Travis Scott Questioned For Hours During ‘Astroworld’ Civil Lawsuit Deposition

Now that Drake’s bowed out of New Music Friday this week, there’s only Doja Cat and Lil Tecca to look forward to. In other news today:

• Billboard Hot 100 📈 

• Discover new music with The Rap Index 🎵 

• Travis Scott questioned for hours in Astroworld deposition 🧑‍⚖️ 

• Drake postpones album release and “disrespects” Halle Berry 🐶 

• YNW Melly’s ex-girlfriend says police intimidated her for information 😳 

• Industry Insights 🔎 

The Billboard Hot 100

The above chart shows Billboard’s Hot 100 ranking for this week. The Hot 100 ranks songs based on a combination of streaming activity, radio airplay audience impressions, and sales data—all measured by Luminate.

Doja Cat’s “Paint The Town Red” gets dethroned by Olivia Rodrigo and moves down to #2. Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s new single debuts at #14. Young Nudy and 21 Savage’s hit song “Peaches & Eggplants” moves up from #51 to #33 this week.

The Rap Index ft. Rod Wave, Drake, SZA, Nas, Lil Wayne & More

The Rap Index is a way to follow and discover new music. Divided into 4 categories describing rap subgenres, songs are placed according to their style and sound—giving you a better idea of what songs will appeal to your musical taste. Only releases from the previous New Music Friday are included to help keep you up to date.

RapTV’s Ranking of NMF Songs Featured in the Rap Index

1. “Boyz Don’t Cry” by Rod Wave (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

2. “Slime You Out” by Drake, SZA (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

3. “Hellcats SRTs 2” by Sexyy Red, Lil Durk (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

4. “FAN” by Offset (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

5. “Emoji” by RONNY J., XXXTentacion (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

6. “Never Die” by Nas, Lil Wayne (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

7. “Another One Of Me” by Diddy, The Weeknd, French Montana, 21 Savage (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

8. “SKED” by Kenny Mason, Lil Wayne (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

Travis Scott Questioned For Hours During ‘Astroworld’ Civil Lawsuit Deposition

On Monday, September 18, Travis Scott underwent questioning in relation to hundreds of lawsuits for the 2021 Astroworld tragedy. The deposition took place in Houston and lasted about 8 hours, according to Billboard, but anyone connected to the civil lawsuits is under a gag order, preventing them from sharing details publicly.

For context, a deposition is sworn out-of-court testimony used to gather info and, under limited circumstances, can be used at trial.

Here’s what we know so far…

In June, a grand jury declined to indict Travis on criminal charges related to deaths at the festival. The jury decided that “no crime did occur and no single individual was criminally responsible,” according to the DA.

In July, the Houston Police published their 1,300-page investigative report on the incident, which highlighted problems identified by festival workers that ominously warned of consequences.

A spokesperson for Travis released a statement about the recent questioning, saying his deposition “is typical legal procedure. What is not typical is how the media continues to focus on him despite being cleared of any wrongdoing.” The first trial is set to take place on May 6, 2024.

The ten people who died at Astroworld were killed from compression asphyxia, which is like being crushed by a car. Unfortunately, crowd-related deaths are known to happen at large gatherings worldwide.

Drake Pushes Album Release & Upsets Halle Berry With Slime Cover Art

Drake giveth, and he taketh away. After dropping his new single with SZA, Drake announced he was postponing the release of his album until October 6th. Initially slated for September 22nd, he cited tour conflicts on his IG story, but there’s a running joke that he didn’t want to face Doja Cat for the #1 spot (her album still drops this Friday).

The only person not happy about Drake’s “Slime You Out” single was Halle Berry, who was featured as the cover art—literally slimed out at the 2012 Kids Choice Awards. If you’ve listened to the song, it’s not hard to see why Drake chose that photo.

He promises to start “sliming you for those kid choices you made.” Halle Berry made her feelings known over the weekend, expressing her disappointment that Drake used an image of her without her permission.

The image is owned by Getty Images and was legally used, but Halle felt it was disrespectful for his team to reach out, and when she refused, go ahead with the photo anyway. It’s since been changed on streaming platforms to the For All The Dogs cover.

Suki Baby, aka Qui Yasuka, aka the grill smiling woman on the cover of Her Loss, happily reenacted her Drake cover for the crowd during his concert.

YNW Melly’s Ex-Girlfriend Says Police Intimidated Her For Information

YNW Melly’s retrial for the murder of his two friends is set to begin on October 7th, and his ex-girlfriend, who was noticeably absent from the first trial, is speaking up for the first time.

Speaking on the Law & Crime Network’s podcast, Mariah Hamilton detailed how police allegedly intimidated and threatened her with jail time to get information against Melly.

Mariah was dating Melly at the time of the 2018 murders, and she claims that because police knew this, they weren’t satisfied with her statement. Speaking about the lead investigator, Mark Moretti, who testified during the trial, Mariah said, “He told me that I was lying. He told me I knew more than I was telling and that he could arrest me for accessory after the fact.”

As a minor at the time, about to turn 18, Mariah was scared of the idea of doing jail time and cooperated with Moretti. “He wanted me to get on a tape recording and tell him what he wanted me to tell him, which I did. And after that, he said they wouldn’t bother me anymore.”

But the harassment didn’t stop, and Mariah allegedly hasn’t spoken to the police since 2019. Her mother weighed in during the podcast and said they were forced to tell a story, insinuating that authorities are trying to fix their mistakes with witness testimony.

During the first trial, the defense highlighted many inconsistencies and gaps in the murder investigation that left reasonable doubt about who committed the murders. You can review the tense testimony of Mariah’s mother in a previous newsletter here.

• TikTok rolls out new tools and tech to label AI-generated content. The new tool allows creators to label their AI content, and testing is underway to label AI content automatically.

• Donald Glover’s Lando will now be made as a Disney+ movie instead of a series. Glover’s brother confirmed the news on a podcast, stating that production is paused because of the 2023 WGA/SAG-AFTRA strike.

• Young Thug’s father defends Gunna and sets the record straight on snitch allegations. “Let me try to help the attorney clarify that a little simpler. Gunna hasn’t done anything whatsoever that can hurt us on this case. Period,” he said.

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