Music

Nav is checking off a HUGE bucket list item ... performing for a sold-out crowd in Toronto, and in the process, becoming the first Canadian rapper since Drake to headline Scotiabank Arena!!!

Nav tells TMZ Hip Hop, "Out of all my accomplishments thus far, selling out my first arena show in my hometown ranks #1. Six years ago I did my first headlined show ever at a venue in Toronto that held 600 people ... yesterday I performed at a venue 30x the size."

Still hyped about the Monday night gig, he added, "The fact my mom, dad and rest of my family got to witness and share this moment makes it priceless for me. I am grateful for the journey and for my fans who make this possible!!!"

The "Myself" rapper wasn't stingy with his stage time either -- he brought out Travis Scott, Meek Mill and Lola Brooke to share the spotlight while SoFaygo and Seren Jacob also performed.

Travis wowed the crowd with a lively rendition of his classic album cut "beibs in the trap," which Nav famously produced for him, and also stuck around to nail their "Champion" collab from 2018.

Symba thinks Doja Cat's anti-Twitter blue checkmark stance is a valid cause ... and he has zero plans to pay for his own verification either!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with the Bay Area-bred lyricist on the set of his upcoming music video, "Hell of a Feeling" with LaRussell, where we took his temp on Doja's comments.

Twitter boss Elon Musk's proposed blue checkmark sweep on April 20 could throw a monkey wrench in artists' reach and visibility, but Doja doesn't give a damn ... basically labeling the check a Veblen good.

LeBron James also railed against the change and Symba wholeheartedly agrees, although he doesn't have a ton of answers on how to separate real and fake celebs without the blue check ... and is still verified himself, for now.

Symba even thinks the Twitter Blue defection could spark some sort of cool-kids movement amongst the unverified.

Jeff Bezos won't be the new owner of the Washington Commanders ... the Amazon founder reportedly won't bid on the NFL franchise despite months of interest, and a secretive meeting with Jay-Z.

According to Puck News, Bezos, whose net worth is $120 billion (according to Forbes), is no longer planning to buy Dan Snyder's team ... and barring something changing, JB won't be the team's new owner.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Bezos and Jay-Z met for a secret meeting in L.A. in November, where we're told they discussed a potential partnership.

Although it won't be Bezos, it's still possible D.C. will have a famous owner. As we previously reported, Magic Johnson is part of a group with 76ers owner Josh Harris and billionaire Mitchell Rales. They reportedly submitted a $6 billion bid to buy the team.

The Lakers Hall of Famer confirmed the news on an episode of "Today" ... saying he's excited the bid is in and hopes Snyder makes the right decision.

Magic is no stranger to owning a team ... the five-time NBA champion has a stake in the LA Dodgers, Sparks, and LAFC, the pro soccer team.

Jay-Z's longtime love for Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat is being flipped into a tribute concert for the Louis Vuitton Foundation this Friday ... marking a rare live performance for Hov these days.

Roc Nation made the announcement Tuesday, in French no less, revealing Jay would be performing at the Auditorium of the Fondation in Paris. Yep, fire up that "Watch the Throne" track, stat!!!

Jay's performance is intended to pump LV's “Basquiat × Warhol. Painting four hands” exhibit ... which celebrates the 2 iconic artists' 160 canvas collaborations, and the event is also supported by Tiffany & Co., with which both Jay and Beyonce have brand deals.

Lil Uzi Vert's been going tattoo crazy lately, debuting a massive new piece on his forehead and a cross on his tongue ... leaving fans puzzled, yet still intrigued!!!

The “Just Wanna Rock” rapper paid a visit to Ganga Tattoo Studio in L.A. last weekend, and emerged with a black Cross of Saint Peter colored onto his tongue.

That might be enough for most people, but Uzi then enlisted celebrity tattoo artist Yatzil Elizalde to deck out his entire forehead with a design that sorta resembles a dreamcatcher.

Fans voiced concern that Uzi was turning to the dark side -- although, you'd think the Cross of Saint Peter would alleviate those fears.

The last time we spoke to him, he told us he's not much for religion and is far from satanic because he doesn't even believe in the devil!!!

He also stated he's completely sober ... meaning these tats were done under the influence of nothing but his own free will!!!

Tons of celebrities made sure they were in attendance for the Lakers' play-in game Tuesday night ... and they no doubt were glad they came -- 'cause L.A. won in an instant classic!!

Tennis legend John McEnroe had courtside seats for the playoff-clinching game with the Timberwolves at Crypto.com Arena -- as did Michael B. Jordan, Jimmy Iovine and Corey Gamble.

All were treated to a helluva contest ... as L.A. and Minnesota went back and forth for about three hours -- before LeBron James' squad came out on top in overtime, 108-102.

It took a herculean effort from the Lakers superstar to get his team the victory -- the 38-year-old led all scorers with 30 points ... and was a huge reason L.A. came back from down 15 to secure its spot in the playoffs.

The win was massive for Bron's team ... if they had lost -- they would have had to play the winner of Wednesday's Oklahoma City vs. New Orleans matchup in what would have been a do-or-die game for the last spot in the playoffs.

Now, however, they're safely in ... and will play a series against the Memphis Grizzlies to try to continue their advance in the postseason.

Other celebs in attendance for the big L.A. win included Al Michaels -- who looked super chipper outside the arena before the game began.

Film producer Jeffrey Katzenberg, singer Rosalia and comedian Sebastian Maniscalco were all there as well.

Child country singer Billy Gilman was only 11 years old when he burst onto the music scene with his hit song "One Voice" back in 2000. The song was part of his debut album "One Voice" and also featured popular tracks like "Oklahoma" and "There's a Hero."

His first album's success garnered spots on both the Billboard Hot 100 chart and the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Since then, Billy has released a total of five albums and in 2016, he finished runner-up on "The Voice" where he covered songs like Adele's "When We Were" with help from his coach Adam Levine.

Nick's attorney, Liane K. Wakayama tells us, "Melissa Schuman has been peddling this tale for many years, but her allegation was false when she first made it back in 2017 - and it still is. A judge in Nevada recently ruled, after reviewing the extensive evidence we laid out, that there are strong grounds for Nick Carter to proceed with his lawsuit against Ms. Schuman for plotting to damage, defame and extort Nick, his associates, his friends and his family."

Liane continues, “In light of our progress in Nevada, this kind of response is at once both predictable and pathetic. But this PR stunt won’t shake Nick from his determination to hold Ms. Schuman and her co-conspirators to account for the immeasurable pain and suffering their extortionate conduct has caused.”

Nick Carter is being taken to court by singer Melissa Schuman, more than 5 years after she pushed for him to be criminally charged for allegedly sexually assaulting her.

Here's the deal -- Schuman is suing the Backstreet Boys singer, claiming he sexually assaulted her in 2002 in Santa Monica ... when she was 18 and he was 22. In the suit, she alleges he forcibly performed oral sex on her, and made her do the same to him.

Schuman, who was in the girl group Dream, claims Carter then took her virginity, despite her telling him she was saving herself for marriage.

She originally accused him of this back in 2017 ... she filed a police report and wanted Carter to face criminal charges, but the D.A.'s office declined to prosecute.

Schuman now believes a new bill amending the statute of limitations for civil actions revives her claim, which is why she's looking to take it all to a judge.

Nick has denied all of her allegations, and, in fact, sued Schuman for $2.3 million earlier this year ... claiming she had been trying to extort money from him for years. That suit was part of his ongoing litigation against Shannon Ruth, who's also accused Carter of sexual assault on a tour bus.

Warren G is fully embracing the TikTok randomness that blended his all-time classic, "Regulate," with Morgan Wallen's hit "Chasin' You" -- so much so, he's updating his bars to the 19-year-old track, pronto!!! 🔥

On Tuesday, Warren teased a remix to the mashup, rapping ... "Riding in my Chevy/I call her 'Blue Lagoon'/Pull up to the liquor store, you know what I'm looking for ... Zig-Zags, bottle and a brown paper bizag."

Warren didn't give fans a remix release date, but did tout it to be "summer vibes" which will be arriving shortly.

Morgan's currently on fire right now ... his song "Last Night" is currently No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Meanwhile, Warren and Nate Dogg's "Regulate" is the gift that keeps on giving ... just ask Megan Thee Stallion, who blazed the instrumental on her last public freestyle.

Post Malone is taking his love of chicken fingers to the next level ... custom designing a Raising Cane's restaurant near his Utah estate, complete with his own special menu item.

The chicken finger chain tells TMZ ... Post's custom-designed restaurant is opening Thursday in Midvale, Utah and it's the culmination of the rapper's longtime love of Cane's chicken fingers and his friendship with restaurant founder Todd Graves.

RC says after Post moved to Utah, he personally asked Todd for a Cane's location near his massive crib, even offering to design every aspect of the restaurant himself ... from the dining room, to the bathrooms, exterior and landscaping.

Remember ... Post and Todd are super close, with Todd making a cameo appearance in Post's 2021 "Motley Crew" music video.

As you can see, the renovated restaurant is now wrapped in solid pink with Post Malone tattoo imagery and a brushed stainless steel "1" tower. The interior flooring and walls are also solid pink, and the window wraps glow at night.

There's also Post Malone memorabilia displayed on the dining room walls ... including the outfits he wore to the 2019 Grammy Awards and 2022 Billboard Magazine cover shoot. Some of Post's personal guitars are also framed and hung inside.

With Post being a big fan of medieval armor, he designed the restrooms to look like the inside of a medieval castle ... and there's even a suit of gothic medieval armor inside.

Post Malone's also super into beer pong ... and the dining room has a track system with pink ping pong balls running through ... with color-changing filters and light fixtures.

Out in the parking lot, Post put a classic 1974 Ford F250 wrapped in brushed silver as a permanent fixture ... complete with a custom license plate.

Naturally, there's tons of Post Malone-themed merch ... including a pink vinyl-wrapped vending machine stocked with T-shirts, beanies, socks, ping pong balls, magnets, keychains, steel cups and guitar picks

In addition to Post Malone's design overhaul, this location is also serving its popular Caniac Box the "Posty Way" ... it's the custom combo Post always orders, and it comes with 4 chicken fingers, crinkle-cut fries, 2 Cane's sauces, 2 slices of Texas toast, extra salt and pepper packed, and an unsweet tea/lemonade mix to wash it all down.

Raising Cane's says folks who order the "Posty Way" get the meal with a Post Malone napkin, decal sticker and a 32 oz. collector's cup.

Kim K starring in the new "American Horror Story" is raising cynics' eyebrows -- but she's probably gonna knock their socks off, according to one pro who knows TV frontward and back.

We talked to NPR's Eric Deggans Tuesday on "TMZ Live" about Kim's forthcoming role in Ryan Murphy's ongoing horror anthology -- and he believes she's poised to shock the critics with a solid acting performance that could impress the doubters.

Check out what Eric -- who handles all things television for the public radio network -- has to say about Kim and her history in Hollywood. Interestingly, he thinks she's long been underestimated.

While some might just see her as your traditional influencer trying to switch lanes in entertainment ... ED says Kim stands apart from all the other up-and-coming TikTokers and YouTubers who've similarly tried to jump to a much bigger stage.

While it didn't work out for most of those folks, Eric believes Kim's unique in that she can deliver a performance with proper direction. He adds, she's already shown flashes of acting chops.

There's also the Ryan Murphy element. We know the guy doesn't just churn out garbage -- most of the stuff he puts out is quality content, and Eric says he has no reason to believe this will be any different. He also brings up the X factor ... Lady Gaga.

Taylor Swift clearly has a major hold on her fan base, 'cause the pants she wore on her first public single-girl outing have already sold out ... with some fans already looking into a deeper meaning behind her fashion choice.

Taylor wore a pair of "Butterfly-patch Cropped Jeans" from a brand called Area out in NYC Monday night. The pants, which come complete with a bedazzled butterfly on the leg and retail for $673, were still available online early Tuesday morning. However, Swifites were quick to track down the item, causing the pants to sell out from multiple retailers in a few hours.

Like just about everything Taylor does, her fans even hunted for clues in the singer's fashion choice -- believing the butterfly may symbolize rebirth and starting over.

As we reported, Swift wasn't alone for her night out in NYC's West Village, joined by pal Jack Antonoff and his fiancée, actress Margaret Qualley.

It's been less than a week since news broke about Taylor's relationship with Joe Alwyn coming to an end after 6 years together -- and the public outing in NYC was certainly a rare one -- only time will tell if Taylor's deciding to come out of her cocoon a little bit more.

Marques Houston says he's a happily married man and Internet trolls poking fun at the huge age difference between his wife and him ... will just have to find a new hobby.

We caught the R&B vet out Monday evening in L.A. amid the rabid backlash against his TV One special, "Uncensored." The first trailer for it has some people irate because it highlights how he first met his young bride Miya, fueling speculation she was a minor when they started dating.

Marques insists he's not sweating the opinions of strangers, he's well aware everyone has them -- and what he really wanted to clarify is he started dating Miya when she was 18 ... and they were married a year later.

She's now 22, while he's 41. They welcomed their first child in December 2021, and he says it's been bliss ever since.

He says the online misconception began when someone allegedly published the wrong birthdate for Miya ... leading folks to believe she was underage when their relationship began.

Chloe Bailey's new album didn't get the attention she hoped it would, but her good pal Druski's telling her to brush the dust off her shoulder!!!

The '4Lifers' funnyman was out Tuesday in NYC as fans reacted to the news Chloe's debut solo album only ranked #119 on the Billboard 200 ... with just 10k records sold.

The album got a lot of attention for her "How Does It Feel" collab with Chris Brown ... and Druski himself even helped promote the single, "For the Night" -- which was aimed at Gunna -- but the track was eventually scrapped from the final album cut.

Druski tells Chloe to look on the bright side ... she sold more than a lot of other people -- including him, as he has music on streaming services as well.

Druski and Chloe got tight on the set of the upcoming film "Praise This," which also stars his homie Quavo ... and Druski had jokes for him.

The former Migos frontman recently claimed he was open to creating a gospel album, as the film is centered around a church choir, but Druski has known Quavo for years and he thinks he was big capping for the sake of the interview!!! 😂

As for Nick Cannon's intention to have baby #13 ... Druski thinks he's wildin' out and needs to cut it on new fatherhood.

There's nothing like a familiar face for Taylor Swift in the wake of her split from Joe Alwyn ... as she's getting by with a little help from her pal and longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff.

T. Swift hit NYC's West Village Monday night for a bite at Via Carota, and, apparently, has no issues being the third wheel ... now that she's single. She dined with Jack and his fiancée, actress Margaret Qualley.

The timing of the trio's night out for some Italian is interesting for a couple of reasons. First, Taylor's hardly looking super sad -- at least on the outside -- which might support the theory her breakup from Joe didn't go down all that recently.

Secondly, freshly heartbroken folks rarely wanna hang out with freshly in love couples ... like Jack and Margaret, for instance. They got engaged last May after about a year of dating -- so, again, we'd guess Taylor wouldn't be in the mood to catch up on Margaret and Jack's wedding plans ... IF she and Joe had just broken up.

As we reported, news of Taylor and Joe's demise, after 6 years of dating, leaked over the weekend, but they hadn't been seen together in public in a long time -- and some fans noticed he hadn't been at any of her Eras Tour shows either.

So far, neither is saying exactly when they split ... or who called things off.

Of course, TS and singer/songwriter Jack have worked together for years ... he's co-written or co-produced several dozen of Taylor's tracks. Who knows, maybe they hashed out her next great breakup song while breaking bruschetta!

Millie Bobby Brown and her boyfriend Jake Bongiovi are officially taking things to the next level ... the young couple's announcing their engagement.

The "Stranger Things" star shared her big news Tuesday morning by posting a pic of Jake -- the 20-year-old son of Jon Bon Jovi -- hugging her. It looks like the shot was taken moments after he popped the question, because his now fiancée is rocking a stunning diamond ring on her left ring finger.

19-year-old Millie's caption for the engagement post included a quote from Taylor Swift's song "Lovers" -- "I've loved you 3 summers now, honey, I want 'em all".

Jake and Millie have been together since 2021 when they initially met on IG. They became friends IRL, and have been inseparable since.

JB, who happens to be the spitting image of his pops, also made sure to share the special moment with his followers -- the caption on his 2 photos simply read, "Forever 🤍".

It's unclear when exactly the engagement went down ... there had been recent speculation because Millie was seen potentially wearing the diamond ring in another photo, not too long ago.

Well, turns out that rumor is true. Congrats!

Fun fact: Neither Millie nor Jake used to work on the docks (IYKYK).

We covered it all in the latest episode of The TMZ Podcast, available on all podcast platforms!