Music

Drake is still winning big with his old music -- in addition to his monster 2022 year -- as two of his biggest hits have just reached Diamond status!!!

The RIAA announced Thursday that 2 of Drake's "Views" album singles ... "Hotline Bling" and "One Dance" had crossed the 10 million sales benchmark.

His already-Diamond hit "God's Plan" was also upgraded to Platinum for hitting the 15 mil mark.

"Hotline Bling" was originally a remix to singer DRAM's breakout song "Cha Cha" -- a clash that still lingers today.

Regardless, the song went on to win a pair of Grammys in 2017 for Best Rap Song and Best Rap/Song Performance and the video has almost two billion plays.

Drake actually never got around to shooting a video for the dancehall smash "One Dance" but it obviously didn't hurt the song's reach.

The song effectively introduced Wizkid to American audiences and he's now the first Nigerian artist to go Diamond.

Drake was also the No. 3 artist streamed globally this year ... trailing only behind Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny.

Kanye West has lost friends, business deals and billions of dollars for his hatred, and now he can add losing an honorary college degree to his woes ... cause the School of the Art Institute of Chicago has taken it away.

According to a school letter, obtained by TMZ, honchos decided to rescind Ye's degree, stating, "His anti-Black, antisemitic, and incendiary statements, particularly those directed at Black and Jewish communities, are disgusting and condemnable".

The letter, written by President Elissa Tenny, continues, "As a community, we know that there are varying opinions on what our School’s response should be––even as we all agree that his behavior is indefensible."

The disgraced rapper was awarded an honorary doctorate back in 2015 for his accomplishments and contributions to art and culture, but Tenny notes, "his actions do not align with SAIC's mission and values."

As we reported, Kanye was on "Infowars" last week claiming his love for Hitler and Nazis.

Backstreet Boys member Nick Carter is being sued for sexual battery, after an alleged incident with a minor back in 2001 ... an incident our Carter sources say is totally false.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Shannon Ruth -- who says she was 17 at the time of the alleged assault -- was invited by Carter to his tour bus after a Backstreet Boys concert in Tacoma, WA while waiting in the autograph line.

The docs say Ruth, who has autism and cerebral palsy, was asked if she wanted a drink ... she asked for apple juice, and Carter allegedly told her he had cranberry -- giving her a "red-colored drink."

Ruth says the drink tasted off, and Carter called it "VIP juice" ... but drank it to not be rude. She now believes it was a mix of alcohol and cranberry juice.

According to the docs, Carter then brought her to the bus' bathroom, and ordered her to perform oral sex on him ... Ruth claims she was crying during the ordeal, but he kept instructing her.

She then says Carter took her to a bed on the bus and continued to sexually assault her ... and after the incident, she allegedly said she'd tell people about what he did, but he threatened to turn others against her -- calling her a "r******* little bitch" that no one would believe.

The docs say Ruth, who claims she was a virgin before the alleged assault, had contracted HPV afterward ... and she's now seeking damages.

A source close to Nick tells us, "This accusation is categorically false, Nick is focusing on his family and mourning the death of his brother."

As we reported, Nick's faced rape allegations in the past, but has never been charged with any crimes.

Drake is catching a stray from Styles P, who is reflecting on the short-lived Nas vs. 21 Savage "beef" ... and thinking Drizzy shoulda nipped the rift in the bud before it bloomed.

The Lox legend was a guest on Math Hoffa's "My Expert Opinion" where he stated he liked, not loved, 21's music ... and added he's not in the same class of rappers as Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole or even Drake -- with whom 21 just dropped the "Her Loss" album.

Nas and 21 recently patched things up with a duet track "One Mic, One Gun."

The song's been celebrated as a peaceful follow-up to 21's comments on Clubhouse that Nas was irrelevant -- a move Styles says he would never do despite how much he agreed.

According to Styles, there are actually some legends who suck as lyricists and should bow in his presence ... but he's not here to knock anybody's hustle.

Celine Dion is coping with a serious disorder that makes people unable to talk or walk -- and as a result, she's forced to postpone her European tour once again.

The singer was very emotional early Thursday morning as she revealed her diagnosis, telling fans about the extremely rare neurological disorder called stiff-person syndrome.

Celine says it's the reason she's been suffering spasms lately, and it's affected "every aspect of my daily life" -- and it's made it difficult for her to sing at her full ability.

Celine then breaks the tour news to fans ... before adding she's got a team of medical professionals working on getting her back into performance mode, but it hasn't been easy.

Stiff-person syndrome only affects about one in a million people, and it can cause frequent muscle spasms due to heightened sensitivity to things like touch, emotional distress or noise. It can leave some unable to walk or, in severe cases, speak.

Celine's concert was set to kick off February in the Czech Republic -- but it's now slated for March 2024, according to her site. A handful of other shows were canceled, too.

Young Nudy is looking to do serious bodily harm to whoever's stealing his unreleased tracks and putting them on the Internet ... and, frankly, he has the beating all planned out.

Nudy hopped onto Instagram fuming with rage after learning a whopping 172 of his songs were placed onto a popular illegal music download site.

Previously unreleased songs from other Atlanta-based rap stars -- Future, 21 Savage, Young Thug, Gunna -- also hit the platform, but it's Nudy who's springing into action ... promising to take his sweet time sniffing out the culprit.

Nudy denied being friendly like other rappers, and says when he finds the hack, he won't hesitate to pull up to deliver a royal ass whooping!!! Sounds like he means it, too.

Lil Uzi Vert has his first Diamond certification from the Recording Industry Association of America -- thanks to his infectious 2017 bop "XO TOUR Llif3."

Diamond awards are handed out for 10 million sold, and "XO TOUR Llif3" actually sits comfortably above that line at 11 million units sold to date!!!

Produced by TM88 and JW Lucas, the song spiked massive emo moods upon its release. Uzi detailed his then-fizzling relationship with ex-girlfriend Brittany Byrd and wailed on the track about all his friends being dead ... presidents.

Uzi's Generation Now label boss DJ Drama tells TMZ Hip Hop the song was actually in jeopardy of being leaked after Uzi lost his phone while on tour with The Weeknd at the time.

To get ahead of the blunder, Drama says they put out a preliminary EP on SoundCloud -- "Luv Is Rage 1.5" -- with "XO TOUR Llif3" being a featured track.

Drama says he and the team watched the track blow up in real-time, which leads us to the present day ... 11 million sold, baby!!!

TM88 is also popping his ish on Twitter ... throwing a subtle jab at DJ Khaled's recently resurfaced 2015 comments where he dissed FL Studio -- the program that made "XO TOUR Llif3" possible in the first place!!!

Tekashi 6ix9ine and social media influencer Steve Will Do It are having some fun at Balenciaga's expense in the wake of the fashion brand's photo controversy ... even if their jokes are kinda lowbrow.

During a trip to an undisclosed Balenciaga location, 6ix9ine and Steve pretended to investigate the store's current foot traffic -- it was pretty empty, aside from employees and a handful of customers.

6ix9ne assumed the role of a security guard, allowing his buddy Steve Will entry after he dropped the password ... "I like little girls" -- a direct jab at Balenciaga's crisis.

Steve Will roamed the store for a bit, as Tekashi flaunted his disrespect for the store -- plopping down on a display case with no regard for the expensive clothing!!!

As you know, the luxury designer is currently under fire for running an ad campaign depicting young kids holding teddy bears dressed in bondage gear ... and other imagery showing court documents referencing child pornography laws.

The 2 jokers didn't film themselves purchasing anything, but that seems to be the point -- they're down with boycotting Balenciaga ... even in the face of a 50% off sale.

TMZ Hip Hop recently spoke to Roddy Ricch who felt very conflicted over the Balenciaga scandal ... evidenced by him still wearing their sneakers, but he's still hoping for a positive outcome.

DaBaby is currently over in Dubai pushing his "Blame It On Baby 2" album, but he's also finding time to get wild ... at a zoo.

The "BOP" rapper paid a visit to the Al Buqaish Private Zoo ... a world-renowned animal shelter and checked in with its owner, Humaid Abdulla Albuqaish, and a new friend named "Simba."

DaBaby is one of the more ambitious rappers around but may want to read his lion tamer manual before getting close to a jungle king again -- the lion didn't seem to appreciate the way he was gripping its chain leash like it was one of his iced-out pendants.

Elsewhere, DaBaby and his crew solicited some nearby camels in hopes of coming up on some of the local greenery ... to no avail.

Regardless, DB has been riding high as of late after boldly claiming on Math Hoffa's podcast that he's on the same level as Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, and J. Cole.

Cryptic rap star Yeat is embarking on a huge North American tour next year of 27 major cities across the U.S. and Canada -- great news for his fans everywhere ... except Florida.

For some reason, he hasn't booked a single date in the entire state, and his fans there are giving him an earful about the apparent oversight.

Listeners in the Sunshine State railed against Yeat for not including them in their tour plans, even giving him crap for picking Salt Lake City over them!!! They obviously never saw "SLC Punk!"

One Florida fan grew especially pissed over the snub ... seeing as how he spent well over 14,000 minutes bumping the "Monëy so big" rapper's music.

That angry fan was far from Yeat's only rabid supporter this year. His recent Grammy snub in the Best New Artist category may go down as one of the biggest goofs of all time.

Yeat actually had bigger streaming numbers than all the 2023 Best New Artist nominees COMBINED!!! Remember, those nominees include Latto and Anitta.

He dropped his last album "2 Alivë" back in April and it's carried him through the rest of the year.

Kanye West's 2019 gospel album "Jesus Is King" made Billboard history several times over -- but gospel music legend Marvin Sapp is sympathetic to other artists who, he says, fell victim to Ye's immense celebrity!!!

Marvin thinks gospel music is far too welcoming ... something he lamented with VladTV, saying the genre jumps to include artists in its ranks just because they happen to make a song or 2 about God.

He also cited Lil Nas X's country music controversy over his "Old Town Road" hit as an example.

Marvin called Kanye's popularity at the pulpit "unfair" ... suggesting Ye doesn't actually live out the lifestyle that reflects gospel music.

"Jesus Is King" became the first album to top the Billboard 200, R&B/Hip-Hop, Rap, Christian and Gospel albums charts at the same time ... and many artists saw their efforts totally erased from memory upon its release.

Marvin released his fifteenth studio album "Substance" back in June ... and as you can probably guess, it didn't get anywhere near the amount of attention as "Jesus Is King."

Metro Boomin's new album "HEROES & VILLAINS" could very well nab the number one spot next week, and the producer's already reaping rewards -- throwing a celeb-packed album release party with Spotify's RapCaviar imprint.

Metro took time out to dap up his supporters all evening ... including two of his biggest "HEROES & VILLAINS" collaborators The Weeknd -- fresh off receiving his 4th Diamond RIAA plaque -- and A$AP Rocky.

Metro's producer yang Southside, XO's Wassim Slaiby and Amir Esmailian, RC's Carl Chery and fellow rap stars NAV, Polo G and G Herbo rounded out the crowd of Metro Boomers.

The celebration speaks to the quality of the product Metro just put out after a 4-year hiatus ... and he recently gave fans "some more" as his famous tagline says ... dropping off the instrumentals to his latest batch of beats for the audiophiles.

According to HitsDailyDouble, 'Heroes' is on pace to rack in close to 140,000-150,000 units sold ... with only Taylor Swift’s blockbuster "Midnights" album standing in his way for the top spot.

Alicia Keys isn't going to argue with any fans who want her Kanye West and Fivio Foreign collab "City of Gods" to be the sequel to her classic "Empire State of Mind" duet with Jay-Z.

In fact, she seems to think both tracks rep the Big Apple just fine!

We caught up with AK out in NYC and asked her thoughts on the records being related, and the topic seemed to perk her interest ... as she labeled "City of Gods" a straight-up vibe.

The Grammy Award-winner recently admitted she and Jay have been hesitant to deliver a follow-up to their iconic tune for the past 13 years -- but it's not like "City of Gods" isn't a powerful record in its own right.

The song was released in February as Fivio's lead single for his debut album "B.I.B.L.E." and has since been certified gold by the RIAA.

Dozens of Taylor Swift fans, and one angry lawyer/Swiftee, want Ticketmaster to stand trial for allegedly screwing them outta tickets ... and right now at least, they're not interested in settling.

Attorney Jennifer Kinder filed the lawsuit last week against Ticketmaster, and she joined us Tuesday on "TMZ Live," and explained why she's not buying the company's claim that the presale event problems were simply a supply and demand issue.

Jennifer says it really comes down to simple math, and it should have been clear to Ticketmaster things were gonna go south when it gave out way more presale codes than there were seats available for Taylor's 'Eras' tour dates.

TMZ broke the story ... the fans are alleging Ticketmaster essentially got into bed with scalpers by allowing bots to block real fans from getting tickets -- and the reason comes down to money. They claim Ticketmaster benefits financially when scalpers resell tickets.

Jennifer tells us the lawsuit's gotten the attention of disappointed Swiftees all around the country ... and she'll be adding more plaintiffs beyond the original 26 who sued.

You'll recall, chaos broke out during the November 15 presale event. Tons of fans were left in limbo, as they tried to snag tickets and most of them never lucked up. Taylor has called out Ticketmaster over the issue ... and even the Tennessee Attorney General and the Justice Department opened an investigation.

Both Quavo and Offset are missing their late Migos brother Takeoff dearly ... and expressing it in completely different ways on social media.

Quavo has remained off the grid since Takeoff's funeral on November 11, while Offset has been sharing a mix of memories and sadness. Offset asked fans Tuesday to only remember Takeoff in a positive light going forward ... posting a pic of Jesus Christ to hammer home his point.

There's a possible chance that Offset was reacting to the latest social media rumors that Takeoff's parents, Titania Davenport-Treet and Kenneth M Ball, were currently battling over his estate ... as he's said to have died without a will at the age of 28.

Dr. Dre and DJ Quik both hail from Compton, both have produced for countless rap artists and both are considered production geniuses in their own right -- so, Quik's wondering why the comparisons stop there.

His point is only Dre is featured on Forbes' lists, had his own Super Bowl halftime show and been the subject of a feature film. Translation: Quik's not feeling the balance!!!

In a string of unprovoked tweets Tuesday, he revealed his secret desires to be considered on the same level as Dre -- and he's blaming his lack of resources within the music industry "machine" for stunting his popularity.

Quik called his current position "unfair" and compared himself to the unheralded janitor who makes the school run smoothly ... but never gets the credit.

The veteran studio wiz denied he was having a meltdown or that his tweets were podcast fodder ... and affirmed his love for Dr. Dre, even though he considers him real-life competition.

Dre and Quik collaborated many moons ago for the "Training Day" soundtrack on the song "Put It On Me."