TMZ.com

Nicki Minaj says she can't in her right conscience perform in Saudi Arabia later this month, so she's dropping out of the event ... due to personal concerns about human rights violations there.

The rapper made the announcement Tuesday, saying ... "After careful reflection I have decided to no longer move forward with my scheduled concert at Jeddah World Fest."

She added, "While I want nothing more than to bring my show to fans in Saudi Arabia, after better educating myself on the issues, I believe it is important for me to make clear my support for the rights of women, the LGBTQ community and freedom of expression."

Nicki was set to hit the stage there on July 18, but groups like the the Human Rights Foundation and others lobbied her to pull out in protest of the country's restrictive laws.

Women were only recently allowed to drive and attend sporting events in stadiums, but gender segregation is still a thing in Saudi Arabia. Same sex relations are also outlawed there.

Shameik Moore's studying hard for his role in the upcoming TV series about Wu-Tang Clan ... but he's not yet prepared to win a trivia contest about the iconic hip-hop group.

The actor -- best known so far as the voice of Spider-Man in 'Into the Spider-Verse' -- admits he had a lot to learn when he landed the role of Raekwon in Hulu's "Wu-Tang: An American Saga" ... but it seems he's still got a way to go.

We quizzed Shameik at LAX to see if he can name all the members, and he comes up a few short of the full 10. Check out the video to see who he missed, and before ya laugh ... could you do better?

To be fair, Moore says he's yet to meet the members he forgot, and it's clear he's totally immersed in playing Raekwon ... working closely with the rapper to emulate him as closely as possible.

Shameik also tells us he's become like family to RZA, who's one of the executive producers of the new series.

G-Eazy's hoping for a little less conversation and a lot more action ... leading to him landing the role of Elvis Presley in an upcoming movie about the music icon.

The rapper's not among the reported top names up for consideration to play The King in Baz Luhrmann's upcoming biopic, but sources close to the project tell TMZ ... he's making a strong push to join them.

We're told G-Eazy's been in talks with people at Warner Bros. and even had a few meetings, including with the director ... making it clear he's throwing his hat in the ring.

Our sources say G and Baz spent some time in NYC last month, and Eazy made his pitch to show Luhrmann how serious he was about portraying Presley.

He's not been shy about his desire to nab the role of the rock 'n' roll god either -- he shared these Elvis-esque shots of himself a couple weeks back with the caption, "Don't be cruel, to a heart that's true." All he's missing are some blue suede shoes.

So far, Baz hasn't revealed who he's leaning toward casting for the part, but 5 big names -- Ansel Elgort, Miles Teller, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Harry Styles and Austin Butler -- have tested for it.

G-Eazy's clearly hoping to shake things up and land the gig as his big foray to acting, but Hollywood's tough ... and it's possible he might end up at the Heartbreak Hotel -- sorry.

BTW -- Tom Hanks is already set to play Elvis' manager, Colonel Tom Parker, in the film.

Michael Blackson's got a pretty flip response to a black music and art festival charging white people twice as much to attend -- he says this is how it should be for everything.

The comedian's just joking, of course, when we got him leaving Penthouse Nightclub in WeHo Sunday night, but his roast of Detroit's AfroFuture Fest didn't stop there. He tells us it's obviously not right for the festival to make ticket prices higher for white people, but he uses another word for white people -- the "C" word. But, not THAT one. Watch.

In case you missed it ... Blackson's making light of a situation many people didn't find funny at all over the weekend -- the fest hosted by AfroFuture Youth was offering an early bird ticket price of $10 for people of color, but $20 for "NONPOC."

It was met with serious backlash, and rapper Tiny Jag pulled out of the music festival saying the race-based ticket pricing does not reflect her views.

AfroFuture has since decided to make ticket prices equal, claiming it was "For the safety of our community, family, elders who received threats from white supremacists, & youth who were subjected to seeing racist comments on our IG pg."

Slim 400 is finally out of intensive care after being shot up in Compton, but he's not out of the woods yet. 

Sources connected to the rapper tell TMZ that Slim was recently taken out of the ICU at the hospital he's being treated at, and that he's now in stable condition. That said, we're told Slim still has a long road of recuperating ahead of him. 

Our sources say he's expected to remain in the hospital for a good long while, despite initial expectations that he'd be making a full recovery in the coming weeks.

Considering he's undergone 4 surgeries since being rushed to the hospital -- after being shot 9 times in multiples areas of his body -- it's no wonder he'll be bedside for the foreseeable future.

We're told YG has come by to visit since touching down in L.A. last week -- when he told us he and his crew would respond to the shooting by staying "dangerous." Other folks have come to see him as well. 

Vanilla Ice walked into Zak Bagans' famed Haunted Museum a total skeptic ... and he walked out a believer after a bone-chilling encounter with a ghost!!!

The "Ghost Adventures" star tells TMZ ... Vanilla Ice hit up his Haunted Museum in Las Vegas last month, and FREAKED OUT when something blew on his neck! The spooky sensation went down inside a room containing 2 real human skeletons.

Check out the video of Vanilla's first experience with paranormal activity ... you see him sitting on a chair in the Odd Fellows room when he suddenly jumps out of his seat! Vanilla is clearly alarmed, so it's no wonder he told Zak he's never going back in that room.

The Odd Fellows room houses 2 skeletons in their original coffins, which were once used in very old, very bizarre Odd Fellows rituals. Their identities are unknown, but Zak says the remains were part of initiation rituals bringing recruits face-to-face with their own mortality. Scary stuff, for sure.

Stevie Wonder says he's putting a pause on touring to undergo surgery for a kidney transplant -- this amid rumors that he's now on dialysis. 

The legendary singer broke the news Saturday in England during his set at the British Summer Time Hyde Park music festival, explaining that he'd be doing three more shows before going on a hiatus to get the procedure done in September. 

Stevie says he's already found a donor, and assured the crowd ... "I'm all good, I'm all good, I'm all good."

People seemed shocked at first, but then erupted in applause after realizing that he was taking care of his health and would presumably be all right. He told them he came out to share his love, and wanted to get ahead of the rumor mill by announcing it himself. 

Prior to Saturday, word of Stevie's decreasing health was swirling ... as sources close to the singer told the Detroit Free Press that he was battling a "serious but manageable" health issue, and was taking steps to address it. The sources even said he's been traveling with a medical team of late.

A radio personality out of Philly claimed last month that he was suffering from kidney failure, and had already begun dialysis ... but that part hasn't been confirmed.

Taylor Swift losing out on the rights to her old tunes is a learning lesson for up-and-coming artists, so say two people who know that game all too well ... Ricky Bell and Sheila E. 

The musicians were asked about Taylor's feud with Scooter Braun Saturday at LAX, and they each had interesting insights on the biz. Short story long ... don't hate the player. 

Ricky -- who started with New Edition, and then went on to form Bell Biv DeVoe -- kicks things off by actually defending Scooter, saying he isn't really the bad guy here ... just a business man making a smart business move by snatching up Taylor's catalog. 

When presented with the idea of selling the songs back to Taylor, Ricky scoffs ... but offers up a compromise if she's truly interested in getting them back. 

You'll recall ... Scooter's purchase -- through his company, Ithaca Holdings -- caused quite a stir last week, invoking Taylor herself to lash out and call him a bully. The beef has somewhat divided the music industry ... some siding with Taylor, and others with SB.

Ricky and Sheila don't necessarily take sides here -- but they do both seem to acknowledge that signing away your music tends to be the nature of the beast for young artists. 

While Ricky says he doesn't know who owns NE or BBD's music, Sheila reveals she actually holds the rights to most of her catalog -- which is pretty amazing, prolific as it is.

It's interesting too ... Ricky and some of the other OG New Edition guys were in a trademark beef over the band name just a year ago, and Sheila famously collab'd with Prince ... who fought with Warner Bros. over ownership of his own music while he was alive.

Cardi B wigged out during her concert in London, and she's now issued a plea for the safe return of her faux hair!!!

Cardi was amazing on Friday headlining the first night of London's Wireless Festival, and she got so amped during her performance she ripped her wig off her head and hurled it into the crowd.

Cardi continued, wearing only a wig cap.

Thing is ... she's having some regrets, and wants it back. She tweeted her plea, but the jury is out on whether the fan who caught the flying hair will return it, keep it, or cash in on e-Bay.  

So far ... radio silence. Judging from social media, the sentiment is that Cardi needs to go wig shopping before her next concert. 

We don't see Kesha out much these days, so this caught our eye.

Kesha was walking through LAX Friday with boyfriend Brad Ashenfelter, and as you see ... the platinum blonde is gone ... she's gone brunette.

She performed last week at LoveLoud in Utah ... a festival benefiting LGBTQ+ charities. She said at the time, "We need to make sure that all LGBTQ+ people feel accepted and supported and that families have the support they need."

She went on ... "It's important to try to keep families together and having positive open-minded conversations, and, for me, to be a part of something that can continue building the bridge to create a safe space for everyone sounds like a beautiful opportunity.  A place that supports all people and all love."

Laverne Cox is super impressed Lil Nas X has come out, and she says other closeted gay hip-hop stars should take his cue. 

We got Laverne and actress Angelica Ross in WeHo Friday night leaving Delilah, and at first Laverne seems a little confused ... whether Lil Nas X came out or just insinuated he was gay. Angelica explained and Laverne then launched into how awesome LNX has handled it.  

She also made it clear ... there are closeted hip-hop stars who are afraid to own their truth. She hopes they find the strength to follow in the footsteps of Lil Nas X, but only when they're ready.

Eddie Money won't be back onstage anytime soon -- TMZ has learned the legendary rocker took a turn for the worse after surgery ... which has put him out of commission for the rest of 2019.

The heart procedure Eddie underwent toward the end of May went off without a hitch -- but his rep tells us he became ill during recovery. We're told Eddie has developed pneumonia, and as a result ... he's canceling the rest of his national tour. 

We broke the story ... Eddie was powering through his Memorial Day concerts, despite dealing with shortness of breath, and eventually got the doctor's orders ... he was told to hit pause on the shows, and undergo a heart valve procedure. 

At first, we were told he was set to hit the road again around mid-June ... but now, Eddie's taking the rest of the year off to fully recover. Can't blame him ... back-to-back ailments aren't easy on the body.

Not to worry ... we're told Eddie is on the mend and looking forward to getting back to work in 2020 to promote his new album, "Brand New Day," and the second half of his reality show, "Real Money," which airs on AXS TV. 

50 Cent tried shaming his former label mate, Young Buck, for once posing with Lil Nas X, but Buck's not falling for 50's homophobic antics.

Sources close to the former G-Unit MC tell TMZ ... Buck's photo with LNX -- which was posted back in June, well before Nas X came out -- wasn't meant to be anything more than fan appreciation. We're told Buck wanted to give the young rapper props for his newfound success. It wasn't a tease for a collab or anything. 

However, Fiddy decided to use Lil Nas' coming out as a chance to attack Buck. He reposted Buck's pic with the caption ... "New young Buck (Fresh Out the Barn) ft Little Nas X 🔥Coming July 4."

We're told Buck is unfazed by 50 Cent's attempt to diss and troll. Fact is, it's kinda old at this point, and Buck feels he's simply trying to drag him over a bogus contract from years ago.

Ex-Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach is chiming in on Taylor Swift and Scooter Braun's beef and he's got some advice for her ... grow up, then you'll realize you didn't get screwed. 

We got Sebastian and his wife, Hawaiian Tropic model Suzanne Le, out at LAX and got his take on Taylor blasting Scooter for scooping up her early music catalog at Big Machine Records.

Sebastian says Taylor's NOT being bullied, she's just too young to understand this is how the music biz works. The 51-year-old rocker adds the very contract she claims screwed her over is the the same one that helped her become a household name. 

SB says very few artists own their early music, and admits he's gone through the same thing. One thing's helped him come out the other end, though, and he thinks it'll work for T-Swift too.

Shawn Stockman is already predicting Lil Nas X will AT LEAST tie Boyz II Men's record for having the longest-leading No. 1 on Billboard's chart ... and he's stoked!!!

We got the B2M singer out Thursday at LAX and wanted to get his take on "Old Town Road" getting THIS close to setting a Billboard record. If ya didn't know ... Boyz II Men and Mariah Carey's "One Sweet Day" along with Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee and Justin Bieber's "Despasito" hold the record for longest-leading No. 1 at 16 consecutive weeks.

Lil Nas X's hot track featuring Bill Ray Cyrus is currently at 13 weeks and counting. Check out the vid ... Shawn's got ZERO qualms about the rapper taking over their spot. In fact ... he's rooting for the guy and already welcoming him to the "16 Week" club.

It's been one helluva ride for Lil Nas X, who in brave fashion on the final day of Pride Month told the world he's gay. He's been hotter than ever since "Old Town Road" ... most recently hooking up with Gordon Ramsay to fire up some paninis in London.

The famous chef had tweeted earlier this week he was blown away at hitting 10 million subscribers on his YouTube channel. The rapper responded, "teach me how to make paninis while i'm still in london." Gordon replied, "Name the day," and the rest was history.

Singer Joss Stone just had her dreams dashed of performing in every country in the world, because she was just booted from Iran.

Joss has performed in every other country in the world, including North Korea and Saudi Arabia. Iran was her last stop in her 5-year long quest.

The British soul singer says she knew the trip to Iran was problematic, since women can't perform at public venues. This is where it gets confusing. She suggests she was going to perform but it would not be a public concert, thus circumventing the prohibition.

Nevertheless, upon arrival she says she was detained by Iranian immigration authorities and deported the following morning.

Stone actually praises the people who detained her, saying they were "the most friendly charming and welcoming immigration people." She says they expressed regret to her that she would have to leave.

And, now the confusing part. She says, "We were the ones that should have been apologising for not having our correct paper work." This makes it sound like she might have been able to stay but for not getting the correct documentation.