This week, two of Atlantic Records’ most notable artists, Meek Mill and NBA YoungBoy, took to social media express similar grievances against the label.
Claiming that the label is “blackballing” them and many other artists, Meek took to Twitter to air out his concerns in a seven tweet thread — accusing the record label of not funding his latest album Expensive Pain and forbidding him from dropping anything else for nine months.
His most recent drop “11/28 Freestyle” was released shortly after he took to Twitter. Many theorize this could lead in the release of his long-awaited album Dream Chasers 5. However, it seems that Meek Mill is holding off and moving towards independence — launching a discord server for his fans called the “loyalty club server.”
Meek also claims that the record label cut him out of a deal with Roddy Ricch, after he made the label “100’s of millions.”
NBA YoungBoy has experienced similar issues with his latest release Colors, claiming that the label is not supporting him and is actively “blackballing” him. He described his contract with Atlantic Records as a “slave” deal and blamed them for mishandling the rollout of his new mixtape.
The project, released on Jan. 28, spent two weeks on the Billboard Top 200, peaking at No. 1 before it mysteriously vanished from the charts. It has since been added back, currently sitting at No. 2, as NBA Youngboy fans took matters into their own hands and started a petition demanding that Atlantic give YoungBoy his masters.
It’s still unclear what will come from this public spout, but both rappers sent a clear message to other artists looking for a deal: Do not sign with Atlantic.
