Music

Here's Nelly railing against a pit boss inside a casino after beefing with other players about how to PROPERLY play poker, and y'know it's serious ... 'cause nuts got involved!!!

We got this video of Nelly trying his luck Saturday morning at the Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut. He had a show there earlier in the night, which we're assuming went way better than this session at a Texas Holdem table.

Folks who were there tell us Nelly confronted another gambler about not knowing how to play the game ... insults started flying, and the pit boss got involved.

In our video, you see Nelly arguing with the pit boss and claiming another gambler told him to "get under my nuts." When the pit boss tells Nelly he didn't hear the alleged insult, Nelly goes nuclear!!!

Yes, it got hot in there ... but eventually cooler heads prevailed, and police did not get involved. The other gamblers cashed out and left the table, but not before Nelly seemingly dropped one final slam, "get off MY nuts!!!"

As Kenny Rogers put it ... know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em and know when to walk away while talking about your genitals.

Something like that.

Billie Eilish is living in the fast lane ... such is life after hauling in 5 Grammys.

The 18-year-old singing sensation headed to the desert in the most northern part of L.A. County where she met up with a ton of rocket bikers for a photo shoot. There was also a cake on the set though it's unclear if the crew was actually celebrating or if it was part of the shoot. Billie's birthday, BTW, is December 18. Just so ya know.

Anyway ... Billie's also rocking a ginormous Moschino jacket. Unclear if she's trying to make a fashion statement or, again, if it's part of the photo shoot. Either way, when you bring home Grammys for Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best New Artist and Pop Vocal Album of the Year ... wear whatever the hell ya want!!!

Chris Cornell's former bandmates are taking a stand against his widow ... insisting she's got the wrong idea about who owns a bunch of unreleased Soundgarden tunes.

Soundgarden is responding to Vicky Cornell's lawsuit, filed last year ... claiming ownership of 7 tracks she says she found on Chris' laptop after his death -- but the band says ... not so fast!

In new docs, they acknowledge there are unreleased songs but say they -- as a band -- had been working on them as far back as 2014. As evidence, they point to a February 2017 article where Chris himself spoke to Music Radar about Soundgarden's new material. He said, "We have a lot of interesting songs."

The operative word there being, "We" ... according to the band. According to the docs, Soundgarden got together in the studio in April 2017 to do more work on the songs. They acknowledge they took a break from polishing the songs later that month ... to go on tour.

It was during that tour, in May 2017, that Chris died by suicide.

Further, Soundgarden say they've corresponded with Vicky about the songs, and she's admitted they were the band's property ... not just Chris' solo work.

They also think she's filed her lawsuit in the wrong court -- a federal court in Florida -- because the band is based in Seattle. Therefore, they're asking a judge to dismiss Vicky's lawsuit or, at least, force her to refile in the proper district.

Kodak Black is pushing for a lighter prison sentence because he thinks the judge unfairly threw the book at him.

The rapper's attorney, Bradford Cohen, tells TMZ ... they'll be filing legal docs soon appealing the 46 months he got in his federal gun case. They're looking to get several months cut off that time, and here's why.

Cohen says Kodak shouldn't have been classified as a prior convicted felon at sentencing. He says Kodak's previous guilty pleas didn't result in convictions -- because under those deals there would be NO conviction on his record ... provided he met all the terms.

It's a technicality, but nonetheless Kodak believes that error opened the door for a harsher sentence.

We broke the story ... Kodak will likely be serving out his time in a federal prison in Kentucky, and as of now, he's slated to be free again on or around Aug. 14, 2022.

If his appeal is successful though, his team believes he could be out in late 2021. Of course, this is all under the assumption Kodak can stay out of trouble behind bars ... which ain't always easy to do.

Safaree and Erica Mena are beaming over their little bundle of joy ... and they're showing off their first child together like proud parents!!!

Erica just shared the super-cute snap on her social media ... and Safaree looks like he's loving the whole fatherhood thing. Remember, he's a #girldad now!

The 'Love and Hip Hop' star says she's "just here staring at my husband as he obsesses over our daughter. I thank God. I prayed for this life."

As we reported ... Erica turned tradition on its head by gifting Safaree some bling for the pregnancy, dropping nearly $50,000 on a custom diamond chain that comes with a white gold "Daddy" lock.

Erica and Safaree tied the knot back in October in a blowout ceremony at a castle in New Jersey ... and now they're starting their own family.

Brian McKnight's touching personal tribute to Kobe Bryant will make its way to the public eventually on a new album -- and just as sad ... it might be his last foray into music.

The R&B singer was on "TMZ Live" Monday to talk about writing the new tune, "Can't Say Goodbye" ... which he personally wrote and performed in honor of the late NBA superstar. He says he can't even remember writing it ... the lyrics just poured out of him.

Brian tells us he's never seen a death affect the world the way Kobe's did -- and that's taking MJ and Prince into consideration. To him, it just proves Kobe was THAT beloved.

He also told us, he'd gladly perform "Can't Say Goodbye" at Kobe's memorial service, if asked. We also asked him about releasing the track to the public -- and that's when he dropped a bombshell about his more than 30-year career. Brian says it's about to be a wrap, at least in the studio, after one more album ... which will include the Kobe tribute.

As for how serious he is about retirement -- we pressed Brian, and on a scale of 1 to 10 ... sounds like he's squarely a Cher.

Jennifer Lopez celebrated her epic Super Bowl Halftime Show with Shakira ... by boarding a yacht and conducting an informal poll -- was that the best ever??? Oh, and there was cake.

J Lo was hanging out Sunday night on JR and Loren Ridinger's yacht after the triumphant performance she and Shakira pulled off earlier in the evening. She quickly acknowledged what lots of other people were already saying ... that it might've been the G.O.A.T. of halftimes.

She's quick to point out that's what other people said -- not her necessarily -- and most everyone else around her backed her on that point. Yeah, we know ... they're a bit biased.

Jenny also got serious, talking about what it meant for 2 powerful Latina women to get up there on such a big platform.

With A-Rod right behind her -- and a ton of other celebs like Jamie Foxx, Fat Joe and others nearby -- Jennifer explained what the show meant to her, to moms and to her kids. Watch ... this clearly meant more to her than just another gig.

BTW, Jen was also flanked by a spectacularly designed cake by Divine Delicacies. We're told it was a multi-layered rum/tres leches pastry, with each tier repping an outfit from her show.

Madonna should've been on time for her recent concerts in NYC, because her tardiness screwed over a bunch of fans -- financially and otherwise, according to a new lawsuit.

The pop icon is being sued by a couple guys named Andrew Panos and Antonio Velotta, who claim they were forced to wait 2 to 3 hours for Madonna to take the stage on Sept. 21 and Oct. 1 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, the start time was supposed to be 8:30 PM for the Madame X tour stops, but things didn't actually get started until 11:30 PM on the September date, and 10:40 PM in October.

Andrew and Antonio say they were left high and dry on more levels than one. They claim the value of their tickets was greatly diminished, and more importantly ... they say they were left stranded at around 1 AM because they'd missed their scheduled trains or other rides home.

The guys claim the unannounced delay -- which they insist Madonna admitted was her fault -- ruined their plans for work and school the next day. They say they weren't able to arrange alternative rides since their phones were confiscated during the show.

Adding insult to injury, they claim Live Nation -- the company that put on the event -- wouldn't issue refunds to them after the fact. They also allege that the rest of Madonna's September and October shows followed the same pattern of tardiness. You'll recall a very similar class-action lawsuit was filed against Madonna this past November in FL.

These new guys are suing for breach of contract, loss of value, false advertisement and negligent misrepresentation. They're asking for damages and lawyer fees.

Future says he's sick and tired of his alleged baby mama talking about their sexual encounters with anyone who'll listen ... and now he's suing her.

The rapper just filed suit against Eliza Seraphin, the woman alleging Future fathered his SEVENTH child with her, for defamation and invasion of privacy.

According to the suit, obtained by TMZ, Future claims Eliza's sharing intimate facts about him from their private sexual relationship in order to gain clout and squeeze money outta him.

Future doesn't address whether he's the father to Eliza's child, but he says they had a sexual relationship from 2016 to 2018 and claims he never would have slept with her in the first place if he knew she would kiss and tell.

In the docs, Future claims Eliza gave a vivid description of his genitals during an interview on Rah Ali's Onsite on Stationhead and then blasted it out to her Instagram followers.

In the suit, Future also claims Eliza is spreading lies about him on social media -- like the time she claimed he hired someone to murder her because she wouldn't get an abortion -- and claims it's hurting his brand and causing substantial emotional distress.

Tekashi 6ix9ine plans to get the hell outta dodge once he's released from prison and bolster his security detail like no rapper ever before ... but it's going to be easier said than done.

The rapper's still months away from becoming a free man, but he's already looking toward his exit strategy ... according to sources close to him. We're told once he's out of lockup, he's bailing on Brooklyn, where he was born and raised, and hopes to live far away from NYC.

This decision is primarily based on his safety, but every move 69 makes will have to be approved by the federal probation department ... part of his sentence includes being monitored after his release.

Regardless, our sources say Tekashi will be putting security measures in place right away to keep people from knowing his location, but even if they find him ... he'll be protected by multiple bodyguards.

As for where his security team will come from, we're told the rapper only wants legit former law enforcement officers or ex-military who are licensed to carry firearms ... absolutely nobody with any sort of gang affiliation.

Ideally, we're told 6ix9ine would like to leave New York and live with family out of state ... in a home with "Fort Knox-like security."

It's unclear how he plans to bring this all together, especially since some of his former bodyguards have said no amount of money is worth it to protect Tekashi.

One more thing ... our sources say the rapper is committed to getting in the studio to complete the records in his music deal as soon as possible once he's out, but he's not planning on live performances.

The reasoning -- it wouldn't be safe for a snitch to try something like that for a long time.

We broke the story ... Tekashi's legal team thinks he could be released from prison as soon as August, so it's really not too soon to start planning his new life.

And, as we told you, that new life does not involve witness protection ... 69 doesn't want to go that route.

We reached out to his lawyer, Dawn Florio, about his post-prison plans ... she declined to comment.

And your Super Bowl weekend MVP goes to ... G-Eazy!!! Give the man some kinda trophy, 'cause looks like he scored in Miami with Meg Thee Stallion.

Meg and G were all over each other ... hugging and snuggling as he planted kisses all over her face. Unclear exactly where they were at the time of hook-up, but they were sprawled out on a couch with other people around at a party.

G-Eazy posted the selfie vid, because ... who wouldn't??!! We don't know if they're a legit couple or just a weekend one-off but sure seems like he wants it to be official. He posted a pic of her -- in the same outfit from their video -- and slapped 4 hearts on it.

TBH ... Meg was, arguably, paying more attention to the lens than G-Eazy in the video. So, if they're the real deal, she's gonna make him work for it. Deservedly so!

We're guessing Halsey won't be sending any congrats to her ex-BF. Looks like he found his new bae one day after Halsey -- who was also in MIA -- went off on a guy who heckled her by yelling G-Eazy's name.