Music

Tory Lanez is still pining for his freedom despite his looming sentence for shooting Megan Thee Stallion -- calling on the D.A. to give him a fair shake this time around.

Tory released a bombshell open letter on Instagram Friday addressed to L.A. County District Attorney George Gascón pleading for the laws and God to work in his favor.

The letter accused Deputy D.A.'s Kathy Ta and Alex Bott of suppressing evidence that could've cleared his name, and painted himself as a martyr for the cause of minority justice worldwide.

Tory and his legal counsel have an upcoming motion hearing for a new trial on May 8 and the Canadian rapper says he owes it to his family, friends and fans to fight for his freedom.

You'll remember, Tory's family caused quite a scene outside the courthouse after he was found guilty in December.

Megan also broke her silence on the case this week ... expressing her wishes to put the trial and Tory in the past for good.

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with DaBaby this week, who was kind of entangled in a love triangle between Tory and Meg ... but told us he's down to record with her again, and also revealed jail has made it difficult to speak to Tory.

Taylor Swift is getting the band back together ... going out in the Big Apple with Blake Lively, Gigi Hadid and the Haim sisters on the heels of her breakup.

T. Swift and her squad were rolling deep Thursday, hitting up New York City's swanky private club, Zero Bond.

Taylor's been going out in public more and more in the wake of her split from longtime boyfriend Joe Alwyn ... and she's mostly been hanging out in NYC between stops on her Eras Tour.

It's good to see Taylor getting support from her friends now that she's single ... and it's been a while since we've seen her spending time with Blake, Gigi and the Haims.

When we saw Taylor heading out Monday night in SoHo, she appeared to be rolling solo ...  and the week before she was third wheeling with pal and longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff and his fiancée, actress Margaret Qualley.

Now, the girls are back in town ... and they have plenty to talk about. Meanwhile, Joe's across the pond in London, where he's looking frazzled.

Taylor returning to NYC between her concert dates also makes it seem like she's cooking up some new music ... because she previously hit up the Electric Lady recording studio.

She's back on the road tonight for the first of 3 straight shows in Houston, and it looks like she got a grand send-off from her best girlies.

No word who picked up the check. 😂

Jim Jones paid a trip to The Breakfast Club Friday to offer clarification behind his super viral Pusha T remarks ... but he didn't bend to social media pressure and switch up his stance.

Jim was a recent guest on Spotify's RapCaviar podcast with TMZ Hip Hop's Trent Clark -- and they both agreed Pusha didn't belong on Billboard's Top 50 list ... with Jim going so far as to suggest Pusha's coke rhymes were essentially fairy tales.

Proud Pusha fan Charlamagne Tha God grilled Jim about his opinion -- and the Dipset rapper reiterated he meant no malice behind his comments but doubled down that Pusha's music never influenced or swayed him.

Jim then quizzed everyone's ability to rap along to either Pusha or his top songs when put on the spot, with the majority siding in Jim's favor. It might have been a skewed case study -- TBC's filmed in NYC, giving Jim a clear home court advantage.

DJ Envy spent considerable time in Virginia for college but openly admitted he hasn't memorized Pusha's tracks all that well, so there's that.

Morgan Wallen is having zero problems filling stadiums with fans wanting to see him on his new tour ... his onstage navigation, however, is a whole other issue.

Wallen was in Louisville, KY at the KFC Yum! Center Thursday night during a stop on his One Night at a Time World Tour. In video, obtained by TMZ, Wallen's belting out his hit "Heartless" -- one of the final songs in his set -- when he takes a nasty spill.

It's pretty clear how it happened, you can see a ton of fog near Morgan's feet ... likely making it next to impossible to see where he was walking. On top of that, people at the show tell us there were some technical issues with the lighting along the bottom of the stage as well.

Lucky for both Morgan and the rest of his fans with tickets to his upcoming shows -- he almost immediately bounces right back up -- and seemingly without any injuries ... not to mention, he didn't miss a note.

Coi Leray isn't cool with Latto using her name in a punchline attack in her supposed Nicki Minaj war -- and defended her honor in an onslaught of tweets.

On Friday, Latto dropped her new track "Put It On Da Floor" -- the same song she premiered at Coachella last weekend where fans assumed she was dissing Nicki.

Latto put Coi in the crosshairs with the lyrics, "Smokin' on that gas, blunt big as Coi Leray/Bitches like to run their mouths but I'm the type to run the fade" ... a low-blow according to Coi, as she's constantly fending off body-shamers online.

Coi thinks Latto truly used her name because she's secretly jealous of Coi's body, and remarked the "Big Energy" rapper has no place to be a body judge towards anybody, for whatever reason.

She also shed light on the ongoing narrative that female rappers have taken on masculine roles, including their lust for rap beef. Coi says she doesn't know the rap chicks in real life and they should keep their negativity out of her general direction.

Michael Blackson isn't one to let bombing onstage overshadow his reputation as a top entertainer, and he's advising Frank Ocean to take the same approach ... that is, if he's physically able!!!

We caught up with Michael Thursday afternoon leaving Martin Lawrence's Hollywood Star unveiling, and grilled him about Frank's much-maligned performance.

TMZ Hip Hop broke the story, Frank's bowed out of Coachella Weekend 2 after suffering an ankle injury on festival grounds, but Michael's hardly busted up about it -- he admits he's not really checking for the R&B recluse!!!

Nonetheless, Michael says bad sets in any performance arena deserve a second shot at greatness ... something he's learned from experience along the way.

No candidate for U.S. President will burn up the campaign trail like this one ... Afroman is throwing his hat in the ring, and he picked an appropriate week to make it official.

The rapper just filed the paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission required to run for our nation's highest elected office in the 2024 election.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Afroman's presidential committee is named "Joseph Afroman Foreman for President," and he's running as an Independent. We know you were thinking Green Party, but no dice.

TMZ broke the story ... Afroman announced his intention to run back in December during a concert in Missouri, where he told the crowd about his POTUS dreams -- and while others are focused on 2024, he's dubbed it the 20-20-FRO election. 😉

Afroman's platform will unsurprisingly place an emphasis on the national legalization of marijuana ... but it's still unclear where he falls on other international and domestic issues.

Afroman didn't get high and forget to file his paperwork ... the docs are dated April 18 ... so he got his official business out of the way before 4/20. 😂

Afroman's campaign manager Jason Savage tells TMZ... "Afroman’s ongoing persecution by the overtly corrupt Adams County Sheriff’s Department perfectly highlights that this corruption of leadership has trickled down to law enforcement all across the country. Criminal Justice Reform and Federal Marijuana Legalization remain two of the primary planks in his campaign platform. We are asking for your support as Afroman takes on this great and worthy cause as our Cannabis Commander in Chief."

It will be interesting to see if any other celebs run for president this election cycle -- so far, Afroman's the first to make it official.

Kanye West made noise about trying again, but that was before, y'know ... all his antisemitism.

Desiigner is having problems with his mental health, a struggle he says has been made abundantly clear after we're told he exposed himself on an international flight.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us the "Panda" rapper was on an international flight over the weekend coming back to the United States after a trip with stops in Thailand and Tokyo. We're told during the flight he exposed himself, and was scolded by a flight attendant.

Once Desiigner's plane landed Monday in Minneapolis, he was met by cops, questioned and eventually released.

As for what led to the incident ... our sources say while he was on his trip, Desiigner got ill and was prescribed meds, he believes the medication caused some sort of chemical imbalance.

In a statement to TMZ, Desiigner tells us, "For the past few months i have not been ok, and i have been struggling to come to terms with what is going on. While overseas for a concert i performed at, i had to be admitted in to a hospital, i was not thinking clearly."

Twitter's looking really different right now, as some huge celebs are getting stripped of their precious blue checkmarks ... but despite Elon Musk cutting their verifications, some A-listers are handing the bird the monthly fee.

Taylor Swift, Khloe Kardashian, and Ryan Reynolds are among the bunch putting up cash to keep the badge ... as well as Soulja Boy and The Weeknd.

It doesn't stop there -- Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Carter, LL Cool J, O.J. Simpson, Sia, and John Cena seem to be shelling out the dough, too.

If you click on their checkmarks, you'll now see the following response -- "This account is verified because they are subscribed to Twitter Blue and verified their phone number.”

Worth noting, there are a couple reasons why their usernames still come with a side of blue. For starters, they could be paying to keep Twitter Blue's features -- uploading longer vids, making longer tweets and editing tweets.

Of course, these folks could have been paying the $11/month, and made the decision to unsubscribe within the past month ... so, the checkmark is just there until it expires.

You also might have noticed some celebs who have the check, but say they aren't paying -- well, Elon says he's covering the cost for a chosen few ... his Inner Blue Circle, if you will.

As we reported, celebs like Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian and K-pop group Blackpink all had their verification revoked when the change rolled out Thursday ... but it looks like there are a decent amount doing their part to keep the lights on at Twitter HQ.

Snoop Dogg and Buju Banton are 2 of music's biggest chieftains when it comes to cannabis, so it's only proper they connect to celebrate the "High Life" -- the name of their new single together.

On Thursday, Snoop and Buju hopped on IG Live to premiere their track to their followers ahead of its release tomorrow, and sparked on humongous blunts at the same time!!!

Snoop told Buju the collab was a dream and admitted he regretted not getting Buju on his 2013 "Snoop Lion" reggae project, which still found time for authentic collabs from the likes of Collie Buddz, Mr. Vegas and Mavado.

Buju's not the only music wiz getting lifted with Snoop this 4/20 -- Bebe Rexha just dropped her new joint, "Satellite," with Tha Doggfather ... and she claims his Death Row prerolls had her seeing stars at the video shoot!!!

Freddie Gibbs isn't feeling the holiday spirit as far as 4/20's concerned ... mainly because the "Alfredo" rapper says he smokes every day!!!

TMZ Hip Hop linked with Gangsta Gibbs Thursday at LAX, and he admitted he doesn't see what the big deal is about "Cannabis Christmas," if you will. That being said, he does have a vote for rap's best weed anthem.

According to Fred, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony's 1995 burner, "Buddah Lovaz" from the album "E. 1999 Eternal" takes the highest honors in his book.

The Cleveland-bred rap legends specialized in rapping about weed on plenty of tracks for decades, and have helped keep fans' ashtrays filled over the years.

It's anyone's guess when Freddie will make more marijuana music himself. He tells us his acting has picked up to the point where he doesn't feel like hitting the studio!!!

Elon Musk's crusade to remove Twitter's blue checkmarks from legacy verified accounts is going into overdrive ... with a couple notable casualties among the celebrity ranks.

Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian and K-pop supergroup BLACKPINK all had their blue checks stripped Thursday from their official Twitter accounts.

Elon targeted April 20 as the date for removing legacy blue checkmarks, announcing his intentions earlier this month, but lots of folks weren't sure if the bird app would actually follow through ... and now the reckoning is here.

For years, Twitter's blue checks were coveted ... they used to serve as the social media platform's official verification system, distinguishing prominent public figures from all the normies.

But, after buying Twitter for $44 billion, Elon decided to go in a different direction ... he's now charging folks $8 a month for subscriptions that come with blue checkmarks, and getting rid of the legacy checkmarks.

Tons of celebs have railed against Elon's policy ... including LeBron James, who said he wouldn't pay for a blue check, only for him to switch course.

E-40's been hot about Sacramento Kings' security booting him from Game 1 of their playoff clash against the Golden State Warriors ... but tensions have since subsided, and their beef's officially been squashed.

On Thursday, 40 dropped his new single, "Front Row 40" ... which features the legendary rap star spitting his patented slang from inside the Chase Center where his beloved Warriors play.

Sources close to the production of the Jae Synth-directed video tell TMZ Hip Hop that 40 actually filmed the visual several months ago, and had always planned to drop it parallel to the Warriors' postseason run.

The clip also leverages plenty of star power ... with cameos from JAY-Z, Diddy, Snoop Dogg, Too $hort, 2 Chainz and GSW stars Steph Curry and Draymond Green.

But, the rollout takes on new meaning now in the wake of his removal from Sacramento's Golden 1 Center last Sunday, which resulted in 40 deeming the org racist -- but both sides are putting it in the rearview.

40 and the Kings released a joint statement that spoke to the issue's conclusion ... “Contrary to speculation, Mr. Earl 'E-40' Stevens did not stand excessively from his ticketed courtside seat; the outcome resulted from an unfortunate misunderstanding between both parties.”

Frank Ocean's out at Coachella as a result of an ankle injury, but Benny Blanco says his much-maligned performance still left him inspired.

TMZ Hip Hop caught the decorated producer out Wednesday afternoon in Bev Hills, and he offered a much different take from the majority of Coachella attendees who felt Frank's show was a bust.

Benny says he saw Frank live and thinks the "Channel Orange" singer, hands down, had the best set of Coachella Weekend 1 ... and he insists all the internet chatter won't sway his opinion.

The guy's worked with Snoop Dogg, SZA and Lizzo in recent months, so his ears have to count for something ... even if he's going against popular opinion. 🤷🏽‍♂️

The quality of Frank's set might be up for debate, but with his exit from the festival, it's definitely a one-of-one now.

TMZ Hip Hop broke the story ... Frank suffered two fractures and a sprain in his left leg, prompting festival organizers to replace his headlining slot with Blink-182.

Killer Mike is celebrating his 48th birthday today -- fittingly on 4/20 -- but instead of receiving gifts, the Run the Jewels rapper is actually giving one to fans ... his new album single, "Don't Let the Devil!!!"

The song officially marks the upcoming release of "Michael," KM's first solo album in more than 10 years, which is set to drop on June 16.

Mike lyrically tackles multiple issues he feels are plaguing his community and carries on the current RTJ tradition with an EL-P feature, who also produced the track alongside No I.D. and Little Shalimar.

He's also shouting out the sticky icky, since his born day falls on the official THC holiday.

This time last year, he educated TMZ Hip Hop on the benefits of cannabis, and his wife, Shay Bigga, even had a funny cameo!!!

Taylor Swift's ex-boo Joe Alwyn is at least tryin' to shake it off ... surfacing in public for the first time since news broke of their split.

The actor was spotted Thursday in central London ... nearly 2 weeks after the world found out their 6-year relationship was over. He was taking some calls while strolling and, honestly, the dude looks like he ain't getting much sleep.

Hard to say if the frazzled look is related to life A.T. (after Taylor) -- he could be upset about the breakup, or he could just be enjoying his new life as a single guy.

As you know, their split rocked the world of Swifties, but it was reportedly an "amicable" ending. Of course, that isn't always how things go for TS -- with her often taking the drama of a nasty breakup and turning it into a hit song.

Following the split, we've seen Taylor out a few times in NYC, even grabbing dinner with her pal Jack Antonoff ... and putting in some work at a recording studio -- all as she's neck-deep in her Eras Tour.

If you compare their public outings ... Taylor at least seems to be handling the life change a little better than Joe.