Music

Offset got arrested for DWB, and the fact that cops didn't even bother doing a field sobriety test proves it ... so claims the rapper's lawyer.

Attorney Drew Findling tells TMZ he believes the police are lying through their teeth. They claim they stopped him because he crossed a solid yellow line. The arresting officer says when he pulled Offset over he smelled weed. Findling says if that was a legit stop, at the very least the officer would order Offset out of the car to walk the line, yet that didn't happen.

The police report makes no mention of impairment or suspected impairment ... it's completely ignored.

Findling doubled down on what he told TMZ over the weekend ... that his client was targeted because he's a rich, young, black rapper wearing a "big fat watch" and was driving an expensive car. He says the goal was to "take him down."

Janet Jackson sure knows how to build hype over her forthcoming studio album -- her first in 3 years -- and did just that by assembling a stealth rhythm nation in New York.

The "Unbreakable" singer was shooting a music video in Brooklyn Monday with a quartet of dancers draped in denim behind her ... as she herself donned quite a colorful getup made of a green headscarf, a long pink skirt and a yellow belt with jeans on.

BTW, there was no music being played here as Janet and co. boogied. Unclear if she was simply getting some choreography down, or if this was the real deal. Seeing how there's a camera guy doing his thing ... probably the latter.

Janet confirmed this past May that she was working on a new record, but was still in the early stages of writing and gathering concepts. It's July now, so it seems she's had some fully fleshed out ideas since then ... hence, this.

Ben Simmons was with rich company for his birthday in Vegas over the weekend ... partying with a squad worth nearly $10 BILLION combined ... and TMZ Sports has the pics!!

The NBA Rookie of the Year kicked off his 22nd year with ragers at both Drai's and TAO nightclubs in Vegas on Saturday ... livin' it up with Sixers co-owner Michael Rubin (net worth: 3 billion), Patriots owner Robert Kraft (6 billion) and Meek Mill (okay, he's not a billionaire, but he's rich).

FYI -- all these guys played a huge role in the #FreeMeek campaign ... so it's great to see them all hangin' out together after the rapper's release.

We're told the gang rolled together to Drai's to support Meek's performance ... and judging by our vid from TAO that same night, all eyes were on the Philly Clout Gang.

Offset's argument he's the victim of the so-called "hip-hop cops" just got dealt a serious blow, because police say he was weaving through traffic when they pulled him over ... TMZ has learned.

According to the cops he was pulled over for "failure to maintain lane" because he crossed over the solid yellow line. As for the guns ... cops say there were a total of 3 weapons found. One of them was on his male passenger, a bodyguard ... the other 2 were inside the car.

As we reported, Offset was charged with 2 counts of illegal possession of firearms.

Offset's attorney, Drew Findling, says officers only targeted his client because he's a rich, successful black rapper. Findling claimed cops used the lane change as a thinly veiled excuse to take down Offset, but the police report describes it as more than just an improper lane change.

What's more, Findling says Offset was NOT in possession of any firearm, and adds the guns belonged to the passenger ... who he described as an assistant who is a licensed gun holder.

Mark Calderon says his Color Me Badd bandmate, Bryan Abrams, was drunk as a skunk when he assaulted him, and adds ... Bryan needs something more than prosecution.

We spoke to the CMB singer Monday after Bryan shoved him to the ground Saturday during a show, for which he was arrested and booked Sunday for misdemeanor assault. Mark says Bryan was intoxicated and even heard through others that Bryan muttered ... "I'm motherf***ing Color Me Badd."

Mark says he will continue performing with or without Bryan for the love of his fans and their music, but it's clear he wants his old pal to get help in the wake of this stumble.

Tekashi69 says he blacked out after getting pistol whipped, but says he remembers enough to believe the whole alleged caper was a setup.

The rapper was on Monday's "TMZ Live" and told us he suspects the people who kidnapped and robbed him had intel about his whereabouts, and it was no accident when they hit his vehicle with theirs early Sunday morning.

He says the gunman hit him so hard in the head he blacked out and woke up in the back of a different vehicle. 6ix9ine told us how he bargained with his captors to let him go -- and why what happened next makes him think it was an "inside job."

Tekashi also talks about his haters calling the alleged heist a publicity stunt to promote his new track with Nicki Minaj -- which just so happened to drop on Sunday.

Tekashi69's alleged robbers were caught on surveillance video outside the rapper's home ... evidence cops say helps support his story.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ, investigators have successfully pulled surveillance video from a camera down the street from 6ix9ine's house. We're told the footage shows the suspects' vehicle outside the rapper's home, but it's too far away to identify who the men are.

TMZ broke the story -- Tekashi was allegedly kidnapped and pistol whipped by men armed with guns -- the rapper told cops a much milder version of what happened than what sources close to 6ix9ine initially told us.

The surveillance footage is interesting, considering Tekashi's haters doubted his story ... calling it a publicity stunt to drum up attention for his single with Nicki Minaj that came out on Sunday.

Kanye West got an assist from his wife Sunday after he was feeling like crap ... so much so he beelined it for the ER.

Kim was right by Kanye's side as they showed up at West Hills Hospital in the San Fernando Valley. We're told Kanye had the flu and it got worse and worse, so he needed some Rx to make him feel better.

They were only there a short time ... and returned home where Kanye could rest.

Kanye's recently been tweeting about his sinus issues, but we're told it's unclear if they're related. He's been traveling nonstop lately.

A member of the band Color Me Badd was arrested Sunday after shoving a bandmate so hard he landed in the hospital.

Bryan K. Abrams was clearly pissed off about something, because after performing a song at del Lago Casino in Tyre, New York, he strutted up to Mark Calderon and, without saying a word, shoved him hard.

An eyewitness tells TMZ Abrams, the lead singer in the group was having a bad night with his voice. He eventually walked off stage he was so frustrated.

Calderon hit some sound equipment on his way to the floor, and was hurt. He was taken to a local hospital and treated for neck and back pain.

As for Abrams, he was arrested for misdemeanor assault, taken to jail where he was booked. His bail was set at $2,000. We don't know if he's posted bail yet.

R. Kelly's spewing out ALL his feelings about the sex cult allegations, his financial problems, the 3 celebs he wants to get off his back ... and much, much more in a 19-minute long song.

The track's called "I Admit" and in it, Kelly goes right after John Legend, Steve Harvey and radio host Tom Joyner for being critical of him. Kelly sings, "Why would they want to tear down another brother?"

He also pleads to women to "show black men some love, 'cause black men we go through enough" -- and says he needs his 'hood's support more than ever. In the song, Kelly claims he's broke and has to keep touring "just to pay rent."

Kelly addresses some of the sex cult allegations ... admitting Joycelyn Savage's father brought her to one of his shows, and says he and Joycelyn were into each other immediately. He dismisses claims he restricts his girlfriends from eating or leaving his homes -- and points out "I'm not convicted, not arrested."

He also claims he was molested by a family member up until the age of 14.

Juelz Santana enjoyed a little QT with his daughter this weekend ... starting with a manicure/pedicure but not before a judge signed off on it.

The rapper -- who is under house arrest following an airport gun bust in March -- requested permission from a judge to leave his house so he could spend the day with his daughter, Bella, for her birthday.

It's interesting ... we haven't seen court records where a judge sets specific times on when a house arrestee can get his nails done, shop at American Girl Place and then attend a birthday party ... but, that's exactly what these docs lay out.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, Juelz's day started at 10 AM Saturday for manicures/pedicures at a nail salon in Englewood, NJ. Dad and daughter later hit up the American Girl Place in Manhattan at 2 PM presumably to spoil Bella with a fancy doll. They were then off to a family member's house in Totowa, NJ where they partied from 6 PM until 10 PM.

Faith Evans married Notorious B.I.G. in '94, but you wouldn't know it based on her recent marriage license -- it makes no mention of her marriage to the legendary rapper -- but Faith is blaming the court for the error.

TMZ's obtained a copy of Faith's marriage license docs and in it she lists her marriage to Stevie J as marriage no. 2. The document references her divorce from Todd Russaw back in 2012, and that's the other marriage. So, what happened to Biggie?

As you know, Faith and Biggie -- labelmates with Bad Boy Records -- tied the knot back in August of 1994 within days of meeting each other. They separated shortly before his 1997 murder.

As for why the document seems to overlook the Faith/Biggie union. Faith tells us the clerk at the marriage license bureau screwed up. She insists she told the clerk the marriage with Stevie was her 3rd.

Evans adds, "Biggie was my first true love, he will always be acknowledged as such. Everyone knows he was my husband."

TMZ broke the story ... Faith and Stevie got married in their Vegas hotel room last week. The secret wedding, however, blindsided family and friends ... and they were not happy about it.

Birdman and Wack 100 have a new home for West Coast rappers looking to make a name for themselves -- Cash Money West.

Wack 100 tells TMZ ... he and Birdman have been in talks for a few months and recently finalized a deal to jointly launch the new division of Cash Money Records. The objective is to land up-and-coming artists ready to make the leap into the mainstream.

We're told Cash Money's parent company, Universal Music Group, is giving CMW strong support -- a $20 million budget to get things rolling.

Wack, who manages The Game, says he pitched the West Coast concept to Birdman and his brother, Slim ... and they've named him VP of the new company.

Trippie Redd put on his good Samaritan hat this weekend when a fan passed out at his concert, which he abruptly stopped to help the girl out.

The Ohio rapper was performing in Minneapolis Saturday night when a female in the crowd collapsed. Eyewitnesses tell us Trippie noticed the commotion and quickly cut the music to figure out what had happened ... and soon started demanding someone help her.

It almost sounds like he's chastising concert-goers for standing around -- although, it's unclear from the video who is (or isn't) springing into action on the ground level.

UPDATE: 9:30 AM PT Tekashi told a different story to cops. Law enforcement sources tell us, they ended up interviewing 6ix9ine and he said the following: At around 4:25 AM Sunday, he was a passenger in a Chevy Tahoe at a Brooklyn intersection, sitting at a red light, when a car bumped them from behind. He told cops 2 men with guns jumped out, stole the driver's iPhone and then grabbed Tekashi and dragged him into their car and sped away.

Law enforcement says they drove to Tekashi's home and he called someone inside -- presumably his baby mama -- and asked her to come down with his jewelry ... which she did. Our sources say Tekashi then told cops he managed to escape and reported the incident to cops, but then became uncooperative. He checked himself into the hospital. Our sources say they have no idea how Tekashi was injured.

The 2 stories are obviously different. As for why ... Tekashi has bragged that people don't mess with him. The version he told his people make him look harder than the version he told cops. You be the judge, but it seems pretty easy to figure this one out.

Tekashi69 was kidnapped, pistol whipped and robbed and is now in the hospital ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to Tekashi tell us, the rapper was working on a music video in Brooklyn early Sunday morning and at around 4AM he wrapped for the night and drove home. We're told when he got there another car pulled up and blocked his driveway.

Our sources say that's when 3 hooded gunmen got out of the other car, grabbed Tekashi and pistol whipped him ... knocking him unconscious.

We're told the next thing Tekashi knew, he was in the back seat of the car as the gunmen were driving around, telling him if they didn't get what they wanted from him -- jewelry and money -- they would kill him.

Our sources say a short time later, the gunmen pulled up to Tekashi's home and 2 of them made their way inside as the third guarded 6ix9ine inside the vehicle.

We're told the gunmen took around $750k in jewelry and between $15k and $20k in cash. While all this was happening, Tekashi's baby mama and daughter were inside the house but not hurt.

That wasn't the end of it. We're told the gunmen then drove away with Tekashi still in the back seat. At some point 6ix9ine was able to open the back door and jumped out. One of the gunmen began chasing him but got scared and retreated because he was afraid he'd be ID'd.

Our sources say Tekashi jumped in the passenger seat of a stranger's vehicle and pleaded for help. The stranger called 911 and then asked 6ix9ine to get out of the car at an intersection.

Taylor Swift was soaked to the bone Saturday night during her "Reputation" concert.

Taylor was performing at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford when the skies opened up, but she didn't miss a beat.

Thousands of Swifties were soaking it up with sheer glee, wearing ponchos and wet t-shirts.

Taylor knew the storm was looming before she took the stage, but she followed the age-old maxim, "The show must go on."