Music

Chris Rock gave a ridiculously funny intro for Kanye West as the rapper premiered his new album Thursday night in Wyoming.

Rock addressed the hundreds of Kanye fans at Diamond Cross Ranch and hit both some humorous and serious points. The comedian stressed the importance of rap -- saying it was the first form of art created by freed black men.

Pusha T calling out Drake's alleged baby mama, Sophie Brussaux, on his diss track has made her a HOT commodity ... on a leading porn site, anyway.

According to sources at Pornhub ... the former soft core porn star's name was being searched just 44 times a day before Pusha's track came out this week, while her stage name, Rosee Divine, was being searched 228 times a day.

But, once "The Story of Adidon" dropped and people began making the connection to Drake, searches for her name soared. In a little over 24 hours ... "Sophie Brussaux" had 513,760 searches and "Rosee Divine" was searched 256,374 times.

We're no mathematicians ... but that's like, a HUGE percentage increase.

Stormy Daniels got a similar rise out of porn fans after her "60 Minutes" interview about her Trump tryst. Ditto for Aubrey O'Day after news of her alleged affair with Don Junior.

Kanye West is about to unveil his new album ... cowboy style.

Yeezy is hosting a listening party Thursday night at a ranch 45 minutes outside Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Several hundred people flew in -- record and media types -- from all over the country. Horses are running around as everyone is starting to assemble at a campfire, where guests will hear tracks from Kanye's unreleased album while chowing down on s'mores.

Drake should NOT stoop down to Pusha T's level in their war of words, because it's not worth his bottom line ... so says Damon Wayans Jr., who also admits he's enjoying the HELL outta their beef.

We got Damon Thursday at LAX, and he had a strong take on Drake vs. Pusha. Specifically, whether Drake should fire back after Pusha's brutal diss track about Drake's ethnicity, his childhood and his alleged secret son.

He's confident Drake's got it in him to be just as savage ... IF he chooses to respond to Pusha's "Story of Adidon." However ... Damon says there are millions of reasons (or dollars) why it's not a good idea.

Ariana Grande wants you to know how she and 'SNL' funny guy Pete Davidson hooked up ... and it's all about her mind, not her body. Okay, it's probably a little bit about her body, too.

Ariana posted a pic Thursday of Pete hugging her up real good and kissing her cheek with the caption ... "i thought u into my life woah! look at my mind!"

This PDA comes on the heels of Pete sharing a shot of them side by side in 'Harry Potter' cloaks. Nothing screams official couple like 'Potter' gear!

Both just broke up with long-term partners too. Ariana dated Mac Miller for almost 2 years, but they called things off shortly after Coachella. Davidson was dating Cazzie David, daughter of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" creator Larry David.

Drake knows how to pick 'em -- the mother of his alleged son starred on a reality show ... about professional side chicks.

We dug up an old trailer for a 2012 show called "Real Mistresses of Atlanta," in which Sophie Brussaux -- who used her stage name, Rosee Divine -- is introduced as one of the four leading ladies. She called herself a French model who likes luxury.

In one scene she's seen talking to an anonymous NBA player over the phone, and he tells her to buy a condo she liked. The implication is pretty clear ... he's married, but he's also Sophie's sugar daddy.

Producer Mickey 'Memphitz' Wright -- the ex-bf of "Love & Hip Hop Atlanta" star K. Michelle -- created and produced the show. He reportedly shopped it around to TV execs, and sources at Oxygen tell us the network was very interested ... but, ultimately no one bought it.

There are no episodes or seasons listed on the Internet.

10:55 AM PT -- A rep for the Camp Punk In Drublic Festival in Ohio -- where NOFX was scheduled to perform this weekend -- tells TMZ the band has been replaced in Saturday's lineup. The rep also tells us the band Me First And The Gimmie Gimmies (featuring Fat Mike) is also getting the boot. The rep says producers for the festival are shocked and disappointed by the band's recent statements.

NOFX is working its way up to an apology for saying at least it was only country fans killed in the Las Vegas massacre -- but, for now, the band is just admitting the comment was real shitty.

We're guessing frontman "Fat Mike" wrote the message ... "I can't sleep, no one in my band can. What we said in Vegas shitty and insensitive and we are all embarrassed by our remarks."

If you missed it, the group was performing Sunday in Vegas and, at the end of a song, a band member said ... "I guess you only get shot in Vegas if you're a country band." Another band member said, "At least they were country fans and no punk rock fans" killed.

Kendall Jenner's date night with Ben Simmons seemed to go well ... because it ended at a fancy Beverly Hills hotel -- together!

After a dinner date at The Nice Guy, the two rolled over to Hyde Nightclub where they partied together until around 2:10 AM ... and then ultimately ended up at the Waldorf Astoria.

Ben helped Kendall bring in her bag from the car -- and you can probably guess how the rest of the night went from there.

Doesn't seem to be a one-night stand sorta thing ... the two have reportedly been dating for weeks -- and we know they already had a dinner date on Monday night.

Meanwhile, Ben's ex-GF, Tinashe, is also moving on ... she hit a nearby club where NBA star Donovan Mitchell happened to be partying too.

Despite what Pusha T wants people to think -- Drake's been quite the opposite of a "deadbeat dad" behind the scenes, financially supporting his alleged baby mama through and after her pregnancy ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to Drake tell us the rapper's been cutting checks to ensure Sophie Brussaux -- the woman Pusha T claims Drake has a secret son with -- lives comfortably. We're told Drake's been supporting Sophie since she gave birth, and just before that as well.

Our sources say Drake plans to take a DNA test to figure out any possible future legalities, but he feels there's a slight chance the kid is his.

And get this -- sources working on Drake's new album tell us he planned to reveal everything about his new son on his upcoming album -- a plan that will obviously need some tweaking.

As we reported ... Pusha T shocked the music world with a diss track targeting Drake's ethnicity, his childhood and claiming Drizzy was the father to a secret son.

Drake's yet to fire back.

From one NBA rookie superstar ... to another?

We spotted Tinashe -- looking insanely hot, BTW -- leaving Chateau Marmont Wednesday night and making her way to Warwick ... the same Hollywood club where Ben Simmons' rookie rival, Donovan Mitchell, was partying.

Our photog insists he saw Tinashe talking with Mitchell at Warwick ... but when we talked to the singer on the way out, she laughed at the insinuation she was shooting her shot.

In fact, Mitchell left the club a short time later -- with so many hot young ladies in his car he couldn't even fit 'em all in -- and made two chicks hit the pavement!

Meanwhile, Ben Simmons has apparently moved on to Kendall Jenner -- they went on a double date down the street with Devin Booker.

Brian Littrell is calling out NOFX for its tasteless joke about the Las Vegas massacre ... because he says the horrifying event still haunts fans and performers in that city.

The Backstreet Boys singer was at LAX Wednesday, and gave us his take on NOFX crossing the line -- saying at least the people killed during the mass shooting were country fans, instead of their punk rock fans.

Fifty-eight people were killed and nearly 500 injured in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history ... something Brian says was definitely on his mind when BSB recently played in Vegas.

Kendrick Lamar is the toast of a Pulitzer Prize event where some of the most influential people in the world are pressing to rub elbows with him.

The pride of Compton was at Pulitzer luncheon Wednesday at Columbia University. He's being honored in the music category, and Mia Farrow couldn't wait to get a snapshot with him. Mia's son, Ronan, is getting Pulitzer's public service award for blowing the lid off Harvey Weinstein's history of sexual misconduct.

Kendrick's arrival was so highly anticipated, the Pulitzer's administrator welcomed him before he even walked into the building.

Kung Fu Kenny winning the music category was unprecedented. He's the first non-classical or jazz artist to win the prize since they started awarding them for music in 1943.

Offset just paid back the good Samaritan who he says saved his life following his accident with a new car, so the guy won't ever have to walk to and from work again.

We broke the story ... the Migos rapper totaled his green Dodge Challenger in Atlanta earlier this month. He said he was swerving to avoid hitting a "crackhead" in the road.

The good Samaritan, Jamar, had been walking to work when he saw Offset climbing out of the wrecked car... at least that's how Offset described it. Offset says now Jamar will be driving around a new whip, instead.

The wreck was so bad Offset had to go to the hospital where his hand was bandaged. It's unclear exactly what Jamar did, but Offset says he got him to his destination safely.

The people who manage Michael Jackson's estate say The Walt Disney Co. has some nerve for profiting off the tears of MJ's kids and stealing a bunch of its property ... all to make a shoddy TV special they claim never came close to documenting Michael's 'Last Days.'

The estate just sued The Walt Disney Co. claiming copyright infringement and saying it never had permission to use a bunch of its footage for its "The Last Days of Michael Jackson" TV special ... which premiered last week to more than 5.5 million viewers.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, the estate claims Disney's lawyers told them they were making a documentary, so use of the MJ clips was fair game. But the estate calls BS ... saying the special "did not focus on his last days ... rather it was simply a mediocre look back at Michael Jackson's life and entertainment career."

The estate goes on to claim Disney jacked a bunch of MJ's songs -- including recordings of "Billie Jean" and "Beat It." The estate says Disney even exploited MJ's kids when they aired Paris Jackson's heartbreaking remarks about her father at his 2009 memorial service. The estate says it's never licensed that footage for commercial use.

The estate says it was never approached by Disney about the making of the TV special, much less asked for permission to use its intellectual property. The estate says that's ironic since Disney goes to great lengths to protect its copyrighted characters ... citing how Disney once sued a couple on public assistance for $1 mil when they dressed up as an orange tiger and blue donkey that looked too close to Tigger and Eeyore.

Estate attorney Howard Weitzman tells us, "Can you imagine using Disney’s intellectual property – like Mickey Mouse, Cinderella, Star Wars, The Avengers, Toy Story, and so many other works – without asking Disney’s permission or getting a license? The Estate has no choice but to vigorously protect its intellectual property, which is the lifeblood of its business.”

The estate is suing for profits Disney made off the special and other damages. We've reached out to The Walt Disney Co., so far no word back.

NOFX crossed the line in a big way Sunday in Vegas, when they made a crack about the Vegas shooting, saying the silver lining was that the people killed were country fans and not punk fans.

The band was playing the Punk Rock Bowling & Music Festival, and when they finished a song frontman Fat Mike said, "We played a song about Muslims and we didn't get shot. Hooray."

But, it didn't end there ... another band member jumped in and said, "I guess you only get shot in Vegas if you are in a country band."

And it got even worse ... "That [the massacre] sucked, but at least they were country fans and no punk rock fans."

Some audience members audibly recoiled, but the singer then jumped in, "You were all thinking it."

Lady Gaga's outfit screamed that she was off to the races, when all she was really doing was heading out for another day of work at the studio.

Gaga was spotted Wednesday afternoon leaving her NYC home in a jockey helmet. She's been recording new music at Electric Lady Studios in the Big Apple, but we're gonna say she overdressed for a day at the office.