How Much the Top 10 Rap Songs of 2023 Made

Kanye’s Vultures is pushed back indefinitely, but he has 3 features on French Montana’s Mac & Cheese 5, which drops at midnight. In other news today:

• Song streams & revenue 💰️ 

• First YSL member testifies in RICO trial against Young Thug 🐍 

• How music & culture make GTA VI feel authentic 🎮️ 

• New Music Friday releases 💿️ 

• Industry Insights 📈 

Streaming Revenue for Top 10 Rap Songs of 2023

It’s a new Thursday and a new song revenue chart. As reported by Hits Daily Double, which tracks streaming revenue week over week, the above chart reflects the entire streaming period for 2023.

Metro Boomin had the most profitable rap song, with “Creepin’” earning over $2M from 444M streams last year. Gunna’s “Fukumean” was a close second with $1.9M from 431M streams.

First YSL Member Testifies in RICO Trial Against Young Thug

The YSL RICO trial resumed this week, and Young Thug’s YSL co-founder, Trontavious “Slug” Stephens, took the stand as the first member of the alleged street gang to testify in the trial.

Unlike Gunna’s plea deal, Slug is required to testify and repeat specific statements supporting the accusation that YSL is a criminal street gang to fulfill the plea deal he accepted in December 2022, granting him his freedom.

But does he sing like a canary? No, his testimony is a crash course on how to evade questioning while under oath. Slug employs his intelligence like a Trojan horse, answering questions with the simplicity of a child to avoid revealing incriminating information.

If there was one response to best summarize his testimony, it’s when he can’t do simple math to determine what year and age he joined the ROC gang.

“I’m trying to count; I’m kind of bad with math, that’s why I ain’t pass the math part of my GED yet,” he says, evoking palpable frustration from the prosecution in the clip below.

Slug DOES admit to…

• Joining the ROC crew (Raised on Cleveland) as his first gang. The RICO indictment alleges that ROC is the predecessor of YSL. 

• The ROC crew being affiliated with the Sex Money Murder gang and being a subset of the Bloods.

• Being one of the founding members of the gang Young Slime Life alongside Young Thug and Walter Murphy

But…

He denies anyone in the courtroom is part of the ROC gang.

When asked to name the people who were in the ROC crew with him, Slug said, “You really want me to name basically everyone I grew up with? You gonna tell when to stop?”

He proceeds to name his old neighbor, which is unrelated to the case and exasperates the prosecution. “It was 10-11 years ago, I don’t remember by heart, ma’am! [...] Jason, uhh another Jason, Quentin, uh…ma’am this is gonna be hard,” he says.

He denies anyone in the courtroom is affiliated with ROC or SMM gang

“Do you count like going to the club with members of ROC? I mean I went to the club with everyone here except the young one,” Slug says when asked about affiliation. The young one he’s referring to is Lil Rod.

“What would make you think someone is affiliated with Sex Money Murder?” asks the prosecution.

“If they told me they were I guess,” Slug responds.

He denies his tattoos have gang meanings

“What is the red for in your tattoo?” asks the prosecution.

“I just wanted to add some color to it, and red is the only color my body would take cause of my dark skin,” Slug says frankly.

He denies “Slime” has a gang meaning

For his Truly Humbled Under God arc, Slug says “Slime” stands for “Slug Love I Me Everything,” but he’s not even trolling. That exact acronym is from Young Thug’s chorus on the 2014 song “S.L.I.M.E” by Ola Playa.

In conclusion…

How Music & Culture Make ‘GTA VI’ Feel Authentic

When the Grand Theft Auto VI trailer dropped, the collective disappointment of “coming in 2025” overshadowed the details of the game it revealed. Set in Vice City, Leonida, a fictional place reminiscent of Miami, Florida, pulls from reality just enough to simulate but not enough to get sued.

However, that hasn’t stopped the Florida Joker from threatening legal action over his in-game twin seen in the trailer. So how does GTA VI strike a Madame Tussauds’ wax figure likeness to the real Florida? Based on what we know and a Florida expert’s opinion given to GQ, this is what the game got right.

Florida’s swamp side

The usual Miami tropes were in the trailer—strip clubs, beaches, and condos—but it wasn’t all Art Basel highlights. The swampier side, illustrated by alligators in pools and convenience stores, mud clubs, and literal swamps, is representative of a local’s perspective.

“Florida Man” memes

The social media clips from the trailer are like a highlight reel of viral videos, which you can still find online, depicting unhinged debauchery in Florida. Twerking on top of a moving car? Check. Florida Joker’s mugshot? Check. Police officer chasing after a naked man? Check.

Add humorous captions like, “Usually gotta hit the strip club to see jiggle like that fr,” to the naked man scene, and it feels reflective of social media’s current era.

GTA is known for its satire, and the memes had to be included, but how they make fun of that cultural aspect without coming off as exploitative remains to be seen.

The soundtrack

Unfortunately, GTA VI’s soundtrack is unknown, but music has always been integral to the game between the GTA radio and the soundtrack. Rap music that pays homage to the city the game is based on is a given.

The trailer featured a Florida rapper lookalike akin to Kodak Black, Denzel Curry, or YNW Melly and a Rod Wave doppelganger, perhaps hinting at the game’s music.

Nardo Wick, XXXTentacion, Doechii, and Ski Mask the Slump God are other names that come to mind to represent Florida’s rap scene. Vote for which one you want to hear on GTA VI below.

New Music Friday

The first NMF of 2024 is a slow one, but French Montana’s new album has features from Kanye, Drake, Lil Baby, Kodak Black, and more. Here’s all the music you can look forward to—categorized by 💿️ for albums and 🎶 for singles:

• 💿️ Mac & Cheese 5 by French Montana

• 💿️ The Chosen Ones by DJ Booker, NLE Choppa

• 🎶 “30 (Freestyle)” by J.I.D. (out now)

• 🎶 “Down With Me” by Lil Tecca (out now)

• 🎶 “BACKR00MS” by Playboi Carti, Travis Scott (out now)

• 🎶 “Stand Up” by YG, Stunna Girl

• 🎶 “Good Intentions” by 24kGoldn

• 🎶 “Dreidel Bop” by BLP Kosher

• 🎶 “Deep” by Brisco Bands, Lil West

• Baby Keem teases new album, child with wolves, on social media. Revealing album cover iterations and group message screenshots related to his next project.

• NBA YoungBoy is the most streamed rapper on YouTube for 5th year straight. He was also crowned the second most streamed artist on the platform.

• French Montana taps Kanye, Future, Drake, and more for Mac & Cheese 5 tracklist. The new album is releasing on Jan 5th with appearances from the biggest names in rap.

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