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Universal Music Group (UMG) is firing back at Drake’s lawsuit accusing the music giant of defaming him by promoting Kendrick Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us,” calling the case “illogical” and accusing Drake of trying to “weaponize the legal process.”
In a strongly-worded statement issued Wednesday afternoon (Jan. 15), UMG flatly denied the allegations in Drake’s lawsuit — filed earlier in the day in New York federal court — and sharply criticized its superstar artist for bringing it.
“Not only are these claims untrue, but the notion that we would seek to harm the reputation of any artist—let alone Drake—is illogical,” the company wrote. “We have invested massively in his music and our employees around the world have worked tirelessly for many years to help him achieve historic commercial and personal financial success.”
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The lawsuit claims that UMG knew that “inflammatory and shocking allegations” in Lamar’s scathing diss track were false, but chose to place “corporate greed over the safety and well-being of its artists.”
But in UMG’s response, the music giant said that Drake himself had often engaged in rap beefs featuring bombastic claims about his opponents — the very thing that he now claims is illegal.
“Throughout his career, Drake has intentionally and successfully used UMG to distribute his music and poetry to engage in conventionally outrageous back-and-forth ‘rap battles’ to express his feelings about other artists,” UMG wrote. “He now seeks to weaponize the legal process to silence an artist’s creative expression and to seek damages from UMG for distributing that artist’s music.”
Drake’s case repeatedly makes clear that he is not suing Lamar himself, and that he holds UMG responsible for releasing a song that it allegedly knew was defamatory.
In its statement, UMG denied that claim — and said it would defend Lamar or any other artist if they were hit with such a lawsuit.
“We have not and do not engage in defamation—against any individual,” UMG said in the statement. “At the same time, we will vigorously defend this litigation to protect our people and our reputation, as well as any artist who might directly or indirectly become a frivolous litigation target for having done nothing more than write a song.”
Drake and Lamar exchanged stinging diss tracks last year, culminating in Lamar’s knockout “Not Like Us” — a track that savagely slammed Drake as a “certified pedophile” and reached the top of the charts. In November, the star filed stunning legal petitions suggesting that he planned to sue UMG, claiming that the company had artificially boosted a song that contained defamatory statements about him.
Earlier on Wednesday, Drake made good on those threats — filing a federal lawsuit that claimed UMG had boosted a “false and malicious narrative” that the star rapper was a pedophile, severely harming his reputation and even putting his life in danger.
“UMG intentionally sought to turn Drake into a pariah, a target for harassment, or worse,” the star’s lawyers wrote in their complaint. “UMG did so not because it believes any of these false claims to be true, but instead because it would profit from damaging Drake’s reputation.”
The accusations — and Wednesday’s response statement — represent a remarkable rift between the world’s largest music company and one of its biggest stars. Drake has spent his entire career at UMG, first through signing a deal with Lil Wayne’s Young Money imprint that was distributed by Republic Records, then by signing directly to Republic.
Dave Grohl spent his 56th birthday giving back to families in need amid the ongoing wildfire crisis in the Los Angeles area. In videos posted to Instagram Stories Tuesday (Jan. 14) by Feed the Streets — an L.A.-based charity with which the Foo Fighters frontman has volunteered in the past — Grohl helps stir homemade […]
Welcome to Billboard Pro’s Trending Up newsletter, where we take a closer look at the songs, artists, curiosities and trends that have caught the music industry’s attention. Some have come out of nowhere, others have taken months to catch on, and all of them could become ubiquitous in the blink of a TikTok clip.
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This week: Fan support for a 2000s TV icon has resulted in her 15-year-old album likely recharting next week, while a soundtrack synch sets off a revival of a late-’80s pop classic and TikTok embraces a Rihanna hit that never was.
Heidi Montag’s ‘Superficial’ Goes Viral to Aid Recovery From Palisades Fire
Reality star Heidi Montag can now add pop star to her resume. Montag and husband Spencer Pratt, best known for their roles on hit reality TV show The Hills, lost their home in the Palisades wildfire last week. Pratt took to TikTok to share the devastating news, and to direct viewers to stream and purchase Montag’s 15-year-old album Superficial to help the family generate income in the wake of the disaster.
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Followers certainly showed up for the couple, pushing Superficial to No. 1 on the iTunes chart over the weekend and into this week with over 6,000 in album sales for the weekend of Jan. 10-12 (up from a negligible number of sales the weekend prior). It also picked up massively on streaming services, growing 740.6% in U.S. on-demand streams to over 800,000 from the first weekend of January to the second. If it maintains its performance, it could make a bow on the Billboard 200 next week — which would be Superficial‘s first appearance on the chart. — KRISTIN ROBINSON
‘Babygirl’ Milk Drinkers are Lapping Up George Michael’s ‘Father Figure,’ Too
Babygirl, Halina Reijn’s new erotic thriller/dark comedy starring Nicole Kidman as a powerful CEO who indulges in her sexual fantasies with her intern (played by Harris Dickinson), has not only served as Kidman’s latest bravura turn with Oscar buzz, but is also being meme’d ad nauseam by cinephiles who are sick of talking about the turtle in Conclave. One particular sequence that has been hoisted up by the Internet involves Dickinson dancing shirtless to “Father Figure,” the iconic No. 1 smash by George Michael, in a hotel room, while Kidman watches from afar.
Following the film’s wide release on Christmas Day, “Father Figure” has not only picked up steam on streaming services thanks to the Babygirl scene, but also with Michael’s 1987 smash soundtracking various TikTok mash-ups, from those trying to recreate Dickinson’s dance moves to others who want to anoint Pedro Pascal as the ultimate “father figure” (read: zaddy). In any event, “Father Figure” earned 358,000 U.S. on-demand streams during the week ending Dec. 26, according to Luminate, and that weekly streaming total had more than doubled two weeks later, to 984,000 streams in the week ending Jan. 9. Who knows? With the film’s pivotal scene of Kidman’s character drinking a glass of milk, maybe U.S. dairy sales are on the rise, too. – JASON LIPSHUTZ
Nearly 18 Years Later, Rihanna’s ‘Good Girl Gone Bad’ Is Still Churning Out Hits
Even though she’s popped up for a Black Panther song or two, it’s still been nearly nine years since Anti – Rihanna‘s last studio album. Like most Rihanna album’s, Anti produced a plethora of hits, and that’s a trend Riri began with 2007’s Good Girl Gone Bad. That album housed “Umbrella” (No. 1, seven weeks); “Shut Up And Drive” (No. 15); “Hate That I Love You” (No. 7); “Don’t Stop the Music” (No. 3); “Rehab” (No. 18); “Take A Bow” (No. 1) and “Disturbia” (No. 1). Now, nearly 18 years later, another Good Girl track is looking to join those ranks: the Christopher “Tricky” Stewart-produced, The-Dream-penned “Breakin’ Dishes.”
According to Luminate, “Breakin’ Dishes” has steadily risen in streams over the past month. In the week preceding Christmas (Dec. 13-19, 2024), the track pulled over 2.37 million official on-demand U.S. streams. Though streaming activity dipped during the holiday week (Dec. 20-26) — earning 2.25 million streams, down 5.2% — the following week produced its biggest week-over-week streaming increase of the month. During the week of Dec. 27-Jan. 2, streams for “Dishes” soared 22% to over 2.7 million streams. By the following week (Jan. 3-9), streams rose by a furter 5.7% to just over 2.9 million streams.
Although “Breakin’ Dishes” — like the bulk of RiRi’s catalog – isn’t available on TikTok as an official sound, fan uploads have kept the song in near-constant circulation on the platform. Across three different sounds ranging from 40,000 to 280,000 posts each, users have hopped on three distinct trends attached to “Dishes.” First, some users use the song’s “A man, a man, a ma-e-a-a-an” refrain to show off their boyfriends’ strength by having them lift them up on one shoulder. Another set of users have used the song to make edits of their favorite characters from media like Squid Game and various Disney films; other users have used “Dishes” sounds to explain that the song is about “female rage” and not love.
Regardless of how they found their way to “Breakin’ Dishes,” fans are discovering Rihanna’s deep cuts and falling in love with them as if they’re new singles. — KYLE DENIS
01/15/2025
From a potential TikTok ban to the upcoming Diddy trial to changes coming in streaming, AI, distribution and concert ticketing, there’s plenty to watch in 2025.
01/15/2025
Drake filed a lawsuit against UMG for defamation over Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us.” Keep watching for the full details of the case. Tetris Kelly:Is Drake ending his legal beef against UMG and Kendrick? From ending the petition to filing a lawsuit, we got the story. The Canadian rapper has filed an official lawsuit on […]
The Contenders is a midweek column that looks at artists aiming for the top of the Billboard charts, and the strategies behind their efforts. This week, for the upcoming Billboard 200 albums chart dated Jan. 25, 2025, we look at whether a new growing blockbuster from Bad Bunny will claim the top spot, or whether it will be lapped by the shipment of a beloved Taylor Swift live set.
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Bad Bunny, Debí Tirar Más Fotos (Rimas): The latest LP from Puerto Rican global superstar Bad Bunny might have already been the No. 1 album in the country had it enjoyed a full tracking week. But due to its Sunday release (Jan. 5), two days into tracking, it pulled up just short, posting 122,000 first-week units and falling behind Lil Baby’s WHAM set, which bowed at No. 1 with 140,000 units.
The good news for Fotos is that it keeps growing. While the album’s first-day numbers on streaming were solid but unexceptional, they’ve ballooned nearly every day since – an extremely unusual trajectory for a new release by an established superstar – to the point where the album now claims the top three spots on both the Apple Music real-time chart and the Spotify Daily Top Songs USA listing. (Both rankings are led by the viral smash “DtMF,” which could also challenge for a top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 next week.)
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The runaway streaming success of Fotos, combined with it now getting the benefits of a full week of tracking (as well as a heavy week of promo, including a recent Subway Busking performance with Jimmy Fallon) means that the set should have an even better showing in its second frame – perhaps more in line with the opening week of Bunny’s previous album, 2023’s Nadie Sabie Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana, which managed 184,000 units in its Billboard 200-topping debut week.
Taylor Swift, Lover (Live in Paris) (Republic): The City of Lover live show that Taylor Swift played in Paris in 2019 has long held a special place in the hearts of Swifties – both for its intimate acoustic versions of many highlights from 2019’s Lover set, and for the fact that it was one of the final full live shows Swift performed for some years, after her planned Lover Fest mini-tour was canceled in the wake of the 2020 COVID pandemic and she was forced to regroup for 2023-24’s world-conquering Eras Tour. In 2020, the set was aired as an ABC live special, followed by the limited-edition release a double-LP version of the set in 2023, entitled Lover (Live From Paris), collecting eight performances from the gig.
That release was limited to 13,000 copies, and of course sold out, resulting in a No. 58 bow on the Billboard 200. The set was re-released this Jan. 7, however, as a 72-hour webstore exclusive, and is expected to sell a whole lot more than that this time around. The impact it has on this upcoming Billboard 200 will depend on when the copies of it officially ship – her webstore noted that all copies would ship “on or before Jan. 20,” but with many Swifties apparently having already received their copies, it seems likely to be a real contender for next week.
Could it beat out Bad Bunny’s burgeoning blockbuster? Despite her 14 career No. 1s on the Billboard 200, Swift has never reached the apex with a live set – with 2020’s No. 3-peaking Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions coming closest. But with the combination of the set’s reputation among Swifties, those fans’ love for collecting her records (with Taylor claiming five of the top 10 best-selling vinyl LPs of 2024) the half-decade wait since the special initially aired and how she’s gotten exponentially bigger in the last few years… as with nearly everything Taylor Swift-related in 2025, it’s probably not a great idea to bet against her.
Lil Baby, WHAM (Quality Control/Motown): Last week’s No. 1 seems pretty sure for some degree of fall-off in its second frame. Its opening number of 140,000 got a big lift from direct-to-consumer album sales (in CD and digital download form), helping it get 50,000 of those first-week units, which is almost always much lower in an album’s second week. And on streaming, Lil Baby‘s set is clearly slipping – it’s still littering the Apple Music chart, but with only one song (the Future- and Young Thug-featuring “Dum, Dumb and Dumber”) in the top 20, and it claims just two total entries in Spotify’s 200-position Daily Top Songs USA chart. That’s not shocking by any means – most big streaming albums do experience a big drop-off in week two – but it just shows how remarkable it is that Fotos is still expanding like it is. (WHAM should still get a small boost on streaming from the Friday release of its deluxe edition – featuring four bonus tracks – to DSPs, having previously been available only for purchase as part of the deluxe on the Motown webstore.)
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Are 4Batz and Anycia dating? The two artists have been spotted together on multiple occasions, looking very cozy, sparking rumors of a possible relationship.
One of the most telling moments came when 4Batz was doing a street interview, and he was seen holding Anycia’s hand throughout the conversation. Their public displays of affection have definitely caught fans’ attention, leaving many to wonder if there’s more than just a professional connection between them. 4Batz, who recently made waves with his debut project, has already earned major co-signs, with features from big names like Drake and Kanye West. His rise in the rap scene has been meteoric, and he’s quickly becoming one of the most talked-about newcomers.
Anycia, on the other hand, hit the scene last year with her smash hit “Back Outside” featuring Latto. The song made a huge impact, and Anycia’s career has been on the up ever since. She also recently graced the stage at Birthday Bash ATL for “Latto Bash,” showing she’s not just a one-hit wonder but a rising star with staying power. Whether it’s music or romance, 4Batz and Anycia are definitely keeping fans on their toes, making their moves in both love and the industry.
A historic moment occurred in Colombia in late 2024 when Heredero (real name Féizar Orjuela), the carranga music artist, achieved a major hit with his song “Coqueta”. The song not only became a huge viral hit, but also reached the No.1 position for the first time in history, a milestone that also represents a breakthrough for the traditional carranga music genre, which has recently found a new place in the music industry.
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“Coqueta” achieved the feat by becoming the first carranguera song to reach No. 1 in the official Spotify 50 Colombia ranking, displacing reggaetón smashes by hitmakers like Karol G and Feid, who have dominated the Colombian charts for many years.
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It is the first time a carranga song has generated so much attention and popularity through digital platforms and social networks. The musical genre, originating from the Andean region of Colombia, specifically from the departments of Santander and Boyacá, is, in essence, Colombian peasant music. It is composed of string instruments, such as the guitar, the requinto and the requintilla (a little smaller), guacharaca and/or charasca — which are also sounds that come from the roots of the lands of Colombia and are scraping idiophones or instruments that generate sound by themselves, when hit, shaken, or rubbed.
Heredero, currently one of its most outstanding representatives, describes it as “the country of the United States,” nourished by peasant songs and poems and has transitioned its structure by entering other cities over time.
“It is totally the sum of efforts, dedication, love for rural musical culture, years, generations,” Heredero tells Billboard Español.
Now that peasant music is reaching Colombia, the world is entering thanks to “Coqueta.”
With more than 1.9 Million videos created on TikTok, including videos by J Balvin and Valentina Ferrer, Jay Wheeler, and Zhamira Zambrano, and more than 55,00 reels on Instagram, her song “Coqueta” has connected with different types of audiences — which Heredero attributes to fans’ need to consume music that is based on what is simple and honest.
“Maybe at the time it was thought, and it worked, [that] you have to have baby skin, you have to project, I don’t know what… and [labels and artists] did not spend so much time on the important product, which is the songs,” Heredero tells Billboard Español. “Now we are consuming real things. Both young people, the children, the adults, and older people are eager for it. I believe that caranga music, or at least what I try to do, is for it to be that. Show me as a person as [they are].
“When someone asks me for a photo, I tell them: ‘Please don’t retouch it, don’t put a filter on it, let me look as natural as possible,’” he adds. “That is where people are connecting to; with being, with nature. A fake smile is fake — no matter how nice you pretend it is, it won’t connect. But a look, a real smile, is something else.”
Originally from Macaravita, Santander, Heredero — son of a poet mother and Carranguero musician father — carries in his veins the culture of his music and the lyrics that accompany it. “I try to honor myself the promise that I made to myself — and that I continue to nourish all the time — that the carranga grows and is known. What is happening right now is showing that it is possible, but there is still a lot of work to do,” he says.
From his childhood, Heredero had the best teacher at home: “There was no electric light on my sidewalk at that time, and my mother, a teacher by profession, went to a room with a wax or paraffin candle to write and write, and well, I was going to accompany her,” he remembers. “She used to write many things, such as poems and stories, and she made dramatizations for her students. And I accompanied her, but without intending to, learning because she was doing it. When I started doing my little things, I talked about the seven years I was doing some verses, and he corrected me: ‘Don’t repeat that word because you already said it… but say it this way.’ On the other hand, my father was making music in the town in the urban center of our municipality. While [he was doing that] I was sitting next to the musicians, watching them how they did and learning.”
Although Heredero was well known in the carranga scene, “Coqueta” was the song that brought him to fame. The single, from his third album (distributed by ONErpm), shows the slightly more romantic part of the project and the carranga.
The remix with Jessi Uribe occurred when their teams approached each other. Uribe became interested in the song; as Heredero tells us, he also wanted the remix to have the same feel as the original arrangement.
“When we started, he said: ‘I want it to continue tasting like Carranga; I don’t want us to make a ranchera.’ He comes from popular music and ended up singing carranga; I always say: ‘Well, what a tremendous ‘shampoo’ [A popular ‘saying’ when you have gotten the best or the top] I used on myself was to sing carranguera music with the top artist in música popular.’
Heredero says he’s grateful for Uribe’s new spin, “because it was really successful for carranguera music. Immediately the next day, we were trending in Chile, Central America, the United States, and Spain. We are a bridge, and that would possibly have taken me much longer to achieve [without the remix],” he adds.
What dreams does he have from here? “A Grammy for the carranga!” These things can happen, but if you work at them fully… I will be extremely happy as a farmer and as a carranguero to grab that gramophone and raise it in honor of my land and my roots.”
Skillet’s John Cooper has a good sense of humor about some of the hard lessons he’s learned about the music business in nearly three decades as a musician. The outspoken, gregarious singer, fresh off the release of a new album (Revolution) and a European tour, laughs heartily when asked what lessons he wish he learned early his career.
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“I would go back to my younger self and say, ‘They call it the music business for a reason,” he tells Billboard’s Behind the Setlist podcast. “That part — ‘business’ — actually matters. Because when you first start — I mean, I don’t know if everybody’s like this, but I certainly was like, ‘No, no, it’s not a business, it’s art. It’s no business involved. It’s just what I want to sing about. It’s all about me and my feelings and my artwork, and I’m never gonna let anybody bastardize my art.’ And you just end up making a bunch of dumb decisions because you don’t realize that, yes, it is about art, but you still got to pay bills. And you’re in the van in the middle of the night — if anybody’s in a band out there, they’re going to know what I’m talking about — you’re driving the van, and all of a sudden you feel something. You look out the side as you’re driving and you see one of the wheels from the trailer going past you [and] it flies off in the middle of the night. And I’m sitting there going, ‘I don’t care. It’s all about my art.’ That’s not real! You’ve got to pay for that, man!”
It took Cooper a few years to realize he needed to be more hands-on and not expect others to handle his business the way he wants. “If you want it done right, you have to get involved,” he insists. “That’s not to say [my manager and business manager] didn’t do their job, but they’re never going to do it the way you want it done. And it’s easy to complain about it, but just get your hands dirty.”
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The need to be more involved in the business side of his career “really hit home” early in Cooper’s career when the person preparing his taxes asked to see his taxes for the band’s first four years. “And I said, ‘Well, we lost money for the first four years, so I didn’t turn them in,’” Cooper recalls. “He’s like, ‘Well, you’re gonna pay for that now. You’ve gotta pay a fee for not doing it right.’ And so I would go back and just say [to my younger self], ‘Hey, yes, it’s about the art, but you can’t be a moron. You’ve got to grow up.’”
Over time, Cooper has learned the business side of music from a variety of people, including a manager that arrived six years into his career and his business manager. He also took inspiration from Mötley Crüe bass player Nikki Sixx, who Cooper says “understood it’s about art, but you got to take care of your business. You want to be around for 30 years? You better get it in gear, son!”
The lessons Cooper learned will help now that Skillet is independent and self-releasing its music. After nearly two decades with Atlantic Records — 99% of which was positive, Cooper says — the band released Revolution on its own Hear It Loud imprint. While Atlantic Records helped Skillet find mainstream success (“Awake and Alive” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Active Rock chart in 2011) there was more bureaucracy than Cooper would have preferred. “A lot of red tape,” he says. “A lot of people having to approve the songs.” Now, Skillet now has greater creative control and can release music more frequently.
“We wrote 11 songs for this record, and I loved it,” he says. “I loved making the project. It was so much fun. We wrote, recorded and released this album in 13 months. And I’ll tell you what, it was so fun, and I love the music.”
Listen to the entire interview with Skillet’s John Cooper using the embedded Spotify player below, or go to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart, Amazon Music, Podbean or Everand.
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Rapper and professional hypeman 50 Cent and DJ Khaled are officially on good terms, and baseball legend Reggie Jackson helped make it happen. The two were spotted earlier this week in Port St. Lucie, Florida, where they were about to hit the golf course together. As they linked up, 50 and Khaled hugged it out and dapped each other up, showing they’d squashed their beef.
Khaled reached in for a dap and said, “Nothing but love and respect.”. The two had been throwing shots at each other for years, with 50 Cent especially trolling Khaled on social media. But it looks like Reggie Jackson, who’s close with both, stepped in and got them to make peace. He’s known for being a leader, both on the field and off, and he helped bring the two together.
Now that they’ve buried the hatchet, fans are hoping this is the start of them working together. It’s a reminder that sometimes the right person can help people let go of old beefs and move forward, especially in the world of hip-hop.
50 Cent has been keeping busy with his newest endeavor, his own residency in Las Vegas. He’s been hitting one of the city’s hottest venues with a series of shows, where he’s been performing his classic hits and bringing that high-energy vibe fans love. It’s a big move for 50, showing he’s not just a rapper but a full-on entertainer. With his acting and business game already strong, this Las Vegas residency is just another flex in his legendary career. If you’re a 50 fan, you don’t want to miss this—he’s about to turn up in the Vegas spotlight.