Music

NLE Choppa thinks people are naive if they believe rap wars can just end ... like the longstanding beef between Young Dolph & Yo Gotti.

The Memphis rapper was on the latest episode of "It's Tricky with Raquel Harper," talking feuds between artists ... Yo Gotti and the late Young Dolph came up, and Choppa tells it exactly as he sees it.

With an easy answer being to stop the beef, he says it's more tricky than that. "Certain stuff ya just gotta understand, like some s*** just ain't meant to end."

TMZ reported ... Back in 2017, Blac Youngsta -- one of Gotti's rappers -- turned himself in to cops investigating a Dolph shooting in Charlotte ... and he was also named a person of interest when Dolph was shot in L.A. later that year.

After Young Dolph was murdered in Memphis at the end of 2021, BY released a music video ... standing in front of a tomb with Dolph's name on it.

The feud runs strong in Memphis -- not even giving the dead a break. Choppa still doesn't think it's an easy thing to drop ... saying at the end of the day, everyone's gonna be themselves and nothing will change that.

Comedian Russell Peters tied the knot in a big way ... inviting almost 300 guests, many of them big-time celebs -- including his announcer, first dance singer and officiant.

Russell and his bride, Ali, had their big day at the Ritz Carlton in Dana Point, CA ... and the event last Sunday looked like it was a "who's who" from the music, comedy and sports worlds.

For starters, Cedric The Entertainer led through their "I dos" as he conducted the ceremony, and, of course, got a few laughs in the process.

R&B great Deborah Cox sang the bride and groom's first dance song, Chic's Nile Rodgers made a special appearance and UFC announcer Bruce Buffer introduced Russell and Ali as they entered the reception!

As for the faces in the crowd celebrating with them -- Raekwon from Wu-Tang Clan, Big Daddy Kane, DJ Scratch, Melle Mel, and Luenell were all there and having a blast.

One of those "ya had to be there" kind of nights!

Russell and Ali got married just before sunset on a bluff overlooking the ocean -- a picture-perfect scene -- and the party went late into the night with loads of dancing, food and a retro candy station to keep up everyone's dance floor energy.

2/25 -- A rep for Once Upon a Time in LA Festival tells TMZ, "Once Upon a Time in LA joins Drakeo's family, friends, and fans in grieving his loss. The festival is continuing to support local authorities in their investigation as they pursue the facts."

Drakeo the Ruler's brother is suing the folks behind the music festival where he was stabbed to death ... he says concert promoters failed to keep the L.A. rapper safe.

According to a new lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Drakeo's bro claims the rapper's life was in jeopardy the moment he arrived at December's Once Upon a Time festival concert ... and he's blaming a lack of security.

In the docs, Drakeo's bro says Drakeo was attacked within minutes of arriving ... describing it as a "violent mob attack" that broke out backstage and lasted up to 15 minutes. His brother claims the all-access area should have been a safe place, and he's ripping the promoters for what he claims were "lackadaisical to totally absent" security measures.

Drakeo's bro claims promoters should have braced for the worse because the concert, held at L.A.'s Exposition Park, is in the middle of a gang-infested neighborhood and Drakeo was already the target of gang threats.

In the docs, the brother claims Drakeo entered the festival grounds through two "checkpoints" ... but he says they were hardly secure. The brother claims the first was just a booth with 2 unarmed staffers who let anyone in as long as they flashed an all-access pass.

Drakeo's bro claims the second "checkpoint" had a metal detector, drug sniffing dog and a small group of security guards ... but he says not every car was searched, and he claims he heard gang chants from some cars that went through without being searched.

In the suit, Drakeo's brother claims Drakeo was attacked by a mob of 50 to 100 people, including some armed with knives ... leaving Drakeo's group to fight for their lives without sufficient security.

The brother says Drakeo was stabbed in the chaos and claims it took up to 30 minutes for emergency personnel to get to Drakeo, who eventually died in the hospital.

Drakeo's brother and others are suing Live Nation, Snoop Dogg's LLC and the Los Angeles Football Club ... the festival was held at the MLS team's stadium ... and they're going after them for millions in damages.

It appears Kanye West has a new sidekick, he's been spotted again with Chaney Jones ... the woman whose style has seemingly mimicked Kim Kardashian time and time again.

We got pics of the new duo out in Miami Thursday, grabbing a bite to eat for lunch. Chaney dressed head-to-toe in a black body suit, sunglasses, black purse and what appears to be a black pair of Yeezys ... a look Kim has worn on multiple instances.

It's the second time we've seen the two together in 2 days ... Chaney accompanied Kanye backstage at his "Donda 2" listening event in Miami on Tuesday. During the show, Chaney wore the same pair of sunglasses that Kim sported during a "Donda" event in Atlanta in 2021.

We should also note, it appears Chaney ditched her hair extensions for a tight bun look -- just like the one Kim's been wearing in Milan this week.

Unlike Kanye's last fling, Julia Fox, Chaney hasn't said much about their new apparent relationship ... but we've now seen the pair together both in L.A. and Miami -- so safe to say they're bicoastal.

Jay-Z's pockets just got fatter after coming out on top in a 6-year legal war with Parlux ... the perfume company that sued him over his now-defunct fragrance.

Parlux had sued Jay in 2016, claiming he failed to hold up his end of the promotional bargain when they teamed up to launch his cologne, Gold Jay-Z. The company said the whole deal was a stinking disaster because the rapper refused to do media and public appearances to pump up sales when the fragrance dropped in 2013.

It was seeking $18 mil from Jay-Z, but now he's effectively turned the financial tables on Parlux. On Thursday, an appellate court ruled Jay is entitled to the $4.5 mil in royalties from past cologne sales which he had requested during the NYC trial last fall.

That jury said Mr. Carter didn't owe Parlux a dime, but also rejected his royalties demand. However, the appellate court overruled the jury decision, so ... big win for Jay-Z.

Jay-Z's attorney, Alex Spiro, declined to comment.

Kim Kardashian wants a judge to make her single ASAP ... because Kanye West's Instagram posts are hurting her emotionally, and all she wants now is to move on and co-parent in a healthy manner.

In new court docs, obtained by TMZ, Kim says it very directly, "I very much desire to be divorced." She tells the judge she's asked Kanye to keep their divorce private, "but he has not done so," and talks about Kanye's barrage of social media posts about their relationship.

Kim says, "Kanye has been putting a lot of misinformation regarding our private matters and co-parenting on social media which has created emotional distress."

As we've reported, Kanye's accused Kim of kidnapping their daughter, Chicago, says she's accused him of ordering a hit on her, and gone after her for allowing North to be on TikTok.

Kanye had also asked to prevent Kim from transferring assets out of any trust. Kim says that ridiculous -- they have a prenup which keeps all their trusts and other assets separate, and Kim needs access to her trust to run her businesses. And, in the docs, Kanye's lawyers recognize the prenup is valid.

She also notes Kanye's lawyers acknowledge they're having trouble getting through to him. In October 2021 they wrote to Kim's attorney about trying to break down the prenup for Ye, saying ..."But as you also know, we face challenges in communicating with our client -- and the validity of the prenup (with all of its related legal implications) is a heavy issue to broach."  The upshot -- it seems Kanye isn't throwing up the roadblocks -- his lawyers are, because Ye isn't involved.

Kim bottom lines her request for single status by stating ... "While I wish our marriage would have succeeded, I have come to the realization that there is no way to repair our marriage. Kanye does not agree but at least it appears that he has come to the realization that I want to end our marriage, even if he does not."

She adds that she needs to be single, so "I can begin the healing process and so that our family can begin the healing process and move forward in this new chapter in our lives."

Floyd Mayweather sang his damn heart out to celebrate his 45th birthday ... and he called on Kanye West, Aaron Donald and Antonio Brown to be his backup singers!!

TMZ Sports has learned -- TBE hosted a private party at David Grutman's Sushi Fly Chicken in Miami on Wednesday to celebrate his big day ... and the karaoke machine was getting put to good use.

The 50-0 boxing legend donned a baby blue plaid blazer and pants for the rager ... and he was certainly in great spirits -- dancing with a huge smile on his face.

The whole room was getting in on the fun -- singing along as Donell Jones' "Where I Wanna Be" blasted over the speakers.

But, the most surprising performance of the night?? AD and his wife, Erica, rapping along to "Set It Off" by Boosie Badazz -- and Floyd was loving every second of it.

The party then made it to Gold Rush Cabaret strip club ... where Floyd was honored with cutouts and signs -- including a shot of him beating up on Conor McGregor during their fight in 2017.

Gene Simmons is one huge step closer to leaving Las Vegas, now that he's found someone to snatch up what he thought was his dream home ... until his family strongly disagreed.

The KISS rocker is selling his beautiful glass palace for $13.5 million and it's got a lot to offer. The 6-bed, 8-bath house features a koi pond, an 11-car garage and many of those glass walls are retractable!

No shocker here, but Gene built the 11,000 sq. ft. home in the perfect location -- the crib has sparkling views of the Vegas strip and the surrounding desert.

And, you can take in all of that from the spacious pool.

Back in December, Gene was on TMZ Live, and told us how much he loved the house, and also why he'd put it on the market.

He told us after all of the perks that came with living in Vegas, the one issue that made him sell -- his family members aren't huge fans of desert life. Something about the heat and having strippers down the street wasn't a great sales point for them.

Gene says he bought the property next door as well ... planting 137 trees on the land -- something hard to come by in that Nevada weather.

The Vegas home is currently under contract ... meaning an offer has been accepted, but we're told it won't close until next month. Simmons was accepting crypto as payment for the house, but it's unclear if the buyer went that route.

D.U.S.T. Commander Dale Brown says several MMA fighters have hit him up since cornering Joaquin Buckley to a win last weekend -- but unfortunately for those other fighters, the deadly self-defense expert tells TMZ Sports he's only rockin' with JB!!

We broke the news last week ... Buckley (14-4, 10 KOs) hit up Brown, a viral sensation, to be one of his cornermen for his matchup against Abdul Razak Alhassan at UFC Fight Night in Vegas.

Buckley won by decision ... and Commander Brown says Buckley utilized some of his moves during the tightly contested fight.

"I will say he did use some techniques," Brown says, "that are associated with my training."

And, ever since then, the Detroit Urban Surviving Training star says other fighters have been blowin' up his phone -- trying to get their own Buckley-type treatment.

"We've had several just the past couple of days reaching out, emailing, texting, trying to reach out and see if they can come by the facility and see what we can do to coordinate and collaborate."

But, sorry fightin' folks ... Brown says he's only gonna work with Buckley.

"We're #teamBuckley so that's not gonna happen."

However, Dale says he's down to with celebs like Odell Beckham ... who paid homage to Commander Brown after scoring a touchdown this season for the Rams.

In fact, Brown says he met Rick Ross after the Buckley-Alhassan fight -- telling us he showed the Miami rapper a nose-press technique.

"Training entertainers, training their staff, bodyguards -- anybody out there looking for advanced training."

NLE Choppa isn't down to mess with women his age -- he's looking for older women who won't blink at signing a prenup!

The rapper's the latest guest on the "It's Tricky With Raquel Harper" podcast ... and he's getting pretty deep about relationships, saying he knows exactly what he's looking for ... even at the age of 19.

He's convinced women his age just don't have the right priorities. He told Raq, "If you at that age, you still learning ... I know like, what I want for myself."

When the topic of marriage came up, he didn't shy away from it ... but quickly made it clear his bride-to-be will have to sign on the dotted line -- as in, an ironclad prenup. Choppa's message for any interested women is you get what you deserve, not what you want ... when it comes to finances.

One woman who's definitely caught his eye is fellow artist Saweetie -- he called her a "beautiful lady." Now, he does have a GF already and when Raq followed up, asking what would happen if he had to choose between a night with Saweetie or his current boo, he says ... "Me and my girl gon' see what's up..."

Translation: The more the merrier!!!

Britney Spears is gearing up for a legal war with her former business managers at TriStar Entertainment -- a company heavily involved in her conservatorship, which she now outlandishly claims attempted to end her life.

The singer went off on TriStar Wednesday, especially its head honcho Lou Taylor and her righthand woman, Robin Greenhill -- 2 women who were allegedly an integral part of Britney’s life -- and she's accusing them of way more than just malfeasance.

Brit describes a meeting she says Greenhill and Taylor set up, and she claims Kate Beckinsale was also in attendance ... just to butter up Britney.

She says, "Ha those same bitches killed me a week later !!!! My dad worshipped those two women and would have done anything they asked of him !!!! I think they were trying to kill me … I still to this very day believe that’s EXACTLY what they were trying to do … but not a damn thing was wrong with me and I didn’t die !!!!"

She's never specific about HOW they allegedly tried to finish her, but Britney adds ... "Nobody else would have lived through what they did to me 🙅🏼‍♀️ !!! I lived through all of if and I remember all of it !!!! I will sue the shit out of Tri Star !!!! Psss they got away with all of it and I’m here to warn them every day of my precious life !!!!"

As we’ve told you, TriStar was hired by Britney’s father, Jamie Spears, early on in the conservatorship to handle her business affairs.

Britney could be alluding to when she was admitted into a mental health facility in 2019 after what we were told was her having a breakdown due to being distraught over her dad’s illness at the time.

During her stay, we’d been told doctors worked on getting her the right combination of medications to get her stable -- but she looked totally out of it during a day out with her BF, Sam Asghari.

As for Taylor and Greenhill, we got the latter out at LAX last year and tried to get comment on claims that she’d been part of the team that greenlit the alleged bugging of Britney’s room once upon a time.

She didn’t say a thing though ... remaining mum on all things Britney.

Now, it sounds like Britney's at least considering getting some payback in court. We've reached out to Lou Taylor and TriStar, but no word back yet.

Megan Thee Stallion is ripping into Tory Lanez, after he called her a liar, by posting what she claims is proof he begged for forgiveness for shooting her.

Tory was supposed to be in court Wednesday regarding the 2020 shooting incident that left Megan Thee Stallion seriously injured, but the date was pushed to April. After the hearing, he tweeted ... "u can't buy and tweet your way out of this one ..not today" -- seemingly referring to Megan.

Well, she quickly, and strongly, responded on Instagram.

The post, which she's since deleted, included alleged text messages from Tory ... showing him apologizing.

Megan added in her caption ... "Lie yo way out of this … if you aint do s*** what you was apologizing for? THEY GOT YOU RECORDED ON THE JAIL PHONE TALKING TO KELSEY APOLOGIZING BEGGING US NOT TO TALK."

Kelsey is the former friend of Megan's who was also in the SUV the night of the shooting.

Tory didn't seem to back down from this feud, tweeting his explanation for the apology -- "Good D**k had me f***ing 2 best friends .... and I got caught 🤷🏾‍♂️ ... that's what I apologized 4."

Translation: He allegedly had sex with Megan and Kelsey, and they were the ones arguing over him.

You'll recall ... Tory, Megan and Kelsey were party hopping in Hollywood when police responded to shots fired in their vehicle. After Megan got out with a bloodied foot -- and cops finding a weapon under Tory's seat -- he was arrested and eventually charged with possession of a concealed weapon and assault with a firearm.

No one is safe from 50 Cent's trolling -- not even the NBA's G.O.A.T. -- 'cause the rapper came after Michael Jordan on Wednesday, clowning His Airness for his handsy embrace with Mary J. Blige over the weekend.

Fiddy just dropped the joke on his Instagram page ... poking fun at the way MJ held on to MJB while posing for a pic at the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday in Cleveland.

(BTW, Blige posted the photo to her Instagram page earlier this week. See below.)

50 zoomed in on Jordan's hand, which appeared to be creepin' close to the top of a butt cheek, and wrote, "MJ & MJB, he palmed the ball 🏀LOL"

The "In Da Club" rapper added a pic of a surprised Denzel Washington to make the ribbing extra spicy.

Kanye West had at least one guest of honor by his side behind the scenes at his "Donda 2" listening event ... and she looks an awful lot like his estranged wife.

We got photos of Kanye backstage at LoanDepot Park in Miami Tuesday night joined by Chaney Jones aka the Kim Kardashian look-alike. Chaney was decked out in a white bodysuit, heels and sunglasses as she accompanied Ye through the arena.

Chaney sported a serious expression, but there was at least one pic where Kanye was seen with a big smile on his face while the two walked together.

And get this ... Chaney's sunglasses are identical to the Rick Owens pair Kim wore to Kanye's very first "Donda" listening event in Atlanta back in August ... safe to say she's taking the lookalike thing to new heights.

At least two of Kanye's kids -- North and Saint -- were at the event ... but unlike his recent shows in L.A. and Chicago, Kim Kardashian was not in attendance -- she was in Milan.

Of course, Kanye was recently dating Julia Fox, but that ended a couple weeks ago. He's now been spotted with Chaney in various cities since the split with Fox ... so it would appear things are heating up between the two.

The listening event marked the first time fans were able to hear "Donda 2" however, the event had some serious audio hiccups. During his performance of "Jail 2" Kanye tossed his mic out of frustration, and did not perform a single verse after the incident.

Donny Davis -- a longtime Vegas impersonator who performed with Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus and Chelsea Handler -- has died ... TMZ has learned.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ  ... Donny passed away Tuesday in Las Vegas, where he was found in his hotel room bed.

The cause of death will not be determined until an autopsy is performed. We're told Donny was partying at one of the nearby hotel casinos hours before his body was discovered.

It's tragic news, as Donny was incredibly well-known and beloved in and around Hollywood ... not just serving as a regular guest on "Chelsea Lately" -- sometimes filling in for her go-to little person sidekick, Chuy Bravo -- but also performing on stage with Britney herself.

DD was hired as a dancer for Brit's Vegas residency show when it kicked off in 2013 ... and was a favorite pal of Britney's for years, often posing with her for photos and getting shout-outs from her too.

He also performed with Mariah Carey, Seth McFarland, Miley Cyrus, Joe Jonas, Kelly Osbourne and Hayden Panettiere.

He was a staple at Beacher's Madhouse for 2 decades, where he starred in a vaudeville-style variety show that featured tons of celebs. Jeff Beacher tells us they discovered Donny online and after he performed for a few years he was so talented Jeff let him produce the show.

He was also hired to perform private gigs for the likes of Paris Hilton, Victoria Beckham, Charlize Theron and other big stars.

Donny has a couple of movie credits under his belt, with appearances in 2017's 'It's Gawd!' opposite Tommy Chong, as well as a role in "Pain & Gain." Donny also stood out as a fierce advocate for little people, not just in showbiz ... but beyond.

Beacher tells TMZ, "Donny broke barriers in the little people community and was an inspiration to his peers. He will be missed terribly but his legacy and the impact he had on those who loved him will live on forever."

Donny was 43.

Kanye West might finally have someone else to aim his anger at other than Pete Davidson -- his "Donda 2" event's sound engineer -- who seemingly blew it in Miami ... causing West to throw his mic in frustration.

Ye premiered new tracks from his album Tuesday night at a live listening event for fans at LoanDepot Park in Miami. While the whole thing started smoothly, with Kanye playing tracks from the new album, by the end, the event -- streamed on stemplayer.com -- had totally unraveled and Kanye looked visibly pissed off.

Things really seemed to take a turn during the song "Jail 2" when Marilyn Manson and DaBaby joined Kanye on stage. It appeared Kanye was supposed to perform the song live -- but was having some serious issues with his in-ear ... eventually throwing his microphone in frustration, Kanye never picked the mic up again.

The final song of the night, "Off The Grid" -- a song from the first "Donda" album -- was a total mess, Fivio Foreign and Playboi Carti joined Kanye to perform it, and Fivio's mic was totally out of sync totally off with the music playing ... sounding like he was trying to catch up to the song the entire time.

We spoke with a couple people who were in the audience, who said the audio issues weren't as noticeable as they were to those streaming from home.

While most of "Donda 2" sounded like it was incomplete, the fans in Miami certainly got their fair share of guest appearances during the show -- Jack Harlow, Migos, Pusha T, Alicia Keys and The Game, to name a few. Elon Musk was among the celebs in the crowd.