During the Summer of 2015 you probably discovered D.R.A.M. thanks to a catchy little Super Mario World sampling song that’s currently causing controversy titled “Cha Cha”. The record is fun, energetic and makes you want to dance. “Cha Cha” appears on D.R.A.M’s #1EpicSummer mixtape which later released commercially as #1EpicEP executive produced by Gabe Niles. The back cover artwork also credits a mysterious (and hard to reach) producer, Kaine Solo, for “Cha Cha”.
First lets establish the starting point for the buzzing rap singer. D.R.A.M. first appeared on the scene with the song “Feet In The Water”, which was his introduction to blogs by piggybacking the success of VA collaborators Sunny & Gabe. A duo from Norfolk that broke out locally and on the blogosphere in 2013 with their debut project “Free Candy”. This created the stage for D.R.A.M. to be picked up and groomed by the same industry managers responsible for notoriously barefoot industry plant Raury.
Last week social media blew up when D.R.A.M. accused Drake of stealing the sound of “Cha Cha” for “Hotline Bling”. Venting about the similarities between Cha Cha was conveniently timed and instantly wide spread across blogs just days before D.R.A.M. released his Gahdamn EP (which quite frankly doesn’t live up to his previous body of work). Producer Gabe Niles chimed in and offered his two cents about the similarities of the song he produced. He feels the same way as D.R.A.M. and wants the world to know he produced the song and Drake stole it. But here’s the problem, you can’t accuse someone of stealing something you didn’t even create, or in Gabe Niles’ case, produce.
Take a look back at the back cover art for D.R.A.M.’s EP and notice that Kaine Solo is listed as the true producer of “Cha Cha” and Gabe only played with it a bit or as the art says “put that magic touch to it”. What magic touch did he add? Not enough wizardry to keep Nintendo from suing them I’d imagine. Hell, before the record took off the song’s supposed producer Gabe was looking long and hard to reach Kaine Solo for some reason….
Maybe he wanted to get him compensated for the song that would propel them to stardom and eventually claim all the credit for? It’s also worth noting Kaine Solo produced “Welcome Home” for Lil B The Based God. A song that also contains sampled sounds from Super Mario, go figure.
Shortly after “Cha Cha” blew up it appeared on iTunes with a $1.99 price tag and full credit to Gabe Niles as if Kaine Solo doesn’t exist. Not only that, but the instrumental was reworked slightly and sounds a tad bit different than the original which appeared on D.R.A.M’s mixtape and Soundcloud. Some say it’s cause they couldn’t clear the Mario sample or maybe because they jacked the beat from Kaine Solo?
But that’s not all. D.R.A.M. isn’t exactly keeping it 100 with us either. Shortly after the success of the single he claims Drake stole he posted photos to his Instagram account in front of prominent record label logos with a “fukk a label” demeanor, as if he’s still indie because that’s the cool thing now. But guess what? He’s not. He’s signed and has been for several months according to my sources.
It’s all well and good that Beyoncé is a fan of emerging artists. However, how hard could it be to reach Queen Bey when your manager is also the “caretaker” for the producer of her smash hit “7/11”?
D.R.A.M. signed on a dotted line and is an artist of Atlantic Records and to boot one of his managers holds an A&R position at the very same label they’re hiding ties to. The power that be don’t want this information to be known to maintain a cool grassroots image for D.R.A.M. but fukk all that, lets keep it real. He’s another industry plant. This information comes as a result of research I conducted after it became apparent there was a cover up, I began to pull on threads attached to D.R.A.M’s industry woven poncho.
If you need more proof of just how fukked up things are, D.R.A.M.’s new project Gahdamn originally appeared on iTunes with Atlantic listed as a label and shortly after was changed to publicly display as “W.A.V.E. Ent”. “Cha Cha” was serviced to radio via Atlantic Records too, yet all digital outlets list #1EpicCheck LLC and any mentions of Atlantic have been redacted.
So there you have it, while he’s a talented artist D.R.A.M. is an industry plant at the same damn time and the producer earning money and championed as the creator of “Cha Cha” isn’t even the sole producer of it. D.R.A.M. plotted with key industry people and while he isn’t indie anymore, they want to make us believe he is by going to great lengths to conceal involvement with major labels.
But why lie? What’s wrong with partnering up along side Atlantic records? Would that prevent touring on Chance The Rapper’s tour? And where is Kaine Solo? Maybe Zola can write D.R.A.M’s explanation because he’s sure going to need one.
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D.R.A.M. Is An Industry Plant & Drake Didn’t Really Steal “Cha Cha”