Chris Brown's not fooling around in his beef with Quavo ... dropping a new diss track -- and invoking the name of Quavo's late nephew, and Migos star, Takeoff.
The singer-songwriter -- whose well-documented beef with Quavo's reignited in recent days -- put out his new track "Weakest Link" on YouTube and Instagram ... and, he's clearly going for Quavo's throat throughout the track. And, one of his biggest disses ... "R.I.P. Takeoff, he the only real one, I got true respect / Crazy how when he died, everybody really wished it was you instead" -- so yeah, Brown's taking the kid gloves off.
Kanye West Drops 'Like That (Remix),' Takes Shot at Drake, J. Cole
Kanye West's jumped straight into rap beef ... dropping a remix of Future and Kendrick Lamar's diss track "Like That" -- and, taking aim at Drake and J. Cole.
The controversial rapper shared a look at the new track -- titled "Like That (Remix)" -- on an episode of "The Download" hosted by his pal Justin Laboy ... playing the opening live on the show.
The opening features a line directly from the recently-released Future, K.dot, Metro Boomin track, "Like That" ... which many took as a response to Drake and J. Cole's hit song "First Person Shooter," igniting a pretty viral rap back-and-forth.
While Ye only played a little bit on the show ... a fuller track seems to have leaked online -- though it's unclear if this is what the final verse sounds like or if this is all fan/AI-made. But, assuming it's real ... Kanye takes a pretty ruthless dig at both Drake and J -- rapping, "Y'all so outta sight, outta mind / Can't even think of a Drake line / Play J. Cole get the p***y dry / Play this s*** back 130 times." But, assuming it's real ... Kanye takes a pretty ruthless dig at both Drake and J -- rapping, "Y'all so outta sight, outta mind / Can't even think of a Drake line / Play J. Cole get the p***y dry / Play this s*** back 130 times."
DRAKE BRINGS ‘2PAC’ & ‘SNOOP DOGG’ INTO KENDRICK LAMAR BATTLE WITH NEW AI-ENHANCED DISS
Drake has put more pressure on Kendrick Lamar with a second diss track within the span of a week, this time with some technological assistance.
On Friday (April 19), less than a week after “Push Ups” leaked online, the Canadian superstar amped up his feud with K.Dot with a new joint. Whereas the authenticity of his first counterattack was under speculation for a while, “Taylor Made Freestyle” openly embraces artificial intelligence with features from the computer-generated voices of 2Pac and Snoop Dogg to convey perspectives in addition to Drizzy’s — using lyrics that Drake wrote.
After using the two legends’ viewpoints to press his adversary to drop a response, the 37-year-old references Taylor Swift‘s new album and TDE boss Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith with the bars: “But now we gotta wait a fucking week ’cause Taylor Swift is your new Top/ And if you ’bout to drop, she gotta approve/ This girl really ’bout to make you act like you not in a feud/ She tailor made your schedule with Ant, you out of the loop.”
Soon after the track went live, Akademiks revealed during a livestream that he received a text from the “Hotline Bling” hitmaker that reads: “Ak, you know I was trying to come off tour and relax. N-ggas done fucked up my whole feng shui. Now I gotta eat until this debate is done.”
DRAKE EXTENDS LEAD AS SPOTIFY'S TOP ARTIST AS HE CLOSES IN ON 100 BILLION STREAMS
Drake has now passed 97 billion streams in Spotify, closing in on 100 billion streams as he continues his reign as the top artist on the platform.
The stats were revealed in a post from Hip Hop All Day on Wednesday (April 17), then verified via KWORB, which keeps track of streams and rankings for different platforms.
Among all genres, Bad Bunny is his closest competition at 78.5 billion streams. Rap-wise, Drizzy has more than double the streams of the next Hip Hop, which is Eminem at 46.8 billion.
In other Drake news, on Friday (April 19) he used the long-awaited official release of his diss-song-to-all-comers “Push Ups” to take another shot at Kendrick Lamar — this time via the song’s artwork.
“Push Ups” was uploaded to streaming services on Friday (April 19), and the cover art features a label for a shoe, showing a size 7. This is a nod to a line in the song mocking Kendrick: “How the fuck you big steppin‘ with a size-seven men’son?“
Drake continued the size dig in an Instagram Story he posted shortly after release. It included the cover art and the comment: “All platforms like the shoes you need…let’s get it bro.”
While Drake’s shoe size diss may be funny, it doesn’t appear to be accurate. Sneaker boutique RIF LA told Complex that K.Dot’s shoe size is a bit larger than that.
“Lol I’ve given Kdot dozens of free shoes and he’s a size 8.5-9 mens. One time he squeezed into a 9.5. Facts only,” the shop commented on an Instagram post the outlet made.
As a Result Of The Dissing, J. COLE'S 'MIGHT DELETE LATER' BECOMES HIS SEVENTH NO. 1 ON TOP R&B/HIP-HOP ALBUMS CHART
J. Cole‘s surprise drop quickly rises to the top of the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, with “7 Minute Drill” leading the pack.
Released to the surprise of fans on April 5, the album earned 115,000 equivalent album units in the tracking week of April 5-11, propelling it to the top of the chart, Luminate reports.
According to Billboard, streams dominated the debut week, chalking up a whopping 105,000 units. Meanwhile, traditional album sales contributed 9,000 units, while track sales sneak in with a mere 1,000. “7 Minute Drill” was the most-streamed and bestselling song of the project.
With Might Delete Later, J. Cole clinches his seventh No. 1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, joining previous chart-toppers like Cole World: The Sideline Story (2011), Born Sinner (2013), and 2014 Forest Hills Drive (2014) among others, leading up to the recent milestone.
QUAVO APPEARS TO RESPOND TO CHRIS BROWN DISS TRACK ‘WEAKEST LINK’
On his Instagram Story, the 33-year-old shared a recent shot of Young Thug in court for the ongoing YSL RICO trial, appearing to stare straight into the camera while looking fed up. The photograph has gone viral over the past week due to its resemblance to a trope popularized by mockumentary sitcom The Office.
SNOOP DOGG REACTS TO ‘HIS’ AI APPEARANCE ON DRAKE DISS SONG ‘TAYLOR MADE FREESTYLE’
“They did what? When? How? Are you sure? [Sigh] Y’all have a good night,” he said in a brief Instagram clip. “Why everybody calling my phone, blowing me up? What the fuck— what happened? What’s going on? I’m going back to bed. Good night.”
JILL SCOTT GOES TOE TO TOE WITH FANS AFTER PRAISING 'AMAZING' CHRIS BROWN
Jill Scott has been fighting for her life on social media after she praised Chris Brown, who has a long and storied history of violence against women.
Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Sunday (April 21), the R&B songstress appeared to be overly obsequious when describing Brown, calling him “amazing” and praising everything from his looks to his dance moves.
“@chrisbrown is amazing. How does ANYBODY sing like THAT? Dance, look, Act and Rap… like THAT? Beyond gifted. It appears, exceptional people have to go through exceptional [fire emoji]. There’s nothing to debate,” she wrote in the first post.
When fans began pushing back — with one saying that she could “never forgive me who commit crimes against women and children. They can not be rehabilitated” — Scott doubled down.
“And I caution those who refuse to forgive because they will undoubtedly need forgiveness at some point in their lives,” she continued. “We’re all flawed and need help. Power to people who move past violence. The past is a terrible reminder AND the future is ours.”
Kanye West Battery Incident, Rapper Hit the Wrong Famous Twin
The guy Kanye West allegedly punched in the face was one half of a set of twins who are big shots in the restaurant scene here in L.A. -- and we're told he hit the wrong one.
Eyewitnesses who were on the scene Wednesday morning at the Chateau Marmont hotel tell TMZ that what Kanye's team said about what happened -- namely, Bianca herself had been assaulted by the man who ran into her -- is totally off base and simply not accurate.
Here's what our sources tell us about how this went down, from their perspective ... a man accidentally bumped into Bianca in the hotel lobby, which they say was busy at the time. We're told it happened quickly, and the man went on about his way.
The guy went outside and sat at a table with friends, and we're told it was at that point Kanye approached them ... to confront the man.
At this point, we're told Kanye punched the guy in the face ... but here's the crazy part -- we're told he actually ended up punching the wrong dude -- because he's a freaking twin, and his brother was right there sitting with him as well. So, a mix-up.
Singer Carl Thomas Warns Ne-Yo About 3-Way Relationships
Ne-Yo is happily living his truth as a non-monogamous man -- but his R&B OG Carl Thomas is forewarning him that 2 heads aren't always better than one!!!
The "Because Of You" singer was turning heads in L.A. yesterday when TMZ Hip Hop caught him at The Grove with both of his girlfriends -- and, though he told us he's not looking to get hitched anytime soon, he IS loving the lifestyle!!!Carl's a little older than Ne-Yo but added his own 2 cents to the convo after The Shade Room reposted our clip -- he says he once entertained a throuple situation but says time and wisdom changed his ways.
Shyne Says He Was Fall Guy for '99 Shooting, But Doesn't Accuse Diddy
Shyne says he 100% was the fall guy in the 1999 NYC club shooting, for which he did time, -- and while the shooting victim is pointing the finger at Diddy ... Shyne isn't quite going there.
The ex-Bad Boy star -- who did about 8 years in prison over the infamous incident -- spoke to the media this week down in Belize ... where he's now an elected member of the House of Representatives.
It's fascinating ... Shyne says he's tried putting the whole saga behind him, but the renewed online buzz about it -- thanks to Rodney Jones' lawsuit against Diddy -- has opened old wounds, but he's maintaining his innocence.
Shyne has been on this drumbeat for years, BTW ... insisting he didn't do it and that he took the fall for someone else -- although, he once again stops short of blaming Puff.
And yet, if you listen to him here, he does urge folks to watch recent videos posted by Natania Reuben ... the woman who was shot 25 years ago in the nightclub.
If you haven't seen them yet ... Natania has posted multiple clips where she details the saga from her POV -- she was shot in the face, and makes no bones about accusing Diddy of pulling the trigger.
Natania says she's been telling this to anyone who'll listen since it happened -- even though Diddy was never charged for doing so.
The D.A. hit Diddy with gun possession and bribery charges, related to the incident -- but he was acquitted of all charges. Shyne, meanwhile, was convicted over the shooting ... and like we said, he served time.
You'll recall ... this all happened while Diddy and Jennifer Lopez were dating, and while she was present that night, she was not charged or accused of any crime.
Like we said, Shyne doesn't go so far as to cosign on Natania's remarks, even though he encouraged people to watch them.
GloRilla DUI Arrest on Body Cam Video, Does Multiple Sobriety Tests
GloRilla got put through the gauntlet of a typical DUI arrest -- having to do a bunch of field sobriety tests for the responding officer ... which we can now see on video.
TMZ has obtained the body cam footage from Tuesday night in Gwinnett County, GA -- where cops pulled her over and ultimately took her to jail and booked her on suspicion of driving under the influence, among other charges. Now, we can see exactly how the whole thing played out on camera -- and you can tell right from the get-go the officer here wasn't gonna let her off the hook, despite GloRilla insisting she was okay to drive. The cop wasn't buying that, and made her get out of the car. In the end, we know how this all worked out ... GloRilla was hauled to jail, where she posed for a mug shot and sat in the drunk tank until it was time to cut her loose.
Now, we can see exactly how the whole thing played out on camera -- and you can tell right from the get-go the officer here wasn't gonna let her off the hook, despite GloRilla insisting she was okay to drive. The cop wasn't buying that, and made her get out of the car.
NBA YOUNGBOY ALLEGEDLY IMPERSONATED A DOCTOR IN DRUG CASE, FACES RETURN TO JAIL
NBA YoungBoy‘s drug case continues to unfold following the rapper’s arrest in Utah earlier this week.
On Thursday (April 18), two different pieces of information about the case became public. The first is a police affidavit revealing the results of the investigation into YoungBoy’s alleged crime of being part of a prescription drug fraud ring.
Second, the whole reason he’s in Utah in the first place — his placement on house arrest while a federal gun case in Louisiana plays out — is in jeopardy as a result of his arrest.
The affidavit, which can be read in full here, shows that YoungBoy’s arrest was the result of a months-long investigation into a series of allegedly fake prescriptions for promethazine with codeine called in and, the document claims, picked up by YoungBoy and his associates.
YoungBoy’s alleged scheme worked like this, according to the affidavit: “A suspect calls in a prescription, claiming the identity of a real doctor and using a fraudulent patient name and birthday, all for Promethazine with Codeine. Sometime after the prescriptions are called in, they are filled and picked up by [YoungBoy and/or people referred to as ‘Known Associates’ 1 and 2].”
One big clue in the investigation was linguistic. The document describes an incident in early 2024 where a pharmacy received a suspicious prescription for a woman named “Gwendolyn Cox.” The pharmacy reports this to the police. While this is happening, two women who are allegedly “known associates” of YoungBoy show up to the pharmacy to pick up the prescription and are detained.
That leads to “Gwendolyn Cox” calling the police and attempting to straighten everything out. However, the officer notes, “Gwendolyn” gave the wrong last name and refused to provide a birth year or address. More notably, the document continues, “during the conversation with ‘Gwendolyn’ it was very clear that a fake voice was being used. ‘Gwendolyn’ sounded as though she was a much younger male from the southern states.” In addition, “Gwendolyn” used the word “axed” for “asked,” which the officer notes “is consistent with a southern dialect.” The next day, YoungBoy himself used “axe” for “ask” in a conversation with the same officer.
“This is similar to my conversation with ‘Gwendolyn’ the night before when ‘Gwendolyn’ used the same word,” the officer noted, leading him to believe that “Gwendolyn” and NBA YoungBoy were one and the same.
YoungBoy has been charged with 20 separate counts of “procuring or attempting to procure any drug/prescription,” in addition to 20 counts each of forgery and identity fraud.
In addition, “Gwendolyn” used the word “axed” for “asked,” which the officer notes “is consistent with a southern dialect.”
50 CENT HONORED WITH HIS OWN DAY IN SHREVEPORT AFTER OPENING G-UNIT FILM & TV STUDIOS
Last year, 50 Cent took out a 30-year lease on the movie studio as a base of operations for his burgeoning film and TV production company.
This revitalization of the studio is expected to have a positive effect on job creation, attracting talent to the area and contributing to the overall economic resurgence of Shreveport.
The studio officially opened on Thursday, with 50 posting pictures on Instagram of the rejuvenated studio, which is complete with G-Unit branding.
It’s reportedly the second biggest Black-owned production studio in the world.
