Pusha T just revealed that Clipse left Def Jam because the label tried to get them to censor a Kendrick Lamar verse—yes, really. Instead of cutting the bar, they cut ties. And according to Pusha, it cost them seven figures to walk away.
That bombshell, casually dropped mid-interview with GQ, has fans connecting dots that go way back to before the Kendrick and Drake beef. From shelved verses to blocked releases, the theory goes like this: Drake was the most protected man in hip-hop… until he wasn’t.
Steven Victor Adds Fuel: The Pop Smoke Block
Not long after Clipse’s GQ interview blew up, Pusha T’s longtime manager, Steven Victor, added fuel to the fire in a Billboard interview—and the plot thickened.
Victor claimed that UMG almost blocked Pop Smoke’s posthumous album because they thought Pusha’s verse on “Paranoia” was a diss aimed at—you guessed it—Drake.
“We’re not going to put this out now, unless you get Pusha to change these lyrics,” Victor recalled. “Even though it has nothing to do with Pop Smoke… they’re like, ‘Either he changes these lyrics, or we’re not putting the album out.’”
Young Thug also took issue with Pusha’s alleged Drake diss on “Paranoia.” Back in 2020, Thug posted, “I don’t respect the Pusha T verse on the song with me and Gunna, ‘cause I don’t have nun to do with y’all beef nor does Gunna, and if I knew that was about [Drake] I would’ve made changes on our behalf.”
Pusha T responded, setting the record straight, and said the label execs who blocked the verse didn’t even know what it was about, hinting that their assumption came from Drake himself. He also referenced his scrapped verse on Rick Ross’ “Maybach Music VI” and said it was for the same reason.
Fans are now connecting the dots, pointing to a pattern of UMG protecting Drake at all costs. Case in point: the infamous “Story of Adidon” was dropped on SoundCloud, bypassing traditional label release—allegedly to dodge industry interference.
The “Splash Brothers” Censorship
That suspicion only deepened after another curious case of censorship resurfaced—this time from Drake himself.
Last year, French Montana dropped “Splash Brothers” with Rick Ross and Lil Wayne. But fans noticed someone missing from the final cut: Drake. He was originally on the track… until he wasn’t. In the unreleased version, Drake raps: “Lucian [Grainge] and me is just like Kobe and Shaquille, but we never even chill, and that’s the reason going independent just never had an appeal…”
It’s not the first time the song has resurfaced, but it’s been a long time since Drake recorded the verse. The original version was reportedly set to arrive in 2021, years before Kendrick and Drake’s beef, so the reason it was blocked from coming out has nothing to do with recent events. Some fans think it sheds light on Drake’s motivation to go full litigation at Lucian Grange (UMG’s CEO), though.
Why the UMG Lawsuit Suddenly Makes Sense
And that brings us to the lawsuit.
Back in January, Drake filed a defamation suit against UMG. His legal team claimed it had nothing to do with Kendrick and everything to do with UMG: “This is not about the artist who created ‘Not Like Us…’ It is, instead, entirely about UMG, the music company that decided to publish, promote, exploit, and monetize allegations that it understood were not only false but dangerous.”
The lawsuit, taken in context with all the old receipts, as well as Pusha and Victor’s interviews, has led fans to feel very validated in their conspiracies. The theory? Once UMG broke rank and didn’t block Kendrick’s diss, Drake felt betrayed—and decided to take them to court over it.
Turns out, the machine Drake once flexed might be the same one that finally turned on him. But again, these are all just conspiracies.
