Kendrick Lamar made his presence felt at the 2024 BET Hip Hop Awards -- without being present -- snagging up 8 of the night's top awards!!!
The event was hosted by Fat Joe and held at Drai's Beachclub & Nightclub in Las Vegas for the first time ... 2 Chainz, Soulja Boy, Lola Brooke, Bossman DLow, LightSkinKeisha and many more graced the carpet.
Of course, Kendrick's battle attack against Drake made him considered the top dawg in rap by many this year -- and apparently, BET felt so too.
Kendrick was crowned Hip-Hop Artist of the Year, Lyricist of the Year, and Video Director of the Year with his pgLang co-captain Dave Free.
His record-breaking Drake diss "Not Like Us" was awarded Song of the Year, Best Hip-Hop Video, and Impact Track.
His bomb first guest appearance on Future and Metro Boomin's "Like That" got him Best Collaboration and Best Featured Verse trophies.
Nicki Minaj won Hip-Hop Album of the Year for "Pink Friday 2" ... Sexyy Red won the Breakthrough Artist Award ... The Alchemist won Producer Of The Year ... and there was even a political break for the election year.
Joe and Too Short interviewed Kamala Harris, who dissed Donald Trump over Project 2025.
Feds Oppose Diddy Bond Appeal, Remind Court He Offered Bribe Over Cassie Beating
The feds are adamant Diddy will menace or threaten witnesses or alleged victims if the judge lets him out on bail, because they say that's exactly what he did in the immediate aftermath of Cassie's beating.
The U.S. Attorney's Office is responding to Diddy's latest effort to get released on bail ... filing new docs to remind the judge what the defendant has allegedly done in the past to obstruct justice.
In the docs, they focus on the infamous Cassie beating video from March 2016 at L.A.'s InterContinental Hotel, where they say, Diddy was hosting a Freak Off.
Although, there's still no mention of Cassie by name, federal prosecutors describe everything we've seen in the video --
What prosecutors really want the judge to focus on, though, is what happened when hotel security approached Diddy after seeing the beating on surveillance cameras.
According to the docs, the Bad Boy Records founder attempted to bribe the hotel security officer with "a stack of cash in exchange for his silence."
Although, the security officer turned down the money, the feds say Diddy directed his staff to obtain the video, and "within days" it "disappeared" from the hotel's computer servers.
On Sunday, Diddy also filed a motion in federal court in his criminal case to “prohibit[] further extrajudicial statements from prospective witnesses and their lawyers that substantially interfere with Mr. Combs’s right to a fair trial.”
The anonymous plaintiff who says she was 13 at the time of Diddy’s alleged assault recounted how, in 2000, she was outside of Radio City Music Hall, attempting to get into the VMAs, when she was spotted by a limo driver who said she “fit what Diddy was looking for,” and offered to take her to an afterparty.
Upon arriving, she says she had one drink and “began to feel woozy and lightheaded, making her need to lie down.” Then she claims Diddy, along with a male and female celebrity, entered the room.
“Combs then threw Plaintiff toward another male celebrity, Celebrity A, who removed Plaintiff’s clothes as she grew more and more disoriented,” the complaint reads.
“Plaintiff was held down by Celebrity A who vaginally raped her while Combs and Celebrity B, a female, watched. After the male celebrity finished, Combs then vaginally raped Plaintiff while the Celebrity A and Celebrity B watched.”
Among the suits Buzbee’s firm filed last week was one from a John Doe who says he was 16 when, he alleges, Diddy sexually assaulted him at one of the star’s famous White Parties in 1998.
Gucci Mane Drops All 1017 Records Artists Except Pooh Shiesty and Foogiano
Gucci Mane is making some changes ... his 1017 Records financial situation is down bad so much, that he feels it's best to drop all his artists and start anew ... except for his proven talent Pooh Shiesty and Foogiano!!!
On Friday, Gucci addressed his fans and admitted he didn't get around to making a fuss about the label's holiday -- October 17 -- because the company's profit and loss statements weren't adding up in his favor.
Gucci revealed he told all the other artists and their legal teams ahead of his announcement ... but cut the contracts so they could spread their wings and fly elsewhere.
Despite Pooh and Foogiano's success, Gucci's camp has had a rough go at life since rebranding as "The New 1017" back in 2020.
We broke the stories ... Gucci's artists Enchanting and Big Scarr both died from drug overdoses in December 2022 and June 2024, respectively, leaving the label hanging on a thread.
Texas rapper HotBoy Wes was sentenced to 15 years in prison back in January -- exactly a year after 1017 rookie Mac Critter got arrested on first-degree murder charges.
Gucci says he's still looking to fill roster slots and the runway will be wide open for them.
Pooh and Foo are both currently serving 5-year prison sentences.
Young Thug Pleads for Drake, Future, Metro Boomin to End Beef, Make Music Again
Young Thug wasn't loving the 2024 Rap Wars -- he just broke focus from his RICO case to convince Drake, Future and Metro Boomin to patch things up!!!
The embattled YSL rapper hasn't posted much during his controversial trial but made his presence felt on Friday when he randomly pled to the ex-friends ... "We all bruddas. Music ain't the same without us collabin."
Thugga's advice probably would have been useful when things between everyone got nuclear ... remember diss tracks flew like fireworks all summer long before Kendrick Lamar emerged with one of the biggest years of his career.
Metro has also backed off in recent weeks ... maybe YT is on to something? The common thread here is all 3 superstar artists have called for his freedom amid the trial.
Wishful thinking, but Thug did appear on Drake's non-beef musical drops this year ... it could happen!!!
Future seems to think so ... he reposted Young Thug's plea!!!
Big Meech Photographed at Halfway House After Transfer From Federal Prison
Big Meech is officially out of federal prison ... having just moved to the halfway house where he will continue to serve his sentence -- and, a pic of him has surfaced online.
The infamous cofounder of the Black Mafia Family was transferred from FCI Coleman Low to a community confinement center overseen by Miami Residential Reentry Management Office. As you know ... Meech was arrested back in 2005, on charges related to drug trafficking and money laundering and sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2008.
Earlier this year, a judge shortened his sentence by about three years. It's hard to say when Big Meech will be free to reenter society ... but, at least he's no longer in federal prison.
Meech's life story is the inspiration behind the 50 Cent-produced series "BMF" ... and, his son Lil Meech even plays a part in the series. It was renewed for a fourth season earlier this year. Whether Big Meech will get a chance to ever appear on the show like Snoop Dogg, Eminem, 2 Chainz or Yung Miami, remains to be seen.
But, he looks in much better spirits in the halfway house than federal prison.
Remy Ma Issues Menacing Warning To Battle Rapper Over Infidelity Jokes
Remy Ma has issued a stern warning to battle rapper Tay Roc after he joked about her allegedly cheating on husband Papoose with Eazy the Block Captain.
Roc sparked the spat on Thursday (October 17) by subliminally taunting Eazy on X (formerly Twitter), writing: “That n-gga girlfriend At home with her husband this week, I see why he dick suckin on the internet, he home lonely and bored [crying emoji] how ya girl gotta husband.”
Remy caught wind of the post and replied: “Who you tawkin’ bout Dontay [thinking face emoji].”
The battle rapper then made it clear what he meant, tagging Eazy directly: “Whats up Reminisce??? It’s Dante.. I was speaking about @Eazyblockcapt being bored & angry cause his married GF is with her husband Today.”
He then made a not-so-subtle reference to their alleged affair, asking her: “Do You know his married GF???”
That prompted Remy Ma to fire back with a thinly-veiled threat: “Nah TayTay but I do know a bunch of n-ggas dat don’t play bout ME & they don’t ALMOST be about to do nothing [devil emoji] Oh & they start from the bosses and make they way down to the workers.
“I like u, u a good kid- go write a rap or watch wrestling …btw I got ya text earlier [winking emoji] #ImDoneTweetinItsAboveMeNow.”
Eazy Tha Block Captain also waded into the back-and-forth, replying to Roc’s initial tweet: “Bro, if I start talking about your bitch, you gonna leave her … trust me.”
Remy later denied cheating on Papoose, saying on Instagram Live: “I never cheated on nobody, I don’t know what y’all talking about.”
Tyler, The Creator Releasing New Album on Monday, Not Friday
Tyler, The Creator is bucking the system and dropping his next album on his own terms ... his new album “Chromakopia” is coming at the top of the week, as opposed to the music industry's generic Friday release dates!!!
The Grammy Award-winning rap star popped the lid off his first single "St. Chroma" and new merch line Thursday ... showcasing a Dr. Doom-ish masked Tyler leading a legion of cloaked soldiers through a dystopian wasteland as he warbles bars on a grungy beat.
Tyler donned the same mask for the "Chromakopia" album cover, which he revealed would be coming on MONDAY, October 28. You get the entire week to enjoy the album!!!
Dr. Dre Says He’s ‘Never’ Listened To His Old Music: ‘I’m Always Thinking Forward’
“I don’t look back,” Dre began. “I never listen to my old music or anything like that.”
To show that he wasn’t exaggerating, he continued: “I’ve never listened to my old music. I never let anybody play it around me. I feel like that’s masturbation at the highest level.”
Method Man Goes On Rant Against ‘Fake’ YouTube Remixes: ‘I Don’t Respect It’
Method Man is not a fan of unofficial, stitched-together remixes — at least to judge by a recent Instagram post.
The now-deleted IG post, caught by AllHipHop, has Meth reacting to a remix by YouTuber DJ Skandalous of the song “Built for This,” from the soundtrack of RZA‘s film The Man With the Iron Fists.
The original track features Meth, Freddie Gibbs, and Street Life. Skandalous’ version, which as of this writing has over 266 million views (as opposed to just over 1.5 million for the actual song’s music video), uses a new beat, removes Street Life, and adds parts of other songs from Ice Cube‘s group Westside Connection, Eazy-E and 2Pac.
Method’s post shared a screenshot of Skandalous’ track, and the caption decried “unauthorized remakes of records with fake collabs.
“This guy I asked him a long time ago to take this trash down as it takes views away from the original content,” the rapper wrote. “And he still has yet to do so.. over 200 mil views and not one penny to the creators.”
“No one takes into account the time and effort it takes to even make these records let along get these records, put out into the public for someone to come and do half the work and get twice if not quadruple the views of the original content,” he went on. “Whatever happened to IP rights..?”
Meth continued: “I’ve heard my voice on beats I would never rhyme to and a lot of times the verses are offbeat. This is what we call hack shit and I don’t respect it. The main culprits are south central channel , golden age hip hop , and New Yorks finest to name a few.”
The rap icon closed with a question: “Am I wrong for standing up or should I just sit down and shut the f*** up?”
YouTube remixes are not the only part of the modern music business that Meth has been speaking out against lately.
This past summer, he revealed that he’s yet to earn any streaming income from his music, despite his success as a solo artist and with Wu-Tang Clan.
