Drake's Lawsuit Against UMG Shines A Light On How YouTubers & Content Creators Set The Tone For Hip-

Drake's Lawsuit Against UMG Shines A Light On How YouTubers & Content Creators Set The Tone For Hip-

Drake and Kendrick Lamar's 2024 battle set the stage for one of hip-hop's most memorable years ever. Overall, this is a feud that had been a longtime coming. Although these two rap heavyweights had toured together over a decade ago, their relationship quickly deteriorated. Kendrick's 2013 "Control" verse was the catalyst for this animosity. While Lamar was simply trying to stir up competition amongst his peers, the Canadian megastar took things personally. Subsequently, things would worsen as Drake had zero qualms when it came to talking about the verse in interviews. This sparked Kendrick to call him out in a BET Cypher, and the rest was history.




For the better part of a decade, the feud between Drake and Kendrick was mostly left dormant. While subliminal shots were taken, there was no real threat of an all out nuclear war. Of course, that all changed on March 22nd of 2024 when Kendrick Lamar appeared on Future and Metro Boomin's "Like That." It was here where he went at both Drake and J. Cole for proclaiming their prominence as the top two in the Big Three. In the weeks that followed, Drizzy would respond with "Push Ups" and the ill-advised AI troll-fest that was "Taylor Made Freestyle."




A Week To Remember











However, the dynamics shifted on April 30th with the release of "Euphoria," Kendrick's sprawling 6-minute epic in which he attacks Drake's manipulative tactics, his cultural shortcomings, and his questionable taste in women, among other things. By that Friday, the entire hip-hop world was waiting for Drake's response, a response that would be goaded by Lamar's IG exclusive "6:16 In LA," a song that played into Drizzy's paranoia.




That night, "Family Matters" was released and it had Kendrick on the ropes. However, 45 minutes later, K. Dot would punch back harder with "Meet The Grahams," leaving fans and social media in shambles. A day later, "Not Like Us" delivered the knockout punch. A song so undeniable that it won five Grammys over the weekend, including Song of the Year and Record of the Year. While Drake tried to downplay Lamar's allegations on "The Heart Part 6," the damage was already done.




By May 6th, a winner had been declared and it was obviously Kendrick Lamar. However, Drake's loss would set off months long chain reactions that are still being felt today. Chief among them is his lawsuit against UMG. Perhaps a last ditch effort to save himself from the embarrassment of defeat, Drake is claiming that UMG conspired against him. He believes UMG wanted to see him lose and that they employed bots and payola to make it happen. However, there is another group that Drizzy targeted in his lawsuit. While this group isn't being sued directly, the implications are clear.




Read More: Drake's Federal Lawsuit Against UMG: The Biggest Takeaways




YouTube's Bustling Reaction/Commentary Community











Of course, we are talking about the YouTube reaction and hip-hop commentary community. This is a community that had been patiently waiting for the Drake and Kendrick battle for years. If you love hip-hop and are a frequent visitor of the YouTube platform, then you have probably engaged with this kind of content. Reactors serve as an arbiter of what's hot and what's not. Whenever an artist drops a new single or a new album, you can always be sure that hundreds of reaction channels will be rushing to their computers. It is here where they record their very first impressions of a new piece of music.




Streamers like Kai Cenat and Young Dabo have been getting in on the action, although this is a phenomenon that started on YouTube. Some of the most famous names in the space are JayBlac, Big Quint, No Life Shaq, Scru Face Jean, and Zias & B Lou. These are content creators with millions of subscribers between them and their catalogs speak for themselves. Not to mention, these creators have always been fair with their reactions. Always admitting when something is good, even when it's popular to say that it isn't. A necessity when building trust with your audience.




However, Drake doesn't exactly see it that way. In his lawsuit, the artist alleges that reactors and commentators were paid off to say "Not Like Us" was a good song. With UMG allowing reaction videos to be monetized, Drizzy believes he was somehow being aggrieved. That UMG used these content creators to poison the well and turn the public against him. When talking with these creators, it becomes apparent that Drake's claims are incompatible with the facts.




Read More: Kendrick Lamar Is Hip-Hop's MVP For 2024




The Community Reacts To "Like That"











But how did these content creators find themselves in Drake's crosshairs? Well, you'll have to go all the way back to the release of "Like That" to find out. After all, this is when things truly took off in 2024. For Scru Face Jean, this was a long-time coming. "I've made videos about hip-hop's cold war before the battle even happened," Scru told HotNewHipHop. So it was something that I've been saying and if you're like a real hip-hop person, that was like the forbidden battle that was supposed to take place." Scru Face Jean's "Like That" reaction currently has 1.1 million views, which just goes to show the appetite for this kind of content.




Another kind of content that thrived during this time, was breakdowns and other forms of deeper analysis. An OG of this space is Justin Hunte, aka The Company Man. During his time as the Editor In Chief of HipHopDX, Hunte became the host of The Breakdown which became an extremely popular YouTube segment. Now, Hunte is doing commentary indepently on his own YouTube channel, and as you can imagine, "Like That" was the catalyst for one of the busiest years of his journalistic career. Despite having an inkling that this beef would eventually happen, he had no idea it would all go down this way.




"But I mean they had been throwing so many subs for so many years," Hunte explained to HotNewHipHop. "I mean, they were a decade ago, something's got to pop off, otherwise. I mean, I don't think they're going to be edging the culture forever. And it definitely turned into something much bigger than I think any of us really expected."




Read More: Biggest Hip-Hop Moments Of 2024




Drake Uses AI And The Tide Starts To Turn











Drake's claim that reactors and commentators were against him from the jump can be refuted by the reactions to "Taylor Made Freestyle." While some feel as though this was a true misstep and a disrespectful act against Tupac to boot, others saw it as a stroke of genius. Hunte, who admittedly doesn't love Drake, is the first to admit this was Drizzy in rare form. "'Taylor Made Freestyle' is my favorite song that Drake put out, right? I say it every time someone mentions it. It's one of the few examples I have of Drake not rapping about himself. I listen to 'Taylor Made Freestyle' and I hear three different perspectives. I never get that on a Drake song and that's my favorite stuff about rap."




Another commentator who had a prominent role in the Drake and Kendrick discourse was none other than Anthony Fantano, creator of TheNeedleDrop. Fantano is one of the most prolific music reviewers online and has 3 million subscribers on his main channel. While he has been critical of the artist's past work, he understands exactly what Drake was trying to do with this song.




"I feel like it was in bad taste, but for the moment that it kind of created immediately out of the gate, it was sort of like, an ingenious 3D chess kind of move in terms of potentially getting in your opponent's head," Fantano told HotNewHipHop. "I don't think obviously nobody saw that coming even more so than nobody saw the Kendrick feature coming. This whole beef was just one unforeseen situation after another."




Read More: How Hip-Hop Culture "Revived" Itself & Declared War On Its Leaders In 2024




The Most Chaotic Night In Hip-Hop History











One of the best examples of the YouTube community's impact was the night of May 3rd when Drake and Kendrick Lamar dropped "Family Matters" and "Meet The Grahams" within 45 minutes of each other. Less than 24 hours later, Kendrick Lamar dropped "Not Like Us" and it threw everyone for a loop. If you were a creator, you couldn't leave your house. The two biggest rappers in the world had just created a warzone that required boots on the ground to capture every single detail.




For Scru Face Jean, it was a situation where he couldn't even finish his video edits. By the time he opened up his editing software, he was already being forced to react to another song. "Basically the whole time there would be times where I'd be editing my reaction and then the other one would drop and I'd just have to do my thing. It was a hectic week."




Anthony Fantano recalls a similar fate. On Friday nights, Fantano streams new music on Twitch, with "Family Matters" and "Meet The Grahams" becoming surprising focal points of his May 3rd broadcast. The whole situation was unlike anything he had ever seen despite being a veteran of the YouTube world for over 15 years. "I'll say that entire time it was definitely like losing a lot of sleep and being at my wit's end, because the thing is usually my streaming and my content schedule, it's intense and it's hectic and I put out a lot of stuff every week, but in its own way, it's very consistent and I have kind of a team and a schedule that I try to stick to as closely as possible. And that really just threw everything off."




Justin Hunte was in the same boat. Typically, he preferred to make video essays that tackle topics in a long-form format. However, the beef forced him to completely change his approach. His viewers were clamoring for instant analysis and he wasn't gong to deny them of that.




"I've been around long enough to know that there's only certain types of moments that show up that are algorithm shifting type situations. 'Control' was one of those times when the 'Control' verse dropped. Suge Knight running that guy over and going to jail was one of those times. I have enough reps with online media to see it. And so my approach was like, 'Alright, I'm just going to turn on the camera and talk.' And the audience liked it just as much, if not more than a deep dive breakdown. So my entire strategy for my channel was forced into action."




Read More: Kendrick Lamar "Not Like Us" Lyrical Breakdown




Elliott Wilson, DJ Hed, And Jeremy Hecht Form "The Bigger Picture"











One of the biggest newsbreakers during the beef was The Bigger Picture, a HipHopDX and Uproxx production hosted by legendary hip-hop journalist Elliott Wilson, West Coast's own DJ Hed, and Jeremy Hecht. Although these three aren't YouTubers by any traditional definition, their show has certainly thrived on the platform. Moreover, Wilson's connections to Drake and Hed's connections to Kendrick Lamar led to some iconic moments. Of course, who could forget Drake calling Wilson a rat, or Hed consistently giving cryptic updates on Lamar's release plans. Even Hecht's persistent demands for "the broccoli" have led to hilarious memes and even a rare instance in which a Lamar snippet turned into an actual song release ("Squabble Up").




The show's first episode aired on May 6th, just one day after the release of "The Heart Part 6." The timing was perfect, and the ensuing success of the show was yet another example of how hip-hop fans were flocking to YouTube during the beef. It also helps that the show's three hosts had immediate chemistry. Hecht has been a HipHopDX personality since 2019, when he was brought on to help with their video production. It was here where he would become the face of the publication's red carpet coverage. Since Wilson's arrival at DX, the two have had a mentor/mentee relationship and the show continues to thrive.




When asked about the show's role in the beef, Hecht understands that it has come with quite a bit of responsibility. He also acknlowedges that it has been a whirldwind time and it has taught him a lot about the industry and being a commentator in the space.




"I want to be respected for my opinion," Hecht told HotNewHipHop. "So at some point I had to make the pivot which probably came later in the show. I think for the beginning of the show I was maybe a little bit on the fence about some things. I wouldn't say truly how I feel or I'd be a little bit like coating things with a little bit of sugar. At some point I had to pivot to be like, I want people to respect my opinion. I have to have a stance on things. What I truly believe I'm going to say. If somebody who I looked up to doesn't agree with that or doesn't like it, at least they're going to respect me for having an honest opinion."




Read More: Elliott Wilson Explains How He Could "Repair His Relationship" With Drake




Drake Files Two Petitions











Months after the beef had supposedly ended, Drake shook the music industry to its core by launching two petitions against UMG. The first alleged that the company was using bots to promote "Not Like Us" as a way to potentially undermine his career and eventually undercut him in negotiations. Subsequently, Drake filed another petition, this time alleging defamation.




Interestingly enough, Hecht's own reporting was used as evidence in Drake's petition, albeit incorrectly. Drake alleged that Apple's Siri was directing people to the song "Not Like Us" whenever users would ask Siri to play Certified Lover Boy. However, this was not as malicious as one may assume. Instead, Siri was simply going off of lyrics, and it just so happens that "Certified Lover Boy" is a lyric in "Not Like Us." Hecht was one of the first to discover this phenomenon, and his video eventually went viral. That said, he can't help but feel a bit slighted by Drake trying to use his reporting as propaganda.




"I was like 'how are you gonna include one part of my video but not include the debunking video where I literally showcase the technology that made it so that happened.' So whether or not that was on purpose from Spotify or Apple's end, you can see in the second video where it actually came from and what the lyrical technology was in order to do that. So I just felt kind of like not used, but I was like, 'I'm just going to be part of this, don't use me as propaganda.'"




Others in the YouTube hip-hop space were appalled by the petitions, with many calling them anti-hip-hop. Scru Face Jean was among those who were disappointed by the original filing. "So, I didn't like either of them, right? But the first one, I think they were both very insulting. There are certain people who tried to defend the first one. They're like, 'No, this is for the little man. He's doing this to be like, we're going to break the industry. Drake is really the savior of all the little men.' And I was just like, I don't understand how people are seeing it like that. I understand they're trying to protect Drake as a last ditch effort. But if you look at that petition, it was basically telling people that if you like 'Not Like Us,' you don't really like 'Not Like Us.'"




Read More: Drake's "Not Like Us" Petitions: A Guide To The Rapper's Allegations Against UMG




Drake's Lawsuit And His Apparent Disdain For YouTubers











With the YouTube hip-hop community rising to the occasion during the beef, there is no doubt that many creators were being placed under increased scrutiny. In fact, Drake decided to name them as part of his lawsuit. The likes of No Life Shaq, Zias & BLou, and even Kai Cenat were all named in the megastar's lawsuit. These were all creators who, in the past, championed Drake. In fact, Kai Cenat was the first person Drake texted minutes before the release of "Family Matters." He told Cenat to "stay on stream." However, with Cenat and others singing Kendrick's praises, there was a clear-cut change of heart.




Justin Hunte is not the least bit surprised by these actions from Drake. Although, he does find it very concerning that the artist decided to exclusively name Black creators. After all, there were plenty of white YouTubers like Anthony Fantano, who were also very critical of Drake.

"If you go look at a page full of nothing but Black reactors, one of which Drake is telling to stay on stream so he can react to it and you're going to completely disregard all these other massive channels either because maybe they're on your side or part of your payroll or part of the Happy Dad Network or the Stake network or for whatever other reason... it forwards the narrative that, Drake is willing to weaponize anything to his own benefit, which is at the core of Kendrick's arguments when he says, 'You're not a colleague, you're a colonizer.' And we've seen that over the course of Drake's career in different situations."

Anthony Fantano believes a lot of this boils down to Drake's ability to hold a grudge. Famously, Drake slid into Fantano's DMs after a negative review. Simply put, the music reviewer has witnessed the artist's petty streak first hand. With that in mind, the lawsuit doesn't surprise him at all. "When things are said about him, they just happen to get under his skin. I feel like he's the type of person to sort of hold a grudge," Fantano explained. "If he did let criticisms slide off his back, he wouldn't have been in my DMs angry. I think he just has a difficult time moving on."

As for Scru Face Jean and Jeremy Hecht, they are very much in agreement with their contemporaries. During these conversations, one word stood out: "hypocrisy." How could one sue for defamation when they were also making allegations against their opponent? It is the kind of hypocrisy that makes fans question what Drake actually stands for and if he is the student of battle rap he claims to be.




Read More: Streamers & YouTubers Eviscerate Drake For Including Them In His UMG Lawsuit




YouTubers Are a Reflection of the Public





LAS VEGAS, NV - SEPTEMBER 12: Recording artist Drake attends the after party for his concert at Hakkasan Las Vegas Nightclub at MGM Grand Hotel & Casino on September 12, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images)




One could make the argument that Drake's eagerness to namedrop YouTubers in his lawsuit is his resentment towards those who he felt were his allies. As previously mentioned, Drake was ready to use content creators like Kai Cenat to his benefit. However, once Kai showed even just a sliver of respect to Kendrick Lamar, he got named as an example of alleged payola.




Not to mention, the reaction community on YouTube very much represents the average listener. Most creators in this space are not trained critics. They are either artists themselves or fans of the music who just have a passion for sharing what they love with their audience. In many cases, the consensus amongst the reactors is also the consensus amongst the public. For years, Drake benefitted from public perception. While he certainly had his detractors, Drake was and still arguably is the biggest rapper on the planet. You cannot reach those heights without the public.




However, the public has turned on Drake in recent months. How has he reckoned with that? Well, he has attempted to strip reactors and the public of their agency. Instead of the public genuinely enjoying "Not Like Us," they are being subjected to a nefarious bot campaign. As for the YouTubers, they must be getting paid off. These are sweeping generalizations and conclusions that are made without a single modicum of self-reflection or critical thought. For years, Drake has avoided blaming himself for anything and that's how we end up in situations like this.




With Drake looking for people to blame, it should come as no surprise that the YouTube community would be one of his first targets. In Drake's eyes, they are yet another tick in the column of people who have betrayed him.




Read More: Scru Face Jean Talks Coming Up In Nebraska, Balancing Rap & YouTube, And Becoming A Focal Point Of The Drake & Kendrick Lamar Beef




Can Drake Regain the Respect of the Community?





Drake
LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 30: Drake attends Drake's Till Death Do Us Part rap battle on October 30, 2021 in Long Beach, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)




But can Drake regain the respect of hip-hop purists and those he has alienated throughout the course of this beef? Well, that's a complicated question.




At this point, even the most casual of fans are aware of his failings in this rap beef. Even kids have deemed Drake as "uncool." Scru Face Jean couldn't help but point out that his niece has completely flipped on Drake and that the youth's attitude towards the artist is reminiscent of another iconic hip-hop beef.




"The crazy part about that is I have nieces and seeing how they look at Drake. It really is reminiscent to when 50 Cent came out and that Ja Rule wasn't cool. It was like: 'are you listening to Ja Rule? 'No. No. No. Listen. No. No. I would never.'' That's what it feels like where Kendrick made it cool to not like Drake."




As for Justin Hunte, he cites a YouGov poll showing that Drake became less popular than Donald Trump and Joe Biden during the beef. These are two of the most polarizing politicians in the history of the United States, which spells trouble for Drake moving forward. Nevertheless, Hunte also acknowledges that Drake's 100 Gigs drops were a positive litmus test for what an independent Drake might look like.




"One thing I think is really interesting is that this lawsuit puts 100 Gigs drops in a different kind of light. What does Drake look like as an independent artist? Probably the first time we've ever really seen what that could look like. So if you look at 'It''s Up,' I think that peaked at 21 or 27 or something like that. 'Housekeeping Knows,' 'Circadian Rhythm.' All these songs charted without Drake's face on them, without being pushed by the label at all. And it's a pretty interesting litmus test for what independent Drake looks like."




If one thing is for certain, it is that Drake is still a massive artist and that will probably never change. He's currently embarking on a tour of Australia and there will be tens of thousands of adoring fans cheering him on. Meanwhile, Drake and PartyNextDoor are gearing up to drop $ome $exy $ongs 4 U on Valentine's Day. This is going to be yet another litmus test to see if fans are going to flock to Drake's music, or simply let it flop.




Either way, the YouTube reaction and commentary community will still talk about whatever Drake does, whether good or bad. That is one of the most admirable parts about the personalities who occupy the YouTube space. While they may have their biases, they are still extremely fair. They have maintained authenticity and credibility for years and Drake's eagerness to question that is misguided. Whether or not Drake ever snaps out of his stubbornness, remains to be seen.




Read More: Joey Bada$$ Wants All The Smoke But Is The Throne Within Reach?
The post Drake's Lawsuit Against UMG Shines A Light On How YouTubers & Content Creators Set The Tone For Hip-Hop's Biggest Beef appeared first on HotNewHipHop.



via: https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/877025-drake-umg-lawsuit-youtube-rap-biggest-beef-hip-hop-news


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