Hip Hop

Blueface could be released from jail very soon -- and his mother Karlissa Saffold hopes to spoil him rotten with a surprise party to make it official!!!

Karlissa chopped it up with TMZ Hip Hop in Burbank on Thursday and she told us she's eyeing Blue's upcoming July 29 court hearing, which could be the last barrier to his freedom.

The L.A. rap star's been locked up since January on a probation violation and Karlissa is confident she'll be able to follow through with her party plans the very next day.

Amber Rose did a parody of Vanilla Ice's hit hip-hop classic at the Republican National Convention -- and if you're wondering if the man himself is bent outta shape about ... well, we have an answer.

Vanilla tells TMZ ... he does indeed have ownership rights to "Ice Ice Baby" -- the track that Amber and rapper Forgiato Blow spoofed to promo their support of Donald Trump at the convention this week -- and VI notes he didn't approve the track to be used for GOP purposes.

He goes on to tell us that the publishing company that also holds rights to the song didn't clear it either -- which is why it got yanked off of YouTube ... but in terms of whether Vanilla is actually upset about it ... it doesn't really sound like he is.

Sean Kingston and his mother are now facing federal charges after being accused of defrauding businesses out of more than $1 million.

Federal prosecutors say a Grand Jury in Miami indicted the "Beautiful Girls" singer and his mom, Janice Turner, hitting each with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and 5 counts of wire fraud.

The charges, announced Friday, are for allegations Sean and his mom cooked up a scheme to swindle multiple businesses out of jewelry, luxury vehicles and other goods.

Latto and Ice Spice have been trading small disses with one another on tracks for months -- what would a full-blown contribution to the 2024 Rap Wars look like???

In her new Billboard cover profile, Latto admitted she'd be open to duking it out with Ice Spice and they didn't have any real issues ... it's more like healthy competition.

Thing is, Latto doesn't feel Ice is built for that type of rapping, it's not a slight but more of an observation.

"If I was to do [a battle], it would have to be with somebody I feel like Imma go tit for tat with," Latto told the pub. "I really don’t mean it as shade. Would she even want to do that? I feel like she’s doing her in her lane. It’s two different types of vibes. I don’t even think she gives me like, 'Oh, she wants to engage in an actual rap beef.'"

In February, Latto released her "Sunday Service" single which many pegged to be heat directed at Ice Spice.

The Bronx rapper returned the favor with her track "Think U The Sh*t (Fart)" ... and got trounced by Candace Owens for her effort.

Latto encouraged Ice to keep taking shots but doesn't think the feud will manifest into a main event.

"Everybody gon’ take their lil jabs in the music, and it’s not even that serious to me; I feel like you should do that," Latto continued. But, as far as actual whole diss records to each other, I don’t think she would even want to do that. I feel like… would it even make sense? It wouldn’t."

Big Sean just had a major setback for his major comeback ... hackers leaked the foundations for his new album ... and claimed they did it to avenge Kanye West!!!

If you recall, Sean recently set the record straight against DJ Akademiks' allegations that he was dissing Kendrick Lamar  ... further clarified by DJ Hed that Sean's shots were actually reserved for Kanye!!!

Shortly after, a collection of tracks titled "Feelings & Random Thots" featuring artists such as Nas, Hit-Boy and The-Dream was planted on message boards ... along with the cryptic message that it was middle fingers to him and the entire team!!!

Early this morning, Sean hopped on IG Live and admitted the leak crushed his soul a bit ... the songs were just templates and experiments and he felt a little exposed having that in the public's eye.

Sean wouldn't buy into the hype that Ye was responsible, however ... he sold MILLIONS of records underneath the Good Music umbrella -- their history is deep-rooted!!!

Platinum-selling rapper Blxst is the latest celeb to get caught in the burglary wave hitting L.A. -- surveillance videos show crooks invading his house and snatching a bunch of his shoes in the caper!!!

Blxst posted the clips Friday morning, and you can see the creeping crawlers slink into his backyard. As you'd expect, Blxst is making no apologies for his frustration and anger.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ Hip Hop ... the incident happened around 2:30 AM Tuesday -- 3 dudes in hoodies smashed a glass door and broke into the back of the house.

Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre haven't performed together in the UK in 30 years -- but the two hip hop OGs broke that tradition in style last night ... and their celebrity pals were in tow.

Shaquille O'Neal and Yungblud joined forces to host the star-studded shindig inside London's Flipper's Roller Boogie Palace as Snoop, Dre -- and a surprise performance by Eminem lit up the night!!!

We're told the red carpet also extended to Idris and Sabrina Elba, Offset, Rich Paul, Dominic West, Jeremy Renner, Liberty Ross, Jimmy Iovine, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlotte Tilbury, Jude Bellingham and Brian Grazer.

Bianca Censori and Kanye West are at it again ... and this time she's out in public with only a thong covering her below the waist -- a bit of a change from what we're used to.

Ye and his wife broke bread Wednesday at Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles and Bianca didn't bother wearing pants, shorts, a skirt ... nothing. It was just her undies out there.

Check out the pics ... Bianca's not wearing a bra either (duh) and folks can see right through her sheer top ... which is doing nothing to cover up her breasts. Still, it's more coverage upstairs than we usually see when she's in public.

Irv Gotti is fighting back against the sexual assault allegations leveled against him in a new lawsuit ... and he's pondering one of his own.

A rep for the Murder Inc. Records head honcho reacted Thursday to the civil lawsuit filed in Miami-Dade County by a Jane Doe, and Gotti's camp is claiming the plaintiff pulled some shady business.

According to the rep, the suit "was filed after Mr. Gotti rejected the attempt by this individual to coerce a payment of money from him. The lawsuit contains a single page of 'facts' which are unsworn to, sparse by any measure, and which Mr. Gotti categorically denies."

Cardi B had time for Joe Budden today and she cleaned the podcaster's clock -- metaphorically speaking -- for discussing her stalled album one too many times.

On the latest episode of "JBP," Cardi's 6-year album delay came up and Joe used his psychic powers to predict she'll be a singles artist ... FOREVER. He also joked no one wants her to release an album more than Offset --- if only to get her out of the house.

To his credit, Offset was the first to push for Cardi to release the album this year ... it's been too long!!!

Pop Smoke's mother Audrey Jackson isn't entertained by her son's killer making the rounds on the interview circuit and just may pursue legal action to prevent it from happening again!!!

TMZ Hip Hop got Ms. Jackson in NYC and the anti-gun violence advocate was all fired up for this weekend's celebration to commemorate Pop's 25th birthday ... food, games, a basketball event and a full-blown parade will cap off the week's festivities.

We broke the story in 2020 ... the platinum-selling "Dior" rapper was shot and killed at a Hollywood Hills residence once owned by "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star Teddi Mellencamp ... and posthumously became a hip hop legend with his music earning rave reviews in death.

Rihanna can't help Katie Ledecky in the pool or Simone Biles on the beam, but, she can make sure the athletes look their best away from competition ... RiRi's Fenty Beauty brand inked a sponsorship deal with the Olympics!

And, the Paralympics, too!

Rihanna broke the news on social media Thursday morning ... saying the beauty brand she founded in 2017 will serve as an official "premium partner" of the 2024 Paris Games during the month-long global event.

Soulja Boy has filed a lawsuit against social media personalities Tasha K and William The Baddest  ... TMZ Hip Hop can confirm.

The "Crank That" rap star is suing over comments he claims were made on Tasha K's "Unwine With Tasha K" podcast about William and the rapper being in a romantic relationship ... which Soulja claims are nothing but big, fat lies.

According to the lawsuit, William told Tasha on the podcast in May that he and Soulja Boy were lovers in graphic detail ... and the clip went viral online.

Steph Curry and Drake have a lot in common these days ... both dudes are really tired of hearing Kendrick Lamar's smash hit, "Not Like Us."

The Golden State Warriors superstar made his disdain for the tune known while he and Team USA were gearing up for a pre-Olympics tilt with Serbia in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday afternoon.

As the point guard was settling in for the matchup, the PA announcer blared K. Dot's Drake diss track ... and almost immediately, Curry groaned.

Sandra "Pepa" Denton, 1/2 of Salt-N-Pepa, is still shaken and confused by her encounter with Southwest Airlines this week, when she says she got treated like a criminal without displaying any criminal behavior!!!

It's a perplexing tale, for sure -- but the "Push It" rapper joined "TMZ Live" Wednesday to give us her blow-by-blow account of SW pushing her off a flight Monday headed to Nashville from Las Vegas.

Pepa says she purchased 2 seats to give herself extra space for an injured knee, but wasn't wearing her protective brace when a flight attendant accosted her over the extra seat.