Hip Hop

A$AP Rocky rolled the dice and rejected a plea bargain in his felony assault case because the deal would have cost him his livelihood, sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ.

Rocky's trial starts this morning with opening statements, and he now faces 24 years in prison for allegedly shooting A$AP Relli in November 2021.

The plea deal he was offered included 180 days in jail, a guilty plea to the most serious of the 2 felonies for which he was charged -- assault with a semiautomatic weapon -- a 7-year suspended sentence, 3 years probation and 500 hours of community service.

Alexis Skyy says everybody's gotta pump the brakes when it comes to the new video allegedly showing her assaulting a man ... claiming it doesn't tell the whole story -- 'cause she didn't start the violence.

The "Love & Hip Hop" star took to Instagram Live Thursday to tell her side of the alleged altercation ... claiming she let Anthony Gaskin -- the man accusing Skyy of assault -- into her life as a business partner and even gave him a place to stay.

Skyy says Gaskin paid back her generosity by stealing from her ... before one day coming to her front door, hitting her and throwing an air freshener at her face.

A$AP Rocky will be judged by a jury of his peers in his felony assault trial -- but none of those peers are Black.

Jury selection in Rocky's trial for allegedly shooting A$AP Relli just wrapped up in downtown L.A., and the gender split is 7 women and 5 men. What's kinda odd, considering L.A.'s population, is there's not a single Black juror.

Keep in mind, both Rocky and the alleged victim are African-American. The jurors are white, Asian and Hispanic. Four alternate jurors who were selected are all women ... and not Black.

Kendrick Lamar's highly anticipated Super Bowl halftime show just got even more exciting ... 'cause SZA is joining in on the party!

Apple Music -- which sponsors the gig -- dropped the news out of nowhere on Thursday, announcing the 4x Grammy Award winner would be joining K. Dot in NOLA on February 9.

The platform also shared a new teaser for the show, featuring Kendrick on the phone discussing the possibility of adding someone to his set list ... when SZA creeps up behind him and dumps a jug full of blue liquid all over the "Not Like Us" MC.

New video appears to show Alexis Skyy jumping her former friend at an Atlanta apartment complex ... and cops are now involved.

TMZ obtained video that appears to show the "Love & Hip Hop" star and her former associate Anthony Gaskin getting into it back in October ... and it looks like Alexis confronts him in a hallway and lands a punch.

Surveillance footage also shows two other people punching and kicking Gaskin in the hallway, and throwing him to the floor.

A$AP Rocky might have a beloved baby mama, but it looks like that ain't going to help him in this trial ... 'cause prosecutors are weeding out prospective jurors with Rihanna questions!

Jury selection is currently proceeding in A$AP's trial after he turned down a plea deal and decided to fight the gun charges he's facing ... and, potential jurors are getting asked a ton of questions about both A$AP and his better half.

Among the questions they're being asked ... whether they've heard of A$AP or Rihanna, listened to their music, or downloaded any of their songs.

Famed rapper Project Pat's son has died after a shooting in a Tennessee park -- though the details around the incident are still murky ... TMZ has learned.

Patrick Houston Jr. -- son of the rapper and nephew of Three 6 Mafia co-founder Juicy J -- was killed last week in Imogene Heights, a historically Black Memphis neighborhood.

Memphis Police say the shooting went down just after 1 PM Friday ... and, when officers arrived at the scene, they found Houston dead.

Forget ice cream and rom-coms, Naomi Osaka's apparently turning to hoops to get her mind off her recent breakup.

The tennis superstar was at the Brooklyn Nets game Wednesday night -- just a couple weeks after announcing her split from Cordae.

The 27-year-old -- who was forced to retire in the third round of the Australian Open due to an injury -- appeared to be in great spirits at the outing ... smiling and throwing up a peace sign during a break in the action.

Chris Brown is reaching a breaking point ... he's fighting back against allegations he's a serial rapist and abuser ... and his lawyer's taking shots at a movie studio for pushing what they say are straight-up lies.

The singer's attorney, Levi McCathern, tells TMZ ... it's shameful Warner Brothers Discovery is propping up dubious sexual assault claims against Chris to make money off his reputation.

Chris' lawyer says CB is tired of laying down and taking all the crap from anonymous accusers telling lies about him in lawsuits and cheesy documentaries ... which is why they're firing back at WB with a $500 million lawsuit.

Doechii is hard at work rehearsing for an upcoming gig ... quite possibly for music's biggest night in a couple weeks, where she's vying for some of the top honors.

We ran into the Florida rapper outside a Los Angeles stage space Wednesday and asked her about her Grammy nominations -- she's been nominated in 3 categories, including Best New Artist, Best Rap Performance, and Best Rap Album.

As the only female in the hip hop category, she's aware she's representing women in rap this year ... and she's honored, and excited about it.

Diddy is going after a grand jury witness and a lawyer he claims have been spreading lies about him ... accusing them of fabricating stories for media attention.

The disgraced mogul is suing Courtney Burgess -- a man who appeared as a witness for the grand jury -- and Ariel Mitchell, Burgess' lawyer, for spreading what he says are "outlandish claims" and "baseless speculation" to feed the public's desire for "wild lies."

Diddy fired back at some specific claims in the lawsuit as well ... calling out Burgess for alleging he possesses video of the star sexually assaulting celebrities and minors.

Michael "Harry O" Harris is defending Snoop Dogg for performing for Donald Trump ahead of the inauguration ... he says the gig doesn't mean Snoop betrayed his community.

The Death Row Records co-founder joined us on "TMZ Live" Wednesday and we asked him about all the backlash Snoop is getting because of the Trump event.

Michael says Snoop wasn't making a political statement by performing at Trump's pre-inauguration ball ... telling us the Doggfather is supporting the office more than the person.

Of course, he also acknowledges the fact Trump pardoned Michael -- for a drug trafficking conviction -- helped soften Snoop on POTUS.

Bhad Bhabie is showing off her healing nose after undergoing plastic surgery ... and taking the opportunity to reveal the type of cancer she has.

The rapper hopped on her Instagram Story Tuesday night to give a glimpse of her "so swollen" nose six days after going under the knife, telling fans nose jobs "are not for the weak!!"

The healing process looks serious ... in addition to having a temporarily enlarged nose, BB has bruising under both her eyes. She also gave fans a look at her sniffer before and after the surgery, explaining she "wanted to remove the hump."

1/22 9:16 AM PT -- Sexyy Red's taking responsibility for her online actions ... apologizing to Bernice and admitting her repost may have been in bad taste. Red says she shared something she thought was innocent -- and, she wasn't trying to upset anyone.

Looks like King's daughter is taking a page out of her dad's book ... 'cause she accepted the apology, essentially squashing the beef.

Sexyy Red is beefin' with Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter after posting an AI image of herself dancing with the late Civil Rights legend.

Pharrell Williams' latest collection with Louis Vuitton brought out a number of his famous friends ... with everyone from Idris Elba to Adrien Brody swinging by the Paris Fashion Week show.

The singer, who currently serves as the Men's Creative Director for the French fashion house, debuted a new collaboration between LV and Nigo, a Japanese designer, Tuesday ... and it appears many in Hollywood have already cosigned the streetwear style.

Check it out ... Pharrell's A-list pals dressed to the nines for his big runway show, with Travis Scott rolling into the event in a striking silver winter set trimmed with patterned gray fur.