Mo-G is one of the latest Toronto artists to receive a co-sign from Drake, but that doesn’t mean there’s no bad blood between the Halal Gang (a.k.a. 878 Dreamteam) rapper and OVO. In a series of Instagram posts, the Regent Park rapper puts Drake and Oliver El-Khatib on blast, alleging that he has not been properly compensated for his creative contributions to OVO.
Mo-G rose to prominence in the city after dropping a video for the street anthem “Still,” in which he popularized the signature left-handed Ginobili dance. Drake took note of the dance, posting it to Instagram, weaving lyrical nods to Mo-G into “Jumpman” and Summer Sixteen,” and ultimately mimicking the dance move in the video for “Energy.”
The shoutouts no doubt helped raise Mo-G’s profile, but he’s not happy with the alleged lack of compensation and acknowledgement from the OVO camp. Most of his frustration seems to be targeted at OVO co-founder and Drake’s childhood friend Oliver El-Khatib. In a series of candid social media posts, Mo-G claimed that Oliver only offered him $500 for his creative contributions, and called him a snake, a culture vulture, and a dweeb, among other things:
“Have you ever ever heard, in the history of hip-hop, of a man who gives away his creativity and helps make Billboard hits, but doesn't get paid a dollar for it, or one credit for it, and is stuck here in the ‘hood? That doesn’t make sense.”
After finishing with Oliver, Mo-G went deeper, posting an Instagram of himself circa 2014 and Drake circa 2015, implying that Drake jacked his style for the “Hotline Bling” video.
Is an OVO co-sign a license for Drake to bite someone else’s swag? Mo-G doesn’t seem to think so. You can’t fault an artist for trying to protect what is theirs, but you’ve gotta wonder if burning a bridge like this could be career suicide for the young rapper.
Drake and Oliver have yet to respond, but it’s worth noting that Oliver’s Instagram is being flooded with snake emojis right now.
Meanwhile, Drake sits on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with Rihanna for the fifth week in a row. Check out the Instagram shots below for yourself below, while they’re still up.
