Drake shouted out Future with Adin Ross in the massive DRIZZMAS live stream on Thursday night (Dec. 26). “Shout out, Pluto,” said the 6 God after Adin Ross acknowledged Future. Originally, Drizzy revealed his desire to reconcile with Future on the diss track “Family Matters.” In April, Future dissed Drake in his joint albums with Metro Boomin, alluding to their beef being about a woman. Young Thug shared a tweet seeking a truce between the rivals. Pluto would repost Thug’s tweet.
Future spoke on the beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake and expressed his frustration with GQ in November. Pluto told GQ: “He said ‘Big Three’ on my song. I’m supposed to be the one who gets mad.” Lil Baby expressed his frustration with being mentioned in the beef. Baby talked about it in a recent interview with Charlamagne Tha God. Drake was one of the first superstars to embrace Lil Baby and Gunna. Drizzy dissed Gunna in 2024 after accepting a plea.
Champagne Papi and Adin Ross’s recent livestream averaged over 180,000 viewers. Delivering a mix of giveaways, candid moments, and surprises. The stream switched to 18-and-over access as the duo indulged in drinks, took shots, and let loose with explicit language. The event featured special guests, including comedian BenDaDonnn. The comic humorously suggested gifting a Lamborghini to the studio crew members who didn’t already own one. Smiley also made an appearance with plans for streaming.
The 6 God used the event to unveil a new cologne, teasing its upcoming release. Presented by Stake, the stream promoted the highly anticipated Australian tour, The Anita Win Max Tour. The tour begins in February. Drizzy reflected on his first visit to Australia, sharing how it opened his eyes to the vastness of the world. Adin Ross announced his return to Kick next week after leaving indefinitely.
Now that Young Thug is a free man, fans wonder when he will drop new music. While we don’t know anything for sure just yet, it seems like he’s very hard at work, as Southside and Wheezy recently spoke in an interview on how they, Thugger, Travis Scott, Lil Baby, and Future are working together and cooking up collabs nonstop these days. Fans learned that they hit the studio earlier in November, and it seems like they haven’t left.
“It was like one of them nights where all the homies under one roof in one room,” Wheezy remarked. “Just Supreme Team, like, real deal superheroes. We had Trav, we got Pluto, Wham… And the one and only, King Spider. Under one roof, man, we just making the best music of our time. Like I said at the beginning of the video, like, real deal superhero group, super producers. We just locked in the studio doing, like, 20 songs a night. Like, real deal. Not even exaggerating. […] Yeah, and then the way this s**t going, you know, Free Thugger, man, he out. Thug free, it’s just like, that… It just was one of them nights, bro. And we’ve been doing it three nights in a row, that’s what’s so crazy. We getting up doing this s**t.”
Of course, this is very exciting for Young Thug’s comeback in particular, but we’re sure that the other artists involved got plenty of sauce. Lil Baby has not one, but two albums coming up in 2025, whereas Future proved that he can pull out a dominant year whenever with his triple threat 2024. As for Travis Scott, he’s teased new music as well, but we don’t have a specific timeline and we know that his releases can feel more like events.
With all this in mind, trap fans can’t wait to hear what Young Thug, Travis Scott, Future, and Lil Baby cooked up with the help of Wheezy, Southside, and others. There’s a lot of pressure and expectation for some real-deal bangers, but we’ll see what the direction sounds like. Either way, it will surely be a very celebratory moment.
Lil Baby is getting a head start on 2025. The rapper has confirmed that he plans to drop two albums in the first two months of the year. The first album, WHAM, has been described by Lil Baby as more upbeat and aggressive in sound. It’s also slated to come out first, with Dominique dropping at some point during February. The rapper decided to give fans an early Christmas present on December 20, though, when he dropped the album cover for WHAM and the tracklist. Both suggest we have a great record coming in the near future.
The album cover for WHAM is surprisingly minimal. Lil Baby is barely recognizable laid against a black backdrop. His jewelry helps to distinguish his outline, as his chains and rings pop amidst the darkness. The album’s title is etched across Lil Baby’s face. It’s a striking visual, and one that feels more somber and concise that some of his previous releases. Then there’s the feature list. Lil Baby has worked with some of the biggest names in music, but he decided to keep the features largely hip hop based on the new album. WHAM only has six features. All of them are cause for excitement, though.
Travis Scott, 21 Savage and Future are set to appear on the album. Lil Baby has worked with all three of these artists in the past, and the results have been excellent. Scott, Savage, and Future all bring different vibes to the table, though, so we’re excited to see how Lil Baby’s sound meshes with theirs. GloRilla and Rod Wave are also going to drop by for guest verses on the upcoming album. Lil Baby hasn’t worked with GloRilla before, but her and Wave have broken out in a major way in 2024. There was also rumors of Baby and Glo being romantically linked, but both have denied said rumors. Hopefully we get chemistry on their song, “Redbone.”
The most exciting feature listed on WHAM, however, is Young Thug. The YSL boss is freed about a very lengthy criminal trial. Fans have been waiting to see Lil Baby and Thugger reunite for quite some time, so all eyes will be on their WHAM collaboration. The star-studded album is set for release on January 3.
Kevin Durant has been one of the best players in the NBA basically since he arrived in the league in 2008, but due to his overlap with Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Stephen Curry, he hasn’t ever really gotten to carry the title of being the face of the league. For that reason, Durant isn’t quite as ubiquitous a figure when it comes to references in music and pop culture as the others, despite his immense talent and the way he changed the game.
That said, there was a period of time when Durant had a claim to being the best basketball player on the planet. That stretch from 2012-2019 saw him get name-dropped pretty frequently in rap lyrics, particularly after he joined the Warriors budding dynasty in 2016. Here, we’ll look at a dozen of the biggest tracks that reference Durant (most frequently as KD, as that’s much easier to rhyme).
“Pop That” — French Montana ft. Rick Ross, Drake, and Lil Wayne (2012)
Gettin cheddar packs like K.D., OKC that’s player s**t
Drake is always good for a few sports references on a song, and in his feature on the 2012 smash hit “Pop That” he shouts out KD while he was on the Thunder.
“Crown” — Jay-Z ft. Travis Scott (2013)
Scott Boras, you over baby/Robinson Cano, you coming with me/These n****s like rotary phones/It’s a new day, hit up KD
After launching his own sports agency in 2013, Jay-Z boasted about his growing client list on “Crown” (taking a shot at baseball superagent Scott Boras along the way), highlighting how Roc Nation Sports had already landed Robinson Cano and Kevin Durant (KD would leave Roc Nation in 2019).
“F**k KD” — Lil B (2014)
F**k Kevin Durant/F**k Kevin Durant/F**k Kevin Durant/F**k Kevin Durant
That is the entire chorus for this song, which has a lengthy backstory. After Durant tweeted about not liking Lil B’s music, TheBasedGod placed a curse on KD in 2011 and even dropped a whole diss track on the then-Thunder star in 2014. For awhile, there was compelling evidence that the curse was working as Durant and the Thunder couldn’t get over the hump to win a title, with KD ultimately breaking through after joining the Warriors — which is, ironically, Lil B’s favorite team.
“White Iverson” — Post Malone (2015)
Double OT like I’m KD, smokin’ OG
Post Malone had a ton of hoops references on his breakout hit (before his pivot to pop and, most recently, pivot to country), including this KD line — also, if this came out in 2019, this could’ve worked for a double-entendre about OG Anunoby.
“Good Drank” — 2 Chainz ft. Quavo and Gucci Mane (2016)
Oh, you in a slump/I’m headed to Oakland like Kevin Durant/What is your point?/Square with the stamp, for Kevin Durant
One of Gucci’s first features after his release from prison, the Atlanta rapper doubles up on his Durant references, both to Durant’s move to the Warriors and as a fill in for the number 35.
“Draco” — Future (2017)
35 b**ches at the St. Reg/Fall back shoot it like KD/Back in the kitchen with the Curry
This song is Future at the height of his powers, deftly pulling together Durant’s number 35 into a line about his fadeaway jumper and continues it with a nod to Durant’s then-Warriors teammate Stephen Curry.
“Save Me” — Meek Mill (2017)
I see n****s switchin’ sides like they KD/I can’t let it kill my vibe ’cause I’m too wavy
Durant’s move from the Thunder to the Warriors made him the poster boy for bailing on your team and switching sides, as Meek Mill references in this 2017 song.
“Ganja Burn” — Nicki Minaj (2018)
Still every team’s number one pick in the draft/You could bring anybody, weatherman, pick a day/I’m Kobe, KD, Kyrie, pick a K
Nicki Minaj uses this line about KD (along with Kobe Bryant and Kyrie Irving) to hammer home her place as the best woman in the rap game, which doubles as a reference to a famous Jay-Z line about a few guys named Mike.
“My Name Is” — Cordae (2018)
The best thing from PG since Kevin Durant
In Cordae’s first single, rapping over the beat from Eminem’s iconic “My Name Is”, he shouts out his fellow Prince George County native.
“Gold Roses” — Rick Ross ft. Drake (2019)
All smiles, Kevin Durant trials/Had to blow it on the court, I must have blew a milli’/I’m walkin’ on all charges, that’s my new Achilles
Drake references Durant and his torn Achilles in the 2019 Finals (suffered against Drake’s beloved Raptors) in this track with Rick Ross that released a month after the fact.
“Burner” — Lil Wayne (2020)
I keep a burner like Kevin Durant/I keep a burner like Kevin Durant
Lil Wayne might be the king of sports references in tracks, and in this 2020 song, he makes note of Durant’s infamous Twitter burner accounts in the chorus.
“go crazy” — Gunna (2023)
I been talking to my accountant a lot, tryna make what I got stack tall like KD
For decades, rappers have been comparing their stacks to the height of NBA big men — Shaq and Yao Ming are the gold standards for this in rap — but in this 2023 track Gunna uses KD. That’s a good choice, because KD is tall as hell, but it’s also a bit funny because Durant has been fighting the visual evidence that he’s actually a 7-footer his whole career, as he didn’t want to be a big man when he came into the league.
TikTok continues to reshape the music industry in 2024, cementing its role as the go-to platform for discovering new artists, promoting songs, and connecting fans to their favorite stars.
“In 2024, TikTok truly became the music industry’s primary launchpad for music, artists, and creativity. Every year, our global community discovers a new generation of emerging artists, creates new viral hit songs, and rediscovers classic tracks, propelling them into the charts worldwide. TikTok continues to be a space for discovery, self-expression, and fandom, empowering artists to build a global fanbase, engage with the community, and build their careers.”
– Ole Obermann, Global Head of Music Business Development, TikTok
With over a billion music fans on the platform, TikTok has become the epicenter for music culture, with users creating viral moments and driving songs to mainstream success. In the U.S., the Top 10 Songs generated 140 million TikTok creations globally, with Tommy Richman’s “MILLION DOLLAR BABY (VHS)” leading the charge. Rap and hip-hop thrived, with tracks like Lay Bankz’s “Tell Ur Girlfriend” and Flo Milli’s “Never Lose Me” reaching new heights on the Billboard and Spotify charts.
Sabrina Carpenter topped the U.S. list, with her viral songs “Espresso,” “Please Please Please,” and “Taste” generating over 15 million TikTok videos. Her incredible success was capped with six Grammy nominations for her album Short n’ Sweet, which she introduced to fans through a special TikTok in-app experience. Emerging stars like Shaboozey, Chappell Roan, and Benson Boone also leveraged TikTok’s viral power to elevate their careers, proving the platform’s transformative impact on the music industry.
Future probably hoped that he would close out 2024 with no further legal issues, but sadly, that’s not the case. Moreover, according to legal documents reportedly obtained by AllHipHop, Minnesota-based company MIK Corporation filed a lawsuit claiming that the “Everyday Hustle” MC, Egyptian artist Mohammed Ramadan and Lebanese-Canadian singer Sari Abboud they used a trademarked “Limo-Jet” in their “ARABI” music video without the company’s permission and damaged the custom vehicle. For those of you that have no idea what a “Limo-Jet” is, it’s a repurposed jet fuselage turned into a luxurious limousine. MIK owns the trademark for it and rents it out for events. Allegedly, the defendants agreed that they would not use the “Limo-Jet,” but they filmed it anyway without consent.
Per the court docs, Mohammed Ramadan first contacted MIK in April of 2023 in order to maybe get the “Limo-Jet” for shows in California and Dubai. Eventually, he and his associates visited Des Plaines, Illinois and saw the vehicle stored in a lot to continue discussions. Reportedly, all parties at this visit agreed that Ramadan and his affiliates would not post footage of the “Limo-Jet” without asking MIK first and that they wouldn’t damage anything. But apparently, during this same visit, someone scuffed the paint per MIK’s allegations. Then, the company claims that the release of the Future-featuring “ARABI” in February of 2024 shocked them, particularly its “Limo-Jet”-starring visual.
Furthermore, the present lawsuit against Future and company alleges breach of contract, negligence, fraud, and misappropriation. MIK’s pursuit of damages would hypothetically cover both the commercial use of the “Limo-Jet” without permission and the vehicle’s literal alleged damages. As a codefendant, Universal Music Group claimed the court should dismiss the accusation due to a lack of personal jurisdiction in Illinois. Seems like UMG’s got a couple of court headaches on their hands. But not this one.
The court agreed, even though MIK argued Ramadan was an agent of UMG in their amended complaint. The judge found an unsubstantial connection between both parties, and ruled that they could not establish the necessary jurisdiction to involve UMG. As such, they dismissed UMG as codefendants and gave MIK until December 15 to change their filing. In addition, the court noted that they don’t know if they were able to properly serve the other codefendants with the lawsuit, as the only confirmed serving was for Future’s Wilburn Holding Company. So maybe the other codefendants walk away from this if process servers don’t reach them in time… But the 2024 rap beef participant is in this fight whether he likes it or not.
Future is finally sharing his piece on “Like That,” the Kendrick Lamar-featured song from his We Don’t Trust You album that started one of the most infamous beefs in hip-hop history.
Appearing in the GQ Men of the Year issue alongside Metro Boomin, Future jokingly stated he is confused by the situation.
“I’m supposed to be the one who gets mad; I’m still confused about that,” he said. “Nobody cares what I think. That’s what was so fucked up about the shit. To the point where I’m so player that I ain’t even said anything about how I feel about it.
“Like, why is everybody mad when he was talking about me on my song? So y’all just forgot about me, I ain’t part of this Big Three, I’m nobody on my song, man.”
Now, it’s worth noting the pen behind the article notes Future’s comments were “faux self-deprecation.” Future added, “If I didn’t get mad, nobody should have gotten mad! If I would have been really mad about it and I made something out of it, then someone else could be like, Oh, I can make something else about it.”
For his part, Future says he “Got no reason to be mad at nobody. I just told you, I’m chilling. Do I sound like I’m mad at anybody?”
Metro Boomin and Future have the honor of being two of GQ‘s men of the year. They will be featured in an upcoming profile, and hip hop personality Elliott Wilson shared excerpts of their interview on Nov. 20. The interview revolved around the Drake and Kendrick Lamar feud that both men played a role in. Metro Boomin, in particular, made his disdain for Drake clearing during the peak of the feud. Now, however, the producer is singing a different tune. He told GQ that he regretted the way the whole thing went down, and felt his actions were out of character.
Metro Boomin admits he was frustrated by the fact Drake dissed him on record. Metro isn’t a rapper, obviously, so he felt compelled to respond via social media. This was the decision he came to regret. “Now I did have my moment online, which I do regret,” he explained. “I should have been stronger than that. That was out of character for me.” Metro Boomin backpedaled, somewhat, and said that he didn’t have a musical voice the same way Drake did, so social media was the next best option. At least, he felt it was at the time. “So you’re going to just sh*t on me on all of these songs,” he told GQ. “I’m not going to get in the booth, so I’m finna tweet at you.”
Metro Boomin says he regrets going on an “anti-Drake tweet spree” earlier this year
“Now I did have my moment online, which I do regret. I should have been stronger than that. That was out of character for me. But at a certain point, it’s like, I don’t rap, bro, so you’re… https://t.co/vLFhoF5raVpic.twitter.com/hj5gUEQ0Y5
It’s worth noting that Metro Boomin did use music to get back at Drake during the feud. Pretty effectively, we might add. The “BBL Drizzy” instrumental went viral on social media, and even led to a challenge in which fans hopped on the beat to diss the 6 God. We digress. Metro Boomin said that the whole conflict between him and Drake stemmed from a personal slight. It was not over a woman, as some fans have theorized. “We had a personal issue, and for the record, not over no girl or nothing silly like that,” Metro Boomin asserted. “It was a personal issue that really hurt me and disappointed me.”
Metro also shot down the notion that him and Future based their collab albums around their shared disdain for Drake. He mocked the notion that they would spend time and money just to hate on another artist. “That’s some serious hate,” he remarked. Future also gave his two cents on the Drake feud during the GQ interview. He spent more time talking about Kendrick Lamar’s “Like That” verse, though, and the ways in which he felt slighted not being mentioned as part of the “Big Three.”
Future has had quite a year. He dropped three stellar albums in ten months, two of which were made in collaboration with Metro Boomin. The duo will be featured in an upcoming GQ interview to discuss their historic output. There were candid discussions about the process of creating together, but the biggest takeaway from the interview was the way Future’s felt toward Kendrick Lamar. Dot’s verse on “Like That” catapulted the song to number one, but Pluto felt he was slighted by a verse that openly dissed Drake and J. Cole.
It may sound like an odd reason to be angry, but Future remains steadfast. He ultimately felt that K. Dot excluded him from discussion of the “Big Three” on his own song. “He said ‘Big Three’ on my song,” the rapper noted. “I’m supposed to be the one who gets mad; I’m still confused about that.” Future was also frustrated by the fact that nobody, peers or fans, asked how he felt about being excluded from the “Big Three” discussion. He perceived this, in some ways, as being more offensive that the direct disses that Drake and Cole received. “Nobody cares about what I think,” Future added. “That’s what was so f*cked up about the sh*t.”
Future holds Kendrick Lamar responsible for not taking him seriously on his own song. He points to the other so-called members of the “Big Three,” however, when it came to their responses. Future believed he had far more reason to be offended by Dot’s verse than Drizzy or Cole. “I ain’t part of this Big Three, I’m nobody on my song, man,” he told GQ. “If I didn’t get mad, nobody should have gotten mad! Like, why is everybody mad when he was talking about me on my song?” The part of the interview that has confused most fans, though, is when Future claimed to be unaware of the brewing “Big Three” beef.
The rapper claimed to be out of the loop on the tension brewing between Kendrick Lamar, Drake and J. Cole. “There was a beef?,” he recalled thinking. “I didn’t even know there was a beef. I didn’t even know they had nothing going on. Ain’t never participated in rap battles, man…” Fans have noted that there was already tension between Future, Metro Boomin and Drake, so the notion of Pluto being blind to what was going on prior to “Like That” is a bit convenient. Either way, it sounds like the fallout from the beef, and K. Dot’s verse, is still being felt.
“Everyday Hustle” is one of the best cuts off of Future and Metro Boomin’s 2024 collab album, WE DON’T TRUST YOU. We don’t understand why it took this long to drop the music video, but the Rick Ross-assisted cut finally got a visual treatment… Well, sort of. Fewtch doesn’t rap in it: he just looks cool for the camera while a lot of footage of booty-shaking plays. Then, for his verse, Rozay stands in front of his private jet and flexes a lot of his material belongings, but it doesn’t seem like the most tight, concise, or unified vision. Maybe it was just some old footage they wanted to splice into a new vid on The Biggest Boss’ channel, which wouldn’t be the first time he made a feature a music video of its own.
Regardless, every single one of these artists is dealing with a lot of career and gossip stuff that probably has them busy right now. As such, the “Everyday Struggle” video came at an opportune time for them to enjoy this release and give fans a little something in the meantime. Beyond his Future and Metro Boomin feature, Rick Ross is still dealing with his “biggest opp,” as he raps on the song. He and Tia Kemp have not stopped throwing each other under the bus with scathing allegation after scathing allegation.
Future & Metro Boomin’s “Everyday Hustle” Music Video With Rick Ross: Watch
As for Metro Boomin, the Future collaborator recently responded to sexual assault allegations against him. “These are false accusations,” his lawyer Lawrence Hinkle III reportedly told Billboard. “Mr. Wayne refused to pay her months ago, and he refuses to pay her now. Mr. Wayne will defend himself in court. He will file a claim for malicious prosecution once he prevails.”
Meanwhile, Future recently hit the studio up with Lil Baby, Travis Scott, and none other than a recently released Young Thug. Fans wonder what this link-up resulted in, and whether or not we’ll hear new Thugger music this year or early in the next. It’s an everyday hustle for all these hip-hop artists, even if music videos don’t always turn out like some fans expected.
TRAVIS SCOTT
(@metroboomin)