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Canadian rap artist John River has accused fellow rapper PartyNextDoor of plagiarizing ideas for the cover art of the latter’s brand-new Drake collaborative album, $ome $*xy $ongs 4 U.
River took to Instagram on February 13, 2025, and shared a lengthy statement where he claimed that the visuals from $$$4U cover art showing Marilyn Monroe's twin residential towers from PartyNextDoor’s hometown, Mississauga, Ontario, was originally featured on his music video titled, Hope City II.
“PartyNextDoor wanted to get on a call after my video went viral in the country. On this call that lasted around 2 hours, he told me he watched the video 20x & me in front of the Monroe Towers was labeled new, innovative, & iconic. ‘Why are you getting attention instead of me?’ is exactly what he said,” John began.
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John River, who is an actor, composer, and rapper from Mississauga, Ontario, further wrote in his post:
Meet a little girl with a big heart RIGHT HERE
“For over an hour, he then told me (& tweeted then deleted) that I needed to always pay him homage. ‘You’re young and you don’t want to get black-balled.’ The rest of the call he was fixated on every aspect & detail of my video, the towers, & my vision for the city.”
River recalled telling PartyNextDoor how “multiple people were present” in the video, adding he respected his music but asking him for an “homage was strange.” He also called PartyNextDoor “insane” for trying to reportedly hijack his vision.
His post was accompanied by the cover art of Hope City II that featured him posing in front of the wobbly Absolute Towers, another name for the Monroe Towers. It also had the cover art of $$$4U.
All you need to know about John River amid his allegations against PartyNextDoor
John River is a 30-year-old Canadian award-winning rapper, actor, composer, MC, and activist. Born on September 29, 1994, his real name is Matthew John Derrick-Huie. He entered the Canadian rap scene in 2012 with his debut mixtape, The Calm, at 18.
Some of his notable works include the albums, John River: Hope City II (2015), John River: Get Down (2015), Cleo (2016), and The Academy (2019), among others. Storm and Before I Go are some of River’s popular songs. He headlined his first tour in 2016.
According to his December 2019 interview with Toronto-based publication CityNews, in December 2017, he visited a local GTA hospital with shortness of breath and severe headaches. Initially, his symptoms were dismissed as anxiety, and depression, while he was falsely accused of substance abuse. However, after months of misdiagnosis, in February 2018, he was diagnosed with a rare neurological condition called Spontaneous Cerebrospinal Fluid Leak.
John River has 16,400 followers on Instagram and 13,600 subscribers on his YouTube channel. He is signed to Let’s Save the Republic record label and is popular on Spotify and Apple Music streaming platforms.
During a previous interview with XXL Mag, released in November 2016, he shared having 2Pac, Avril Lavigne, Usher, and Lupe as his inspirations. He also enjoys listening to Adele and Lady Gaga. Ever since he began his rap career, he has wanted to be compared to J.Cole and Kendrick Lamar.
As per the outlet, he once pursued a professional soccer career in Europe at 15 and was nominated for the Much Music Award 2016.
More about John River’s recent accusations about PartyNextDoor
On Thursday, John River shared on his social media that the background in Drake and PartyNextDoor’s latest studio album Some S*xy Songs 4 U was seemingly stolen from his Hope City II music video. He claimed PND was jealous of him and threatened him of risking getting black-balled unless he paid him a tribute.
“When another OVO artist asked to sit down; he also began asking in depth about me, the Monroe Towers, my thought process, & all of my future music plans surrounding them. He then asked if I’d write for them to which I said no. He never spoke to or saw me again personally,” River claimed.
John alleged that this had been happening since he was a teenager and continued until six months ago “under the guise of admiration.” He mentioned getting “12 texts around noon” on February 11 following which he saw the $$$4U cover and realized what “had happened” or “been happening.”
“I would never ever claim a free-standing building as my own. Telling someone after obsessing over their work you want to be involved, dissecting it, being rejected, & then stealing their identity & reselling it as your own in insane,” River shared.
He claimed he didn’t want to take it farther than this as it would be labeled as “crashing out.” Instead, he obeyed the Bible and decided to “speak truth against injustice.”
John River wrapped up by saying:
“Everybody says don’t sell your soul in this music industry & yet when you speak up against something clearly immoral & wrong, they rush to protect the same predators they warn you about. I love my city, they know where I’m headed & believe in my potential…”
PartyNextDoor hasn’t addressed the allegations, nor has Drake or his OVO record label. Notably, another Canadian artist named Freddie Gibbs has also made similar accusations. Taking to X on Thursday, Gibbs wrote about $$$4U cover art, “Damn, they even stole the rabbits too. I’m flattered.” His 2022 album $oul $old $eparately had similar artwork as that of the bunnies on the $$$4U tracklist.
Some S*xy Songs 4 U is scheduled for a Valentine’s Day release. Its cover art was jointly dropped on February 11 by Drake and PartyNextDoor. It shows the artists wearing oversized fur coats covering them from head to toe and posing against a snowy background, as Monroe Towers stood tall, behind them.
