Results for Round 3 of Rap Madness

Thank you for participating in RapTV’s annual Rap Madness bracket❗️We had some technical issues on the weekend and couldn’t send out a reminder for Round 3 of voting, but the results are in.

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In other news today:

• Results of Round 3 / Sweet Sixteen

• Predictions for Final Four of Rap Madness

• Travis Scott made merch out of his Miami mugshot

• Playboi Carti’s alleged stolen designs & leaked ad-libs

• Industry Insights

Sweet Sixteen / Round 3 Results

Below are the results with exact vote counts for round 3 of Rap Madness.

We’re down to the Elite 8 of Rap Madness. Here’s how the voting in round 3 matched up with completed brackets predicting the final winner.

Top 5 Artists With the Most Votes in Round 3

1. Travis Scott received 389K votes but is 3rd most likely to win

2. 21 Savage received 378K votes but is 9th most likely to win

3. Kendrick Lamar received 352K votes but is 1st most likely to win

4. Ye received 340K votes but is 2nd most likely to win

5. Future received 335K votes but is 7th most likely to win

But in Round 4….

• Travis Scott is facing 21 Savage

• Kendrick Lamar is facing Drake

• Ye is facing Playboi Carti

• Future is facing J. Cole

Based on your completed brackets, the Final Four will be Travis Scott, Kendrick Lamar, Ye, and J. Cole, but Future’s been on a crazy run, winning all of his match-ups with over 80% of the votes.

21 Savage has also won all of his match-ups with over 84% of the votes, could he cause an upset by taking down Travis Scott?

Official voting begins on Wednesday, June 26, and we’ll send you a newsletter reminding you to vote for your favorites ❗️ 

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Travis Scott Made Merch Out of His Mugshot

Travis Scott got too into his “SICKO MODE” bag this week. He was arrested early Thursday morning, June 20, while in Miami Beach for multiple charges. When asked by officers if he was intoxicated, he said, “It’s Miami.”

This might be the most unserious rapper arrest of all time, find out why below. 

Wait, so what went down?

Scott was taken into Miami-Dade County early in the morning of June 20 for alleged trespassing and disorderly conduct. According to a report from CBS News, officers were called to handle a disturbance on one of the yachts at the Miami Beach Marina. 

Scott was on the dock yelling at people on the yacht when they pulled up. Scott was asked to sit and chill out, but he only briefly did before standing back up. Officers noted the alcohol on his breath and said that he was ignoring their commands. 

The person on the yacht didn’t want to press charges but wanted Scott to leave. Continuing to yell, Scott was escorted back to a car waiting for him, but according to TMZ, he told the officers that if he got into the car, he was “gonna catch a fade.” 

He drove away, but La Flame was not done. Five minutes later, he returned, trying to bypass the officers and return to the yacht. He was then arrested and booked around 4 a.m. 

When asked if he had been drinking, Scott simply responded, “It’s Miami.”

Has he been released?  

He has since bonded out of jail, with his “trespassing after warning” charge having a $500 bond amount and “disorderly intoxication” having a $150 bond amount. 

He has not directly explained what happened that night. However, on the morning of June 20, he tweeted “Lol” from his X account. 

“Free The Rage” Mugshot Merch and what’s next 

Scott’s mugshot is everywhere, being edited to various unserious degrees by fans, and popping up in pfp’s. Scott reposted the sunglasses and headphones edit on his Instagram story and then made an edit of his own for a legendary merch drop. 

Making thousands out of a $650 bond, you can now buy a Cactus Jack “Free The Rage” tee with the smiling version of his mugshot and the iconic slogan “It’s Miami” through his official shop. For reference, 19 T-shirt sales surpass the bond amount he had to pay, but a portion of the proceeds will go to the Cactus Jack Foundation.

Despite the chaos, Scott is still excited to perform soon. He tweeted later the same day that there were only a few days left until his Europe leg of the Circus Maximus Tour. 

“6 days to circus Maximus tour. For the record I’m going. Ham,” he said. 

Playboi Carti Blasted for Allegedly Stolen Designs & Raw Vocal Ad-Libs

The issues between Playboi Carti and Falling in Reverse’s lead singer, Ronnie Radke, have been going on for a “Long Time.”

What is Radke's beef with Carti? 

In 2020, Carti released a merch line that featured “Falling in Reverse” in large, bold text upside-down, along with other heavy metal graphics. When Radke learned about the merch, he went to his socials to let off some steam.

In December 2020, he wrote on his Instagram story, "@playboicarti cease and desist mr rapper boi stop stealing," adding, "@playboicarti I'm gonna steal this back from you and sell it to my fans." He even posted a screenshot of the cease-and-desist letter he sent to Carti and his team. 

Despite the threat, Carti continued to lead mosh pits and share his punk rap vibes unaffected. Radke decided to take matters up a notch and took the issue to court.

In 2022, the parties reached a legal settlement, and Carti could no longer use the band’s name without their permission. Nevertheless, Radke still feels some type of way. 

What happened now? 

X user CLAYBOIPARTI tweeted on June 11 in response to a post about the “bangers” from Falling in Reverse that they should “get a feature with Playboi Carti since he loves you so much.”

Radke vehemently responded a minute after the tweet with, “Playboi Carti fucking sucks. you couldn’t pay me.”

The day before, X user Flawdzilla tweeted Radke about his issue with Carti since he was unaware. Radke let the choppa sing, stating that he initially tried asking Carti to take the merch down and didn’t want any money from the sales. Carti agreed but left the merch on his site. 

Radke allegedly attempted to ask Carti again to remove the merch, but after that failed, he took legal action. When lawyers got involved, Radke claims Carti settled the suit and gave him 100% of the profits from the “Falling in Reverse” merch. 

Carti’s Original Raw Ad-Libs Get Leaked

While Radke and others claim that Carti stole their image and names, no one can say that Carti stole their ad-lib style. Frequently praised as a pioneer in rap for his vocal manipulations, the raw version of his ad-libs leaked last week, and fans are having a field day.

The sounds resemble a little kid making sound effects for the imaginary spaceship they are flying in their backyard. 

Eric Sheffield on X tried to give him the benefit of the doubt on June 9, stating that "Carti sounds like courage the cowardly dog at the beginning. Granted, when you do a freestyle run of ad-libs to drop in your song it’s going to sound weird.

Others though, immediately got on his head, with X user FarrQ tweeting that “no cap I’m dead ass high af laughing in tears right now, I feel like south park could make a carti ep coz s*** like This. “IMaaDoPeFeIN…. WAHH wah WaAaHh WaAhh,” 

Carti hasn’t been on social media, so there hasn’t been a response to what Radke has been spewing about him. Hopefully, his MIA status means that new music is OTW. 

• Metro Boomin is moving from playing drums to animation. He is dropping his first issue (titled The Rise) of his new comic book series, The Metroverse, on June 14th.

• You can cop some of the rarest sneakers out courtesy of Ricky Rozay. His ​​Air Jordan 3 “Father of Asahd” sneakers and 800 other personal items are up for grabs June 25-26 during the inaugural “Push It To The Limit: Luxury And Lifestyle” auction. 

• Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright” costs school $100K after a teacher plays music video in class. The lawsuit settlement covers damages incurred from watching the video.