A$AP Rocky Finally Adressed His Alleged Issues With Drake

Ye and Ty Dolla $ign’s VULTURES 2 listening party in Taiwan has reportedly been canceled. In other news: 

• Song streams & revenue 💰️

• A$AP Rocky directly addresses the Drake back-and-forth 👀

• Big Sean is getting Baby Keem comparisons 🤔

• New Music Friday releases 💿️

• Industry Insights 📈

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Songs Streams & Revenue

It’s a new week and a new song revenue chart. As reported by Hits Daily Double, which tracks streaming revenue week over week, the above chart reflects the streaming period from August 9 to August 15.

“Not Like Us” had a deeper drop in streams, losing its six-figure revenue status, while Drake’s ”It’s Up” debuted with 10.9M streams and $49K in first-week revenue. “Like That” and “Mamushi” continue to hang on with only a slight difference in streams.

A$AP Rocky Reveals His Real Feelings About Drake, Playboi Carti, and More 

We were so close to finally getting some new heat from A$AP Rocky. Unfortunately, though, he allegedly pushed the album back to September 20th, according to X account Amk. He addressed the delay on X, posting, “Leaks & sample clearances are disrupting the album. It’s been 6 years & I wanna make the best album ever. I’m sorry for the wait.”

At the very least, fans could hear more about what’s to come soon from Pretty Flacko in his new Billboard cover story—as well as get his POV on the Drizzy beef. 

A$AP Rocky goes all in for Billboard 

Working on the new project for at least a year, one of the first songs that he recorded was “Shroom Cloud.” It is an example of the rapper hitting heavier and darker topics as he grows in his rap career, with the song covering “current affairs and world wars and, you know, the world dying and whatnot.”

Along with getting into his “OG rapper” bag, he also got into his creative bag as well. The German expressionism and ghetto futurism (which he refers to with the abbreviation of “GRIM”) seen in his debut Paris Fashion Week show also influenced his music. He called Beetlejuice director Tim Burton to create the cover art and help him get the dark mood for the album just right. 

Even though they couldn't get their schedules together, A$AP Rocky got Burton’s collaborator and composer, Danny Elfman, to contribute to the album. Other collaborations that fans can look forward to include Metro Boomin, Tyler, the Creator, and Pharrell Williams. However, don’t expect to hear any Drake because that beef is still alive and well. 

Addressing the issue head-on, he said, “You got to realize, certain n***** was throwing shots for years. I ain’t in the middle of that shit...That’s not how I retaliate right now. I got bigger fish to fry than some p**** boys. It is real beef outside. It is real. N***** getting really clipped and blitzed every day. N***** sniping n***** every day. That little kitty shit ain’t about nothing.”

On a more positive note, though, A$AP Rocky talked about Playboi Carti, the first rapper to sign to AWGE (no, we still don’t know what the acronym stands for). First meeting while Carti was couch surfing at a friend's house in New York, he now sees Carti as the future of rap.

“That’s where rap is. I knew that’s what it was going to be. What do people expect? We not just signing people to be signing people. We want to be the best of the best, and that’s all it is, and his s–t speaks for itself,” he said. 

Why is Big Sean Catching Heat for “Yes?”

Big Sean has been catching hit after hit during the rollout of his upcoming album Better Me Than You. First, having to deal with a leak, then release delays, and now, he is catching heat again over his newest music video. 

Big Sean’s “YES” is a “No” for Baby Keem fans 

As soon as Big Sean dropped the visuals for his new song “Yes,” he was immediately accused by those online of stealing Baby Keem’s flow. 

“I love when big sean gives me solid reasoning to validate my ever growing hatred towards him cuz bruh. Keem got sons older than him smh,” X user LosTheKid_ said in an August 21 post. 

This drama is still fresh from Big Sean addressing the leaked version of K. Dot’s (Baby Keem’s cousin) song “ELEMENT” hitting the Internet in 2019. 

"Big Sean keeps sneak dissing, I let it slide, I think his false confidence got him inspired, I can't make them respect you, baby, it's not my job,  You're Finally Famous for who you date, not how you rhyme,” Lamar said on the leaked verse. 

Talking about it with Charlamagne the God in an August interview, Big Sean said that K. Dot had already apologized for what he said. 

“He apologized in a sense for going that far to that shit coming out…When that shit leaks, people are like, ‘Oh, you heard what he said about you?” I’m not a clout-chasing ass n****, I’m solid and I stand on mine. We already talked about it, I already got an apology for it,” Big Sean said. 

Others came to Big Sean’s defense as well, with X user stewords_ stating that “It's one thing to let Drake get away with STEALING BIG SEAN FLOW, but what i will not stand for is yall disrespecting Sean saying he got ANYTHING from Baby Keem. You n***** are nuts and need to stop talking hip hop.”

Despite all the chaos, Big Sean has his final word against the haters, posting, “Must not be familiar wit my game,” on X.

New Music Friday

Here’s all the music you can listen to now—categorized by 💿️ for albums and 🎶 for singles:

• 💿️  Days Before Rodeo by Travis Scott (streaming release + digital deluxe)

• 💿️ PLAY CASH COBAIN by Cash Cobain (featuring Big Sean, Don Toliver, Quavo and more)

• 💿️ Mr. Skii by Luh Tyler (featuring Kodak Black, Veeze and more)

• 🎶 “Murderman” by Trippie Redd, Lazer Dim 700, and VonOff1700

• 🎶 “Just Do It” by Jaylen Brown and A$AP Ferg

• 🎶 “Count Money” by Babyface Ray and BossMan Dlow

• 🎶 “Detroit” by Tee Grizzley and 42 Dugg

• 🎶 “Prison Tapes” by Tory Lanez

• 🎶 “If This Is It” by Russ

• 🎶 “Buffalo Freestyle” by Benny the Butcher and Drake

• Gunna is teaming up with the Black Music Action Coalition to launch a $500,000 guaranteed income program to help over two dozen families in Fulton County, Georgia.

• LL Cool gave Joe Budden a big honor. LL Cool J presented the rapper and rap commentator with a gold plaque for his song “Pump It Up” while on The Joe Budden Podcast as a special guest. 

• Sexxy Red is hitting shuffle on her upcoming tour.  She canceled her first stop in Seattle on August 22 and is instead starting in Atlanta on August 24. 

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