Music

Xzibit is going out of his way to pay his achievements forward, and while he's at it ... he has some valuable advice for the rappers in the younger generation.

TMZ Hip Hop checked in with Xzibit over the weekend outside the Hollywood Palladium ... where he was assisting the nonprofit org Humanity Heroes in its quest to dole out 10K "Humanity Packs" containing essential first aid and safety items to the homeless citizens of skid row.

The West Coast rap vet says the little contributions add up along the way and the charitable works have been keeping him busy as he finalizes his last solo album.

The last time we spoke to X, he was perfectly fine hanging up his studio mic in exchange for more time with his family, and he hasn't wavered one bit on that sentiment.

He's also continuing to push his Napalm cannabis brand ... noting how they were able to survive the unpredictable economy during the 2020 pandemic.

We also gauged his wisdom for the current crop of rappers ... especially with so many of them dying or getting incarcerated at the height of their careers. X suggests the community should band together in order to set up the next generation for a better experience.

City Girls' JT apparently had a lovers quarrel with Lil Uzi Vert going into Thanksgiving weekend when she told her 2.6 million followers she was a single woman -- but the two have since patched things up.

The City Girl threw a huge 30th birthday party over the weekend where Uzi blessed her with a brand new set of luxury wheels!!!

The "Just Wanna Rock" rapper capped off her Miami bash by surprising his boo with a black x black Rolls-Royce Cullinan ... instantly inducing waterworks all over her face. We're told he bought the whip from RD Whittington, owner of Wires Only.

Following the double R reveal, JT trumped her previous tweet with more affectionate ones ... proclaiming Uzi to be the "g.o.a.t." boyfriend and revealed that her heart was full.

The inside of JT's party was just as lit as her lifestyle -- Yung Miami and Saucy Santana were a living rich flex and the venue was decked out with large billboards containing some of JT's most memorable lyrics.

The two are amongst hip hop's most generous power couple. JT actually blessed Uzi with a Mercedes-Benz V-Class and a BMW G 310 R Sport motorcycle for his birthday last August.

NBA YoungBoy spent 8 minutes unloading the weight of the world in his new track "This Not a Song 'This For My Supporters'" ... and offered up some advice to Kanye West after yet another tumultuous week.

Midway through the track, YB laments over Kanye cracking under the pressure and urged him to stay strong rapping, "It hurt my heart that Kanye let them people break his soul/How the f**k that go? N**ga, stand your own n**ga, hold your ground, you strong!"

The Louisiana rapper even suggested he'd give Kanye a couple of pointers on how to kill all his demons ... in the name of good, of course.

Ye will need at least two years of good karma if he's going to secure the Presidential bid he's currently campaigning for but it sounds like YB is gunning for his spot in the White House!!!

YB also dedicated some lyrical space to plenty of other eye-popping topics. He threatened to sue The Shade Room for alleged misquotes ... and says he'll kick out any woman who plays GloRilla's 'F.N.F.' hit song around him because it's the opposite of his character.

Despite the aggressive tone of the track, YB repeatedly demands people "stop the violence" and even defended his hometown Baton Rogue's quality of life.

Christine McVie had some personal items of hers hit the auction block this weekend -- and in the wake of her death ... you better believe they fetched a pretty penny.

The event was held by Julien's Auctions on Saturday and Sunday in Beverly Hills, where upwards of 800 items belonging to three different Fleetwood Mac members -- including CMV -- were put up for sale to the highest bidder ... and Christine's stuff was in high demand.

Among the lots of hers up for grabs -- wardrobe that she once wore herself, not to mention Christine's very own musical instruments and stage gear ... so, yeah, rare collectables.

For starters, two different dresses of Christine's were sold ... one was the vintage maxi dress she donned for the hit album, 'Rumours,' (sold for $56,250) and her polka dot chiffon hippie dress -- which she wore to the 1976 Rock Music Awards (sold for $31,250).

There's more ... the singer's Leslie speaker and her very own mics raked in $37,500; her touring Hammond B3 organ fetched $28,125; her Yamaha electric baby grand piano sold for $22,400; and Christine's other stage-played organ went for $18,750. Nearly $200k all in all.

Other FM items were part of the auction too -- some of John McVie's belongings were also sold, such as his guitars and bass racked up practically a quarter of a million dollars on their own. Also, Mick Fleetwood's iconic wooden 'Rumours' balls snagged $128k on their own.

Pretty solid turnout, and you gotta imagine Christine's passing played a part in the interest.

As we reported ... Christine died Wednesday at the hospital after a short illness, while surrounded by loved ones. Her old bandmates sent a tribute in her honor. She was 79.

Kelly Clarkson says a strange person is showing up to her house, trespassing on her property and leaving her unwanted gifts ... so, now she's getting the police involved.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... for the past month, the same person's been popping up at Kelly's L.A. area home, going up to her porch and dropping things off for her.

We're told they're leaving behind cards, plants and other random items for Kelly ... even though she told cops she's never met them before, and doesn't know who the stranger is.

Our sources say Kelly has yet to come face-to-face with the intruder, but we're told her security was concerned enough to call LAPD to file a report ... and now LAPD Threat Management is investigating.

Cops see the person's alleged behavior as very troubling -- they don't know yet if it's a fan who means no harm, or a situation that could escalate into something far more sinister.

Our sources say Kelly's got surveillance footage of the person dropping stuff off on her porch ... and LAPD is trying to identify them for a background check, and to assess potential threats.

Sacha Baron Cohen did his classic 'Borat' bit to go after Kanye West during the Kennedy Center Honors, and Rep. Nancy Pelosi's husband was among those applauding ... as he made his first public appearance since he was attacked.

The actor/comedian reprised his iconic role for a speech Sunday night at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in D.C., where George Clooney, Gladys Knight, U2 and a few other artists were honored.

During the ceremony, SBC came out dressed as the misunderstood Kazak journalist and went right after Ye's antisemitic remarks, saying ... "Before I proceed, I will say I am very upset about the antisemitism in US and A. It not fair. Kazakhstan is number 1 Jew-crushing nation. Stop stealing our hobby. Stop the steal! Stop the steal!”

He added, "Your Kanye, he tried to move to Kazakhstan and even changed his name to Kazakhstanye West. But, we said: No, he too antisemitic, even for us."

If you're unfamiliar, the 'Borat' character is known for making antisemitic jabs -- but everyone knows it's ironic humor, because Sacha is Jewish.

He even sang a parody of U2's "With or Without You," changing the lyrics to "With or Without Jews."

Later in the evening, Borat got lost and Sacha reappeared as his normal self.

Now, while his standup was certainly a highlight from the night, seeing Paul Pelosi in the building, alongside Rep. Pelosi was just as eye-opening.

It marked his first public outing since an attacker struck him with a hammer, back in October, inside the Pelosis' San Fran home.

Paul's skull was damaged, and required surgery ... but at the Kennedy Center, he seemed to have recovered well. He was wearing a hat, possibly to conceal his injuries.

Metro Boomin has poignantly tied the theme of his new album to the recent loss of his mother -- inviting dozens of single moms to an NFL game ... with on-field access!!!

The record producer organized an awesome initiative Sunday for the Steelers' game against the Atlanta Falcons, who were hosting at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. MB -- who's originally from the area -- had some guests attend on his behalf ... a lot of them, in fact.

You see ... Metro bought tickets for 26 mothers from around the country as well as their children -- which made for a mini family parade through the tunnel and onto the main stage pre-kickoff.

Not just that, but the group here also got to stand next to the Falcons players for the national anthem ... so, better than a front-row seat. They were the main attraction! Metro himself did not attend -- our sources tell us he wanted the mama bears to have the spotlight.

It was a pretty awesome moment, to say the least ... and the reason Metro did it, we're told, was two-pronged -- one, he wanted to honor his own late mother, who tragically died.

At the same time, Metro wanted to recognize single moms for the heroes they are ... which ties into his latest project, "HEROES & VILLAINS," which is out now.

We're told this effort -- which Metro calls "Single Moms Are Superheroes," in partnership with the Steve and Marjorie Harvey Foundation -- is a way to help these ladies amid struggles they might face as solo parents. With this nonprofit he's established, they can now get more assistance than they might otherwise receive.

Back in 2004, Snoop Dogg was stylin’ and profilin’ in his Snoop DeVille for 50 Cent’s "P.I.M.P. Remix" video, and now you can roll just like him ... 'cause the classic whip's up for grabs!!!

TMZ Hip Hop spoke to Christian Bonilla, the current owner of the car ... and he has a pretty interesting tale about how it came into his possession.

Snoop’s DeVille -- a customized 1966 Cadillac lowrider -- was virtually a family heirloom at one point and even took home the "top interior" prize at the 2006 General Motors car competition.

Christian tells us Snoop’s late roll dogg, Uncle Junebug, was especially fond of the car and loved taking it for a spin. Unfortunately, we're told Snoop blew the engine, so it was just taking up space in his car lot.

Eventually, a friend of Christian’s made Snoop an offer and shipped the car to Christian.

The car is mostly intact aside from the engine that was replaced and an audio upgrade … and we bet "Still D.R.E." sounds amazing in the speakers!!!

Christian says he’s currently fielding offers for the pimpmobile, so he doesn’t have an asking price set just yet.

The stars were out and shining bright in D.C. this weekend ... this as President Biden bestowed lifetime awards on a handful of them who were honored at the White House.

George Clooney, Gladys Knight, Bono and the rest of U2 were on hand Sunday in our nation's capital to receive their Kennedy Center Honors for contributions to the arts over the course of their lives ... and they all dressed to impress for the swanky get-together.

Other honorees included composer Tania Leon and Christian singer Amy Grant -- they all lined up for tons of photos and took in the applause as JB sang their praises. At one point, he even singled out Gladys specifically and made a little pun about a classic tune of hers.

As for the rest of the bunch ... POTUS called them all "truly exceptional" during the reception -- noting Clooney's exceptional on-camera roles over the years, not to mention his philanthropy. And as for U2 ... well, let's just say Joe's a fan, going so far as to call them poets of our time.

BTW, it wasn't just these celebs who were in the house ... Julia Roberts was there, as was Don Cheadle, Richard Kind, Matt Damon, Sean Penn and others. So, yeah ... BIG turnout.

There's bits of video trickling out from the actual ceremony -- but the whole thing was properly recorded and is going to air in full later this month. It may even include performances from some of the musical acts ... time will tell.

Kanye West has reportedly shed at least one alt-right figure from his inner circle -- but it's not necessarily the guy you might want to see go first from the outside looking in.

Per Daily Beast journo Will Sommer, Milo Yiannopoulos has been fired from Ye's campaign team -- this following his crash-and-burn interview with Alex Jones earlier this week, not to mention a bunch of others that have gone up in flames and made KW look bad.

Sommer says Milo was booted after "a series of disastrous media appearances that saw the candidate praising Hitler." He adds that in an email, Milo wrote that there was a mutual conclusion reached that he oughta step away ... and it sounds like he has.

So, the question ... what about Nick Fuentes, the self-proclaimed white nationalist who's had Ye's ear for several weeks or so? Sommer reports his status in the Ye camp isn't quite as clear, but suspects the dude's probably safe ... for now.

Fuentes was alongside Kanye during the InfoWars interview, whereas Milo wasn't ... which seems to suggest this change happened over the past few days. Then again, we got video of NF at an In-N-Out just 2 days ago, without Kanye in sight, so who knows what's going on.

As for Milo ... well, it's probably for the best. Despite his efforts to get Kanye on different conservative-leaning podcasts of late -- a lot of them crumbled, like when he walked off the set of Tim Pool's podcast earlier in the week after some pushback on his antisemitism.

No word if Ye was holding that against Milo -- as opposed to, you know, himself -- but in any case ... it sounds like Kanye wants to pursue the presidency without him (and yes, that does in fact seem to be a thing again, YE24).

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck have a large staff handling their day-to-day, but one chore is strictly hands on -- going shoppin' for an XMAS tree!

Ben, Jen and their brood hit up a vacant lot in Santa Monica Saturday ... littered with Douglas and other firs.

So many to choose from! The fam got downright pensive and they inspected various options. It's an important one for sure ... it's their first tree as a married couple.

They spent quite a bit of time at the lot, eventually settling on what looked like a balsam fir -- a huge one -- that they tied to their SUV as they beat it.

Everyone seemed to have a voice in the choice ... including Max, Emme, Seraphina and Samuel. Looks like Violet was MIA.

Keke Palmer made a big reveal during her monologue Saturday night on 'SNL' -- the buzz is real ... she's having a baby!

Keke's having her first kid with BF Darius Jackson, and she didn't just say it ... she showed it!!!

She said, "There's some rumors going around, people have been in my comments saying, 'Keke's having a baby, Keke's pregnant,' and I wanna set the record straight ... I am!"

Not sure how far along she is, but judging from the bump, she's well down the road. She confessed she has lots going on right now and wanted to keep it a secret for as long as she could.

The most hilarious part ... she said, "Even though some people feel a little weird about me having a baby cause I was a child actor, I just wanna say, look, I'm 29, I'm grown, I have sex, I own a home, I stormed the Capitol on January 6, you know? Things adults do."

Travis Scott was the show to watch Saturday night during Art Basel weekend.

Travis hit the state at E11EVEN nightclub in Miami. Celebs were out in force watching ... including Larsa Pippen and Marcus Jordan ... so they're still a thing.

Lots of celebs in town, including Kim and Khloe Kardashian, Serena Williams, who went club hopping Friday. night. Unclear if they hit up the Travis concert, but it's a good bet they did.

Leonardo DiCaprio was in town, cavorting with lots of beautiful women on a superyacht. Miami mogul David Grutman was in the middle of it all ... he owns just about every hot spot in the city.

Kanye West has unveiled his bigoted views to the world, yet there's still a market for Ye24 merch as he noodles on another run for president.

A quick search on eBay and Amazon reveals dozens of listings, with everything from shirts and hoodies to hats and flip-flops ... all with either Kanye's imagery or his Ye24 slogan. It's unclear exactly who's selling the stuff ... whether it's Kanye or 3rd parties. Pricing ranges from $20-30 for hats, up to $50 for hoodies and flip-flops, plus shipping.

While we've yet to see any designs of Kanye with a swastika or anything Hitler-adjacent, some merch includes Ye holding a cross, and another where he's standing next to Iron Man.

As for the resale value of Yeezy shoes, those have remained shockingly unchanged -- despite Kanye's proclamation of loving Hitler and giving props to Nazis.

Remo from Walk Like Us, a digital marketing company working with resellers, tells us one of the more popular Yeezy designs -- the 2015 Turtle Doves which retailed for $160 -- are still reselling at an average price of $793.

Aaron Carter's family members are all on the same page when it comes to the late singer's fortune ... and his mom, at least, believes this will avoid any fighting over Aaron's assets.

Jane Carter tells TMZ ... the family's wish is to have everything from his estate -- which probate docs value at $550K in real estate and personal property -- go to 1-year-old Prince, because they want to make sure the child's taken care of as he grows up.

As we previously reported, that's how things would legally work anyway, given that Aaron was unmarried and died without a will.

Jane says this isn't going to turn into a nasty legal situation ... noting she thinks Aaron would've wanted everything to go to his son, and the family doesn't need the money, anyway.

Jane says she and Aaron's siblings still haven't met Prince -- the mother of Aaron's ex-fiancée, Melanie, currently has custody. She adds, however, the fam would really like to have a relationship with Prince and Melanie.

For those unaware, Aaron's twin sister Angel filed a petition this week to serve as administrator of Aaron's estate, and Jane tells us she asked Angel to take on that role.

Akon is still backing Kanye West, even after the guy proclaimed his love for Hitler and Nazis -- going so far as to say, he isn't offended ... 'cause the remarks aren't aimed at him.

The singer sat for an interview with Sky News this week ... during which he said he supports Ye's right to speak his mind and say whatever he wants to say, regardless of how much it might piss off society -- which is apparently how he's framed this saga in his mind.

While Akon says he would make sure to give KW his own POV against Ye's argument about liking Hitler -- in a debate, it seems -- he still doesn't like the idea of shutting the dude down and smothering out his speech just because what he's saying is objectionable to some.

That last part is incredibly telling, and something the journo caught onto -- asking Akon if it troubles him that Kanye makes objectively horrid comments, period ... with Akon responding, "Not really, because those comments don't really affect me personally."

In other words ... not my group, not my fight. That certainly seems to be the vibe Akon is projecting here -- and, as you can imagine, he's getting torn to shreds on Twitter over it.