Music

LaRussell has zero fear of AI rap recordings blocking his shine amid his breakout season ... and that's because he's confident AI can't recreate the human experience!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with the Oakland rapper on the music video set of his "Hell of a Feeling" collab with Symba ... who stressed to us why both hip hop culture and the Bay Area need the track.

The thought of AI made LaRussell LOL as we gauged his thoughts on the industry's hotly debated topic ... and turns out he has no concerns, despite major labels putting up roadblocks!!!

Universal Music Group recently sent out demands to Spotify, Apple Music and all the top streaming services to block AI companies crawling their platforms ... and Drake was none too pleased hearing his AI mimicked vocal rapping Ice Spice's hit "Munch."

LaRussell makes his bread as an independent artist and thinks AI can only increase his cash flow if used correctly.

Cara Delevingne, Casey Affleck, and Camila Cabello are just some of the names set to show up and show out during Coachella weekend ... TMZ has learned.

Neon Carnival is no doubt THE place to be for people spending their weekend at the music festival. The highly-anticipated late-night party is going down Saturday at the famed Desert International  Horse Park.

Of course, this is the event that typically draws Hollywood's A-list every year. Party sources tell us Lil Nas X, Willow Smith, Nina Dobrev and Shaun White, Idris Elba, Delilah Belle, YG, and Gorillaz are confirmed to step out for the party's 12th year.

We're told influencers Dixie D'Amelio, Alix Earle, Lisa Rinna's model daughter Amelia Hamlin and singer Anderson .Paak are also expected to pull up to the party which is sponsored by Levi's and Tequila Don Julio.

DJ Ruckus will be spinning behind the booth for the party which always goes well into the early morning of Sunday.

Around 10,000 people showed up to last year's shindig and we're told event organizers are expecting even more this time around.

Don't blink while taking in these two Coachella shots of Blink 182's Mark Hoppus ... you might miss out on ... all the small things! Step right up and see if these frigin' differences are a guaranteed shoe-in!

The iconic band gave a rockin' performance last night at Coachella 2023 but not without first doin' a little sound check ... gotta get those vocals just right! Raise the roof like it's 1999 and see if you can find the minor changes in the images!

"Turn the lights off, carry me home!"

Coachella is all about the trendy pics and that's where the rainbow tower (aka "Spectra") comes into play! You can bet on these stars to strike their finest pose in front of colorful Spectra, so enjoy the vibrant views and take some inspo. straight from the influencers!

Giving the good ol' Ferris wheel a run for its money, makeup artist James Charles definitely knows his color wheel and highlighted the strapping figure for an IG post.

And doin' it for the gram ... the Culpo sisters, Olivia and Sophia, shined bright and were feelin' just right in front of Spectra (peep the infamous Le Grande Wheel 😜).

And for those of you who aren't hitting the desert this year, don't fret because you now have a VIP pass to see this 7-story structure ... journey through our gallery and wrap your head around all the Spectra stars ...

Paris Hilton's abdicating her crown as the Queen of Coachella, because she's skipping the festival for the first time in 16 years ... and it's all because the new mom has new priorities.

Sources connected to Paris tell TMZ … she won't be out in the desert this weekend for several reasons, but chief among them is her baby boy, Phoenix Barron Hilton Reum.

Paris is only about 3 months into mommydom, and our sources say she wants to spend time with Phoenix ... and a music festival just isn't the right setting, for obvious reasons.

Instead of vibing to live tunes, we're told Paris and her son have weekend plans with friends.

Of course, Coachella is a 2-weekend event, but she won't be there next weekend either. We're told Paris is prepping to go to Washington D.C. for meetings with Congressional leaders regarding the child abuse bill for which she's been advocating.

Paris has been a fixture at Coachella since 2007, earning the nickname the Coachella Queen ... and she's known around the festival for always having the best outfits and hitting exclusive Coachella parties like Neon Carnival.

She won't be there physically, but she's there in IG spirit, at least -- Paris posted a throwback to some of her best past festival 'fits.

Simone Joy Jones has her eye on the lead in Disney's live-action version of "The Princess and the Frog," and while she's hoping she scores the role ... she also says any Black woman would be iconic.

We caught up with the "Bel-Air" star and had to ask about her hopes for the remake ... after she posted her very own submission for the highly sought-after role of Princess Tiana.

Simone acknowledged she's up against many talented actresses -- including some of her "Bel-Air" costars -- and says every person auditioning for the role would bring something different. A diplomatic response, for sure, but don't get it twisted ... she's totally confident she'd be a fun fit.

Either way, Simone says she's going to watch the film, pointing to the impact of seeing a live-action Black Disney princess. As she put it, "It always changes the ecosystem of the culture when you see a Black girl being her everything."

BTW, she also gave her stamp of approval on a Princess Tiana-related change coming to Disneyland and Disney World!

Mark Sheehan, the guitarist from the famous Irish rock band The Script, is dead.

The band announced Mark's death Friday, saying he died in the hospital following a brief illness. The official cause of death is unclear.

Mark's bandmates are remembering him as a "much loved husband, father, brother, band mate and friend."

When The Script toured the United States last year for the American leg of their greatest hits tour, Mark was not performing with the band ... and at the time, singer Danny O'Donoghue told the "Sunday World" Mark was taking time away from the group to be with family.

Mark helped found The Script in Dublin way back in 2001, along with Danny and Glen Power on the drums.

The group's first album, "The Script," reached No. 1 in both the United Kingdom and Ireland ... and their lead single, "The Man Who Can't Be Moved" peaked at No. 2 on the singles charts.

Mark was 46.

Drake Bell had a falling out with his estranged wife and told his family he was going to get drunk and hang himself ... at least according to the 911 call in which he was reported missing.

TMZ obtained the 911 call, where someone from Orlando PD explains why cops were deeply concerned for Drake's well-being.

The officer is speaking with another department, trying to get a location on Drake's cell phone, characterizing the situation as a "possible attempted suicide" and saying ... "Basically, there is a celebrity who had a falling out with his wife."

Cops in Orlando say they got involved because they were told Drake was in an Orlando hotel room and had been texting family back in California, threatening suicide.

TMZ broke the story ... Drake was reported missing by police in Florida on Thursday, with Daytona Beach police saying he was MIA and was "considered missing and endangered."

Cops said Drake was last seen Wednesday night, driving a 2022 gray BMW ... and we obtained a photo of him with his son Tuesday at SeaWorld in Orlando.

Drake was ultimately found safe and sound Thursday afternoon, and he later addressed the issue on social media, saying ... "You leave your phone in the car and don't answer for the night and this?"

Given the content of the 911 call, and the situation, it seems like cops did the right thing.

Asian Doll is slamming the highly-controversial YouTube documentary that labels the late King Von a real-life "Terminator" ... and also features footage of the female rapper, who dated Von.

On Friday, AD lashed out at the presentation labeled "King Von: Rap's First Serial Killer" ... a 3-hour exposé that alleges Von was responsible for committing 10 murders in his lifetime.

Asian Doll angrily tweeted Friday morning at random viewers of the doc, as well as the guy who produced it ... Trap Lore Ross, who's a UK-based blogger. His YouTube channel specializes in covering drill rappers by using social media and news clippings.

The video originally premiered on YouTube on April 7, but Ross says the platform took it down due to multiple issues with the content.

He says he blurred out all the guns and drug paraphernalia, and switched up a few of his theories to appease YouTube censors ... and it's back up now.

Von was killed in 2020, so he's obviously not around to defend his name -- but Asian Doll's clearly not approving ... even with Ross' edited version.

Drake isn't going for AI technology mimicking his vocals to rap Ice Spice's "Munch" ... and now his label, Universal Music Group, aiming to take down ALL AI versions of its artists.

On Friday, Drizzy drew the line in the sand after his faux Ice Spice mashup surfaced ... calling it the "final straw" in a haystack of artificial art.

Drake's reaction aligned with the new report that UMG demanded Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal and all streaming platforms block AI versions of their artists and their copyrighted songs.

UMG is calling the clean-up a "moral and commercial" responsibility to the industry, but not everyone shares the same pessimism on the topic.

Doja Cat made good on her promise to refashion her career as a straight-laced rapper on SZA's "Kill Bill (Remix)" on Friday ... marking their first pairing since they won a Grammy together last year!!!

The song is dedicated to scorned lovers worldwide and Doja provides a toxic touch with bars like, "I'm in a funk, so I bought a bouquet of roses/And cut 'em up at your doorstep, your new neighborhood is gorgeous" ... and continues to play out much like a throwback Eminem verse. 😈

Doja previously vowed to tighten up her rap résumé after perusing through fan comments ... but she also changes her mind a lot, so we'll just have to wait and hear.

SZA's album "S.O.S." has been crushing the game ... it spent a total of 10 weeks atop the Billboard 200 chart since being released last December.

The duo's "Kiss Me More" duet won Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 2022 Grammys — but Doja's rapping rapping on this track ... and SZA's album shattered Whitney Houston's long-running Billboard record on the R&B side.

Taylor Swift made a subtle change at her concert Thursday night in Tampa -- well, face it, nothing's subtle with the Swifties -- and it seems to revolve around her breakup.

Taylor uses a song when she goes offstage and eventually reappears with the next "era" of her work. The transition song up until this concert was "Everything Has Changed," which is about a happy relationship. At the Tampa concert, however, the transition was "Holy Ground," a song looking back wistfully on a failed relationship.

If that's not enough to make you think she's referring to her breakup with Joe Alwyn, she opened her show with this -- "Is it just me or do we have a lot of things to catch up on?"

Taylor's set list remained the same, but she did make interesting references ... for example, "I've been thinking a lot about one of my albums recently. One of my albums has been on my mind a lot ... lots going on in my brain about it."

At one point Taylor flexed her bicep and gave her arm a kiss ... a pretty clear indication she's still standing strong.

Taylor had a slight wardrobe malfunction at one point when her garter fell off during a song. Her singers came to the rescue.

Taylor's fans generally pick up on every little Easter egg, but we're thinking they missed a series of clues for weeks ... clues that she broke up with Joe. It seems she wanted it front and center for her tour, and when fans didn't pick up what she was puttin' down, someone leaked the breakup news.

Meanwhile, Taylor's hit up Electric Lady recording studio in NYC ... so she's up to something!

Kylie Jenner and Timothee Chalamet are adding to rumors about their supposed romance ... because her car is in the driveway of his Bev Hills home!

The billionaire's black Range Rover SUV pulled up to Timothee's sprawling estate Thursday afternoon ... and it's sure to drive the internet into a frenzy.

Kylie wasn't sightseeing either ... her car pulled in from the road and drove straight up the winding driveway ... in other words, she knew exactly where she was going.

Dating rumors have swirled around Kylie and Timothee recently ... but there's been no official confirmation from either side about a relationship.

Kylie and Timothee were spotted chatting each other up at Paris Fashion Week in a video that's going viral online ... but this is the first time she's been photographed at his place.

As you know, Kylie has two kids with rapper Travis Scott, daughter Stormi and son Aire, and she's previously been in a long-term relationship with Tyga.

Timothee's no stranger to celeb couplings either ... he's been linked in the past to Eiza Gonzalez, Lily-Rose Depp and Lourdes Leon.

It'll be interesting to see if Kylie and Timothee are toying with folks ... or if this is the real deal.

Kane Brown needs better protection, and we don't mean bodyguards -- the guy took a shot to the nuts while performing, and had an odd reaction ... putting his John Hancock on the boot that took him out!!!

The country singer had a show Thursday night in Wichita for his "The Drunk or Dreaming Tour" ... and the crowd was certainly having fun -- maybe a little too much fun, which is where the rogue cowboy boot comes into play.

The video's pretty hilarious, unless you're Kane -- ironically, in the middle of "One Thing Right," the boot nails him right in the junk, making him stop to catch his breath. He goes to the floor to finish the song before flattening himself out.

Seemed like Kane was a good sport, though, because he later signed the offending boot and handed back to someone in the crowd. Unclear if he signed his name or just drew a middle finger on it, though.

The timing of the shoe couldn't be more perfect, BTW ... right after getting hit, he sings the lyrics, "I've been at the wrong place at the wrong time."

Kourtney Kardashian is in leathered-out super fan mode for her husband Travis Barker's remarkable reunion performance with Blink-182 at Coachella.

Kourt and Travis got on the road Thursday to head to Indio, California for the huge Musical Festival weekend ... and she made sure to flick it up and show support for her hubby ahead of his set.

While on the road, she posted a few photos from inside the trailer using the Coachella geotag, showing off her 'fit and giving fans a sneak peek behind-the-scenes.

Of course, she couldn't help but promote Poosh's party, which is an 'adult sleepaway camp' held during the festival weekend.

Kourt's looking like the ultimate rockstar groupie -- shades paired with a graphic tee and black leather jacket.

Most importantly, she posted a shot of Trav's practice drum kit, referencing the hot topic for all Blink fans -- how's he gonna play with his injured hand?!?

As we reported, Travis had surgery to repair his busted left ring finger a little over a month ago ... and that forced the band to postpone dates on their first tour together in 9 years.

Everyone was shocked when the pop-punk rockers were a last-minute addition to Coachella's Friday night lineup. As you can see, frontman Mark Hoppus is amped for their set inside the Sahara tent.

The band formed back in 1992 ... and over 3 decades later, fans are still lining up to see 'em rock out.

Ne-Yo says Taylor Swift has all the inspiration to write her next hit song now that she's broken up with her longtime boyfriend, Joe Alwyn.

We got the "So Sick" singer at LAX and asked him about the silver linings to all the emotions involved in a romantic split ... and Ne-Yo told us some of his best songs are directly tied to heartache.

Ne-Yo says Taylor won't have to suffer through the breakup as much as a regular person ... because talented songwriters like them can take bad energy and turn it into something positive ... like hit records.

As Swifties already know, Taylor's got tons of songs about Joe and past breakups ... and Ne-Yo predicts she's gonna use this split for more tracks.