Music

Lisa Marie Presley's final resting place will be an above-ground tomb -- similar to what her late son was buried in ... which can now be in seen in full view ahead of her memorial.

Photos surfaced Saturday from Graceland, where LMP's stone sarcophagus was revealed lying right next to Benjamin Keough's. It appears to be in the same design and made with the same material. However, her actual tombstone name plate doesn't seem quite complete.

As you can see, there's a tarp over her side of the burial ground ... obscuring where one might see on the left, Ben's remembrance. In any case, the final preparations are underway.

Check out the rest of the property -- a stage has been built, which we'd reported was in the works. Indeed, it sounds like there'll be some performances from there ... and certainly some public remarks too, we imagine. Construction crews have been at it since Tuesday.

Flower arrangements have been steadily assembled over the past several days as well, and now ... there are full-blown makeshift memorials outside the gates of Graceland, including one beautiful one that reads LMP -- made in red lettering with a white heart behind it.

In other words, the memorial/celebration of life tomorrow is just about ready. We've been told her family is expected to gather for a private funeral at some point this weekend ... it's unclear if that's happening Saturday or on Sunday before the doors open for the public.

There's word of lots of celebs that are expected to be in attendance, including Austin Butler ... who won a Golden Globe for his role as Elvis just a few days before Lisa Marie passed.

An official cause of death is pending ... Lisa was only 54.

In the digital era, not even Beyoncé can beat cell phones -- her performance in Dubai was caught on camera by several people ... despite going above and beyond to keep it secret.

The singer's down in the UAE, where she's been booked for a show at (or near) this swanky hotel called Atlantis The Royal ... which supposedly shelled out millions for her services, upwards of $24 million for just a ONE-HOUR set -- that's the word on the street, anyway.

Tons of videos circulated Saturday in the lead-up to her gig, where people who had snagged a seat to the show were reporting that the hotel and other honchos were demanding people put their devices in locked zip bags -- similar to how a lot of comics do these days.

There was also a live feed stream the hotel had up that had been capturing a lot of her sound checks in rehearsal ... which was promptly cut off right at the curtain call. And yet, despite their best efforts -- people on the ground were able to film it all regardless. 🤷🏽‍♂️

You can hop into the Beyoncé trend right now on Twitter and see all the footage for yourself -- it sounds like she opened with a cover of Etta James's 'At Last,' and then went on to perform a few of her own tracks ... like 'XO,' 'Brown Skin Girl' and other 'Renaissance' songs.

Bey was decked out in an elaborate, flowing yellow dress ... and the stage design was pretty intricate too -- coupled with a live orchestra and an awesome rising run backdrop to boot.

Sounds like things are going swimmingly, 'cause the crowd is cheering her on big time ... which is a good sign of what's to come. Reports say this is a precursor to her upcoming worldwide 'Renaissance' tour -- and so far, it seems like the product is being well-received.

BTW, this outing is a family affair ... Jay-Z was spotted near the Atlantis -- cozy up in his own private box with a bird's-eye view of the stage -- and Blue Ivy's there too. She even came on stage with mom at one point, continuing the tradition of sharing the spotlight.

Beyoncé fans are certainly stoked ... they've been waiting for her hit the road. 'Renaissance' came out about 6 months ago, and their appetite to see their Queen Bey get on the mic has been swelling like crazy. Now, they're getting their first taste of what's surely to come.

Official tour dates have yet to be announced, but after this mass leaking ... she might as well come out with it sooner than later. The people are restless!

Hip hop's most dysfunctional couple, Blueface and Chrisean Rock, are expecting a baby -- according to her, anyway ... but he's not buying cigars just yet. So, congrats?

Chrisean dropped the big baby bombshell on social media ... showing 3 at-home pregnancy test sticks and the caption, "Guess how many heart beats?"

Normally, that kinda post gets people feeling all warm and fuzzy -- but, of course, Blueface and Chrisean are far from a normal couple.

The rapper's immediate response was to announce they're no longer together, accuse her of sleeping with 10 other dudes and finally ... demand a DNA test before he'll believe he's the father of Chrisean's child.

Blueface's reaction is hardly shocking -- remember, this is the couple that's had multiple domestic violence incidents.

TMZ broke the story, one of their most violent spilled out into the streets of Hollywood and saw both of them striking each other multiple times -- and after another fight in a Phoenix bar, she got arrested for trespassing.

Chrisean's insisting Blueface IS the father, and as far as them breaking up ... she claims he's just mad and they'll get back together soon. If not, she says she'll be fine on her own.

While some fans are sending congratulations on social media ... others think this is simply adding fuel to the fire for a dangerously volatile couple.

Lil Meech, the star of 50 Cent's "BMF" TV series, is off the hook in his Florida gun possession case ... and TMZ has learned it was all just a mix-up involving luggage.

Here's what happened ... Meech was arrested in December at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport after TSA agents spotted a 9MM in a carry-on bag he put through the security scanner.

Turns out the bag and firearm belonged to Meech's bodyguard, who was with the actor and told cops the gun was his. But, police ignored the bodyguard and busted Meech, accusing him of illegally carrying a firearm into the airport because he placed the bag onto the scanner belt himself.

Meech's powerhouse attorney, Bradford Cohen, tells TMZ ... he presented indisputable evidence to Broward County prosecutors that proved the bodyguard owned the pistol, including the purchase receipt, gun case and permit for the firearm.

Cohen also explained to prosecutors that Meech and the bodyguard share the same taste in luggage. As a result, Meech accidentally picked up the bodyguard's carry-on while they were rushing to catch a flight, and Meech's actual bag was accidentally left behind.

Too $hort is all for setting great examples for younger rappers and hopes his recent trip to the White House offers some inspiration to whoever needs it!!!

We linked with Short Dog in D.C. this week fresh outta the Oval Office and as expected, he said the experience was nothing short of greatness.

Short, along with E-40, Mistah F.A.B. and Sway Calloway got to meet their fellow Oakland native, Vice President Kamala Harris ... and the rap legend says he couldn't be more proud of his hometown.

The Golden State Warriors broke their boycott of the White House in light of Donald Trump no longer being the commander-in-chief and $hort says, as a lifelong fan, he was happy to support the team in person.

He has nearly 40 years in the rap game so Short knows a thing or two about perseverance ... so, we switched gears to football to ask him about Tom Brady possibly, finally retiring. Maybe.

Too $hort is in the camp of folks who say TB12 isn't hanging up his cleats just yet.

Brady and the Buccaneers just got embarrassingly bounced outta the NFL playoffs by the Dallas Cowboys -- but, Short says Tom will give us another pump fake "retirement" and be back on the field for next season.

Ex-3LW singer Kiely Williams is copping to being the ultimate B2K groupie/peer ... claiming she was once intimate with Raz B, Lil Fizz, and J Boog. Sorry, Omarion. 🤷🏽‍♂️

Kiely had no shame in her game as she made the revelation on the "Reality With The King" podcast, calling her relations with the B2K trio an "entanglement" -- a clever callback to Jada Pinkett Smith's famous description of her relationship with August Alsina.

3LW's popularity peaked in the early '00s -- the same time as B2K's glory years, so it wouldn't be uncommon for the groups to intermingle, especially while on the road doing shows.

Kiely says she's a grown-ass woman living her truth and continued to push the lines of TMI by further revealing there was one time she was with all three B2Kers at the same damn time!!!

Naughty By Nature's Treach and his "New Jack City" stage play costars are well aware of the real-life violence in hip hop today, and hope their production of the classic '90s film can scare the genre straight.

We got Treach, Gary Dourdan, Flex Alexander and the one and only Big Daddy Kane Friday in Burbank, CA -- they're putting on the play all weekend at L.A. Orpheum Theater, and they say the production doesn't shy away from violence ... even with the recent string of tragic headlines about slain rappers.

Treach says 'New Jack' highlighted the brutality of the '80s crack epidemic, and delivered the message "that wasn't the route to take." He's hoping today's generation will take that lesson and apply it to the rap game.

Flex says most of the cast has known each other for several decades, so it's been easy to mesh ahead of their live performances -- there's no "take 2" in theater -- and they all credit director Je'Caryous Johnson for getting them game-ready months in advance.

We recently got BDK 1-on-1 back in NYC, where he told us having Allen Payne -- who's reprising his role as Gee Money from the film -- was the cheat code the rest of the cast needed to stay in line with the original.

Speaking of those NYC shows, Gary tells us another OG star, Ice-T, showed up to put his stamp of approval.

For fans of the movie ... Treach plays Wesley Snipes' lead character Nino Brown, Gary steps into Ice's role of Scotty and Flex is Chris Rock's Pookie.

Polo G is an unhappy camper after blogs accused him of unfollowing Gunna on Instagram ... something he vehemently denies, and says is actually impossible!!!

The Chicago rapper lashed out in his IG stories, citing an erroneous post from No Jumper that claimed he was the latest rapper to shun Gunna on social media.

Polo follows more than 600 accounts, but says he doesn't really vibe with other dudes and just minds his own business.

What's more interesting is that Polo and Gunna have collaborated in the past ... once for the remix to Polo's 7X platinum 2019 smash hit "Pop Out," and again in 2021 for Kawhi Leonard's "Culture Jam" album.

Gunna might never get another verse from Polo, but that doesn't mean his fellow ATL native Jacquees feels the same way.

TMZ Hip Hop got Jacquees' take on the rash of Gunna backlash, and the R&B star refuses to hit the unfollow button ... telling us there's no lemming in his DNA!!!

Flesh-n-Bone is proudly sober these days, and wants his fellow rappers to follow suit, which is why he's sending Nelly a message ... just in case his recent show was fueled by illicit substances.

We caught the Bone Thugs-n-Harmony staple at LAX, and he sounded genuinely worried about Nelly following his now-infamous performance in Australia -- y'know, the one where his eyes were rolling in the back of his head!!!

Flesh tells us he's several months free of alcohol and marijuana, and advises Nelly to be careful on the road, as drugs are now commonly being spiked with fentanyl.

We should say, there's no proof Nelly was taking anything ... nor has he said a peep about the rumors.

Flesh's newfound sobriety might shock longtime Bone Thugs fans -- the group sold millions of records, and is credited for "classic" hip hop weed anthems like "Buddah Lovaz." They even lovingly serenaded ecstasy back in 2000.

He calls it a necessary change ... revealing longtime Bone Thugs' producer DJ U-Neek lost 2 sons to overdoses, and also reflected on Gangsta Boo’s death ... which is also suspected to be OD-related.

Flesh remembers GB fondly as a rockstar and says his Bone Thugs brothers deserved the "tongue-lashing" she dished out after they started a fight during their 2021 Verzuz battle with Three 6 Mafia.

Bone Thugs and Three 6 were able to grow tighter after the brawl -- and Flesh says the Memphis rap legends contacted them personally to deliver the unfortunate news their First Lady had passed.

JID says he's hung up his freestyle cleats for good ... on account of Funkmaster Flex's extremely lukewarm reaction nearly 6 years ago!!!

The Dreamville rapper was invited to Hot 97 back in April 2017 and was under the impression he went apes**t on Biggie's "Who Shot Ya?" beat ... that is, until he watched the playback and realized Flex was snoozing behind the wheel -- and his barrage of complex rhymes.

JID's considered one of the top lyricists of today's rap but admitted to the RapRadar podcast the lack of Funk Flex fanfare made him pull back from delivering freestyles.

Fortunately for the sake of the art, JID says he plans to fire back up the freestyling for his next DJ Drama-helmed project, "DiCaprio 3" sooner than later.

Disrespect from Funk Flex has been a point of contention for rappers for years, just ask Conway, who called out the legendary disc jock last summer for not helping pump his brand of New York hip hop.

Lil Tjay is turning his recent run-in with NYPD into artistic content ... splicing footage of the arrest into the music video for his new single, "Clutchin My Strap."

The new track finds Tjay detailing his PTSD from being shot last summer, and how he and his crew will mob with guns going forward!!!

In addition to clips of the arrest, director JLShotThat mixes clips of concert performances with scenes of Tjay making gun hand signals to drive home his point!!!

The Trench Kid relives the June 2022 shooting with cinematic flair, rapping on the track, "Whаt уоu dіd tо mе І tооk ѕеvеn, уоu tооk thrее/Вut thеѕе flеѕh wоundѕ bеttеr thаn а bullеt tо thе ѕkі/Аllеgеdlу, ’саuѕе І dоn’t еvеn rеаllу knоw whаt hарреnеd І’m јuѕt rарріn’, but І bеt І’m ’bоut thаt асtіоn."

That notion to arm oneself illegally is allegedly what derailed Tjay's attempt at a video collab with Ice Spice earlier this week.

TMZ Hip Hop broke the story ... Tjay's attorney Dawn Florio thinks the rapper was subjected to an illegal search on January 15 when he and several others were arrested for gun possession ahead of the video shoot with Ice Spice.

He's since posted bond and is back to updating streaming services with more music about blickies and being loaded on drugs.

Desiigner’s had time to rethink his passionate declaration about retiring due to his disgust with Takeoff’s murder ... and the Brooklyn-bred rapper's decided to go big, and get back in the game.

The former GOOD Music chart-topper is blazing the indie circuit now through a management deal with Riveting Music, and dropped off the new video for his recently released track, “Bigger and Bigger."

The Daniel CZ-directed video takes on a “Batman” feel ... as a giant-sized Desiigner overlooks the city’s nighttime skyline.

Desiigner’s been gearing up for his first full-length project in years -- he recently linked with Slim Jxmmi for the single "Kilo,” and released the solo tracks “My Brodie” and “Star in the Room."

All the productivity is a far cry from his emotional November 1 outburst after Takeoff was shot and killed in Houston. Desiigner was distraught as he announced he was done rapping.

Young Thug and one of his YSL co-defendants are accused of pulling off a hand-to-hand drug deal while in court, during jury selection for Thug's RICO trial ... and it's all on camera.

Courtroom surveillance footage captured the moment Wednesday in Fulton County Court ... Kahlieff Adams walks over to Thug and clearly hands him an object. Aside from the cameras, at least 2 bailiffs were just a couple feet away, saw the whole transaction, and immediately nabbed Adams.

According to docs, obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, a deputy later discovered the object was a baggie of Percocet pills. While Adams is a defendant in the YSL RICO case, he is already serving a life-without-parole sentence for murder.

Thug's lawyer Keith Adams, no relation, denies his client had anything to do with the drug deal, as the state claims in docs. He says Thug complied after being instructed to hand over the pills to the deputy,

BTW, when deputies searched Kahlieff they say he had more percs, marijuana, tobacco and other contraband wrapped in plastic and food seasonings to mask the scent of the weed. He was taken to a nearby hospital, because authorities suspected he swallowed other drugs in an attempt to conceal them.

Both Thug and Adams are being blamed for delaying court … not the best impression for Judge Ural Glanville, who's had his hands full with the case before it even got off the ground.

Bobby Shmurda is officially in the pest control business ... at least in the rap game, where he's continuing the rollout of his anti-snitch song.

The GS9 rapper previewed a new music video on Thursday dressed as an exterminator and surrounded by a swarm of scantily clad assistants!!!

Sources close to the video production tell TMZ Hip Hop ... the song's title has been shortened to "Rats" and it's produced by PGlo.

We're also hearing the track will be the launchpad for a new project from Bobby, creating a ripple of new swag and energy.

Bobby's on the indie circuit now ... his last joint dropped back in October, and he's been battling sample clearances and blackballing on Instagram.

He sure picked the right topic to rap about though -- snitching has been a hot topic since Gunna took a plea deal and got sprung from jail.

Lisa Marie Presley's family and closest friends will get their chance to give her a personal goodbye before the public descends on Graceland to pay respects this weekend ... TMZ has learned.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us Lisa Marie's 3 daughters, her mother Priscilla Presley, exes Danny Keough and Michael Lockwood will all be a part of a small group gathering at Graceland before Sunday to mourn her loss.

We're told the ceremony will be extremely private, and those attending will be asked to sign an NDA to prevent details about the service leaking.

Our sources say in addition to the private memorial, the family will also attend Sunday's public service at Graceland. We're told the family is assuming Austin Butler -- who played Elvis in the new Oscar-buzz-worthy film -- will attend Sunday, but he has not yet confirmed.

As for Lisa Marie's twin 14-year-old daughters, Harper and Finley Lockwood, our sources say they've been staying with their dad, Michael, at his home since Lisa Marie died.

TMZ broke the story -- crews at Graceland got to work earlier this week preparing Lisa Marie's plot ... across from her dad, and next to her son, Benjamin, who died by suicide in 2020.

The L.A. County Coroner has not yet determined Lisa Marie's official cause of death ... and toxicology test results will take several months.

Yung Miami didn't hold back during a discussion about her bedroom fetishes on the latest episode of "Caresha Please," and now fans think her BF Diddy's running a streaming service!!!

Miami and her fellow 305 rap queen Trina were getting sauced while playing a drinking game called "Resha Roulette" ... when she revealed she's into getting peed on during sex!!!

Trina, who's been flipping foul lyrics since Miami was a toddler, was seemingly at a loss for words -- although she copped to making it rain on men, she was confused if her bodily fluid constituted a golden shower. 😅

As for Miami's love for water sports ... the internet soaked it up, immediately directing so many jokes at her man, "Pee Diddy" was a trending topic!!!

Miami and Diddy's relationship has been a big part of fan conversation as of late -- particularly after the Bad Boy mogul recently had a baby girl with another woman.