Ness Lee, who claims to be the ghostwriter for Benzino’s “Rap Elvis‘ diss track, has come forward to clear the air on the rumors of his involvement. He did so during an interview with Trap Newz Daily in order to clarify that he had nothing to do with dissing the late rapper, Proof, on Benzino’s earlier diss “Vulturius.” The rumors began when a video of Lee working in the studio with Benzino leaked online.
During the interview, Lee began by explaining why he chose to work with Benzino on the new song. “I just wanted to do something historic,” he said. “I felt like I could accomplish writing the greatest diss song toward Eminem. That’s all I wanted to do.” From there, he explained his involvement was never supposed to be known. “It was never supposed to be public that it was me. This is my first interview and probably my only interview about it,” he said.
MIAMI, FL – OCTOBER 01: Benzino attends the Celebrity Boxing Weigh-In at James L. Knight Center on October 1, 2021, in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Johnny Louis/Getty Images)
From there, Lee described Proof as “my big brother,” and revealed the history between the two. “He was eventually going to sign me back in ‘03, he was the first person to show me love in the industry, battle rap or whatever,” Lee said. “I would never disrespect that man like that. I’ve been getting some concerned messages from some of my brothers from Detroit. I had to tell them that I had nothing to do with that one. I physically do not write that basic.”
Ness Lee Speaks Out
Benzino previously denied using ghostwriters to craft his bars on Instagram, earlier this year. “This is Hip Hop, bro. I don’t wanna hear that ghostwriter sh*t,” he said at the time. “Shut the f*ck up, bro. You mad because I’m spitting. I wrote that sh*t.” Be on the lookout for further updates on Benzino on HotNewHipHop.
Rick Ross implied that Drake didn’t write his verse on Travis Scott’s hit song, “Sicko Mode,” while listening to the track on his Instagram Story, Sunday night. The accusation comes as the two have been feuding in recent days. “Who wrote this? Guess who wrote this, you would never guess who wrote this,” he said while the song played. It’s unclear exactly whether Ross was implying that he wrote the verse or he simply knows that someone else did.
Regardless, many fans came to Drake’s defense when Hollywood Unlocked shared the clip on Instagram. One user wrote: “Doesn’t matter who wrote it … ghost writing is an actual JOB … who made the beat?? Who played the drums? Who did the keyboards? Who was the engineer? Who did the edits? Who mastered the track? It’s all a PROCESS.” Another commented: “It don’t matter who wrote it. Who got rich off of it? Easy on Drake!” Others accused Drake’s fans of not being real hip-hop fans.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 26: Rick Ross attends the 2022 BET Awards at Microsoft Theater on June 26, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images for BET)
Drake first mentioned Ross on his leaked diss track, “Push Ups,” last week. Almost immediately afterward, Ross fired back with a diss of his own on “Champagne Moments.” He labeled Drake a “white boy” and accused him of getting a nose job. Drake took offense to the comments and called him “angry” and “racist” in texts shared with his mother afterward
Despite Ross’ reply, fans are still waiting on word from Kendrick Lamar, who started all of the drama with his bombshell verse on Metro Boomin and Future’s “Like That,” last month. Be on the lookout for further updates on Rick Ross and his feud with Drake on HotNewHipHop.
CJ Francis IV is catching a lot of smoke these days amid claims that he ghostwrote for Kendrick Lamar and other artists. Moreover, DJ Akademiks recently tweeted that he apparently spoke to Roddy Ricch, supposedly one of these other artists, who claimed that Francis is not for real. “Spoke with Roddy Ricch,” Ak wrote on Sunday night (April 14). “According to him CJ FRANCIS a complete fraud.. Roddy was open to collaborate with others for his Feed The Strets 3 about 2 years ago project and basically this dude he never met and no songs ever got put out that he collabed on. The voice note that [released] was Roddy checking him 2 years ago for claiming he was writing for Roddy Ricch.”
Furthermore, you can see fans antagonizing CJ Francis in the comments section of the post below, with some defenses too. After all, this is all still speculative, although some possible proof mounted up against these claims of ghostwriting recently. Specifically, these related to older demos of Kendrick Lamar’s “N95” than his alleged version of the song that K.Dot used as a reference track. Also, CJ Francis himself had this to say: “I had nothing to do with that song. Nor do I have anything to do with it being posted online.”
As such, none of this really seems to be his fault, so perhaps fans should attribute blame to two tweets that went viral on the subject instead. “Quentin Miller associate CJ Francis IV ghostwriting for Kendrick Lamar,” a Twitter user’s incendiary remarks on the matter read, kicking this whole thing off. “This is his demo of N95 (2022). I’d say this is a collab, but his name isn’t on the credits [ghost emoji].” “My boy CJ Francis IV wrote on the Kendrick project man,” another now-viral tweet from a user back in 2022 read. “I’m so f***in gassed for my boy!!!! He one of the most talented people in the world bro this s**t is so next level!!!”
Meanwhile, this all is obviously notable thanks to the Kendrick and Drake beef that’s dominating hip-hop discourse right now. Regardless, do these words from Roddy and Ak seal the deal on all this or are you still skeptical? Whatever the case, let us know in the comments down below. Also, check back in with HNHH for more news and the latest updates on Roddy Ricch, DJ Akademiks, the CJ Francis situation, and Kendrick Lamar.
As his war with Drake just escalated in a massive way today (Saturday, April 13) thanks to an alleged leaked diss track from Aubrey, Kendrick Lamar now has another big headline to worry about. Moreover, a Twitter user by the name of @certifiedjared and various other social media pages claimed that he used a ghostwriter on the track “N95” off of his 2022 album, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. The presumed ghostwriter in question is CJ Francis IV, and a demo also surfaced that’s supposedly from 2019 in which you can hear Francis use the flow and some of the lyrics that the Compton rapper included in his song. Jared and many others pointed out that Francis is not officially credited on “N95.”
However, at press time, this all remains mostly speculative, and both Kendrick Lamar Stans and regular rap fans had a few counter-arguments or questions. First is their claim that “N95” had already leaked in 2019, so the veracity of this claim is more in question than folks assume. Still, either argument for it isn’t really air-tight, and thus this is still part of the rumor mill. But one of the most interesting aspects of this whole debate is how CJ Francis IV is a Quentin Miller associate, the Drake ghostwriter whose name places a heavy cloud over “Prince” and “Mike Jack’s” conflict.
Kendrick Lamar Hit With Ghostwriting Accusations: See Replies For Debate
Quentin Miller associate CJ Francis IV ghostwriting for Kendrick Lamar. This is his demo of N95 (2022). I’d say this is a collab, but his name isn’t on the credits. pic.twitter.com/BtevQZ0n5M
While this is one accusation of ghostwriting against Kendrick Lamar, Drake has encountered many of these throughout his career, and was still able to overcome them. Having writers is by no means a bad thing… if they’re credited… but even if not, it’s too common of an industry trope to single out any one criminal. If it wasn’t for this current beef, maybe this wouldn’t have really drawn the fanfare that it’s getting on some Internet corners right now. If you take one thing away from our article, let it be this: check out CJ Francis IV’s music instead of dismissing him.
Meanwhile, what do you think about how this feud has evolved over the past three weeks or so? Who’s “winning” right now, and do you even care about this back-and-forth or about ghostwriter accusations? However you may feel, let us know down in the comments section below. Also, stick around on HNHH for the latest news and more updates on Kendrick Lamar and Drake.
When Benzino’s recent diss tracks against Eminem came out, these being “Rap Elvis” and “Vulturius,” some fans noted some possible similarities between their writing and that of other MCs. Namely, one Twitter user believes that he actually used a ghostwriter, this being Philly MC Cassidy. “Anyone with a good rap ear can hear the Same flow patterns, internal rhyme style & his flips on the same word is SOOO Cassidy,” they expressed on the social media platform. “Cass either ghostwrote or Benzino just bit his whole style. Eminem Won.” Now, we have a new response to account for from this alleged ghostwriter.
Furthermore, Cassidy spoke on the matter in a new song snippet he shared to his Instagram account on Monday (March 25). “I ain’t ghostwrite Benzino diss, that’s bogus / In the past, I ghostwrote for the writer that ghostwrote it,” he spits on the cut. What’s more is that this adds to the former Source magazine co-owner’s own denials of using ghostwriters. “I don’t wanna hear that ghostwriter s**t,” he remarked on IG Live earlier this year. “This is hip-hop, bro. I don’t wanna hear that ghostwriter s**t. Shut the f**k up, bro. You mad because I’m spitting, I wrote that s**t.” But the 58-year-old admitted to getting help for writing, so maybe this is enough of a nail in the coffin.
“I ate his s**t up,” Benzino claimed during this live session. “I cooked him. Back in the day, he cooked me. But what you Stans is not gonna do, what you teens is not gonna try to do is come here and be like I didn’t affect him. Stop it. Because that shows that y’all ain’t real hip-hop fans. That shows that y’all are biased and probably halfway racist.
“If it’s dope s**t, give it up,” he concluded. “Just like my people give it up to him. Stop being racist, white people. If it’s dope and I rip, then say it. A lot of you guys already are. Salute to the stans that are in my DM saying, ‘Listen ‘Zino, I’m an Em fan but that song is dope.’” For more news and the latest updates on Cassidy, Benzino, and Eminem, keep checking in with HNHH.
With the Grammy eligibility window wrapping up soon there’s been a lot of discussion of the potential favorites and dark horse candidates for all the major awards. But snuck into the mix was a news story that surprised many fans and began dividing people online. “heart on my sleeve” is a song made by an artist called ghostwriter earlier this year. The track became controversial for using AI-generated versions of Drake and The Weeknd’s voices on the song. Surprisingly, the song was submitted for consideration for next year’s Grammy Awards. And perhaps even more surprisingly, it was deemed eligible.
Fans online had a variety of reactions to the news, but many from within the music industry are taking issue with the song’s award status. One of those is Young Guru who has warned fans about the future of AI music more than anybody. He first made a declaration about the dangers of the technology back in February when an AI-generated Kendrick Lamar track emerged. He described the song as “groundbreaking but dangerous moment” before many others were even talking about the potential future implications of AI.
Guru was also vocal about his stance when Timbaland claimed he was interested in the future cross-sections of AI and music. Guru warned him that the move was corny and that it has the potential to age very poorly. His most recent statement on AI came back in June where he gave a specific example. “When you take Big’s voice and you have him saying things that he would have never said, or it’s your interpretation or some other writer’s interpretation of what you think Big would have said, this kind of violates him and his legacy,” he said.
With the breaking news of an AI song potentially being able to win a Grammy, Guru took to his story. “Hate to say I told y’all but I told y’all. Now this could be up for a Grammy. SMH,” he said over a screenshot of the news. What do you think of Young Guru’s claiming he warned everyone about AI music? Let us know in the comment section below.
Back in April, Universal Music Group issued a takedown notice after an AI-generated song imitating Drake and The Weeknd went viral on YouTube, but that somehow isn’t stopping the song from being considered for a Grammy Award. The song’s creator, an anonymous internet denizen going by “Ghostwriter,” has submitted the song to the Recording Academy, and it sounds like it’ll be taken seriously despite its dubious provenance.
The song, “Heart On My Sleeve,” used approximations of the two performers to sing a mopey breakup ballad supposedly about Selena Gomez (who was previously romantically involved with The Weeknd). It also generated plenty of criticism online from detractors who believed that its popularity undermined the creativity and individuality of the artists invoked. As one Twitter user put it, “The first immediate thing that stands out is that so much of this AI music is going after rap/hip hop and that’s how you can tell the people behind it have contempt for it.”
Apparently, that contempt extends to the Recording Academy (because of course it does). The Academy CEO, Harvey Mason, Jr., told The New York Times, “As far as the creative side, it’s absolutely eligible because it was written by a human.” I’m not so sure that’s the case (one generative AI “writes” Drake songs based on prompts provided by users after scraping existing Drake songs for cues), but Drake himself generally seems to frown on the illegal use of his likeness (or, in this case, his voice) for AI-generated songs, so that would be enough for me to disqualify this thing from contention — but I’m not an Academy member (yet) so, what do I know?
The Academy announced that AI-generated songs would be eligible in June, provided the songs were actually written by people, but despite later clarifications, it’s unclear how exactly the Academy intends to verify authorship.
Earlier this year quite a stir was created in the music industry by the presence of artificial intelligence. In April of this year, an AI-generated song using Drake and The Weeknd‘s vocals began to make waves online. It was called “heart on my sleeve” and was uploaded to YouTube by an artist named Ghostwriter. While fans were impressed by how accurately AI could recreate the voices and writing styles of both artists, it did bring up plenty of questions.
One of those questions was about its copyright status. Universal Music Group responded to the song calling it fraudulent and imploring fans to side with artists over AI. Eventually, they did win out as the original upload of the song was removed from YouTube. But it did open up plenty of debate as many other AI songs popped up in its place. Even artists like Meek Mill took the opportunity to praise the track saying that he had been listening to it a lot since it first dropped. Check out the song below.
Drake And The Weeknd AI Song Could Be Nominated For A Grammy
Now, even more, interesting news has emerged in regard to the song. Apparently, the artist behind it submitted the track for Grammy consideration and the award show deemed it eligible. While that’s no guarantee that it will actually secure any nominations, its acceptance opens the door for more AI music to possibly be submitted in the future.
“heart on my sleeve” even has the potential to be the only representation for The Weeknd at the upcoming Grammys. He hasn’t released a new album since 2022’s Dawn FM. His best bet to score a nomination is likely through either the soundtrack to his HBO show The Idol or his collaboration with Ariana Grande on the “Die For You” remix. Drake is much more likely to score a nomination with his collaborative project with 21 SavageHer Loss serving as a dark horse candidate for Album Of The Year. What do you think of the AI-generated Drake and The Weeknd song being ruled eligible for the Grammys? Let us know in the comment section below.
Unsung heroes like Quentin Miller remain a part of the many geniuses responsible for contributing to chart-topping tunes. At many points in history, the world’s greatest hits have been a product of merging multiple creative minds. Call it what you will- ghostwriting or co-writing- they happen every day and are at the core of the music industry.
It has become a habitual occurrence to only attribute the success of a body of work to the artist and producers. Quentin Miller’s impact on Hip-Hop is indubitable, but his name remains largely unknown among the masses. Regardless, the singer, rapper, and songwriter boasts an impressive discography.
performs onstage during TIDAL X: 1020 Amplified by HTC at Barclays Center of Brooklyn on October 20, 2015 in New York City.
With a name that could pass for a well-chosen moniker, the wordsmith currently uses his actual name as his musical sobriquet. However, before his acclaim, Quentin Miller went by the stage name, Milla. He released two mixtapes under the pseudonym: Recreational Activities and Max’sEndeavors. Born on October 10 in 1989, the Atlanta-born and based talent was just like many lesser-known rappers. He started out by juggling making music and working a regular job while waiting for his time in the spotlight.
In 2014, while navigating his musical come-up along with his bakery job, the rapper had gotten in contact with one of his idols, Drake. On his Tumblr account, Quentin wrote, “I was just another guy working a job he hated with a passion for music… And somehow found myself on the phone with one of my idols…I told him I worked in a bakery and his exact words were ‘F**k that, you’re destined for greatness.’”
A starstruck Quentin was brought in to work on Drake’s If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late mixtape. His several credits on the renowned megastar’s project bolstered his career. In addition to this, it pushed him up by several levels into new-found respectability. From working at a bakery to writing with Drake, Quentin Miller seemed to have landed the chance of a lifetime. It was the start of an upward climb in his musical career.
The singer, rapper, and songwriter has a way with flow and musicality. His flexibility and versatility takes front and center when displaying his songwriting skills. Also, he has a prowess for adapting to different forms and writing styles. The dynamic rapper is a risk-taker and has never been afraid to try new things. However, Quentin Miller shocked the world when he disclosed that he had signed a publishing deal in 2011 that music executive Tricky Stewart refused to release him from for nearly a decade.
The news of Quentin Miller allegedly being Drake’s ghost-writer caused quite a stir back in 2015. Not to mention, he got caught in between the Drake and Meek Mill feud. Miller eventually took a lot of personal time off from the industry stress he’d been plunged into. However, the effects of the beef seemed to have a lasting effect on him. In 2022, more news surrounding his Meek Mill-related debacle surfaced.
He went on to form a duo WDNG Crshrs (pronounced ‘Wedding Crashers’) with Thaddeus Callaway known as TheCoolisMac. They have released three projects: mixtapes UTDinfiniti, CrshrsGotWings, and the album U2DINGINITI.
Though the storms seemed to have been calming, life had a more calamitous event in store for him. In 2017, Quentin Miller was involved in a car accident that would change his life and influence his music. In September of the same year, he confirmed the rumors that he had his leg amputated. He has since been living with a prosthetic leg. Speaking on the accident and its effects, Miller told XXL Mag, “It’s changed my life, it’s affected my life, but I’m kinda so tunnel vision I try not to even focus on it at times. I’d rather just keep going. Soon as I got my leg, I was in New York [laughs]. Trying to just keep the boat moving.” Later on, he dropped the project, Falco. He drew inspiration from the Star Fox video game character, Falco Lombardi, who has a metal leg.
Regardless of the many curve balls thrown at him, Quentin Miller has kept his head high and spirits up. He has shown pure resilience in spite of the throes of pain and loss. In effect, it’s hard not to root for his dreams. He has co-written fan favorites, and made impressive records of his own. In summary, Quentin Miller has shown that his creativity is deeper than he initially let on.
