Drake has officially become the first artist in history to reach 100 billion streams on Spotify.
The major feat occurred on Tuesday (June 18), just two months after it was reported that he was closing in on the milestone at 97 billion streams. Chart Data reported the news, which was then confirmed via KWORB, which keeps track of streams and rankings for different platforms.
Taylor Swift is the the closest to the Toronto native at No. 2, but he still has quite the lead as she is currently sitting at 84.4 billion streams.
In other news, Pharrell has seemingly joined the bandwagon of artists taking shots at Drake, having possibly alluded to the 6 God on the new track “Double Life.”
The song is set to be featured on the Despicable Me 4 Soundtrack, which is due out July 3.
On it, he raps: “Lie detector time/ Hey, what are you hiding?/ Nothing wrong being private/ Make sure it ain’t wrong.”
Fans were quick to notice the bars, with one user commenting in a tweet about the song: “Drake about to stop Adonis from ever watching Despicable Me.”
Another added: “Not he turned his minions song to a diss [crying emoji].”
Others were quick to shut down the rumors.
“I think these lyrics have to do with Gru, not drake [skull emoji],” one wrote; while another said: “Pharrell doing anything to stay relevant after falling off over a decade ago [crying emoji].”
Drake is also being taken to court for using a phrase on his merchandise that also happens to be the name of an established apparel brand.
Last Tuesday (June 12), Billboard reported that fashion company Members Only filed a lawsuit against’s Drizzy’s Away From Home Touring Inc. in New York federal court for infringing their trademark.
The case pertains to the Canadian superstar selling merchandise online as well as on his It’s All a Blur Tour that has “Members Only” stamped on them. It is important to note that he isn’t being accused of distributing counterfeit products, considering the phrase in question is also the title of a song released on For All The Dogs last year.
To that point, the brand’s current owners JR Apparel World LLC have argued: “The fact that ‘Members Only’ is a song on Drake’s album ‘For All the Dogs’ does not obviate the likelihood of confusion or give [him] a license to use our client’s ‘Members Only’ marks in such a confusing manner, particularly on or in connection with apparel items.”
Based on United States trademark law, the context of how the phrase has been used is key.
The 6 God’s decision to release a song titled “Members Only” doesn’t create confusion with the company of the same name, but selling merchandise with said words may, because they’ve been selling the same items for decades now.
For that reason, Members Only has claimed that its status as a “famous household name” is being leveraged and distorted by Drake’s products.
The 37-year-old rapper and singer has yet to comment on the ordeal.
