On Thursday, September 24th, Canadian rapper Tory Lanez finally broke his silence regarding the July 12th incident during which 25-year-old rapper Meg Thee Stallion claims Lanez shot her in the feet after a party in the Hollywood Hills. For the first time in over two months, Lanez took to Twitter to announce the release of his album Daystar, his long-awaited side of the story.

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The news of Lanez’s album was met with immediate criticism, with the public voicing their abhorrence with what they perceived to be an attempt to profit off the shooting of a black woman. Many thought Lanez’s decision was especially reprehensible considering the album comes mere days after the news that Breonna Taylor’s murderers would not be charged with her murder; only one of the officers involved, Brett Hankison, caught three Wanton Endangerment charges for the bullets he misfired into the neighbors’ apartment, rather than the ones he fired at Taylor. 

While some were adamantly calling for a boycott of the album, other fans were abuzz with excitement to hear that Lanez was finally speaking up after months of anticipation. On the 17-track project which has two features from fellow 6ix rapper Yoko Gold, Lanez details his feelings regarding the incident and the aftermath, calling out Jay-Z, Kehlani, Dreamdoll, and various others, with one message at the forefront: he is innocent. 

Lanez makes it clear he feels he is being framed for the incident, which Meg said she did not tell the police about because she was afraid of what would happen to Lanez, still looking out for him even after he allegedly shot her. “I didn’t tell the police nothing because I didn’t want us to get in no more trouble,” she said in an Instagram Live in August addressing the incident. 

Not helping Lanez' case was the leaked text he sent Meg after the shooting, which reportedly read, "I know u prolly never gone talk to me again, but I genuinely want u to know I'm sorry from the bottom of my heart. I was just too drunk. None the less shit should have never happened and I can't change what did. I just feel horrible. Cuz I genuinely just got too drunk."

Nevertheless, Lanez pours out his perspective on Daystar, going in on Meg's claims and painting a picture of his innocence of the alleged shooting, which marked the Quarantine Radio founder's fall from grace.

“MONEY OVER FALLOUTS”

The album opens up with the loaded track “Money Over Fallouts”, which begins with soundbites from media clips and news reports regarding the incident, including audio of Meg saying on her Instagram Live, "Some bitches tryna take up for Tory and, ’It's more to the story,’ bitch, it ain't, there ain't nothing to the story."

Lanez then launches into his declaration of innocence, "Ho caught me D'd up, talk down, we T'ing up/ Megan people tryna frame me for a shootin', but them boys ain't clean enough / I see how they teamin' up, watchin' and I'm calculatin' / Gotta keep it quiet, I can't jeopardize the outcome waitin’.”

Lanez also insinuates that Meg knowingly gave misinformation on an affidavit: “Girl, you had the nerve to write that statement on that affidavit / Knowin' I ain't do it but I'm comin' at my truest.” He reveals that his silence up until that point was due to his lawyers’ advice, expressing his hurt with Kehlani and Kash Doll’s tweets against him. “Gotta see a couple questions: how the fuck you get shot in your foot, don't hit no bones or tendons?” he asks, followed by his Jay-Z callout, "So I don't give a shit if shorty know Jigga /I was taught to beat the block."

"A WOMAN"

Lanez delves further into his victim narrative in “A Woman”, crooning, “And to think that a woman / A woman that I love so dear / Could make me sicker to my stomach, woah-oh / And to think I walked a thousand miles / Down this lonely road, baby, uh-oh.” He expresses his disappointment in Meg’s actions, which he perceives as a betrayal of their relationship despite the fact that he still wishes she would come back to him.

“FRIENDS BECOME STRANGERS”

In the third track on the album, Lanez longs for what could’ve been for him and Meg, saying his love for her isn’t dead. Though he doesn't name her specifically, Tory likens them to a would-have-been Bey and Jay, singing, “You was my bitch, not only that, you was my n***a / Got me through when all these n****s hated / You started takin' me too serious and that's when all this desolated.”

"SORRY BUT I HAD TO..."

Lanez's narrative takes an interesting turn on "Sorry But I had To...", with him alleging that the music industry is preying on his downfall as a result of him obtaining his masters, comparing himself to Michael Jackson and Prince, who both famously controlled their masters and faced sudden, untimely deaths. Lanez raps, "When Michael Jackson, Prince got they masters back, what happened?/ Tory Lanez got his masters back just now and look what happened?" The topic of artist music ownership rights is one that has been brought up time and time again, with Kanye West being the latest self-proclaimed champion of the cause.

“LOOK HOW GOD WORKS”

On “Look How GOD Works,” Lanez reiterates his disbelief that Meg would make the statements she did and asserts that he would never put his hands on a woman. “Can't believe she played the witness tryna make them statements / Grace of God, you know the truth, so I'm gon' beat them cases / I would never put my hands on a woman, dawg / I would never let it blam on a woman, dawg.”

“QUEEN AND SLIM" 

Lanez portrays him and Meg as having had ride-or-die relationship potential in “Queen and Slim,” a reference to the romantic crime drama released in 2019 which portrays a young Black couple on the run together after accidentally killing a police officer. “If it's ever goin' down, you know who you can run too, yeah / My thugga, coco butter / That's my crime, that's my mob, that's my knuck-or-bucker,” raps Lanez. 

He also touches on what happened a mere few hours before the now-infamous shooting, in which the two were hanging out in a pool with Kylie Jenner on Instagram Live, claiming an argument later kicked off between him and Meg over Tory's wandering eyes. “Me and Kylie still off in the pool / We just chillin', kickin' shit, was cool/Both of us didn't know you was trippin' / Even though I got a crush on Kylie, I woulda left with you if I knew you was dippin' / for the simple reason / You invited me but I can't act like shawty didn't excite me / I had took a wrong turn that-night,” he rhymes. 

“IN THE AIR”

On the second-to-last track of the album, Lanez raps about the Black Lives Matter movement, speaking on the unjust criminalization of black men, seemingly feeling that he too has been slighted by the system. He divulges his disappointment with his fellow celebrities, especially black celebrities, who he argues should understand what it feels like to be dehumanized by the public and thus not be blindly siding with Meg, again emphasizing he would never commit the crime he stands accused of. He goes on to call out Meg by name, rapping, 

“You gotta listen, 'cause God, he gotta get his endeavor, preach / Tory, you in this situation, not because he's hatin' / He's usin' Megan as a vessel and a test of faith and / Even when you at the bottom, it's when he makes his way in / God, thank you for turnin' me into a demonstration.

“LIFE"

Lanez draws the album to a close with an unflinching declaration of his strength and faith— both in God, who he believes bestowed this hardship upon him as a test, and that the truth (aka his alleged innocence) will prevail. He again alludes to the BLM movement, naming George Floyd and Breonna Taylor as more deserving of attention than the incident between him and Meg, maintaining that their situation plays right into the hands of White America, who would love to see Black people turn their backs against each other. 

“Devil in his recreations, Black on Black segregation / Turnin' us against each other, faith then gotta test your patience / Black boy, shine, ni**a, Black women, grow baby / Black boy and Black women together, now that's a soul baby,” raps Lanez. 

What are your thoughts on the album?

Erik Voake/Getty Images 

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