The Game Sues Virgin/UMG Over His ‘Drillmatic’ Album

The Game is suing Virgin and UMG over his underwhelming album sales, claiming they didn’t spend most of the promised advertising budget and that sales of the record suffered for it.

Rapper The Game, along with his company 100 Entertainment, is suing Virgin Music Group and Universal Music Group (UMG) over his 2022 album Drillmatic — Heart vs. Mind. The album had a considerably underwhelming commercial performance, especially given its massive 30-song tracklist and heavy roster of A-list talent.

On September 30, The Game’s attorney, Michael Trauben, filed the lawsuit in California Superior Court. The filing alleges that Virgin contractually promised The Game $500,000 for marketing the album, but that didn’t happen, and album sales directly suffered as a result.

According to the suit, though Virgin allocated $500,000 for the marketing of Drillmatic, UMG overlooked key digital operations and ultimately spent none of the budget on radio play, which would have amounted to $125,000. Money was also supposed to be set aside for videos, digital ads, and overseas promotion. In total, about $320,000 of the promised budget was allegedly not provided.

The Game’s 100 Entertainment covered the costs to keep the album’s rollout on schedule, specifically mentioning the music video for “Stupid” featuring Big Sean as being affected. The lawsuit claims that UMG has still not reimbursed The Game or his company, and the money that was used was later recouped from the rapper’s royalties.

The lawsuit insists that the lack of a marketing budget hurt the album at the crucial moment of its initial debut and that it would have performed better had the full earmarked budget been applied.

The Game is seeking $500,000 in damages, arguing that withholding approximately two-thirds of the agreed-upon promotional budget directly led to the album’s poor commercial performance, including loss of streams and sales.

Drillmatic was released in 2022 and sold the equivalent of around 25,000 physical records in its first week, debuting at #12 on the Billboard 200. It featured appearances from Kanye West, Big Sean, Drake, and more, with production by the likes of Timbaland, Swizz Beatz, Mike Dean, and Hit-Boy.