"It’s the same thing they did to Michael Jackson" — Millionaire Mindsets podcast host says music industry is trying to destroy Drake's reputation

The Millionaire Mindsets podcast host, Xavier Miller has sparked conversation after he compared the treatment of global music icon Drake to that of the late Michael Jackson.

On November 26, 2024, Miller took to his X account and penned a series of tweets in a thread suggesting that the Canadian rapper, Drizzy owns his Master and the industry is trying to destroy his reputation to regain ownership. The podcast host further indicated that a similar pattern of events occurred with Michael Jackson —

"I haven’t done much research into it but it seems the industry is targeting him & trying to destroy his reputation in attempt to get ownership/control back. It’s the same thing they did to Michael Jackson," Miller wrote.

According to WIX, in 1995, when Jackson merged the ATV catalog with Sony's music publishing division to form Sony/ATV Music Publishing and owned 50% of the stake, he faced child abuse allegations that very year.

Later, he encountered financial difficulties due to high spending and legal challenges, ultimately leading to his gradual loss of control over his assets, including the lucrative ATV catalog.

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Xavier Miller claims the music industry is targeting Drake’s reputation

On Tuesday, Xavier Miller, host of the Millionaire Mindsets podcast, shared a series of tweets on his X account. In the tweets, Miller asserted that Drake's music catalog today holds greater value than the combined catalogs of artists from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.

He also noted that Drizzy owns the rights to his masters, suggesting that this ownership is a key reason the music industry is allegedly attempting to damage his reputation —

"I read that Drake’s catalog today is worth more than all the 70s, 80s & 90s music artists catalog combined and he owns his Masters after a $500 million deal. Corrections: it’s 60s, 70s & 80s combined. Not 90s," Miller wrote.

In a follow-up tweet, Miller shared a clip from a June 2024 interview between Larry Jackson, CEO of Gamma and former Global Creative Director of Apple Music, and Joe Budden. In the interview, Jackson similarly suggested that the value of Drake's catalog surpasses that of artists from three consecutive decades —

"The thing I will say to you about the artist [Drake] you just mentioned, is that if you look at his music, he’s bigger than the '70s, '80s, and '90s combined. I don’t mean like one artist from that era, I mean all of those eras combined," Jackson said.

Lastly, Xavier Miller suggested that rap fans must not misinterpret neutral opinions as taking sides in debates about artists. He urges fans to be less obsessive and stop idolizing musicians.

According to Hot New Hip Hop, Drake owns the rights to his masters. In 2021, the Canadian artist received a historic offer of $400 million from Republic Records and Universal Music Group (UMG), marking the largest deal in music history at the time. Before this, the record for the biggest deal was held by Michael Jackson.

Xavier Miller's statements came in the wake of Drizzy filing a petition on Monday, November 25, 2024, against UMG and Spotify, accusing them of falsely amplifying the reach of Kendrick Lamar’s single Not Like Us.

According to The Verge, in the petition filed with the Manhattan court, Drake’s firm, Frozen Moments LLC, alleges that UMG and Spotify employed bots, payola, and other unorthodox tactics to artificially promote the track to listeners.

Furthermore, the pre-action petition alleges that UMG received less than 30 percent of the usual licensing fee from Spotify for Not Like Us. It also claims that UMG failed to disclose the compensation they received for artificially boosting the reach of the song —

"UMG charged Spotify licensing rates 30 percent lower than its usual licensing rates for “Not Like Us” in exchange for Spotify affirmatively recommending the Song to users who are searching for other unrelated songs and artists," the lawyer wrote.

Also, as per Billboard, on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, Drake filed another petition for defamation against UMG. The petition suggests that the song falsely accuses him of being a s*x offender.

In response, the spokesperson of the UMG, James Murtagh-Hopkins, told Billboard that these claims are "offensive" and "untrue," and ultimately denied the allegations.

As the legal proceedings continue, neither Drake nor Kendrick Lamar has given a public statement yet.