Music

Taylor Swift just made her current political views explicitly clear for what may be the first time ever in her career -- and it might piss off a lot of conservatives in Tennessee.

Tay posted a lengthy statement on Instagram Sunday that weighed in on the midterm elections taking place across the country next month. She addressed the congressional race in her home state of Tennessee -- where she moved when she was 14 and where she'll be voting herself -- for which she declared she'd be voting for two Democrats running for U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives.

In her post, Taylor says she's been reluctant to voice her politics publicly in the past -- but felt compelled to do so now due to recent events in her life and around the world. She says she has always cast votes for people who protect human rights, support the LGBT community, fight against discrimination of any sort as well as the systematic racism at play in the country.

As such, she says she cannot in her right conscience vote for U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican who's running for a Senate seat against former TN Gov. Phil Bredesen -- a Democrat. Blackburn's been seen at Trump rallies in support of the President.

Taylor says Blackburn has taken positions that are antithetical to everything she personally stands for, adding ... "These are not MY Tennessee values." She goes on to say she'll be voting for Jim Cooper for the House of Representatives -- another Democrat.

Kanye West and Chance the Rapper are dads about town in Chicago right now -- ready to turn up on a moment's notice ... with their two toddlers nearby to make it even sweeter.

Ye was back in Chicago this weekend, and on Saturday, he took his son, Saint, back to the famous Sugar Factory where he was also joined by Chance and his own daughter, Kensli. Looks like the party was well underway by the time Chano showed ... can ya tell?

In this clip, obtained by TMZ, you see Kanye dancing in his private booth with a decently sized audience around him, clapping to some music. Kanye stands up on the cushion, and then suddenly Chance emerges from the crowd with Kensli in his arms.

Seems Kanye really wanted his Chitown pal to join him onstage on-table ... before quickly realizing he might've been a little too close to the sparklers, and possibly off balance.

Insane Clown Posse's Shaggy 2 Dope attempted to do something truly crazy this weekend to fellow rocker Fred Durst ... a running dropkick -- which totally crashed and burned.

Fred was performing with his own band, Limp Bizkit, Saturday night at the 2018 Rock Allegiance Festival in Camden, New Jersey when Shaggy tried rushing him on stage with a WWE wrestling move that completely backfired. The dropkick ended up dropping Shaggy more effectively than it did Fred ... and security quickly dragged him away to the side stage.

Fred was hardly rocked by the kick, which came up just a bit short, and he calmly announced to the audience ... "What a p***y. Couldn't even pull it off." As the stage handlers attempted to contain Shaggy, it appears another person in ICP's camp got into it as well.

Michael Jackson fans could soon be moonwalking to a whole lotta new songs -- at least that's the hope -- 'cause the late singer's estate is renewing it's logo for tons of merch, and the hope among fans is that it could be the prequel to a possible release of new tunes!!!

According to docs obtained by TMZ ... Michael's merch firm, Triumph International, recently filed renewal paperwork for its logo -- an interlocking MJ with a crown on top -- so they can continue to splash it over phone accessories, merch, CD cases and ... music recordings!

It's got us thinking ... is the King Of Pop's estate preparing to open MJ's music vault? Because that would be so, so awesome! Sadly, our sources say no new music is being released because the vault is empty.

Kanye West is turning to Big U -- one of L.A.'s most successful community activists -- for advice on how to improve life for Chicago's youth ... an issue Ye thinks Barack Obama ignored.

The gang prevention leader tells TMZ ... he had a long convo with Kanye recently, in which the rapper expressed disappointment in Obama for not following through on important topics they discussed. Big U hints that's one reason Ye's been supportive of President Trump.

More importantly, Kanye wanted to learn how Big U's been able to spearhead gang intervention in South L.A. with his organization, Developing Options. He says Kanye's planning to do something similar in Chi-Town.

Kanye also met with some of the kids involved with Developing Options last week, and U says he's serious about taking what he learned from them back to his hometown.

As we reported ... Kanye announced he's moving back to the Windy City and wants to heal the community.

That cop who got busted taking a photo of a woman's ass wasn't serving or protecting anybody ... and Juice WRLD's not afraid to clown him for it.

The Chicago rapper -- who's blowing up right now for his track "Lucid Dreams" -- has words for the Houston cop who got caught taking a booty pic while working the Drake and Migos concert last week ... don't perv out on the clock, bro!

Juice also wonders how many officers are using body cameras to secretly record women for their personal collections, which we have to admit ... we never thought of before.

But, then a guy in the rapper's crew drops the line of the day -- it might as well become the new "To Protect and To Serve."

Killer Mike says he can forgive Bette Midler for her racially insensitive and offensive tweet about women, but if she really wants to make up for it ... she needs to do more than talk.

We got the Atlanta rapper and activist at LAX and asked him -- despite Midler's very poor choice of words -- if there's truth to what she said about the struggles of women.

Mike says yes, Bette makes a solid point backed by history ... but he emphasizes that no group of people are treated worse than black women. He thinks if she really considers herself on their side like she says ... it's time for her to step up and do more.

As he puts it -- Midler needs to be a co-conspirator with black women, not just an ally.

Mike gives some suggestions on how she can get started too ... and even gives an example of how he learned to be an advocate for the cause from Jane Elliott, a white woman.

Justin Bieber and his friends went on a Jesus-laced hike Friday, and ended up in a rap battle of sorts with a photog.

It's pretty awesome ... JB and crew were in the bushes in the Lake Hollywood area of L.A., rapping about Jesus and The King. As they praised the Lord and walked down the hill, they challenged a photog to drop some bars.

Justin eyeballs the photog and labels him part of the Biggie/Tupac era, and then listens as the guy raps his owns verses.

In case you were wondering whose side Drake's on for the UFC 229 Lightweight Championship bout between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov ... this video should clear it up.

The "In My Feelings" rapper seemed to appear on the stage out of nowhere during Conor and Khabib's public weigh-in Friday night in Vegas ... draped in an Irish flag.

After Conor flaunted his fighter bod for the cheering crowd, he got a hug from Drake before the ceremonial face-to-face with his opponent ... which got a little heated.

McGregor clearly violated Dana White's "no touching" rule before giving a high-kick in Khabib's direction. Khabib seemed unfazed. Both fighters made weight earlier Friday.

Saturday night can't come soon enough.

By the way ... even though it looked like Drake was just all of a sudden onstage supporting Conor, he actually walked in with him.

There must not have been any major Kentucky Basketball events for him to attend instead.

Colin Kaepernick's star power is bigger NOW than when he was playing football -- and he doesn't need the NFL's platform to be effective in his off-the-field mission ... so says T.I.

There are some people who believe without being on an NFL roster, people will lose interest in Kaepernick -- and he'll eventually become irrelevant and fade away.

But, not T.I. -- who appeared on "TMZ Live" and explained why Colin's more influential now than ever ... and suggested going back to the NFL might actually take his focus away from the social justice issues he's been tackling.

T.I.'s new album pulls inspiration from his real-life experiences -- good and bad -- in recent years, and he's hoping the music has a positive impact on his fans.

The rapper dropped a dime on "Dime Trap" ... telling us he's learned a lot lately about being a better man, and a better husband. Tip says he poured some of those lessons into what he calls his most honest and personal track ever ... "The Amazing Mr. F**k Up."

T.I. was also excited about the dope lineup of guest stars on the record, including collabs with Teyana Taylor, Young Jeezy, Yo Gotti and Meek Mill. They're all singing and rapping but, spoiler alert -- there's also a spoken word part with Dave Chappelle!

The man who pretended to be Justin Bieber, trolling the Internet looking for the singer's fans and strong-armed one of them to send nudes, will spend some serious time behind bars.

TMZ broke the story ... Bryan Asrary was arrested back in 2017 after police determined he forced a 9-year-old girl to send him naked photos in 2014. Asrary allegedly found the girl through Bieber's Instagram page, sent her a message saying he could arrange a meeting with the singer ... and then later posed as Bieber himself.

Asrary -- posing as Bieber -- told the girl to send him naked photos and threatened to hurt her if she didn't comply ... the girl sent photos and a video.

Kanye West rattled some cages here at TMZ when he showed up to appear on "TMZ Live" and shoot a music video ... because the folks here just found rattlesnakes in the very spot the video was filmed.

Fact is ... we've been in this building for 5 years and, as far as we know, not a single rattler was ever found ... until today.

Animal Control is on its way ... it's gonna take an hour, but it's scary.

Remember, Kanye had 100 dancers in the grass ... where the snakes were located.

Kanye West is so serious about making a difference in his hometown, he's already giving away money and designer shoes to people in need.

Kanye had just endured a trip to his dentist in Chicago Friday ... when a homeless man approached him. Ye decided to make the guy's day with a crisp Ben Franklin and a promise to send him a free pair of Yeezys.

If you're wondering where he's gonna send the shoes -- the man gave Ye his mom's contact info.

Kanye made big news in the Windy City when he announced he's moving back with big plans to help heal the community.

Nicki Minaj wore fancy threads provided by her fashion stylist, but never returned them to the guy, so now he's been hit with a huge bill ... according to a new suit.

Maher Jridi claims he was Nicki's stylist in 2017 and rented a bunch of clothing from a wardrobe company for her to wear. He says he dropped thousands on the clothes, Nicki wore them ... but then he never got them back.

According to the docs ... Jridi got sued for the missing gear and is now on the hook for nearly $74k. So, he's suing her for the bill ... and says the whole ordeal has been emotionally painful for him.

Maher, who's French, is known for being the man behind Nicki's famous wardrobe during 2017's Paris Fashion Week.

Cardi B's night went from 0 to 100 when she discovered Offset surprised her with a brand new Lamborghini ... and the story behind it is worth more to them than the luxury ride's price tag.

Cardi can't stop gushing over her husband's romantic and sneaky gesture ... revealing the great lengths Offset went to in order to pull off the surprise. You just gotta watch the video to hear her explain it ... as only she can.

Long (love) story short -- Offset duped Cardi into thinking he was having a health emergency, and then played it off for a few hours before coming clean with the brand new whip.

The Lambo Urus, which has a starting cost of $200,000, looks like the perfect family car for CB, Offset and Kulture.

Now, if only Cardi could drive ...