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Travis Scott and Pop Smoke connected in late 2019 for “GATTI,” and the gritty visual saw the duo riding in style inside a lavish Bugatti Chiron.
Instead of renting the luxury sports cars, Scott wanted to make the video authentic, so he ended up buying the Bugatti Chiron — reportedly worth more than $5 million — off the lot, which he explained to Complex‘s Joe La Puma as part of the publication’s On Display series.
“I remember I was doing the song, and Pop’s like, ‘You know, we gotta bring Bugattis out, man!’ I forgot who was helping us with the video,” Scott recalled. “The guy was like, ‘Yeah, man, I know somebody that can bring some Bugattis out for us.’”
La Flame continued: “I’m thinking, ‘Bring ’em out for us?’ Nah, f–k that. So I’m like, ‘Naw, I’m just gonna go and get this.’ We was at the shoot, me and Pop. He was like, ‘Man, damn bro. This s–t smells brand new.’ I was like ‘Yeah, bro. I just got it like a week ago.’”
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“GATTI” went on to serve as a standout from Scott and Cactus Jack’s JACKBOYS label compilation project in December 2019. The drill track peaked at No. 69 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was Pop’s first Hot 100 entry. The Brooklyn rapper was killed less than two months later in February 2020 during an armed robbery shooting in L.A.’s Hidden Hills.
Pop Smoke was just 20 at the time of his death, and Scott had envisioned an extremely bright future for his friend as one of the superstars that would change the rap game.
“You one of the illest rappers,” he recalled telling Pop in 2019. “I feel like you changing the whole sound of New York. I don’t even know if you know right now, but from the sound of the beats to the way you putting it together, it’s gonna create an allegiance of sound and the creatives so you gonna have a million [Bugattis].”
Watch the “GATTI” video and Scott’s sit-down with Complex below.
J. Cole’s Dreamville Festival returned to Raleigh, North Carolina, for its fifth — and final, at least as we currently know it — edition under the Dreamville banner on April 5-6. Held at Dorothea Dix Park, the sold-out festival drew over 50,000 fans who braved the scorching heat to experience two days of hip-hop, R&B, and unforgettable moments. (See some of our favorite moments from the memorable festival weekend here.)
From the larger-than-life photo opportunities to the diverse food vendors and the exclusive pop-ups, Dreamville Fest 2025 was more than just a music event — it was a full-fledged cultural experience. The lineup featured legends and rising stars alike, with Lil Wayne (alongside Hot Boys and Big Tymers), 21 Savage, and Ari Lennox performing Saturday (April 5), while Coco Jones, GloRilla, Wale and J. Cole took over Sunday (April 6). Additional performers included Tems, PartyNextDoor, Erykah Badu, Ludacris, Keyshia Cole, BigXThaPlug, J.I.D, Ab-Soul, Lute, Chief Keef, Omen, Young Nudy, Anycia, EARTHGANG, Bas, Cozz, Akia and Kai Ca$h & Niko Brim.
While Dreamville Festival as we know it has come to an end, a similar event will continue under the direction of the city of Raleigh. J. Cole made sure to give fans a proper send-off, running through classics from his discography like “No Role Modelz,” “Can’t Get Enough,” “Lights Please,” and “Lost Ones.” As fireworks lit up the sky for the final time, he closed his set — and Dreamville Fest —with “Farewell.”
Billboard captured exclusive behind-the-scenes moments with some of this year’s performers, shot on the Leica Q3. See intimate portraits of Dreamville stars Coco Jones, Wale, Ab-Soul, Lute, Chief Keef, Omen, EARTHGANG and Cozz below.
Coco Jones
Image Credit: Chris Claxton
Ye (formerly Kanye West) has been staunch in his support for Donald Trump since the business mogul’s first presidential term. During a stream with Digital Nas on Tuesday (April 8), the embattled rapper claimed that Frank Ocean attempted to talk him out of supporting the twice-impeached president prior to the 2016 election.
“Frank Ocean p—y a– come over my house talking about Trump all day and how I shouldn’t support Trump,” he said. “N—a f–k you know about politics and n—a I’m your motherf—ing senior, OG, y’all used to come on tour with mea.”
Ye continued: “None of you n—-s can tell me about politics n—a. F–k you think? You read a book and now you can tell me some s–t? None of these n—-s as talented. I’m the greatest motherf—ing artist that ever existed. They can just be slightly better at one thing cause they only do that one thing.”
Billboard has reached out to Ocean’s reps for comment.
Ye — who has faced continued backlash for his ongoing hate speech — hasn’t been shy about his support for Trump over the years. He originally had a pro-Trump rant during his Saint Pablo Tour in 2016 and met up with the president at Trump Towers in December 2016 for a photo op.
He pulled up to the White House in 2018 while rocking a red MAGA hat, where he spoke about his appreciation for the president and met with Trump at the Oval Office. Ye kept the MAGA hat on throughout the year and even wore it during his appearance on Saturday Night Live.
While Ye opposed Trump in 2020 during his own brief presidential bid, he came back to support Trump — who has since been convicted on 34 felony charges in his hush money case — for the 2024 election as DT defeated Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.
Around the time of the alleged conversation between Ocean and Ye in 2016, they had been collaborative on the music side. Ocean helmed “Frank’s Track” on The Life of Pablo, while West had a cameo on Blonde‘s “White Ferrari.” Ocean hasn’t released a project since.
However, West’s tune changed in March when he claimed during an explosive interview with DJ Akademiks that “Moon” from 2021’s Donda album was the end of his former collaborator’s time in music.
“Like when I made, ‘Moon,’ it basically ended Frank Ocean’s career. He ain’t have a song since then. He talking, ‘Sipping some wine.’ I knew it I heard it, I was like, ‘Oh, this n—a not gonna be able to make another album again,’” he said. “Any genre of music that anyone has, I make a better version of it. I’m 10 times stronger at music than anyone living.”
Playboi Carti’s Music album has been a staple on the charts since its arrival in March, and King Vamp returned Tuesday (April 8) to release a visualizer for “Fine Shit.” Set in Miami, Carti comes alive in the 305’s nighttime and throws a turned-up yacht party off the 305 coast with plenty of homies and […]
Little Brother have announced that they’ll be hitting the road one last time starting this spring. On Monday, the North Carolina duo comprised of Phonte and Big Pooh announced they’d be hanging up their mics for good, but not without seeing their fans one last time. The pair will embark on a 12-date “Curtain Call” […]
Kai Cenat takes pride in giving back to the community, and one recent clip found him covering the cost of a pizza order for two young fans and their father after the children recognized him. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The heartwarming gesture went viral on […]
Travis Scott’s first major break in music came thanks to Ye (formerly Kanye West). Thirteen years after appearing on Cruel Summer‘s “Sin City” and working on Yeezus, Scott still has an appreciation for West giving him a chance.
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La Flame’s Complex cover story, which was published on Tuesday (April 8), sees him tackle quite a few topics, including his stance when it comes to his relationship with Ye.
“S–t, man. That’s my kid’s uncle,” he said in the interview, which appears to have taken place in February. “That guy took me in when I was young, when I was like 19. He taught me a lot about music. And not even just ‘taught’ me, but he allowed me to experience the creation of music.”
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Scott continued to reflect. “To create music with him, it’s what helped me grow, making a lot of beats,” he shared. “Whether it’s writing and collabing on music and film or clothes or whatever the f–k it is, just constantly learning.”
While Ye was raising issues with many of his peers during a series of explosive X rants in March, he took aim at Scott during an interview with DJ Akademiks. West — who has been facing backlash since 2022 for his hate speech — explained that why he felt disrespected by the “Sicko Mode” rapper.
“Trav left me off his album,” he said. “Took four of my songs from the ranch in Wyoming. My choruses, my exact singing lines — replace me with him, or put Future, SZA on the joints. With no explanation, the s–t just comes out.”
In August 2023, following Utopia‘s arrival, Scott performed in Rome and brought out West and gave his idol his flowers. “There is no Utopia without Kanye West. There is no Travis Scott without Kanye West. There is no Rome without Kanye West. Make some noise for Ye,” Scott told the crowd.
As for Scott’s next move, he’ll be headlining Saturday night (April 12) at Coachella. He also provided some context into his upcoming projects with another Jackboys label compilation and his solo album on the way.
“And for this next album, I just want to have the most ultimate fun with being creative,” he told Complex. “The most ultimate fun, taking all the things I learned and packing it in the CD and making it enjoyable to go crazy in the stadium. That’s the idea.”
Baka Not Nice recently sat down with Hot Freestyle’s Mic Check podcast and talked about being mentioned in Kendrick Lamar‘s “Not Like Us.”
When the subject came up, Baka revealed that he initially planned on immediately responding to Kendrick after the Compton MC rapped that he had a “weird case” and asked why Drake chose to continue to have him around. “My first initial thing was to respond and respond quickly, very efficiently and very to the point,” he said. “It started brewing in me because where I come from, that s—t doesn’t happen. You can’t just call out a man and not have paperwork to back up your talks. It’s ludicrous.”
He added that he couldn’t believe how big the song had gotten. “And then to see a whole nation behind it and celebrating it like it’s a true story is unbelievable,” he said. “Everybody has to understand: I have a kid, Drake has a kid, so, like, making accusations like that are ridiculous and out of this world.”
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He then revealed that he didn’t respond because Drake talked him out of it and asked him to ignore it. “I was building up a lot of anger but then I got a call,” he said. “And [Drake’s] like, ‘Yo, I know what you’re feeling, I know you as an individual, I know how you get down but I’m just letting you know, don’t listen to the noise ’cause it’s noise.’ If you go back and look at all these people that are saying things, they’re not even real people, they’re bots. Don’t let that s—t bother you, bro. And you know what? I mean, it’s not a good thing but they’re calling your name.”
Baka then asked fans to do their due diligence and look up the case Lamar was referring to because he felt like he was being accused of pedophilia. “And at the end of the day, they’re gonna get over this crap because they’re gonna realize that it’s crap, and then they’re gonna do their own research,” he said. “And when you do you’re own research, you’re gonna be like, ‘Wow, this guy made up a whole story about something that isn’t even true.’ It makes you look weird to me. I don’t know.”
He finally concluded his answer with a message to fans. “I wanna say one thing to America,” he began. Y’all need to get yourself together because, yo, making serious accusations like that, you need to have paperwork. That is the No. 1 rule.”
Baka Not Nice reveals he was going to respond to Kendrick Lamar, but Drake told him to ignore all the noiseHe also called Kendrick’s accusations “ridiculous” pic.twitter.com/3i5RE4GGXn— Hot Freestyle (@HotFreestyle) April 7, 2025
The “weird case” Kendrick mentioned stems from a 2014 incident when Baka — born Travis Savoury — was charged with procuring prostitution and human trafficking. Those charges were dropped after he pleaded guilty to assaulting a 22-year-old Toronto woman and was sentenced to six months in jail, according to the Toronto Sun.
Drake is currently embroiled in a high profile defamation lawsuit with his parent label, UMG, alleging it defamed him by promoting Lamar’s Drizzy diss track “Not Like Us,” which includes the lyric “certified pedophile.” UMG denied the allegations and later filed to dismiss the case.
Watch Baka Not Nice discuss “Not Like Us” below:
In celebration of Cypress Hill‘s seminal sophomore effort Black Sunday, the rap group announced it’ll be launching a new graphic novel titled CYPRESS Hill: BLACK SUNDAY. On Tuesday (April 8), the news broke that the band had been hard at working crafting the comic alongside Z2 Comics and writers Noah Callahan-Bever and Gabriel Alvarez. The […]
J. Cole did some reminiscing during his headlining set at his Dreamville Festival 2025 over the weekend, and he recalled a time when Jay-Z pulled up on him in the studio with Beyoncé to record for what became The Blueprint 3‘s “A Star Is Born.” Cole signed to Roc Nation in 2009, and he reflected […]