Music

03 Greedo is finally a free man ... kinda, sorta.

The California rapper got out of prison last week -- paroled after serving 5 years of a 20-year sentence for a drug and weapons conviction -- but says, for now, he'll be living at a halfway house.

It's unclear exactly how long he'll be there, but on IG, he said he wishes he'd recorded more music ahead of going into the bing and yearns to spend time with his daughter.

Being in solitary confinement, and limited to just one 5-minute phone call per week, Greedo said he developed a chip on his shoulder, and he can't wait to explode in the studio once he's really free ... hopefully within the next 6 months.

Greedo says only those in the booth or bed with him will be privy to his inner thoughts after being locked up for so long -- but he thanked fans for keeping his name going strong.

Fans were able to whet their appetites for new music on January 9 when "Free 03" dropped -- the new mixtape full of rhymes from prison featuress guest spots from OhGeesy, BlueBucksClan and the late Drakeo The Ruler.

Angry Drake fans are calling out the NYPD for what felt like electronic surveillance at his sold-out Apollo Theater show -- and after a clip of officers recording ticketholders went viral, the cops say it's not what it seems.

NYPD law enforcement sources tell TMZ Hip Hop the video shows officers outside the Apollo recording concertgoers as they exited the theater. We're told that video was shot for a social media post to show how police work with venue security to keep concerts safe for fans.

For angry fans, it felt like blatant profiling and surveillance intended to capture and save images of Drake's fans -- but NYPD's scoffing at that notion. Our sources say the community affairs officers seen with the video cameras are not affiliated with the detective bureau, and do not investigate serious crimes.

There are also dozens of city surveillance cameras around the Apollo ... and the whole city, for that matter. The reality of life in the 21st century is we're all being recorded throughout the day without ever knowing it.

Drake was uptown for 2 nights, and inside the venue, a brief but tense moment occurred during the second show when a fan fell over the mezzanine balcony ... onto the crowd below.

The show was briefly paused for about 15 minutes when a spokesperson announced the fan wasn't terribly injured, and that the show would go on.

Hometown heroes Cam'ron, Jim Jones and Juelz Santana of Dipset were brought out and a tour with his "Her Loss" costar 21 Savage was teased.

Beyonce's weekend concert ruffled a few feathers in the LGBTQ+ community, but Ts Madison doesn't see anything wrong with her getting a fat check in Dubai ... because, first and foremost, she says Bey is loyal to her fans.

The actress and activist joined us Monday on "TMZ Live," dismissing claims Queen Bey "sold out" by performing in the UAE -- where there are firm anti-LGBTQ+ laws.

Madison believes most people, even those criticizing Beyonce, would jump at a $24 million payday in Dubai. In fact, she says many people in the LGBTQ+ community already do travel there ... whether it be for work or vacay. So, the whole sellout label seems hypocritical to her.

And, Madison points out Beyonce's been an ally for years ... and doesn't think she'd do something like this to hurt the very group to which she dedicated her latest album, "Renaissance."

As we reported, Beyonce made it a truly grand opening for a new Atlantis resort ... doing a 90-minute set with multiple costume changes, an orchestra and a bunch of her classic hits.

Folks banging on the concert, feel she ditched "her own progressive values" by performing in a "homophobic dictatorship" -- but Madison says those fans should separate politics from the concert ... just as Beyonce seems to have done.

Drake's concert at the Apollo hit pause after a fan fell from a second-story balcony into the crowd below ... and TMZ's got it all on video.

The scary incident happened about 90 minutes into Drake's set, and in the view from the floor seats, you see a body come falling out of the sky ... landing on top of other fans.

Another view, from the mezzanine, shows a man leaning over the balcony and then falling over the ledge.

Drake didn't appear to see the fan fall from the mezzanine, he had his back turned to the crowd at that exact moment, but a few seconds later a crew member runs onstage to tell Drake to pause the show.

You can hear Drake tell the audience, "Just gotta make sure somebody's OK."

Officials tell TMZ ... the person who fell was a 26-year-old man who was possibly intoxicated. We're told the man was uncooperative with officials and was taken to a Harlem hospital.

A rep for the Apollo says "the fan and other audience members reported that they were OK. No major injuries have been reported."

T.I. and DaBaby’s first collaboration ever will appear on the soundtrack for “Fear,” the forthcoming thriller film in which T.I. also stars ... TMZ Hip Hop can confirm.

Sources close to the film’s soundtrack tell us the song’s name is also titled “Fear” and will be featured on the big screen.

Superproducer Sean Garrett will executive produce the album, which will also have more features from DaBaby, E-40 and Freddie Gibbs as well.

Both T.I. and DaBaby performed Saturday to support the film at an event in West Hollywood … where the legendary Atlantans braved sound issues, and ripped the soundman for slacking on the cues to play the tracks!!!

Tip half-joked the DJ should be appreciative of his patience and grace ... reminiscent of when Wiz Khalifa did the complete opposite in a similar situation.

Tip, who’s still yet to do a Verzuz, blazed through several trap classics such as “24’s” and “Rubber Band Man," before passing the mic torch to DaBaby and saluting what he was able to accomplish in hip hop ... hailing from the typically untapped region of Charlotte, NC.

DaBaby graciously thanked Tip for the intro and gave an impromptu performance of his multi-platinum hit “Suge.”

Now's your chance to cop an incredibly rare pair of Jordans -- originally created a few years back to commemorate Biggie's birthday -- and now the kicks are hitting the auction block, but they won't come cheap!

The Air Jordan 13s were designed in 2017 to honor what would've been Notorious B.I.G's 45th trip around the sun ... but the sneakers were never released. They remained locked away ... until now.

23 pairs of the AJs will be auctioned off at Sotheby's ... sizes 7 to 13. The auction tells us they expect each pair to sell between $2,300 to $5,200! There's no reserve price, meaning bidding starts at $1 (and goes way up from there).

As for the design of the sneakers ... the 13s are black with a hint of red. The silhouette of the Brooklyn rapper is stitched on the tongue.

They also feature the words ... "it was all a dream" and "if you don't know, now you know" on the inside of the tongue, which, of course, are some of Biggie's most iconic bars from his 6-time platinum hit "Juicy".

As for why they picked 23 pairs to auction, and chose to auction the sneakers now ... we're told it's to honor Michael Jordan's jersey number and mark the 50-year anniversary of hip hop music.

"This auction marks the only opportunity for collectors and enthusiasts alike to acquire these special limited-edition sneakers that bring together the legacies of the greatest athlete of all time with the greatest rapper ever," Sotheby's exec Brahm Wachter said.

Proceeds from the online auction, which ends February 3, will go towards the Christopher Wallace Memorial Foundation ... an organization that helps inner-city kids excel in school by providing sponsorships and grants, among much more.

Notorious B.I.G. -- who was shot and killed in Los Angeles in 1997 -- is considered one of the greatest rappers of all time and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020.

Travis Barker can't get enough of Kourtney Kardashian -- or at least parts of her, because he's showing off his latest tattoo which appears to be his wife's eyes ... nearly in his crotch.

The Blink-182 drummer showed off his fresh ink over the weekend ... which is plastered high on his right thigh, and looks pretty big, too.

He also posted a shot of them together -- as he hid behind KK's booty ... and the Kardashian seemed to confirm it's her eyes everyone's lookin' at, because she reposted the tat on her account with some eye emojis.

You'll recall, this isn't the only Kourtney-themed tattoo Travis has on his body ... he first got her name on his chest after they started dating back in 2021 -- something he's deemed his favorite piece.

She also gave him a tat herself, writing "I love you" on his forearm, and added a "K" tattoo on him after he got out of the hospital for pancreatitis.

Britney Spears -- or River Red, as she'd like to be called -- swapped outfits 3 times Sunday night, dancing to her heart's content ... just days after making the apparent name change.

The singer showed off her signature moves Sunday evening ... grooving to 3 separate tracks, complete with costume changes, too.

In her caption, Britney says she can't act "too kooky or silly like kids" because people will call her "CRAY CRAY" -- adding she's sharing her dancing because "every person I call TAKES 9 RINGS TO ANSWER" ... and, "I bet after I post this my security answers after 2 RINGS."

The freestyle session came after a now-deleted post from last week, showing off a picture of Mars and writing, "I changed my name to River Red" ... and saying "don't underestimate the power of purity."

She also changed her name on IG to match the announcement.

Fans are scratching their heads at the supposed name change -- we are too -- but it might simply be her take on Mars, known as the red planet.

There's also a little known 1998 film called "River Red" -- a disturbing family drama -- but that seems much less likely.

As we reported, eyewitnesses told us Britney's hubby Sam Asghari stormed out of a dinner in Woodland Hills this month when she was acting "manic" at their table.

Amy Winehouse's dad is backing the actress playing his daughter in an upcoming biopic ... even though a bunch of folks think she's anything but a doppelgänger for Amy.

Marisa Abela scored the coveted role in "Back to Black" ... but when the first images of her on set were released this month -- shocker -- social media was flooded with hateful comments.😲

Angry fans slammed Marisa as a low-budget Amy who looks nothing like the late singer.

But Amy's father, Mitch Winehouse -- who's also administrator of her estate -- disagrees, telling TMZ ... Marisa's a great choice for the role, even if she doesn't look exactly like Amy.

The way Mitch sees it, Marisa is Marisa and Amy is Amy ... so it's no big deal if they aren't mirror images.

Eddie Marsan is playing Amy's dad in the movie, and Mitch notes Eddie doesn't look anything like him either.

Amy's dad says there's too much emphasis on looks ... because there's plenty of Hollywood examples of actors not looking like their real-life characters.

The one that comes to mind for Mitch is "Night and Day," where the good-looking Cary Grant plays famous composer and songwriter Cole Porter, who was never considered handsome.

Chrisean Rock got into a physical altercation shortly after announcing she was pregnant with Blueface's child -- this while trying to get to her alleged soon-to-be baby daddy.

TMZ has obtained video that was taken early Saturday morning in Chatsworth, near Blueface's home. We're told this fight you see here on camera followed what eyewitnesses claim was a bum rush attempt by Chrisean on Blue ... dropping in on him at his house.

You see, we're told Blueface was throwing a party at his crib to ring in his 26th birthday (Friday) ... and that Chrisean crashed the shindig in an effort to pull him away.

What you see here is what we're told happened shortly thereafter ... it seems Blueface was trying to get away in his own vehicle -- with a gaggle of people following him, including Chrisean -- and it all erupted in a massive brawl on the street down the block from his pad.

In the clip, you see Chrisean -- wearing the same pink track suit from earlier in the day -- getting Blueface to herself on one side of a car (presumably hers). We're told she was trying to get him inside to leave with her. Instead, she threw hands with 2 ladies on the scene.

Chrisean finds a way to her feet -- and in the end, eyewitnesses tell us she and Blue left in different vehicles. Unclear if they met up somewhere after, or went their separate ways.

Of course, this is disturbing on many levels. For one, it's another instance of violence between Blueface, Chrisean and/or people in their orbit. More sad, though, is the fact that Chrisean says she's got a bun in the oven -- so this is super dangerous in that regard.

Remember, Blueface has denied the kid is his ... and also said he and Chrisean were done. It seems she might've wanted to patch things up -- which doesn't seem to have ended well.

Selena Gomez recently said she was single, but we're not so sure about that ... and neither is Drew Taggart based on these photos.

The singer and Chainsmokers star walked hand-in-hand Saturday night in NYC, where they were on a dinner date at an Italian restaurant called Torrisi in SoHo. Check out the PDA for yourself -- definitely clear signs they're together ... but no goodbye kiss, it seems.

These shots show Selena parting ways with Drew ... and he sees her to her car, where she was flashing smiles for paps standing by. This marks at least their 2nd date in a week.

Last Sunday, they were seen out together doing a little bowling in Brooklyn. The pics in that instance didn't show anything touchy-feely ... but eyewitnesses supposedly saw them locking lips. Shortly after, Selena took to IG to seemingly deny rumors they were a thing.

She wrote, "I Like Being Alone Too Much," while adding the hashtag #iamsingle.

BTW, SG might well be ... relationship statuses these days are often ill-defined and hazy -- so maybe she and Drew are just enjoying each other's company without throwing labels on.

Still, it would seem like she's, at the very least, romantically involved with him -- and with a hand hold like this ... it kinda screams "taken!" The last two guys she was dating, publicly anyway, were The Weeknd and Justin Bieber ... but those were both several years ago.

Lisa Marie Presley's celebration of life at Graceland took place today, as her family members, friends and countless Elvis Presley fans gathered to honor her.

Priscilla Presley arrived with her family, including son Navarone Garibaldi, daughter Riley Keough and Lisa Marie’s ex-husband, Michael Lockwood.

It's unclear if Lisa's daughters Harper and Finley were in attendance for the public service ... or if the twins only attended the private family memorial that took place earlier this weekend.

Lisa's close friend Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, arrived a few minutes before the Presley family.

Austin Butler, who played Elvis in the new movie, arrived with Kaia Gerber. Austin's sister Ashley Butler is said to have joined him to pay respects as well.

Lisa's father Elvis' solemn song, "He Touched Me" played while the memorial live stream waited to begin, as well as a touching duet of Lisa and her father singing “Where No One Stands Alone.”

The memorial started with a performance of "Amazing Grace," sung by Jason Clark & the Tennessee Mass Choir.

Producer Joel Weinshanker then gave the opening remarks. He said Lisa Marie left instructions on her wishes for her memorial, and stated "don't make it sad."

During a tribute, former Mayor of Memphis AC Wharton listed off a lot of the famous children born after Lisa Marie, and spoke of Lisa as being the one that came before them all ... calling her a bright light and, "the image of a king."

Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins then performed his band's 1998 song "To Sheila."

Sarah Ferguson spoke of her friendship with Lisa, and reminisced on how they called each other "Sissy."

Alanis Morissette performed her 2021 song "Rest" in honor of Lisa.

Talent manager Jerry Schilling spoke of an 18-year-old Lisa telling him, "I need to have a meeting with you. I need a job, I know people don’t think I’m responsible, but I really am."

He says they then went to an exclusive place to have a meeting, "The Hamburger Hamlet." He and the audience chuckled.

He continued, "She became my secretary, and every time I would say that she would correct me and say “I’m your ASSISTANT,” which made the crowd laugh again.

Priscilla then read a beautiful personal poem titled, "The Old Soul," saying "... a broken heart was the doing of her death, now she is home where she always belonged, but my heart is missing her love.”

Riley Keough was listed to speak, but instead, a note she wrote, titled "A Letter to My Mama," was read on stage by her husband, Ben Smith-Petersen.

Beyonce most certainly lived up to her nickname, "Queen Bey," during her Dubai performance Saturday night ... and we got the pics to prove it.

Check out these new images, obtained by TMZ, showing Bey in a yellow sequined gown with a feathered cape -- which was fit for a queen!!! She was surrounded by dancers in large red dresses and a Middle Eastern orchestra.

Bey then changed into a gold body suit with a matching corset and long train. She also wore a red dress with a different corset, stockings and gloves.

Safe to say ... Bey brought the house down at the star-studded event ... Kendall Jenner, Liam Payne and Ronan Keating were just a few of the celebs on hand.

Everyone got to enjoy Bey's 90-minute set that included her biggest hits ... "Crazy In Love," "Naughty Girl", "Halo" and "XO." The show ended with a huge fireworks display.

As we reported, Bey hit the stage at Atlantis The Royal hotel in the United Arab Emirates after an almost 5-year hiatus. The singer was paid a whopping $24 million to be the centerpiece of the hotel's launch party. Recording devices were banned, but many in the packed crowd didn't follow the rules and leaked footage of the event on social media.

The concert was also a family affair ... Jay-Z was present along with Bey's parents, Tina and Mathew Knowles.

Bey/Jay's 11-year-old daughter Blue Ivy, and 5-year-old twins, Rumi and Sir were there as well. Ivy even jumped on stage to perform a duet with her mom, singing a song from the album, "The Lion King: The Gift."

Britney Spears is already scoping out applicants to buy the Calabasas home she only lived in briefly ... but we're told the potential sale is happening on the DL.

Sources familiar with the sale tell TMZ ... the singer started showing the pad off-market this past week, and she's asking for $12 mil -- not a huge jump from the $11.8 million price tag when she and Sam Asghari bought it last year.

We're told Brit quickly moved out of the home after moving in -- mainly because the house was way too exposed for her. She didn't put any money toward renovations inside or out on the 1.6-acre lot.

TMZ broke the story ... Brit bought the place, which is located in the same neighborhood as her ex, Kevin Federline, last June -- right around the time she and Sam got married.

Of course, it wasn't a long stay for the newlyweds. As we first reported, Britney just didn't fall in love with her new surroundings and quickly looked to ditch the estate.

She and Sam have a great plan B -- the old Thousand Oaks mansion she bought back in 2015. She never sold it after the move to Calabasas, so it's back to her living room backdrop ... which is pretty iconic now, thanks to Britney's IG videos.

Drake did his make-good Saturday night at the legendary Apollo Theater in NYC for SiriusXM, and he did NOT disappoint.

The show was a timeline of his life, staged in his childhood bedroom where he began dreaming of a music career ... to the boardroom of his record label, and then to an NYC bodega.

His songs punctuated the time periods of his career ... with a little help from 21 Savage and The Diplomats.

During the childhood phase, Drake told the crowd how he sat on his bed and wrote a slew of songs.

Drizzy was amped, imploring the crowd rise up with energy ... "Don't play shy with me!"

Lots of celeb guests on hand, including Kevin Durant and Ice Spice.

Drake was supposed to perform at the Apollo back in November, but he postponed it because he was mourning the death of Takeoff. It was rescheduled for December 6th and 7th, but that had to be pushed because of production issues.

Cyndi Lauper's son Declyn, AKA Dex, is a full go on his rap career, already stacking up credits with some big-name rappers ... and, of course, he can't forget mom!

We caught Dex at LAX touting his own "F*** You Gumbo" cannabis brand, but what he's most excited about are the collabs he scored with Trippie Redd and G-Eazy for his upcoming album, especially after appearing on the latter's "Scary Nights" project.

The 25-year-old also revealed he managed to nab 3 songs with his pop star mother, but only after he earned her respect, as an artist ... not just her son.

Dex and Cyndi have endured a rocky relationship over the years -- he grew up in Harlem, estranged from her -- so he's totally not vibing with the ongoing "nepo baby" debate. Much like Diddy's son, King, told us ... Dex says he's put in enough work that his mother now loves his music. 🥰

He also provided us with an update on his arrest from last summer when, as we first reported, he was popped in NYC for felony unauthorized use of a vehicle.

Dex tells us he was simply attending a candlelight vigil for a slain 14-year-old friend when, in his eyes, NYPD harassed him.

He admits to sitting inside the stolen Mercedes-Benz ... but says he refused to go out "like 6ix9ine," and took the charges without telling officers who actually stole the vehicle.