Music

Nick Cannon says he's open to the idea of having a 13th child ... but you would probably never guess with whom ... except yeah, we told you in the headline.

The "Masked Singer" host sat down Monday with Howard Stern, who asked Nick about increasing his already large family by one if the mother was none other than Taylor Swift.

Although Nick at first wasn't really sure where he stood on the issue, he perked up once he heard the name of the pop star, who just called it quits with longtime boyfriend Joe Alwyn.

Nick couldn't contain his excitement over the Swift hypothetical, telling Howard, "That's the one. I'm all in!"

He then outlined why Taylor would be the perfect mate. "First of all, she's an amazing songwriter," Nick said, adding, "What I do love about Taylor Swift is that she has been so vulnerable and open with all of her music."

Nick noted that Taylor can relate to him through their "very similar" dating histories while joking that his "Spidey senses" were tingling. He ended the Taylor/baby convo with this, "That would be amazing."

As you already know, Nick has a whopping 12 kids by six different women. His latest child, Halo, came into the world in Dec. 2022.

Taylor Swift's music is seeing a huge spike amid news of her breakup with Joe Alwyn -- but the interest is focused on specific tracks, with a specific muse in mind ... take a guess.

The numbers are in -- as aggregated by TS stan SpotifySwiftie -- and it looks like several songs from TayTay's past few albums have seen massive streaming increases in the past 48 hours ... but, perhaps unsurprisingly, they're all tunes rumored to be about her now-ex.

The songs in question span her last 5 projects -- which cover the time frame that she's been with Joe -- and they range in percentages ... from as low a boost as 23% to as high as 106%, and everything in between. There are 11 tracks we're talking about here, BTW.

'King of My Heart' from her album 'Reputation' and 'happiness' from 'evermore,' for example touch the low end of the totem pole (at 23% increases each) ... whereas other songs like 'Sweet Nothing' ('Midnights') and 'the 1' ('folkore') are at 30% and 39%, respectively.

Other songs, however, have even more plays ... cuts like 'New Year's Day' ('Reputation'), 'peace' ('folklore') and 'Daylight' ('Lover') have jumped 40%/48%/58% in streaming stats.

The song of hers that has the largest upswing is 'Cornelia Street' ('Lover') at 106%. Some of the telltale lyrics in there that allude to Joe include this line ... "And I hope I never lose you, hope it never ends // I'd never walk Cornelia Street again // That's the kind of heartbreak time could never mend." It's been reported they shared a home on this NYC street, for real.

Funny enough ... there's actually viral video of New York-based Swifties leaving flowers at the rumored house they used to live in -- mourning the fact that Joe and Taylor are dunzo.

NBA YoungBoy’s new album title "Don’t Try This At Home" apparently applies to everyone but him -- the prolific rapper’s throwing a huge party in L.A. while he's home ... on house arrest in Utah!!!

Sources close to the rap star’s camp tell TMZ Hip Hop the event goes down Thursday, April 20, and NBA’s team is paying $200K to rent party space at Elevate Lounge DTLA.

We’re told Team NBA is pulling out all the stops -- 50 Cent’s Branson Cognac is sponsoring, and there will be fully decked out with customized decor, sounds provided by DJ Carisma and a fan raffle. The winner gets to talk to NBA over the stream during the party.

Might sound like a standard Hollywood event, except the guy hosting will be several hundred miles away ... due to his lengthy house arrest for a gun possession charge.

NBA linked with Nicki Minaj for the album’s latest single “WTF,” which dropped last Friday and already has a couple million views.

Intruders beware at Leon “Roccstar” Youngblood Jr.'s home -- when the "Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood" star found some guy creeping on his roof, he handled it on his own ... according to law enforcement.

Cops say the platinum-selling Chris Brown producer told officers he was awakened a little past 5:00 AM Monday by an alarm alerting him someone was on the garage roof at his Chatsworth, CA home.

He says he went outside and, at gunpoint, ordered the guy off his roof ... but when he came down, an altercation broke out between them.

We're told Roccstar overpowered the guy, and then security for his gated community arrived to help detain the man until cops arrived.

The suspect was evaluated at the hospital for injuries before he was arrested for attempted burglary, vandalism, and possession of burglary tools.

Lil Baby is finally taking last October's No. 1 album, "It's Only Me" on the road ... and he's bringing several of his friends along for the ride.

The rap star revealed Monday GloRilla, The Kid LAROI, GLOSS UP, Rylo Rodriguez and Hunxho will be joining him on the 32-city tour, which kicks off in July.

The 4PF leader and Glo famously linked up backstage last year where she taught him how to do her signature dance, and the relationship has culminated into a power move of concert money!!!

At first glance, DJ Holiday has a new “podcast” that's totally unfiltered ... based on his grilling of Wiz Khalifa and O.T. Genasis.

TMZ Hip Hop obtained the video of Holiday sitting down with both rap stars and coming out the gate swinging … asking Wiz if he still misses his ex-wife, Amber Rose.

O.T. didn't get off easy either -- Holiday had the nerve to ask if he’s ever slept with Keyshia Cole!!!

The good news for all parties involved is ... this isn't a real podcast, it's a scripted scene from Holiday's upcoming "No Stress" video, which features raps from Wiz and O.T.

Still, his questions will definitely push some buttons for fans -- Wiz and Amber successfully co-parent their son, Sebastian, while O.T. had a public fallout with Keyshia after royally butchering her classic track, “Love.”

Cardi B couldn't contain her disgust after seeing the clip of the Dalai Lama asking a young boy, "suck my tongue" -- and even though her criticism made some people go after Cardi, she's not backing down.

An irate Cardi ripped child "predators" Monday, and urged parents to always know what's going on in their kids' lives.

Some fans agreed with Cardi's take on the odd video -- showing the Dalai interacting with a young boy during a public appearance -- but others brought up a shady moment from her pre-stardom past.

You might recall, Cardi admitted drugging and robbing men back in her strip club days.

She addressed the haters, head-on, saying those dudes were adult, drunk lowlifes who attempted to take advantage of her and she just happened to get the upper hand.

Unlike Cardi, the Dalai Lama's office is apologizing for the incident -- from February, BTW -- saying he "teases people he meets in an innocent and playful way, even in public and before cameras."

Doesn't seem like the "Bodak Yellow" rapper is buying what the Dalai's selling.

The news of Taylor Swift's split from longtime boyfriend Joe Alwyn breaking during a pause in her tour might not be sheer coincidence ... according to marketing guru Brittany Hodak.

Brittany, who's an admitted Swiftee, joined us Monday on "TMZ Live" for a closer look at the timing of Taylor's breakup going public -- and, as an expert on Taylor's marketing brilliance, she suspects the singer is, in a way, manipulating the media.

For starters, Brittany says Taylor has always been meticulous about managing news cycles ... so it's quite interesting for the split to "leak" to the public smack in the middle of a 13-day break in her Eras Tour.

Brittany says the timing of it all suggests Taylor wanted the story to break so she would be back in the news during that break in the action ... shifting attention and momentum back to her tour when she would, otherwise, be off the radar.

As we reported ... Taylor's last-minute song change in her setlist is also getting picked apart. She removed "Invisible String," a song about soulmates, and inserted "The 1," a track reminiscing on a former relationship.

The timing of Taylor and Joe's breakup is unclear, and Brittany speculates the split might have happened weeks or even months ago ... and the song swap could have been intended as a hint to fans.

Don't get it twisted, Brittany isn't suggesting Taylor would time a breakup for a marketing opportunity ... but she thinks there's at least a decent chance she was waiting to see if news of the split came out during the tour.

Gucci Mane's former artist Ralo had a Happy Easter despite his ongoing prison bid for weed trafficking ... the Georgia rapper got to hug his daughter for the first time in 5 years!!!

Ralo posted pics of the father and child reunion -- showing himself and his daughter embracing. On IG, he compared their prison meeting to an out-of-body experience that lasts a lifetime.

He admitted current hip hop culture made him want to cut the "rapper" tag from his résumé, but says proceeds from his music are providing for his daughter and much more.

So, he's not bowing out of the game just yet.

Ralo was sentenced to 97 months last year after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute, but has released several projects while behind bars.

He's been teasing his upcoming "97 Months" album ... titled after the length of his prison sentence and dropped off its first single, "Street Honors" with Jadakiss, ahead of the project's April 21 date.

Young M.A says she's "very much sober" at this point in time --  and, as a result, she's ready to flood the summer with new music.

On Sunday, Young M.A admitted to making plenty of "wrong decisions in her life" ... and she said, for a while, those decisions affected her ability to continue her career.

She didn't specify what bad habit she'd cut out in her sobriety, but assured fans the summer would be lit with new Young M.A music and she would be dropping a documentary that would disclose more details in due time.

The Brooklyn rapper alarmed fans in March by posting a video of herself in a barber chair ... babbling incoherently while her eyes appeared to be a dark yellow complexion.

She celebrated her 31st birthday last week, providing evidence she was in high spirits -- and this update feels like a double down on that notion.

Taylor Swift fans are dissecting her recent public appearances to see if there were clues about her breakup with Joe Alwyn -- and now ... everything's under the microscope.

Swifties are analyzing a TikTok clip from one of her 'Eras' concerts in Arizona -- where some folks think she got emotional during a performance of her track "Champagne Problems." In light of this weekend's news ... a handful believe this must have meant something.

While the song is about an unrequited marriage proposal, it's hard to say if there's anything to this. TS doesn't look any more animated than she does for any other song. There are also those who claim she tears up, but you can't see any active waterworks on her face.

Eye of the beholder, we suppose ... people see what they wanna see.

That's not the only thing being studied in the aftermath of her split. A last-minute song change in her setlist is also getting picked apart as suggesting something bigger -- the swap being between "Invisible String," a track about 2 soulmates, to another song called "The 1" ... which focuses on love lost and reminiscing on a former relationship.

Seeing how "The 1" made the cut, some Swifties think she was telegraphing trouble with Joe. Again, it's possible, but on the flip side ... it could just as easily mean nothing at all.

The big breakup news came over the weekend ... Taylor and JA are reported to have gone their separate ways in recent weeks. The exact timeline isn't clear, nor do we know who broke up with whom. He's said to have been absent from her tour, which makes sense now.

Blueface will be back in a boxing ring in less than two weeks ... the rapper just agreed to fight TikToker Ed Matthews, who called Blueface out in an antagonizing video last month.

The fight will go down on April 22 at OVO Arena in England ... and the trash talk between the guys has already begun.

Just two weeks ago, Matthews appeared to poke fun at Blueface for his up-and-down relationship with Chrisean Rock in a TikTok that garnered nearly two million views.

The "Thotiana" rapper, meanwhile, posted a video of his own jabbing at Matthews over the weekend ... claiming he has no idea who the British social media star is.

The fight -- which will be on the same Kingpyn card that features the highly anticipated rematch between Anesongib and Austin McBroom -- will be the first for Blueface since July 2021, when he dominated a TikToker and then beat up a fan afterward.

The 26-year-old had been slated to fight former L.A. Laker Nick Young last year, but the tilt was canceled jays days before it was set to go down after he failed to secure a boxing license in time.

As for Matthews, he's no stranger to celeb fights -- he made quick work of social media star Simple Simon in a boxing match last year.

Students at Kanye West's Donda Academy are being deprived of the education they deserve, but the parents should be concerned if they try to go somewhere else -- so says one of the teachers suing the rapper over the school.

Former Donda teacher Cecilia Hailey's now giving a word of warning to parents, telling TMZ they're severely behind educationally -- but that doesn't mean moving somewhere else will instantly correct the problem.

She says the kids aren't getting graded at the unaccredited school, so transferring could be problematic.

Cecilia's worried about the students' futures ... angry the kids are way behind on the learning curve.

As we reported, Cecilia and her daughter claimed they were fired from their teaching gigs at Donda after calling out the school's flaws ... also saying race was a factor.

Cecilia tells us Kanye might not be involved with the school's issues, although she's named him in the suit. She listed numerous problems with Donda, BTW -- including a lack of chairs, locked front doors, and no lesson plans. She also complains the only item on the lunch menu was sushi.

Some KISS memorabilia is hitting the auction block and expected to fetch a pretty penny -- upwards of hundreds of thousands, in fact -- and this stuff isn't even musical, per se.

Instead of music, it's letters ... handwritten by each OG band member, for their fourth album "Alive!" ... and featured in the gatefold of the groundbreaking live album. They're up for grabs through GottaHaveRockandRoll.com, which is expecting these personal notes to reach bids between $50k to $150k.

Like we said, the KISS rockers put pen to paper ahead of the release of "Alive!" ... writing separate pieces of correspondence to their fan base in pretty descriptive and unique terms.

There are notes from Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss, respectively.

The content is quite different in each letter -- Gene's talking about punishing/pleasuring listeners, Ace is on another planet, Pete's feelin' feline-ish and Paul's getting into voyeurism. The letters match each rocker's stage persona ... The Demon, The Spaceman, The Catman and The Starchild.

The soon-to-be owner will get the 4 pieces of paper -- inheriting them from a lucky then-15-year-old, who initially copped them in 1976 -- complete with the glue an art department applied way back then as well.

They're all certified legitimate through multiple authentication agencies ... so we're talking one of a kind.

The current highest bid is $20k and the auction ends April 14 ... so there's still plenty of time to rock and roll all nite, if you're into it.

Unlike her pregnancy announcement, Spice is doubling down on the seriousness of her recent health scare ... telling us it took nearly a year of recovery just to get walking again.

TMZ Hip Hop spoke to Spice this week and the dancehall reggae queen relived her worst nightmare ... a ruptured hernia that resulted in sepsis, and a 30 lb. weight loss!!!

The "Go Down Deh" crooner fooled fans with a "pregnancy" announcement back in March ... later explaining the photo only signified her return to life, not that she was actually expecting. She dropped a new track, "God a Bless Me" as the cherry on top.

Spice says things got so bad during her hospitalization, she actually prepared a will ... as she legitimately feared she was on her deathbed.

She describes the pain as if her organs were under attack and her skin was being eaten away.

It took a team of 14 doctors and 3 chest-busting operations to save Spice's life ... which caused her to spend 2 months in the hospital, and another 6 months relearning basic life functions like eating and talking.

Doja Cat says she's ready to prove she's a good rapper, and to do that ... she's shelving her pop style, maybe forever.

The artist -- who's been labeled a lot of things, but never quite fits into any given box -- took to Twitter on Saturday to reveal she's heard the people loud and clear ... namely, that her bars aren't quite up to snuff and that her rap prowess has been, thus far, pretty weak.

It's a consistent criticism Doja's faced since she splashed onto the scene ... especially since most of her biggest hits are straight up bubble-gum pop ones -- where she's singing.

Now, DC says she's gonna show everyone what's what on her next album ... writing, "i also agree with everyone who said the majority of my rap verses are mid and corny. I know they are. I wasnt trying to prove anything I just enjoy making music but I'm getting tired of hearing yall say that i can't so I will." In other words, Doja's gonna flex her stuff in due time.

There's more she addressed in responses to other Twitter users who reacted to this news -- including the fact that she does, in fact, consider herself a rapper ... up there with the likes of Nicki Minaj, Megan Thee Stallion, Latto, Cardi B and other major femcees, it seems.

Doja also says pop music simply doesn't excite her anymore ... and wants to pivot toward a different sound and vibe. Lastly, she says she talk her s*** on this new project, "Hellmouth."

It's interesting that she wants to delve into straight up rap considering how much success she's had in her current lane. Doja has trotted out a number of singles that all charted well, including 'Say So,' 'Kiss Me More,' 'You Right,' 'Woman' and 'Best Friend,' among others.

That last one leans more rap, but her pop indulgences have proved to be money-makers ... and award contenders too. She's already won a Grammy, and has racked up tons of other accolades for her pop-centric records. The fact she wants to get away from that is ... risky.

Regardless, she sounds confident she can get it done ... and with her track record, there's no reason to believe she can't. Doja Cat is one of the biggest names in music right now, so we're sure she can whip up a damn good album with stellar production and features.

There've been reports she plans to do this new album solo, without any collabs, but there's no evidence backing that. What she has teased, however, are some title names ... like 'Balut,' 'Wet Vagina' and 'Agora Hills.' Gotta say ... those sound like straight bangers.