Music

Never mind all that talk about artificial intelligence killing the music industry, Tony Rock sees a huge upside to adopting the technology ... especially if you're a fan of late greats like Tupac and Biggie!!!

TMZ Hip Hop linked with the veteran comic Tuesday at LAX and it's clear he has some deep thoughts on the AI topic, because he rattled off some suddenly possible collabs -- between deceased rappers, or even Michael Jackson and Jay-Z sparring on a track.

There's currently a fake Drake and The Weeknd song with millions of views so yeah, there's clearly a demand for dream AI pairings.

Going further, Tony proposed a Coachella-style, 100% AI-generated festival ... and he even nominated Billy McFarland and Ja Rule to organize it!

Pump the brakes, Tone ... we were with ya right up until the Fyre Fest callback.

Taylor Swift's Eras Tour is so big she might have aliens in on the act -- that's what some folks in the Tampa area were thinking, as lights from her show led to UFO sightings!!!

TayTay performed at Tampa's Raymond James Stadium for 3 days at the end of last week, but lots of Floridians got a show even outside the stadium ... where they whipped out phones to document strange activity in the sky.

It's funny now, but you can hear the panic in the voice of one concerned resident, who posted a video to TikTok, showing a wide band of lights shifting across a cloudy sky. Ya gotta see it ... she repeatedly screams, "Bro, what the f***???"

Now, all the sky gazers seem aware T-Swift was playing nearby that night ... but they're completely convinced the lights in question are not from her concert, and instead something otherworldly.

At one point, a woman in the vid exclaims "that is NOT Taylor Swift!"

Of course, the lighting effect they were staring at was 100% from her show, but with all the recent UFO buzz -- from politicians and military leaders -- hard to blame these folks!

Country star Jessie James Decker is calling out United Airlines for its alleged treatment of her pregnant sister ... who, according to Jessie, was forced to get on her hands and knees to pick up some popcorn.

Even before Jessie sounded off, the incident went viral because her sister Sydney is married to Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Anthony Bass -- and he was first to rip into United, claiming flight attendants made his wife get on the floor to pick up the kernels their daughter dropped.

With the online backlash in full swing, Jessie's adding to it by revealing on IG that Sydney's "five months pregnant, high risk, and also traveling alone with her two small children."

Jessie continued ... "The flight attendant came up to Sydney with a trash bag, and a wet wipe, telling her the captain wants Syd to clean up every drop" -- adding they called the scattered food a safety hazard.

She says Sydney was left in tears after her clean-up duty ... and now there's a push on Twitter for United to apologize.

Many chalked it up to laziness on the attendant's part, but there are some people backing United -- one user tweeted, "Commercial airlines are not your children’s playground. Pick it up and take responsibility for your kids."

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

Coachella is cutting a check because Frank Ocean wasn't the only one performing late into the night ... the music festival is being dinged six figures for going past curfew.

A rep for the City of Indio, where Coachella is held, tells TMZ ... fines for curfew violations over the first weekend totaled $117,000.

We're told curfew is 1 AM on Friday and Saturday and midnight on Sunday, and Coachella missed the cutoff time on all three nights ... going over by 25 minutes Friday, 22 minutes Saturday and 25 minutes Sunday.

City of Indio officials say the fines are part of its agreement with Goldenvoice ... with the contract calling for a daily fine of $20,000 for the first 5 minutes past curfew, with another $1,000 tacked on for every minute after.

As we reported ... Frank Ocean cited the curfew during his Sunday headlining set. He showed up late, starting his show at 11 PM and wrapped his performance with an unenthusiastic one-liner ... "Guys I'm being told it's curfew, so that's the end of the show."

The $117,000 in fines goes into Indio's General Fund, and we're told the city uses the money for operating costs, including public works and the police and fire departments.

Taylor Swift looks to have herself a new attitude when it comes to hitting the town -- ever since we found out she's single, she's going out in public way more and looking super happy.

T. Swift was out again in New York City Monday evening, flashing a smile as she headed out for dinner at a SoHo restaurant.

Interestingly, Taylor made no effort to avoid photogs while looking confident in a brown short sleeve top, jeans and boots (gotta be an Easter egg in there somewhere).

It's Taylor's second straight Monday night out in the Big Apple ... last week, she was in the West Village, breaking bread with pal and longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff and his fiancée, actress Margaret Qualley.

Taylor being photographed in public twice in 8 days is pretty rare air for her, and a clear change since the split from Joe Alwyn.

Fact is, even before Joe, Taylor was never one of those celebs who frequents hot spot restaurants or clubs -- so it feels like this is a deliberate change of course.

Taylor going back to NYC between concert dates is worth noting too -- when she was there last week, she hit up the Electric Lady recording studio.

Ralph Yarl, the Black 16-year-old who was shot in Kansas City after accidentally going to the wrong house, is getting an outpouring of support -- financial and otherwise -- from celebs raising awareness of the teen's tragic story.

Ralph's aunt set up a GoFundMe after last week's shooting, and it's quickly received more than $1.8 million in donations -- and that includes a $1K donation from Julianne Hough and another $1K from comedian Lil Rel Howery.

Christina Ricci and author Pamela Meyer each sent $500 to the fund, and a whopping $5K donation came through from Guy Oseary, Madonna's talent manager.

For those unaware, Ralph was picking up his younger siblings Thursday when he accidentally rang the doorbell of the wrong house. Cops say the homeowner, Andrew Lester, opened the door and shot Ralph twice -- once in the head, according to the Yarl family.

Celebs have also amplified awareness about Ralph's horrific shooting by sharing the link to his fundraiser. Justin Timberlake, Kerry Washington, Jennifer Hudson and Halle Berry are among those who've posted about the case.

Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes also sent thoughts and prayers to Ralph ... and called for the justice system to do what's right.

Netflix and Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah -- the filmmakers behind the Kanye West touting 'jeen-yuhs' doc -- are defendants in a lawsuit from a Chicago woman who claims they exploited her with its release.

The suit was filed Monday by Cynthia Love, and according to documents obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, she originally made a cameo in Kanye’s 2003 music video “Through the Wire” ... which Coodie and Chike directed.

The vid served as Kanye’s breakout hit and opens with Cynthia dancing inside a restaurant … and she says she was paid $20 for that appearance.

Cynthia's issue is she claims she was in an "altered state and not capable of providing consent" at the time -- and she's upset an extended version of that moment was then shown in the 'jeen-yuhs' documentary on Netflix.

In the suit, she says it represents a part of her past she'd like to move past. She claims she's now been sober for nearly 18 years, has held down long-term jobs and repaired relationships with friends and family.

She says the doc revealed her dark past to many who were unaware of her background, forcing her to rehash bad memories.

Cynthia also claims Coodie told her son, via text message, he assumed she was dead instead of trying to contact her before the film's debut.

Cynthia alleges the footage has now caused her emotional distress and harmed her reputation.

Doja Cat was in an upbeat, trolling mood Monday when she gave her followers the tiniest music preview imaginable of her upcoming rap album.

A giggling Doja went live on IG and breezed through 25 tracks ... but only played 2-second snippets of each song, barely giving the opening chords time to breathe and never letting a beat fully drop.

It might sound like a torturous exercise, but her audience ate it up anyway ... as did Rich The Kid, who's dying to guest on the album!!!

The song array sounded diverse, indeed, but fans won't be able to know for sure until she pops the lid off the project ... which is tentatively being called "Hellmouth."

Doja also addressed her new tattoo of a half-female, half-mythological creature, and after seeing pics, many fans are labeling it demonic.

The portrait actually comes from Italian physician Fortunio Liceti’s 1616 artwork "De Monstris" a.k.a. "monsters" and Doja explained most of her tats are simply an appreciation of the art and have no real meaning to her.

Frank Ocean suffered a serious ankle injury after being involved in a bike accident on the Coachella grounds just days before he was scheduled to perform ... forcing a change to his production.

Sources close to the situation tell TMZ ... the accident occurred when Frank was at Coachella rehearsing his set. He wasn't onstage, though, we're told the mishap involved bikes used to roam around the Empire Polo Club grounds .. and it was serious enough for doctors to advise Frank's production be changed.

One of the major changes involved the use of an ice rink, which was built for Frank's set. Another source with direct knowledge tells us ... a casting director reached out to a bunch of L.A.-based hockey teams in March for an unspecified paid performance. Once the skaters got to the audition, they saw Frank in attendance.

We're told it became clear during the audition that it was for his Coachella set -- and over 100 hockey players were cast. They rehearsed on an elevated ice rink at Paramount Studios, and even got bused out to Coachella for a dress rehearsal the week before Frank's show.

The cast arrived at Coachella on Sunday, but were told the skating routine was scrapped. Instead, they joined Frank on stage as background dancers -- it was more walking than dancing, TBH -- and a source tells us they all got hooked up with custom Prada.

Questions surrounding why Frank arrived at his set late and how production will look for his Weekend 2 set still linger ... but we hope he's a fast healer.

Hip-hop legend E-40 will not be attending Game 2 between the Warriors and the Kings Monday night ... after he was kicked out of Game 1 for what he claims was "racial bias."

Shams Charania just tweeted the news ... saying a rep for the Bay Area rapper said 40 wouldn't be at the Golden 1 Center to see his Warriors play following Game 1's incident. TMZ Sports also confirmed the news.

ICYMI ... E-40 was escorted out of the Kings arena Saturday night after a heated confrontation with Kings fans and security.

40, a big Warriors fan, sitting courtside for Game 1, was accused of standing up and blocking the view of the fans sitting behind him during the game, causing them to complain to arena personnel.

After an alleged back-and-forth, 40 was ultimately booted from the game, missing the end of the Kings' 126-123 win over his Dubs.

The rapper sees the situation differently, releasing a lengthy statement explaining he was "subjected to disrespectful heckling" throughout the game, admitting he "turned around and addressed one heckler in an assertive but polite manner."

40 said the ordeal was another reminder that "racial bias remains prevalent," explaining "security saw a disagreement between a Black man and a white woman and immediately assumed that I was at fault."

The Warriors will look to tie up the series against Sacramento ... but they'll have to do it without their number one celebrity fan in the building.

As for 40, he'll be back in the building in San Fran this Thursday for game 3!

Rep. George Santos is apparently trying to cater to the Barbz -- he just introduced a new bill named after Nicki Minaj that's all about vaccines ... so claims one journo.

Semafor's political reporter Kadia Goba tweeted out some news she says she's privy to -- namely, a piece of legislation the New York congressman has supposedly thrown into the House of Representatives for consideration as a would-be law that bears Nicki's name.

She writes, "Ahem. Rep. George Santos just dropped seven bills in the hopper. Among them, The Minaj Act, named for -- yes, you guessed it -- rapper Nicki Minaj establishes a development period for new vaccines in order to generate public confidence."

We've searched Congress's official site and Rep. Santos's official page, which tracks what bills he's sponsored or co-sponsored, and can't find this new bill anywhere. The House is back in session today, so it's possible Goba got a sneak peek before it hits the system.

The bill would be a fascinating play by the embattled Republican, who's been mired in controversy (stemming from his many lies) from day 1.

Still, he seems to be attempting to curry favor with Nicki's fervent fan base already -- just check Twitter and you'll see they're already loving the move ... and, by extension, Santos. Of course, Nicki's history with vaccine skepticism is well-documented from the pandemic.

Remember, she had a whole ballsy story about her cousin and alleged side effects from the vaccine when they were first being rolled out ... a saga for which she caught a lot of flak.

Justin Hill, an attorney for Young Thug's YSL camp, has some serious cojones -- not only did he disagree with the judge in their RICO case, but he blatantly called "cap" on him in open court!!!

Hill was in court Monday when he was accused by Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge Ural Glanville of not making a formal assertion before court started.

Although it was deemed a moot point, Hill stood his ground and basically told the judge he's an honorable fibber as the case proceeded.

Outside the courtroom, Hill, who represents YSL member Damone Blalock aka Bali, doubled down on his choice of words. He told reporter George Chidi he felt misrepresented during the proceedings, and using the word "cap" perfectly defined the moment.

Thugger's RICO case has been filled with unpredictable hijinks -- back in January, one of his codefendants attempted to pass him drugs as court was ongoing and several others, including Gunna, have since taken plea deals.

The Weeknd's new music industry focused HBO series "The Idol" is ripe with real musicians ... and several of them got their shine on various Coachella stages ahead of the show's premiere.

On Monday, HBO rolled out the official trailer and June 4 release date for "The Idol." Spotify's biggest artist of all-time co-created the show with “Euphoria” creator Sam Levinson and Reza Fahim, and he costars in the lead role opposite Lily-Rose Depp.

BLACKPINK's Jennie Kim, legendary engineer Mike Dean and singer Troye Sivan all have recurring roles in the series and got primetime shine on various Coachella stages.

Weeknd and Mike were part of Metro Boomin's star-studded set on Friday night, Jennie performed with her hitmaking group on Saturday ... and Charli XCX brought out Troye as a surprise guest the same day.

Leonardo DiCaprio is not swooping his longtime pal's ex-girlfriend ... we've learned he and Irina Shayk are NOT an item despite the photos of them chatting it up at Coachella over the weekend.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Leo and Irina are definitely not dating and the two are just friends who were among a large group of people at Neon Carnival Saturday night -- doing what friends do ... hanging out and watching the concert together.

Our sources say Leo and Irina have known each other for quite some time after meeting through mutual friends. Furthermore, Leo is close with Irina's ex-Bradley Cooper and all 3 of them have hung out together before publicly. In other words, Leo isn't back-dooring his friend.

As we reported, Leo and Irina were spotted out late Saturday night and early into the wee hours of Sunday as day 2 at Coachella came to a close ... finishing the night at the party. They were also seen together at Frank Ocean's set on Sunday night.

Irina's friend and fellow fashion model Stella Maxwell was on hand too.

Although the Saturday night pics at Neon Carnival made it seem like Leo and Irina were getting close throughout the night ... our sources tell us there were never cozy vibes between them all night.

Latto seems to have no problem picking at the scab covering her Nicki Minaj beef ... and debuted a new song at Coachella that has fans thinking she once again is firing at her!!!

The "Big Energy" rapper provided exactly that Sunday when she premiered a new track on the Sahara stage ... rapping ether like, “Bitches acting like they running shit, they really ran through” and “She thought I would kiss her ass, she mustn’t have took her meds.”

The biggest clues the song was about Nicki came during Latto's song-ending ad-libs ... "Say she got a problem, imaginary smoke/ Bitch, you said it’s up, then put on the floor”

She then walked off the stage yelling, “Pussy hoe… Let a bitch know, we tired of the subtweets this year” ... as she and Nicki's very public Twitter spat is still heavy fodder for her fans as well as the Barbz.

The two fell out after the 2022 Grammy Award noms were released -- where Nicki's "Super Freaky Girl" was absent while Latto's "Big Energy" record made the cut.

From there, an all-out war ensued, complete with leaked phone calls sparking a rift that still hasn't been resolved.

Chris Cornell's estate -- which is run by his widow, Vicky -- appears to finally be on the same page, legally, with his old band, and it seems like there's even new music on the way.

A statement was issued through Chris's official IG page, and it reads ... "Soundgarden and Vicky Cornell, on behalf of the Estate of Chris Cornell, are happy to announce they have reached an amicable out of court resolution."

It goes on ... "The reconciliation marks a new partnership between the two parties, which will allow Soundgarden fans around the world to hear the final songs that the band and Chris were working on. The two parties are united and coming together to propel, honor and build upon Soundgarden's incredible legacy as well as Chris's indelible mark on music history."

The update comes after years of acrimonious legal battles between Vicky and the band since Cornell's death.

From what we know ... she'd actually sued Soundgarden twice -- once in 2019 over royalties and 7 unreleased tracks and again in 2021 regarding the value of his stake in the band ... and there were even complaints to a judge about COVID protocols amid all this drama. It's been a lot.

Now, it seems like they've all buried the hatchet -- which presumably means both lawsuits have been settled. And that's gotta be great news for Chris' fans around the world.