Music

Drake's new album hasn't even dropped yet, but he already sent shock waves through the hip-hop world when he released his track list ... and one of the songs features Michael Jackson.

Our sources tell us ... the track -- titled "Don't Matter to Me" -- is actually a previously unreleased MJ song that Drake raps and sings along with. The format is similar to the 2014 song, "Love Never Felt So Good" ... which was a Jackson tune turned into a duet with Justin Timberlake.

Drake's new album, "Scorpion," will be available everywhere June 29 ... and the tracklist shows the King of Pop isn't the only superstar featured -- Jay-Z will showcase his talents as well.

The #6 track listed on the album was released a few weeks back, and the music vid's already racked up more than 25 million views thanks to the 'Degrassi' cast reunion aspect.

Another day, another Pete Davidson and Ariana Grande sighting out in NYC ... capped off with some more PDA.

The lovey-dovey, practically inseparable couple headed out for some shopping Thursday afternoon with friends, and looked happy as ever as they snuck in a few pecks. Pete's right -- being engaged really is f***in' lit.

What's more interesting, though, are their outfit choices as they left their $16 million digs -- Pete went for some sort of sweatsuit incognito look ... equipped with shades and a face mask.

Ariana, on the other hand, couldn't have drawn more attention to herself -- or her rock -- by opting to complement her ripped jeans and chunky shoes by wearing just a bra for a top.

Ashanti didn't know her ex-bf, Nelly, had cut ties with his dad after she shared a video of herself hanging backstage with him, but she's hoping father and son will reconcile.

We got Ashanti Thursday at LAX and asked her if she thought her hang with Nelly's dad is what made the rapper publicly eviscerate his pops. She seemed shocked when we told her about the fallout from her video.

Ashanti told us she hopes the rift isn't because of her, but it seems pretty clear, based on the timing ... it is.

She and Nelly dated for a decade, but broke up more than 3 years ago ... so you'd think they would've moved on by now.

Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul is going to be laid to rest in his forever hardware, identical to that of his late bandmate and brother ... courtesy of none other than Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley.

Sources close to Vinnie's family tell TMZ that the recently deceased musician and Pantera co-founder will be buried in a custom KISS casket provided by Simmons and co.

We're told the casket was offered as a gift at Vinnie's family's request. His brother, "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott was buried in the original prototype in 2004 after his untimely death. As we reported ... Vinnie died in his sleep this past week, but the cause of death is unknown for now. He was 54.

Vinnie will also be buried in some of his clothes -- including his hat, shoes and flannel ... among other items. We're told Vinnie will be put into the ground Saturday at the same cemetery in Arlington, TX, where Darrell and his mom lie.

The man accused of breaking into Rihanna's house has a few new followers -- unfortunately for him it's the police.

According to new legal docs ... a warrant was issued for cops to gain access to Eduardo Leon's social media accounts as part of his felony stalking case. We broke the story ... Leon broke into Rihanna's L.A.-area home last month and spent an entire night hanging out, waiting for her to come home.

He told cops his plan was to have sex with her, but not use force to make it happen. He was tased and arrested instead.

Leon was also arrested a few days earlier for allegedly breaking into Rihanna's previous home, believing she still lived there. Cops believe gaining access to his social media will prove he was fixated on Rihanna and made repeated efforts to locate her.

YG's gonna be a modern-day Jack Sparrow ... now that's he's commandeered a yacht for his new album listening party, and there's only one way fans can climb aboard.

The rapper's teaming with Postmates delivery service for his yacht party presented by WAV ... fans will vie for 400 spots on the boat by competing in a tech treasure hunt.

It starts by entering "Stay Dangerous" -- the title of YG's album -- on the Postmates app. That unlocks the exact location and time for the yacht pop-up party. The first 400 get a ticket. All we know is the party goes down Thursday, somewhere in the San Francisco area. Oh, and it's 21 and over.

Ben Trinh, head of entertainment and influencer marketing for Postmates, tells TMZ no artist has ever thrown an album listening pop up on a yacht before, so they brought the idea to YG and created an intimate experience that is exclusive to the postmates audience.

YG's album doesn't drop 'til August 3, and features artists like 2 Chainz, Big Sean, and Nicki Minaj, so those that do get a lucky spot aboard YG's yacht party are getting a helluva preview.

Meek Mill's legal team just filed new legal docs asking Pennsylvania's highest court to remove Judge Genece Brinkley from his case ... on the heels of her denying him a new trial.

The appeal to the PA Supreme Court comes just 3 days after Brinkley ruled Meek's side failed to meet its burden of proof. It was a shocking decision given even the D.A. had repeatedly stated Meek deserved a new trial, considering his arresting officer -- the only witness in Meek's 2008 trial -- is a key figure in a massive Philadelphia police corruption scandal.

In legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Meek's lawyers are adamant Brinkley had made up her mind before Meek's hearing concluded earlier this week. Lawyers cite the transcript which they claim shows Brinkley lacking impartiality because "she acted like a prosecutor, not a judge." Interesting ... even the real prosecutor thinks Meek deserves a new trial.

As we reported ... Meek's team accused Brinkley of laughing at one of their key witnesses, but they also point to another fiery exchange triggered after Brinkley said, "... because obviously we know that it's going to go to another court after here." Meek's lawyer, Brian McMonagle, asked if she's implying she'd already made up her mind and realized her decision would be appealed to a higher court. She denied it.

Tekashi69 claims to be "so deadass" good at soccer -- he thinks Mexico should put him on the roster to face Brazil in the World Cup.

And, yes ... it's all on video!

The rapper put his rainbow hair in a bun and hit the pitch to show off his skills -- from a terrible penalty shot to flopping ... to that prayer thing players do when they take the field.

It's mostly bad ... until he plays goalie.

6ix9ine says he was dope as a kid -- and doesn't look completely unathletic when he's blocking shots in this workout.

Ed Sheeran is on the receiving end of a monster $100 million lawsuit by a company claiming the singer ripped off a Marvin Gaye classic.

A company called Structured Asset Sales filed the lawsuit, claiming Ed's song, "Thinking Out Loud," is a carbon copy of Gaye's "Let's Get it On."

According to the lawsuit, Sheeran's song has the same melody, rhythms, harmonies, drums, bassline, backing chorus, tempo, syncopation and looping as "Let's Get it On."

Gaye's song was written by a guy named Edward Townsend and Gaye in 1973. Townsend died in 2003, and Structured Asset Sales bought one third of the copyright. So, take that in ... the claim is that just 1/3 of the song is worth $100 MIL!.

Sheeran's song was a huge hit ... nominated for a Grammy for Best Record, Best Performance and Song of the Year in 2016.

And, according to the docs, Ed's single and the album it's on -- "X" -- sold more than 15 million copies and the song has been played on YouTube more than a billion times.

Post Malone kicked off the first of two shows at the Hollywood Bowl and brought out a ton of other talent in the process.

Malone played to a sold-out crowd Wednesday night -- 21 Savage opened the show -- and Malone surprised fans through the night by bringing out guest after guest.

Rae Sremmurd's Swae Lee performed "Spoil My Night" with Post then took the stage for his own hit, "Powerglide." YG came out for "Same Bitches" and Miguel also made an appearance, singing "Sky Walker."

Post welcomed 21 Savage back at the end of the show to perform their hit, "rockstar" before Quavo came out to perform "Congratulations" with Malone -- the last song of the night.

Kanye West's neighbor in NYC just struck what looks like a sweet deal to buy the rapper's SoHo apartment.

The pad is actually two adjacent spaces Ye purchased back in 2004 and 2006 -- one for $1.89 million and other for $1.25 million ... so, $3.14 million total.

One was a 2 bedroom, 2 bath, while the other was a studio -- and Kanye eventually combined both of them into one large unit.

Well, Kanye unloaded the combined and remodeled crib for $3 million in May. Considering he paid more and then clearly put work into the place ... seems like he might have lost some dough on the deal.

Damon Dash says Lee Daniels had no problem asking him for money and exploiting his goodwill, but he has a major problem keeping his word to pay it back ... and Dame's sick of it.

The Roc-A-Fella mogul told us Wednesday on "TMZ Live" ... Daniels ended up millions in the hole to him after making 2 movies -- 2004's "The Woodsman" and 2005's "Shadowboxer."

According to Dame ... Daniels promised him he'd get his money back no matter what, but then blew him off -- which is why Dash started suing Daniels in 2014. As we reported, they struck a settlement deal, but Damon tells us Lee's sticking to his "culture vulture" ways ... and still hasn't squared up.

Before he filed a new suit, Damon confronted Lee at a Diana Ross concert about getting stiffed ... and Daniels appeared to be contrite. Apparently, not enough to please Damon and keep their issue out of court.

Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine gotta write a FAT check to their former business partner after a jury sided with him ... ruling the Beats co-founders owe unpaid royalties.

According to court docs, obtained by TMZ, an L.A. jury awarded Steven Lamar a whopping $25,247,350 Wednesday ... after ruling the music moguls hadn't paid him for design work he did on 3 models of Beats headphones -- the Studio 2 Remastered, the Studio 2 Wireless and the Studio 3.

Dre and Jimmy had previously argued Lamar was only owed royalties on the first model. Lamar sued and the jury agreed he had fulfilled his end of the bargain with the Beats honchos.

The man named as a new person of interest in XXXTentacion's murder case has had a lot of run-ins with the law, much like the arrested murder suspect ... TMZ has learned.

22-year-old Robert Allen's rap sheet in Broward County, FL dates back to early 2015, when he was hit with 3 felony charges after being pulled over for riding without a seat belt. He was charged with trafficking cocaine, carrying a concealed firearm and grand theft of a firearm.

Later that year, two warrants for his arrest were issued for allegedly carrying PVP (a synthetic party drug) and carrying a concealed firearm. He was charged with the 2 felonies.

Allen was also hit with 22 felonies in 2016 (yes, you read right) ... all of which pertained to IDs and credit card info he was accused of stealing. He was just placed on probation for 45 months this past December. You'll recall ... the lone murder suspect in custody so far, Dedrick D. Williams, had quite the criminal record himself, with a number of gun, drug and DV charges.

As we reported ... cops want to talk to Allen in connection to XXX's murder over a week ago. We don't know why police believe he might be a person of interest.

10:30 AM PT -- Family sources tell TMZ, Joe died at a hospice in Las Vegas. The hospice is connected to a hospital where Joe was admitted. We're told he was moved to the hospice a day and a half ago.

Joe Jackson -- the patriarch of the Jackson family -- has died ... TMZ has learned.

Family sources tell TMZ, Joe passed away at 3:30 AM Wednesday.

We broke the story ... Joe was hospitalized in June with terminal cancer. His family had been flocking to his bedside since. His wife, Katherine, had been at his bedside as were some of Joe's children and grandchildren.

Joe had been battling health problems for some time now. He was hospitalized back in 2016 after coming down with a high fever. But, he bounced back not long after and was seen partying in Vegas. His health was also fragile after a stroke and 3 heart attacks back in 2015. Doctors implanted a pacemaker.

Joe may have been the most successful parent managing his children in the history of music. He, with a little help from Diana Ross, engineered the careers of The Jackson 5, and then Michael and Janet Jackson as solo artists.

The elder Jackson took a lot of heat from Michael and his siblings for abusing parenting and management practices, including physical brutality. Joe copped to it but, far from apologizing ... he said his methods made his kids successful and kept them out of jail.

Michael's dad stood by him during his molestation trial. After Michael's death, Joe was criticized for trying to make money off his son's memory.

A rep for Michael's estate tells us, "We are deeply saddened by Mr. Jackson’s passing and extend our heartfelt condolences to Mrs. Katherine Jackson and the family. Joe was a strong man who acknowledged his own imperfections and heroically delivered his sons and daughters from the steel mills of Gary, Indiana to worldwide pop superstardom."

Joe had 10 kids with Katherine, his wife of more than 60 years. The 2 did not live together and had a strained relationship for the last years of his life, but they frequently interacted.

Cardi B's baby shower wasn't exactly a lady luncheon or backyard affair, it was more of a baby bumpin' club night with the soon-to-be mama still shaking what she's got.

Cardi's party was anything but standard. It was dubbed "Bardi Shower: A Bronx Fairytale" and the party didn't start till late Tuesday night. Her husband, Offset, was the impromptu videographer ... roaming around recording Cardi, their guests and the elaborate decorations.

In addition to the dance floor, there was a library with baby books and a Bardi Baby Bodega stocked with drinks, baby gear and dessert.