Music

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.

Former OVO Sound artist iLoveMakonnen says he knew his days on Drake's label were numbered when the Canadian rapper allegedly started making snide comments.

Makonnen made the shocking accusations on NPR's recently shuttered "Louder Than A Riot" while discussing his rise and fall in music ... claiming Drake once quipped he was an "Eric Benet-ass-looking-n****" right before they performed together at the 2015 Wireless Festival.

Makonnen says he and Drake shared a dwindling bond prior to that moment. The Canadian megastar helped catapult Makonnen to nationwide success in 2014 via the "Tuesday (Remix)" ... which earned Makonnen his first platinum plaque, and his signing with OVO for a single deal.

But, Makonnen says Drake started treating him differently when he began showing signs of weight loss ... hence the Eric Benet crack, and he claims the label stopped promoting his EPs.

And, to make things worse, fans were literally digging up his old tweets dissing Drake!!! Whoops.

Makonnen says his relationship with Drake imploded for good at Rihanna's VMA after-party in 2016 when he attempted to reconnect, but he claims Drake met him with a facial expression that meant him bodily harm ... and he knew it was time to bounce from the label.

Makonnen came out as gay in January 2017, and believes that decision caused the dissolution of many of his working relationships, and much of his inner circle in Atlanta, too.

Cassidy is scoffing at people who are upset at R. Kelly for his sex crimes, but don't hold the same anger toward the average Joe who they observe doing the exact same thing.

The battle-tested Philly rapper spoke his mind on a recent episode of the Street Starz podcast and expressed his belief that people have a right to be upset over R. Kelly ... but should keep the same energy when it comes to seeing people in their neighborhood scoop up younger girls!

According to Cassidy's recollection, he observed plenty of middle and high-school-age girls dating older guys his entire life and feels all hoods have similar scenarios. He also didn't say anything about reporting anyone so he may be just as culpable if true 🤷🏽‍♂️.

Cassidy and Swizz Beatz scored a Top 5 Billboard Hot 100 hit back in 2003 with assistance from Robert Sylvester several years before the sexual abuse allegations poured in.

Kanye West is full steam ahead on his presidential campaign, bringing his former collaborator Milo Yiannopoulos back into the mix, and their first order of business ... firing Ye's controversial right-hand man, Nick Fuentes.

TMZ obtained emails sent from Milo -- now officially YE2024's Director of Political Operations -- to Nick, and in one he says, "Your services on Ye’s exploratory team are terminated ... and will not be required for any possible future campaign."

You'll recall, Nick is the white nationalist who accompanied West during his trip to see Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago last fall.

Milo also fired off an exit email to Ali Alexander, another one of Ye's political advisors, who was recently forced to apologize after being accused of asking teenage boys for sexual pictures.

We reached out to Milo, and he confirmed the details in the e-mails. He also says he's been in L.A. for the past week, talking to Ye about his presidential aspirations.

You'll recall, Milo was reportedly removed from the campaign team last year after Ye's controversial interview with Alex Jones ... and he reportedly blamed Nick and Ali for his firing.

Now that Milo's back in the saddle, it would seem his next mission is finding out just how serious Ye is about running for the White House -- and, after that, addressing the antisemitism West spewed for months.

R&B emeritus Ye Ali doesn't give a damn how much Nick Cannon has to shell out for his kids -- he wants his money, pronto, for an uncleared Chris Brown song he claims Nick swindled from him!!!

Nick was pleasantly enjoying his Thursday on Twitter, joking about impregnating the entire world, when Ye intercepted his message with fiery rebuttals ... making fans aware of his issues with the "Wild 'N Out" creator.

Back in 2021, Nick released his movie "She Ball" ... which featured a snippet of the unreleased CB track "Drive." Ye says he had a hand in creating the song originally cut for a Breezy studio album, and he claims RCA never gave Nick permission to soundtrack it.

According to Ye, Nick's lawyers have been stalling him out, so he felt it was time to take matters public. Nick has yet to respond ... probably because he's busy filling in for Jamie Foxx on his Beat Shazaam TV series.

We reached out to Ye to see if he plans on following through with a lawsuit. No word back -- he's plenty busy stepping on Nick's Twitter neck!!!

The Kid LAROI wants to make things right and THEN some after bailing on a recent restaurant tab -- not only by paying the bill -- but by also including an extremely generous tip.

Sources close to LAROI tell us it was actually his security team who was supposed to provide a card for his meal Tuesday night at Dublin's Pass Irish Pub & Restaurant in Springfield, Missouri ... but somehow, they forgot to get things squared away.

Our sources say LAROI and his team realized the mistake after reading our story, and reached out to restaurant staffers first thing Thursday morning.

We're told not only did LAROI cover the $133.58 bill, he also tipped their server from the night, Monique, a whopping $2,500 for all the trouble.

TMZ broke the story, LAROI and a group of buddies went to the eatery after his show, and pigged out on wings, mac & cheese, brownies and more before taking off with an open bill.

The jury has spoken in Ed Sheeran's copyright trial -- he's been found not liable for ripping off one of Marvin Gaye's classics, "Let's Get It On."

The singer received the verdict on Thursday in a Manhattan federal court after a jury made the decision.

As we reported, the estate of Ed Townsend, co-writer of "Let's Get it On," slapped the lawsuit on Sheeran ... alleging the 2014 hit "Thinking Out Loud" ripped key elements of the 1973 Marvin Gaye classic -- claiming several aspects like the melody and even harmony were a match.

Sheeran was present in court for the legal battle, and even testified during the trial ... part of it in the form of a song! He pulled out his guitar and played the tune in question during his time on the stand as a way to show them his creative process.

He testified Marvin's song was nowhere near his or his co-writer Amy Wadge's minds when they brought his track to life ... claiming he doesn't really put a ton of time into crafting his tracks and just pulls inspiration from whatever's going down in his life at the time.

It was a move that some thought could go a long way -- having a star play for the super small crowd for sure had the potential to sway the jury. He also testified he'd be "quite an idiot to stand on a stage in front of 20,000 people" after ripping off a classic.

Sheeran claimed he'd quit music forever if he lost ... so the decision is good news for Ed's fans.

Lil Durk and NBA YoungBoy's lethal rivalry is coming to a close ... as both artists seemingly confirmed a peace treaty through breadcrumbs dropped for their social media followers.

DJ Akademiks informed his Twitch live stream audience of the Durk/YoungBoy truce on Wednesday ... and when the clips made their rounds on the internet, fans noted Durk liked the tweet containing Ak's update.

Additionally, the YB Instagram "fan account" -- long suspected to actually be run by the Lousiana rapper on account of its 1 million+ followers -- also shared the news for the world to see.

Durk and YB's tensions revolve around the late King Von's issues with Quando Rondo, who's signed to YB's Never Broke Again label.

Von was shot and killed in November 2020, after attacking Quando ... and the two camps have been at odds ever since.

Their peace accord is truly a watershed moment for recent hip hop culture, given the amount of blood spilled in recent years. While we're not hearing any collaboration talks, each rapper's fans are still getting new music.

YB just dropped his new album "Don't Try This At Home" to a Top 5 Billboard 200 debut and has the lead single on the upcoming "Fast X" soundtrack with the song "Won't Back Down."

The Kid LAROI left his server hanging with a triple-digit bill after fleeing an Irish pub & restaurant -- that's what the pissed-off manager of the watering hole is claiming.

LAROI performed Tuesday night in Springfield, MO, and afterward, he and a group of buddies went to Dublin's Pass Irish Pub & Restaurant for some food and drink.

The joint's manager, Autumn Gray, tells TMZ ... the Aussie rapper was kind to all her staff and patrons at first, even posing for photos with some excited fans -- but, ultimately, they seated LAROI and co. in a private room.

Autumn says the group ran up their bill ordering chicken wings, mac & cheese, brownies and more ... and, although they stepped outside for smoke breaks during the meal, they assured their server they weren't leaving.

Of course, that's precisely what happened according to the restaurant. When their server tried to get a head start on bussing dishes from the table ... they discovered everyone had bolted.

As soon as the manager found out about the dine and dash, she says they searched the premises but TKL and his entourage were long gone.

The total bill was $133.58 and while Autumn acknowledges it might have been a careless mistake by LAROI, she points out servers make most of their money through tips ... so, it's messed up one of her employees did all that work for free.

Autumn says she tried contacting TKL, but hasn't gotten a response. We also reached out to a rep, and so far ... no word back.

Priyanka Chopra says she fell into a "deep, deep depression" after a botched nose procedure and thought her career in entertainment was totally over.

Chopra made the revelations during an interview with Howard Stern on his Sirius XM show, going into detail about the dark period earlier in her life.

The actress, who's married to Nick Jonas, told Stern that a physician recommended that she go under the knife to remove a polyp in her nasal cavity.

She followed the doctor's instructions and got the nose job, but, afterward, she says her face looked completely different, causing her to slip into a "deep, deep depression."

Not only did the surgery affect her physical appearance, but it negatively impacted her work. Chopra says she was fired from three films as a result of the bungled procedure, making her think that her career was “over before it started.”

She says things got so bad that she didn't even want to leave her house at times, but her late father -- who was a doctor as well -- convinced her to get corrective surgery despite her misgivings.

Chopra said, “I was terrified of that, but he was like, ‘I will be in the room with you. He held my hands through it and helped me build back my confidence.”

She says she got her career back on track with the help of Bollywood director Anil Sharma, and was grateful to him for giving her a supporting role in a movie, even though she was originally slated to play the lead. Chopra went on to star in several major Hollywood TV series, including Citadel and Quantico.