Kanye vs. Adidas: Who Is Lying? Rapper Slams “Fake Yeezys” & $250M Lawsuit

NBA YoungBoy put his Utah mansion on the market under its formal name, which is the address. Alternative options were Grave Digger Mountain and one-time house arrest pad. In other news today:

• Billboard Hot 100 📈 

• These 2 Vultures collaborators confirm Vol 2 is otw 🔥 

• Kanye slams Adidas over $250M lawsuit & unpaid Yeezy royalties—who is lying? 🤥 

• NBA YoungBoy is selling his $5.5M Utah Mansion 🏡 

• Discover new music with the Rap Index 🎵 

• Industry Insights 🔎 

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.

“Carnivals” remains Vultures' most popular song, only dropping one spot to #4. Jack Harlow’s “Lovin’ On Me” gets bumped down to #2 by Beyonce, and Bryson Tiller’s “Whatever She Wants” debuts at #32.

Ty Dolla $ign & Timbaland Confirm ‘Vultures Vol 2’ OTW

Vultures Vol 1 holds the #1 spot on the Billboard 200 for the second week in a row, becoming Kanye’s first album in 13 years to do so. But where’s Vol 2? Ty Dolla $ign and Timbaland have an update.

The three-part series was initially teased to release on Feb 9, March 8, and April 5. The Vol 1 release came a day late, only to be plagued by distribution and clearance issues, casting doubt on the likelihood of other versions ever reaching your AirPods.

Timbaland, who contributed production on “Fuk Sumn” and “Keys To My Life,” seems to have worked on Vultures Vol 2 and updated fans on the album’s imminent arrival.

Within days, Ty Dolla $ign echoed the same statement. In an interview after the Vultures listening event in Paris, he spoke on how his musical synergy with Kanye came to fruition in the album. “It’s incredible, Ye is one of the greatest, I’m one of the greatest, and you put those together, it makes the double greatest.”

“Thank you guys for supporting Vol 2 OTW,” he said as his sign-off from the interview. There are only 9 days until March 8, and if the album is scheduled to be released, you can expect previews of songs and collaborations from Kanye’s bag of usual rollout tricks.

Kanye vs. Adidas: Who Is Lying? Rapper Slams “Fake Yeezys” & $250M Lawsuit

“Let me explain really clear to you guys what’s happening with Adidas,” Kanye said, addressing the ether of social media in a new video. “Not only are they putting out fake colorways that are non-approved, they’re suing me for $250M, and they’re also not paying me.”

Kanye’s claims were made only days before Adidas is set to release the Yeezy Boost 350 V2 in a “Steel Grey” colorway on Feb 29. Like many divorces, this one is messy, and it has a paper trail longer than the “Who TF Did I Marry” thread on TikTok. Still, we dug through the archives to determine if Kanye’s accusations can be substantiated. Find out below.

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What was Kanye’s contract with Adidas?

In 2016, Kanye signed a multi-year contract with Adidas that had a moral clause with grounds for termination. According to The New York Times, these grounds included felony conviction, bankruptcy, 30 days of mental health or substance abuse treatment, and anything that brings “disrepute, contempt, scandal” to Kanye and, by proxy Adidas. 

It also outlined that Kanye would get a 15% royalty on all Yeezy sales and $100M annually, officially for Yeezy marketing, but unofficially for Kanye to do what he wanted instead of traditional marketing.

Think of these terms like a prenup; they give structure to a divorce, but if you have the right lawyers and a certain amount of spite, the fine print is up for debate.

Is Adidas suing Kanye?

Shortly after their conscious uncoupling in Oct 2022, Adidas froze $75M in Yeezy assets. This part of the legal dispute stems from the $100M annual fund, mentioned in the previous section.

Adidas claims to have paid $50M to a Yeezy Wyoming bank account and $25M to Yeezy’s JPMorgan Chase account. They allege that Yeezy mishandled all of these marketing funds—mixing the money with general accounts and using it for unauthorized purposes.

Adidas dropped the federal case and moved to private arbitration instead, pursuing a return of the $75M and unspecified monetary damages, claiming Kanye reduced the brand to “economic rubble.”

Unfortunately, details of private arbitration cases are just that—private. Kanye may have been referring to this lawsuit, but the amount he’s being sued for can’t be confirmed.

What about the Yeezy sales?

Divorce is easy—said no one ever. Kanye may be entitled to 15% of all Yeezy sales, but the terms of his contract and any applicable laws would determine if he gets royalty payments during the litigation process. Once again, the answer is unclear.

The Financial Times reported that Adidas made $565M in revenue from Yeezy drops in May 2023, giving Kanye just under $85M at his royalty rate. Would he be publicly blasting a product if he was profiting from it? Probably not.

NBA YoungBoy’s Selling His Grave Digger Mountain Mansion for $5.5M

NBA YoungBoy’s been living in Utah since 2021, when his lawyers successfully negotiated the relocation as part of his house arrest deal. He’s still awaiting trial, which is set for this summer, but in the meantime, he’s put his $5.5M dollar mansion on the market.

Affectionately called Grave Digger Mountain by him, the property is listed under its formal name, 4544 S Abinadi Rd, and not YoungBoy’s nickname or “one-time jail.” The 8,800 square feet of contemporary luxury living was “designed to blur the lines between indoor and outdoor living,” according to the listing.

The features include:

• Four bathrooms

• Panoramic views

• Heated driveway with five five-car garages

• Elevator

• Sprawling outdoor pool

• Private deck off the master suite

Check out photos of the estate below and view the full listing for more.

The Rap Index ft. A$AP Rocky, Kid Cudi, Lil Yachty, Lil Durk & 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 Rap Index Songs

1. “GANG$TA” by A$AP Rocky, Anderson .Paak, Free Nationals (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

2. “Human Made” by Kid Cudi (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

3. “Something Ether” by Lil Yachty (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

4. “Old Days” by Lil Durk (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

5. “Shampoo” by Kodak Black (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

6. “Kisses Make Sure” by James Blake, Young Thug, Strick (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

7. “I Will” by Central Cee (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

8. “Himothy” by Quavo (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

• TikTok loses even more songs over its dispute with Universal Music Group. The publishing arm of UMG began pulling their songs, and their combined catalog represents 20-30% of the most popular songs on the platform.

• Baby Keem teases new album ‘Child with Wolves.’ “Living with imperfections, back to you all so soon,” he wrote on IG stories.

• 21 Savage is going on tour with JID, Nardo Wick & 21 Lil Harold. The American Dream tour kicks off in May, and tickets go on sale this Friday, March 1.

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