Music

Pras says folks are reading way too much into his guilty verdict for fraud -- the ex-Fugees rapper tells TMZ Hip Hop the widespread rumor he secretly worked out a deal with the feds is one big lie!!!

We caught up with Pras in Bev Hills, and while the reality of his case has to be kicking in, he told us he can't react too much for legal reasons. As he put it, "We got work to do. We'll be okay."

As we reported, a jury in federal court found him guilty of all 10 counts he was facing. During the trial, rumors he acted as an FBI informant were fueled by fake social media headlines and over-the-top reactions from 50 Cent.

Pras sternly tells us he never worked for the FBI or CIA -- he says his testimony proves it, and encourages everyone to check the transcript. He refuses to be lumped in with Tekashi 6ix9ine who cooperated with the feds while testifying against fellow gang members in court.

He makes a fair point -- Tekashi pled guilty, but Pras was found guilty by a jury. If he'd struck a deal to work with prosecutors, he would have entered a plea, and not left his fate to the jury. That's just how it works, folks.

The veteran MC solidified his place in rap history as a member of The Fugees with Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill, but the megastars were noticeably MIA following his guilty verdict.

Tom Sandoval says it's been a month since he had a sip of booze ...  he's now fully into drinking non-alcoholic beer.

The "Vanderpump Rules" star celebrated the sobriety milestone Thursday during his band's concert at The Space at Westbury on Long Island, NY ... telling the crowd he's taking a break from liquor.

Tom was drinking a Heineken 0.0 onstage, and it sounds like his fans support his sobriety ... his announcement was met with cheers and applause.

Staying away from alcohol is a big move for Tom ... he certainly has plenty of reasons to drink these days, considering all the fallout he's dealing with as a result of the "Scandoval" ... not to mention the temptations that come with going on tour.

Tom's band, the aptly named Tom Sandoval & The Most Extras, also performed a remix of Fountains of Wayne's hit "Stacy's Mom" ... and he found a way to name-drop Raquel Leviss in the song.

Ed Sheeran is sharing his good vibes with fans on the heels of winning his Marvin Gaye legal case ... belting out tunes and giving fans a show outside of his NYC pop-up shop.

The "Perfect" singer put on an impromptu show on top of a car Friday outside his Wooster Street shop in SoHo, New York.

Of course, Ed's fans were more than pleased with the moment, crowding around Sheeran with their phones and singing along to each word with him.

As we reported, the mini concert comes a day after a jury found him not liable for allegedly ripping off Marvin Gaye's classic, "Let's Get It On."

Remember, the estate of Ed Townsend, co-writer of "Let's Get it On," sued Sheeran ... alleging the 2014 hit "Thinking Out Loud" stole key elements of the '73 Marvin Gaye classic -- claiming several aspects like the melody and even harmony were the same.

After the legal victory, ES stood his ground about his song while also taking jabs at the Townsend's estate.

Jennifer Hudson and Common aren't just comfortable together, they've jumped to looking like a longtime married couple that takes romantic strolls in the middle of the day.

They were out together Thursday afternoon in the Chicago suburb where Jennifer currently lives, and they were not in a hurry. We're told the couple strolled around the neighborhood for about 90 minutes ... arm in arm, looking as cozy as ever.

Folks in the area tell us they've seen more of J Hud this week. She shoots her syndicated talk show in L.A., but with the writers' strike in full swing, she's got time to chill at home with her man.

Of course, their romantic walk isn't all that surprising. Common and Jennifer first fueled dating rumors back in February, when they had a date night at celeb hot spot Nobu in Malibu.

Before the outing, fans had been speculating they were a thing ... pointing to the fact that they were spending more time together after connecting on the set of the upcoming movie, "Breathe".

Hurricane Chris recently claimed the late Pimp C threatened him and his crew with deadly force -- but the UGK rapper's widow is saying the only thing he planned on killing was a track!!!

On Friday, Chinara Butler got wind of the Lousiana rapper recalling Pimp C getting the boot from his star-studded 2007 "Ay Bay Bay (Remix)" ... and getting an earful about it afterward.

Chinara says she remembers the moment vividly, as she was the one who intercepted the email, and burned the instrumental on a CD for Pimp to drop his vocals.

According to Chinara's memory bank, Pimp C took about 2 days to submit a fire azz verse ... but was told it was sent too late to make the cut.

In true Pimp C fashion, Chinara says he grew enraged and floated the idea of doing a remix titled "A-K-K" ... as in the assault rifle, and "kill all his competition!!!" The finalized track featured E-40, The Game, Boosie Badazz, Jadakiss, Birdman and Angie Locc. Pimp clearly missed out on a banger!!!

HC remembers things a bit differently, claiming Pimp C angrily called his phone with detailed knowledge of his location.

Rich the Kid is inadvertently agreeing with Tekashi 6ix9ine ... calling out Billboard's newly minted bundle initiative as a bad move for the music biz.

We caught Rich out at LAX and he told us he's fine with "floppy artists" getting the extra boost in sales, but also feels Billboard's move could seriously water down the quality of music that ends up charting.

Billboard announced this week it's re-allowing bundle sales under the tag "fan packs" -- which allows for a limited amount of physical merch to be counted toward sales on the album chart.

Tekashi had a cow over the news ... after seeing thousands of his unit sales discounted back in 2020 when Billboard eliminated the merch rule.

Rich doesn't think sales trickery will stop his shine and says he doesn't plan on hopping on the bundle bandwagon with incentives like crappy Crocs.

Taylor Swift's former townhouse -- the same one that inspired a fan-favorite tune -- on Cornelia Street in Manhattan has just hit the market.

Laurence Carty, the real estate broker who holds the listing, tells TMZ ... the place is hitting the market Friday, rent is $49,500 per month for a 12-month lease. Laurence says the owner would also consider a sale, price upon request.

Taylor famously lived in the townhouse in 2016 and 2017 ... renting it from Laurence, who later sold the place to the current owner.

She wrote about the place in a song called "Cornelia Street" on her 2019 album, "Lover," and the track is a fan favorite. Some of the lyrics include, "I rent a place on Cornelia Street."

Swifties believe Taylor alludes to ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn on the track, singing ... "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."

The home is three stories of pure luxury ... it comes with an indoor pool, 3 gas fireplaces and a rooftop terrace with sweeping views of Manhattan.

The 4-bedroom townhouse is in the heart of the West Village ... two of the guest suites come with private terraces, en-suite baths and walk-in closets ... and the master has a private patio with a gas fireplace, plus a walk-in closet, marble bath and a glass shower with a skylight.

Antonio Brown can't help but put that s*** on, even if he's up to his eyeballs in controversy ... 'cause the ex-NFL star hit up an Albany bar and performed his hit song for a bunch of college kids Thursday night -- and TMZ Sports has the video!!

Witnesses tell us AB arrived at Wolff's Biergarten unannounced shortly after midnight Friday ... and the whole crowd was shocked over the surprise appearance, but loved every bit of it.

Once AB was in the bar, we're told he walked right up to the DJ booth and told him to -- well, this is confusing to say -- put "Put That S*** On" on.

Our video shows the Super Bowl champ standing on a platform above the patrons ...  getting the students hyped before starting his viral song.

We're told AB stayed for close to an hour before dipping ... but he didn't leave folks empty-handed -- witnesses say he was passing out free Empire tickets to anyone in attendance.

After the bar, AB seemingly hit up a frat house ... where he crowd-surfed as more students freaked out over his presence.

AB's impromptu concert comes right on the heels of accusations he's an owner from hell for the National Arena League's Albany Empire ... with former coaches and players claiming they weren't paid and lost access to their team hotel rooms, among many other issues.

Brown denies the accusations.

On top of that, Brown has been sued by his jeweler for $1.1 million ... and a judge ordered cops to arrest him over unpaid child support payments, which he claims he made.

Young Thug's brother, Unfoonk, is a return inmate at Fulton County jail -- law enforcement sources tell TMZ Hip Hop he's been arrested and booked for firearm possession by a convicted felon.

Unfoonk joined Gunna last December in entering a plea in the high-profile YSL RICO trial ... but his latest run-in with the law could lead to a violation of his probation terms.

Cops in Atlanta say Unfoonk (real name Quantavious Grier) was pulled over in his neighborhood around 4 PM Thursday ... and during the stop, officers claimed to have smelled burnt marijuana inside the black Mercedes sedan.

We're told officers also say there was excessive tint on Unfoonk's windows, and the YSL rapper wasn't wearing his seatbelt.

They called in a police K9 to help with the narcotics search of the vehicle, and during that search ... we're told officers located a handgun in the driver's side door panel. As the owner of the car, Unfoonk was arrested for gun possession.

According to the docs, he was also dinged for criminal street gang activity -- and the much smaller infractions of improper window tint and a safety belt violation.

Tekashi 6ix9ine is ripping Billboard's decision to allow artist merchandise to count toward record sales again, because he's claiming his success was the only reason it stopped doing that in the first place!!!

Billboard revealed Thursday its new rules would become effective on June 30 ... prompting Tekashi to share his own soured experiences.

Back in May 2020, Tekashi kicked off promotion for his sophomore album "Tattletales" with the single "Gooba," and accused Billboard of screwing with his numbers after its No. 3 debut ... while also alleging Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande's teams were buying their own releases to cheat the system.

Tekashi says he sold 3 million in merch for "Gooba" alone but was betrayed by Billboard, who later denied all wrongdoing, as did reps for the Biebz and Ariana.

A couple of years back, Nicki Minaj and Travis Scott faced similar controversies after Astroworld tour tickets influenced the top Billboard spot ... but Tekashi is telling his fans and haters alike they definitely made the change because of him.

Billboard is calling the newest rule change "fan packs," which allows for a limited number of merch items to be counted toward the album charts ... and Tekashi says it's all smoke and mirrors to make struggling artists appear bigger than they are.

The publication also highlighted a "day-long meeting" they conducted with record labels where one exec practically begged them to bring back artist bundles.

Sources close to the situation tell TMZ Hip Hop Fat Joe was able to regain his masters from Atlantic Records after all this time. The streaming profits are all his!!!

Fat Joe is looking back at his time spent on major labels with regret ... comparing the setup to Ponzi schemes that do anything BUT benefit the artists' bank accounts.

The Bronx-bred hip hop legend was recently the keynote speaker for The Wall Street Journal's "Future Of Everything Festival" ... and recalled being signed to Atlantic Records during the CD era of rap.

Joe says his experience was constantly having to convince execs who knew nothing about hip hop culture to prop up his releases, and he ripped the hypocrisy of artists selling millions of records ... while only receiving pennies for their musical thoughts.

He reminisced, and not fondly ... "You had to be like The Fugees, who sold 30 million records, to make a dollar. I was talking to Jennifer Lopez about it -- and you know J Lo’s a megastar -- and she was like, 'Man, you know these guys, they only give you this [amount] and you never recoup.' So, it’s a funny math."

Joe says after he dropped his 2002 album "Loyalty," the Atlantic president called him a failure to his face ... all because he was getting slaughtered by Jay-Z's "Blueprint 2," Missy Elliott's "Under Construction" and Mariah Carey's "Charmbracelet" on the charts.

To add insult to injury, Joe says they replaced his life-sized poster with one showing T.I., who had just made the execs happy by going double platinum.

After mapping out his career, Joe decided to bet on himself and negotiated his release from the label. It proved to be a wise and lucrative decision for the Terror Squad founder.

He released his next album independently ... 2006's "Me, Myself & I" and says his Lil Wayne-assisted smash hit "Make It Rain" netted him a cool $4M and the Atlantic president is still eating crow to this day!!!

Joe's always going to bat for the lil' guy. We recently got him out in D.C. campaigning for the healthcare industry to stop shady practices against its patients.

Sounds like a familiar scenario.

Ne-Yo is looking to get parental rights for his 2 youngest kids -- the ones he has with his current girlfriend that triggered the divorce from his ex-wife.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the singer's asking the court to establish parentage for his kids which he had with Sade (not THAT one) -- and he's requesting joint legal and physical custody of them, as well.

He says they had Braiden in 2021 and Brixton just last February ... and he's also hoping they'd be eligible to inherit from him as if they were born in wedlock.

As we reported, Ne-Yo's wife Crystal filed for divorce last year in Atlanta, and noted he had fathered a child to Sade during their marriage. Crystal claimed she'd been taking care of the 3 kids they shared together since their split.

Crystal was looking for primary legal custody of their children and joint legal custody ... as well as child support.

Sade's been keeping Ne-Yo in her social media posts recently, so it looks like they're at least hanging out -- but we got him at LAX last week, and he told us he's simply enjoying the single life for now.

Doja Cat is raising eyebrows with her taste in tattoos, lately ... and the brand new ink on her back -- a huge bat skeleton -- is sure to do the same!

Doja posted a series of shots Thursday, flaunting her new back tat, and just to complete the motif, her caption also included the bat emoji and got kinda deep ... in a batty way.

It appears to be a quote from an animal symbolism website that reads ... "Bats often represent death in the sense of letting go of the old, and bringing in the new. They are symbols of transition, of initiation, and the start of a new beginning."

Hmm ... no mention of rabies or coronaviruses.

Of course, the new tat comes less than a month after Doja showed off a demonic-looking monster tatted on her forearm ... which had some folks concerned about the singer.

However, DC quickly responded by essentially saying screw the haters and conspiracy theories -- "If ur calling me demonic honestly werk cuz like i love that u ate fr."

She also posted more photos of the creature with a passage explaining it's based on an illustration from a 17th-century book by Italian philosopher Fortunio Liceti.

Learn something new every day! Or, as Doja put it, "Your fear is not my problem."

Demons, bats and monsters ... not everyone's bag, but Doja couldn't care less!

John Legend is firing back at Megyn Kelly for going after his wife, Chrissy Teigen ... he says Megyn is desperate to get conservatives back on her side.

We got John at MÍRAME in Beverly Hills Thursday, and asked him about Megyn's negative reaction to Chrissy's outfit for the White House Correspondents Dinner ... and the singer didn't hold back.

John says Megyn's critique is a gross attempt for attention, which he says she needs now that she's no longer working for FOX.

What's more, John thinks Megyn is going after Chrissy in an attempt to win back Donald Trump supporters.

ICYMI ... Megyn ripped Chrissy's dress, labeling Teigen "elitist" for having "minions" and "serfs" holding the train of her dress. Megyn also chided Chrissy for exposing her underwear with a sheer fabric gown.

John says Megyn sounds desperate and should just shut up ... and he defends his wife as being kind, loving and down to Earth.

While John admits it's not normal to have people carrying someone's dress train down the street, he says it's just part of the deal when Chrissy goes to a big event.

American singer and songwriter Phillip Phillips was 21 years old when he was crowned the "American Idol" season 11 champ back in 2012. Not only did his winning song "Home" become a top-seller in "American Idol" history, but the track was used to cover the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The singer has performed live on "Good Morning America" and "The Today Show", as well as late-night TV shows, "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno." He's also opened shows for top players in the music game like John Mayer and Matchbox Twenty.

"Just know you're not alone, 'Cause I'm gonna make this place your home."

Lizzo says she's pulling the plug on a concert in Montreal ... telling fans she just can't muster the strength to perform because of flu-like symptoms.

The "Truth Hurts" singer canceled her gig in Canada a few hours before Thursday's scheduled showtime ... saying she's sick as a dog.

Lizzo ran down a list of her symptoms in a video posted on social media ... she says she has a sore throat, headache and chills ... and she says she's only feeling worse, not better.

She also tweeted about having a 102-degree fever and says this is only the second time she's ever canceled a show due to health reasons.

Lizzo sounded tearful as she explained the reasons behind the cancelation ... wearing a face mask and covering up with a blanket.

Lizzo's been traveling a lot lately ... she performed Friday at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, then attended Monday's Met Gala in New York, as well as Anna Wintour's pre-Met Gala dinner the night before.

She was scheduled to take the stage at the Bell Centre in Montreal but is promising fans she will honor tickets at a makeup show.