The Subliminal Messages of Kanye’s Yeezy Show Soundtracked by Frank Ocean

Lil Durk and J. Cole were spotted filming a music video for their upcoming song “All My Life” and the song snippet seems aligned with Durk’s promise that his new album is a product of healing and growth. He also reportedly squashed his longtime beef with NBA YoungBoy (growth!). In other news today:

• Song streams & revenue 📈 

• Drake’s selling his $88M Beverly Hills mansion 🏡 

• Timbaland collabs w/ Biggie using AI 🤖 

• YSL RICO attorney considers starting an OnlyFans 🤔 

• The real meaning of Kanye’s Yeezy season 10 show 🔍️ 

• Industry Insights

Song Streams & Revenue

It’s a new Thursday and a new song revenue chart. Reported by Hits Double Daily, the numbers reflect the previous streaming week from April 21st to 27th.

The Weeknd and Future’s collab, “Double Fantasy”, debuted at #18 on the Hot 100 this week and opened with 64K in revenue from over 13M streams. Drake’s “Search & Rescue” remains the most profitable hip-hop song for the third week in a row. Since the song’s release on April 7th up until the 27th, Drake has made 328K from over 68M streams.

Drake’s Selling His $88M Beverly Hills Mansion

The “Rich Flex” rapper listed his resort-style paradise home in the mountains above Beverly Hills for a casual $88 million this week. The substantial price tag is $13 million more than what he bought it for a year ago.

The home, sorry 25,000-square-foot mansion, was first built in the late ‘90s for GUESS co-founder Armand Marciano. In 2015, English pop star, Robbie Williams, purchased the house for $33 million and renovated it to be more contemporary than Old World style. Last spring, Drake purchased the place from Williams for $75 million.

Drake still spends a significant amount of time in his hometown of Toronto, and the house he custom-built there remains the crown jewel of his real estate portfolio (it’s double the size of this LA home). So what does a second-tier home for Drake look like?

According to the property listing, the 20-acre estate boasts:

• 10 bedrooms

• 22 bathrooms

• Movie theater and games room

• 11-car garage

• Full-size tennis court

• Mosaic-tiled pool with guesthouse

• Private orchard

• Elevator

• Wine cellar and gym

Timbaland Creates Dream Biggie Collab Using AI

Timbaland just became the latest high-profile artist to jump on the AI bandwagon. On May 2nd, the producer posted a video on Instagram playing a snippet of a song he created using AI-generated Biggie Smalls vocals.

​​“Alright so, I’m sitting here with my brother, Creatr God, and we know that it’s a lot of talk about AI and we know how the feelings of violating certain things,” he said acknowledging the divided opinions over AI use in music. “But let me tell you something: I got a solution, I’m working on it. It’s gon’ be beneficial to everybody.”

It’ll be interesting to hear what Timbaland’s solution is as someone who has been in the industry since the ‘90s and adapted to the evolution of music creation via technology. In the meantime though, he said he had to share the song snippet because he’s always dreamed of working with Biggie and never had the chance to until now.

The hard-hitting beat, presumably produced by Timbaland, features AI Biggie rapping in a flow reminiscent of Drake and name-dropping the late Nipsey Hussle and Pop Smoke.

What was the response?

As expected, the comments section is divided over the AI use of a deceased artist. Offset commented, “Man this shit sound hard asf 🔥 🔥🔥 ,” and u/a1madethebeat commented, “This is hard asf but, all I keep asking myself is…if I was Big would I want people making their own version of me?”

That question is exactly what Tuesday’s newsletter covered exploring the topic of AI in posthumous music using Pop Smoke as an example. There is no clear right answer but an esteemed producer like Timbaland using the vocals of a deceased artist is more likely to do right by that person’s name, image, and likeness than an amateur ghostwriter messing around for fun.

YSL Attorney Considers Starting OnlyFans to Make Ends Meet

Yes, you read that right, every new headline in the YSL case is more unhinged than the last. A lawyer in the YSL RICO case, Angela D’Williams, representing one of Young Thug’s co-defendants, says she’s not being compensated fairly to represent her client and is thinking of starting an OnlyFans as a last resort.

In an interview with WSB-TV, D’Williams blames her state agency, the Georgia Public Defender Council, for not ensuring a proper public defense system that provides legal counsel to Georgians who can’t afford it and fair wages to lawyers representing them.

For the YSL RICO trial, court-appointed lawyers are reportedly being paid $15,000 for the entire case.

“This case is slated to last for about a year, and if you were to do the math, it would be six dollars an hour. I can’t take any new cases. I can’t close any cases. I need something to survive off of. We were under the impression that GPDC was advocating for us, and once they put those walls up, I’m thinking I need to start an OnlyFans,” D’Williams said to WSB-TV.

The Subliminal Messages of Kanye’s Yeezy Show Soundtracked by Frank Ocean

“No Adidas, no problem,” is what I imagine Kanye saying as he put together the Yeezy season 10 show that was unveiled on May 1st in a West Hollywood store. As per all things Kanye, the fashion display (if you can call it that) was off-kilter, cryptic, and likely a small part of a much larger plan.

Details of the Yeezy Season 10 show

Kanye began quietly casting models for the Yeezy show in late April with the single requirement of a shaved head. This week’s low-key affair was less of a fashion show and more of an exhibition. Groups of skinhead models, wearing nothing but tight white T-shirts and black pants, stood holding candles.

Footage from the event shows that Kanye chose Frank Ocean for the soundtrack. Frank’s music was played throughout the night with an emphasis on the song “Self Control”.

Kanye was nowhere to be found, although he was spotted preparing for the show earlier that day (wearing a Manchester United jersey) with his wife, Bianca Censori, in a photo that’s now gone viral.

If you think Lebron is petty—Kanye is pettier. To further give the middle finger to Adidas, he held the Yeezy show at a store right next to the Adidas store in LA. It’s also rumored to be the new Yeezy office/retail store. Just imagine a long line outside of the Yeezy store, fans waiting for hours before a drop, while Adidas is empty in comparison and only a few feet away. This is what Kanye's dreams are made of.

The lyric is a nod to Kanye’s purchase of a house next to Kim Kardashian during their divorce which seems to be a go-to war move for him.

What does all of this mean?

The last Yeezy season 9 show held by Kanye was the disastrous Paris Fashion Week show in 2022 where models wore “White Lives Matter” shirts. It was the beginning of his imminent cancellation, followed by a myriad of unacceptable anti-Semitic comments that led to the termination of his partnerships with Adidas, Gap, Balenciaga, and Def Jam.

This was his first public event since. To hypothesize, the show’s existence is the point, not the clothes, Kanye did it just to prove that he can—without the support he used to have. You can take the Yeezy out of Adidas but you can’t take the Ye out of Yeezy.

It’s no coincidence that the show was held right next to Adidas, packing a punch that the three-stripes brand will walk away with a worse loss from the dissolution of their partnership than he will.

The timing of Frank Ocean’s own controversy, following his Coachella performance, and his music being used for the show feels symbolic. It’s the most negative press and fan reaction Frank has received in years. Kanye loves to prove a point using examples and Frank could be representative of an overarching message that cancel culture is not as permanent or effective as those who carry the torch believe it to be.

The color white, coupled with white candles, is often seen as a sign of purity. Perhaps this is Kanye and/or Yeezy’s rebirth? None of this is proven to be true but chances are Kanye’s already plotting his next move and we’ll see how it unfolds over time.

• Ed Sheeran wins Marvin Gaye copyright infringement trial. After 3 hours of deliberation, a jury’s verdict put an end to the legal battle that began in 2016.

• 50 Cent announces Get Rich or Die Tryin’ 20th anniversary world tour. Busta Rhymes and Jeremih will be supporting acts.

• TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is working on an AI music app that “significantly lowers the music creation barrier and inspires creativity.

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