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Playboi Carti Allegedly Stole Designs From This Rock Band & They're Still Pissed

Plus, Problem reveals Kendrick's exact reaction when "Family Matters" dropped.

There’s no new song streams & revenue chart today, but NMF is stacked. If you’re listening to Don Toliver’s Hardstone Psycho, don’t sleep on “Brother Stone” with Kodak Black. In other news today:

  • Playboi Carti’s stolen merch designs & leaked ad-libs 🤫 

  • This was Kendrick’s immediate reaction when Drake dropped “Family Matters” 😳 

  • New Music Friday releases 💿️ 

  • Industry Insights 📈 

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Playboi Carti Blasted for Allegedly Stolen Designs & Raw Vocal Ad-Libs

The issues between Playboi Carti and Falling in Reverse’s lead singer, Ronnie Radke, have been going on for a “Long Time.”

What is Radke's beef with Carti? 

In 2020, Carti released a merch line that featured “Falling in Reverse” in large, bold text upside-down, along with other heavy metal graphics. When Radke learned about the merch, he went to his socials to let off some steam.

In December 2020, he wrote on his Instagram story, "@playboicarti cease and desist mr rapper boi stop stealing," adding, "@playboicarti I'm gonna steal this back from you and sell it to my fans." He even posted a screenshot of the cease-and-desist letter he sent to Carti and his team. 

Despite the threat, Carti continued to lead mosh pits and share his punk rap vibes unaffected. Radke decided to take matters up a notch and took the issue to court.

In 2022, the parties reached a legal settlement, and Carti could no longer use the band’s name without their permission. Nevertheless, Radke still feels some type of way. 

What happened now? 

X user CLAYBOIPARTI tweeted on June 11 in response to a post about the “bangers” from Falling in Reverse that they should “get a feature with Playboi Carti since he loves you so much.”

Radke vehemently responded a minute after the tweet with, “Playboi Carti fucking sucks. you couldn’t pay me.”

The day before, X user Flawdzilla tweeted Radke about his issue with Carti since he was unaware. Radke let the choppa sing, stating that he initially tried asking Carti to take the merch down and didn’t want any money from the sales. Carti agreed but left the merch on his site. 

Radke allegedly attempted to ask Carti again to remove the merch, but after that failed, he took legal action. When lawyers got involved, Radke claims Carti settled the suit and gave him 100% of the profits from the “Falling in Reverse” merch. 

Carti is not the only rapper recently in the hot seat over their merch. On June 11, JR Apparel filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Drake’s Away From Home Touring Company. They allege that Drake unlawfully used the “Members Only” logo on his It’s All A Blue Tour merch. 

Carti’s Original Raw Ad-Libs Get Leaked

While Radke and others claim that Carti stole their image and names, no one can say that Carti stole their ad-lib style. Frequently praised as a pioneer in rap for his vocal manipulations, the raw version of his ad-libs leaked this week, and fans are having a field day.

The sounds resemble a little kid making sound effects for the imaginary spaceship they are flying in their backyard. 

Eric Sheffield on X tried to give him the benefit of the doubt on June 9, stating that "Carti sounds like courage the cowardly dog at the beginning. Granted, when you do a freestyle run of ad-libs to drop in your song it’s going to sound weird.

Others though, immediately got on his head, with X user FarrQ tweeting that “no cap I’m dead ass high af laughing in tears right now, I feel like south park could make a carti ep coz s*** like This. “IMaaDoPeFeIN…. WAHH wah WaAaHh WaAhh,” 

Carti hasn’t been on social media, so there hasn’t been a response to what Radke has been spewing about him. Hopefully, his MIA status means that new music is OTW. 

Do you think that Radke is doing too much?

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Problem Reveals Kendrick’s Immediate Reaction When Drake Dropped “Family Matters”

We rarely get insight into Kendrick’s moves behind the scenes, but Compton rapper Problem just revealed K. Dot’s reaction when Drake dropped “Family Matters” on May 3.

His play-by-play of the events, in an interview with Bootleg Kev, clears up the confusion some fans had about whether Kendrick knew Drake was going to drop that night. 

Really it’s a cautionary tale for any rapper tempted to spark beef with the Boogeyman that should be aptly titled “Meet Kendrick Lamar.” 

What was the reaction?

Problem shared what went down exclusively during his interview, stating that “[Drake] dropped ‘Family Matters’ and I text [Kendrick] like, ‘This ain’t it. Man, it’s time to step on his head.’ He was like, ‘Say less.’ I’m thinking it ain’t nothing deep like that. I go to the bathroom. I come back. The motherf*cking [‘Meet the Grahams’] is uploaded! I said, ‘Wait, wait, wait!'”

“I text him like, ‘N****, you already [dropped the song?!].’ He’s like, ‘I’ve been waiting for this n**** to drop something…[Drake] didn’t even know what he was going to get. Man, Drake shot a video and all this shit. Sometimes you just gotta know what to do and what not to do.”

K. Dot didn’t even need to know how Drake would respond to be ready with another diss. He secretly plotted the "euphoria” to “Not Like Us” run, surprising everyone. Makes you think there’s some truth to the claim on “Not Like Us” that Dot had another five diss tracks in the vault.

So what is Kendrick doing next?

Like any toxic relationship, one party (usually the one dumped) moves on first and tries to put the dumpster fire behind them while the other party does a victory lap.

Drake’s already in the “pretend like it didn’t happen” phase, but Charlamagne Tha God thinks Kendrick’s Pop Out concert, happening next week, is another shot at the opponent he’s already knocked down. 

“He’s still mad about Drake saying, ‘You rap like you wanna free the slaves.’ So Imma do a concert on Juneteenth at The Forum. Mind you, think about this: Kendrick hasn’t performed ‘Not Like Us’ anywhere. He hasn’t performed any of these diss records anywhere. We’re seeing all of these videos of how ‘Not Like Us’ is turning up in L.A,” Charlamagne said. 

“Not Like Us” isn’t solely a hit in L.A. It’s being played everywhere at the most random events, from weddings to kids' birthday parties. When you have ten-year-olds calling you an OV-HOE, it might be time to wrap it up. 

For those who don’t know, Juneteenth is the day that commemorates the ending of slavery in the United States. Kendrick doing a victory lap by performing his beef-winning track for the first time in his hometown while dissing the guy who said, “Always rappin’ like you ‘bout to get the slaves freed,” is the definition of petty. Sometimes, you gotta pop out and show…

Do you think Kendrick will perform “Not Like Us” at The Pop Out?

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New Music Friday

Run, don’t walk to streaming platforms because Don Toliver and LUCKI’s new albums are out. Today finna be a good day 😤 Here’s all the music you can listen to now—categorized by 💿️ for albums and 🎶 for singles:

  • 💿️ Hardstone Psycho by Don Toliver

  • 💿️ Gemini! by LUCKI

  • 💿️ Speak Now by Moneybagg Yo

  • 💿️ The Last One by Headie One

  • 💿️ New World Depression by $UICIDEBOY$

  • 🎶 “Devil Is A Lie” by Tommy Richman

  • 🎶 “Mink” by Quavo

  • 🎶 “Twisting Our Fingers” by Lil Gotit, Young Thug, Lil Keed

  • 🎶 “Choppa” by Byron Messia, Lil Baby

  • 🎶 “Off Dat Drank” by Rob49

  • 🎶 “Act Bad Twin!” by Chow Lee, Cash Cobain, Bay Swag

Who gets first listen?

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