It’s been a big week for Drake’s lawyers and a bad week for rap fans.
Rap goes out of vogue on the Billboard Top 40
For the first time since 1990, there are no rap songs in the top 40 of Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart. Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s hit “luther,” which spent 13 weeks at No. 1, left this week’s most recent chart entirely after logging at No. 38 the previous week. In total, the song spent a whopping 46 weeks in total on the Hot 100.
The reason for this is mostly because of new rules implemented by Billboard for the Hot 100, but also a waning interest in rap, some critics think. Read more about it here.
Drake is reviving his UMG lawsuit
After a federal judge dismissed Drake’s defamation case against his label, Universal Music Group (UMG), earlier this year, the Canadian rapper has filed a notice to appeal the decision on October 29. Drake’s spokesperson confirmed the news in an email to The FADER: “This confirms our intent to appeal, and we look forward to the Court of Appeals reviewing that filing in the coming weeks.”
If you aren’t up to speed, Drake has been trying to (unsuccessfully) sue his record label for defamation for allowing Kendrick Lamar to release “Not Like Us.” It seems Drake just can’t let this one go.
Read more about his appeal.
In other Drake legal news, he’s also been named in a class action lawsuit about gambling
Drake and popular streamer Adin Ross have been sued for promoting illegal gambling in Missouri. The class action lawsuit was filed in court on October 27, and names Drake and Ross alongside the crypto-based sweepstakes platform Stake as co-defendants.
If you follow Drake or Ross at all, the two have hosted streams depicting “glamorous lifestyles” that are” are “enticing young viewers to begin gambling illegally,” the plaintiff writes in his filing. Drake and Ross have not responded publicly about the lawsuit at press time. The FADER has reached out to Drake’s representatives for comment.
Read more about the lawsuit.
NewJeans loses their ADOR lawsuit to leave the agency
After a yearslong legal tussle with their record label ADOR, a South Korean judge has denied NewJeans from terminating their management contract with the label. The group has announced that they’ll be appealing the decision.
If you’ve been out of the loop, the popular girl group — Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Hyein, and Haerin — have been feuding with their label ADOR for the better part of the last year after executives pushed out their former creative director and company CEO Min Hee-Jin in November 2024. The group members even went as far to rebrand under a new group name, NJZ, and perform shows outside of their company’s managerial scope. ADOR’s lawsuit aimed to cement their legal ownership over the group.
Read more about the ruling as well as official statements from ADOR and NewJeans.
Finally, some great news for Daft Punk fans
Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter played his first DJ set in 16 years in Paris. He came out during Fred Again..’s show and dropped deep Daft Punk cuts and parts of Jonny Greenwood’s score for the new Paul Thomas Anderson movie, One Battle After Another.
Watch clips below.