‘Utopia’ Feature Artist Blasts Travis Scott and This Is Why

Chart data was delayed this week, and there’s no new song streaming revenue, but look forward to Utopia’s numbers next week. The album also seems to have sparked 2-for-1 beef for Travis Scott. In other news today:

• ‘Utopia’ feature artist says, “fuck Trav” 🤯 

• A$AP Rocky’s album release hints at Travis Scott feud 🥩 

• Drake’s DM convo with 36G bra fan revealed 📲 

• New Music Friday releases 💿️ 

• Industry Insights 📈 

‘Utopia’ Feature Artist Blasts Travis Scott and This Is Why

Earlier this week, Travis Scott added the feature credits to his Utopia album—acknowledging what the internet had already figured out. But if you compare the updated tracklist to Variety’s breakdown of every featured artist and producer, you’ll notice some names are missing. That’s what prompted the rapper KayCyy, featured on “Thank God,” to tweet, “fuck Trav!!!”

KayCyy sings the hook on “Thank God,” the album’s second song, and is listed in the songwriting credits. KayCyy is a known protege of Kanye, contributing writing and vocals to his 2021 Donda album. The Kanye influence on Utopia is omnipresent, and “Thank God” was originally a Kanye song, appearing on an early tracklist for Donda, but it didn’t make the album. It’s possible KayCyy’s vocals were part of the original song, and Travis reworked the rest.

All the missing features

KayCyy isn’t the only artist that got snubbed. Sampha and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon were left off the euphoria-laced “My Eyes” song but appeared in the songwriting credits. Bon Iver isn’t listed on the Beyoncé assisted track “Delresto (echoes),” Sheck Wes is missing from “Fe!n,” and James Blake is absent from “Lost Forever.”

When Utopia dropped, KayCyy expressed his gratitude for being a part of the blockbuster album. The initial #Blessings have turned into #JusticeForKayCyy and some fans pointed out that Travis didn’t acknowledge KayCyy’s thanks either—potentially adding more salt to the wound.

Context for those of you out touching grass

Travis Scott’s last album, Astroworld, credited a total of 0 features, and neither did Kanye’s Donda album. It’s unknown why both artists dislike “ft” in song titles as much as Playboi Carti dislikes releasing music, but there’s an element of surprise when features are only discovered through listening.

Oftentimes, the features are credited in the track’s metadata which means they show up in the “appears on” or “top songs” section of a featured artist’s profile on Spotify and Apple Music. Take “SICKO MODE,” for example, you don’t see Drake or Swae Lee in the title, but it still shows up in their top songs on Apple Music.

Why this matters

KayCyy isn’t the first or last victim of Travis’ invisible pen, but he is one of the few to take such a strong stance openly. If you google “Utopia features,” a dozen articles come up breaking down all the credits track by track, and KayCyy is included in all of them. It would be better for his career if his name appeared in the title, but the album is so hyped, and any inclusion is a v rare placement that he benefits from regardless.

“Thank God” doesn’t appear on KayCyy’s Apple Music profile (unlike Teezo Touchdown, whose top song is “Modern Jam”), and that’s understandably upsetting, but there are other ways to go about it without burning bridges.

A$AP Rocky’s Album Release May be Connected to Travis Scott Beef

A$AP Rocky has been teasing his new album, Don’t Be Dumb, for years, but there have been more signs as of late that he’s officially in rollout mode. On Tuesday, he tweeted “AWGEST,” spelling the month of August in the style of his AWGE creative agency.

Is this the month A$AP releases a new album for the first time in five years? Right after Travis Scott ended his five-year hiatus? Find out why it makes sense below.

In recent weeks, A$AP released a single and music video, directed and starred in a Beats by Dre commercial, revealed the producers on his album in a Complex interview, and previewed unreleased music at Rolling Loud. This is the most A$AP news, unrelated to Rihanna, we’ve received in years.

But the biggest motivation for dropping the album soon could be his revived beef with Travis Scott—let’s revisit their history.

Context for those of you out touching grass

At Rolling Loud Miami, where Travis was also performing, A$AP’s lyrics from an unreleased song seemed to be a diss aimed at Travis. Rumors of beef between the two rappers have been circulating for years because of speculation that Travis bit A$AP’s style early in his career. That sentiment is echoed in A$AP’s lyrics, and he says he stole the girl of the person biting his style—Travis reportedly dated Rihanna in 2015.

Then, A$AP dropped the music video for his new single “RIOT” on July 25th, the same day Travis dropped the trailer for his Circus Maximus film.

At the risk of sounding like a philosophical Kendrick Lamar fan, there are similarities between Travis’ song “Parasail” from Utopia and A$AP’s song “Calldrops” from Testing—pointed out by a Twitter user below. Both songs sample Dave Bixby and feature a spaced-out delivery backdropped by a lofi-guitar.

Why this matters

All these signs could be coincidental, but if there is any beef between the two rappers, it would be highly motivating for A$AP to drop his album before the dust settles from Utopia. Ego, also known as the prerequisite for being a rapper, often fuels a competitive spirit and drives an individual to try and outperform others.

Drake’s DM Convo With Fan Who Threw 36G Bra Revealed

The infamous bra-throwing incident has led to more than 15 mins of fame for Veronica Correia, who officially became a Playboy creator on their subscription-based platform last week. Sitting down with the Club Ambition podcast, she divulged that Drake DM’d her following the Playboy news and went into detail about their convo.

“He slid up on a story and laughed at one, just simply sent a laughing face,” she said on how the interaction started. "I wrote out this paragraph basically just thanking him for the experience, like an awesome show. Then I told him that I own the coffee shop in Cumberland and asked him if he likes coffee. Then, he responded back that he likes it iced and sweet,” she continued.

"He was laughing at all my messages. So, I said, 'Oh do you think I'm funny?'" Correia recounted. "And he said, 'I think you're really sought-after right now.'” Since the news broke, Correia has been the butt of many jokes online, most of which aren’t complimentary.

It’s a lot of attention for someone previously unknown to receive, and she asked Drake for advice on how to deal with it. "He said just to live your amazing life, like, people are faceless, and they would never really say the negative comments to your face.” Solid advice from a rapper who embraced the “21 can you do something for me” jokes.

New Music Friday

Midnight can’t come soon enough for Trippie Redd fans who recently vandalized an Airbnb billboard in his honor. Lil Yachty also announced he’s dropping two songs with no further context.

Here’s all the new music releasing tonight, categorized by 💿️ for albums and 🎶 for singles:

• 💿️ Heart Full Of Rage 2 by Tyla Yaweh

• 💿️ I Showed You So by Yo Gotti & DJ Drama

• 🎶 Left 4 Dead by Trippie Redd

• 🎶 Make Up Your Mind by Cordae

• 🎶 Good Good by Usher ft. 21 Savage, Summer Walker

• 🎶 ICE COLD ZEL by Denzel Curry & ICECOLDBISHOP

• 🎶 Realest by Ez Mil ft. Eminem

•  🎶 Wahala by JELEEL!

•  🎶 TBA by Lil Yachty

• 🎶 Paint The Town Red by Doja Cat

• 🎶 Mustard by Jordan Ward ft. 6LACK

• 🎶 Angels by Halle Bailey

• Gunna’s bodyguard confronts troll yelling “rat” taunt at the rapper while shopping. The heckler immediately backed down when asked to repeat what he said and filmed the whole interaction.

• Tory Lanez’s lawyers seek probation instead of prison as August 7th sentencing date nears. In a new memo, his lawyers requested probation and a mandatory stay in a drug treatment facility.

• Quavo delays Takeoff’s posthumous album Rocket Power to August 14th. The album will be the first offering of unreleased music from Takeoff since his death.

Like sports? 🏀 🏈 Get up-to-date analysis and unique insight that’s actually interesting to read with the Playmaker Newsletter.