Music

Megan Thee Stallion Sues Her Label After Her Latest Project Wasn’t Counted Against Her Deal

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The battle between Megan Thee Stallion and her label, Carl Crawford’s 1501 Certified Entertainment, had simmered down over the past two years after a judge granted the rapper an order allowing her to release music again, but today, hostilities flared up again as Megan sued the label over the classification of her most recent project. Complex reports Megan is upset that Something For Thee Hotties wasn’t counted as an “album” according to the terms of her contract, despite being 21 tracks and over 45 minutes long.

The point of contention here is that Meg’s contract with 1501 is for four albums and that despite releasing Tina Snow, Fever, Suga, Good News, and Something For Thee Hotties in the four-odd years since she signed the contract, only Good News was counted against that total. Obviously, she wants out of her original contract, and her popularity is such that she may never actually need to sign another one. But having her under contract is (ostensibly) a good thing for 1501, which gets a percentage of all her royalties, whether they come from “albums” or “mixtapes.”

Unfortunately, 1501 is operating from a well-established playbook — it’s actually common practice for labels to count projects as mixtapes to keep artists under contract for longer, a problematic legacy of hip-hop’s penchant for putting out unauthorized, unofficial, or surprise releases. However, by the strictest terms, anything 45 minutes or more should technically count as an album as they’ve been defined for the past 80 years or so (EPs are 22 minutes, leaving a lot of wiggle room between the two designations). That’s Meg’s argument here; her lawyers write in the suit, ” There are no other parameters or requirements under the contract for what can be deemed an ‘Album’ other than total run time of the album. As such, Something for Thee Hotties satisfies her ‘Minimum Recording Commitment’ for the second option period of the agreement.”

Incidentally, Megan showed her teeth earlier today after Crawford posted a headline boasting of a victory in their previously existing case; however, it seemed he had misunderstood which of the cases against him she’d dropped. The suit regarding fair royalty splits is still ongoing and now, Megan’s added another one to the collection in the hopes of no longer dealing with Crawford again.

Kylie Jenner And Travis Scott Used Scott’s Real First Name For Their New Baby Boy’s Middle Name

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Earlier this month, Kylie Jenner announced she had given birth to her and Travis Scott’s second child together. Shortly after that, she revealed the kid’s name is Wolf Webster (Scott’s legal name is Jacques Berman Webster II). Now, it appears the little bundle of joy shares more with his father than just the last name.

TMZ reports in a birth certificate they obtained, the baby’s full name is written as Wolf Jacques Webster, with Jacques being, as noted above, Scott’s legal first name. The document also notes the boy was born at Cedars Sinai Medical Center on February 2 at 5:35 a.m. PT. The sheet also reveals the baby was delivered by Dr. Thais Aliabadi, why TMZ notes is the same OBGYN who delivered Wolf’s older sister Stormi and cousin True Thompson (the daughter of Khloe Kardashian and Tristan Thompson) into the world. They also note that Wolf is different from Stormi in that Stormi’s birth certificate doesn’t include a middle name.

As for what Wolf looks like, fans have only caught a glimpse. Jenner shared a photo of Wolf’s hand when announcing his name, but that’s all we’ve seen of the little one so far. Stormi’s face has been seen online plenty of times in her short life, so it seems just a matter of time before fans get to see Wolf’s mug.

Drake’s Alleged Stalker Files For A Restraining Order Against Him — After Suing Him For $4 Billion

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I’m not sure if anyone explained to Mesha Collins how this “stalker” thing works, but it looks like she’s got at least some of the details backward. According to Radar Online, Los Angeles Superior Court documents show that Collins, who broke into Drake’s house in LA and apparently stole bottles of water, Pepsi, and Sprite in 2017, has now filed a petition for a restraining order against the rapper — this just days after a judge denied a motion to restart a $4 billion lawsuit she filed against him for invasion of privacy.

And as far as that restraining order goes, it seems that Drake is the one who needs to file against Collins. She reportedly returned to his house on multiple occasions, including one in which she was arrested for spitting on police officers who responded to security’s call for assistance. However, her luck and timing are apparently as bad as her grasp of boundaries; Drake wasn’t home either time she trespassed on his property.

Meanwhile, in summer 2021, Collins apparently filed the $4 billion claim against Drake without a lawyer, claiming that he shared private information about her in songs and defamed her by sharing her private information on Instagram. However, Drake reportedly never had any clue who Collins even was (apparently, he was never given the name of the woman who rifled through his fridge like a rabid raccoon), and Collins was unable to prove he’d ever posted anything about her, prompting a judge to dismiss the case. In her ongoing quest to meet her hero, it seems Collins is now betting a little reverse psychology will work where none of her previous efforts did.

Mura Masa’s ‘Bbycakes’ Features An All-Star Squad Of PinkPantheress, Lil Uzi Vert, And Shygirl

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Mura Masa put a bow on 2021 with his lone original track of the year in the sticky, glitchy “2gether.” It foreshadowed the third album from the Grammy winning and once-again-nominated producer, and now his first offering of 2021, “Bbycakes,” showcases an explosive spirit of collaboration.

Featuring vocals from British garage pop singer PinkPantheress, Philly rapper Lil Uzi Vert, and British rapper Shygirl, “Bbycakes” features a veritable all-star squad of talent. Released today, the track was tabbed as BBC Radio 1’s coveted “Hottest Record In The World” tag and with good reason. A pop song at its core, Mura Masa weaves in a cheery steel drum into a hyper-garage beat. Uzi’s flow, PinkPantheress’ hook, and Shygirl’s atmospheric inflections float so fluidly together, bringing together the best of what the four artists each bring to the table.

“I feel like ‘bbycakes’ is a future facing record,” Mura Masa’s Alex Crossan said in a statement. “Clashing U.K. with U.S., hard drill music with cute U.K. garage culture, underground with overground. Most of all it’s a mission statement for the vicarious and playful nature that I think popular music needs to be looking to in order to soundtrack those crucial moments of fun and hedonism in an increasingly cynical culture.”

It’s hard to to put a finger on what the future of music should sound like, but Crossan does it beautifully words and song. He says that excitement for the unknown is what inspires his next record and “Bbycakes” does it in spades.

Listen to “Bbycakes” above.

Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Kanye West Fans Are More Than Mildly Miffed ‘Donda 2’ Didn’t Arrive On Their $200 Stem Players

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Apparently, Kanye West did not make his new album, Donda 2, available to people who purchased his $200 “stem player” today as promised, and fans are certainly upset about it — despite his half-decade-long history of putting out projects late (Ye, the first Donda) or incomplete (The Life Of Pablo).

A month ago, Ye promised that the new album would be released on 2/22/22, then, just four days before that intended release date, he announced that the album would not be available on DSPs, and instead would only be available via the stem player. The stem player device itself is basically a smaller, more stylish version of the Artiphon Orba with way fewer features and a heftier price tag, while his idea to cut out the middle man is reminiscent of Nipsey Hussle’s 2013 Crenshaw mixtape, which the Los Angeles legend sold for $100 each.

However, while Nipsey simultaneously made the mixtape free to download or stream, the 1,000 or so fans who purchased the $100 version included tickets to his shows, an autograph from Nipsey himself, and random incentives like personal phone calls from Nip, signed photographs in the mail, and even an invitation to visit the rapper in his studio. Fans who bought Kanye’s stem player got… well, a $200 music toy and the hope that he’ll actually make the album available for download after his show in Miami tonight.

Adding insult to injury, Kanye apparently gloated on Instagram (according to The Daily Beast; the post has since been deleted), “To earn the $2.2 million we made on the first day on the stem player the album would have had to stream 500 million times. We did more revenue on stem player, without the album even being out than we would have done with the album being out on streaming.”

Which, you know, might have been the whole point. Kanye fans still have some hope, though, and kudos to him for finding an alternative means of releasing music (?) that defies the traditional system — which, to be fair, does suck for artists in a lot of ways, although he hasn’t pointed out how this makes anything better for anyone besides himself. Until the album is actually out, though, Twitter will likely be abuzz with fans grousing that he’s pulled the rug on them once again.

Megan Thee Stallion Goes Off On Her Label’s Owner For Posting Misinformation About Their Royalties Case

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Ever since early 2020, Megan Thee Stallion and her label, 1501 Certified Entertainment, have been embroiled in a contrast dispute over royalties that each believes the other owes. It’s a complex situation, but essentially, Megan would like to be paid more, while 1501’s founder Carl Crawford says that Megan and her management at Roc Nation are withholding his cut of the profits from live shows she did throughout her breakout year, 2019. The dispute has been contentious at times, and the latest development in the case has Thee Stallion going off on her quasi-boss.

After Megan filed a motion to dismiss part of her lawsuit, Crawford posted screenshots from celebrity gossip site AceShowbiz.com on his Instagram with the caption, “Only the real 🤘🏾town can relate. Now tell em to run my bread dating all the way back from 2018.” However, the headline in question only referred to Megan’s suit for a restraining order against 1501, which was blocking her from releasing music. However, since both 1501 and 300, the distributor for Megan’s music, cleared her to release Good News and Something For The Hotties, she no longer needed the court’s intervention. Posting to her own Instagram, she explained as much while characterizing Crawford as a bully — and kind of an ignorant one, too.

“This dude never know wtf is going on with his business,” she wrote. “he case that Was dismissed against you was from when you wasn’t trying to let me drop music … you and 300 signed off and let me drop music so there is no case no more… we are most definitely STILL IN COURT and YOU STILL GETTING SUED BC YOU OWE ME MONEY!!! I AINT NEVER BEEN PAID FROM 1501 IN MY LIFE ! I make money bc im MEGAN THEE STALLION ! Grown ass men wanna bully me and eat off my name and paint me out as a villain online bc they know these bandwagon ass haters gone eat that shit up ! I dont even be saying shit to you lame ass n****s bc the TRUTH always comes out.”

If Megan is right and she isn’t being paid by 1501, she certainly has a number of attractive alternative revenue streams, including endorsements for Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, a new Snapchat show, Off The Leash, and a development deal with Netflix. She’s also soon to launch her acting career with F*cking Identical Twins.

HER Just Announced A New Leg Of Her ‘Back Of My Mind’ Tour

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HER's 2022 tour supporting 'Back Of My Mind' kicks off this April
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After a successful 2021 tour supporting her debut album Back Of My Mind, HER has announced a second leg of US tour dates. The new leg of the Back Of My Mind tour will kick off in April in Honolulu and take place over the course of 19 dates.

“I’ve been so eager to connect with my fans this year, so it’s great to get back on the road,” HER said in a statement. “Being on stage fuels me as a musician and I can’t wait to feel that energy again!”

2022 is already gearing up to be a big year for HER. The once-faceless siren is nominated for eight Grammys, including Album Of The Year and Best R&B Performance. She will also join the likes of Halle Bailey, Danielle Brooks, and Taraji P. Henson in the movie-musical adaptation of The Color Purple as Squeak.

See the dates for the extended Back Of My Mind tour below.

04/08 — Honolulu, HI @ Waikiki Shell
04/14 — Seattle, WA @ WAMU Theater
04/16 — Portland, OR @ Theater of the Clouds at Moda Center
04/19 — Denver, CO @ Bellco Theatre
04/21 — Austin, TX @ Moody Amphitheater at Waterloo Park
04/24 — New Orleans, LA @ Champions Square
04/26 — Cincinatti, OH @ The Andrew J Brady Music Center
04/29 — Minneapolis, MN @ The Armory
05/01 — Indianapolis, IN @ TCU Amphitheater at White River State Park
05/03 — Kansas City, MO @ Starlight Theatre
05/04 — St. Louis, MO @ Saint Louis Music Park
05/16 — Los Angeles, CA @ YouTube Theater
06/02 — Bridgeport, CT @ Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater
06/07 — Portsmouth, VA @ Atlantic Union Bank Pavilion
06/10 — Wilmington, NC @ Live Oak Bank Pavilion
06/12 — Jacksonville, FL @ Daily’s Place
06/16 — Tuscaloosa, AL @ Tuscaloosa Amphitheater
06/18 — Raleigh, NC @ Red Hat Amphitheater
06/19 — Charlotte, NC @ Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre

Firefly Announces Its 2022 Lineup With Green Day, My Chemical Romance, Halsey, And Dua Lipa Headlining

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Dover, Delaware-based music festival Firefly has had a rough couple of years, announcing star-studded events that would later be canceled due to the pandemic. While they were planning to reschedule to 2021, that didn’t happen and instead it’s set for this fall. It will take place from September 22 to 25 with a new, dazzling roster that leans more toward pop-punk than any other genre. Tickets go on sale this Friday, February 25.

Notable artists include Dua Lipa, Green Day, My Chemical Romance, Halsey, Weezer, Zedd, Big Sean, Porter Robinson, Gunna, Bleachers, Avril Lavigne, Jamie xx, The Kid Laroi, Rainbow Kitten Surprise, Gryffin, Charli XCX, Little Simz, 100 Gecs, Willow, Conan Gray, Wolf Alice, Cordae, and Gayle.

Other artists include Dorian Electra, Matt Maeson, Cold War Kids, Chloe Moriondo, Gus Dapperton, The Backseat Lovers, Dayglow, Indigo De Souza, Princess Nokia, Manchester Orchestra, Benny The Butcher, Yung Bae, Alexander 23, Daisy The Great, Anna Of The North, The Brook & The Bluff, Mod Sun, Flor, Mallrat, Ezra Furman, The Regrettes, Jungle, Cordae, Phantoms, Loud Luxury, Girl Talk, Ship Wrek, Weston Estate, Chai, Wax Motif, John Summit, and The Head And The Heart.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Soulja Boy And Lil Yachty Are Being Sued For An Alleged Cryptocurrency Scam

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Cryptocurrency is still one of the hottest commodities on the modern digital market, despite no one really knowing what it is or how it works. It’s also highly susceptible to theft and scams — as a slew of celebrities including Lil Yachty and Soulja Boy are finding out via a class-action lawsuit against them, according to Complex and ClassAction.org. The two Atlanta rappers, along with YouTubers Jake Paul and Ben Phillips, as well as former Backstreet Boy Nick Carter, are all named as promoters of SafeMoon, a cryptocurrency founded by Braden John Karony, in exchange for tokens.

According to the suit, the SafeMoon currency ultimately amounted to a pump and dump scheme, which is when scammers hype up an effectively worthless commodity to artificially raise its price, then pull out of the commodity before it crashes. The movie Boiler Room explains it pretty well. This is more or less what happened with SafeMoon, which was created in March 2021 and had completely crashed by December, hitting a low of $0.0000006521 per token on New Year’s Eve. “As of the filing of this Complaint,” the lawsuit reads, “the trading volume for the SafeMoon Token has plummeted to around only $60,000.” The height of volume, $191.6 million on April 22. The key to SafeMoon’s “slow rug pull” was “token burns,” removing a certain number of tokens from circulation.

As tokens were “burnt,” more investors bought in, inflating the price of the remaining tokens. As the value began to drop, another “burn” was employed to bump the value again. Eventually, as trading volume fell, chief technology officer Hank Wyatt resigned, selling off his tokens to investors ahead of the failed launch of SafeMoon’s digital wallet. According to the suit, Wyatt would have or should have known that the wallet would not be ready. A day later SafeMoon COO Jack Haines-Davies also resigned, which dropped the price of the tokens from $0.000000153 to $0.00000119.

When Is Kendrick Lamar Releasing A New Album?

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Go ahead and file Kendrick Lamar’s next album as perhaps the most highly anticipated album in not just hip-hop, but in any genre of music right now. The last time Lamar put out an album was in 2017, when DAMN. debuted at No.1 on the Billboard 200 chart and went on to win a Pulitzer Prize for Music in addition to the Best Rap Album Grammy Award. The years since have been filled with rumor after rumor about the next Kendrick Lamar album, including a confirmation that his next release, will be his final album with the TDE Records label that he has been with since day one. And with each subsequent piece of information, we get closer to knowing when this long-awaited release is coming.

When Is Kendrick Lamar Releasing A New Album?

This past August, Kendrick Lamar posted a note on his oklama.com website, where he said: “As I produce my final TDE album, I feel joy to have been a part of such a cultural imprint after 17 years.” This flared up the excitement for the new album, which was then fueled by Lamar’s Spotify avatar changing in October. It was the first time since the avatar changed in 2017 (the same year DAMN. came out. Coincidence?) Then at November’s Day N Vegas Festival, he closed his performance by saying to the crowd: “Vegas till next time! And when I say next time I mean very soon.”

When 2022 came, a new batch of rumors swirled, including that he’d be debuting new music before his Super Bowl Halftime Show performance. That proved to be an unsubstantiated report pushed forth by radio host Ebro Darden. But the latest Kendrick Lamar-related news is the juiciest: Italy’s Milano Summer Festival posted on their Instagram page (in Italian of course) that not only would Lamar be performing at the June 23rd fest, but that he “will play the pieces of the new album, long-awaited by the fans.” Now we’re talking.

Depending on how you look at this statement from the Italian festival, it’s likely that he performs there before the album comes out. Which would mean we’re looking at a summer release. This would keep Lamar eligible for 2023 Grammy consideration, as the cut-off date is typically the end of September.

Meanwhile, Lamar is currently breaking down To Pimp A Butterfly on Spotify’s The Big Hit Show podcast. While TDE’s Terrence “Punch” Henderson has shared that he feels like Lamar is “ready to build his own thing,” following his final TDE album.