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Did Big Sean Diss Ye & Kendrick in His On The Radar Freestyle?

Plus, fans crack the code on Eminem's 'The Death of Slim Shady' album

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In other news today:

  • Song streams & revenue 💰️

  • Big Sean fires shots during his “On The Radar” freestyle 👀

  • Fans may have cracked the code on Eminem’s new album 🎧️

  • New Music Friday releases 💿️

  • Industry Insights 🔎

By the numbers header

Song Streams & Revenue

As reported by Hits Daily Double for the week of July 5 to 11.

It’s a new week and a new song revenue chart. As reported by Hits Daily Double, which tracks streaming revenue week over week, the above chart reflects the streaming period from July 5 to July 11.

Eminem has two songs charting with “Houdini” and “Tobey,” earning $48K and $47K, respectively. Kendrick’s “Not Like Us” is back to being the most profitable rap song from streaming by generating $162K from 36M streams.

Did Big Sean Just Diss Ye & K. Dot in His On The Radar Freestyle?

Big Sean rapping into a microphone

Big Sean stood in front of the famous neon green background at “On the Radar” and dropped a freestyle on July 16. Talking about the industry and how he has been MIA before stepping back behind the mic, he sampled fellow Detroit native Aaliyah’s song "If Your Girl Only Knew.” 

Yet, like an old-school Wendy’s commercial, hip-hop heads only had one concern after listening to the track—Where’s the beef?

Who does Sean Don allegedly have beef with?

There were multiple lyrics that fans began to interpret as shots fired. During the freestyle, the rapper said that “he had to switch the home team 'cause they committed treason.” There’s a pretty high chance that this was a diss towards Ye and his label G.O.O.D. Music. 

During a 2021 interview on Drink Champs, Ye said that signing Big Sean was one of the worst decisions that he has ever made. He explained that Big Sean’s lack of support during his 2020 presidential campaign solidified the disdain.

Ye fans get their revenge

Whether it is a diss towards Ye or not, his fans took their reignited beef with Big Sean to another level. A person in Ye’s ride-or-die fan base allegedly leaked Big Sean’s new album “since he wanna disrespect Ye so much.” Allegedly, he was told by Ye himself to leak the album, which allegedly has features from artists including his TWENTY88 partner in crime Jhene Aiko and Nas.

Social media users overwhelmingly thought the move was lame, with X user ljay in a July 17 post stating that “whoever leaked Sean’s album because he apparently dissed Ye in his freestyle is corny as hell. Kanye talked all that shit on Drink Champs AND owes Sean money. Sean CARRIED Good Music outside of Ye for a while, Pusha wasn’t as active until later.”

Regardless of the negative feelings, fans continued to make guesses as to who Sean Don had an issue with—including the current king of beef, K. Dot. 

He raps during the freestyle that “n***** looking for engagement like they got their knee bent, I got better things to do than find someone to beef with.”

K. Dot accused Drake of bringing more engagement and attention to themselves through the beef, and people wondered if Big Sean was accusing Kendrick of doing the same. However, DJ Hed and Big Sean himself put the rumors to bed.

Sean Don is playing no games

On July 16, DJ Hed released a tweet saying that he talked to Big Sean and got some clarification. He says that instead of aiming at K. Dot, Big Sean was talking about a “different Gemini” (cough cough, Ye). 

DJ Akademiks as usual tried to join in on the beef discussion, saying that Sean Don really was shooting shots at K. Dot. However, the rapper addressed the issue with Akademiks head-on, putting any future rumors to bed.

He even addressed the leak, dropping a teaser of future heat with The Alchemist.  “Might as well start droppin, before they leak it all, got d***,” he said in the July 17 post. 

Despite all of the chaos, he is still smiling through it all like Lebron.

Are y’all ready for new music from Big Sean?

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Fans May Have Cracked the Code on Eminem’s The Death of Slim Shady

Eminem in front of his album cover for the death of slim shady

On July 12, Eminem dropped his newest album in four years, titled The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce). He released a PSA before the album officially dropped on social media, stating that “the ‘death of slim shady’ is a conceptual album, therefore, if you listen to songs out of order they might not make sense. Enjoy.” 

However, fans are now thinking that “The Real Slim Shady” told a real big lie. Theories are emerging about how to properly listen to the album to find all the potential easter eggs.

So the PSA was fake all along?

When played in the album's original order, the songs tell the story of Marshall Mathers killing Slim Shady. When played in reverse, though, Slim Shady seems to have won the battle between him and Marshall Mathers.

“‘The Death of Slim Shady’ in reverse is a whole new story, Slim Shady ends up killing Eminem. Eminem created a masterpiece with this album no cap,” X user ShadyTimes said in a July 15 post. 

The conspiracy theories go much deeper than just playing in reverse, according to fans. The album allegedly is also meant to be played in a loop, symbolizing that Slim Shady will never truly die and that he is the persona that Eminen finds comfort in.

“Eminem's story is displayed with a ‘nightmare’ because shady is a nightmare for him, because of its after effects like cancellation etc. But when he uses him, the feeling is too good to be true, that's why he always comes back to shady again and again,” Efexity said in their July 16 breakdown. 

There are even theories about there being a potential second album coming soon.

Even when looking at the fan-assumed song breakdowns, it is clear that Eminem put out an album that is up for a lot of interpretation. Nevertheless, his fans online have been expressing how this is his strongest body of work yet. 

“If you think that new Eminem album is mid idk what to tell you. The album was executed perfectly and homie was rappin like he had something to prove,” X user Lone Huntsman said in a July 12 post.

What do y’all think of The Death of Slim Shady?

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New Music Friday

Here’s all the music you can listen to now—categorized by 💿️ for albums and 🎶 for singles:

  • 💿️Bando Stone and The New World by Childish Gambinoft. Jorja Smith, Yeat & more

  • 💿️King of the Mischievous South, Vol. 2 by Denzel Curryft. Juicy J, A$AP Rocky & more

  • 💿️Life’s A Gamble by Rich The Kid ft. Quavo, Ye & more

  • 💿️I’ll Always Come Find You by Blxst

  • 💿️SNAKEGANG, Vol. 1 by EARTHGANG and Snakehips

  • 💿️City Cinderella by JT

  • 🎶act iv: fckin u again (18+)” by 4batz and Usher

  • 🎶“Mission Control” by Logic

  • 🎶“Yes”by Big Sean

  • 🎶“On Dat Money”by Rob49 and Cardi B

  • 🎶“Shoot” by G Herbo and Skilla Baby

What did y'all think of today's edition?

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