Music

Hollywood is back at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., where President Biden's finally getting to entertain a foreign dignitary -- French President Emmanuel Macron -- as well as famous supporters.

Thursday night marks the return of swanky state dinners ... as the COVID pandemic forced Biden to cancel such events for the first 2 years of his administration, but the celebs are flocking back to the White House. No shocker.

John Legend and Chrissy Teigen are in the house, along with Stephen Colbert, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jennifer Garner and Ariana DeBose.

Apple CEO Tim Cook scored an invite too ... he's having a pretty loaded week, just yesterday he was meeting with Elon Musk at Apple HQ in Cali, smoothing things over with Twitter.

All the pomp and circumstance is for France ... Biden's working to repair the U.S. relationship with the European power.

These celebs are among 300 guests at the black-tie dinner, with folks dining on the best cheese America can offer Macron ... plus Maine lobster, beef with shallot marmalade and triple-cooked butter potatoes.

There's live music too ... Dr. Jill Biden booked Grammy-winning musician and composer Jon Batiste, in part because he's from New Orleans, which Jill notes "has been shaped by both French and American culture."

American actress Rebecca Lee Meza was just 10 years old when she was cast as the adolescent Selena Quintanilla -- the aspiring American Tejano singer growing up in Corpus Christi, TX -- in the classical music movie "Selena" back in 1997.

Rebecca shared the big screen with pop icon Jennifer Lopez as Selena, Jon Seda as the guitarist and Selena's husband, Chris Pérez, Edward James Olmos as Selena's father, Abraham Quintanilla.

Other notable actors in the biopic included Constance Marie as Selena's mother, Marcela Quintanilla ... and Jackie Guerra as Selena's sister, Suzette Quintanilla.

“Love & Hip Hop” alum Moniece Slaughter has a skeleton's worth of bones to pick with GloRilla -- she's accusing the Memphis rapper of cutting her off from more than 1 million IG followers!!!

Following GloRilla and producer Hitkidd’s spat over “F.N.F. (Let’s Go)” royalties, Moniece spoke up in the comment section of "The Neighborhood Talk" … and that soon spilled over to some greasy talk in the DMs, as GloRilla messaged Moniece.

Glo laid into the reality TV star for not having sole custody of her kid with B2K singer Lil' Fizz, and said she's confident Moniece is too "old" to beat her up if the beef should ever get physical.

Before Moniece could even attempt to get the last laugh, she got a suspension email from Meta for cyberbullying in the DMs!!!

A frustrated Moniece jumped over to Twitter to blame GloRilla for snitching -- but that hasn't helped her case with the Facebook/IG police just yet.

21 Savage and Latto fans are so convinced they're dating, they don't even bother digging into the rappers' IG stories anymore -- but 21 insists he’s not kicking it with anyone famous.

The Savage Gang boss was fuming during a Clubhouse chat, denying any linkage to a “celebrity girlfriend” … and further disassociating himself from generic rapper antics altogether.

21 then turned his scorn toward his recent beef-ending duet with Nas, “One Mic, One Gun,” and denied his comments about the legendary rapper’s current relevancy were an intentional catalyst for the collaboration.

Drake and 21 just topped the Billboard Charts with their “Her Loss” album, and he sounded pissed at the notion he would tease random tracks and instigate social media beef just for the hell of it.

As for his dating life ... fans figured they had Latto and 21 dead to rights -- à la GMA's T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach -- when pics made it seem like they might be together in Puerto Rico celebrating her birthday last December.

He dropped a sly -- and might we add, Savage -- rebuttal by tagging his location as Miami.

Ab-Soul’s having an eventful stay in NYC -- having a run-in with Jay-Z, and a cool courtside experience with Kevin Durant and co.

The TDE rapper inadvertently became part of the action Wednesday night as he watched the Brooklyn Nets play the Washington Wizards -- and he was NOT caught slipping in 4K when a loose ball bounced his way.

Soulo skillfully managed to catch the rock from his courtside seat and, most importantly, did not spill a drop of his drink!!!

Later that evening, still cool as a fan with a drink in hand ... he was surprised when Jay-Z greeted him as he walked into a lounge. Jay even proclaimed him the "young god" of rap!!!

The two later flicked it up in a booth, sparking collab rumors for Soulo’s upcoming album “Herbert,” which drops on December 16, but he still hasn’t unveiled his feature list yet.

TMZ Hip Hop reached out to TDE President Punch to see what, if anything, is in the works. We'll let ya know if we hear back.

Chicago rapper 600 Breezy once got catfished by a girl so bad, she had him drive deep into the Georgia boonies for 2 hours ... to an address that didn't even exist!!!

Breezo was a recent guest on "Trsh Talk" where he openly admitted to being strung along for months without a meet-up … claiming the girl was so fine in her photos, anyone would've taken the bait!!!

And, take the bait he did … Breezo says that after roughly 7 months of phone convos, he finally realized it was a hoax when she stopped responding during the car trip off to nowhere.

Breezo says he even sought advice from actual episodes of MTV's 'Catfish' for guidance — which just celebrated its 10th anniversary of bursting phony relationship bubbles on TV.

To make things even crazier for Breezo, he says the real woman -- an alleged prostitute with an overbearing pimp -- reached out to him after he posted her pics on IG, and cursed him out while naked in the shower!!!

Breezo says he eventually did get a glimpse of his catfisher -- he didn't specify how -- but to his surprise, he found her attractive as well!!! 😫

Peanut butter and jelly collaborators Rico Nasty and Kenny Beats first met back in 2018 … and history now shows it was their destiny to be a platinum pairing!!!

The Recording Industry Association of America has been rolling out plaques to artists all week and Rico and Kenny’s rager single “Smack a B*tch” was awarded a platinum honor.

While reacting to the news, Kenny revealed the song was made on their very first encounter … evidence that some artists just have instant chemistry!!!

The two would go on to collaborate for the 2019 mixtape “Anger Management” and a “Smack a B*tch Remix” -- featuring Rubi Rose, Sukihana and ppcocaine -- would wind up on Rico’s 2020 album, “Nightmare Vacation.”

Kanye West is in the middle of a serious mental breakdown live on-air with Alex Jones, spewing hate against Jewish people and praising Hitler and Nazis.

West has been live for more than an hour on "Infowars." He's clearly erratic, at times nonsensical, hateful and dressed with his face fully covered by a mask.

During the majority of his ramblings, Kanye said, "I see good things about Hitler ... Every human being has something of value that they brought to the table, especially Hitler." He then claimed Hitler invented highways and microphones.

Jones -- the host of "Infowars" who was hit with a nearly $1 billion judgment for his lies about Sandy Hook -- seems lost and unable to control Kanye.

At one point, Jones actually attempted to denounce Nazis, to which Kanye responded, "They did good things too, we are gonna stop dissing the Nazis."

During another moment just before a commercial break, Kanye squarely says, "I like Hitler."

Of course, Kanye's been sharing his antisemitic beliefs for more than a month now, but this time he's noticeably in the middle of a major mental episode -- at times barely even able to catch his breath as he unleashes hate.

As we've reported, Kanye's been traveling the country with white nationalist Nick Fuentes, who has been at Kanye's side -- even hitting up Mar-a-Lago for dinner with Donald Trump.

Alicia Keys helped Jay-Z earn his first No. 1 song back in 2009 with "Empire State of Mind” -- an accomplishment she now calls a gift and a curse, because they both fear they can't repeat it.

Alicia told E! ... she and Jay consider doing new songs together all the time, but immediately grow hesitant when they consider all the damage “Empire State of Mind” did on the charts, and in the culture.

Released in 2009, 'Empire' became an instant NYC anthem that transcended worldwide … going 3x platinum, soundtracking numerous campaigns as well as the Yankees’ World Series winning run that year.

Alicia released a sequel the next year, which was just her version of 'Empire' without Jay rapping.

Jay is no stranger to bowing out gracefully after knocking it outta the park. He and Eminem haven’t rapped together since their 2001 infectious “Blueprint” duet “Renegade” … and after a 2006 Grammy win, he never followed up with Linkin Park.

Snoop Dogg's family has just been crowned SKIMS Holiday family of the year and they picked the perfect way to celebrate: snapping the first-ever pic of the legendary rapper's nuclear household!!!

Snoop, his wife Shante "Boss Lady" Broadus, his kids Corde, Cordell and Cori, their children and his daughter's fiance Wayne Deuce all draped up in matching SKIMS fits … with OG Snoop repping for "Black Panther" while wearing his famous Claw Necklace.

"I feel so blessed that three generations of my family were able to come together for the SKIMS Holiday campaign," Snoop said of the look, highlighting the super soft, comfy outfits.

Snoop and his family have been operating like the hip-hop Huxtables for years. He and his wife have been married for 25 years and hopped on reality TV back in 2007 with two seasons of their E! series "Snoop Dogg's Father Hood."

Jay-Z made Bacardi an offer he thought it couldn't refuse -- he was willing to spend $1.5 billion just for the booze co.'s 50% stake in D'Usse, but still got rejected.

TMZ broke the story ... Jay's in a legal war with Bacardi, trying to force the company to buy him out of their 50/50 partnership in the luxury cognac brand. But, according to new docs, it was Jay who first tried to buy out Bacardi, back in December 2021.

Here's what's weird, months before his offer ... Jay says he and Bacardi exchanged valuations of the brand. They were light years apart -- Jay felt his half of D'Usse was worth $2.5 billion, and Bacardi thought it was only worth a measly $460 million!

According to the docs, Jay went back to the drawing board and then in December he offered to buy out his partner for the $1.5 bil ... which, keep in mind, would still be 3 times what Bacardi said it was worth. Sweet deal, right?

Apparently not to Bacardi, since it rejected the offer -- and that's why Jay-Z thinks there's something shady going on here.

In the docs, Jay basically accuses Bacardi of unduly influencing a third party that was called in to appraise the brand. It's unclear what number the appraiser came up with, but it's a fair bet it's closer to Bacardi's value than Jay-Z's.

We say that because Jay's now asking the court to modify the result of an arbitration both parties went through to settle the sale. As we've reported, Jay-Z is ready and willing to part ways with D'Usse ... he simply doesn't want to get cheated on the price.

Ashanti is opening up about an unsavory encounter, to put it lightly, she had with a music producer who tried to force her into sex ... as payment for studio recordings.

She exposed the incident Thursday while she was on "The Breakfast Club" ... saying she and the producer had been working closely together for a couple of weeks -- and he'd told her he'd do it for free because she was "the homie."

Ashanti says she and the producer created 2 songs but then he flipped the script … suggesting they take a shower together or else she would have to pay $40,000 a piece for the tracks!!! WTFFF?!?

After realizing he wasn't joking, Ashanti says she made a couple of phone calls to "handle the situation." It's anyone's guess what that means, but her mom Tina Douglas stepped in to confirm the story.

They also hinted at exposing the studio creep in the future in her memoir.

Sadly, the situation wasn't the first time Ashanti had to dial 911 within her inner circle.

Drake is the most streamed artist on Spotify in the U.S. this year but when it comes to his own tastes … he's rolling with Tupac!!!

Spotify rolled out its annual Wrapped feature Wednesday, and Drake's roundup shines a light on his 'Pac standom.

In all, Drake tallied up a total of 246 2Pac minutes -- putting him among the top 7% of the late "California Love" legend's listeners in 2022.

Drake's 'CLB' album ranked #1 for top hip hop albums on Spotify.

His "Jimmy Cooks" collaboration with 21 Savage was also the No. 1 song of the year on RapCaviar, so you get it ... the OVO takeover was real.

Drake repped for rap, in general, ranking No. 3 on the global scale and only trailing behind Bad Bunny and Taylor Swift.

Drake's Makaveli love goes beyond music. In 2020, he copped a double set of 2Pac pendants, valued at $300,000 each.

Erica Mena is advising all the haters invested in her child support drama with ex-husband Safaree to find a new hobby … because they're not paying her bills!!!

We caught Erica out in Miami a few weeks after her divorce dust settled and she says the single life is treating her well, basically calling it a relief to be wedding ring-free!

A recent “Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta” episode captured the moment Erica broke down in tears when she learned Safaree’s monthly support payout for their 2 children would be $4,305.

Of course that went viral, and Erica found herself the target of social media slander -- much the way Kim Kardashian's getting it now -- but she wants all her critics to know it takes 2 to tango ... and quite frankly, kids are expensive.

Erica says she's been happier following the divorce ... getting more time to spend with her children and focus on herself.

Brittany Aldean is making it clear ... all of her Balenciaga gear is going to the dump in a very expensive protest of the company's child BDSM photo shoot controversy.

Jason Aldean's wife used an IG post Wednesday to state her position on the scandal -- showing herself hauling out 2 garbage bags filled with thousands of dollars worth of Balenciaga. She captioned it ... "It’s trash day @balenciaga."

Performative, for sure, but Brittany's stance is one several celebs are making in the wake of the designer coming under fire for its ad campaign featuring children with stuffed bears in BDSM gear.

One pic also showed legal documents referencing child pornography.

Balenciaga's since pulled the images and placed blame on the marketing agency it hired for the campaign. It also filed a $25 million lawsuit against the agency.

Just like Brittany, rapper/YouTuber Omi In A Hellcat ripped into Balenciaga -- although, he took his protest one step further. Instead of just tossing his stuff, he burned all of it in a backyard firepit ... and cursed anyone who still supports the brand.

As we reported, Kim Kardashian first announced she was 're-evaluating' her partnership with the brand, and then pulled the plug altogether.

TMZ broke the story ... she declined an offer from the brand and has since ditched the Balenciaga outfits she was set to wear at upcoming events.

Bobby Brown has a lot to look forward to next year … especially hitting the road with his New Edition brothers Ralph, Ronnie, Mike, Ricky and Johnny for a new world tour!!!

We linked with Bobby Wednesday at LAX, and he was eager to spill the tea on their upcoming shows. Although the group's had legendary ups and downs since their debut in the '80s -- like Bobby leaving to launch a solo career -- BB tells us their brotherhood is too strong to ever fully break.

NE is undeniably one of the most celebrated R&B groups of all time. They've been in the game for about 40 years, and every member's had success outside the group, too -- be it hip hop supergroup Bell Biv DeVoe or solo hits from Ralph, Johnny and, of course, Bobby.

All of that adds up to fans flocking to see them whenever they tour ... so, no surprise the fellas are running it back next year.

One thing Bobby's not anticipating is the upcoming Whitney Houston biopic "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" ... which will likely document their turbulent life and times together in the '90s.

Bobby says he had zero involvement in 'I Wanna Dance' so he can't cosign on its quality, or the performance of Ashton Sanders ... the actor who's portraying him in the film.