Hip Hop News

T.I. and wife Tameka “Tiny” Cottle recently celebrated their eleventh wedding anniversary with an extravagant evening – and a new Mercedes-Maybach SUV was the centerpiece. The couple hitched together in July 2010, and have weathered different marital issues and couples counseling to keep strong, much of which has been highly-publicized, whether it be through their own reality TV show or through blog headlines.

Nonetheless, the new gift from T.I. shows signs of a strong marriage, despite Tiny’s motion to file for divorce from him back in 2016. 

“Feeling a lil rich this week….. Happy 11th Anniversary Mrs H,” T.I.’s anniversary post caption says. “Feeling rich” indeed – a 2021 Mercedes-Maybach SUV starts at around $160,000 retail price, while different customization options can easily push that price tag well over $200,000+. The long form Instagram video that T.I. shared shows a romantic path of red rose pedals eventually leading to the new car, which has split colors of silver on the top and black on the bottom.

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Tiny left a thoughtful response to her anniversary gift in the comments of T.I.’s video. “He got a lil tear out of me!! I love u baby! Thank you for this amazing entry home to my New Baby! U are full of love & great surprises!! Still celebrating love #11yrs,” she said in the comments.

The couple also embarked on an international journey to Amsterdam for their 11th wedding anniversary, which Tiny recently documented on her Instagram page. Check out photos from their trip below.

The married couple have been under heavy critical fire in the national spotlight in 2021 for allegedly being complicit in the sexual assault of multiple victims over the years. In March, a lawyer sought to move forward with a criminal investigation against the pair, after letters from the victims, detailing their experiences, came to light and were shared with The New York Times. More recently, speculation arose that their longstanding T.I. & Tiny: Friends & Family Hustle show may have been canceled as a result of the allegations against the two.

What do you think of Tiny’s anniversary gift? Let us know in the comments below.

On July 16th, Biz Markie passed away at the age of 57. His memory was celebrated by his many fans and hip-hop peers, with countless people queuing up hits like “Just A Friend” in his honor. Following his death, Biz’s longtime DJ and friend DJ Cool V caught up with HipHopDX for an extensive interview. While many topics are covered, one of the more surprising moments stems from a sad revelation about Biz Markie’s biggest hit.

First, V explains a bit about the track’s creation, highlighting their creative chemistry and trust with a behind-the-scenes story. “I got [Biz] in the booth and he was singing, and even though it might not be perfectly correct to anybody else, the feeling of it was good,” reflects Cool V. “He had his fist balled up and he was really trying. He was really, really crooning and I said, ‘That’s it.’ And he had one take. Then he had another take that was not as good as the first one. Right?”

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““Everybody called us crazy,” he continues. “Like, ‘Yo, you going to really let him do that?’ I said, ‘Man, he feeling it. I got a good feeling about this record.’ And we did it. It just took off. It morphed into something that we could never imagine.” While “Just A Friend” would go on to be a game-changer for the duo, its success was also bittersweet. As V explains to DX, neither he nor Biz made any money off the song — not even to this day. 

“The sweetness comes in that we were able to perform it for almost 31 years,” reveals DJ Cool V. “And now comes the other side of it — we never made money off the record. I still haven’t got paid for that record…We made the money off the shows and we had a great performing career. But now it gets back to the bittersweet because every time I hear it, it’s going to remind me of Biz, but it’s also going to remind me of how I can’t make more money off of it. Everybody’s feeding their family off our work and we’ve never made money off that record.”

WATCH: Biz Markie – Just A Friend

While he doesn’t elaborate on the business dealings that left the pair high and dry, HipHopDX points to a problem that has plagued many young and eager artists: a lopsided recording contract. It’s certainly unfortunate to see how many veteran emcees continue to face the negative ramifications of early-career business blunders. Consider that only recently, De La Soul was able to wrest control of their music catalog back from Tommy Boy. 

Rest in peace to Biz Markie; while neither he nor DJ Cool V may have made a dime from the song, we can only hope that V takes solace in the joy it brought to the masses. For more from Cool V, check out the full interview over at HipHopDX. 

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Back in July, Safaree claimed security cameras picked up Erica destroying his property two days post-divorce. The long list of damage included bleaching and cutting the shoelaces off of his expensive sneakers, and pouring paint on two motorcycles.

As we reported, the rapper was seeking $50,000 for the damage wrought by his ex-wife.

Now, we know Safaree’s allegations were not exaggerating. TMZ obtained legal documents that show Erica has actually started to pay Safaree back for her actions, with the starting sum of $4,000. 

Erica defended her actions in the court documents, stating her actions were in direct response to finding out that Safaree was sleeping around during their marriage, citing “numerous acts of infidelity.” She also added that she was eight months pregnant at the time, which was affecting her emotions, and made her snap.

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There is no telling if Erica intends to match Safaree’s damage estimate or is simply paying him back a small portion to delay further legal charges. 

This latest development in the couple’s drawn-out split comes probably comes as no surprise. Safaree has yet to comment but will likely have a rebuttal soon, as he always has something to say about his ex; his most recent statement coming in the form of a diss track. 

The rapper-turned-reality TV star is also now threatening to leave Love & Hip-Hop, after the producers allegedly misconstrued scenes in order to create a scandal; the most recent being Safaree’s reaction when he found out he was having another child, as well as another scene where he watched his baby girl fall down, seemingly with zero reaction. 

We will keep you updated as the story develops.

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Freddie Gibbs is on one hell of a run right now. The Gary, Indiana rapper overcame every bit of adversity he’s faced over his career, from label struggles to legal issues, to earning a Grammy nomination. The release of Bandana marked Gibbs’ major-label debut through a joint venture with Keep Cool & RCA. And while Alfredo was dropped through Warner Music, it appears his dealings with the folks over at Keep Cool and RCA may have soured.

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The Grammy-nominated rapper hit Twitter where he aired out an unnamed executive who signed him to RCA. Gibbs explained that the individual essentially ghosted him since the release of the Madlib-produced album. “After I made Bandana the n***a that signed me to RCA ghosted me for a year plus. Don’t let these industry n***az ‘brother’ you they just care about where they gon’ be working at next year. They not creators like you,” he said before detailing an encounter with this anonymous person.

“Pussy ass n***a saw me at a party last month damn near shitted on himself and had to run to @LAMBOLAMBO for shelter,” he wrote. He added, “Every failed rapper turned exec I know personally is a hoe ass n***a that couldn’t get no bitches.”

ScHoolboy Q, who recently collaborated with Gibbs on “Gang Signs,” also reacted to Gibbs’ mini-rant. He quoted Gibbs tweet, writing, “wHy y so mean braH.”

Gibbs’s recent tweets come on the heels of his film debut at Cannes Film Festival. Down With The King, directed by Diego Ongaro and starring Freddie Gibbs, received widespread acclaim upon its premiere. The film focuses on the story of rapper Money Merc, played by Gibbs, who ends up leaving the music industry for a life on the farm. 

Check out Gibbs’ tweets below. 

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has resigned from his position after a finding that he sexually harassed eleven women. Since the inquiry, there has been increased pressure for Cuomo to resign from his role, and he did so on Tuesday morning.

Once seen as a possible Presidential candidate, Cuomo served as the Governor of New York since 2011. A five-month investigation had been conducted, which concluded that Cuomo violated U.S. and state laws. The 168-page report was made available to the public on Tuesday, confirming that Cuomo groped, kissed, and/or made inappropriate comments to current and former governmental staffers. He also reportedly retaliated against a woman who accused him of sexual misconduct, which he initially denied.

Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul is set to replace him as the Governor, becoming the first woman to hold the position. Cuomo’s resignation will be effective in fourteen days.

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Cuomo addressed the people of New York during a press conference on Tuesday morning, confirming that he has resigned as Governor. He addressed the public during a forty-five-minute speech.

“I see the world through the eyes of my daughters… I have seen the look in their eyes and the expression on their faces and it hurt,” he said during his presser.

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O.J. Simpson ruffled a lot of feathers this week, after he made especially inappropriate comments regarding the 1994 murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman. While Simpson was acquitted of the murders following a proper trial, public opinion is largely that Simpson did, in fact, commit the crimes, but happened to catch a lucky break in the legal system.

Though O.J. was released from prison in 2017 for unrelated crimes, he’s continued to place himself in the spotlight, and his comments this week that he avoids LA because “I might be sitting next to whoever did it. I really don’t know who did this,” only serve to exacerbate his negative public image. The sister of O.J.’s deceased wife is now speaking out about the comments, calling them “disrespectful” and Simpson himself delusional.

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Brown told TMZ that she reportedly thinks O.J. has been telling himself lies regarding his innocence for so long that he actually believes them now.

O.J. continued his attempt to absolve himself of the crime later in the interview by pointing fingers at others, telling The Atlantic: “I figured eventually somebody would confess to something, you know?… I had one suspect I told my lawyers to look at. I still think he might be involved, but I can’t talk about it.” However, Tanya maintains that, despite what O.J. said, there should be no doubt whatsoever that it was him that committed the crime– DNA evidence proves so. 

Surprisingly enough, Tanya admits that at this age she forgives O.J. for the crimes she believes he committed, though she wishes he wouldn’t continue making comments about it. 

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