UMG's Trying to Finish Up The Drake Lawsuit

Lil Durk is finally dropping his new album, Deep Thoughts, on March 28th. In other news: 

• Billboard Hot 100 📈 

• UMG and Drake are still squabbling up 👀

• It’s now Ye vs. Playboi Carti 😬

• Industry Insights 🔎 

Update your email preferences or unsubscribe here

Billboard Hot 100

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

Drake’s “NOKIA” is working its way up the charts to challenge K. Dot’s GNX tracks like “luther” and “tv off.” Meanwhile, Doechii earns a top 15 spot with the streaming release of her viral track, “Anxiety.”

Drake Just Got Dissed By His Own Label

After taking a major L in his battle against Kendrick Lamar, Drake decided to turn his anger against his own label, UMG. He filed an 81-page defamation and harassment lawsuit against the label in January, claiming that Universal Music Group helped run a campaign for “Not Like Us” to become a viral hit. 

The two have since been going back and forth for months, with Drizzy’s team recently pushing back against UMG’s moves to have their April 2nd pretrial meeting rescheduled due to more harm being done to his reputation in the meantime (cough cough, Lamar’s Super Bowl performance). Now, though, UMG has had enough, and they want this legal battle to be over. 

UMG is dragging Drake (again)

The lawyers for UMG filed a formal motion on March 17 asking the courts to dismiss the defamation case. Starting with lyrics from Champagne Papi’s 2009 song “Successful,” (“Yeah, I want it all, that’s why I strive for it/Diss me, you’ll never hear a reply for it.”) the mega music company decided to go nuclear.

“Plaintiff [Drake], one of the most successful recording artists of all time, lost a rap battle that he provoked and in which he willingly participated. Instead of accepting the loss like the unbothered rap artist he often claims to be, he has sued his own record label in a misguided attempt to salve his wounds. Plaintiff’s Complaint is utterly without merit and should be dismissed with prejudice,” the document states.  

However, the report wasn’t entirely negative. UMG wrote that Drake is “a prolific rap feud combatant, having traded diss tracks with a number of artists, including Pusha T and Meek Mill.” 

Nevertheless, they state that the rapper is still in the wrong (and should just take the L). They are arguing that Drizzy “had no concerns using UMG’s platform to publish slurs about Lamar during their rap feud, now claims that ‘Not Like Us’ is defamatory … Drake fails to state a claim for defamation because ‘Not Like Us’ conveys nonactionable opinion and rhetorical hyperbole, not fact, and because Drake cannot adequately allege that UMG acted with actual malice.”

Drake’s lead attorney, Michael J. Gottlieb, quickly hit back with a statement defending his client. “UMG wants to pretend that this is about a rap battle in order to distract its shareholders, artists and the public from a simple truth: A greedy company is finally being held responsible for profiting from dangerous misinformation that has already resulted in multiple acts of violence.” 

“This motion is a desperate ploy by UMG to avoid accountability, but we have every confidence that this case will proceed and continue to uncover UMG’s long history of endangering, abusing, and taking advantage of its artists,” read the statement.

Ye Beefs With Playboi Carti After Being Left Off 'I AM MUSIC’

Playboi Carti just had a legendary weekend. He finally dropped his highly anticipated third studio album, I AM MUSIC, on March 14th. The album had plenty of features, from Kendrick Lamar and Future to Travis Scott.

He performed the album for the first time while headlining Rolling Loud California on March 16, and fans couldn’t have been happier. However, there is one rap heavyweight who isn’t happy with the rapper or their newest project. 

Ye lets the choppa sing online (again)

After Kim Kardashian posted Carti’s shoutout of her brand, SKIMS, on his new song, “FINE SHIT,” he took the opportunity to reply and ask for a song—from North West, the daughter she shares with Ye. He made the request public, posting, “@KimKardashian tell my niece North send me a song,” on his IG story. 

Ye saw the request and decided to answer for his daughter. “NORTH WONT BE DOING ANY SONGS WITH CARTI,” he said in a new rant posted on X.  

The most obvious reason for his outrage is that despite Carti teasing Ye’s involvement in the album’s production last November, he was ultimately left off the final version. Carti hasn’t addressed why he removed Ye from the album, but there’s speculation that Ye’s recent tirades, which have been extremely antisemitic, have further alienated him. 

But Ye’s rant toward Carti didn’t end there. He brought Carti’s ex, Iggy Azalea, and their song Onyx into the drama to further illustrate the disrespect he felt from the situation. 

“HEY IGGG AZALEA I NEED TO GET ONYX VOCALS ON MY SONG THATS MY NEPHEW OH AND IMA RAP ABOUT ONE OF YOUR BUSINESSES THE F*** … I HELD MY TONGUE ABOUT MOT BEING ON CARTI ALBUM HIM GOING TO MY EX TO ASK MY DAUGHTER TO BE ON A SONG 2 DAYS LATER WAS TOO FAR NOBODY FINNA PLAY WITH ME,” he said online on March 18. 

Azalea quickly responded to Ye, asking him to please “leave my child out of this” because posts like his create “a digital legacy & an odd (shitty) situation for him to one day discover & endure in perpetuity from strangers online.” 

Unfortunately, no one is safe from Ye’s current X tirade — even artists he previously showed love to, like Tyler, the Creator (who he now says has “never made a memorable song”). He also called out Future and Metro Boomin for ignoring his calls and said that he hated K. Dot’s “Not Like Us.” Hopefully, Ye puts down his phone soon. 

• Flau’jae is giving back to the community. The rapper and star LSU basketball player is teaming up with the company Experian to clear $5 million in debt for Louisiana families. 

• Dreamville Fest is back one last time. This year’s lineup includes Lil Wayne, 21 Savage, J. Cole, and PARTYNEXTDOOR to celebrate the festival’s fifth and final year.

• Jack Harlow hit a major career milestone. He officially has his first diamond-certified record with “What’s Poppin.” 

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