Music

Swirled into this backward-hat image is a famous rapper who is set to headline at this year's Governors Ball Music Festival, and even after all the success he's acclaimed over the years, he's quite the "humble" guy!

The performer in this pic has caught the eye of Anna Wintour, as he was seen rockin' this leather jacket look to the 2023 Met Gala. He's clearly a talent to reckon with and has worked with some of the music industry's hottest stars including Taylor Swift.

Flavor Flav might be a good old-fashioned hip-hop head, but that doesn't mean you can put the guy in a box ... evidenced in him completely fanboying at a Taylor Swift show.

The rapper -- who's one half of Public Enemy -- pulled up to TS's Detroit stop Friday for her ongoing 'Eras' tour, and the dude was ready to prove his love and dedication from the VIP tent ... posing with tons of fans who swung by, and flexing his Swiftie friendship bracelets.

It's pretty sweet ... you see Flav swapping bead bands with young girls, teens and adults alike -- and the guy was totally rocking out during the actual concert too, singing along and dancing.

In fact, it looks like he even had on some Taylor-inspired merch. While TayTay was performing 'Trouble,' -- Flav showed off his T-shirt ... which reads, "I knew she was trouble." Indeed, the guy is a complete and utter Swiftie ... and there's no shame in his game.

Leading up to the big show, Flav appeared to be hyping it up big time ... saying he got his Taylor shirt made just for the event, and even teasing the fact she was coming to town.

While his Taylor fandom might come as a surprise to some, it might've been in our faces the whole time. Earlier this year ... Flav posed with Taylor just a few months ago in March, when she won the Innovator Award during the iHeartRadio Award show ('memba the hoodie 'fit?)

In other words, it sounds like the dude's been in her corner for a while now -- and we're all just learning about it for the first time in public. And while he was sporting Taylor gear, Flav was still on brand ... his clocks and bling were on full display as well, plus his signature hat.

Gotta say ... the Eras tour has proven to be an endless well for news this year. Not only are there storylines surrounding Tay's personal life that feed the beast ... but moments like these cycle in as well and get people fawning over their fave pop star all over again.

The Miami Heat are on the ropes in the NBA Finals, but their celeb turnout is still top-seeded in the league ... right up there with legendary LA Lakers Showtime.

Lil Wayne, Conor McGregor, G-Eazy, Chris Tucker and J. Balvin filed into the primo seats at Miami's Kaseya Center.

McGregor actually got some playing time -- not in the game, which the Denver Nuggets won -- but he was part of the center court entertainment. The UFC legend squared off with the Heat mascot Burnie ... and earned a one-punch W.

Some other famous fans in the crowd included Odell Beckham Jr., Flo Rida, Forest Whitaker, Neymar, Ozuna and Paul Pogba.

YFN Lucci is rejecting a plea deal Georgia prosecutors offered him in his racketeering case ... we've learned Lucci's instead opting to go to trial to clear his name.

According to court docs, obtained by TMZ Hop Hop, Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis recommended a 20-year sentence, 17 of them in prison ... and in exchange, Lucci would have to plead guilty to multiple charges -- including felony murder, racketeering, aggravated assault and violation of the street gang terrorism and prevention act.

Lucci, whose real name is Rayshawn Bennett, is not interested in the offer. His attorneys, Drew Findling and Gabe Banks, tell us the plea offer is "absurd," and they strongly hinted the D.A. is intentionally dragging her feet -- they point out Lucci is still waiting to go to trial after 2.5 years in custody.

The attorneys also slammed Willis for focusing instead on "newer, high-profile cases that have completely monopolized the Court’s resources" and pointed out her "utter inability to prosecute complex cases."

They went on to say ... "Despite the obstacles consistently placed in the way of Mr. Bennett’s constitutional right to a speedy and fair trial, we continue to be ready and prepared to defend these false allegations."

When singer Ed Sheeran strokes his guitar and grabs the mic, his performances are near "perfect" to say the least ... but there appear to be some imperfections in these two stage shots. So, "just dive right in," follow Ed's lead and see if you can locate the minor switch-ups in the images.

After recently giving a crowd-pleasing performance on "Today," the singer removed his earpiece and posed for a photo in the busy "citi." Can you put the missing pieces "shapes" together and find the changes?!

Snoop Dogg's once favorite car -- his '66 Cadillac DeVille lowrider -- has a new owner and home ... as a permanent fixture inside a brand-spanking-new dealership in Texas!!!

The classic Snoop DeVille now resides at Cadillac of Arlington ... which we're told just had a huge party to celebrate its grand opening.

The car's previous owner, Christian Bonilla, tells TMZ Hip Hop he recently brokered a deal with the family-owned dealership group, which has been around since 1935 ... and is headquartered in the DFW area.

Snoop was rich rollin' and winning contests in the whip for years ... until the engine gave out. The car was also famously featured in 50 Cent's "P.I.M.P. Remix" video amid the "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" era.

Lil Jon's doesn't just DJ for people, he's got live animals in the crowd too ... as evidenced in his latest gig in West Hollywood.

The "Shots" rapper rocked the house for the "Secrets & Sisterhood: The Sozahdahs" series premiere party Thursday, a show that also featured a Burmese python and camel on the guest list.

Check out the video, obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, showing the King of Crunk doing his thing on the turntables inside Classic Cat while the snake pop-locked from person-to-person and the camel posted up outside.

We're told Jon didn't interact with the animals -- but still turned the club into an absolute zoo with his own hit records like "Shots" and "Yeah!" in addition to other jams that spoke to the Sozahdah Sisters' Afghan heritage.

Looks like Kanye West's bullying may cost him in court ... because he's been slapped with a lawsuit over a pic he used to troll a Vogue editor.

In case ya forgot -- Ye went after a contributing editor for Vogue named Gabriella Karefa-Johnson amid his various rants last year ... after she called his "White Lives Matter" shirt "dangerous" and "irresponsible."

Kanye blasted Gabriella by posting a photo of her and saying she's "not a fashion person" -- but according to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the pic was snapped by professional photog Michaela Efford, and she says she didn't give the rapper permission to swipe her work for his roast session.

Michaela says she snapped Gabriella's photo in September and notes Kanye used the pic on his social media about 1 week later without her permission.

Rick Ross has managed to up his luxury game even further -- showing off an 18-passenger plane that's wrapped in his signature logos and colors!!!

On Friday, the Biggest Boss showed off the new toy and debuted the name "Maybach Airlines." He also thanked his plug, Duncan Aviation, for the sweet hookup.

A bubbly Rozay danced away on the tarmac, and spouted off inspiration for his followers that one day, they too could have their own autobus with the right amount of effort.

Inside the plane, Ross showed off the spiraling decor and automated features, like a self-folding table and shades that draw with the click of a button.

As we reported, the smoke from his recent car show just cleared up, and Rozay is already planning his next estate event ... an MMG-sanctioned pool party on July 2 where he says Meek Mill will be in the mix.

DMX's loved ones are feeling his presence this week, and feeling compelled to keep his musical legacy alive!!!

On Friday, Swizz Beatz proved he was coming around to loving X's signature song, "Ruff Ryders' Anthem" again ... by sharing rare footage of the late rap megastar's first-ever show inside Harlem's famed Apollo Theater!!!

Swizz has openly admitted "Ruff Ryders' Anthem" brings him to tears more than any other DMX song.

In the footage, dated sometime in 1998, a nimble and energetic X rips through "Ruff Ryders' Anthem," his "It's Dark & Hell is Hot" intro ... and is supported in the background by Ruff Ryders' founders Joaquin and Darin Dean, Swizz and Murder Inc. CEO Irv Gotti.

Not to be outdone, X's six-year-old son Exodus flexed his inherited musical talent and played the opening to "Ruff Ryders' Anthem" on his piano.

Someone might wanna take Justin Bieber's dad's phone -- he's attempting to clear up his previous anti-LGBTQ comment, claiming he's misunderstood ... and really is just making things worse.

Jeremy hopped on Twitter Friday morning to further explain what he meant in posting, "Don't forget to thank a straight person this month for your existence."

Jeremy says, "My post was to acknowledge families, that's it! and before you say I abandoned my son, move on! that's an old narrative pushed! its ridiculous and didn't happen. Now my delivery may have been poor but it was not to be hateful or homophobic."

What Jeremy has clearly failed to learn from the wave of criticism he's received is ... straight people aren't the only ones who have families.

He also played the "some of my best friends are" card in his clarification, tweeting ... "My brother is gay and I adore him, Love whomever you want that’s your business not "mine"  my problem is the hostile takeover of our cities and schools by LGBTQ this is the concern of many. There is a place for everyone, and everyone’s opinion! That does not equal hate!"

Jeremy's reference of a "hostile takeover" screams of someone who's been shooting up cases of Bud Light, and/or tearing down Pride displays in a Target store.

He's claiming he's not anti-LGBTQ, but to say there's been a "takeover" of cities and schools is not only inaccurate, it's the dangerous kind of rhetoric that puts LGBTQ members at risk.

Little advice for Jeremy -- maybe just take the rest of this month off to enjoy your version of a family.

Takeoff's mother Titania Davenport has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Houston venue where the Migos rapper was shot and killed on November 1.

According to the court docs, obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, Davenport claims the companies behind 810 Billiards & Bowling failed to take appropriate security measures to protect guests at the venue ... including her son, Takeoff.

The suit, filed Wednesday in Harris County, Texas also cites the lack of security prechecks while knowing Takeoff's celebrity would draw a huge crowd.

Patrick Xavier Clark, the man police say fired the fatal shot that killed the 28-year-old, isn't named in the suit ... but Davenport alleges 810 should have known there was a risk of violence based on past incidents on the premises and the crime in the surrounding area.

Takeoff had a huge memorial service inside State Farm Arena in his hometown Atlanta and the suit is seeking over a million dollars in damages to cover his funeral expenses, mental anguish, and more.

Rolling Stone was the first to report on Takeoff's mother's lawsuit.

Miguel is currently blowing up on TikTok, despite not dropping a full-length album in nearly 6 years ... something he plans on changing very soon.

We caught up with the singer for a hot sec Thursday at LAX, and asked if he felt comfortable enough to just coast on the success he's having on the globally massive app.

Thanks to TikTok's popular "sped-up" trend, Miguel's 2011 hit "Sure Thing" amassed over 4 million video creations, and reentered the Billboard Hot 100 and hit #10 on the UK charts ... and it's also been doing hella well on pop radio!!!

Miguel tells us his TikTok wins have only given him more reason to release his next project and appeared to be dashing to the studio.

The TikTok community has been showing Miguel and his new track "Give It to Me" Plenty of love in the meantime. He and the Jonas Brothers recently kicked off the app's "New Music Hub" search feature.

Shawn Mendes left fans both excited and understandably confused when he surprise-announced he had a new single on the way ... yet used a photo of a smoke-covered NYC to promote the new tune.

Mendes broke his musical hiatus Friday with the release of "What the Hell Are We Dying For?" but when he announced the single on Thursday, he also shared art showing the orange-tinted NYC skyline.

For the most part, fans were happy, as it's been about a year since Shawn dropped new music ... but there were also comments like, "Extremely poor taste" and "I thought this was parody" regarding the image Shawn used to promote the single.

One positive though -- Shawn says a portion of the proceeds will go to the Canadian Red Cross -- an org that's been on the frontlines assisting with the wildfires raging so badly across the country, it's smoked out multiple states in America's northeast.

As for the song's lyrics ... it opens up with "Smoke in the air, the city's burnin' down. I wanna speak, but I don't make a sound. Locked in my mind, you're all I think about. I wanna save us but I don't know how."

Blueface might not be locked up at the moment, but if the new details about his recent Las Vegas robbery charge are true ... his freedom could be in jeopardy.

According to the police report, obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, Blueface, his pregnant girlfriend Chrisean Rock and several others in their entourage are accused of assaulting a woman ... on May 29 inside the Palms Casino.

Cops say the woman walked up to Chrisean and professed her love for the reality star, and congratulated her on her pregnancy ... but also proclaimed she didn't care for Blueface, and added a "F*** him" for good measure.

According to the report, Chrisean didn't appreciate the verbal jab at her man, and punched the woman in the left side of her face. Cops say Blueface then snatched her phone, put it in his back pocket and mockingly said, "This is mine now."

Officers say the woman was able to retrieve her phone from Blueface, but claims another man in the entourage clocked her with an uppercut!!!

During the melee, Blueface allegedly kicked the woman in the face and chest until security intervened ... and Blue, Chrisean and co. fled in a Dodge Charger.

Responding police officers reviewed hotel surveillance footage, as well as the cell phone footage showing the moment Chrisean hit the woman.

As we reported, Blueface got arrested Wednesday while in court for another, more serious, case -- he's charged with attempted murder for a shooting incident last year outside a Vegas strip club.

Selena Gomez isn't shy about taking risks when it comes to her love life ... announcing to a large group of (possibly) single dudes she's single and sharing the clip with the world.

The pop star posted a TikTok video Thursday, which showed her watching a soccer game while wrapped in a blanket, yelling, "I'm single. I'm just a little high-maintenance. But I'll love you soooo much."

It's clear from the footage Selena was poking fun at her current dating situation, which has been relatively quiet ... but it's clear she's available and looking for Mr. Right.

Selena's fans seemed amused, but also identified with her relationship struggles. Some of them wrote in the comments section, "so relatable," "hilarious," and "so real."

Selena even included a caption that read, "The struggle man lol."

It's not the first time she's joked about her relationship status ... Selena hosted Saturday Night Live in 2022 and talked about it in front of a studio audience,  "I would like to say that I'm looking for my soulmate. But at this point, I will take anyone."