Music

Jack Harlow SZN is officially upon us with the release of his new album "Come Home the Kids Miss You" -- and his label boss, DJ Drama, says Jack's impressing his peers as much as fans.

The project touts all-legend features -- Drake, Lil Wayne, Pharrell and Justin Timberlake -- and even a hidden one from Snoop Dogg on the song "Young Harleezy."

Generation Now's honcho was on "TMZ Hip Hop" this week to set the record straight about any misconceptions the "First Class" rapper is mooching off the culture he loves so dearly.

After Drama discovered Jack in 2018, he helped Jack get to this point, and maintains good music and "bodies of work" -- not race-baiting or gimmicks -- will prove the young emcee's value to the game.

Drama himself has grad student level skillz in both the music biz and street hip hop culture. His legendary Gangsta Grillz series was just culminated to fit Tyler, The Creator's "Call Me If You Get Lost" album ... which won the Best Rap Album Grammy this year.

He's also overseeing the budding careers of GN artists Lil Uzi Vert and Seddy Hendrinx.

Harlow's "First Class" shooting to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 reignited the ol' white rappers debate online, and on the "TMZ Hip Hop" set, but DJ Drama isn't pressed. He's certain Jack will earn the respect of doubters everywhere.

Snoop Dogg and his Mt. Westmore groupmate Ice Cube are about to be a lot closer … now that Snoop is a part-owner in Cube’s Big3 basketball league … TMZ Hip Hop has learned.

Snoop and PayPal co-founder Ken Howery dropped $625,000 together to purchase a 40 percent stake in BIG3 team “Bivouac” that went winless last season due to injuries.

BIG3 opened the floodgates for people to grab a stake in the franchise team through NFTs... which is exactly what Snoop and Ken did.

They weren't the only ones, either. Popular NFT hubs DeGods, Gary Vaynerchuk and VeeFriends, Bill Lee and MyDoge/DogeCoin, and Krause House all got in the spending spree, copping all 25 Fire-Tiers of the Killer 3’s, Trilogy, Aliens and Ball Hogs, respectively.

Snoop has become one of the space’s most avid NFT collectors … even touting his newly re-bought Death Row Records will be a 100 percent “NFT Label”

Snoop and Howery reportedly purchased all 25 Fire for Bivouac priced at $25,000 each. In other words, the team’s stock was divided into blockchains for sale. Remaining editions will be available come Saturday, May 7 for hungry Discord members.

DJ Carnage alarmed his million-strong Instagram following by announcing his retirement -- at just 31 years old -- but instead of saying goodbye, they can say hello ... to Gordo, anyway!!!

He joined us Friday on "TMZ Hip Hop" to officially announce the end of his "Carnage era" and birth of Gordo, his new stage name and persona dedicated to making dance and house music that slaps.

Carnage hinted at a burnout from all his travels, which include doing records with Migos, Wiz Khalifa, Lil Uzi Vert, Tyga and the late Mac Miller ... just to name a few rap superstars.

He sounds plenty invigorated about his upcoming Gordo transformation, however, citing hip hop, house and even techno as primary influences for his experimentation. Papi Gordo dropped some knowledge on us, regarding the birth of techno, too.

BTW, he's got a bone to pick (playfully, we think) with Drake ... as they both have been vying for the title of the best "Papi" for some time. Naturally, Drizzy came through and doused champagne on the Carnage retirement announcement -- but Gordo fired back while chatting with us.

Day one Carnage fans can take comfort in knowing he's going out with a bang, having announced a batch of farewell dates nationwide.

Mary J. Blige absolutely cannot be stopped in 2022.

Fresh off her Super Bowl LVI appearance and the release of her 14th studio album, "Good Morning Gorgeous" ... Atlanta's bestowed the Queen of Hip Hop Soul with her very own "Strength of a Woman Day."

The slogan is borrowed from Mary's previous album and marks the official kickoff to the Live Nation and Pepsi-sponsored "Strength of a Woman Festival & Summit" this Mother's Day weekend.

Thursday night's celebration went down with ATL City Councilwoman Keisha Sean Waites presenting an award to MJB ... as 2 Chainz, Kandi Burruss, celebrity stylist Misa Hylton and music exec Kenny Burns attended.

Mary will perform this weekend ... along with Chaka Khan, City Girls, Ella Mai and a host of other standout women of color. The festival will also have musical and technological workshops to inspire and educate.

Next month she's getting the Icon Award at Billboard Music Awards ... which her longtime pal and mentor Diddy is hosting.

Pete Davidson is poking fun at Kanye West's divorce from Kim Kardashian ... comparing his girlfriend's ex-hubby to a famous Robin Williams movie character.

The 'SNL' star came out swinging in his stand-up set on "Netflix Is a Joke: The Festival" ... shading Kanye for being a modern-day Mrs. Doubtfire.

Pete asks the crowd ... "Does anybody else secretly hope that, like, Kanye pulls like a Mrs. Doubtfire? I come home one day and they're like, this is the new housekeeper. And, he's like, "What's up fam?"

Of course, Robin played the title character in the 1993 movie about a divorced actor who dresses up as a female housekeeper to be able to see his kids.

Pete even joked about the Kanye allegedly spreading rumors he had AIDS ... joking John Mulaney called him and told him the best way to respond would be to spread a rumor Kanye has Polio.

Pete's bit went on ... he says he's not bothered by Kanye's collab with his friend Jack Harlow ... joking the thing that would offend him is if comedian Bill Burr suddenly showed up at Sunday Service.

The man who killed Nicki Minaj's father, Robert Maraj, in a hit-and-run has pleaded guilty.

Charles Polevich pled guilty to one count of leaving the scene of an incident without reporting and one count of tampering with physical evidence ... both felonies.

He was facing up to 7 years behind bars on the felony count alone, but it looks like he won't get nearly that long of a sentence. Judge Howard Sturim committed to sentencing Polevich to no more than one year in jail, along with community service and suspension of his driver's license.

As we reported ... Robert Maraj died at the age of 64 ... after being struck in a hit-and-run accident back in February 2021.

Nicki later opened up about the tragedy on her website saying ... "I can say it has been the most devastating loss of my life." She added, he was very loved and will be very missed.

"Selling Sunset" star Chrishell Stause has rebounded from her romance with Jason Oppenheim ... she's now dating G Flip.

Chrishell dropped the news on the "Selling Sunset" reunion special ... she and the nonbinary Australian singer are an item. She said, "I recently have been spending a lot of time with someone that's very important to me. Their name is G Flip. They're nonbinary, so they go by they/them. And, they're an extremely talented musician."

The 2 were seen leaving The Abbey in WeHo, spending 4 hours partying until 2 AM -- with plenty of PDA.

As for how they hooked up, Chrishell said, "It started because I was just going to be in their video. And, it's about this chaotic love story. I come from soaps, I love acting. And, with the job that we have, I don't always get to do it. At first of course I was like yes, let's do that."

The 27-year-old musician is reportedly living with Chrishell, 40, in her L.A. home. As we reported, Chrishell bought the home, in part, with the loot she got from selling her wedding ring courtesy of ex-hubby, Justin Hartley.

The 27-year-old musician hails from Melbourne and is known for their songs, "GAY 4 ME," "Lover," and "Drink Too Much."

Chrishell flew to Denver last weekend to watch her partner perform with Lauren Sanderson ... the 2 collabed on the song, "GAY 4 ME."

Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott have left all the drama behind ... as they got super touchy-feely on the beach in Turks and Caicos.

Kylie and Travis took their kids, Stormi and their little boy along ... sorry, we still don't know his name. As we reported, he was named Wolf at birth, but apparently, his parents didn't think the name fit, so they presumably found a new one, but haven't shared it.

Kylie's on the beach in a flowing white dress while Travis is walking shirtless.

It's interesting ... these are the latest pics showing the gradual emergence of Travis Scott after the Astroworld tragedy. He's performed some -- mostly to small groups, but will be performing at various festivals this summer.

Speaking of ... Travis is set to perform Saturday in Miami ... at E11EVEN during the Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Olivia Rodrigo turned the Philadelphia Phillies game into her own prom on Thursday ... dancing her face off and vibing to her hit song!!

The moment was captured on the Citizens Bank Park scoreboard in the 6th inning of the Phils' game against the New York Mets ... with the stadium showing off the Grammy winner to the fans.

Naturally, OR's "good 4 u" was blaring over the speaker system ... and just like the rest of the world does when they hear it (admit it, you love it), the singer had to rock out.

The video is pretty cool -- Rodrigo jumps up and down, waves to the cameras, dances and points out her friends as the crowd loses it.

So, what the heck was she doing at a Phillies game?? Rodrigo is in the City of Brotherly Love the next two nights for her "SOUR" tour ... so why not catch a good ol' ballgame??

But, by the looks of it, Olivia might not have cared too much about the action on the diamond ... as she was spotted taking pics during the middle of the game.

Hey ... when ya got 25 million followers on Instagram, you gotta take advantage of every photo op.

As for the game, the Phillies lost 8-7 ... and it was one of the biggest collapses in team history.

Tekashi 6ix9ine's baby mama and daughter were involved in a nasty car crash this past Easter ... one that sent them straight to the ER with some serious injuries.

Sources tell TMZ ... Sara Molina, the mother of Tekashi's 6-year-old daughter, Saraiyah, was in an Uber minivan on the expressway in New York City. Saraiyah and Sara's sister were in the car too.

Their driver suddenly got cut off, resulting in them getting rear-ended pretty badly ... we're told Saraiyah was scared and crying after the ordeal.

An ambulance was called and all 3 were taken to the hospital. Sara's sister got whiplash. Saraiyah had serious pain in her arm.

Sara might've gotten the worst of it ... in addition to getting whiplash, like her sister, she also got a concussion and is still in a lot of pain. Sara has been battling multiple sclerosis prior to the crash.

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky are certainly a pair in love, but aren't on the course to get married, at least not anytime soon ... despite what fans may speculate from his new video.

Sources close to the couple tell TMZ the two aren't engaged, despite A$AP's newly-dropped "D.M.B." video, where they flashed their grills at each other -- his says "Marry Me?" while Rihanna's says "I Do."

Of course, fans went nuts, thinking Rocky asked for RiRi's hand in marriage ... or even that they've already gotten hitched.

The music video also contains plenty of wedding-themed imagery, which caused for more theories.

Our sources say the whole thing was just done for fun. As you know, the two are expecting their first kid together ... and the due date is rapidly approaching.

42 Dugg's patented "Free Dem Boyz" slogan now applies to himself as well. The Detroit rapper -- who's signed with Lil Baby and Yo Gotti -- was reportedly arrested the moment he got off a plane from Memphis.

Dugg, whose government name is Dion Hayes, failed to turn himself in to a West Virginia federal prison camp last month to serve a 6-month sentence for illegal firearm possession ... according to The Detroit News.

The 27-year-old rising star, who was just named to XXL's 2021 Freshman list, hasn't exactly been living like a man on the run. In April, he released his joint album "Last Ones Left" with Collective Music Group labelmate EST Gee, and has been shooting plenty of music videos for it.

Like Pooh Shiesty -- who just got a 63-month sentence -- such legal drama could disrupt what was shaping up to be a promising rap career.

A$AP Rocky is using his new song to call out one of Rihanna's exes ... referencing his girlfriend's infamous beating at the hands of Chris Brown.

The rapper takes a thinly-veiled shot at Breezy in his new track, "D.M.B" ... where Rocky raps, "I don't beat my bitch, I need my bitch." The song title stands for, "DAT$ MAH B!*$H."

Of course, A$AP is referencing CB's well-document attack on RiRi back in 2009, when Chris punched her in his car, resulting in bruising and a split lip.

Chris was sentenced to 5 years probation and community service for assaulting Rihanna, and later admitted the incident made him feel like a monster and would haunt him forever. Clearly, A$AP is not letting Chris live it down.

DaBaby claimed self-defense when he shot a man who randomly breached his North Carolina property -- and it looks like prosecutors agree with the rapper -- he won't be charged.

In legal docs obtained by TMZ, the Iredell County D.A. says it reviewed the case and has made the decision not to proceed with any charges.

TMZ broke the story back in April ... a man scaled DaBaby's estate walls and was eventually shot in the leg after exchanging words with the superstar rapper.

The eerie 911 call also showcased a cool, calm and collected DaBaby instructing cops of what had taken place ... with the man hollering in the background.

Dave Chappelle thanked his comrades in arms for beating the crap out of his Hollywood Bowl attacker -- this just hours after it went down -- and TMZ has obtained audio where Dave opens up about the terrifying incident.

Dave was characteristically funny but also very serious, when he told the crowd Tuesday night at the Pendry Hotel in WeHo, "I felt good my friends broke his arm. I felt good, how bad does a n***** have to be that Jon Stewart would stomp him!"

But, Dave had his limits, telling the crowd, "Killing that n**** would have been stupid."

Dave thanked his friends during the after-party ... it seems some of the folks who subdued the attacker were on hand. Dave expressed his gratitude this way ... "those are very powerful friends and I'm sharing [this night] with people I love very much."

Although Dave continued on with his act after the attack, he was clearly shaken, but he seemed chill at the after-party.

Busta Rhymes co-hosted the after-party with Dave ... btw, Busta's one of the celebs who got his licks in when the attacker was neutralized.

Of course, as you know, the 23-year-old attacker was injured and taken to a hospital. He was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon.

It's still full steam ahead for Kanye West and his girlfriend Chaney Jones ... the two have gone international, visiting one of Kanye's favorite countries, Japan.

Chaney posted a photo of the two overlooking a Japanese street Thursday on Instagram. The pic didn't have a caption, but it's clear to see the two are very much into each other.

We're not entirely sure what the trip entails for Ye, but he's often over there for work and for inspiration, so you have to imagine he's mixing business with pleasure -- as the country is closed to tourists. A source with direct knowledge tells us they first got to Japan around April 22.

It's the first time we've seen Kanye in a while -- he's remained silent since getting suspended from Instagram for going after Kim Kardashian, Pete Davidson and others on the platform.