Ye Shares His Current Thoughts on Travis Scott, Playboi Carti, and more

The new musical comedy produced by Kendrick Lamar and the creators of South Park has been delayed to March 2026. In other news: 

• Billboard Hot 100 📈 

• Ye is still going off on everyone 😠

• Drake’s new visuals look similar to Kendrick’s 👀

• 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.

Kendrick and SZA’s collab “luther” is holding on to the top spot for the sixth consecutive week, but Drake’s “NOKIA” is working its way up the top ten. Meanwhile, Doechii’s “Anxiety” and K. Dot’s “tv off” took a fall as The Weeknd and Playboi Carti’s collab “Timeless” proves it’s a classic and has risen up the charts.

Ye’s Interview with DJ Akademiks Goes Off the Rails

Over the past couple of weeks, Ye has been calling out everyone and their momma over their apparent “betrayals” against him. From Playboi Carti allegedly taking him off his new album MUSIC to not liking Kendrick Lamar’s music, Ye’s been giving out free smoke. 

However, things got even messier when DJ Akademiks finally released the mainly uncut interview (other than eight edits requested by his team) he had with Ye “moments before he left for Japan.”

Ye lets the choppa sing 

Akademiks revealed the interview while on live stream on March 30. Pulling up to the hotel room to talk in a black KKK hood and robe (which he doesn’t wear in public in case someone tries “to put me in the hospital for my outfit”), Ye shared all of his ever-changing thoughts and feelings on celebrities and rappers. Find out what he said below. 

Drake

The rapper said Drizzy is “a million times better than Kendrick and a million times more important…What Future has done, [Young] Thug, Drake, culturally — that shit last year, I could barely sit through that shit. That shit was insane, bro. Had Lucian Grainge, Universal, Drake lawsuit shit written all over it.”

Ty Dolla $ign

He claims that Ty was threatened by his label to denounce Ye back in February. “They literally called Ty Dolla and said — and this is coercion, that’s why these n***** are gonna be locked up one day — they said you have to denounce Ye publicly or we’re gonna drop your artist, Leon [Thomas] [and] cancel all your tours…They on some mob shit,” he said. 

Jay-Z

Ye, in a since-deleted tweet, insulted the Brooklyn rapper and Beyoncé’s twins, Sir and Rumi. He isn’t backing down, though, proclaiming, “Let’s take it to money — how much money you think Jay-Z makes off my catalog versus what I make off it? Next subject.” 

Diddy

He doubled down on supporting the former mogul, saying that “Puff is more like my twin” despite their past conflicts. “We family, we can get into it,” he said. 

Travis Scott

Ye claims that he was also removed from Scott’s 2023 album UTOPIA despite recording four songs together for the project at his ranch in Wyoming. 

Playboi Carti

Ye still feels betrayed by Carti over leaving him off the album, stating that “you’re reposting my baby momma and not even reposting me…You were the first feature on Donda. It’s like the Carti shit is like the final heartbreak.” He also revealed they were working on a joint mixtape before MUSIC dropped. 

Virgil Abloh

He said he continues dissing his former collaborator and friend because “I’m evil.”

Frank Ocean

Ye thinks that his song “Moon” is why the elusive singer hasn’t dropped new music since 2016’s Blonde. “He ain’t have a song since then. He talking, ‘Sipping some wine.’ I knew it, I heard it, I was like, ‘Oh, this n**** not gonna be able to make another album again…Any genre of music that anyone has, I make a better version of it. I’m 10 times stronger at music than anyone living,” he said. 

Kim Kardashian

He said that he knew he didn’t want to have kids with her “after the first two months of being with her. But that wasn’t God’s plan.”

Since the interview (which raked in over 800K live viewers and will apparently have a part two), Ye has been back on X and said he “loves Carti” (not an April Fools joke). Only time will tell what he has to say next about the rap game and the people he used to be closest to. 

Drake Allegedly Addresses Kendrick in NOKIA Visuals

Drizzy and Kendrick Lamar might not be going "back to back" on tracks like last year, but the animosity is still in the air. Last month, on the track "Gimme a Hug" from his collab album $OME $EXY $ONGS 4 U, the Toronto native had some seemingly choice words for K. Dot (perfectly timed days after Lamar got off the Super Bowl stage). 

"'Cause if I die, it's these n***** that become the sole beneficiary, And what the fuck are they gon' do with it?, Have the girls up at 29 on stage twerkin' with a dictionary? … They be droppin' shit, but we be droppin' harder shit … Fuck a rap beef, I'm tryna get the party lit," Drake rapped on the track. 

Lamar hasn't directly responded to Champagne Papi's comments about him on the album. Nevertheless, Drizzy used his newest visuals to throw even more shade at Lamar (and copy his drip). 

Swiper, no swiping

The rapper dropped the IMAX-filmed music video for his hit song "NOKIA" on March 31st. Of course, there were plenty of beautiful women, grooving and gyrating. However, those online pointed out some significant similarities between what Drake brought to the table and what Lamar had already done. 

The layout of some of the shots in the video is reminiscent of Lamar's Super Bowl performance (even down to the "K. Dot Angels"), and eagle-eyed fans noticed some similarities between Drake’s moves and Kendrick’s choreography in the “squabble up” music video. 

For cameos, Drake tapped Canadian NBA player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to appear as a guest star. SGA is one of the few ball players not on Drake’s opp list after DeMar DeRozan and Russell Westbrook pledged their allegiance to Compton and “Not Like Us.” 

Another similarity in “NOKIA” is the use of an owl. Drake appears to have reclaimed his OVO mascot, showing the bird free from the cage it was locked in during the "Not Like Us" visuals. There are also comparisons between a specific skyscraper shot and Dr. Dre's Super Bowl commercial (he has publicly sided with Lamar and was at The Pop Out last June). 

Even Drake's longtime groupie DJ Akademiks called out the subliminals throughout the video. "Is he trolling Kendrick? These two are going to be tied together like Siamese twins—both of them. Like Dot can't get over it, but Drake kinda can't get over it either," Akademiks said on stream. 

Rather than going off of originality, Drizzy is being accused of reading every page of "How to Be More Like Kendrick for Dummies." Nevertheless, "NOKIA" is still performing well on the charts, and Drake has another hit.  

• Doechii brings home the gold. She was awarded the Woman of the Year award at this year’s Billboard Women in Music ceremony.

• Summer Jam is going to be hot this year. GloRilla, Gunna, Cash Cobain and more are set to take the stage this June in New Jersey.

• There are updates in the Yella Beezy case. The rapper has been released on a $750,000 bond (reduced from $2 million) and will be on house arrest over his alleged involvement in the murder of rapper Mo3. 

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