NEWS
JT has advised fans to use unofficial versions of her upcoming solo single on TikTok despite Universal Music Group (UMG)‘s banning their music from the platform.
In January, Universal announced that it would withdraw its artists’ songs from the platform, citing unfair compensation for the artists and the harmful effects of A.I. Days later, TikTok confirmed that it had also started to remove songs from songwriters signed with Universal Music Publishing Group.
Now, City Girls member JT – who is signed to Motown Records, a subsidiary of UMG – is set to release ‘Okay’ tomorrow (April 19). Ahead of its release, she urged her fans on X/Twitter to promote the song on TikTok, as UMG’s ongoing dispute with the app will prevent her from uploading the official audio.
“Remember I’m with UMG so once [the] song is out, [the] TikTok [sound] will be muted so try to get a distorted sound going,” JT tweeted. “I have one on my TikTok, use it if you want or make your own. IDC – just spread the sound [megaphone emoji]”
‘Okay’ is JT’s third single to date and can be expected to feature on the Miami star’s upcoming solo mixtape, ‘City Cinderella’.
Although JT seems to be the first artist to overtly defy UMG’s decision to remove their catalogue from TikTok, others signed to the conglomerate still manage to share their music on the app. Olivia Rodrigo has posted videos of her singing along to songs from her latest album ‘Guts’, including one where she promotes a fan upload of ‘Obsessed’.
In addition, Taylor Swift’s music has recently returned to TikTok after being removed earlier this year, likely due to Swift now owning her masters and publishing rights. This coincides with the release of her upcoming album, ‘The Tortured Poets Department’.
Other artists signed to the label who have been affected by UMG’s decision include Bad Bunny, The Weeknd, Drake, Billie Eilish, Justin Bieber, Adele, Coldplay, J Balvin, Post Malone and Sophie Ellis-Bextor.
At the time, UMG explained that its licensing agreement with TikTok expired on January 31 and that negotiations to renew the contract had fallen short.
UMG stated that they pushed for “three critical issues” while renegotiating their contract with TikTok: the “appropriate compensation for [their] artists and songwriters, protecting human artists from the harmful effects of A.I. and online safety for TikTok’s users.” The label also believed that “TikTok is trying to build a music-based business, without paying fair value for the music.”
They added that “TikTok encourages A.I. music creation on the platform itself” and “demanding a contractual right which would allow this content to massively dilute the royalty pool for human artists, in a move that is nothing short of sponsoring artist replacement by A.I.”
UMG concluded that “TikTok’s tactics are obvious: use its platform power to hurt vulnerable artists and try to intimidate us into conceding to a bad deal that undervalues music and shortchanges artists and songwriters as well as their fans.”
TikTok published its own statement in response to UMG, accusing the publisher of pushing a “false narrative and rhetoric” and for putting its “own greed above the interests of their artists and songwriters”.
The platform’s short statement noted that UMG had “chosen to walk away from the powerful support of a platform with well over a billion users that serves as a free promotional and discovery vehicle for their talent”.
NEWS
Benzino knows how to drum up controversy. The former editor of The Source Magazine has made a career out of it. Few people would know he was a rapper were it not for his highly-publicized beef with Eminem during the 2000s. Unfortunately, Benzino's knack for making bold statements has come back to bite him. He recently went on the We In Miami podcast, where he declared that R Kelly should be given a second chance despite his heinous crimes. This proved to be the last straw for Benzino's daughter, Coi Leray, who publicly denounced their relationship.
Leray posted an X (formerly Twitter) thread on May 1 to clarify her stance on Benzino's comments. She did not mention R. Kelly by name, but it was obvious she did not agree with her father. "I want everybody to know I want nothing to do with anything my father has going on," she wrote. "I haven’t spoken to him in over a year and I don’t condone or respect any of them interviews he got going on." The rapper went on to explain that she does even want to be associated with Benzino in the future. "I don’t respect his decisions," she added. "I want nothing to do with him please don't even think of me when you see him."
Coi Leray doubled down on her feelings towards her father in a second tweet. "Sharing the same DNA and blood doesn't make us family," she noted. "Loyalty, boundaries, respect, teaching, guidance, love, patience, encouragement makes us family... Keep me away from people who try to 'get their lick back' please." The rapper then told followers that she looks forward to having a child of her own so that she could put what she's learned into practice. "I can’t wait to have a kid one day," she concluded. "I can’t wait to look her/him in the eye and tell them how much I love them."
As sad as this exchange is, Benzino and Coi Leray's estrangement is not surprising. The father and daughter have gone through a very public cycle of beefing and then making up over the years. Leray criticized Benzino for harassing her mother back in 2022, and went against her father when he tried to revive his beef with Eminem the same year. "Let’s build bridges and get over them before you burn the bridge and burn with it," she said at the time. Unfortunately, the time for building bridges with Benzino seems to have come to an end.
