You Might Want to Rethink

Drake's music might technically be considered "rap" if you had to throw it in a genre bin -- but Yasiin Bey (aka, Mos Def) says it ain't pure hip hop as far as he's considered.

The legendary MC recently sat down for an interview on "The Cutting Room Floor" ... where the host asks him straight up if he considers Drizzy to be "hip hop," which made for a fascinating exchange. Long story short, no ... Mos doesn't think Aubrey's in the circle.

Check out the video to see his full response on this ... 'cause it's pretty brutal. MD says Drake's tunes are like shopping music -- namely, friendly/easy to listen to and digest ... perhaps with a little edge every now and then.

He also uses Target to make his point here ... noting Drake, by and large, is as mainstream and commercial as they come, and calling him pop more than hip hop. Yeah, it's harsh.

Mos had even more to say on the topic ... rhetorically asking if Drake actually challenges his audience with art they might not necessarily enjoy -- going on to suggest that everybody thinks Drizzy's music is always "great," and that there's a lot of pom-pom cheering.

Of course, this has been a raging debate forever now -- with hip hop purists constantly s****ing on Drake as too soft for their taste ... and now, a hip hop great is piling on.

Drake has defended himself on this issue, and yes ... he's proven he can spit with the best of them, so his hip hop bona fides have been proven. Still though, it sounds like he continues to be considered a little too pop-y for some of his contemporaries... which is fine.

Fact is, he's one of the most famous artists in the world, and he's wildly wealthy too. You trade one thing for the other, we suppose ... mass appeal is pretty freaking profitable.🤷🏽‍♂️

Donald Trump just got a cosign on his upstanding character -- but he received it from none other than a notorious mobster in Sammy the Bull ... and yet, he's still pretty thankful.

The ex-Prez sent a shoutout to the former Gambino crime family underboss on Truth Social -- reacting to a clip of an interview Sammy recently did on VladTV where he discussed once trying to "get to" DT back in the day ... when he was just a big-time developer in NYC.

As Sammy explains, he was able to press a lot of real estate dudes in the game during that time and have his way with them ... but, apparently, Donny himself wasn't having it.

STB goes so far as to say that despite repeated attempts to get into business with Trump -- and getting rebuffed at each stop -- he decided Don was "legitimate" and moved on. It's certainly an interesting anecdote, but Trump loved the "praise" ... and made it known online.

Trump wrote in response, "Thank you to Sammy the Bull. I hope Judges Engoron & Kaplan see this. We need fairness, strength and honesty in our New York Courts. We don’t have it now!" The robes he's referring to here are the ones overseeing a couple of his cases at the moment, BTW ... he seems to think they need to take a cue from Sam on morality.

1. Of course, the backdrop to this is Trump being in court on a number of different fronts as we head toward the '24 election. He's being prosecuted criminally, and being sued civilly too.

NY's Attorney General, Letitia James, for example claims DT is totally corrupt and a very shady business guy ... something she and her team have been trying to prove in court.

Donald Trump acaba de recibir un espaldarazo de su íntegro carácter, lo recibió de nada menos que un notorio mafioso, Sammy the Bull, y aun así está muy agradecido.

El ex presidente le envió un saludo al ex jefe de la familia criminal Gambino en Truth Social, como reacción a una reciente entrevista de Sammy en VladTV donde habló de cómo intentó contactarse con Donald Trump en su momento, cuando era solo un gran promotor en Nueva York.

Como Sammy explica, él fue capaz de presionar a un montón de tipos en el juego de los bienes raíces en ese entonces y pudo negociar con ellos, pero, al parecer, con el propio Donny no pudo conseguirlo.

STB  fue tan lejos como para decir que a pesar de sus repetidos intentos por hacer negocios con Trump -y ser rechazado en cada intento- decidió que Don era "legítimo" y siguió adelante. Es sin duda una anécdota interesante y a Trump le encantó el "elogio", tanto que lo hizo saber en línea.

En respuesta, Trump escribió: "Gracias a Sammy The Bull. Espero que los jueces Engoron y Kaplan vean esto. Necesitamos justicia, fuerza y honestidad en nuestros tribunales de Nueva York. Ahora no la tenemos". Los jueces a los que se refiere son los que están supervisando algunos de sus casos en este momento. Por cierto, parece pensar que deben seguir el ejemplo de Sam en cuanto a moralidad.

Por supuesto, el telón de fondo de todo esto es que Trump está en la corte por distintos frentes a medida que nos dirigimos hacia las elecciones 2024. Está siendo procesado penalmente y también demandado civilmente.

El fiscal general de Nueva York, Letitia James, por ejemplo, afirma que Donald Trump es totalmente corrupto y un hombre de negocios muy sombrío, algo que ella y su equipo han estado tratando de demostrar en los tribunales.

Playboi Carti had his spot blown this week ... body cam footage of the enigmatic rapper being arrested in September 2022 for driving over 133 miles per hour on Atlanta's I-75/85 Southbound Expressway leaked online.

TMZ Hip Hop obtained the police report from the incident ... Carti was slapped with multiple traffic violations, including reckless driving ... a case he tried to plead with the arresting officer to no avail.

Carti told the officer he was driving like greased lightning because of an emergency getting to the airport, to which the officer informed him that driving 133 MPH in a 55-mile-per-hour zone, was a hazard in itself and placed him in the back of his vehicle.

According to the docs, a search of his car also found a Glock handgun on the passenger seat, along with an extended mag in the weapon but no round was chambered.

The firearm was legally registered to Carti and his background check revealed he was not a convicted felon ... his uncle later arrived on the scene and took possession of the weapon at Cart's request.

A somewhat funny moment also occurred when Carti was booked ... a fan recognized him through his face mask and openly admitted Carti was his fav rapper in the whole wide world!!!

We checked the records and Carti emerged with a clean slate from the incident ... which wasn't the case that following December.

The poor dog thrown out of a moving car during a police pursuit in Los Angeles is not being returned to its owner for the time being ... instead, it'll be staying with a local humane society.

Daniel Pena -- the animal control supervisor at the Inland Valley Humane Society & SPCA -- tells TMZ ... the pooch will remain in their care, for now, while an investigation into Thursday's incident plays out.

As we reported ... the dog was tossed out of the window of some scumbag's truck Thursday as the driver was leading police on a high-speed chase.

Cops tell us the suspect is a 47-year-old man named Robin Luna and the chase started with a reported vandalism.

The guy was initially charged with felony evading but now we're told prosecutors are going to tack on animal cruelty charges.

As a result, the SPCA says the dog will remain in protective custody with them until further notice.

Ryan Shazier is officially calling things off with Michelle Shazier ... filing for divorce from his longtime partner less than two months after she publicly accused him of cheating.

According to court records obtained by TMZ Sports, the former NFL star filed the docs on Wednesday.

No further details surrounding the matter were revealed, however, as a court has ordered the case to be sealed.

An attorney for Ryan declined to comment when we reached out on Thursday.

As we previously reported, Michelle went scorched earth on Ryan back in late November, claiming he sent raunchy texts to another woman.

The messages, she said, showed Ryan flirting ... before sending links to books filled with sexual content.

"Infidelity at its finest!" Michelle said in a caption on her post of the images of the messages. "I can't sit here and keep hiding anymore . You can have it. I deserve better. 🤍 This is Ryan… he’s a liar and a cheater!"

Ryan said in a statement to TMZ Sports at the time of the allegations, "Michelle and I have been living apart and are currently separated. As we work through what comes next for our family, I ask for privacy and prayers."

Jenelle Evans' husband, David Eason, is now facing a more serious charge in his criminal child abuse case as it pertains to her teenage son ... and the charge itself is troubling.

An official at the Columbus County Courthouse in North Carolina confirms to TMZ that Eason's charges have, in fact, been recently updated ... and it's bad news for him because now he's got a felony that he's facing.

We're told that, as of right now, he's in their system with one count of misdemeanor child abuse and one count of felony assault by strangulation.

Before this, we'd been told that David was facing just a single charge -- misdemeanor child abuse -- but now ... that's changed, and it appears as if a new one has been added ... which perhaps isn't surprising based on what allegedly happened.

TMZ broke the story ... law enforcement in NC accused David of roughing up Jenelle's 14-year-old, Jace, in late September and the injuries he allegedly sustained included marks on his arm and neck.

It appears that as the investigation continued, officials determined a separate strangulation charge was warranted -- which just ups the ante on the case. Of course, we'd been told there was a possibility Jenelle herself might possibly be charged in connection to this too ... but that apparently hasn't happened yet.

Speaking of Jenelle ... she was airing some grievances of her own on social media Friday -- teasing the possibility of doing a doc about her own life ... and inviting production people to hit her up for the opportunity to collaborate.

Gary Busey has that dog in him ... as in, he's pissing in public without a care in the world.

The veteran eccentric actor was spotted pulling down his sweatpants and relieving himself Thursday out in Malibu ... urinating on a bush along a wall near a newsstand, and certainly not trying to keep it low-key. Unclear where exactly he's at -- looks like a lot of some sort.

Gary apparently felt a tingle below the belt and had no other choice but to rock a whizz at that instant ... 'cause that's exactly what he did. He even looked around a bit, but there was no shame in his game -- seriously, just look at that impish smile he's got on here.

The pee-pee seen around the world will only add to Gary's many memorable Malibu moments ... the 79-year-old is developing a bit of a reputation of late as a bit of a wild man around those parts.

Remember ... back in September, Gary was accused of a hit-and-run. A woman claimed he hit her car in a Malibu parking lot and she chased him down only for Gary to blow her off and drive away.

Gary didn't face any charges for the car incident ... and it will be interesting to see if there are any consequences for this very public bathroom break. Feels like if no one caught him in the act right then and there, he might be fine in this instance. Still ... yeesh 😬.

Gary Busey fue encontrado orinando en público sin una preocupación en el mundo.

El veterano actor fue visto bajándose los pantalones y haciendo sus necesidades el jueves en Malibu, orinando en un arbusto a lo largo de una pared cerca de un quiosco de prensa.

Gary aparentemente sintió un cosquilleo por debajo del cinturón y solo tenía que hacer pis en ese instante... aunque parece que le causó gracia, basta con ver esa sonrisa pícara.

Todo el mundo pudo ver el pis y esto se sumará a los momentos memorables de Gary, el hombre de 79 años de edad está desarrollando una reputación de hombre salvaje últimamente.

Recordemos que en septiembre Gary fue acusado de un atropello con fuga. Una mujer afirmó que él golpeó su carro en un estacionamiento de Malibu y ella lo persiguió solo para Gary se fuera conduciendo.

Gary no se enfrentó a ningún cargo penal por el incidente del carro y será interesante ver si hay alguna consecuencia por esta ida al baño tan pública. Da la sensación de que si nadie lo atrapó en el acto, podría salir de esta.😬

Blac Chyna a.k.a. Angela White's mother Tokyo Toni is sneaking behind her back hoping to get into her daughter's ex-boyfriend's pants ... at least that's what these leaked DMs suggest.

Chyna and rapper Lil Twin Hector dated for a couple of years before breaking up in 2020 but on Thursday he confirmed his claims that Toni was sending him explicit DMs on Instagram -- by posting the explicit DMs on Instagram for all the world to see.

Very nasty work on display ... Toni initially hit up Twin, apparently threatening to take a flight just to beat up her daughter, which prompted Twin to send her a passionate message asking to fill her heart with love.

It turned out to be bait for a thirst trap ... Tokyo swore up and down Chyna was jealous of her natural body and then bared it all in the DMs in an attempt to arouse Twin.

The breaking point for Twin came when Tokyo sent him a clip of her while covered in blankets ... and pounding on her poom-poom.

Hector was so disgusted that he made a diss track/video titled "Ms Toni" and included the DMs as visual evidence.

La madre de Blac Chyna a.k.a. Angela White —Tokyo Toni—, se está escabullendo a sus espaldas con la esperanza de meterse en los pantalones del ex novio de su hija, al menos eso es lo que sugieren estos mensajes filtrados.

Chyna y el rapero Lil Twin Hector salieron durante un par de años antes de romper en 2020, pero el jueves se confirmaron las afirmaciones de que Toni le estaba enviando mensajes explícitos por Instagram... publicándolos para que todo el mundo los vea.

Es algo bastante subido de tono... al parecer, Toni amenazó a Twin con coger un vuelo solo para darle na lección a su hija, lo que provocó que Twin le enviara un apasionado mensaje pidiéndole que llenara su corazón de amor.

Resultó ser una trampa... Tokio juró una y otra vez que Chyna estaba celosa de su cuerpo natural y luego atacó con mensajes en un intento de excitar a Twin.

El punto de ruptura para Twin llegó cuando Tokio le envió un video de ella mientras estaba cubierta de mantas.

Héctor estaba tan disgustado que hizo un video titulado "Ms Toni" e incluyó los mensajes como evidencia visual.

A la hija de George Carlin no le causa gracia el nuevo especial de comedia generado por IA con el objetivo de traer a su famoso padre de vuelta a la vida... porque asegura que el proyecto carece de alma.

Kelly Carlin-McCall se unió a nosotros en "TMZ Live" el jueves y le preguntamos sobre el nuevo especial de IA —"George Carlin: I'm Glad I'm Dead"— que cuenta con una versión robótica de su padre haciendo standup.

La hija de George dice que el programa de IA tiene el nombre de su padre, pero ahí acaban las comparaciones. Dice que el ordenador estropeó la cadencia cómica de su padre, y simplemente no capta la magia como él lo hizo una vez.

El programa de IA está disponible en YouTube, pero Kelly dice que su problema no es el dinero, señalando que Carlin tiene montones de presentaciones disponibles para ver gratis.

Para la hija de George, el gran problema es más sobre la eliminación completa del elemento humano.

Kelly dice que el programa se basó en las viejas bromas de George para tratar de formar su opinión sobre temas de actualidad: Donald Trump, la tecnología, las personas transgénero, reality TV, etc. Pero dice que es básicamente un ejercicio sin alma.

Dudesy es la plataforma de IA que está detrás del programa y Tom Brady ya ha conseguido que su propio especial de comedia generado por IA sea retirado de Internet. Kelly dice que está considerando la posibilidad de emprender acciones legales.

George Carlin's daughter is not laughing at a new AI-generated comedy special aiming to bring her famous father back to life ... 'cause she says the project straight up lacks soul.

Kelly Carlin-McCall joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday and we asked her about the new AI special, "George Carlin: I'm Glad I'm Dead" -- which features a robot version of her father doing standup in what's being called a whole new set from the man himself.

George's daughter says the AI program has her dad's name, but that's about where the comparisons end ... she says the computer botched her dad's comedic cadence, and just doesn't capture the magic like he once did.

The AI show is available on YouTube but Kelly says her bone to pick isn't about money ... pointing out GC has tons of shows available to stream for free.

For George's daughter, the big issue is more about completely removing the art form's human element.

Kelly says the program drew on George's old jokes to try and form him opinion on contemporary topics -- Donald Trump, technology, transgender people, reality TV -- but she says it's basically a soulless exercise.

Dudesy is the AI platform behind the show, and Tom Brady's already successfully gotten his own AI-generated comedy special removed from the internet. Kelly says she's considering legal action and might pick the brains of TB12's lawyers.

FKA Twigs recently did a Calvin Klein campaign where she showed a little skin -- which was apparently too risque for the United Kingdom ... but she's calling it BS, and outright unfair.

Here's the deal ... the singer is one of the newest faces for the famed fashion line, and one of the shots that was released as part of her campaign has actually gotten censored in the UK -- all thanks to a government agency known as the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

According to them, this specific ad featuring FKA violates one of its provisions in that it could "present her as a stereotypical sexual object" ... this because the pic places "viewers' focus on the model's body rather than on the clothing being advertised." They go on to say that this image is likely to cause serious offense ... so they're completely yanking it in public.

The photo in question shows Twigs butt naked -- but covered up with a denim shirt of some kind, which is draped over her ... and some side-boob showing, as well as some butt/thigh.

It's not the raciest shot in the world, and yet ... it seems to have been too much for the Brits. FKA came out and slammed the decision, saying she sees herself as a strong woman of color in this photo -- while going on to suggest there are double standards at play here.

She might have a point ... there's another recent Calvin Klein ad with Kendall Jenner -- where she too is somewhat topless -- that's been running in the UK without issue.

Of course, there's also the Jeremy Allen White campaign that dropped last week -- and we're sure that's getting a ton of play across the pond. Unclear if FKA thinks this enforcement on her pertains to race, sex or both ... but in any case, she feels she's getting a raw deal.

She writes, "i am proud of my physicality and hold the art i create with my vessel to the standards of women like josephine baker, eartha kitt and grace jones who broke down barriers of what it looks like to be empowered and harness a unique embodied sensuality."

FKA Twigs hizo una campaña para Calvin Klein recientemente donde mostró un poco de piel, lo que al parecer fue demasiado para el Reino Unido, aunque ella está diciendo que todo es una estupidez y algo abiertamente injusto.

Esta es la cuestión, la cantante es uno de los nuevos rostros de la famosa marca de moda, y una de las fotos que se publicó como parte de su campaña ha sido censurada en el Reino Unido por una agencia gubernamental conocida como Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

Según ellos, este anuncio específico de FKA viola una de sus disposiciones, pues podría "presentarla como un objeto sexual estereotipado" al poner "el foco de los espectadores en el cuerpo de la modelo en lugar de la ropa que se anuncia."

Continúan diciendo que es probable que esta imagen cause una ofensa grave, por lo que han decidido retirarla completamente del público.

La foto en cuestión muestra el culo desnudo de Twigs, pero cubierto con una camisa de mezclilla de algún tipo sobre ella y un poco de su pecho, así como algunas nalgas y muslos.

No es la foto más sexual del mundo y, sin embargo, parece ser demasiado para los británicos. FKA salió a criticar la decisión, diciendo que se ve a sí misma como una mujer de color fuerte en esa foto. Además, sugirió que hay un doble estándar.

Ella podría tener un punto. Otros anuncios recientes de Calvin Klein con Kendall Jenner algo en topless, han estado funcionando en el Reino Unido sin problemas.

Por supuesto, también está la campaña de Jeremy Allen White que se lanzó la semana pasada, y estamos seguros de que está recibiendo un montón de atención al otro lado del charco. No está claro si FKA piensa que esta decisión sobre ella se refiere a la raza, el sexo o ambos, pero en cualquier caso, siente que está recibiendo un trato injusto.

Ella escribió: "Estoy orgullosa de mi físico y sostengo el arte que creo con mi recipiente (...) como Josephine Baker, Eartha Kitt y Grace Jones, quienes rompieron las barreras de lo que parece estar empoderado y encarnaron una sensualidad única".

Un editor de Hollywood está recibiendo malas noticias profesionalmente, debido a su reciente detención por poner en peligro a unos niños. A pesar de la especulación que va a seguir trabajando en un gran espectáculo de Amazon Prime... TMZ puede confirmar que está fuera.

Christopher Charkowski —de 39 años— fue detenido en el condado de Los Ángeles la semana pasada por un cargo de delito grave de crueldad intencional a un niño causando posibles lesiones o la muerte, y un video está circulando en línea que supuestamente lo muestra abusando del niño dentro de una casa.

Fuentes policiales nos dicen que este video de vigilancia que ha estado haciendo rondando por las redes sociales, se le ha presentado a las autoridades como parte de su investigación del caso. Los registros judiciales indican que el presunto delito se cometió en junio de 2022.

El caso fue archivado en noviembre, pero Charkowski no fue detenido y fichado por la policía hasta el 4 de enero. Lo que se muestra en este video es inquietante, por decir lo menos, y podría ser una pieza clave de las pruebas a medida que avanza este caso.

En el video se ve a un hombre perdiendo la cabeza y yendo a por lo que parece ser un niño pequeño. Se le ve poner las manos encima del niño, estrangularlo y posiblemente incluso darle algún puñetazo.

No está claro cuál es la relación entre el adulto y el niño, pero los oficiales tienen motivos suficientes para creer que es Charkowski quien aparece en el video.

Por cierto, ha sido puesto en libertad bajo fianza y las fechas para la corte están programadas.

Ahora, en cuanto a quién es Charkowski en el mundo del espectáculo, ha trabajado en post-producción para un montón de grandes programas de televisión. Más recientemente, editó el video de "Jury Duty", que dio de que hablar de la ciudad el año pasado, e incluso fue nominado en los Globos de Oro del pasado fin de semana.

Charkowski aparece como parte del departamento editorial de esa serie, y luego de que este video saliera a la luz, la gente ha estado clamando para que Amazon lo deje caer lo antes posible. Una fuente directa le dice a TMZ que Charkowski ya no está afiliado con el estudio.

Nos dicen que su papel en "Jury Duty" —que se extendió por 8 episodios— vino y se fue una vez que terminó la producción hace casi un año. Nuestras fuentes dicen que era un contratista externo al show, no un empleado permanente de Amazon/Freevee.

Desde entonces, nuestras fuentes dicen que no ha sido empleado de Amazon en absoluto y es seguro decir que no va a volver.

Otro espectáculo en el que ha trabajado durante mucho tiempo es Bravo "Below Deck Mediterranean", pero una fuente señala que no ha estado con ellos desde hace unos dos años.