Music

With the signature of Gov. Gavin Newsom, the state of California is set to pass an unprecedented rap lyrics bill that will block prosecutors from using artists' work as circumstantial evidence.

Strange Music rapper X-Raided knows firsthand how bill AB-2799 could've changed his life -- he spent 26 years in prison on 1st-degree murder charges, but tells TMZ Hip Hop about "95 percent" of what prosecutors used to convict him wouldn't be allowed with the new bill.

The Sacramento-born rapper was convicted in 1992 with several others for the murder of a community activist inside her own home, but X-Raided says prosecutors never found a murder weapon in his case.

They instead argued he used something similar for his debut album, 1992's "Psycho Active" where he was pictured with a gun placed next to his head.

He recorded several albums while locked up and was eventually paroled in 2018 ... and wound up joining forces with Tech N9ne to tour once again.

A similar bill recently hit a wall in NYC despite the backing of Fat Joe, Jay-Z, Meek Mill and others … and X-Raided says it's the progressive politics of Newsom that's made the difference in the Golden State.

X-Raided wants his experiences to steer past, current and future inmates in a better direction.

Olivia Rodrigo wasn't alive when Billy Joel was making his hits -- but she clearly appreciates the piano man's work, as she joined him onstage for one of his classics, and one of hers! #Respect

Sure, he could easily be her grandfather, but Wednesday night Billy and the 19-year-old singer rocked together at Madison Square Garden ... where he's had a residency for almost 9 years! They performed "Uptown Girl" and then followed up with her hit "Deja Vu" -- a song where she name-drops Billy.

While the crowd was definitely older than Olivia's usual audience, fans went wild when she took the stage -- even singing along to her track, which dropped last year.

Olivia's the latest surprise guest Billy has welcomed over his years at the Garden -- he's also brought on Miley Cyrus, Jon Bon Jovi, and Tony Bennett ... to name a few.

The voice behind Capitol Records’ very short-lived artificial intelligence rapper project is speaking out … and he’s actually thankful the label treated the contract like toilet paper.

Real-life rapper Kyle The Hooligan hit Instagram following Capitol’s decision to end its FN Meka deal and says the creators -- Factory New heads Anthony Martini and Brandon Le -- ghosted him after getting everything they needed to power the character … like the ability for it to use the N-word.

Kyle says Factory New approached him with the idea with promises of equity and percentages, but then went M-I-A on their culture vulture mission.

He admitted to waiting for FN Meka to become a success before he could recoup massive damages ... but says he'll happily settle for performing at its funeral instead.

News of Meka's signing went wide on Monday, but by Tuesday the label backpedaled ... apologizing to the Black community for the obvious rapper stereotypes -- gaudy jewelry and glorifying prison life -- built into the character's appearance and lyrics.

Kyle is calling the cancelation karma … as are several other notable figures in the music industry.

We spoke to hip hop superproducer Hitmaka Wednesday on "TMZ Live," and he blamed Capitol’s “capitalistic” mindset for letting FN Meka thrive. He added that if the label allowed its employees -- particularly those of color -- to speak up, it might not have this mess on its hands.

Starz' hit strip club series "P-Valley" is, notably, losing a couple of famous fans -- Lil Duval and Plies are going viral for hating on the show's gay sex scenes, but one of the stars says the rappers' critiques are BS.

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with Nicco Annan at Dash Radio ... he plays Uncle Clifford on the show, and his character has an ongoing sexual relationship with a rapper named Lil Murda, played by J. Alphonse Nicholson.

That plotline on the show is what set off Plies and Duval's complaints, but Nicco told us he thinks they're living under a rock, and it's time they crawl out from under it.

What he meant is simply that both men -- whether they know it or not -- have relatives, friends and work associates who are part of the LGBTQ community ... and "it's time they started to see them."

ICYMI ... Lil Duval lashed out at Starz for not having a "gay advisory" for straight viewers who aren't accustomed to seeing gay sex scenes.

And, just last week, Plies claimed scenes involving Nicco and J. Alphonse "traumatized" him, and he vowed never to push play on another "P-Valley" episode.

Nicco thinks Duval and Plies weren't really offended by "P-Valley" ... but they knew their reactions would make headlines.

Michelle Branch's criminal case has been called off by prosecutors ... this coming less than 2 weeks after she got arrested for alleged domestic assault against her estranged husband, Patrick Carney.

The disposition, obtained by TMZ, shows the case was dismissed at the request of the state, although the specifics as to why are still unclear.

As we reported, police were called to her and Patrick's home August 11 around 2 AM for a possible domestic disturbance -- cops say Michelle admitted she slapped Patrick "one or two times."

She was taken into custody, where her bail was set at $1,000 ... she was released early because she's breastfeeding the couple's 6-month-old.

Lil Tjay's making a grand return to the 'gram -- his post on Wednesday is his first controlled appearance since being shot back in June, and he says he's got new music on the way.

The "Trench Baby" rapper was still in a neck brace as he addressed his 7 million Instagram followers with a bit of weary energy ... thanking them for their countless DMs and support through his recent rough patch.

His PSA follows the Bronx billboards popping up in his hometown simply telling the world he had returned and he doubled down and promised fans music was coming.

Tjay also acknowledged he was shot seven times -- as well as being one of the lucky individuals able to survive such acts of violence.

The return announcement was met with great excitement from Tjay's rapper friends ... Bobby Shmurda, Lil Zay Osama, Rowdy Rebel, Calboy and several others who wished him well going forward.

TMZ Hip Hop broke the story ... Tjay underwent emergency surgery after he and another friend were shot during a botched robbery in Edgewater, New Jersey on the morning of June 22.

Police identified a man named Mohamed Konate as the assailant, charging him with 3 counts of attempted murder while 2 of Tjay's accomplices were slapped with gun charges.

Nick Cannon is the gift that keeps on giving -- and in his case, that gift is children, because the guy is having himself another baby ... #10!!!

The TV host broke the news Wednesday with his latest partner -- this time, it's ex-girlfriend (and already established baby mama) Brittany Bell who's carrying his new kid. They did a maternity shoot together, and BB's quite far along -- in the third trimester, it seems.

Brittany is barechested for some parts of the video -- with Nick right beside her, and at times, behind her -- and he even cradles her belly at certain points. There's more footage that shows them wearing matching outfits and hanging out at home with their kids.

Nick writes, "Time Stopped and This Happened," going on to tag Brittany and adding the hashtags #Sunshin and #SonRISE. He seems to be telegraphing ... they're having a boy.

He's been spotted with Brittany of late -- who seemed to be trying to hide a baby bump -- so perhaps this isn't all that surprising. They've obviously remained close ... very close.

Like we said, Brittany has already given birth to two of their kids -- Powerful and Golden -- and now, they're due for a third. This is Nick's tenth child, and he's got another on the way.

Remember, another partner of his -- Abby De La Rosa -- is currently expecting and due in October. That's baby #9 ... he just had baby #8 with Bre Tiesi last month. We know -- it's hard to keep track at this point ... but the big takeaway here is that NC is in double digits.

Offset’s legal filing against his ex-label Quality Control has opened up a can of worms … and they’re crawling in every direction!

Quality Control CEO Pierre "Pee" Thomas reacted to the breaking news that Offset was suing for solo independence with disdain — calling the estranged Migos rapper’s complaints "lame."

Offset — and his wife Cardi B sharply fired back at Pee … Offset claiming Pee had him blackballed for the past two years without even communicating.

Cardi echoed the lawsuit’s details … Offset paid QC millions to obtain his solo rights as an artist, but when he released his “5,4,3,2,1” single last week, he says QC tried to claim ownership, effectively ticking him off in the process.

Taylor Swift flipped through an old poetry book and decided to hijack the vibe and design for her own offering nearly a decade later -- at least according to a new lawsuit.

A woman named Teresa La Dart has filed suit against TS, claiming she and her company lifted crucial elements of her own published work -- a 2010 book called "Lover" that includes poems, anecdotes and photos -- for TayTay's 2019 book of the same name.

Of course, Taylor has her "Lover" album ... but this lady is going after her for the accompanying book she released as a companion piece to the hit record.

Per the docs, obtained by TMZ, La Dart insists the similarities between what she put out almost 10 years ago and what Taylor released are too close to ignore. She says her book was widely available and insinuates Taylor and co. saw it and then essentially created carbon copy -- trying to pass it off as original.

As for what exactly she thinks is so alike between her book and Taylor's ... there's a few things actually. Aside from sharing a title, La Dart claims the general concept of what Taylor did -- a "recollection of past years memorialized in a combination of written and pictorial components," according to La Dart -- is exactly what her book is, to a T.

La Dart also claims the style of the photos featured on the cover/foreword are very similar ... pointing specifically to the pastel pinks and blues in the color schemes of both books.

Retired NBA star Gilbert Arenas says he's happy to still be breathing after he cost Irv Gotti and Ja Rule $175k ... claiming he purposely busted up a bet they had on a game he was playing in -- and they were FURIOUS over it!!

Arenas -- who was on the Warriors at the time -- said he was playing a road game against the Rockets when he overheard Gotti and Ja mentioning they had bet on the Dubs to cover the spread that night.

Agent Zero says he had no idea what the spread was, but made it his mission to spoil their night ... knowing he had to score some more points to kill the bet.

Arenas said his Warriors were losing to the Rockets, led by Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley, and with the game out of reach, he came down the court and threw up a half-court three-pointer.

Naturally, the wild shot went in ... sinking any hopes Gotti and Ja had of cashing out that night.

"[I] came down and shot it," Arenas said. "And I could see the disappointment in their face. I won. I won the game. We're going back to the locker room, and I'm sitting there like, 'Yeah, I hurt somebody's feelings today.'"

"I didn't know how much money they had on the game. I didn't really know it was about betting, but I knew I hurt [Gotti's] feelings. I knew I hurt his feelings. He was disappointed even though they won. He was disappointed, so that means I won."

Thanks to a recent interview on the "Drink Champs" podcast, we now know that Gotti and Ja bet $175K on the Rockets to cover the spread against Gilbert's Warriors.

"We wanted to kill Gilbert Arenas after that," Gotti said on the podcast. "The whole arena knew we had 175 [thousand dollars] on this. The refs knew. Everyone knew."

Megan Thee Stallion's following up her "Traumazine" album release by playing some legal hardball -- forcing J. Prince and Carl Crawford to sit for depositions in the lawsuit over her contract.

Megan filed docs Tuesday notifying the court her lawyers will be grilling 1501 Entertainment honcho Crawford, as well as Prince ... the Rap-A-Lot Records founder, who Megan claims has been advising Crawford on business dealings.

The date and place are already set ... J. Prince goes first on October 24, and Crawford follows the next day -- both depos will be taken at an office building in Houston, and they will be recorded on video.

It's a major power move for Megan, who, as we've reported ... is suing her label, 1501 Entertainment, because she believes she satisfied the terms of her contract with her last 2 albums -- "Something for Thee Hotties" and last week's release, "Traumazine."

Megan says Crawford and co. aren't viewing those projects as albums, simply to keep her tied to 1501 -- but she says she's done with the label. She wants out, and she wants a judge to force Crawford to cough up royalties and other money she says 1501 owes her.

She says that number is at least $1 million, but wants a proper accounting to determine the actual damages.

Tensions boiled over on Tuesday morning ... when Megan, Prince and Crawford all volleyed accusations that ranged from the 2 men mishandling her business to Megan conspiring with Roc Nation to get out of her contract.

Getting an industry powerhouse like Prince to sit for a deposition is no easy task, and Megan's hope could be this forces Crawford to settle the lawsuit beforehand.

While Migos continues dodging break-up rumors, Offset's going to war with the group's record label ... filing a lawsuit over his solo career.

Offset filed docs, which TMZ Hip Hop obtained, and in them he accuses Quality Control Records of ignoring a deal they made back in January 2021.

According to the suit, filed Tuesday, Offset says he negotiated his solo deal, and "paid handsomely" for his artist rights ... but now that he's dropped a new solo project, he says QC isn't honoring the deal.

He just released the Baby Keem-produced solo single, "54321" … which he says QC incorrectly tried to claim as its own, an action he calls "hostile."

Offset also plans on releasing another song entitled "Code" with Moneybagg Yo this Friday, presumably just on Motown Records, the label he signed with for his solo career.

Migos sparked break-up rumors earlier this year when Quavo and Takeoff began releasing music under the moniker "Unc & Phew." Quavo was willing to talk about everything -- except the alleged split.

Offset's Migos deal with QC remains in place -- but when it comes to his solo work, he wants the court to declare QC does NOT own anything he's made since January 15, 2021, or in the future.

Every second wedding's gotta have a second honeymoon -- seems like that should be a rule -- and that's why Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez are back in Europe for another romantic vacay.

Witnesses tell TMZ ... Ben and Jen pulled up to the Grand Hotel Tremezzo in Lake Como, Italy Tuesday -- arriving by private water limo, naturally.

The tables to the left of them were apparently kept empty ... even a glass facade was moved so they could get a better view of the iconic lake.

Security was also nearby to make sure their night went uninterrupted.

And yes, we're told they couldn't keep their hands off each other -- they put a pause on the kissing so Jen could head off to the bathroom, but when she came back they got right back to it!!!

Sounds like Ben was taking a look at Jen's wedding pics on Vogue's IG page -- truly her #1 fan.

As you know, they said "I Do" for a second time at his Georgia estate over the weekend ... after first eloping in Vegas last month. Wedding #1 ended with a family trip to Paris for their honeymoon.

Lil Yachty may have been born in August -- but the trendsetting rapper celebrated his 25th birthday with Drake like he was October's Very Own!!!

Yachty, Drake and several other friends took a coast on Drake's "Air Drake" private jet ... toasting to more life over chicken wings and Sprite.

Yachty was clearly in OVO mode -- debuting a new owl tattoo and even pulling up to Drake’s PJ wearing the Canadian megastar’s Chrome Hearts jeans, which he accidentally ripped!

Released as a merch rollout to support Drake's 2021 album "Certified Lover Boy," the collection has since grown hard to come by online ... and is extremely expensive.

Drake and Lil Yachty have been friends for years … Yachty recruited Drake for his platinum "Oprah's Bank Account" and cameoed in Drake and Future’s diamond-selling "Life Is Good" video.

Kanye West has been wearing a lot of black lately, but he's thinking blue for his future ... at least when it comes to landing a logo for his clothing line.

Ye's filed two new trademarks, obtained by TMZ, for a bizarre blue design he hopes to lock down as a logo. Unclear what the motivation is behind the logo ... it's a solid blue circle encased by another blue circle with jagged edges.

Interestingly enough, Kanye filed for another variation of the logo back in July, one without the color blue ... but it appears he's changed his mind.

However, this time the docs state, "The color(s) blue is/are claimed as a feature of the mark." Kanye fans might recognize the shade of blue is slightly similar to the same one he used on his "Jesus is King" album ... but we can't see any correlation between the album and logo.

As for the logo's use, the documents state it'll be for retail stores, online ordering services and online retail store services including clothing, footwear and headwear.

TMZ broke the story, Ye recently filed docs to land a trademark for "YZYSPLY" for retail stores -- so it's always possible the new logo and stores could go hand in hand.

Kodak Black is lending a major hand to Haitians cut off from food and water -- due to extreme gang violence -- by sending more than 35,000 bottles of H2O.

Kodak heard about the Caribbean nation's crisis, and decided to do something to help the situation -- dropping $50k to get tons of bottled water shipped there from Florida ... according to the rapper's attorney, Bradford Cohen.

We're told Kodak is using cargo ships to send over alkaline water, and the labels on the bottles read "LAST" because Kodak wants this to be the last time anyone in Haiti goes without water.

Once the shipment reaches Haiti ... Kodak and his team are working with Haitian government officials to ensure the bottles get to their intended destinations.

Cohen says Kodak is calling for a ceasefire in the rising gang violence that's turning Haiti into a war zone ... and the water donation is just his latest step in an ongoing effort to help the island.