Music

Leon Thomas needs a crown, robe and a royal scepter for the bang-up job he's doing in the R&B world -- words from his EZMNY label boss Ty Dolla $ign he's gotta live up to now!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with Leon outside of producer Jae Murphy's single release party to celebrate the new bop "Stop Cryin'" and got his reaction to his whirlwind past 365 days ... even getting a cosign from rapper Siya in real-time!!!

Leon's blossomed into quite the draw since winning a Grammy with SZA for "Snooze" last year ... his signature hit "Mutt" has taken a life of its own with a Platinum plaque, remixes with Chris Brown and Freddie Gibbs.

Baby oil and Astroglide were a big part of the government's case against Sean "Diddy" Combs ... but his lawyer used federal prosecutors' obsession with Diddy's personal lubricants against them ... and he tells us the moment he knew the jury was buying what he was selling.

Attorney Marc Agnifilo joined us on "TMZ Live" and we asked him if he mocked the baby oil and Astroglide elements of the case as a way to diminish the prosecution.

Agnifilo had been making light of the baby oil aspect since September 2024, when the feds started crowing in their federal indictment and ensuing press conference about finding 1,000 bottles of lubricant in raids on Diddy's homes ... and now the endgame is clear.

Rapper JID allowed his personal life to seep into his new album released on Friday -- he's a proud Daddy-O!!!

On the very last waning seconds of the Atlanta native's 4th project, "God Does Like Ugly," JID gets validation for his rapping skills from his son after asking, "Does 'Daddy' have the best bars?" ... revealing his parenthood for the first time.

The album touches on various social commentary topics and features guest appearances from  Pusha T and Malice's revamped Clipse, Ciara, Ty Dolla $ign and more -- and even got love from the Atlanta Falcons ahead of their first game of the 2025 NFL preseason.

Brandon Blackstock was fighting a difficult cancer battle before his death ... but, you could hardly tell a couple weeks ago when he was grinning big in a photo with his daughter.

Savannah Blackstock Lee, Brandon's daughter from his first marriage to Melissa Ashworth, shared a photo on Facebook last month standing alongside her dad with a sprawling wilderness behind them ... and, Brandon's arm is slung over her shoulder.

Blackstock's got his Uggs on ... bringing his leg up on a bench Captain Morgan-style. Savannah's totally beaming in the pic -- and, from the outside, it seems like nothing's wrong. She captioned the picture, "Back home to the mountains & my daddy."

Machine Gun Kelly is spilling the tea on his split from Megan Fox in a new track ... and he’s admitting he made a mess that landed him a secret stay in rehab.

On MGK's raw track "Treading Water" from his latest album "Lost Americana," he drops some brutal lines like, "This’ll be the last time you hear me say sorry, That’ll be the last tear you waste on me crying, I broke this home."

Machine also belts out, "The beast killed the beauty; the last petal fell from the rose," before going full confessional, describing packing his bags and spending Christmas in "Room Three" at rehab.

Kelly Clarkson's ex-husband Brandon Blackstock has died ... but his daughter is bringing a new bundle of joy into this world.

Savannah Blackstock Lee jumped on Instagram in July and announced she's preggers with her second kid by way of her husband, Quentin Lee ... and as you know, Brandon passed away Thursday -- weeks after her post -- following a long battle with melanoma, a serious form of skin cancer.

Savannah -- the daughter of Brandon's other ex-wife, Melissa Ashworth -- wrote she and Quentin had been "keeping a couple of sweet surprises."

Reneé Rapp has no idea who Joe Rogan is ... and her fans are losing their minds.

Check out the viral clip from this week's "Call Her Daddy" podcast ... the singer and actress is asked a Rogan-related question by host Alex Cooper -- Rapp responds by asking "who the f***" Joe is ... she's then shocked he's the same height as she is when she Googles him.

Alex is clearly amused by this blunt question ands asks Reneé if she knows what "Fear Factor" or the UFC are. The 'Queen of Gen Z' admits she has no idea what 'FF' is and asks if Joe is a UFC fighter ... to which Alex replies she's not even sure!

Gracie Abrams brought down the house Thursday night in Los Angeles ... with some of Hollywood's youngest stars eating it all up.

It all went down at the Kia Forum -- part of her "Secret of Us" tour -- where she poured her heart out to a hometown crowd ... with celebs like Paul Mescal, Lucy Hale, Noah Beck, Tyler Blackburn, Lola Tung in the audience.

Paul is seen near the front row with a big smile on his face, clapping and singing along as Gracie performs her hit "Free Now."

"There's Nothing Holdin' Us Back" from strippin' down Shawn Mendes' birthday to one thing and one thing only: his hottest shots!

From towel pics to smokin' snaps (literally, smoking 🚬), it's no shocker the Grammy-nominee shows off what he's workin' with underneath those onstage 'fits ... as he should!

It's easy to get lost in Shawn's rhythm when he's stroking his strings with his bare chest in full view  ...

And, dive into selfies like this where Shawn's washboard abs are up for grabs ...

The hottie with a body is currently on his "On The Road Again" tour -- Luckily if you haven't secured tix, you've got a front row seat to his hot shots gallery .. We'll see you in there!

Diddy isn't going to celebrate his release from prison with an arena tour -- his lawyer says his client will have more important personal matters to address.

Marc Agnifilo -- the lead lawyer from Diddy's legal team who got him acquitted on the 3 main charges -- clarified his comment to CBS News about a possible Madison Square Garden show.

Agnifilo tells us the team's top priority is getting Diddy a fair sentence so he can pay his debt to society as quickly as possible ... and, when he gets out, Diddy won't be focused on music.

Mike Tyson didn't come out victorious in his fight against Jake Paul and is now facing another bout -- a legal one brought by producer Ty Fyffe who claims Iron Mike didn't have permission to use his hip hop banger featuring Jay-Z, DMX, and Ja Rule in his promo video before the fight!!!

According to docs obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, Fyffe says he's the co-writer and producer for the 1998 track "Murdergram," from Jay's "Streets Is Watching" soundtrack.

Apparently, Fyffe was watching the placements too.

The microphone Cardi B infamously threw at a fan in Vegas that's at the center of a new lawsuit is up for sale again -- any takers???

If you recall, Scott Fisher, the man who previously owned and listed the microphone, put it up for auction and the winning bid went for $100K ... yet the sale went kaput after trolls were revealed to be driving up the bids.

The mic ended up selling for $2,550 and the new buyer is testing its worth ... hoping to net up to a $1 million for the mic -- but he's of course willing to field any offer that makes cents!!!

Machine Gun Kelly’s making it loud and clear -- Megan Fox is the real MVP when it comes to their newborn, Saga Blade Fox-Baker ... and he’s got a hilarious story to back it up.

MGK stopped by "Today with Jenna and Friends," sharing that Mama Fox was recently fuming when someone praised him as being a "good dad" for doing the bare minimum:  holding the baby.

MGK explained Megan was quick to shut down the dad applause -- and it's clearly something he agreed with... saying all he really does is play the guitar and hope the baby’s happy, while Megan’s the real MVP doing all the heavy lifting.

BET Networks has decided to suspend both its Hip Hop and Soul Train Awards as the streaming era surges -- an act of racially-divided gentrification in Fat Joe's eyes!!!

Fat Joe hosted the BET Hip Hop Awards for the past 3 years, and he didn't bite his tongue discussing his newfound job opening slot with Jadakiss on their podcast.

The way Joe sees things, BET's decline started all the way back in 2001 when Robert Johnson sold the network to Viacom for $3 billion.

The two men suing Kodak Black claiming they were shot alongside him during that ill-fated Justin Bieber-hosted Super Bowl after-party in 2022 are trying to score a $10.6 million default judgment ... but the rapper's attorney says it's just a shameless money grab.

Kodak's lawyer Bradford Cohen tells TMZ Hip Hop ... "We are not paying them a thing -- it's us who are the victim of a legal assault by these two people."

Cohen highlighted that Kodak was never properly served and they only found out about the lawsuit yesterday when a media outlet reach out to them.

The incident was a wild-wild-west scenario that luckily resulted in no casualties ... Kodak, Mark Schaefer, and Adam Rahman were all shot outside of The Nice Guy nightclub in Hollywood after Super Bowl LVI ended and the streets filled with crowds.

Kelly Clarkson is putting her Las Vegas residency on ice again ... because her ex-husband, Brandon Blackstock, is sick.

The singer jumped on Instagram Wednesday night and posted this message, “While I normally keep my personal life private, this past year, my children’s father has been ill and at this moment, I need to be fully present for them." Clarkson did not reveal Blackstock's specific illness.

Kelly was married to Blackstock from 2013 to 2022 before they got divorced. They share 2 kids — River, 10, and Remington, 8.