Music

Hard to tell what shines more ... Rich the Kid's Gucci shirt, his diamonds or his brand spankin' new Maybach!

We caught RTK stepping into his new whip Monday night outside Beauty & Essex in Hollywood. We tried to talk some biz -- he's reportedly signed actual kid rapper Lil Tay. But Rich was more interested in his fresh-off-the-lot car. He says just bought it the day before, and paid ALL CASH.

The luxury ride costs somewhere around $200k, so he's living up to his name.

He even got a driver for the ride -- makes sense at that price point -- but doesn't look like RTK's taking anyone along for a ride yet, which ain't surprising.

The crowd at the Met Gala was silent as Madonna dramatically laid on the floor during her highly anticipated performance ... building up suspense before singing "Hallelujah."

... and that's when Tiffany Haddish chimed in!

The actress -- feeling the moment -- shouted at the stage (in a good way) trying to hype Madge up before the second part of her show.

Madonna had come out singing "Like a Prayer" -- but slowed things down before "Hallelujah" ... performing an artsy dance routine while surrounded by a bunch of people dressed like monks.

Don't worry, Haddish didn't break Madge's concentration -- in fact, she absolutely slayed the Leonard Cohen classic.

Akon's got Bill Cosby's back ... or so it seems.

We got the singer at LAX on Monday and asked him what's the right prison sentence for the disgraced comedian, who was found guilty of sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004. Our guy informed Akon that Bill faces three 10-year sentences, but the singer couldn't fathom that scenario for his "hero."

Perhaps the most famous of R. Kelly's alleged brainwashed sex slaves sure didn't look like a hostage to her situation late last month -- quite the opposite, actually.

TMZ has obtained video of Kells doing a little shopping with Joycelyn Savage at a mall in Chicago on April 28. You see them walking around a Nordstrom store, checking out products ... and acting super couple-y.

As far as we can tell, there's no indication of distress or forced behavior on Joycelyn's end. In fact, they look more like they're dating. Joycelyn's affectionately touching Kelly's neck says as much, anyway.

As we've reported ... Joycelyn's family insists Kelly has Joycelyn brainwashed, and say she's now a part of his alleged sex cult. She's denied that claim herself, as has Kelly, but her family continues to believe she's being held against her will.

The guy in the opening scene of Childish Gambino's "This Is America" video is NOT Trayvon Martin's dad, Tracy ... contrary to a flurry of social media buzz.

The guy in question is actor/musician Calvin the Second, who hopes Tracy doesn't see the video because he fears it will traumatize him.

Calvin told us he started getting calls this weekend from people who gave him a heads-up ... he was being confused for Tracy. Calvin was shocked, because he and Tracy don't look alike ... apart from the beard. He passed it off as "fake news," until he started thinking about the impact it might have on Trayvon's dad.

Calvin says he felt bad for Tracy since Gambino's video is filled with gun violence. Trayvon was only 17 when he was gunned down in Florida in 2012, and his killer was later found not guilty.

For the record ... Calvin says he wasn't hired to be a Tracy look-alike, and there's another bearded guy with whom he's often confused. You can probably guess who.

LiAngelo Ball doesn't need to hustle up a day job just yet, 'cause even though he wasn't invited to the draft combine, Master P says LiAngelo's NBA dream is alive and well.

'Gelo declared for the draft some time ago ... and most people thought it'd be an uphill journey for him to be drafted being that he didn't play college ball, and the Lithuanian pro experiment was short-lived.

We got P at LAX and asked him if this setback means 'Gelo won't make his hoops dreams come true, and P is telling the kid not to lose hope.

"It isn't over for LiAngelo Ball, there's still summer leagues and I'm sure someone will pick him up."

P knows what he's talking about ... remember he was able to make a couple different NBA summer league teams back in the day, and came THIS close to actually being a regular season player.

Marlon Wayans is a huge fan of the "This Is America" video Childish Gambino, aka Donald Glover, just released -- not only for its message, but for what he calls Donalds' stripper-inspired choreography.

When we got Marlon at LAX Monday he gushed about the vid -- which already has more than 20 million views after 2 days. If you haven't seen it ... Donald dances from scene to scene, in between unexpected shootings and other violence going on in the background.

Marlon says you can tell it's an incredible piece of art because everyone is interpreting it differently.

Glover's dancing is almost mesmerizing, and definitely draws your attention away from the background -- which is why ya kinda gotta watch it multiple times.

MW thinks the "Atlanta" creator's been spending a lot of time in ATL's famous strip joints, based on his dancing, and gives him props. Hell, Marlon even tried a few of the moves on camera with us.

Tekashi69's manager appears to be off the hook for the Barclays Center shooting last month -- 'cause cops arrested a different alleged member of 6ix9ine's crew for that one.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ cops arrested Fuguan Lovick on Sunday, and booked him for first-degree reckless endangerment for a shooting inside the Brooklyn arena during a recent Adrien Broner boxing match.

We broke the story ... Tekashi's group got into a scuffle with a rival rap crew, and cops believe someone in his camp fired a weapon. No one was hit, and no one was arrested at the time.

While cops initially believed Tekashi's manager, Tr3way, might've been the guy who fired the lone shot ... we're told police firmly believe it was, in fact, Lovick who discharged the weapon. However, Tr3way is still under investigation for another shooting just hours before the event, when he was allegedly caught on camera chasing after a tailing car.

Kanye West says he's "healing" in the Wyoming mountains, and now we know exactly what that looks like.

TMZ obtained this shot of Kanye out for a stroll with a friend on a remote hillside road near Jackson Hole. This pic was taken Friday morning by a passerby. Probably not a common sight in them parts -- world-famous rappers on the roadside and all.

While he was getting back to mother nature, you can see his security was keeping a very close eye ... trailing in an SUV. It was clearly a refreshing outing for Ye, who tweeted about it the next day.

As we first reported, Kanye went back to his fave Wyoming resort to put the finishing touches on new music he's about to release.

Kanye West, not all that different from your average Playmate. Who knew?

5/9 4:45 PM PT -- The judge instructed the parties to make every effort to keep Jay's testimony to one day ... next week.

Jay-Z's time is money and holding him up for anything more than a day would seriously harm his upcoming 45-date world tour and those working on it, according to new legal docs.

Jay-Z is supposed to appear in court Tuesday and explain to SEC investigators why testifying for more than a day is out of the question.

A judge also set a preliminary date for his testimony, but Jay says giving testimony for longer than that, less than 3 weeks shy of his tour "will impair the work of many individuals and entities who are preparing for the tour and will hinder my own work in preparation for the tour."

Beyonce was not left shaking after her hair got stuck in a SoulCycle bike ... because IT NEVER HAPPENED.

Our sources say a story floating around that Bey's weave got tangled up in a bike back in February at the L.A. studio -- requiring staff to untangle her -- is a figment of someone's imagination. The story went on to say Bey had long braids at the time and she was so into the workout that the weave got caught in the wheel and she panicked.

Kind of hilarious and probably why Amy Schumer wrote a similar scene in her latest movie, "I Feel Pretty." But, bottom line ... it just ain't true.

What IS true is this -- Bey's hair getting stuck in a fan back in July 2013 during The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour at the Montreal Bell Centre. Ouch.

Olympic snowboarding legend Shaun White got all romantic with his girlfriend, Sarah Barthel, over the weekend ... taking a stroll on a beach in Los Angeles.

White and Barthel have been together for about 5 years after meeting behind the scenes of "Saturday Night Live."

35-year-old Barthel is a rocker -- she's one half of the band Phantogram, which is about to kick off a cross-country tour of the United States.

She also looks damn good in a bikini.

Fun Fact: After the two met at 'SNL,' White let Barthel and her bandmate stay at his L.A. home while he was training for the Olympics ... and that's when things heated up.

Two white cameramen who are suing NBC -- claiming the network is racist -- allege the network has a pattern of protecting itself and sweeping misconduct under the rug ... and they are pointing to the Tom Brokaw and Matt Lauer cases.

Kurt Decker and Michael Cimino were cameramen on 'The Tonight Show' with Jimmy Fallon, until they got fired for receiving racist text messages from a 'Tonight Show' stagehand. They claim they were singled out by Questlove, the band leader, who protected a black NBC employee who also received the text message, but allegedly told NBC bigwigs to fire the 2 white cameramen. The 2 were fired for not reporting the text messages to their bosses.

They say in new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, there's a culture at the network to cover up misdeeds of some. They raise the Tom Brokaw case where a former NBC correspondent accused him of sexual harassment. Scores of women, many of whom work at NBC, came out in a public show of support.

Decker and Cimino say many of the women were pressured by the network to sign the petition supporting Brokaw. They add the letter was being circulated at the NBC offices and the women feared retaliation if they didn't sign.

They also raise the Matt Lauer case, where they say many employees knew Lauer was a serial sexual harasser, but never reported it. Decker and Cimino say none of those employees were disciplined.

If Destiny's Child is ever in the market for a fourth member, they don't have to look further than Michelle Obama, according to Kelly Rowland.

We got Kelly at LAX Friday where she told us Michelle can bust a move like no other. She saw firsthand this week at College Signing Day, a Philly event celebrating high school seniors pursuing higher education.

The former First Lady hosted and busted out some choreography with "Empire" star Jussie Smollett.

Dr. Dre is STILL Dre, but same goes for the OB/GYN with a very similar name who was locked in a legal battle for years with the music mogul.

Dr. Drai, a Pennsylvania-based gynecologist filed in 2015 to trademark his name and “Doctor Drai OBGYN & Media Personality." Dr. Dre tried to pump the brakes on that application, claiming it would cause confusion in the marketplace ... since their names sound alike.

The gyno was born Draion M. Burch, but according to his application he's been going by Dr. Drai for years. He's authored books and makes public appearances using it.

The trademark office agreed with the medical doc, saying although the gangsta doc was well known ... there wasn't enough evidence people would be confused. Let's be honest ... no one's downloading "The Chronic" from a gyno. Although, sounds like there should be a shot for that.

Point being ... the case was dismissed.

John Lennon was not a saint. In fact, The Beatles legend is a "bad guy" ... so says NFL star Chris Long.

Long was responding to a Twitter challenge where he was supposed to state a "controversial yet unproblematic opinion" ... and he wrote, "John Lennon was a bad guy."

The Philadelphia Eagles stud doubled down in all caps -- "JOHN LENNON WAS A BAD GUY AND IF THIS MAKES YOU MAD UNFOLLOW ME."

When asked why he felt this way, Long responded, "It’s easier for me because I don’t care for the Beatles. I don’t feel a need to cape for an abuser."

Long is clearly referring to Lennon's admission that he physically abused women -- something he touched on during a 1980 Playboy interview.

"All that 'I used to be cruel to my woman, I beat her and kept her apart from the things that she loved' was me. I used to be cruel to my woman, and physically -- any woman."

"I was a hitter. I couldn't express myself and I hit. I fought men and I hit women. That is why I am always on about peace, you see. It is the most violent people who go for love and peace."

"Everything's the opposite. But I sincerely believe in love and peace. I am not violent man who has learned not to be violent and regrets his violence. I will have to be a lot older before I can face in public how I treated women as a youngster."

In fact, his first wife, Cynthia, wrote a book and said Lennon once slapped her in the face.