Music

Cardi B's not coming back to work unless someone's ready to break the bank ... it's the only way she'll entertain the idea of leaving her kid.

Sources close to the rapper tell TMZ ... Cardi wants $300k to get back onstage, and it's gonna be on her terms -- no discounts. Fact is ... we're told she's getting offers in the $500k range, so she won't be hurting for work.

We're told not only does the moola have to be right, the location can't be in Timbuktu. She wants the shows to be close to home. Reason's simple ... she's obsessed with her baby girl, Kulture Kiari Cephus.

Cardi's made it crystal clear ... no small club gigs 'cause the "Bodak Yellow" rapper is all grown up -- and the market agrees. She commanded $100k a show at Coachella in April while she was pregnant ... and with her popularity rising, so has her paycheck. She's recently fielded multiple offers but it's unclear if and when she'll pull the trigger on any of them.

Cardi shocked the world last weekend when she performed at the Aubrey & the Three Migos Tour in NYC. It's unclear if the promoter dropped Cardi's commanding fee for that show. Her camp ain't saying.

But, what's clear is that fans were left salivating after she dropped her bars from "Motorsport" ... as she rocked a sultry leather getup with heels and long pink hair.

Cardi's return to the stage has turned into highly anticipated news. Remember, Cardi had to bail on Bruno Mars' upcoming tour, saying she needed more time to recover mentally and physically after giving birth to Kulture. As she put it, she "underestimated this whole mommy thing." For Bruno's part, he was cool ... signing a bunch of other stars to his 24K Magic Tour.

Cardi opened the VMAs earlier this month, and came away huge with 3 awards. She celebrated with a little Mickey D's, and then put Nicki Minaj on notice ... dissing her as she rapped onstage during an NYC after-party.

Michael Jackson's posthumous 60th birthday celebration brought 2 of his children front and center onstage.

Paris and Prince were there Wednesday night to honor and celebrate their late father's birthday at the Michael Jackson Diamond Birthday Celebration at Mandalay Bay in Vegas.

Paris looked stunning in a purple gown while rocking some MJ-themed sneakers. Prince wore a red jacket that looks similar to the one Michael famously wore in the late '90s. Style, man.

Tito and Jackie were also at the star-studded event ... along with Ashlee Simpson, Evan Ross, Blake Griffin, Gabrielle Union, Angela Bassett, Vanessa Hudgens and Usher, who was profoundly influenced by MJ's music and dancing. Usher performed ... as did Cirque du Soleil with its "Michael Jackson ONE" number.

Tons of MJ memorabilia was also on display at the event. BTW ... that cube Prince is holding -- it's a humanitarian award they accepted on their father's behalf from the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.

When the shindig ended ... it moved over to the DAYLIGHT Beach Club for an after-party.

Janet Jackson kicked off Michael's birthday right Wednesday. As TMZ first reported ... Janet did an homage to MJ's "Remember the Time" music video, and it was awesome.

Victor Cruz doesn't seem to be bored in his new life after football -- the recently retired NFL star spent his Wednesday night having a fancy dinner with Drake!

Cruz hung up his cleats after 6 seasons with the NY Giants -- in which he racked up 4,549 receiving yards and 25 touchdowns. Not a bad stint.

Cruz reportedly made close to $30 million in contract money during his career.

After he made his retirement official last week, Cruz signed a deal with ESPN to be an NFL analyst.

Fast forward to Wednesday night ... and Cruz was leaving Nobu in New York with the 6 God.

Life is good!

By the way, when he's not hanging with world-famous rap stars, Cruz is dating Karrueche Tran.

Katharine McPhee and David Foster were so impressed with a wedding they witnessed from their hotel balcony ... they went down and joined the celebration.

The bride, Whitney Madian, says she and her husband, Shant, got married at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel in Victoria, Canada Saturday, where Katharine and David were also staying.

Whitney tells us, after their ceremony, she saw the 2 signing their guest book at the reception -- weird, huh? So she approached them, and they ended up chatting for about 5 minutes.

Madian says McPhee and Foster told her they watched her walk down the aisle from their balcony and that her wedding was "beautiful." She also tells us she and Katharine compared rings ... and Kat really liked hers.

It's interesting ... McPhee doesn't like to show off her rock to just anyone, but she clearly made an exception for the bride.

Danny Glover says he's got the perfect tune to sing at Aretha Franklin's funeral -- it's a gospel classic, but it doesn't appear to be one the Queen of Soul covered herself.

We got the "Lethal Weapon" star Wednesday at The Palm in Bev Hills and asked what should be performed Friday by the star-studded lineup -- which will feature Ariana Grande, Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, Jennifer Hudson, Fantasia, Faith Hill and others.

Danny's hoping to hear someone belt out a tune which served as both the lead single and title of the 1983 album "Peace Be Still" ... by gospel singer Vanessa Bell Armstrong.

It's been covered by lots of people but it doesn't appear Aretha ever recorded it for an album -- but some critics have described Vanessa's performance of it as Aretha-esque.

We're guessing the Queen's performed it live at some point in her illustrious career, especially because she got her start in gospel.

Speaking of that body of work, Danny says he's been playing Aretha radio nonstop since her death a couple weeks ago. Can't blame him -- some of the best music ever from the greatest voice.

7:54 PM PT -- Pump has been released from custody. A source close tells us he was issued a ticket and will not have to appear in court ... it'll be handled by his legal team.

3:42 PM PT -- According to the police report -- obtained by TMZ -- officers initiated the stop after discovering the license plate on Pump's Rolls-Royce actually belonged to a Mini Cooper. When cops asked Pump for a driver's license, he allegedly told them he'd never had one.

Lil Pump's been arrested in Miami, and TMZ got pics of him in handcuffs during the bust, and his grinning mug shot after he was taken into custody.

Witnesses tell us the "Drug Addicts" rapper was pulled over Wednesday afternoon while driving a black Rolls-Royce -- and, according to law enforcement, it's because of an issue with his driver's license.

His Miami-Dade County Jail booking sheet says he doesn't have a valid license. He's currently still in custody.

We broke the story ... Pump was also arrested earlier this year for firing a gun into the door of his L.A.-area home. He originally claimed intruders fired from the outside, but cops quickly realized the rapper was the shooter ... and there were no intruders.

Pump was taken to a juvenile detention center because he was 17 at the time. He turned 18 a couple weeks ago.

This is wild! Chaka Khan -- a 10-time Grammy winner and as well-seasoned a performer as anyone in the biz -- says she's got butterflies about performing at Aretha Franklin's funeral.

We got the iconic funk singer Wednesday as she was heading off to Detroit from LAX to get ready for the Queen of Soul's Friday's funeral service -- which will include performances from Stevie Wonder, Jennifer Hudson, Faith Hill, Ariana Grande and Chaka herself.

Our camera guy asked if she's nervous to get onstage to honor Aretha, and surprisingly ... she says absolutely! That's saying a lot for someone who's been rocking stages since at least the '70s, if not well before that. Still, even for Chaka ... delivering for Aretha's got her jittery.

She even tells us what song she's going to sing -- and finishes by offering an unofficial invite to the First Family ... should they be inclined to attend.

French Montana just got bit, legally speaking, by his pool guy ... who says the rapper's dog bit him.

According to court docs, obtained by TMZ, Juan Lomeli says the run-in with the German Shepherd went down in May 2017 ... while Juan was servicing French's pool. He says he'd had the pool gig for 6 months and had no issues with Zane, the dog.

However, in the lawsuit, he says Zane went off for no reason that day ... biting and viciously attacking him and causing some serious injuries, although he's not specific about them.

Juan claims he was hurt badly enough that he couldn't work for some time.

Taylor Hicks says even though Katharine McPhee's recent tweet about voting seemed to shade him pretty hard ... it's really all in good fun, and for a good cause.

We talked to the "American Idol" season 5 winner Wednesday about McPhee tweeting out "voting matters" -- along with a pic of the moment she lost to Hicks.

Taylor praised Kat's post as a brilliant way to encourage people to register to vote in the 2018 midterms. He says he and Kat remain supportive of each other -- but he still threw some playful shade back her way.

Aside from national elections, Mr. Soul Patrol would love for you to cast a vote for the third season of his food/travel show, "State Plate." It premieres Sept. 24 on INSP.

Kanye West has more to say about slavery being a choice, because he says he couldn't get his full explanation out when he was on TMZ Live.

Ye was on the 107.5 WGCI Morning Show with Leon Rogers, Kendra G, and Kyle in Chicago Wednesday, and elaborated on what he told us back in May ... that 400 years of slavery sounds "like a choice." The part he didn't say to us involves his spirit and the spirits of Harriet Tubman and Nat Turner.

Now, Kanye admits up front, this is his "non-historical opinion," but watch his perspective. Still seems like he's saying more African slaves should have rebelled ... which, let's be honest, is what upset people the first time he said it.

He did apologize for how the slavery remark "made people feel."

Just as a refresher ... here's exactly how it came out when Kanye was on TMZ Live. It's early, around 3:45 into the episode.

On his way out of the radio station, he spoke to Chicago's FOX32 about why he's back in Chicago, and also about liking President Trump ... still.

Janet Jackson clearly remembers when she fell in love with Michael Jackson's "Remember the Time" music video -- TMZ got a peek at a vid featuring the singer to celebrate MJ on his 60th birthday.

Janet teamed up with Kwaylon Rogers -- aka @BlameItOnKway to his 3.6 million IG followers -- to shoot this 1-minute, 11-second clip. Janet plays the queen passing judgment on dancers ... just like Iman did in MJ's 1992 video.

The project came about after Kway and Janet met at the Billboard Awards earlier this year. They hit it off and, soon after, Kway pitched the idea of reimagining Michael's hit video and releasing it Wednesday ... the day he would've turned 60.

Sources close to Kway tell us the group rehearsed -- with Diamond Batiste behind the camera -- for a day and shot the video the next day to Janet's liking. As you should know, MJ's "Remember the Time" video -- costarring Eddie Murphy and Magic Johnson -- was hailed as a masterpiece.

Kway and King Bach play the dancers desperate for Janet's approval in her tip of the hat to Michael -- which also features her new song, "Made for Now."

It's a great tribute on a milestone day for MJ's family, friends and fans.

TMZ broke the story ... Michael died in June 2009 after going into cardiac arrest at his Holmby Hills home. Paramedics on scene and staffers at UCLA Medical Center were unable to resuscitate him.

Michael's doctor, Conrad Murray, was ultimately found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Murray still believes he did not play a significant role in Michael's homicide.

Post Malone made it clear to us ... he "f**king hate(s) flying," but it sure looks like he enjoys the hell out of yachts and jet skis.

Post and a mystery woman had no trouble on the high seas as they spent the day in St.-Tropez, France ... soaking up the sun and ballin' like White Iverson.

PDA with an absolute babe? Check. Mobbing on jet skis? Duh. Hot shower on the back of a yacht? You know it! Now, we gotta say ... the woman looks an awful lot like Post's gf Ashlen Diaz but we're told it's not.

The rapper continues to make the most of his new lease on life following last week's frightening emergency landing in a private jet. And you can't blame him.

12:20 PM PT -- A source close to Tyga wants to make it clear ... this is solely a business feud, nothing personal with Wayne. He's also amended his complaint and is asking for no less than $10 mil.

Tyga is squaring off with the likes of Birdman and Lil Wayne by suing both Cash Money and Young Money, claiming they screwed him out of lots of loot.

Here's the backstory. Tyga claims he made a deal back in 2009 in which he would produce 2 albums for Young Money. The albums -- 'Careless World' and "Hotel California" -- both charted big on Billboard. 'Careless World' charted #4 and 'Hotel Cali' charted 7.

Tyga claims Young Money -- run by Lil Wayne -- shorted him "significant sums."

He goes on in his lawsuit to claim in 2016 both Cash Money and Young Money agreed to pay Tyga all the royalties that he says were owed to him for years, but he didn't get squat.

Tyga says he's tried over and over to get paid, only to get stonewalled.

He wants no less than a cool mil.

Originally published -- 8/29/18 6:21 AM PT

Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow has one busy -- and bittersweet -- weekend ahead of her.

Debbie plans to attend services for Aretha Franklin in Detroit AND John McCain in Washington D.C. -- all in about 48 hours.

The Senator tells us it's going to be an incredible few days paying tribute to 2 extremely influential and powerful people.

She's not the only politician pulling double duty ... former President Clinton is also jetting to Michigan and the Capitol to pay respects.

The Queen of Soul has a star-studded tribute concert Thursday ahead of her Friday funeral.

McCain has memorial and funeral services in D.C. starting Friday and will be laid to rest on Sunday at the U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery in Annapolis, Maryland.

7:39 AM PT -- Meek surprised hundreds of kids when he showed up at his alma mater, James G. Blaine Elementary School, Wednesday morning to donate some backpacks.

Philly better not boo this Santa ... Meek Mill's doing right by the city of Brotherly Love and spreading cheer early to a bunch of kids just in time for back to school.

Meek Mill's teaming up with Puma, sports apparel Fanatics, United Legwear and Philly's luxury store Milano Di Rogue to donate more than 6,000 backpacks to students in the city.

We're told there will be 3 types of backpacks -- for elementary school, middle school and high school students. The kiddos get pencil sharpeners, rulers, glue sticks and crayons -- while it's dry erase markers, notebooks and pens for high schoolers.

Meek tells TMZ he knows firsthand what it's like for families to struggle financially around back-to-school time. He says, "Those memories stay with me and that’s why I’m committed to giving back to families in my hometown, putting smiles on kids’ faces and helping them start the school year on the right note with the right supplies."

And, get this ... we're told Meek's gonna surprise some kids Wednesday to personally hand-deliver the loot. Little advice for him though -- do NOT wear a Santa hat! That's risky biz in Philly.

1:33 PM PT -- Martin Luther King III, Dr. King's eldest son, tells us he's upset about the timing of the skit's release -- on the "I Have a Dream" anniversary -- and because it distracts from several more important issues. He also says Cardi missed the mark on his mother.

11:08 AM PT -- It seems Cardi B was quick on the uptake, because Bernice King just tweeted that Cardi B has already reached out to her.

9:30 AM PT -- Dr. Bernice King -- the youngest child of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King -- has responded to Cardi's portrayal of her mother, calling it "repulsive" and "false" ... and very, very badly timed. Tuesday is the 55th anniversary of MLK's March on Washington where he delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.

Bernice says Cardi is using a platform that her parents made possible in an atrocious way. She wants to talk to Cardi face-to-face.

Cardi B playing Coretta Scott King will be the most unforgettable and hilarious thing you see today -- it will also be the most inappropriate. Guaranteed.

Cardi stepped into the role of Martin Luther King Jr.'s late wife for a skit called "Real Housewives of the Civil Rights Movement." Yes, she went there ... spilling tea with Rosa Parks and the wives of Malcolm X and Jesse Jackson. There's also a jaw-dropping "Iggy Azalea" sighting.

You gotta watch, but fair warning ... there are multiple references to MLK's infamous infidelities, and even the trip to Memphis, where he was assassinated.

The sketch is part of "Wild 'N Out" star Rip Michaels' new show, "Off the Rip." As we told you, it also features Cardi delivering "Ho Etiquette" jokes that some call racist.

Look, it ain't gonna win an NAACP Image Award, but where else ya gonna see Cardi/Coretta drop the line ... "All these hussies wanna sleep with my huuusband!"?