Is Ella Langley Playing an Unwitting Role in Drake’s Dispute With Universal Music Group?

With Drake and Don Toliver's ’Choosin’ Texas’ remix - ‘Solar Eclipse’ - debuting at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, there's no question that their R&B-infused revamp of Ella Langley's hit single has been a success. But with Drake's HABIBTI (FOMO) album subsequently jumping from No. 116 to No. 2 on the Billboard 200, largely because of ’Solar Eclipse’, it feels like something bigger might be at play.

It's no secret that Drake has been feuding with his label, Universal Music Group, for the best part of two years now, with the Toronto rapper even taking his label home to court over accusations that they promoted Kendrick Lamar's diss-track, ‘Not Like Us’.

Ever since then, Drake has been openly attempting to get out of his deal, with the ‘God's Plan’ crooner famously rapping, “My label gotta free me, baby” on his 2026 hit, ‘Janice STFU’.

And while we can't know the exact terms of Drake's Universal contract, the suspicion was that his triple-record surprise earlier this year, releasing ICEMAN, HABIBTI and MAID OF HONOUR in one go, was a way of him fulfilling the album quota in his deal.

Which is all well and good, but Drake reportedly - again, we can't know for sure - has a clause in his contract that, for a project to qualify as an album, rather than a mixtape, it has to be RIAA Gold certified, which means it has sold 500,000 equivalent units.

Out of his three 2026 albums, when Drake decided to release an additional four songs on Fear Of Missing Out project, only HABIBTI had failed to go Gold. So, naturally, Drake released his four new tracks - ‘Solar Eclipse’ with Don Toliver, ‘Cold Shoulder’ with Toliver and Yebba, ‘Quebec’ and ‘Classic PT2’, as part of a deluxe version of HABIBTI.

The fact that these songs were tagged onto HABIBTI - and packaged up as a HABIBTI (FOMO) expanded album - meant that all the streams of these new tracks helped contribute to HABIBTI's overall figures. Any new Drake release will do strong numbers, simply due to the fact that it's a Drake song. But ‘Solar Eclipse’ in particular has blossomed into a monster hit, debuting at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching No. 1 on Apple Music and securing almost three million first-day streams.

Just this week, it was confirmed that the project had now surpassed the RIAA Gold threshold. The FOMO deluxe alone tallied a sizeable 71,000 equivalent units, contributing to a whopping 506% streaming surge for HABIBTI, and propelling the album - which was languishing at No. 116 on the Billboard 200 - to No. 2 on the chart.

Shortly after the arrival of ‘Solar Eclipse’, it was revealed that Drake had apparently forfeited the publishing rights to the song, with all royalties going to Langley and the writers.

This was highly unusual, especially for an artist of Drake's status. There's the argument that Drake simply did this for his fans so they could have the song, after seeing the reaction online, or alternatively that he simply wanted to pay homage to Langley and the creatives behind the original. And on the flip-side, despite the excitement of getting a remix from two of the biggest artists in Hip-Hop, there may have been a concern from Langley about this new version taking steam away from ‘Choosin’ Texas’, as she looks to extend her record-breaking run at No. 1.

But whichever of these you choose to believe, at the end of the day, it feels like Drake pushed through the release of ‘Solar Eclipse’ - despite not gaining financially from the song - because his primary objective was getting HABIBTI over the Gold threshold.

If all the reports are correct, then HABIBTI's newfound Gold status could - in theory - mean that Drake has completed the requirements of his Universal Music Group contract.

And if this is true, then it means that Langley might have unwittingly been the key piece of the puzzle in Drake's long-running quest to free himself from his label deal. While HABIBTI might have eventually tipped past the Gold status, if Drake had been patient enough, there's no doubt that, out of all the FOMO songs, ‘Solar Eclipse’ was the key player in giving the album the boost it needed to become certified.

There's still the mystery of why Langley has not really acknowledged ‘Solar Eclipse’ yet. Like we said, it would be understandable if there are worries about taking attention away from the original, and Langley's bizarre editing out of the FOMO live-stream when it was uploaded to YouTube definitely seems to support this notion.

But with ‘Solar Eclipse’ making waves on the Billboard charts regardless of Langley's co-sign, you'd surely expect there's no harm now in a tip-of-the-cap from the Alabama native.

We'll have to wait and see whether this truly does mean Drake has been released from his Universal deal, or whether that was all hearsay and his triple-album drop and the FOMO follow-up were simply creative moves, rather than strategic ones.

It's worth highlighting that many industry insiders are already speculating that, despite their very public beef and the court case, there is a good chance Drake will re-sign to Universal. It's possible, these commentators argue, that Drake will use the ongoing court case appeal as leverage as he enters negotiations on a fresh deal.

And with Drake reportedly self-funding most of the rollout for ICEMAN, MAID OF HONOUR, HABIBTI and FOMO, it seems this is another statement of intent from the self-proclaimed 6-God, as he reminds his label bosses of his worth ahead of a new contract.

Although it might be a little far-fetched at this point, we'd love to see Langley perform ‘Solar Eclipse’ with Drake and Toliver, especially given how Drake was spotted gleefully singing along to the song backstage at her Arkansas show earlier in the year. Perhaps this is merely wishful thinking, but even if Langley never acknowledges ‘Solar Eclipse’, it seems the ‘Be Her’ singer-songwriter is unintentionally playing a key role in Drake's thorny relationship with Universal Music Group.

With Sony - Langley's label home - reportedly trying to sign Drake to a staggering $500 million contract before the Kendrick beef, perhaps there's a whole other level to this.

But with much of this remaining speculation, we can't know for sure what Drake is plotting until he confirms, one way or another, whether he is still signed to Universal or not. The crucial clue will likely come on his next feature or single, because we'll then be able to tell whether his releases are still under Universal or not. It's a fascinating saga, and one that still feels some way away from a resolution.

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