Music

Aretha Franklin's casket just arrived for a public viewing in Detroit -- where the Queen of Soul will lie in state for a couple of days -- and massive lines are already starting to form.

Crowds swarmed and lines stretched around the block of the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History Tuesday morning to catch a glimpse of Aretha and pay last respects to the legendary singer. Her body was on display in an open casket ... surrounded by a beautiful floral arrangement.

We broke the story ... there is going to be a plethora of big music acts performing at Aretha's memorial Thursday, including names like the Four Tops, Ron Isley and many, many others.

This is a copy of the program for her funeral service Friday at Greater Grace Temple ... where Stevie Wonder and Jennifer Hudson, among many others, will perform.

Kanye West says he was taking a page from the Land of the Rising Sun with his waaaay too small Yeezy slides.

Ye is firing back at everyone who mocked his choice of footwear earlier this month at 2 Chainz' wedding, saying his feet ARE acceptable ... in JAPAN!!!

Take us to school, Kanye. Or, should we say, sensei?

You'll recall ... Kanye made the Internet go absolutely crazy when he showed up at the ceremony, with Kim Kardashian West, rocking those infamously small sandals.

Look, we'll admit ... on first sight, we gave Ye some grief over his style choice. Apologies to Japan, must've been lost in translation.

Rihanna's third wheeling it back home, but couldn't look happier about it because she's hanging with Mom and Dad -- a rare sighting of the fam together.

RiRi's grinning in the shot with her mother, Monica, and father, Ronald. We don't know exactly what's behind the reunion, but she captioned the shot, "home" -- so, we're guessing she's in Barbados.

That she posted this pic is huge. Remember, Rihanna had a fractured relationship with her father ... telling Oprah in 2012 she had to make peace with her abusive father before she could forgive Chris Brown for assaulting her in 2009.

Rihanna said she struggled with the fact her dad was loving to her, but physically abused her mom. Seems the whole family is on the mend.

50 Cent will only be showing up on "Power" from here on out in flashbacks -- if at all -- but don't think that's got the guy down ... he's still reaping what the series sows.

We got Fiddy on the streets of NYC -- where his own character Kanan was gunned down by the NYPD in Sunday night's episode (whoops, spoiler alert here) -- and he says he's got no worries about the fate of his show without him ... 'cause true fans are ride or die.

50 makes a bold claim -- "Power" is doing very well now, and will continue to do so with or without him on screen. Time will tell, we suppose. Either way, he's got an EP credit attached ... so he'll still have a check coming in from the Starz hit show at the end of the day.

As for that shooting on the set of his newest music video with Tekashi69, which fortunately left no one inured ... get the strap, literally.

Ice Cube was so fired up after Team Power won the BIG3 title over the weekend, he went to the locker room and kicked off the champagne-spraying party all by himself ... and TMZ Sports has the video.

Cube actually got to the locker room so fast, he beat some of the players to the celebration -- but when Corey Maggette, "Big Baby" Davis and "Birdman" Andersen arrived, they got the full spray treatment.

It all went down Friday night at Barclays Center, where Team Power took on (and beat) 3's Company -- comprised of players like Baron Davis and Drew Gooden.

Big Baby was particularly pumped up -- grabbin' everybody around him and soaking them in Luc Belaire champagne. Not even coach Nancy Lieberman was spared.

And, by the way ... did you know Nancy Lieberman became the first woman to coach a men’s pro team to a championship?

Trey Songz is not in the clear yet for an alleged attack on a woman back in February ... she's now suing the singer.

As we reported, Andrea Buera insists the incident went down at a Hollywood party during NBA All-Star Weekend. Songz was arrested for the alleged attack, and although the L.A. City Attorney and the D.A. declined misdemeanor and felony charges for lack of evidence. ... Buera is pressing forward with a civil lawsuit.

According to docs, Trey ran after her -- because she was talking to another guy -- and choked her and punched her several times in the face. Andrea claims the beating only stopped because one of the singer's bodyguards intervened.

Andrea says Songz further humiliated her when he demanded she take off her shorts because they belonged to his friend.

She says her left eye was swollen shut, and she suffered bruises around her jaw and shoulders. Her legs were also bruised and scratched.

Trippie Redd's mouth is drippin' in diamonds ... 'cause he just dropped $50k for a smile on the rocks.

The rapper put his money where his mouth is -- LITERALLY -- with this one-of-a-kind grill from celebrity jeweler Johnny Dang.

Check out the VVS blue diamonds, 10 carat diamonds made in white gold and the flawless white diamonds making Trippie's favorite no. 14 shine like the sun.

Now THAT's trippy.

Yeah, he already has an iced-out chain ... but what's that without a grill???

Trippie definitely went to the right guy ... 'cause Johnny previously delivered some SERIOUS BLING earlier this month for Lil Pump.

Yes, it's still summer outside, but Trippie's mouth will keep him ice cold.

Hey Trippie, smile for the camera (no flash needed)!!!

If Ray J had one wish, it might be for a private plane that actually works.

Another week, another emergency landing for a private jet carrying celebs … this time, Ray J and Princess Love had their travel plans grounded.

Ray J, Princess and their baby, Melody, were traveling Monday from Los Angeles to New York when their flight had to return to Van Nuys Airport after a cabin pressure issue forced an emergency landing!!!

Check the video, it's a hectic scene onboard ... with ominous sounds and prayers for a safe landing.

You’ll recall … Post Malone and his team made an emergency landing last week when the crew’s private jet blew 2 tires during takeoff.

We’re told Ray J and co. are determined to make it to NYC … and they’re working on securing a backup plane within the hour.

Second time's the charm?

Vinnie Paul -- Pantera's drummer and one of the original founders of the band -- died from a bad heart ... TMZ has learned.

The Clark County Coroner tells TMZ that Vinnie died of dilated cardiomyopathy -- an enlarged heart -- as well as severe coronary artery disease -- a heart condition. We're told he died of natural causes.

As we reported ... Vinnie died in his sleep this past June at his Las Vegas home. His body was going to be buried in Texas next to his mom and his late brother, "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott -- who was tragically murdered on stage during a show.

Like we told you ... Vinnie was laid to rest in a custom KISS casket, identical to the one his brother was buried in. Gene Simmons and co. provided the casket as a gift to Vinnie's family. He was buried in some of his own clothes -- including his hat, shoes and flannel ... among other items.

A free public memorial concert was also held for him in Dallas at 3:33 PM to recognize his brother, Darrell. Pantera was a huge heavy metal band in the '90s -- having been nominated for Grammys in 1995 and 2001. Their album, "Far Beyond Driven," hit #1 in 1994.

The man who supplied Demi Lovato with drugs the night she OD'd said she knew exactly the chance she was taking ... that she was ingesting "aftermarket pills," which made things risky.

Brandon Johnson told our photog Demi texted him at 4 AM, the morning she OD'd, and asked him to come over. He says he read between the lines and brought pills, which they freebased together.

He strongly insinuates the 2 of them did drugs together many times before and even had a sexual relationship. Our Demi sources strongly deny there was any sexual relationship.

As for the pills, Johnson says Demi knew they were not pharmaceuticals, but much stronger ... though he denies knowing they were laced with anything. TMZ broke the story ... Johnson notoriously got pills from Mexico, many of which were allegedly laced with fentanyl.

Johnson says he left at around 7 or 8 AM and Demi was sleeping with no sign of distress. An assistant found Demi in deep distress at around 11:30 AM on July 24 and called 911. She almost died and had to be revived by Narcan.

We broke the story ... Demi's OD was likely triggered by Oxycodone laced with fentanyl from the batch supplied by Johnson.

Demi's now out of the hospital and has entered an out-of-state rehab facility.

Various friends of Demi have told TMZ they knew Johnson was hanging out with her a lot and also knew he was "bad news," and will do everything in their power to keep him away from her.

Johnson was arrested back in March -- one month before he allegedly connected with the singer -- with a stash of guns, drugs and cash. When cops picked him up he allegedly had narcotics, a fully loaded semi-automatic handgun and $10k in his pocket ... and they discovered more guns, drugs and ammo at his home.

Iggy Azalea had an interesting Sunday ... spending some time with NBA superstar Jimmy Butler in Malibu.

Soooooooooo ... was this a date???

The photographer certainly believes it was -- saying the two left a restaurant in Malibu together after dining together.

Buuuuuut ... it's also ENTIRELY possible the two just happened to be leaving the same restaurant at the same time and were being cordial in the parking lot.

The two seem to be each other's types -- he's a good lookin' NBA superstar. She's smokin' hot.

But remember, Jimmy was recently out to lunch with ANOTHER really attractive lady -- India Love -- and when we asked if they were a "thing," Jimmy played the whole thing down.

By the way, Love is an aspiring rapper who's been romantically linked to stars like The Game, Rick Ross and Drake. She's also got 3.7 million IG followers.

Mel B is getting ready to enter a therapy program to deal with PTSD from her long and bitter divorce battle ... and admits she's also had issues with alcohol and sex.

The 'AGT' judge said she discovered her PTSD issues earlier this month, and has decided to seek treatment in the next few weeks ... once 'AGT' is over.

Mel seemed carefree, at least outwardly, while she was out Sunday in Beverly Hills with Gary Madatyan ... who's rumored to be a new bf.

She told The Sun ... Stephen Belafonte stripped her of her "self-respect and self-worth" during more than a year of court battles.

During the divorce, she had been accused of abusing alcohol and dragging Belafonte into threesomes while they were married.

You scratch Donald Trump's back, he'll scratch yours ... just ask Jim Brown -- who was just praised publicly by the President days after the NFL player went to bat for Donald during a radio interview.

Brown told "JT The Brick" he's still "really pulling for the President" after meeting with POTUS at Trump Tower right after Trump won the election back in December 2016.

Brown also said he knows supporting Trump will make him unpopular in the black community but said he believes Trump is doing "good things."

Fast forward to Monday morning ... when Trump tweeted about his old friend.

"Thank you to the great [Jim Brown] perhaps the greatest running back of all time, for your wonderful words and support."

"Since our meeting in New York, African-American UNEMPLOYMENT has reached the LOWEST LEVEL IN HISTORY. You get it!"

Trump made no mention of the NFL kneelers in the tweet, but they also share the same point of view on that issue -- firmly against it.

Over the weekend, Brown met with another outspoken Trump supporter -- Kanye West.

In fact, Trump also praised Kanye and his wife, Kim Kardashian West, while speaking at a fundraising dinner in Ohio on Friday.

"Now we're doing great and Kanye West liked me and that really lifted my -- Kanye West has some real power!" Trump said.

"He's got a good wife too, in Kim, I'll tell ya. She really is."

Trump continued to hand out compliments to his athlete friends on Monday ... praising Tiger Woods' response to questions about his relationship with POTUS.

"The Fake News Media worked hard to get Tiger Woods to say something that he didn’t want to say. Tiger wouldn’t play the game - he is very smart," Trump tweeted.

Young Thug posted bail for his crew when they were arrested for gun possession at a party last week ... and we're told he's footing the bill for their legal fees too.

Sources close to the rapper tell TMZ ... he ponied up the bail money for all 5 of his homies -- $50k for one guy who allegedly had an AK-47 and $35k each for the remaining 4 -- and they were out of jail about 12 hours after their arrest.

We're told Thug had lawyers waiting for all of them at the jail with a bail bondsman after they were busted at his Dave & Buster's album release/birthday party in Hollywood last week.

Our sources say lawyers' fees are $7k up front for each person ... and YT is handling the ever-rising costs for everyone.

We broke the story ... Young Thug was busted by cops after they allegedly found the rapper and members of his crew in possession of multiple weapons. Law enforcement sources told us a crew member ran into a police cruiser as he was leaving, prompting the vehicle search, which uncovered the weapons.

However, sources close to the rapper say everyone was inside the D&B's and all their cars were parked inside when cops stormed in saying everyone in Thug's crew needed to go outside because they were being arrested.

YBN Nahmir has racked up more than 250 MILLION views on YouTube after exploding onto the rap scene ... and says he's living proof the next place to find huge rap stars is in video gaming.

Here's the deal ... Nahmir would showcase his freestyle skills while playing games like Grand Theft Auto and people loved it. He blew up and now the 18-year-old is becoming a force in the hip-hop world.

But, Nahmir is not some anomaly -- telling TMZ Sports there are TONS of super talented young rappers using video game streaming services to get noticed ... and it's a matter of time before big record labels start heading to Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network to start hunting for talent.

"You see how I blew up? Off the game," Nahmir says.

"These motherf**kers are everywhere that's like unknown ... It's a whole 'nother thing coming."

As for his own gaming career, don't expect him to go back to full-time for a VERY long time. Nahmir is traveling the world doing hip-hop -- performing in front of massive crowds.

Right now, Nahmir says it's all about the music.

Swae Lee was left bleeding and livid after a fan threw something on stage at a concert he was performing at this weekend ... which riled him up enough to threaten to sue.

The Rae Sremmurd rapper was opening for Wiz Khalifa Sunday night at the Starplex Pavilion in Dallas, when at one point a fan threw an object on stage "like a baseball" that smacked Swae in the face and busted his lip open. It also might've knocked out his tooth, as he indicated himself.

It's unclear what exactly the object was, but some eyewitnesses are saying it was either a phone or a wallet, because it contained an ID inside that Swae was trying to read aloud in getting a name for the perpetrator. He was stopped by people around him, including bandmate Slim Jxmmi who tried to drag him away. It's pretty clear though ... Swae wanted the person's info, and he wanted folks to see his injury.

He asked cameras to zoom in on his face, and they obliged. Needless to say, it looked pretty gruesome. His mic was eventually cut off and he stormed off stage in a rage.

Swae later tweeted about the incident, saying the fan was a girl ... and that the injury was bad enough to keep him off tour for at least a few days.