It hasn't been the best week for Travis Scott on the news circuit. The rapper has supposedly been in talks for a Verzuz battle against Future, which many believe he would lose. His name was trending on Twitter on Monday evening with people clowning the Houston artist for his alleged involvement in the challenge. Then, his latest jewelry acquisitions were revealed to the world, which caused even more of an ordeal.
La Flame's latest pick-up comes by way of Eliantte, famed celebrity jeweler, who seemingly teamed up with Takashi Murakami to create two outstanding pieces for the rapper. However, according to a few sources, the chains were not actually co-signed by the Japanese artist. Ben Baller, another celebrity jeweler, kicked off a feud with Eliantte over the supposed "bootlegs".
"Oh yeah. That piece ain't official Murakami if he didn't co-sign it or even know about it," said Ben Baller on Instagram Stories, subliminally calling out Eliantte. "Imagine making a piece without the actual artist's blessing. That's called 'bootleg'."
Eliantte may have seen the shade, clapping back with his own subliminal re-post on Instagram Stories. "Jealousy will have you gossiping about a person you should be learning from," wrote the jeweler in response.
Originally, Eliantte proudly told the story behind the chains. "@travisscott called me from Tokyo to whip something for the squad," he wrote. "A Murakami Original he drew for trav crested 'Melted Utopia Dream' via Utopia."
Do you think Eliantte made some "bootleg" chains for Travis Scott, or is Ben Baller "jealous" that he didn't get called for the job? Ben Baller , to be sure, could have very well succeeded at it-- he created an elaborate spinning Murakami chain for Kid Cudi's 36th birthday last year. He's also known for dipping his toe in the beef pool, once beefing with DJ Akademiks.
This isn't the only chain-related drama we've witnessed the past week. If you recall, last week a new pendant chain of King Von went viral, with the assumption being that the chain had been commissioned by Von's affiliate and close friend, Lil Durk. As it turns out this wasn't the case, and Durk didn't hesitate to give his two cents on the chain-- and it wasn't kind-- as he wrote on twitter, "That’s not my weak ass chain." Eventually, the jeweler behind the chain, Mazza New York, responded to the debacle, stating, "I took the Von design down out of respect for the situation. I posted the design I completed a while back to actually show love to Durk. I never said it was his and media sources picked it up and said what they wanted to say. Legitimate sources actually contacted me and I told them the scenario."
We'll have to see how Eliantte and Ben Baller's back-and-forth unravels from here. We'll keep you updated.