'll take Tekashi's $300k bet on his fight this weekend.

And he's got the check to prove it.

Before he hopped on a plane for New York on Tuesday, Broner shared a photo of a signed check for "Daniel Hernandez" (Tekashi's legal name) ... that came with a serious message for the NYC rapper.

"Just heard (6ix9ine) wanna make a small bet for my fight April 21st... well look your check is made bro just have my money when I beat the sh*t out Jessie Vargas."

"See you soon I’m pulling up to New York right now."

It's the same threat Broner made on Monday -- after he says Tekashi called him a "clown" on IG. Tekashi immediately clapped back, saying he'd throw 300 racks on "this p***y ass n**ga" losing to Vargas.

FYI, Broner vs. Vargas is this Saturday on Showtime ... but we wouldn't be surprised if we saw these 2 duke it out first.

Wu-Tang Clan's next collab is gonna be really weird ... is what we'd say if this pic with ex-FBI Director James Comey was taken anywhere near a recording studio.

Thankfully, Ghostface Killah and Method Man were just backstage at the 'Late Show' Tuesday when they ran into Comey. Truth is, Meth and Ghostface have some pressing biz with Comey's old boss ... and might have hit him up for advice.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions currently has custody of Wu-Tang's album "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin" ... which the feds seized from Martin Shkreli.

We're guessing Comey told 'em he's not exactly tight with his old crew at the Justice Dept.

Danielle Bregoli says she's already winning by being nominated by Billboard Music Awards as the Top Rap Female Artist with Cardi B and Nicki Minaj.

We got Danielle -- who goes by Bhad Bhabie in the music world -- on the heels of her being nominated for the prestigious award Tuesday along with arguably 2 of the biggest rappers in the game right now, and she was feeling pretty confident.

Danielle thinks she's the real winner at the end of the day -- the kid's just 15 years old, after all -- even though she concedes Cardi will probably walk away with the actual trophy. She explains why by taking multiple shots at Nicki ... and it ain't pretty, just petty.

Travis Scott is firing back at the promoter who sued him for bailing on a Super Bowl weekend concert, while keeping the dough he'd been paid ... TMZ has learned.

Travis filed a response to PJAM's lawsuit against him, but also filed his own countersuit against the company. According to the docs, Travis says the promoter never sent him a confirmed travel itinerary for the Minnesota show. He says right up to Feb. 3, the scheduled day of the show, he hadn't received the travel plans.

In his suit, Travis says he learned PJAM lacked the cash to cover his transportation or the remaining money he was owed for the performance. He admits they did pay him $150k in advance.

Travis is also pissed because he believes someone from PJAM spoke to TMZ about his gig ahead of time. He says that's a violation of the confidentiality agreement both sides signed for the show.

Sources close to Travis had told us at the time he canceled due to weather and logistics, but PJAM thinks he flat-out "refused to show up to the event."

PJAM was suing to get its money back, and damages. Travis is suing to get the additional payment he never got.

Travis' attorney, Howard King, tells us PJAM's lawsuit is “An obvious effort to shake Travis down and avoid the consequences of their breaches. Instead of pursuing a misguided attempt to spin the narrative and salvage their tattered reputation, the responsible step would have been for PJAM to pay Travis the balance of his fee and move on to their next opportunity."

He adds, "Travis apologizes to any fans who were duped by these "wannabe" promoters -- Alex Martini, Jefferson Agar and Patrick Johnston -- into showing up at the cancelled show even after the promoters failed to take the steps to get Travis there.”

O.T. Genasis says he had no clue Beyonce chose one of his songs to include in her epic Coachella performance -- and his reaction in the moment was priceless.

O.T. was on the road Tuesday when we talked to him about Bey's headlining gig, during which she did a full-on dance to his 2017 single, "Everybody Mad." He was busy in the middle of his own tour, at the time, but says his phone started blowing up.

Y'know you're suddenly tied to Bey when bee emojis start flooding your phone.

O.T. makes a good point here -- Beyonce didn't just throw his song in the background as transition music ... she used it as a crucial part of her performance, meaning she had given it a lot of thought and time in rehearsal. In other words ... Bey clearly digs his work.

She's given "Everybody Mad" sales and online streams a big boost, too.

We also asked him what his first thought was when he heard Beyonce had plugged him at Coachella. We had to bleep it for TV, but you'll get it raw here.

Beyonce's got YouTube crazy in love thanks to her Coachella performance which set a live stream record.

Bey's Saturday performance drew 458k simultaneous viewers on YouTube ... the most ever for a single Coachella performance since they started streaming the festival 8 years ago.

In all, we're told the opening weekend -- which also included The Weeknd, Eminem and Migos, -- generated 43.1 million live stream views in 232 countries. That makes it the most-viewed live music festival ever on YouTube. That number is also up a whopping 75% over last year, when Lady Gaga stepped in to replace pregnant Bey.

As Beyonce might put it ... you're welcome, YouTube.

Kodak Black got some good news while sitting in his jail cell that will help him get out much sooner than expected ... TMZ has learned.

The rapper's attorney, Bradford Cohen, tells us 2 remaining charges from the January raid of his Florida home have been dropped. The charges were for marijuana possession and possession of ammunition.

We're told Kodak admitted 2 other probation violation charges -- driving with a suspended license and associating with people engaged in criminal activity. He'll get credit for time served, which puts him in line for an October release with good behavior.

Once the rapper's free, the remaining year of house arrest and 4 years of probation will be wiped from his slate ... according to Cohen. He adds, "Kodak [and I] are extremely happy to resolve this case with an excellent resolution. It was very nice to deal with a fair judge who understood the circumstances -- along with prosecutors."

Adrien Broner did not back out of an NYC event to promote his fight over threats made by East Coast rapper Tekashi69 ... at least that's what Showtime tells TMZ Sports.

Broner was supposed to attend an open workout on Wednesday to drum up publicity for his fight with Jessie Vargas ... but those plans were abruptly scrapped earlier this week.

And since Broner and Tekashi have been at war on social media, some people wondered if Broner feared the feud was about to turn violent since Tekashi claims to be a well-connected Blood ... especially in NYC.

But a rep for Showtime Sports tells us that's simply not the case ... Broner didn't back out of anything -- instead, Showtime's team changed the publicity strategy and canceled the workout for other media events.

Russell Simmons says the vile allegations against him in a lawsuit filed by Jane Doe are pure fiction, and an extortion attempt to extract money from a rich man.

Simmons filed new legal docs in the case where a woman claimed he raped her after meeting her at a concert. Simmons says in the docs, obtained by TMZ, the suit is an attempt "to extort large sums of money from Mr. Simmons and for her lawyer to try to make a name for himself.

Russell calls the lawsuit "a work of pure fiction." But he says there's a more fundamental reason why the case should be tossed. He notes the woman claimed the alleged rape occurred in 1988 ... and the statute of limitations has long since run on any such claim.

As we reported ... Jane Doe claims she met Simmons at a hip-hop concert she was at with her elementary school-aged son, and ended up at his hotel room later that night after she dropped off her kid. She accused Simmons of threatening her son when she rejected his advances, then threw her on the bed and raped her. She's suing for $10 million.

Ice Cube's got a message for the Qatari investors he's suing for over $1 BILLION ... after they allegedly went back on their agreement with the BIG3.

"We gon’ win. Stay out of American sports if you don’t wanna do the right thing," Cube said on his way into Power 106 in L.A. to promote VH1 "Hip Hop Squares," which premieres Wednesday night.

TMZ Sports broke the story -- Cube and his BIG3 partner, Jeff Kwatinetz, are suing a bunch of Qatari investors who were supposed to invest $5 mil in Cube's pro hoops league.

In fact, they recently added the CEO of Qatar Airways to the list of defendants.

Cube says the Qataris made up every excuse in the book to avoid ponying up -- and now him and Jeff are seeking $1.2 BILLION in damages.

Clearly, Cube's confident these billionaire dudes are gonna get schooled in the courtroom -- and he ain't afraid to let 'em know.

The BIG3 founder also told us why fans should be hyped for Season 2 -- and we would be too with all the big names comin' in.

2:46 PM PT -- The investment group named in the lawsuit, Sport Trinity, has issued a statement saying:

"The Sport Trinity investors have to date contributed more than 3.5x any other investor in the BIG3, putting in close to half of all funds invested in the BIG3 and multiples of what Ice Cube and Jeff Kwatinetz themselves invested."

A YouTube star who goes by the name ThatPoppy is accused of stealing the identity of fellow YouTuber Mars Argo, and Mars says her ex-bf, Titanic Sinclair, is behind the dastardly deed.

Mars claims in a new lawsuit she and Titanic were an item for 5 years, but that all changed after Titanic became violent and even suicidal in 2014 when she says they broke up.

During happier times, Mars and Titanic were prolific, producing 92 super popular videos featuring Mars singing.

But, love is a fleeting thing that often turns bad after breakups, and Mars says that's exactly what happened. She claims Titanic hitched his wagon to ThatPoppy, who starred in Comedy Central's "Internet Famous with Poppy."

Mars says Titanic and ThatPoppy completely mimic her songs. Even worse, she says ThatPoppy started looking creepily like her ... rabbit ears and all.

So Mars is now trying to sink Titanic, claiming copyright infringement, emotional distress and other stuff. She's also suing ThatPoppy for uncreatively pilfering her persona.

Mars' lawyer, Matthew Umhofer, tells TMZ, "Both Mr. Mixter [Titanic] and Poppy are frauds. Their only artistry is con artistry: Their only original creation is the suffering they've caused my client."

Jared Leto is now officially a living, breathing snowball effect -- and don't try questioning it ... just watch how fast he can drum up an army of fans by simply walking.

The Oscar winner and frontman for Thirty Seconds to Mars was minding his own business Monday, heading to the Louvre in Paris with bandmate Tomo Milicevic. A few folks recognized them at first and followed along ... then some more ... and even more.

The spontaneous groupie love didn't go unnoticed. Jared stopped mid-route and put on a little show for everyone -- and they seemed pretty ready to jam. Eventually, Jared and his new posse got to their destination ... but were turned away at the last minute.