TMZ Hip Hop - Page 4

The Game is halfway recovered from his birthday bash over the weekend, but he's ready to rap 'n roll with his upcoming DJ Drama-boosted mixtape ... featuring the track "The Assassination of Candace Owens"!!!

The song's title raised plenty of eyebrows when the Compton rap legend released the track list for "Every Movie Needs a Trailer," produced by Mike & Keys.

Candace has been claiming that French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, have put a bounty on her head on her podcast for weeks ... and The Game tells TMZ Hip Hop he metaphorically took her conspiracies and flipped them into a song.

The mystery of POORSTACY's death is deepening ... police released 911 audio that leaves us with more questions than answers about what exactly happened to the musician.

TMZ exclusively obtained the audio clip from the Boca Raton PD, which notes the "redacted file" had "all investigative information removed" ... leaving people to continue to wonder how he died.

As we reported ... sources with direct knowledge tell us POORSTACY died by suicide after shooting himself ... but his family flat-out disputes that and believes foul play was involved.

Rapper POORSTACY's death in Florida was a suicide ... TMZ has learned, but some of his family members feel it was something more nefarious.

Multiple sources with knowledge of the investigation tell us POORSTACY shot himself Saturday morning in a Boca Raton hotel room, but initially survived. He was transported to a local hospital, where he died Monday, after being taken off life support.

Police have yet to officially release the cause of death, but we're told the rapper's family isn't buying it was suicide. One source connected to his family tells TMZ ... the family is disputing it was a self-inflicted gunshot wound ... and they suspect foul play.

LiAngelo Ball's third child was born recently ... something his ex, Rashida Nicole, said he didn't get to witness at her request.

Nicole shared the news via Instagram on Tuesday ... explaining in a "transparency post" that she spent the final five months of her pregnancy alone before welcoming Lilo Legacy to the world.

"I chose for my child's father not to be at my delivery," Nicole said. "That decision came after months of emotional pain, hurtful words, and complete absence during the most vulnerable season of my life."

Burna Boy had his emotions spiked after hearing about the mass shooting that destroyed a 2-year-old's birthday party last weekend in Stockton, California ... and he's stepping up to foot the bill for all 4 of the deceased victims.

The Afrobeats giant says he was taking in the story from "The Breakfast Club" and immediately reached out to Wack 100 ... who, in turn, connected him with Hollywood Unlocked's Jason Lee, who also serves as vice mayor of his hometown of Stockton.

Lee lashed out at the unidentified shooters, telling the Associated Press it's never been considered "gangsta" in the streets to assassinate children, and Burna Boy agreed and offered to pay for all the funerals. It's the very least he can do, considering the lifetime of pain the parents face ahead.

Drake is the most popular artist this year on Apple Music's massive platform, and Kendrick Lamar's Grammy-winning diss is its biggest rap song ... these guys can't escape each other!!!

On Tuesday, Apple Music rolled out the "'25 Replay," unveiling Drake as the top artist ... which was jump-started back in February following his "Some Sexy Songs 4 U" project with PartyNextDoor ... and carried into the tracks used during his "Iceman" album rollout.

The historic battle kicked off a year ago ... resulting in billions of streams and even a Super Bowl halftime show from Kendrick.

Toosii's showing he's the definition of a double threat ... because the rapper just committed to play football for Syracuse University as part of the 2026 signing class!

The performer revealed the big news by posting a set of photos on his Instagram account Monday, and he included a shot showing him posing next to Syracuse's head football coach, Fran Brown Jr.

Toosii -- legal name Nau'Jour Lazier Grainger -- really went the whole nine ... or, in this case, 100 yards with his announcement, as he wrote a lengthy statement in the caption thanking his supporters for believing in him as he pursues his athletic dreams.

He wrote he's excited to return to his hometown of Syracuse, New York, after moving down to North Carolina during his teenage years.

Toosii played wide receiver at Rolesville High School, and he'll be playing the same position with the Orange, reports CBS Sports.

The rapper -- whose track "Favorite Song" went double platinum in 2023 -- announced in August he's returning to football ... he reportedly visited both North Carolina State University and Duke University before committing to Syracuse.

Rihanna may have been wearing a dress Monday night, but it's clear she wears the pants in her relationship with A$AP Rocky!

Check out the clip we got of the singer and her other half at last night's Gotham Awards in New York City ... she tells A$AP she's heading to the exit, but he seems caught up in the crowd and extends his hand out to her.

She gets a bit snappy back -- we can't tell exactly what she says, but it appears she's ready to leave and would like the "Sundress" rapper to follow along.

The Game got on his soap box at his birthday party ... grabbing the mic and telling the world to free Diddy and R. Kelly ... and then he started talking baby oil and urination ... and it's all on video.

TMZ obtained footage from The Game's Friday night birthday bash in Hollywood, and you hear him voice support for a couple of infamous musicians ... Diddy and Kelly.

The Game gets bolder and bolder as he spouts off into the mic ... making light of all the baby oil and urination aspects of the Diddy and Kelly trials ... as some R. Kelly music starts to play.

The Chicago Bulls took two L's during the Black Friday matchup against the Charlotte Hornets ... in the actual game and in the fan department, after DaBaby exposed a couple of fair-weather fans as bigger supporters of his than of the team!!!

DaBaby was spotted strolling through Spectrum Center when a female fan asked him to take a pic -- which he happily obliged.

The guys she was with, however, were draped in Chicago Bulls jerseys and DaBaby flat-out refused to flick it up until they stripped them off ... they agreed without blinking.

Shaggy was one of the handful of musicians who rushed to aid Jamaica with resources and awareness to the destruction caused by Hurricane Melissa ... but the country isn't out of the danger zone yet!!!

TMZ caught up with Mr. Boombastic in NYC last week ... the reggae legend was on another awareness mission for a big fundraising relief concert going down there next month.

Shaggy kept it real ... his and the existing efforts have gone a long way, but says 60-70% of the island is still without electricity or water, and things might not bounce back until February -- whatever you're seeing online is 100% worse!!!

Sean "Diddy" Combs is steaming mad at Netflix and 50 Cent ... because he's going scorched earth on a new docuseries that's about to hit the streaming service.

In a statement, Juda Engelmayer, a spokesperson for Diddy, tells TMZ ... "Netflix's so-called 'documentary' is a shameful hit piece" and "confirms that Netflix relied on stolen footage that was never authorized for release."

As you know, 50 promoted the docuseries Monday on "Good Morning America" before its Tuesday release on Netflix, and he previewed never-before-seen footage of Diddy recorded just prior to his September 2024 arrest.

50 also had a very different view on what Diddy's reaction would be to the series, saying the music mogul would think it was "amazing" and "the best documentary I've seen in a long time" with the exception of some bits and pieces. 50 added that Diddy would ultimately "see the truth in it."

Post Malone may have more on his mind than his recent Grammy nominations ... 'cause it looks like the singer is spending some downtime with a potential mystery woman ... and they're matching!!!

Eyewitness tells TMZ ... Posty was out shopping with the mystery woman and two bodyguards on Saturday at a local Trader Joe’s in Salt Lake City.

We're told the couple shopped for a while ... and even though people left him alone for the most part ... our source says the couple shared a few kisses while they browsed.

Megan Thee Stallion and Milagro "Gramz" Cooper's intense courtroom battle is over ... with a jury handing the superstar rapper a big win over her blogging nemesis.

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with Megan as she left the Florida courtroom Monday with her legal team and her former manager Travis Farris right after the verdict was read. As you'd expect, she said she was "happy" the legal ordeal was over.

The jury awarded Megan $75K in damages, which breaks down like this -- $15K for defamation, $8K for emotional distress, $50K for a deep fake porn posted online and an additional $2K for punitive damages and emotional distress.

Under Florida law, Milagro is also liable for Megan's legal fees, so she could be on the hook for way more than the $75K.

The bad news for Megan is we also caught up with Milagro ... who told us she's unsure she can foot that bill.

Papoose wants ALL THE SMOKE with the hip hop music he considers trash and poisoning the culture -- and flipped a full 11-minute mini movie to prove his point!!!

The veteran MC collaborated with producer Sean2 Miles, and for their 5-song EP, "Bars On Wheels: A Journey To Save Hip Hop," and spliced together all the music videos for a full cinematic blowout.

Directed by Daniel Curtis Lee, and presented by Wynn Records -- where Pap serves as its Head of Hip Hop -- Pap morphs from rap pusher, to Hip Hop cop, to ambulance spot rusher, to rap ambusher ... all the way down to the Undertaker lowering the casket 6-feet deep.

Rapper POORSTACY is dead ... and it sounds like he may have taken his own life.

The death of POORSTACY -- legal name Carlito Milfort -- was confirmed by the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner ... the Boca Raton Police Dept. told TMZ he died early Saturday in the city.

A Boca Raton hotel worker tells TMZ ... POORSTACY was transported to a local hospital for a medical emergency Saturday morning ... he was the only one hospitalized. We're told the rapper had been staying for 10 days at the hotel ... he had checked in with a woman and a toddler. No one else was reported injured Saturday.