A$AP Rocky Revives Year-Old Beef With Travis Scott Amid 'Utopia' Rollout

A new study from College Rover found that students with high GPAs are more likely to listen to Kendrick Lamar, Tyler, the Creator, Drake, and 21 Savage if they like rap 🧠 But 60% of students with low GPAs said they listen to rap while studying. In other news today:

• Billboard Hot 100 chart 📈 

• Discover new music with The Rap Index 🎵 

• What a retrial means for YNW Melly as he still faces the death penalty 👨‍⚖️ 

• Travis Scott unveiled these previously unknown Utopia details 👀 

• A$AP Rocky revives year-old beef with Travis Scott 🥩 

• Drake fan gets Playboy offer after throwing 36G bra at him 👙 

• Industry Insights 🔎 

Hot 100 Chart & Streams

The above chart shows Billboard’s Hot 100 ranking this week and the corresponding US Spotify song streams for July 14th to 20th, as reported by Spotify’s weekly song chart. Hot 100 ranks songs based on a combination of streaming activity, radio airplay audience impressions, and sales data—all measured by Luminate.

Latto becomes the first rapper to secure a #1 hit on the Hot 100 this year for her feature on K-pop artist Jung Kook’s song. Gunna’s “fukumean” moved up one spot to #6 and was the most streamed Spotify song in the US last week. Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice’s song “Barbie World” gets a boost from the release of the Barbie film, moving from #49 last week to #27 this week.

The Rap Index ft. A$AP Rocky, Lil Tecca, Jay Rock, FRVRFRIDAY & More

The Rap Index is a way to follow and discover new music. Divided into 4 categories describing rap subgenres, songs are placed according to their style and sound—giving you a better idea of what songs will appeal to your musical taste. Only releases from the previous New Music Friday are included to help keep you up to date.

1. “500LBS” by Lil Tecca (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

2. “HARD TO LUV” by FRVRFRIDAY (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

3. “KPOP” by Travis Scott, The Weeknd & Bad Bunny (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

4. “MMM HMM” by Lancey Foux & Sexyy Red (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

5. “RIOT (Rowdy Pipe’n)” by A$AP Rocky & Pharrell Williams (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

6. “The Weekend” by Stormzy & Raye (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

7. “Too Fast (Pull Over)” by Jay Rock, Anderson .Paak & Latto (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

8. “Roc-A-Fella Y’all” by Lupe Fiasco (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

What the Death Penalty and Retrial Mean for YNW Melly’s Future

After YNW Melly’s month-long trial was highly publicized and discussed in detail, it’s as if it never happened. On Saturday, it was announced that the jury was deadlocked, and despite all efforts, they couldn’t come to a verdict resulting in a mistrial. In the eyes of the law, this means the trial never happened. What’s next? Find out below.

Speaking to NBC6, criminal defense attorney Joshua Rydell weighed in and said the outcome likely means somebody in the jury was set on the verdict being an acquittal (not guilty) and was never going to be open to discussing the case.

Melly was facing two counts of first-degree murder, and this type of trial in the state of Florida has 2 phases. The first is the trial phase, where the jury must reach a unanimous decision, and if they deem the defendant guilty, the trial enters the penalty phase. This is where the death penalty comes in, 8 or more out of the 12 jurors must be in favor of the death penalty for it to become the jury’s recommendation.

During the penalty phase, the prosecution presents aggravating factors to support using the death penalty, and the jury must unanimously agree that one of these factors exists. If that happens, the judge has the final decision on whether or not the death penalty is imposed during sentencing. The prosecution gunning for the death penalty was a telltale sign that a plea bargain wouldn’t be offered in light of a mistrial.

The pros and cons of a retrial

The Broward County State Attorney’s office confirmed to NBC6 that they will try Melly’s case again. The trial is nonexistent in the context of a retrial, but it did happen, so what does this mean?

Defense attorney Rydell discussed this as well, saying, “The hard part of a mistrial like this is the state has shown their cards, they’ve shown their strategy, their good facts, and their bad facts.” The same goes for Melly’s defense, and both sides will have to refine their strategy and add some new moves to their playbook.

Another challenge is the first trial was so public it’s going to be hard to find a qualifying jury that isn’t aware or biased by what they already know about the case. Look at how hard it’s been for the YSL RICO trial to seat a single juror due to Young Thug’s notoriety and fame.

Melly’s co-conspirator, YNW Bortlen, tweeted a cryptic message shortly after the news of a mistrial became public. Bortlen is set to face a jury in October, but the prosecution could offer him a plea bargain in exchange for his testimony in Melly’s retrial.

Context for those of you out touching grass

As previously mentioned, aggravating factors are crucial to a death sentence. Throughout the trial, the prosecution’s case had various narratives and allegations that could be considered aggravating factors. The first is pecuniary gain. They believe Melly murdered his friends for money because he would make more if the YNW collective had a lower split.

Another factor is a homicide committed in a cold and premeditated manner. They presented evidence to suggest Melly planned to murder his friends and cover it up as a drive-by shooting. The last factor is a felony committed by a criminal gang member. They had an undercover detective testify to Melly’s behavior “indicative of gang membership.”

Why this matters

Trials are stressful and time-consuming, the ideal outcome would be for the state to offer some sort of plea bargain after a mistrial, but that’s not happening. The problem with 2nd trials is they can be significantly unfair.

In the case of Arizona vs. Washington, 434 U.S. 497 (1978), the Supreme Court outlined the disadvantages of a 2nd trial, “It increases the financial and emotional burden on the accused, prolongs the period in which he is stigmatized by an unresolved accusation of wrongdoing, and may even enhance the risk that an innocent defendant may be convicted.”

Travis Scott Reveals ‘Utopia’ Details & A$AP Rocky Disses Him in Unreleased Song

At long last, Travis Scott has finally announced the release date for Utopia and confirmed the premiere of an A24 movie that coincides with the album. During his set at Rolling Loud Miami, La Flame told fans they could look forward to Utopia on July 28th.

A$AP Rocky also made headlines at the festival for performing an unreleased song with diss lyrics that are seemingly directed at Travis and his short-lived romance with Rihanna. Find a debrief on all the drama and news below.

The July 28th release date coincides with Travis’ scheduled performance at the pyramids of Giza, despite cancellation rumors, confirming suspicions that the album would arrive the same day. He’s also dropping an alternate Utopia album cover every day this week, unveiling the main cover on Thursday.

The rollout for Travis’ Circus Maximus movie continues as the trailer dropped today, a few days before it hits AMC theatres across the US on July 27th. Travis directed the film in collaboration with a string of renowned directors: Gaspar Noé, Nicolas Winding Refn, Harmony Korine, Valdimar Jóhannsson, and Kahlil Joseph.

Rumors of an A24 film directed by Harmony Korine and Travis circulated earlier this month, but it turns out those were related to a separate film from Circus Maximus. Titled AGGRO DR1FT, the film in question was directed by Harmony Korine and features Travis, but it’s set to premiere a month from now at the 2023 Venice Film Festival.

On AMC ticket portals, Circus Maximus is described as “a mind-bending visual odyssey across the globe” connected by the sounds of Utopia. It’s also called a psychedelic journey, which could hint at the album’s sound. The trailer and movie poster has a dystopian aesthetic suggesting the road to Utopia is rocky—pun intended because A$AP Rocky just revived years-old beef amid the rollout.

A$AP Rocky disses Travis in an unreleased song

While headlining Rolling Loud Miami, A$AP Rocky previewed some new music, and the lyrics fed the internet their preferred meal: beef. As shown below, A$AP doesn’t name the person who stole his style or flow, but given he’s been with Rihanna for years, there’s only one rapper who fits the profile, and that’s Travis.

In the mid-2010s, it was speculated that Travis and Rihanna dated during her Anti tour, which he was on as a supporting act, and around the same time, he co-produced her hit song “Bitch Better Have My Money.”

Context for those of you out touching grass

The comparisons between Travis and A$AP Rocky go way back, with many people speculating that Travis ripped off A$AP’s style, and the lack of collaboration between the two has hinted at bad blood. In a May 2022 episode of Drink Champs, N.O.R.E. stated that Travis stole “his whole style” from Flacko, and Flacko seemingly agreed without feeding into the beef and saying he takes similarities as a form of flattery.

Why this matters

The revival of A$AP and Travis’ cryptic beef is coincidental or calculated, considering both are in the middle of an album rollout. It’s not a Lil Durk and NBA YoungBoy beef that will messily play out on Twitter. It’ll likely be a cold war full of subliminal lyrics, digs disguised as promo, and will never be explicitly addressed by either rapper.

A$AP dropped the music video for his new song “Riot” today, coinciding with Travis’ release of his movie trailer. If I had to guess, whichever album gets the better reception and numbers will have the last say on this revived narrative of beef.

Champagne Puppy Shouts Out Fan With 36G Bra and Playboy Makes Her an Offer

Drake’s tour stop in NYC has been eventful, to say the least. He took the meaning of his forthcoming album, For All The Dogs, to a literal level and wore a dog mask, not once, but twice. The jokes are endless, Drake’s in his furry era, he’s got that dog in him, Drake the type of guy to wear a dog mask and say “who let the dogs out,” but it had the desired effect of promoting his album.

Since embarking on his It’s All A Blur tour, he’s made headlines for bizarre interactions, celebrity guests, hysterical fans, and more. The latest world-breaking Drake news is related to a fan who threw her bra at him during one of his shows at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. He scooped up the bra and looked at the size, saying, “Damn, 36G? Locate this woman immediately!”

Social media did its thing and identified the girl as Veronica Correia. Being linked to Drake for something as simple as a bra callout is apparently enough to spark the interest of Playboy. In an interview with TMZ, Correia revealed that Playboy reached out to her over DM and invited her to join their invitation-only app that allows creators to monetize their content—similar to OnlyFans. She was accepted as a Playboy creator and is looking forward to exploring opportunities with them.

Context for those of you out touching grass

At a recent show, Drake said it’s only a matter of weeks before his new album is released. All the telltale signs of a rollout are here—he did an interview with podcaster Bobbi Althoff and released an On The Radar freestyle with Central Cee.

Why this matters

Drake’s fully embraced parodying himself and the dog mask stunt fall in line with his book of poetry IG captions, engagement ring necklace, and interview skits that are anything but traditional. The masks are also a physical embodiment of his new album, following in Travis Scott’s Utopia briefcase footsteps, although much less creative. The bottom line is anything cringe or corny Drake does gets people talking, and he knows this. Expect him to continue leveraging “Drakes the type of guy to…” as the album rollout continues.

• Spotify officially raises premium subscription prices in the US and 50 other countries. An estimated 44.4 million US subscribers will now pay $10.99 a month.

• Doja Cat slams “Kittenz” fanbase and loses over 250K Instagram followers after “get a job” rant. The since-deleted tweets stemmed from her distaste over fans using her government name as their screen name.

• Lil Uzi Vert says they didn’t invent the “Just Wanna Rock” dance. They credited kids in Philly and called it “blicking,” saying that in Jersey, it’s referred to as “rocking your hips.”

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