Music

Young Dolph was planning to expand his Paper Route Empire into the world of TV and film before he died ... a strategy the late rap star expressed to his team in this newly released footage.

In the conclusion of “Love For the Streets,” a track that appears on Dolph's posthumous LP "Paper Route Frank," Dolph toasts golden champagne bottles with his PRE team, urging them to get their life affairs in order for their 2021 takeover.

Unfortunately, Dolph was shot and killed in November of that year but his team has been keeping his name going strong with exhibits like his pop-up museum and drops like the new music video ... which also goes the distance in showing off his fleet of camouflaged luxury whips.

Chloe Bailey fans are upset over her spicy sex scene with Damson Idris in Donald Glover's new series "Swarm" ... but her "Grown-ish" costar Trevor Jackson is advising she simply block out all that noise.

We caught Trevor at LAX on Monday, and he attributed Chloe's decision to do the scene to her being a grown-up and thinks it screams artistic freedom.

Trevor and Chloe have been starring in "Grown-ish" since its start in 2018, essentially growing up together, and he says she has his support no matter what.

Chloe plays Marissa Jackson in the new show while Damson plays her boyfriend, Khalid and the two set off the series with a short, yet effective romp that saw Chloe's name dominating the trending topics.

Her role was eventually compared to Halle Berry's Oscar-winning "Monster's Ball" performance but only because of the doggy style position they were both in.

Chloe admitted to nerves ahead of the sex scene until Damson made her relaxed by cracking jokes on set -- but admitted they weren't completely naked and had a squishy ball thingy between their bodies.

The 3 men accused of killing XXXTentaction have just been found guilty of murder in the 2018 shooting.

The verdicts came in Monday for Michael Boatwright, Trayvon Newsome, and Dedrick Williams. The decisions follow the jury's deliberations, which started March 8.

As we reported, 20-year-old XXX was at a South Florida motorcycle dealership almost 5 years ago when prosecutors say he became the victim of a robbery -- getting shot while in his vehicle. They say the men ran off with $50K in cash and a Louis Vuitton bag.

The 3 were charged with first-degree murder with a firearm and armed robbery ... and in closing arguments last month, defense attorney Joseph Kimok claimed evidence clears all 3 men from the crime -- saying the DNA found on the rapper's body and necklace didn't belong to them.

You'll recall, a 4th man named Robert Allen was also arrested in connection to the killing ... but he pled guilty last year to second-degree murder and agreed to testify against the other 3 suspects, adding he was hesitant about the robbery and even asked the others to ditch the idea in the moment.

In a discovery and bail hearing for Allen back in 2018, surveillance video from the dealership was shown -- which appeared to show the entire thing going down in real time.

Taylor Swift's Eras tour is already bringing people together ... until death, in the case of 2 of her fans ... who used her concert as the backdrop for their wedding!!!

The ceremony went down Saturday night while Taylor was performing the second of 2 shows at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ -- aka Swift City -- with the bride, Rene Hurtado, and groom, Max, saying "I do" from their floor seats.

Rene, who was wearing a tea-length wedding dress, says she and Max had been talking since the summer about eloping the day of Taylor's concert and then having the show serve as their wedding reception ... but they ultimately decided it would be cooler to actually get hitched at the concert.

Proposals have become a semi-regular occurrence at concerts and sporting events over the years ... but it's not every day you see an actual wedding in the middle of a show.

No word if Rene and Max are planning to hit up another Taylor concert for their honeymoon.

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez are out on their latest would-be new home -- the couple has pulled the plug on yet another real estate deal ... and they're once again on the hunt.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ that Bennifer has fallen out of escrow on the $64 million Pacific Palisades mansion they seemed to have their sights set on earlier this month -- which was an absolute beauty that would've certainly accommodated their needs.

It's unclear why they're bailing ... but we're hearing they're done with it, and are moving on.

Now, if you're keeping count -- this actually marks the third home they've fallen out of escrow on in the past year. There was a $55 million Bel-Air estate they were set to buy way back in April, but that sale fell through. They were also set to buy another PP palace last month -- which was worth just $34.5 mil -- but they walked away from that property as well.

We haven't been offered any legit explanation for why J Lo and Ben keep changing their minds ... all we know is that they simply can't commit, and this is the most recent example.

Not wasting any time, Jen was actually pounding the pavement anew this past weekend -- cruising through Holmby Hills.

We're told she was taking a gander at this mansion above. The current owner is Max Azria, the founder of BCBG. From what we can see, it looks about as nice as everything else they've been perusing. It's listed for $65 million.

Ben and Jen might wanna pull the trigger on something soon, because there's a new mansion tax that's about to hit L.A. in April. The measure, which was passed last year, imposes a 4% tax on home sales above $5 mil and a 5.5% tax on sales above $10 mil.

The tax probably won't affect Ben and Jen directly -- they're not house hunting in the city of L.A., more so on the ritzy outskirts -- but it could seriously impact the market and L.A.-area home prices in general.

So ... act fast!

Rick Ross is grateful one of his neighbors is pointing out he has a problem with stray pets ... a few of his cattle and bison are roaming a little too freely.

Rick says he always manages to corral the livestock on his "Promise Land" estate ... no easy feat, seeing as how the property sits on 235 acres of land. Rozay compares it to the popular TV series "Yellowstone" ... AKA it's the wild wild west when it comes to the wildlife!!!

The level of damage the bison caused to the neighbor's yard doesn't seem like the equivalent of returning a lost pooch ... but the MMG rapper explained they're actually peaceful animals that will graciously accept carrots on request!!!

We broke the story -- one of Rick's neighbors of his Fayetteville estate grew INFURIATED his bison were destroying her yard ... but he urged his neighbors to be courteous and reminded them to keep collars on their pets.

Diplo was among the thousands of runners participating in the L.A. Marathon on Sunday ... and his time was mad decent -- finishing the thing in under 4 hours!!

The famous DJ completed the 26.2-mile race in 3 hours, 55 minutes and 16 seconds ... which was 1,661st-best for men and good enough for 2,013th overall!!

The 44-year-old had made his target time known prior to the race ... saying, "tbh all that matters is that I can beat Oprah Winfrey time (she was pretty fast)."

BTW -- Oprah was a bit of a speedster herself in 1994, completing the Marine Corps Marathon with a time of 4:29:20.

Olympian Alexi Pappas -- who ran alongside Diplo during the race -- gave the producer his props in a congratulatory Instagram post ... saying, "We were total gazelles out there."

Diplo is a bit of a freak athlete -- he also ran the Miami Half Marathon with zero training in 2022 ... and proceeded to hit the club right after.

J.J. Watt has apparently turned into a music critic in retirement ... and Taylor Swift has passed his first assignment -- with the ex-NFL star absolutely raving over her following her shows in AZ over the weekend.

The former Cardinals pass rusher hit Saturday's "The Eras Tour" concert at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ with his wife and friends ... and in a full breakdown of Swift's performance the next day, he said he was blown away by what he saw.

In a 2:38 review that Watt posted on his social media pages, he gushed over Swift ... saying everything from the song choices to the outfits to the production had him in awe.

"First off," he said, "unbelievable."

Watt was floored by Swift's ability to rattle off 44 songs in 3-plus hours -- while never pausing for much longer than a few minutes.

"There was no intermission," he said. "There was no halftime. There was no TV timeouts."

"She crushed it," he added.

The show seemed to surprise the 33-year-old -- who just retired from the NFL in January -- as he joked before the concert on his wife's Instagram page, "Everyone send me your best wishes. Thank you."

Watt revealed he even grabbed a Taylor hoodie after the show!!!

"It was impressive to witness," he said. "And I did walk out with some merch. So, Swiftie life!"

Def Leppard's Rick Allen is breaking his silence after being attacked last week -- and it sounds like he's actually calling on forgiveness for the alleged culprit.

The rock band's longtime drummer issued a statement Sunday, which has some encouraging updates on his condition. He says, "Thank you everyone for your overwhelming support. Your love and prayers are truly helping. My wife Lauren [Monroe] was thankfully not with me at the time of the incident. We are together now, and working on recovering in a safe space."

According to ABC News, which obtained his remarks, Allen and his family are now shifting their attention toward "healing for everyone involved" ... although he doesn't really elaborate.

There's more ... RA goes on to say, "We ask you to join us in our effort to move from confusion and shock to compassion and empathy. We understand this act of violence can be triggering for so many people."

He finishes with ... "To all of the fans, veterans and first responders in our global community, we are thinking of you all. Together with love, we can all get through these difficult times."

Allen never mentions his alleged attacker by name -- 19-year-old Max Hartley, whom police claim was the one who beat Rick down -- but it does seem he's alluding to him ... and, perhaps, there's more to the story.

In any case, it's great to hear he's doing okay. You'll recall ... the incident was described to cops as brutal. Hartley is accused of bum-rushing Rick at a hotel in Ft. Lauderdale, allegedly knocking him to the ground and going on to attack a woman who was nearby too ... according to the arrest report. The dude was booked for battery, among other charges.

A new show Chloe Bailey is in -- where she's shown having sex -- has sparked a debate about racism and colorism in Hollywood ... and now, Halle Berry's been roped in.

You might've noticed the latter is trending this weekend, and the reason is because of this discourse that's taken off since Donald Glover's latest TV series, "Swarm," debuted on Friday ... which starts out with a scene depicting Chloe doing the deed in very graphic detail.

Since then, there's been a lot of chatter about her decision to do the sex scene ... some say it's a great move/good for her, and others feel like it falls in line with other choices she's made of late -- like putting out a single with Chris Brown -- that some think are ... not so wise.

As one Twitter user put it ... "Where is a Chloe Bailey’s mentor pls??? She’s been making terrible decisions lately, she should have never done that sex scene in Swarm and I’m not even gonna go into her most recent collab." A lot of other folks reacted similarly.

On Saturday, that convo shifted when someone brought up Halle in comparison. She tweeted, "Halle Berry getting back shots role got her an Oscar right?" The point she was making ... Halle also did risqué stuff in her day -- "Monster's Ball" being the prime example, for which she won an Oscar -- but that, in and of itself, did not diminish her work/accolades.

This user was essentially saying Chloe's sex scene won't define her acting career, and that it's unfair to suggest she'll be derailed 'cause of it. Basically, stop giving her premature flak.

However, another Twitter user responded ... suggesting Halle enjoys the benefit of a lighter skin complexion and even went so far as to claim that she's "white passing." Obviously, she isn't -- Halle looks Black, not white ... which is literally what white-passing means.

Semantics aside, however, this woman's point (as she further explained on her page) is that Halle fits Hollywood's traditional white European beauty standard ... more so than Chloe, or any other dark-skinned Black woman for that matter. Therefore, she believes Halle has had an easier time in showbiz than Chloe might in this specific regard ... aka, baring it all.

In other words, this user feels like colorism is still very much alive and well in the entertainment industry ... and that darker-skinned Black performers will have a tougher go in comparison to any of their lighter-skinned counterparts -- which might be valid.

Of course, there's also the Bailey sisters factor here ... namely, the fact that Chloe's also-famous sibling, Halle Bailey, has a more buttoned-up rep than her older sis, perhaps, does.

Halle (Bailey) is literally starring in "The Little Mermaid" with Disney -- very family-friendly, etc. -- and she generally avoids controversy of her own doing. Chloe, on the other hand, is under a microscope more often ... and tends to get labeled as the wild child of the two.

Jimmy Fallon left the Big Apple for St. Patrick's Day and ventured upstate for some small town pub partying ... hitting up a local watering hole, and jamming out with the band!

The 'Tonight Show' host found his way into Iron Smoke Distillery Friday in Fairport, NY -- just outside of Rochester. He actually knows the owner of the bar across the street -- Mulconry's Irish Pub -- and apparently heard the musicians from 1916 rocking out ... feeling intrigued.

We're told Jimmy popped in toward the end of 1916's set and asked if he could play with them before they headed out. Of course, they obliged -- sticking around for a few more songs. As many people know, JF's a bit of a music man himself ... and a natural showman.

That came in handy for the three tunes they performed -- including The Doors' "Gloria," The Georgia Satellites' "Keep Your Hands to Yourself," U2's "Desire" and others. Jimmy took charge on vocals and on lead guitar ... and all the other band members backed him up.

After hitting the stage, we're told Jimmy hung around a bit and took photos with patrons ... capping off a great time had by all. Seems he wanted his holiday to be a little more low-key and homegrown ... and he certainly got that with the Iron Smoke crowd that night.

We'll see if he has more to dish about his night out come Monday ... when he'll be back on late night duty, with his own band on hand. This is just a good reminder -- dude could probably jump in himself at a moment's notice and hold his own.

Rick Ross has a home, a BIG one, where his pet buffalo roam ... yet the giant beasts still range onto his neighbor's yard, and she's worried because her young kids play outside.

The neighbor, who lives on a plot of land behind RR's Fayetteville, GA compound, tells TMZ ... the two buffaloes -- aka bison -- have wandered onto her property twice this week. Keep in mind, adult buffalo can tip the scales at around 2,000 lbs.!!!

She's worried they may pose a danger to her small children.

TMZ obtained video showing Rick's behemoth pets running through the neighbor's front yard ... and she says she came home from work to discover the wild scene.

She also snapped photos of the buffaloes grazing on the grass near a paved driveway full of parked cars.

Rick's neighbor says she went to the rapper's place to confront him about the buffaloes grazing on her property ... which turned into a verbal dispute with a member of Rick's team.

Unsatisfied with that interaction, she says her next step is filing a neighbor dispute with the city. She tried calling police, but they told her it's a civil dispute and didn't take a report.

In addition to the potential danger the roaming animals pose to the woman's kids, they also appear to be tearing up her yard. Definitely not as important, but it could still be costly.

Remember, Rick was gifted the bison last March and they are absolutely huge. He also has four horses and a bull. No deer or antelope, though.

Nick Carter is bringing backup to the sexual battery lawsuit against him ... he says he has a dozen witnesses who claim his accuser is full of BS.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the Backstreet Boys member says he has 12 people who have testified the alleged victim's version of events can't possibly be true.

TMZ broke the story ... Nick is being sued by a woman named Shannon Ruth, who filed a lawsuit in December claiming he sexually assaulted her after a concert way back in 2001 when she was underage.

But, Nick says not so fast ... he claims he has 12 witnesses from the concert -- fans, security personnel and a talent manager -- who say the accuser's story is "factually impossible."

Remember ... Ruth, who says she is autistic and has cerebral palsy, claims she got in line to get Nick's autograph after the show, when he allegedly invited her back to his tour bus, plied her with alcohol and forced her to perform oral sex on him.

But, Nick says his dozen witnesses testified it was impossible for him to interact with the alleged victim after the concert ... they say there was no autograph line and fans had no access to the tour bus staging area.

What's more, Nick says one of Ruth's close friends at the time testified Ruth is lying about being autistic and suffering from cerebral palsy ... and she doesn't even believe Ruth was at the concert.

In the docs, Nick claims another witness testified they were on calls where Ruth's name was brought up as part of a plot to extort Nick ... an alleged money grab he's previously mentioned in his countersuit against Ruth.

Patrick Beverley's right -- at least, that's what Ja Rule is saying, telling TMZ Sports he believes Ja Morant is absolutely being poorly influenced by hip hop.

The Chicago Bulls guard made waves earlier this week by sayin' he believed rap and the culture surrounding it are contributing to Morant's recent missteps ... and when we got Ja Rule out at LAX this week, he couldn't have agreed more.

He said growing up he was influenced to smoke weed by Redman's "How To Roll A Blunt" -- and pressured to drink booze by Snoop Dogg's "Gin and Juice" ... and he made it clear, he thinks Morant is being similarly impacted by today's tunes.

But, the "Holla Holla" rapper told us he thinks Morant needs to quit all of that ASAP ... telling us, "that ain't the way."

"Go play ball, man," he said. "The streets ain't about nothing, man. Go grind on 'em. Keep balling. That's it, man."

Morant has been investigated by police at least three times in the past calendar year -- most recently when he was seen on video flashing a gun at a strip club earlier this month.

Each time, Morant has dodged charges ... though he admitted in a sit-down interview with Jalen Rose this week he needs to start making better choices.

"In the future," he told Rose, "I will show everybody who Ja really is, what I'm about and change this narrative."

You'd think Andrew Lloyd Webber would be feeling the pressure of having to craft King Charles' coronation music -- but the dude is pretty relaxed ... hilariously so, in fact.

The Broadway legend -- responsible for the numbers heard in "Cats," "The Phantom of the Opera" and others -- dished to WaPo about the Royal assignment he agreed to about a month ago ... namely, composing THE musical piece that'll be playing while KC gets crowned in May.

It's quite the task, and yet ... ALW sounds super chill about it. His interview here makes it seem like the gig is just another day in the office. He says, "I have written quite a lot of choral music. [M]y father was a very distinguished church organist and choirmaster and the choral tradition is not something that is new to me in a way, because it’s been there all my life." In other words, he's been there ... done that. Now, he's just doing it for the King.

As WaPo notes, Lloyd Webber's actually somewhat familiar with Charles -- having met and visited with him on a handful of occasions in the past. He tells this funny anecdote, kinda poking fun at the King's vanilla demeanor/interests ... and what HRH is passionate about.

ALW says, "The great thing about Charles is that he has a great love of really quite a lot of causes that are a little bit unfashionable. He cares very deeply about all sorts of quite interesting things."

The guy adds this ... "I mean, like, three or four years before lockdown, I got a call from him saying could I come around to meet him at Lancaster House quite urgently, because he’d had an idea. What it was that he was worried about was the fact that there wasn’t enough access for young people to go and learn how to play the church organ."

As for the actual music itself that he's putting together ... the deets are out. It's a three-minute tune set to the melody of Psalm 98, which will include the lyrics/refrain that reads, "O sing to the Lord a new song." Lloyd Webber's expected to put his own spin on it, though.

ALW's heading to London soon to test the audio at Westminster Abbey, where the ceremony will go down. Charles may be struggling with pop acts, but he's got the classics locked down.

Taylor Swift hit the stage Friday night for the first time in 3 years to kick off her much-anticipated 'Eras Tour' ... and she blew the house down!!!

The iconic pop star was greeted by thousands of screaming fans at her sold-out show at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

It was a HUGE moment for Taylor, whose last tour was derailed by the COVID pandemic after the release of her album, "Lover."

Taylor addressed the issue about an hour into her performance, telling the crowd, “Is it just me or do we have a lot of things to catch up on? It’s been a really long time since I’ve been on tour."

She continued, “I can’t even go into how much I’ve missed you...because there’s no way to verbalize it.”

At another point, Taylor admitted she was “really overwhelmed, and trying to keep it together all night.”

The emotional moments were just some of the many highlights during Taylor's three-hour-plus performance in which she cranked out an eye-popping 44 songs from her 10 hit albums.

She played fan faves from her earliest to her latest records, such as “You Belong With Me," “Shake It Off," “Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince,” “Cruel Summer”, Ready For It?,” “Delicate," "Willow," "Fearless," "Enchanted" and "Midnight Rain."

Of course, Taylor went through a number of wardrobe changes meant to reflect the many changes she's gone through over the years. She had a bevy of dancers shimmying around her and riding "Tron"-esque light cycles as she belted out her tune, “Blank Space.” Taylor and Co. also channeled the famous Rockettes, throwing around high kicks during "22."

The stage itself extended to the back of the stadium with an artistic set design that included a gold version of the cabin featured in her video for "cardigan." There were also film images projected on a Jumbotron behind the stage.