Music

Kendrick Lamar's Grammy Award-winning collaborator Rance of 1500 or Nothin' says rap music produced today is missing some serious must-haves for success.

We spoke to Rance at LAX this week, and while he praised sampling for being the culture's core creation process, he frowned upon new producers who don't understand the beats they're making.

Rance compared the language of music to language in general and producers should learn the basic chords just like one would learn their ABCs but thinks most artists are "playing it safe" at the behest of their record labels.

The veteran musician has been in the studio with other music heavyweights such as Jay-Z, Bruno Mars, Snoop Dogg and Ludacris, so his opinion is more educated than formulated!!!

It's not just rookies swinging for the low-hanging fruit, either. Missy Elliott pimped out two of her classic records this week ... BIA's "That Bitch," which borrows from her 1999 hit "She's a Bitch," and new girl group Flo's "Fly Girl" single, which updates Missy's 2002 smash "Work It" were both released.

Tekashi 6ix9ine's baby mama says he didn't just embarrass himself by getting jumped at the gym ... he embarrassed his daughter, too.

Sara Molina, through her rep, tells TMZ ... Tekashi's very public altercations have been sad to see, adding their seven-year-old daughter, Saraiyah, will eventually see the ways he's acted when she grows up.

Although he did nothing wrong when he was beaten at an L.A. Fitness, Sara believes he was reckless by not having security, especially given his history of public altercations.

She also points out he was recently kicked out of the World Baseball Classic because he was heavily intoxicated. Sara says she's surprised 69 has been walking around like he can't be touched, and the beatdown proves he's misguided.

Sara's been concerned with their daughter's safety ever since Tekashi started beefing with other rappers years ago. Sara claims Tekashi hasn't reached out about Saraiyah since late last year ... but she's doing fine, regardless.

All things considered, Sara tells us she's more focused on Trump getting indicted than Tekashi getting jumped at LA Fitness ... but she's hoping her baby daddy will get the help she says he needs.

Mike WiLL Made-It’s 34th birthday is one for the record books, literally ... at least in the ATL, where he's earned the city's Outstanding Citizen Award!!

T.I. and Philiana Williams, the director of mayor’s office of film & entertainment, presented the rap superproducer with a proclamation making March 23 "Mike WiLL Made-IT Day" in Atlanta … and plenty of his friends and fam were there to celebrate.

Rae Sremmurd, DJ Greg Street, Outkast’s Big Boi, Xscape’s Tiny, Sonny Digital, Tricky Stewart, ATL Jacob, Spence Lee and Soulex all rounded out the guest list Thursday at Hal’s Steakhouse.

The occasion also served as a birthday party for WiLL, so, appropriately, his parents Shirley and Michael Williams Sr. were also there to celebrate ... along with former City Councilman Kwanza Hall.

Mike just scored a couple of tracks on Miley Cyrus’ new album and is prepping his own project with features from Pharrell, Future and J. Cole ... just for starters.

Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton's duet is inappropriate for elementary school kids to sing ... at least according to a Wisconsin principal who's banning "Rainbowland" from a spring concert.

Here's the deal ... first-grade students at Heyer Elementary in Waukesha started the week preparing for their upcoming concert, with "Rainbowland" as part of the initial setlist.

The song was played in the first-grade class Monday, but by Tuesday the principal sent an email to the music teacher informing her Miley and Dolly's 2017 duet was no longer allowed.

Some parents say their children came home upset Wednesday after learning they couldn't sing it ... with the kids wondering why it was a big deal.

Superintendent Jim Sebert told multiple news outlets "Rainbowland" was dropped because it "could be perceived as controversial" according to recent school policies.

The song is from Miley's album "Younger Now" ... and she's said it was inspired by the paint in her recording studio. Dolly says the track is about "hope and positivity in dark times."

Some of the lyrics are, "Living in a Rainbowland/ The skies are blue and things are grand/ Wouldn't it be nice to live in paradise/ Where we're free to be exactly who we are."

While both singers have openly supported the LGTBQ community, neither has said the song has any intentional connection to it.

The superintendent told local news outlets, "The main question was is the song appropriate for the age level and maturity of the students."

Troy Ave is reveling in the fact he helped put his mortal enemy, Taxstone, behind bars -- he just released a very disrespectful track celebrating his pending prison sentence.

The Brooklyn MC unleashed the fiery-titled, "Dear Hater I Won (Taxstone Found Guilty)" ... dropping it Friday, just hours after a jury in NYC found the pioneering hip hop podcaster was guilty of manslaughter.

The song opens up with audio of Boskoe100 slamming Taxstone for writing a letter to the judge that spoke against Troy, which provided the fuel for the slanderous chorus ... "Since you n***** like writing letters, here go one/Dear hater, I won/I'ma boss, you a bum/Suck a d**k, till it c**s." 🙊

Troy codirected the visuals with Shanicerayneil, and wildly captures himself rapping outside the NYC courthouse where the trial took place.

He justified his decision to testify against Tax ... by using an image of Jay-Z in court during his 2021 perfume lawsuit, assuring his critics he was in the right and his rival was in the wrong.

Taxstone, real name Daryl Campbell, was convicted of killing Troy's bodyguard Ronald McPhatter, and wounding three others -- including Troy -- during T.I.’s 2016 concert in NYC. Troy used clips of the shooting in the 'Hater' music vid.

We broke the story back when ... several people were caught in the Irving Plaza melee that spawned massive chaos inside the venue.

CeeLo Green is responding to backlash over his horseback entrance to a birthday party ... he says the idea was all in fun, and he meant no ill intent towards the horse.

The singer broke his silence Friday after being dragged for the horse incident, explaining ... "I felt like it could be fun and funny to make a grand entrance on this beautiful animal for a very special occasion."

Remember ... CeeLo rode into Wednesday's party on a horse, with the animal looking nervous around all the lights and partygoers, jolting around and slipping on the tile floor ... causing the horse to buckle and sending CeeLo crashing to the ground.

PETA came out strong against CeeLo ... telling us, "It doesn’t take a genius to know that horses don’t belong at a noisy, crowded party, where slippery floors and strobe lights can agitate these vulnerable animals."

CeeLo says he was just trying to show love to his late friend Shawty Lo -- the party was in Shawty's honor -- and he's chalking it up to his sense of humor.

CG claims he "went through all the proper channels to make that happen with no ill intent towards the animal." But he admits, "It should've been short and sweet but some malfunctions happened and it is what it is but know that I'm ok and yes the horse is ok as well."

Beyoncé and Balmain have just unveiled a new couture collaboration ... and the timing works out perfectly considering she just split with Adidas.

French fashion designer Olivier Rousteing spearheaded the new 'Renaissance' collection, directly inspired by listening furiously to Bey's Grammy Award-winning album.

Beyoncé expressed her gratitude to Olivier on IG ... "thank you for allowing me to celebrate the human form, to take artistic risks, to push boundaries and to freely express myself."

Olivier returned the thank-yous while also bigging up fashion icon Marni Senofonte for her extending vision ... dubbing her his "Alien Superstar" ... a fitting title, seeing that all the collabs pieces are named after all the tracks on the album!!!

The "Renaissance" collab introduced several ambitious ensembles that use chrome such as "Plastic Off the Sofa” which bursts of pink fabric or "Break My Soul," which wrapped the model in a black chrome dress.

Beyoncé fans were left in shock on Thursday when news broke that she and her Adidas "Ivy Park" collection was to be discontinued following a $50 million L in sales.

Jermaine Dupri is admitting he dropped the ball getting Yung Joc's 2006 No. 1 smash hit "It's Goin Down" for his So So Def empire ... all because he decided to go to bed!!!

The platinum producer revealed he had signed the song's producer Nitti to his label, and was expecting Joc to follow suit once he heard the song ... but the very next day the pair went over to Diddy's Bad Boy.

As they say, the rest is history ... the song topped the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for 8 weeks straight.

JD's "For Motivational Use Only" collaborator Curren$y quipped on "The Breakfast Club" ... JD should've "stayed up" -- which the platinum producer agreed, but also said he didn't actually sign Joc to lock him and the 3x platinum track.

The first version of "It's Goin Down" kicked off with the So So Def audio tag so JD thought the song was in the bag ... a costly mistake as far as Joc was concerned.

The Atlanta rapper recently ranked Diddy over JD in terms of marketing savvy on an episode of "My Expert Opinion" ... and also felt JD stretched his focus too thin for his liking.

JD still has the opp to get revenge against Diddy in their still pending Verzuz battle, which he insists is still happening -- but the 2 superproducers are plotting a bigger event than what fans are used to seeing.

Chaka Khan's celebrating her 70th birthday, and she can still turn up like her heyday in the '70s and '80s ... and she did with an assist from fellow icon, Stevie Wonder!

Chaka held court for her celebration Thursday night at Vortex recording studio in Hollywood, partying with a couple hundred guests who joined Stevie in singing happy birthday -- his version, of course.

Once Stevie got behind the keyboard the party was in full swing -- he and Chaka did her hit, "Tell Me Something Good" ... and then they belted out one of his Motown classics, "Signed, Sealed, Delivered."

Looks like Mr. Wonder worked up quite the appetite during the festivities ... we hear from folks inside the event, he brought in Chick-fil-A for his entourage, which he definitely enjoyed.

Joni Mitchell's another legend who came out to honor Chaka ... along with comedian Mike Epps, and later in the night Tiffany Haddish jumped on stage too.

Tiff got the band fired up to play "Proud Mary," as she belted out the lyrics and even attempted some of Tina Turner's moves.

Gladys Knight is furious that President Biden has invited the likes of BTS to The White House, yet her repeated requests for a sit-down with the President over a vital issue have been ignored ... and she flatly asks the question ... "Are the problems associated with African Americans not equal to those of other races? Why do we have to be last?"

Gladys' company, Riccino Optical, provides COVID-related products, including antigen tests, anti-fog goggles and face shields. Her company, which she describes as an "African American woman owned minority business," has been trying to get a government contract to provide these PPEs to the public, but she says they've been ignored.

The singer says the feds are giving contracts to the "Good old boys' network of Washington D.C. insiders." She goes on to say a contract was specifically targeted to help Native American businesses in this space, yet she says there are no Native American manufacturers of these PPEs, while her company has millions in inventory.

Gladys wrote her letter to Biden in June. Although she went to The White House earlier this week to receive the National Medal of Arts, she did not have a sit-down with the President, even though her husband asked Biden why he hasn't met with her yet.

In her letter, she says, "It is extraordinarily insulting to watch news reports ... that a boy band from South Korea, BTS, had an in-person meeting with President Biden."

She goes on ... "As a longtime, Democrat and Civil rights warrior, as well as a legendary entertainer that has met with President Biden many times in my life, the difficulty of setting up a meeting with him over these issues makes no sense."

Jay-Z is still very much a business, mannnn ... according to Forbes, the Roc Nation rapper is now worth a jaw-dropping $2.5 billion following the sale of his alcohol brand.

The updated ranking from Friday makes Hov the 1,203rd richest person in the world.

Back in February, Jay sold his 50% stake of his D’USSÉ cognac back to its parent company Bacardi for a reported $750 million after a tense court battle ... and still retains sizeable ownership in the brand.

Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, is still the richest person in the world with a net worth of $216.1 billion ... but bragging rights for the most-paid rapper currently sit with Jigga.

Not only that, Billboard recently named him "The Best Rapper Of All-Time," and he holds the most Grammys for a rapper with 24.

Tekashi 6ix9ine should get the hell out of Dodge or at least up his security after his brutal gym beatdown -- that's what most people think -- but we've learned that ain't the case.

Sources close to Tekashi tell TMZ ... he's actually been going out in public without his hired muscle pretty regularly over the last year -- without issue. We're told he's not about to let one incident change the way he lives. He wants to continue to live as normal a life as possible ... and is chalking up the gym beatdown as an outlier.

What's more, Tekashi has no plans on leaving South Florida, despite the attackers saying snitches weren't welcome in their neighborhood.

As we reported, Tekashi was sent to the hospital after he was pummeled inside the locker room of an LA Fitness -- suffering injuries to his back, face, jaw and ribs. Video obtained by TMZ shows one of the alleged attackers chatting on a cell phone before bringing another inside the facility.

From there, you see both men beeline it to the locker room to execute their attack with a third person.

Lance Lazzaro, Tekashi's attorney, told us he's going to talk with the feds about getting some protection for his client -- but it sounds like 6ix9ine wouldn't be too keen on accepting any.

Selena Gomez is finally speaking out amid the fan-fueled drama with Hailey Bieber ... coming to HB's defense and condemning the hate coming her way.

Selena took to IG Friday with a message to her fans ... "Hailey Bieber reached out to me and let me know that she has been receiving death threats and such hateful negativity."

She continued, "This isn't what I stand for. No one should have to experience hate or bullying. I've always advocated for kindness and really want this all to stop.❤️"

What's more ... Selena follows Hailey on IG ... another sign she wants to douse the flames that have erupted on social media.

ICYMI, the rumored beef between Selena and Hailey surfaced after SG posted a video about her eyebrows ... fans took Kylie Jenner's posts with Hailey as a diss against Selena. It takes too long to explain what the alleged dispute was over [in a word, eyebrows] but it was silly.

Fans speculated there was been tension between the two ladies for years, since Hailey got engaged to Justin a couple months after ending his long-term relationship with Selena.

Selena has clearly moved on and wants everyone else to do the same.

We covered it all in the latest episode of The TMZ Podcast.

Originally Published -- 7:01 AM PT

SZA celebrated the end of her month-long tour Thursday night with a star-studded performance in L.A. ... but it was J Lo who really stole the show with her crazy dance moves.

Jenny from the Block gave everyone a crash course on how to cut loose to the music of SZA, who was joined by Lizzo and Phoebe Bridgers on stage at the Kia Theatre.

Check out video, obtained by TMZ, showing J Lo shaking her booty while wrapped in a huge fur coat and sporting cool shades. We're told J Lo was also twerking at one point.

It appears Ben took the night off and stayed home 'cause he was nowhere in sight.

Meanwhile, Jeffree Star made a cameo appearance, dropping in with some friends to watch the concert. The makeup guru kept it low-key, chatting with his posse and enjoying all the entertainment.

At two points during the show, SZA shared the spotlight with Phoebe and Lizzo, each singing one song with the R&B superstar. Phoebe cranked out SZA's "Ghost in the Machine" while Lizzo performed her own tune, "Special."

American singer and rapper Matthew Morris, aka MattyBRaps, was just seven years old when he started his music career after sharing his raps and tunes on YouTube back in 2010.

He initially became popular after remixing and covering songs ... Justin Bieber's "Eenie Meenie" being the first of many! Some of his originals like "I'm Missing You" have accumulated over 240 million views on the 'Tube.

Morris collaborated with some big names including JoJo Siwa, James Maslow and Vanilla Ice, and his success landed him on some major talk shows including "Dr. Phil," "The Wendy Williams Show" and "The Queen Latifah Show."

Sam Asghari wants to star in a movie opposite Britney Spears ... and he thinks they would be the perfect fit for an action comedy.

We got Sam at LAX on Thursday and he was just getting back home from filming a project ... so naturally our photog asked him if he would ever want to act with his wife.

Sam says Britney's a great actress and he for sure wants to team up with her on the big screen ... and it sounds like he's already got some ideas for potential projects.

Britney obviously loves to dance, and Sam thinks her natural athletic ability makes her the perfect candidate for an action comedy ... which he seems to prefer over a rom-com.

The way Sam envisions it ... he and Britney could both do their own stunts, and he's seeing lots of action and fight scenes where they both kick some serious ass.

But before the perfect script comes along, Sam says Britney's excited about visiting him on his current film set ... he says he's in L.A. during a break in filming.