Music

Michael Jackson may be remembered as the 'King of Pop' ... but his pal Lionel Richie remembers him as being one stinky dude -- literally nicknamed 'Smelly'!

The "American Idol" judge talks all about it in his new memoir "Truly," which debuted Tuesday. He writes the late Quincy Jones is the one who offered up the unique nickname ... and MJ didn't take it too personally as he laughed along, "realizing that he was oblivious to the fact that he hadn’t changed or washed his clothes for a couple of days or so."

Lionel says it wasn't the "Thriller" hitmaker's fault -- he was constantly on the road and he couldn't simply hire a dry cleaner, 'cause they would often steal his clothes as a souvenir! He also couldn't just drop by a department store for new clothes due to his level of fame, he further reasons.

Prosecutors currently want to bury Diddy under the jail for a decade, but West Coast rappers Jay 305 and Jay Anthony are championing the embattled Bad Boy's catalog for life -- the music means too much to the culture!!!

TMZ Hip Hop recently caught up with both Jay's outside the fresh fashion boutique Dover St. Market in DTLA, fresh off the release of their joint album, "No Guestlist."

The L.A. duo led off the LP with their banging single, "Dumb Dumb," which samples "All About The Benjamins" -- by way of The Jackson 5's "It's Great To Be Here" ... although the sample flip favors Diddy's classic.

Method Man and Havoc of Mobb Deep fame started collabing on an album before it got stalled during the COVID-19 pandemic, but now the Wu-Tang legend says work on the record is heating back up again!

TMZ interviewed Meth about the project and the hip hop legend told us he needed to tinker with the tunes a bit, so it never initially came out after it was plugged for release some time between 2019-2020 around the time of the pandemic.

Now, Meth has a well-timed update with the project set to be released soon -- and Meth and his team are currently boosting the track list!

Meth's revelation arrives perfectly for Mobb Deep fans ... as the rap group is set to release their 9th studio album, "Infinite," on October 10, through Nas' Mass Appeal Records.

If you needed another reason to hop on our "TMZ After Dark" tour (and trust, we’ve got plenty) -- Justina Valentine gave the ultimate sales pitch by turning the weekend into a full-blown rager!

The 'Wild N Out' rapper totally owned the crowd ... freestyling wild about everyone on the party bus -- like a private concert on wheels.

Check out the full vid ... Justina even dropped a bar about Ray J, who made a special -- and shirtless -- guest appearance during this night out in Hollywood.

It looks like Cat Stevens' "Peace Train" won't be crossing the Atlantic anytime soon ... because the singer's postponed the dates on his North American book tour due to visa issues.

The 1970's hitmaker, who also uses the name Yusuf Islam, shared the announcement on his Instagram account on Monday and claimed his team had waited months for their visas to be approved -- although the documents never came through.

Cat and his team are still holding out hope, though, as he stated they'd still be interested in heading to North America if their visa approvals eventually come through.

Keith Urban separated from Nicole Kidman and is already involved with a new woman ... at least that's what Nicole and Keith's inner circle and the Nashville community believes.

Multiple sources connected to Nicole say "all the signs point to the fact Keith is with another woman. Let's just say, Nicole doesn't dispute that, but she's still shocked over it."

One Nicole source adds, "It's all over Nashville."

Jared McCain was hitting the high notes after going under the knife on Tuesday ... crooning his favorite songs in a post-op karaoke session -- from Drake to Lil Baby, Sabrina Carpenter and Tate McRae!!

The 21-year-old shooting guard went on his Instagram right from his hospital bed ... saying he felt "really good" following his procedure to fix his UCL tear he suffered last week.

With his eyes half open, McCain hilariously treated his 1.9 million IG followers to a private concert.

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark has spoken ... and she wants Dolly Parton to play her in a biopic about her life!

Check out our chat with the actress -- she gushes that DP's got "all the assets they need" for her to portray her in a hypothetical film about her life. Hey Dolly, what do you think?

As you know, Elvira -- born Cassandra Peterson -- rose to fame in the '80s as the vampy, gothic host of "Elvira's Movie Macabre," where she would provide playful and often risqué commentary on horror films.

Lola Young is taking an extended break from the spotlight after she passed out during a performance over the weekend.

The "Messy" hitmaker announced on Instagram Tuesday she will be "going away for a while" and that all her shows will be canceled for the foreseeable future. She did not go into further detail about where exactly she will be going during this performance hiatus.

She thanked fans for their support but also apologized in her announcement, pleading ... "I really hope you'll give me a second chance once I've had some time to work on myself and come back stronger."

Latto swooped in at the 25th hour with a remix for Cardi B's new album's "ErrTime Edition" ... and admits to TMZ Hip Hop the process was strenuous, the payoff was worth it ... they're STUNTING on their female rap competition!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with Latto in NYC, looking like a "Dapper Daniela" while leaving "Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen" -- and we got the scoop on how the "Errtime (Remix)" came about ... the collab popped up a week after Cardi released "Am I The Drama?" straight to the top of the Billboard 200.

Latto tells us Cardi had her stressed with a 24-hour turnaround -- the song needed to be recorded, pressed, and sent back to make the next week deadline ... but she made it happen!!!

Malik Nabers wasn't letting a torn ACL keep him from seeing his favorite rapper, NBA YoungBoy ... the injured NY Giants star using crutches, and rocking a knee brace, pulled up to his concert in New Jersey!

The Pro Bowl wideout was spotted at the Prudential Center in Newark Monday night, where the "Outside Today" artist put on a show for his MASA (Make America Slime Again) Tour.

Nabers -- the 6th overall pick on the 2024 NFL Draft -- shared a pic on his Instagram story with YoungBoy after gifting him a signed No. 1 Giants jersey.

50 Cent has redeemed himself after his infamous 2014 first pitch at a baseball game ... by re-doing the throw at the mound at a Savannah Bananas baseball game while debuting a drink in the team's honor.

The New York rapper got his do-over over the weekend when he pulled up to the sold-out Bananas game at Daikin Park in Houston, Texas, performing his iconic single, "In Da Club."

After gettin' the crowd lit, 50 Cent threw the first pitch to kick off their game against the Texas Tailgaters ... and this time, it actually looked like he knew what he was doing.

The Kid Laroi's crew was involved in a recent brutal bar fight ... and we've learned it was security-on-security violence.

Here's the deal ... Kid dropped by The Pint bar in Nova Scotia after performing at Magnetic World in Halifax on Sunday night ... and that's pretty much right when the mess started.

See for yourself ... Kid Laroi’s security throws a wicked punch at a man who he'd been jawing with ... and TMZ is told that dude was an off-duty security guard who was taking pics of KL and got his phone swiped by Kid's manager.

Bad Bunny had plenty to celebrate this weekend -- spotted out partying at his own Miami restaurant just hours before being announced as the 2026 Super Bowl halftime performer.

The superstar hit up Gekkō, the trendy Brickell steakhouse he co-owns with nightlife mogul David Grutman, on Friday night. He turned the dining room into a scene straight out of one of his music videos!

We're told Bunny was all smiles as he strolled through the packed restaurant ... chatting with fans, posing for selfies, and soaking in the love from stunned diners. At one point, the entire room stood up to catch a glimpse of him, creating a full-on frenzy inside the hotspot.

For a few people, Bad Bunny at the Super Bowl halftime is a nightmare come to life -- and none are louder than sports columnist Jason Whitlock, who’s calling the NFL’s pick straight-up "demonic" and pledging to fight it every step of the way.

Jason went full force on "TMZ Live" Monday, claiming BB’s Super Bowl slot is anti-Trump trolling cooked up by Gavin Newsom and other Democratic California politicians ... all in response to the pro-Christian memorial for Charlie Kirk 2 weeks ago.

Watch the full clip -- Harvey and Charles push back on Jason’s demonic claim, asking if Morgan Wallen’s drinking and chair-throwing would earn the same label if he were performing instead.

Halsey's been in the game for well over a decade now, so hopefully you've come with some stamina on this fine Monday, 'cuz we're honoring Halsey's 31st birthday with her sexiest shots ...

Working hard onstage, the New Jersey native plays even harder when she's not bustin' out her husky vocals ... No one wakes up in lacey black lingerie like Miss Halsey ...

Slither into this snap of the sexy singer slaying snakeskin swimwear ... By the way, the hot mama has more than 30 tattoos ... Here's your lil' sneakypoo of her arm and leg tats ...