A key piece of evidence in JAŸ-Z’s California lawsuit was a recording of an interview between private investigators and the woman, identified in court documents as Jane Doe. JAŸ-Z’s legal team argued that the recording indicated Doe had been pressured by Buzbee to make false allegations.

“My concern is a plaintiff’s lawyer shows up in court and says, ‘Magically this interview has been dropped in my lap, I had nothing to do with it,’” Judge Goorvitch said. “We have no information about where this came from. It looks highly suspicious that somehow, somebody talked to Mr. Buzbee’s client directly.”

Read More: What Happened To Ailea Brown? Inside The Missing Case & New Legal Developments

JAŸ-Z’s Lawsuit Against Tony Buzbee

Judge Anne Richardson also expressed doubts about the interview, stating the recording was “not a reliable statement.” The judge said that Doe appeared to respond to highly suggestive questions. Meanwhile, Buzbee’s attorney, Samuel Moniz, argued that the investigators’ approach was intimidating. “To say these circumstances are inherently intimidating is an understatement,” said Moniz. “If you listen to the recording, her voice is trembling. She’s frightened. She’s totally caught off guard.”

The panel hasn’t issued an immediate ruling. However, the development seems to create a major hurdle for JAŸ-Z’s attempt to appeal the decision. We’ll keep you posted on any further updates on the case. 

Read More: Rapsody’s Growth As An Emcee, Told Through 10 Songs

The post JAŸ-Z Faces Setback As Appeals Court Questions Lawsuit Against Tony Buzbee appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

Release Date: August 21, 2026

Genre: Hip-Hop, Electronic

Tracklist for This Feels Electric

1. Unforgettable
2. 6IXSIDE
3. Off The Meter
4. Get Some
5. Chanel
6. Outside Is Nice

The post This Feels Electric – EP by TyriqueOrDie appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

“We f**k with Kawhi, we don’t f**k with LeBron,” he rapped on the cut. This refers to Kawhi Leonard coming back to the Toronto Raptors… That is, if the investigation into the Los Angeles Clippers allows for it. Regardless, the message is clear, and there are a few reasons why this isn’t just a throwaway sports reference.

First off, Drake recently reacted to Kawhi Leonard’s potential return to Toronto. “so is it kawhiYZ szn again?” he wrote on social media after the news broke. Again, we’ll see if that Clippers investigation allows for the trade to actually go through.

Also, “LeBronto” is a meme for a reason, as the Raptors lost to him various times in the post-season of the NBA’s Eastern Conference. So maybe this is just a casual shut-down of one of the city’s rivals, but things are rarely that simple these days.

Read More: What Happened To Ailea Brown? Inside The Missing Case & New Legal Developments

LeBron James & Drake Beef

The main reason why Smiley’s diss is garnering attention is due to Drake’s beef with LeBron James. He feels betrayed by the basketball legend for showing love to Kendrick Lamar during his battle with Drizzy, and things have been contentious ever since.

While Bron said he still has love for the 6ix God despite their K.Dot-centered rift, no such indication of amicability has emerged from the OVO mogul’s side. So bars like these appearing on “10 Raccoons” should be no surprise.

Whether or not it actually manifests into anything is another question. After all, this is a pretty casual and minimal shot, and we doubt LeBron will respond in any way.

We’ll see if there’s more to the LeBron James and Drake story moving forward, although a reconciliation seems out of the question. In any case, fans are quick to point out any new tussle between them to see if they will really clash at any point.

Read More: Rapsody’s Growth As An Emcee, Told Through 10 Songs

The post OVO’s Smiley Disses LeBron James On New Song appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

Specifically, there are various lyrical references to the Drake battle, a feature from Drizzy, and a few bars which some fans believe could be at K.Dot’s expense. But one person who disagrees with this feud interpretation is the artist responsible for these releases himself.

Via Instagram, the Compton rapper responded to a fan who called him out for allegedly dissing Kendrick via the 6ix God collab. The fan wanted more Los Angeles unity, and he had this to say about the interpretation: “Ain’t diss nobody on that song loud fa nuthin ahhhh [ninja emoji].”

This isn’t the only way in which fans have been debunking this beef, or at least, adding more context to the tensions between these fanbases. Kendrick Lamar’s affiliates denied beef with The Game, saying he didn’t diss Lamar on the album and driving fans away from that interpretation.

Read More: What Happened To Ailea Brown? Inside The Missing Case & New Legal Developments

Kendrick Lamar & The Game’s Tensions

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Still, The Game’s previous tensions with Kendrick Lamar are still at the top of fans’ minds. There has been a lot of speculation about their dynamic concerning Game’s friendship with the OVO mogul, alleged jealousies and loyalties in L.A. hip-hop, and different interpretations about what Game has said about Kendrick in the past.

Some fans on both sides think these mixed signals are misdirecting fans and creating excuses for both artists to duck smoke or accountability. Other fans on both sides think this is much ado about nothing and that this is mostly between fanbases rather than the artists themselves.

In any case, it seems like the dynamic between these West Coast spitters is, at the very least, competitive. There are plenty of other Los Angeles collabs in-common with Kendrick on The Documentary 3, so a full-on conflict seems unlikely. Now, fans must choose whether to give themselves or direct statements from the artists in question the benefit of the doubt.

Read More: Rapsody’s Growth As An Emcee, Told Through 10 Songs

The post The Game Responds To Kendrick Lamar Diss Speculation appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

This moment was at a Cleveland show where the family of Collin Griffin attended. Cole shouted them out and showed love to Collin before diving into “Love Yourz,” remarking how they had pictures of him. Collin met the Dreamville MC in 2017 when he was diagnosed with stage four cancer. Collin’s Make-A-Wish was to meet Cole, and they met backstage at a Washington, D.C. show where they shared a special moment about inspiring each other. Collin sadly passed away the next year, and the rapper was mentioned in his obituary.

Read More: What Happened To Ailea Brown? Inside The Missing Case & New Legal Developments

Mal’s J. Cole Apology

Following this revelation, Mal apologized to Cole for calling his emotions “performative.” Considering Mal praised J. Cole’s The Fall-Off tour before, fans were happy to see him correct the previous misinterpretation.

“Let me start with an apology,” Mal said, saying he means it and doesn’t speak with malicious intent. CY Chels caught the clip on Twitter.

“I did not know that Cole had the family of a fan who was in the audience,” he continued. “We recorded way before that information came out. I was talking s**t, I said Cole felt performative. The information came out [about] the family of his fan who passed away from cancer, Colin Griffin was the name. Rest in peace and prayers to the Griffin family. So yes, I apologize to J. Cole. I sit here and talk s**t about Cole, but I actually do f**k with him. I’m a Cole fan, but I’m gon’ give him s**t, it don’t matter. I was not aware of this. I said it felt performative, him crying for ‘Love Yourz.’ Obviously, this had something to do with it. So I do apologize. J. Cole, my bad, bro. Nothing but love, nothing but respect.”

Read More: Rapsody’s Growth As An Emcee, Told Through 10 Songs

The post Mal Apologizes To J. Cole For Calling “Love Yourz” Performance “Performative” appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

The sources reportedly offered the following statement to TMZ after a witness name-dropped him during Keefe’s trial. “Diddy had absolutely nothing to do with the Tupac murder,” the alleged sources reportedly stated. “He did not pull the trigger or set it up. It would be a waste of time if prosecutors ever called him as a witness.”

A former detective for the Los Angeles Police Department claimed Combs tried and failed to pay Keefe for ‘Pac’s murder, according to a conversation with Keefe himself. As a witness on the stand, Daryn Dupree testified on Wednesday (August 19) that he interviewed Keefe D regarding the murder of Biggie Smalls in L.A. in 1997.

Read More: What Happened To Ailea Brown? Inside The Missing Case & New Legal Developments

Diddy’s Tupac Allegations

Dupree claimed under oath that Keefe denied involvement in Biggie’s death, but made allegations about the Tupac murder concerning Diddy. He testified that Keefe D claimed Combs owed him money. The Bad Boy mogul allegedly was supposed to give the money to an associate named Zip Martin, who would then give the money to Keefe per Dupree’s testimony about his conversation with Keefe D. Per Dupree, the money never got to Keefe, and he claimed Keefe told him he could “rekindle that relationship with Mr. Zip Martin and [talk] about the money that was given from Sean Puffy Combs to Mr. Martin that never got to Mr. Davis.”

Also, Daryn Dupree reportedly claimed on the stand that Keefe D told him Combs solicited the murder of Tupac while they were talking at Los Angeles deli Greenblatt’s. This follows long-standing allegations tying Diddy to Tupac’s murder, all of which remain speculation at press time.

Elsewhere, Keefe D’s trial for Tupac’s murder will continue with its fifth day today (Friday, August 21). He pleaded not guilty, claiming his previous admissions of guilt were fabrications for entertainment purposes. Prosecutors accused Keefe of orchestrating the murder in retaliation for an attack on his nephew, Orlando Anderson.

Read More: Rapsody’s Growth As An Emcee, Told Through 10 Songs

The post Sources Close To Diddy React To Tupac Murder Allegations appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

Release Date: August 21, 2026

Genre: Underground Rap

Tracklist for Pretti Loves U 2

1. Rollacoasta
2. Scene
3. Steps
4. Deposit
5. Just Me
6. Nobody
7. Moon and the Stars
8. All Knowing
9. Room
10. Wtf Idk
11. UI
12. All Love!

The post Pretti Loves U 2 – Album by prettifun appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

Drake, of course, appears on the project, too, but references to his name are scattered across the project, even in some of the wildest contexts. Take “40 Nights” with Kanye West and Mike & Keys, for example. The song contains some particularly questionable bars related to Ye’s anti-semitic comments and his appreciation for Drake.

“Last year Ye said we mad at the Jews/ I said, ‘What that mean? We ain’t gettin’ no more shoes?’/ Drake half Jewish, I like the Jews/ Not all of ’em, but, most of them cool,” he raps on the song.

Needless to say, the bars ultimately turned a few heads online. One user joked, “Drake his ghostwriter? I didn’t know they swapped notes in class .” 

Read More: What Happened To Ailea Brown? Inside The Missing Case & New Legal Developments

The Game & Kanye West Unite On The Documentary III

What’s interesting is that it rehashes the controversies that Ye has evidently been trying to distance himself from since the beginning of the year. Ahead of the release of BULLY, Kanye shared an open letter in the Wall Street Journal apologizing for his anti-semitic comments and the offensive remarks made toward the Black community. 

It’s unclear when this song was recorded, but The Game was among those who stood by Kanye’s side during the past few years of controversy. The two locked in together on “Eazy,” which peaked at #49 on the Billboard Hot 100. 

Check out The Game’s song above and sound off with your thoughts in the comment section below. 

Read More: Rapsody’s Growth As An Emcee, Told Through 10 Songs

The post The Game Says He “Likes The Jews” Because Of Drake On Kanye Collab appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

That’s due to a Drake collab appearing on the tracklist, as well as various lyrical references to K.Dot. There are nods to not fearing or having a problem with “the boogeyman,” not wanting to pick sides between the two feuding MCs, and having loyalty to his and Kendrick’s city of Los Angeles above all else.

Now, some of Lamar’s affiliates have responded to this whole endeavor. But for fans looking for beef, it seems like there isn’t any here… Yet.

Kendrick isn’t on TDE anymore, but Top Dawg’s president Punch had some thoughts to share on Twitter. “The world’s really gone crazy,” he wrote, which is promoting a new release while also seemingly reacting to the announcement of The Documentary III. Punch also denied the notion that he’s mad at the Compton MC for his sound, and didn’t really indicate anything beef-related either way.

Read More: What Happened To Ailea Brown? Inside The Missing Case & New Legal Developments

The Game & Kendrick Lamar’s Dynamic

Kendrick Lamar and The Game’s tensions are mostly about the latter’s friendship with Drizzy and presumptions of jealousy or betrayal concerning Kendrick. But he’s made it clear his friendship with the 6ix God isn’t a diss at Lamar, and hasn’t really done anything to diss him beyond competitive flexes. At the end of the day, it seems like fans on both sides have more beef with each other than the artists themselves, and the subjects are mad at fans for keeping this narrative up.

Elsewhere, Game’s manager Wack 100 claimed to DJ Akademiks that Kendrick will be in the studio with Game soon. Cousin Tino caught a clip of this on Twitter.

Also, Hitta J3 (who was on GNX) had a lot to say about this on Twitter. He overall denied any feud between the two artists.

So did TDE affiliate MackWop on Twitter… But there’s room for interpretation. “Yall Want The Homie To Make Another Example Out A N****a Bad!!! Lmaooo Ion Know Who More Desperate The Internet Dweebs Or These Rappers,” he wrote. Mack also had another post calling fans out for “reaching,” although it’s not clear if he thinks Game is sending shots here.

Fans more on the OVO side are still calling these people out for ignoring alleged shots and allegedly making excuses for K.Dot. They want a proper feud, and they think this is not ending anything. The only thing that could settle this is a collaboration or direct shots, both of which seem in the cards. We’ll see if The Game himself clarifies any of this or if he will let fans think what they will think.

Read More: Rapsody’s Growth As An Emcee, Told Through 10 Songs

The post Kendrick Lamar’s Circle Responds To The Game’s “The Documentary III” appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

Release Date: August 21, 2026

Genre: Hip-Hop

Tracklist from HIGH + RISK

1. HIGH + RISK
2. CANT+LET+THEM+RUIN+ME
3. PRESS+DELETE
4. PLAYA$+ONLY
5. GET+OUT+MY+WAY
6. LOCKED+IN
7. RESPECT+ME
8. TEACH+EM+HOW+TO+BE+TOP+RANK
9. AN+ELEGANT+HOMICIDE
10. PO+TION
11. I+HATE+YOU
12. FREAKY+FROG
13. YOU+LYING

The post HIGH+RISK – Album by $NOT appeared first on HotNewHipHop.