In this episode of 'Billboard Unfiltered,' Billboard staffers Carl Lamarre, Trevor Anderson, Damien Scott, and Kyle Denis break down GloRilla’s No. 5 debut with 'Glorious' and Rod Wave’s No. 2 debut 'Last Lap' on the Billboard 200, discussing why they are so successful. They dive into whether hip-hop journalism is dead, if the BET Hip-Hop Awards should continue, and more!
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MusicTranscript
00:00Glow had that one year, she had FNF, she had Tomorrow 2, and that's the end of Glow-Rilla.
00:04So for her to come back, not only with these songs.
00:06Which was insane. It was such an insane narrative.
00:10Is it time to put a bow on the BET Hip Hop Awards, which
00:14started in 2006, and called it a day, or what changes would y'all make?
00:18They want participation, but they don't themselves want to participate.
00:24Hip Hop is back, clearly, on the Billboard 200.
00:30In terms of, we got Mr. Rod Wave debuting at number 2 this week with Last Lap, 127,000.
00:38While Miss Glow, Big Glow, number 5 this week with 69,000.
00:46Her debut album, Glorious, doubling her mixtape, which came out earlier this year,
00:52Edding, Edding.
00:54So shout out to those two making their splashes this week.
00:57We'll start with this, what are you guys more surprised about?
00:59I guess, maybe is it Rod not going number 1?
01:01Is it Glow getting a top 5 entry? Thoughts?
01:06It's gotta be Glow, because this is just what Rod does.
01:10Rod is just, nothing if not consistent.
01:14And I think the idea of him going up against Jelly, I thought he was going to take it,
01:23but especially because I like Jelly Roll.
01:28I do, I actually like Jelly Roll.
01:30I don't think this was the album that I would see, if I had to play an album for people,
01:35this is not the album I would get people to listen to of his.
01:38So I was shocked that it did what it did, but his profile is rising, he's bigger than ever,
01:42so it's not that big of a surprise.
01:46But yeah, definitely Glow.
01:49It's been kind of an interesting year for female rappers.
01:52And we didn't know what she was going to do.
01:56She could have done 10K or did what she did.
02:01Gentleman.
02:03Okay.
02:04Also, one point on the Jelly Roll thing,
02:06I'll be interested to see what happens going forward.
02:09Because a lot of times, when you have these big album debuts,
02:11a lot of it is sort of based off the goodwill that you got with your last album.
02:14Everyone's excited for a new Jelly Roll album.
02:16He's got a lot of hit songs in the marketplace.
02:18So if this is the album that, hey, maybe a lot of folks realize that
02:22it's not his best compared to what he'd done before,
02:24I'll be curious to see what the long tail of that is.
02:26So that first week debut usually can be like a sort of excitement thing,
02:30rather than people necessarily going through it.
02:32If it tumbles down the chart, then I guess we'll see how people feel about it,
02:35sort of in the long tail.
02:37But for Rod, 127 is kind of where he's been for the last couple albums.
02:41You look at Soulfly did 131, Beautiful Mind 115, Nostalgia 137.
02:46So that's kind of right in that same marketplace.
02:49Just sucks that he came out at a week where we had a big competitor in Jelly Roll.
02:53And I mean, Charli XCX also doing over 100,000 this week.
02:55So just one of those crowded weeks where maybe if this album had come out
02:59two weeks ago, two weeks from now, any other week,
03:02it could have been another number one for him.
03:05Even though he didn't go number one, it's not like he fell off in terms of
03:07just what the performance was or anything like that.
03:09So Rod's in a very good place.
03:11Glow, certainly.
03:15I don't know if people necessarily saw this coming because
03:19we knew the singles were out there.
03:20We had known the buzz was really strong for Glow.
03:24But that doesn't always turn into the full support.
03:27Two of the songs, yeah, Glow, TGIF are on there.
03:29So that definitely helps.
03:30We know some people kind of leave some of these singles on the table
03:32and don't put them on.
03:34But to see what she really did in terms of showing up
03:37with almost 70,000 for the week at a time when a year ago, Glow,
03:41people were like, oh, it's a wrap.
03:43Glow had that one year.
03:44She had FNF.
03:45She had Tomorrow Too.
03:46And that's the end of Glow-Rilla.
03:48So for her to come back not only with these songs.
03:50Which was insane.
03:51It was such an insane narrative.
03:54We love to write off people.
03:55I mean, I was one of them.
03:56As soon as you get that one brick, everybody says the house is tumbling down.
04:00And so for her to come back, not only with strong singles,
04:03but now this album.
04:04And the album not only just putting up good numbers,
04:06but also seemed to get really good reception.
04:08A lot of people really fucking with a lot of the tracks.
04:10And not just one.
04:12You know, it's like some people love the sexy track.
04:15Sexy Red track.
04:16Not, you know, the sexy track.
04:18Track Sexy Red on it.
04:19The White Knee Down kind of.
04:20A little sexy.
04:20You know, that little sexy song.
04:22No, but that Sexy Red track some people love.
04:24Procedure.
04:25Yeah, Procedure.
04:26A lot of it going on there.
04:28So it seems like she's got a lot of different things to play with.
04:30They got the video for the Sexy Red track.
04:32So it seems like they'll probably move in that direction next.
04:35But I mean, TGIF is still out here, you know, doing laps.
04:37They hit a new peak on the Hot 100 this week.
04:39So GLOW seems to have a huge runway to play with.
04:43And especially at a time where I don't know, you know,
04:45it's kind of surprising so many people dropped it the same year.
04:47You know, we've had probably five, six, seven people in contention this year
04:50for GLOW to come through in Q4 and kind of shut that conversation down.
04:54I don't know if a lot of people would have had that at the top of the top of the year
04:56on the bingo card.
04:57Yeah.
04:58Shout out to GLOW.
04:58Brother Kyle.
04:59And to that point, you know,
05:00I just I'm most impressed by how much it still felt like her moment this week,
05:04despite it being so crowded.
05:06Like we spoke about Jelly Roll.
05:07We spoke about the Charlie Remix album within her genre.
05:10You had Rod Wave, you had Big X to plug,
05:12but it still felt like this was GLOW's moment this week.
05:16I was seeing clips from her Jennifer Hudson show appearance go viral,
05:19like all different kinds of tracks from the album going viral,
05:22whether it was the Kirk Franklin track or the Megan track,
05:25or even the GLOW's Prayer track I saw going viral on TikTok.
05:28This really felt like a GLORILLA week in a way that I don't think I was expecting.
05:34I was expecting it to be a big week for her and for the album to do well.
05:38But, you know, for her to pull off a bigger opening week than,
05:41you know, the rapper whose tour she opened up for is really, really freaking impressive.
05:45So I really gotta give it up for GLOW for real.
05:50I love the little stray in there.
05:52No, shout out to sister GLOW.
05:54I mean, listen, Rihanna doubled down on giving her a cosign.
05:57Yeah.
05:57Saying she would love for her to do like a song for Savage Fenty.
06:01Taylor Swift.
06:02Yeah.
06:02Freaking gave her the cosign.
06:03That was such a weird video, but go Taylor.
06:06You know what I'm saying?
06:07You know, Taylor had to find the right little 10 seconds of that song to put on that caption.
06:11But I was listening to the before, after on that verse,
06:14and I was like, oh yeah, we can't have Taylor saying these words, you know.
06:17She found that right little window.
06:18She knew how to plug in.
06:20She's Taylor Swift for a reason.
06:22Yeah, and you know, I think with GLOW too, man,
06:25being able to double what you did on a project that came out just five, six months ago.
06:30Yeah.
06:31It's pretty fucking impressive.
06:32And that number to Kyle's point gives her the highest debut week for a female rap star this year.
06:41So Megan came in 64,000, GLOW 69, dethroning her.
06:45So big win for GLOW.
06:47Also want to shout out Big Xaplug.
06:48Yeah.
06:49Snuck his way in, you know, top 10, number eight this week with his album.
06:54I kind of want to, you know, pivot a little bit because I was getting cooked on social media.
06:59Oh, you were.
07:00From my take about Brother Rod, you know, glasses off for this.
07:06Come on.
07:08I had a take, if you guys don't remember, it was about, we were talking about the new Big 3.
07:13And I hate when cats, like they clip.
07:16I feel it now, you know, I get why rappers be complaining.
07:19Because if you watch the episode earlier on, I said,
07:22my current Big 3 is, I think I said Future, Drake, and Travis.
07:28I think I said that.
07:29Yeah, Future, Drake, and Travis.
07:31And then I said the modern day for the kids is Playboi Carti, Rod, and Travis.
07:38If you go to what Trevor just said, statistically, number wise, am I wrong?
07:45Brother has seven top 10s in five years.
07:47The brothers on a, currently on a arena tour for the third consecutive year.
07:5413 to 14,000.
07:57Having cats like Moneybagg, yo, 2C opened up for him.
08:00Moneybagg was just coming off an arena tour.
08:02How many cats are doing back to back to back arena tours?
08:06But they're not here, but he's not a rapper.
08:08We, what is rap today?
08:10Let's just keep it a stack.
08:11I mean, yeah, I agree.
08:14We've talked about this before, but I think if you were to ask,
08:20I'm gonna sound really old right now.
08:21If you ask the kids, if you ask younger people, what is rap?
08:26I think they would name a bunch of people who do or create what we consider not to be rap.
08:32And I know a lot of people look at Rod Wave and they see him as a singer, an R&B singer.
08:40But I don't particularly see him as an R&B singer.
08:43I don't see him in the same way that I see like a Lucky Day, right?
08:47I don't, but he's in this weird middle ground.
08:50And the thing I said to you is I think Rod is closer to a future
08:56than like a future is to like a Kendrick.
08:59Yeah.
08:59And so if we're like creating a spectrum of black music,
09:04yeah, I think it's very fair to put Rod squarely in that conversation.
09:10So it's crazy because I wouldn't even go for the whole, he's not a rapper angle.
09:15I think my angle for why he might not have a solid spot in the top three would be like,
09:21what is his defining like big hit song in comparison to the other two names that we listed?
09:27Like Cardi obviously has hits from before and after his airs got a little bit weirder.
09:33And what's the other name that you mentioned?
09:36Travis.
09:36Obviously we know Travis got hits like Rod, I don't know if he has something on the level
09:42of a Fiend, a Sycamore, a Magnolia or something like that.
09:47Like that's why I give my edge to Tyler because at least he has a Western name.
09:51You know, he has an earthquake, something along those lines, but
09:55Rod Wave is a rapper.
09:56I don't.
09:58He's a blues artist as Angel Diaz would say.
10:00I would even go for that over R&B singer.
10:02The modern buddy.
10:03Yeah, I mean, look, I think with Rod Wave is interesting because once again, these numbers
10:12go to show that that fan base is, it's almost like, I don't know, like almost like an alien
10:18kind of movie where I feel like I don't hear people talk about Rod Wave like that.
10:22But if you were to like flip a switch and find out like who are Rod Wave fans, like
10:25they're everywhere.
10:26Yeah, so many people.
10:30You know what I mean?
10:31They're amongst us.
10:32They really are.
10:33Like Rod Wave fans are all out here and they, and I mean, even people who, you know, don't
10:38necessarily talk about Charger, things like that were coming to me like, hey man, is Rod
10:42Wave going to be number one?
10:43Like, is it looking good for him?
10:44Like, like, like, oh, you, you really invested in Rod Wave, you know, making it through.
10:49One thing about Rod that I hesitate with the big three conversation is kind of to Kyle's
10:55point.
10:55I know he doesn't have that, that signature hit, but it's almost like Rod Wave exists
10:59on his own planet, sort of outside the regular universe of hip hop.
11:03And that of course does not mean he's not successful.
11:04He's doing arena tours.
11:05He's got the numbers, but you know, he doesn't really collab with a lot of other artists.
11:09He's not really in conversation, you know, in that same way in terms of, I mean, even
11:13just the social media mess, even the back and forth, even the shots and things that
11:17we come to expect, you know, even Kendrick, you know, you feel like he's, even though
11:20he's not in the mix, he always has an eye on what's going on.
11:23He always knows he knows how to respond.
11:24He's subtle.
11:25And it feels like Rod to me is just, you know, not, not in that mix in that game.
11:30So it's sort of hard for me to think of somebody big three, who's not sort of in the trenches
11:35like that again, not to say that he's not statistically he's got it, but I just feel
11:40like it's, it's sort of removed in a way that I don't know if, you know, I don't know if
11:45I can necessarily think of like, oh yeah, like he's right there in the center of what's
11:48going on or so just carved his own lane and he's running that.
11:52Yeah.
11:52I think the big three is usually it's like reserved for people who are playing the game
11:58who are, who are on the pitch, who, who want, who wants it, who want the crown.
12:03I don't even think Rod is concerned with that type of stuff.
12:06I can't say that.
12:08I think to be fair, brother needs to do more interviews, but like, I remember talking to
12:14him and he was like, he's competitive, but he's thinking bigger.
12:18He's like, yo, 2025.
12:19He was like, I'm trying to do a stadium, you know?
12:22So he has these kinds of ambitions.
12:26I think doing stadiums is, is, is also, it's still different than I think like what Trevor
12:32is referring to in terms of like, yeah, Kendrick is very much outside of everything and he
12:39stays to himself, but he very clearly vocalizes that he wants, he wants to be the best in
12:45this, in this game, in this world.
12:47He wants the crown.
12:49He, you mentioned his name.
12:51He's going to appear.
12:52I think if people were like, I'm better than Rod Wade, Rod would be like, all right, man.
12:57Rod is in competition with himself.
12:59You know, he's very much, you know, looking at himself and himself only.
13:02And that's cool.
13:03But I, yeah, again, it's just hard to, what we, what we know as a traditional big three
13:08kind of mentality is the three artists are, I mean, that's the whole thing, right?
13:11They're all sort of fighting with each other.
13:12Like Damien said, like who's on top this week, who's coming back, who's dissing who, who's.
13:16And so that just feels part of that structure.
13:19Maybe Rod is going to go carve out that new lane.
13:21And in 10 years, we say you don't have to be part of it right now, the way we sort of
13:24define big three in general.
13:25I think, I think that's, that's the one thing that makes me kind of go, I'm not so sure.
13:30That's fair.
13:31That's fair.
13:32Just to note, Rod is like 26, 27.
13:34So crazy.
13:36Keep your eyes out for him.
13:37I mean, again, congratulations to the cast that debuted this week.
13:40Rod, big X to plug.
13:42Glow.
13:42Curious to see what they do in the next coming weeks.
13:46Pivoting on!
13:47BET Hip Hop Awards took place this year in Las Vegas.
13:52Andreas Nightclub hosted by Fat Joe for the third consecutive year.
13:57Mr. Travis Scott took home the I Am Hip Hop Award.
14:01Shout out to Travis.
14:02Can't tell you what other awards were given out because.
14:05There was one in the beginning that was like a sexy red award.
14:08She got breakthrough.
14:09Breakthrough artist.
14:10I thought it was called the sexy red award.
14:12He said the sexy red like it was a Michael Jackson Vanguard.
14:15Like, I'm like, you want to talk about somebody with an impact already, bro.
14:19Yeah, but I don't remember anything else from that show except for the performances.
14:23To that point, when you look at the performances, Two Chains, Juicy J, Gorilla, Big Boogie,
14:29Roscoe, dash out to Roscoe making a comeback in 2024, Soldier Boy, Trina.
14:34Not the biggest names that we're accustomed to seeing.
14:38Two hour show.
14:38No cyphers this year.
14:40A lot of people vocalize their thoughts on the show.
14:4250 who did an exclusive interview with us.
14:44Shout out to Mike Sapp said pretty much the shit is over.
14:47Ended.
14:48Joe Budden tweeted out.
14:50Essentially, the shit was trash.
14:52Is it time to put a bow on the BET Hip Hop Awards, which started in 2006 and call it a day?
14:59Or what changes would y'all make?
15:00Well, I think it's confusing to some viewers now what the purpose of the Hip Hop Awards are,
15:08given how hip hop centric the main BET Awards are.
15:11Like, I was going back to see what performances were out of the main show, and there were only
15:16three performances at the BET Awards in June that didn't feature any rapping at all.
15:21One of them was a country performance, and that's like far from a common occurrence at
15:24the regular BET Awards.
15:26One was the Usher Tribute, and the other was Victoria Monet.
15:29Everybody else rapped.
15:30So it's like, why?
15:32Is there a gospel thing this year?
15:33Yeah, but it was Will Smith, so he was rapping on it, too.
15:36Wow.
15:37So it was like everyone.
15:39Wow.
15:40Shout out to Big Willie.
15:41Shout out to Big Will.
15:42It's like, yeah, everyone's already hip hop at this show.
15:45So why do we need to circle back four or five months later with another hip hop show?
15:50I think if the main BET Awards were routinely honoring and platforming black artists across
15:57music, so, you know, country, rock, Latin music, Caribbean music, gospel outside of
16:01Kirk Franklin, Maverick City, then I would understand why we would have a very specific
16:05hip hop centric show.
16:07But it kind of feels like the same show twice.
16:10And then you have this thing where it's like the biggest artists don't often come to the
16:15BET Awards anymore, and it's like they're definitely not showing up to the BET Hip Hop
16:19Awards.
16:19So what is the incentive for people to tune in?
16:23I think it would be sad to completely exit just off the strength of it being, you know,
16:29something that's for us, by us.
16:30But I think it would be cool if they, one, brought back the cypher and, two, emphasize
16:36maybe just burgeoning regional scenes.
16:38Like, it'd be cool to have like a Milwaukee moment.
16:40They had some traction this year.
16:42Cool to like platform Detroit.
16:44Maybe some of the smaller LA artists that got a platform at the Pop Out concert but
16:47kind of stalled since then.
16:49Like, get away from trying to be at the forefront of the mainstream when they're kind of
16:54rejecting you already and are not showing up to the show.
16:56Like, Glow showed up but didn't really, was doing like her feature verse on someone else's
17:01song.
17:02Now she was doing the Glorious medley.
17:04Like, she'll probably do a bigger award show for that.
17:06So, you know, I'm not a talent booker.
17:08I don't know whether they did try or didn't try.
17:10Just some thoughts.
17:10But it'd be sad to axe the whole thing.
17:12I think there's a way to salvage it, but they probably would need to take a pause for a
17:15couple years to try to recalibrate.
17:17Can I, like, hop on one of the things you said?
17:20I would probably, I would axe it.
17:22But what I would do is...
17:23Like, you're like, damn, man.
17:25I mean, think of this, like, chop it, man.
17:27But hear me out, though.
17:28There's certain elements I would take and implement it to the BET Awards.
17:32I would take the cypher, just do one dope fire cypher.
17:36And then you saw how they deaded the Soul Train Awards.
17:39They used to do, like, the R&B cypher.
17:41I'd do one hip-hop cypher, one R&B cypher at the BET Awards.
17:45Didn't you have a R&B cypher at last Soul Train?
17:47I don't know if it was the last one, but it was, like, an annual thing they would do.
17:51Yeah, I remember, like, sort of for the past couple before that, it felt like at least
17:54one or two, yeah.
17:56And it really got good reception.
17:57Yeah, they go there all the time.
17:58The human nature goes there all the time.
18:00I think Brandy, Tiana, and Erykah Badu did a cypher together, like, you know, I think
18:06still be able to take certain elements, but just throw it on a bigger stage would be cool.
18:10But that's just my two cents.
18:11I don't want to step if y'all got any suggestions.
18:15I mean, I get that.
18:16Obviously, you want to, I mean, the fact the flagship show is also, you know, getting the
18:21return that it's not getting what it used to be.
18:23Certainly not.
18:24I know people who are saying, like, you know, you used to always count on that last weekend
18:27in June.
18:27Like, you knew the BET Awards were going to be there.
18:29You knew every, I mean, Beyonce, Rihanna, you know, Jay, everybody would show up and
18:35it would just be like a good time.
18:36It represented everything.
18:37It was, you know, you had, I mean, when Monique was hosting, like, you had the comedy aspect,
18:40you had all the genres, everybody from, you know, gospel, hip-hop, all walks of life.
18:46But one thing I also saw that people really were concerned about is they just felt like
18:50it wasn't promoted well.
18:52Like nobody knew what was happening.
18:53Yeah.
18:53And that's, I mean, that's something that should be easily fixable, but it's also something
18:57that's almost impossible to get over.
18:58If nobody knows your show is happening, if people are not attuned to where it is or,
19:02you know, how to catch it, that's step one.
19:04I mean, you got to at least let people know.
19:06And I don't know if it's, obviously, maybe the marketing budget wasn't, you know, as
19:09big as it used to be.
19:10If it's, you know, the nightclub and then I do all these awards and that kind of thing.
19:14But between that and the fact that there were almost no awards given out, it's an
19:18award show, you know.
19:19Shout out to Kendrick Lamar, who got eight awards.
19:21And he got eight awards.
19:22And I think that's also a chicken and egg problem because you don't want to ignore the
19:26rifle winners, but also you don't want a lot of, well, they couldn't be here to accept,
19:30so we'll accept it on their behalf.
19:31Because then it looks like if they don't want to show up.
19:34Joe probably took a shit ton home.
19:36You know, it's not they had awards in the gift bag.
19:38I mean, if there's somebody just grab it on the way out.
19:40And that's the problem with, like, award shows across the board, though.
19:43Hand out more awards on the telecast.
19:46Even the Grammy Awards.
19:47All of them.
19:48I guess, like, all the music ones, it feels like we'll hand out, like, two or three over
19:52the course of three hours and then be like, oh, go online for who else won.
19:55It's an award show.
19:57I want to see these people accept their awards, give their speeches, do their thank yous.
20:02That part of it seems to have gotten completely lost across the board.
20:05And that doesn't help anybody.
20:06But yeah, I think for sure that aspect of, you know, hopefully next year they can ramp
20:11up if they do it again, promote better, just probably start sooner.
20:16I mean, that's an easy step one for me.
20:18Yeah.
20:18Dame?
20:20Uh, I agree with Kyle, I think, here.
20:24Watching it, my initial reaction was we should get rid of this.
20:27This is pretty pointless.
20:29It's just a glorified, like, review show.
20:34You know, we're just like watching people perform for whatever reason.
20:38Juicy J.
20:38It's like, is it an anniversary?
20:41What is, you know, I love Juicy, but why are you on my television right now?
20:47I think it's, it's a, it does us a disservice.
20:49I think award shows are, are at their best when they're defining, uh, like a market,
20:54they're defining, you know, what, um, the state of the art is like literally the state
21:00of the art.
21:01Right.
21:02And yeah, BET, most of it is hip hop, but hip hop is in such a weird place right now
21:09that if you were to ask a bunch of people, they would say like, I'm not really sure what
21:12hip hop is or hip hop's dead or what is rap.
21:15And I think if you have a hip hop award show, you have the opportunity to like lay some
21:21stakes in the ground and, you know, demarcate, like, uh, demarcate what is going on here,
21:28what the, what the, the boundaries are, what the rules are, who's allowed to play and all
21:31this other stuff and then give proper, uh, light to those who are doing it well.
21:39And I think that's what we're missing here because it's like, yeah, you give Kendrick
21:42Lamar eight awards.
21:44Sure.
21:45That's great.
21:46There's so many other people, especially in 2024, when there's so much music, there's
21:51so many, to Kyle's point, there's so many scenes that are popping up and certain people
21:55who are doing amazing things that just get no recognition outside of like us, when we
22:02write about them, you know, like we put them in columns or we, you know, we highlight them
22:07in different forms.
22:08But I think like, if you think about the Oscars or like the golden globes, how many times
22:13do people watch the Oscars or the Emmys and something wins?
22:17And they're like, what the fuck is this?
22:20You know, they're like, what is this?
22:21You know, like what, what is this movie?
22:23This came out because everyone's like, where's Marvel?
22:27Where's all the blockbusters that propped up the industry and the Oscars for better
22:32or worse are like, no, this is what a great movie is.
22:36You guys need to know about this one thing.
22:38And I think that's what the Hip Hop Awards has the opportunity to do.
22:42If it's at its best, they can pare it down and make it much more focused on the actual
22:48art of hip hop and art of rap.
22:50I think it'd be much better.
22:52But if I can do that, yeah, just fold the shit into the BET Awards.
22:55Don't you think like Oscar stuff is like, like comparing to the Oscars or the EGOT
22:58Awards in general, like, I mean, I feel like that there's a different set of rules of
23:03things that people play by in the sense of, you know, we all complain about the Oscars
23:07or the Grammy.
23:08Sure.
23:08But everybody knows that they tune right back in the next year because maybe they'll
23:12get it right.
23:13Or, you know, bygones be bygones.
23:15That was last year or whatnot.
23:17And I think for BET, like, I do agree.
23:18The regional space could be cool, but I'm sure they're going to say, well, you know,
23:21we got a program for a national audience.
23:23We got to, you know, do you, I don't think you do.
23:26Do you, you know, I'm a national show.
23:28I mean, like everyone knows, like if you were to, if, if they were to have best rapper of
23:33the year award.
23:34Okay.
23:36Who would that, who would that go to?
23:38You think?
23:40Who do I think?
23:41You.
23:41Yeah.
23:41You personally, if they were, if there was just like the, we have an award, it's called
23:45the best rapper of the year.
23:46Well, they're going to give it to Kendrick, but.
23:48Right.
23:48Right.
23:49What if they were like, it's fucking, I don't know, some kid from Milwaukee.
23:55But you don't think, you don't think cats would be like, and that's why I don't fuck
23:58with the BET hip hop awards.
23:59Of course.
24:00But then there'll be like, man, I got to tune back in next year.
24:03Cause that's what the fuck happens at every award show.
24:05That's why you give out awards.
24:07If BT doesn't even give out awards, like they don't even, we don't even get that conversation.
24:11We can't even get upset because we don't even know who the fuck is winning these.
24:15We don't even know what the awards are.
24:17I don't even know what the fuck they're giving out to people.
24:19They don't give it out.
24:20The people who do win, don't show up to accept them.
24:22And it's like, okay, well, like what are you doing here?
24:26You know, if, if, if, uh, who are those, those kids from, from, um, from, uh, uh,
24:32New Orleans that like, imagine for a second, there's an award and it's like a bunch of
24:39big names nominated and the suicide boys went and people were like, what the fuck is going
24:43on here?
24:45Right.
24:45Like, that's the type of tension.
24:48That's the type of like, that's the type of like stake in the ground shit that you need.
24:52You'd be like, no, this is what we're awarding.
24:55And I don't mean to pick them out because like, they're so far from center that people
25:00would be like, what is this?
25:01But I think if you are an award show and you're like, these are like, this is what we stand
25:06for.
25:06You know, this is what we do.
25:09And therefore this person gets an award over the person that you believe is like, so deserving
25:14of it.
25:15I think that creates, uh, uh, an interest, but also it just creates some fucking legitimacy
25:22in your, in your, in your choosing.
25:24Like, bro, they gave sexy red an award.
25:26I don't even know what the award is for.
25:28And like, does sexy red deserve an award?
25:30Probably.
25:31But like what?
25:34Like she, there's no speech.
25:36There was no like fanfare for it.
25:39Fat Joe was just fucking sitting in a booth in a club and was like, and this award goes
25:43to sexy red.
25:44And then they kept it moving.
25:46And I think it's important to note too, real quick, uh, Megan had the most nomination.
25:50She had 12 and she was not in the building.
25:53So, um, but it's like, why would you go if you're not going to even be on screen for
25:59it?
25:59Do you know?
25:59It's like, you got to respect yourself first.
26:02No, except Travis who did accept.
26:08So it's important to note that BET awards was up 10%, 3 million this year.
26:12VMA saw a slight increase as well with Megan Hopes.
26:15And so there is still an appetite for award shows.
26:18So I think for BET on the hip hop side, they just got to rejigger the backend, take some
26:25time off.
26:26Like you guys were saying, and maybe come back.
26:28Yeah, that's, that's, that's a tough one.
26:31I mean, listen, they, they, they got a soul train.
26:33Yeah.
26:33It's not, it's not easy, but it's like, if you're going to do it, you didn't respect
26:38it and do it.
26:40You can't leave out 98% of the genre and then expect people to be excited when the shit
26:46comes on.
26:47You know, like there's so many new rappers out.
26:49Why is Juicy J performing?
26:53No shots at Juicy J.
26:54I love you, Juicy J.
26:55Shots at 2 Chainz for performing twice.
26:57Twice.
26:58That's another, twice?
26:59Yeah.
27:01And I've said how much I love 2 Chainz on this podcast.
27:032 Chainz is incredible.
27:052 Chainz is incredible, but come on.
27:07Come on.
27:07Shout out to Titty Boy, man.
27:09I think.
27:10Best of luck.
27:10You know, speaking of artist participation, I think this topic is going to be dear to
27:16our hearts.
27:16Hold out strong with this.
27:18The state of hip-hop journalism.
27:22Yeah.
27:23It has been a fun, fun time on social media, on X.
27:28A lot of people have their thoughts.
27:30It first began a couple of weeks ago with Russ giving his thoughts on the state of hip-hop
27:34journalism, why he feels it's not thriving, was suggesting for cats to perhaps start their
27:39own platform, to become cooler with artists, to establish those type of relationships.
27:44Did not go well for him in that regard.
27:48Later on, we end up seeing a Kendrick Lamar cover story on Harper's Bazaar, interviewed
27:54by Miss Alana, SZA.
27:57She asked some interesting questions, got to the Not Like Us, thought of it all, and
28:02it didn't really land in the interview.
28:04Kendrick gave not the strongest answer in regards to the making of Not Like Us, what
28:11means to him, which also caused some controversy online, asking why a hip-hop journalist was
28:17not the one to interview Kendrick.
28:19Punch later came out and said, you know, we still do need hip-hop journalism, but to be
28:25honest, a lot of you guys are trash.
28:29So, you know, knowing that this is what we do to pay the light bill every month in our
28:34rent, we have a lot, we have years of experience at this table.
28:41So where are we at with hip-hop journalism right now?
28:48I mean, first of all, journalism as a whole is pretty beleaguered and battered right now.
28:53It's not just hip-hop journalism.
28:54I think journalism as an industry is in not the greatest shape.
28:59You see a lot of consolidation between outlets.
29:02You see budgets being cut.
29:04You see staffs shrinking across the board for every type of journalism.
29:11It's being diminished.
29:13So it's not crazy to believe that rap or hip-hop journalism, culture journalism is also not
29:24in the strongest place right now.
29:25I don't think it's as bad as Russ makes it seem.
29:30I have a lot of issues with the points that he jotted down, said most journalists don't
29:36have their own platform.
29:37So that forces the artist to fund and produce the interview themselves.
29:41That is bullshit.
29:42That's called PR.
29:43That's also just bullshit, bro.
29:46You can find an outlet to get artists.
29:50Do people want to interview you?
29:51It's another thing.
29:52So I'll say, is it in a bad place?
29:55It's not in the best place, not as good as it was maybe 20 years ago.
30:00But I don't think it's all gloom and doom.
30:03So I'll say no, it's not that bad.
30:08I think it's important in these conversations that we define our terms because it feels like
30:15a lot of terms are being thrown around, but people are defining them differently in their
30:19heads and not saying so.
30:20So it feels like hip-hop media and urban media and hip-hop journalism and culture journalism
30:26are all kind of being conflated into one big entity.
30:29And that's not necessarily the case.
30:31And that makes any conversation difficult to parse through because we're not talking
30:36about the same things a lot of the time.
30:39I think in an era where a lot of people are not privy to what exactly journalism is and
30:45how that differs from content creators and how that differs from bloggers and how that
30:50differs from just independent critics, it makes these conversations really murky.
30:58I also just think there needs to be a baseline level of respect when we have these conversations.
31:03You cannot enter the space talking about most of you guys are trash and expect people to
31:09engage with you in good faith.
31:10It doesn't feel like you're coming into the space in good faith either.
31:14I'm very great in this space myself, but all of the hip-hop journalists that I've met
31:19and encountered have been some of the smartest people I've ever spoken to.
31:25So I would never call them trash.
31:29I really would disagree with most being the operative word there, like them being trash.
31:33That just feels combative for the sake of being combative.
31:38But I feel like we aren't being completely honest when it comes to the idea that artists
31:49and their teams and their labels are so willing to open up and be questioned.
31:56When you ask to have final say over the edit of a final piece, when you delineate which
32:04questions you do not want to be asked about or what topics you don't want to talk about,
32:08and you crowd the editorial space and the writer space and how a piece gets built,
32:14then it doesn't become journalism anymore.
32:16That's your fault.
32:18That's not the fault of these quote-unquote trash journalists.
32:21Like, you are not giving us the space to operate with integrity all the time.
32:26And that's something that has to be discussed openly and honestly.
32:30But we haven't gotten to that point, to that part yet, I don't think.
32:33But that's where my head goes to immediately.
32:37Trev?
32:38Yeah, I mean, obviously, the landscape has become a lot more crowded, I think,
32:41to that point about who is doing journalism and who goes where for what reasons.
32:47Certainly in the past five, ten years has accelerated in a way that
32:51none of us, when we were in school, were preparing for.
32:53And didn't think it could go maybe this far.
32:56And yeah, it always felt like, for a long time,
32:59that artists and journalists had this sort of co-equal relationship.
33:03Whether it was artists needed journalists to get messages out, press, open up.
33:08Now with social media and everything, everybody has changed the strategy so much that it's like,
33:12if I need to announce or whatever, I just post it on Instagram.
33:15And then everybody's playing catch-up.
33:17And I can still sell the same amount of records.
33:19And I can still continue my lifestyle in a way.
33:22So the fact that that power imbalance has changed a lot.
33:25And I think to Kyle's point in particular, artists and their teams know that.
33:28And they know that, even with the Kendrick interview.
33:31I mean, it said straight up at Harper's Bazaar that Kendrick wanted SZA to interview him.
33:34Now I don't know what kind of negotiations there could have been beforehand.
33:38Or if that was just the first line of precondition is,
33:40hey, if I'm going to do this, SZA's going to interview me.
33:42And clearly, it doesn't really matter where it started.
33:46But it really is more where it ended.
33:48And it ended there.
33:48So for a lot of artists to say that hip-hop journalism is trash,
33:53and we don't want to talk to a lot of folks.
33:56If you really want to support and help independent hip-hop journalism,
34:00or even at whatever publication or whatnot, you have to be in that fight as well.
34:06You can't just sit back and say, man, all this shit is trash.
34:10And I don't know.
34:11And I wish somebody would come and fix it.
34:13Well, you're the one with 25 interview requests in your inbox.
34:16And you have people out there.
34:18Everyone will always say, it's not everybody.
34:20But even the ones that you do like, and the ones you do support,
34:23the ones you think are doing good work, you're still icing them out.
34:25I mean, plenty of people are on Twitter talking about,
34:29well, it's funny because people say, my work is great.
34:31And I've been nominated for this.
34:32And I'm very respected in this space.
34:35And everybody knows it.
34:36But the minute you get a whiff of, well, I might ask about this.
34:39Or we can't ignore this.
34:41Then everybody turns tail and runs.
34:44And so you can't have it both ways.
34:47I think if you're going to be in that fight,
34:48and you really want to support hip-hop journalism,
34:50and you think it's important the way everyone says,
34:52then you've got to get in there.
34:54I want to pose this question to you guys.
34:57No, I'm sorry.
34:58I will say one thing.
34:58I understand that people will say.
35:00And maybe it's a real point.
35:02Is an artist's job, in general, to support journalism?
35:07Because all artists will say, I'm here to make music.
35:08And I'm here to do my thing.
35:10And I don't even want to do this press side.
35:11And I don't want to do these interviews.
35:12And I don't want to do that.
35:13And that's valid.
35:15But if you're going to be on that,
35:17then I would hope you'd be on that all the time.
35:19Keep that same energy.
35:20And not sort of jockey back and forth between, well, I would if not.
35:25Yeah, I think when this whole thing pretty much came to my desk,
35:31and just thinking about it, we all here at this table,
35:35because you got to be mindful and just say what it is.
35:40We work at Billboard.
35:42And a lot of us here have had great opportunities
35:46and platforms to interview some big artists, especially Dame.
35:53I was thinking about it earlier,
35:56because we are in a space where we're fortunate
35:59to kick it with some of the biggest cats.
36:00Reality is 85% to 90% of cats who are pursuing this now.
36:05We'll probably never be able to interview
36:07some of the biggest names out there.
36:09So I kind of want to give some solutions
36:12to people who aspire to be in this space.
36:16It's going to sound fucked up.
36:17I have accepted it.
36:20When it comes to the big three, I've only interviewed Kendrick.
36:22I've accepted I'm never going to interview Cole.
36:25I'm never going to interview Drake.
36:27As close as cats are to the team.
36:29Never say never.
36:29Never say never.
36:30But there's a sense of realism that comes in
36:34because of the attitude these artists are taking.
36:37If I started at Ground Zero today,
36:40I wouldn't even try to think of going after the marquee cats off rip.
36:45If I was starting at Ground Zero today,
36:47I'm trying to talk to the hottest cats in my area.
36:51I'm trying to talk to the hottest cats buzzing in New York.
36:53Because you're a smart guy, Carl.
36:55I appreciate that.
36:56Shout out to what it sounds like NYC.
36:59They have a platform where they literally just focus
37:02on New York City cats.
37:04I find more joy, and Dame knows this,
37:05I find more joy in breaking cats now
37:09than trying to talk to the who's who of hip-hop.
37:13You know what I'm saying?
37:13I was thinking about it this morning.
37:16Jack Harlow.
37:17We brought Jack in before...
37:19I think we were the first publication to bring in Jack.
37:22And I remember at the Grammys in Vegas
37:25when we were doing the red carpet interview.
37:28And he was like,
37:29First off, I gotta say shout out to you.
37:31Because you gave me a shot when nobody was checking for me.
37:37And I think of what Dame told me too when he was at Complex.
37:40It's so important to build these kind of relationships early on
37:43because cats will remember that.
37:46And that's where the trust and the foundation will come in
37:48to say, you know what?
37:50Sure, I'm big enough to where I don't want to do interviews,
37:52but I'll do an interview with you.
37:55You know, I think having that starting point,
37:58in the very early stages of your career,
38:00building up with an artist simultaneously
38:03could go a very long way.
38:05And I think there's just talent
38:07in being able to scout and have that eye early on
38:10and storytell from there.
38:12Yeah, I think those are all great recommendations.
38:17I would say the same.
38:19I think we were talking about this yesterday
38:21and Kyle and I were talking about this
38:23before everyone came in today.
38:24It feels as if it's coming to a head,
38:30this current stage of journalism.
38:35And to Kyle's point,
38:37what everyone believes to be journalism
38:39is not actually journalism, right?
38:41I think what most people are talking about
38:44when they discuss this Kendrick interview
38:46or what Russ is talking about is the celebrity interview,
38:50which is a very important,
38:52but small part of the entire...
38:55If you're gonna make a pizza pie of journalism,
38:57that's a part of the pie, right?
38:59That's not the entire thing.
39:01Because if you think about what journalism is,
39:05what the purpose that it serves to answer questions,
39:09to serve your reader or your viewer,
39:14you can do that without talking to anybody.
39:16Yeah.
39:17Without talking to anybody famous.
39:18You can do that by just reporting out
39:21on questions that you have around whatever big topic it is
39:26that you're trying to get across.
39:28And I think fans have, and rappers,
39:32have lost sight of that.
39:34And I think it's probably time for that to come back into play.
39:40I think if, to Trevor's point,
39:45if most music journalists or music outlets were like,
39:49okay, we're not gonna do this anymore.
39:51We're gonna change our tack.
39:53It's gonna be like Esquire in the 60s.
39:56If we have a celebrity on the cover,
39:57it's only representative of a story that is gonna be inside,
40:01that may or may not even have this person involved with it.
40:04And we're gonna do reporting around this person.
40:08And the reporting is going to work
40:10to answer a question about this person.
40:13It's not to promote this person.
40:15It's not to push whatever agenda this person have.
40:19It's really to just get to the center of it.
40:22And I don't think artists would like that very much.
40:26I think we all went out today and we're like, all right,
40:30let's just use Kendrick as an example.
40:32If we were to have questions about Mr. Morale,
40:34and we were like, man,
40:35we really have questions around this album,
40:38but he's not gonna answer them for us.
40:42So we're gonna send somebody to Compton for two weeks,
40:46for two or three weeks,
40:47and just have them start reporting out,
40:50answer some questions,
40:51talk to some people around Kendrick,
40:52some people who knew Kendrick,
40:54really paint a picture of Kendrick.
40:57And we're gonna publish that.
41:00Yeah, I think any artist would be like,
41:01oh, that's great.
41:02Thank you so much.
41:03I really appreciate that.
41:06And this is not against,
41:07this is not to say Kendrick would do this.
41:09Most artists would have their PR person come out and say,
41:12if you publish this, we will never talk to you again.
41:17That is the rub here.
41:19The rub is that they want participation,
41:23but they don't themselves wanna participate.
41:27And that puts the entire industry in a rough position.
41:33And I think there's a lot of smart people that work in media.
41:39I believe we'll figure it out.
41:40But right now I think we're gonna have to feel around the edges
41:45to see how this shit all fits together right now.
41:50I'd also add that outside of artists and writers
41:53who both to some degree enter this conversation
41:56with a level of ego,
41:57it feels like we're losing sight of two entities
42:02that should be served the most out of this,
42:04which is the audience and history itself.
42:07We have these moments like the Drake-Kendrick beef,
42:10like, not like us,
42:11that are unmistakable moments in hip hop history,
42:15pop culture, just cultural history in general.
42:19And all we are going to have to show for it
42:21is a scissor interview talking about,
42:23can I ask you a hyper-masculine question?
42:26That's not proper archival.
42:29We're gonna look back on this moment and be like,
42:31damn, where were the actual interviews?
42:35Where were the real profiles?
42:36Where were the real breakdowns of this thing
42:39that is going to have ramification
42:41for the next however many years?
42:42We can't get around that.
42:44And it feels like we deserve more as a culture
42:47to look back on for moments like this,
42:50then celebrity interviews,
42:51then branded content and PR stuff
42:54masquerading as interviews and journalism.
42:56You know what I mean?
42:57I think when you brought up Kendrick,
43:00I would have been cool,
43:01I think of MJ back in the day.
43:03You remember Ahmad Rashad?
43:05If MJ ever wanted to get an interview off,
43:08he's going to call Ahmad.
43:09And I feel bad because I wish Kendrick
43:12had somebody like that in the space.
43:13Or Oprah.
43:16That Oprah interview is amazing.
43:17I kind of went, you know, shit.
43:20Mama O, dude, I mean, hey.
43:23Mama O did Adele a couple of years ago.
43:24I should listen to that.
43:25That wasn't too bad actually.
43:27Oprah sit down with Kendrick.
43:28That would be actually pretty amazing, I think.
43:30I would totally listen to that.
43:32Kendrick, Kendrick.
43:33He's a barrio, man.
43:35I think he's a barrio-ing.
43:36A barrio.
43:38I'd drop my line there.
43:41Hey, Barry, if you want to get an interview off,
43:43come through.
43:43Listen, when I saw a barrio yesterday,
43:45you know, arms are heavy,
43:47palms are sweaty, knees weak,
43:48arms are heavy after the Detroit ride, you know?
43:50Right there, it felt like it was at eight miles.
43:52It was, you know, in the play, whatever.
43:53It got a little jazzy.
43:55I mean, this is, hey,
43:56if you're going to get Barack Obama,
43:57this is about the time.
43:57We got about two weeks left.
43:58If you want to slide through,
44:00we got some voters who watched the show.
44:02Come on.
44:03Bring Michelle, too.
44:04I just want to say, you know,
44:06I don't think, you know,
44:08Takai, I think it's important for us to say that,
44:10you know, I don't think
44:13hip-hop journalism is in a trash state right now.
44:16I think it's always in a state of flux.
44:18Journalism is always in a state of flux.
44:20The industry changes constantly.
44:23People are doing what they have to do
44:25in order to pay their bills.
44:27Yeah.
44:28And when I was in college,
44:30I did a report on this guy named
44:31Dr. Bob Arnault.
44:32He was a medical doctor
44:35who left his career to go to Iraq
44:38to essentially report
44:42on the ground for ABC News.
44:44And he would go there,
44:45which was a camera and a laptop.
44:47And he would make these little,
44:48like, field reports
44:49and send them back to ABC to air.
44:52And I remember looking at that
44:54and being like,
44:54this is going to be the future of what we do
44:57because this is crazy.
44:58It's one person.
44:58And then he gets sent back to the mothership.
45:00And then they go through it.
45:02And it's much easier for him
45:04to go in and out of places in Iraq
45:06than an entire camera crew
45:10and things like that.
45:12The nimbleness of it.
45:14And for the most part,
45:15I think that has happened.
45:18I think where we lost it was
45:20we've lost the checks and balances of it.
45:24Right?
45:24So when Russ talks about
45:26journalists need to build their own brands
45:28and become their own companies.
45:31And it's like, sure.
45:33The only way this works is if it's right,
45:36is if it's true.
45:37And as true as we can make it.
45:39Because to Kyle's point,
45:40this is something that we're leaving
45:42for generations after us to look back and say,
45:45oh, what was 2024 like?
45:46What was really happening back there?
45:48How often do we all go back
45:50and read old issues of Billboard?
45:51Like, what the fuck was going on back then?
45:53Like, what was happening back then?
45:55What was happening in this year?
45:58And if we don't do that correctly,
46:00you can't do that by yourself all the time.
46:03You need a proper team in order to make that happen.
46:06And so everybody who is working right now,
46:12I believe is just doing their best.
46:15And it's on us to make sure that we can continue
46:19to make that best as good as it can be.
46:21And to Trevor's point,
46:23it's incumbent on the artists to also be a part of that,
46:26to help if they want this shit to continue.
46:28Because if this shit were to go away tomorrow,
46:31good luck.
46:33Good luck on Instagram.
46:35Good luck trying to battle an algorithm
46:37that is trying to milk you from both sides.
46:40It's a very symbiotic relationship.
46:43And for both to work,
46:45both sides need to understand exactly what is going on,
46:49exactly what each other brings to the table.
46:51And I hope we figure it out,
46:54which I think we will.
46:55But yeah, I just wanted to say that.
46:57Amen.
46:59Quick shout out too for some of the cats
47:01that I've seen started up their own YouTube pages,
47:05producing their own content.
47:06Wayno, Rob Markman, Samaya,
47:09like all these veteran cats are going to YouTube,
47:12cooking up their own content now.
47:14So it could be done with the right resources.
47:18The right resources.
47:20Can't do it.
47:22Can't do it.
47:24Can't do it with nothing.
47:25Listen, man, a mic and a computer is a good way to start.
47:28You know?
47:29Shout out Dr. Barbar now.
47:30I don't know where that guy is now.
47:32Dr. B.
47:34Salute.
47:36Yeah, love from Big D.
47:39Yeah, picture the week.
47:42But that worked.
47:42That worked.
47:44It was, it was like, it was fine.
47:48It was like fine.
47:49I think it's for you in my head.
47:51One break and then like the breaks just went,
47:53you know, the damn broke.
47:54Yeah, that's my bad, man.
47:55I actually don't owe it, man.
47:57Shout out to Dr. B from Big D.
47:59So.
48:01Picks of the week.
48:03Let's get into it.
48:05I'll go first.
48:06My pick of the week is Wizkid featuring Bret Fias.
48:10Peace of my heart.
48:12Wizkid has just been a bad boy these last few years.
48:15Damn, we had a bad boy reference in a minute.
48:17Yeah.
48:18If you don't know, they used to be Carl's favorite little phrase back in,
48:21you know, 20, the 2010s, whatever.
48:23Everybody was a bad boy.
48:25Wiz, Wiz, that album he dropped in 2020, man.
48:28We had Ella, Herb, Burna Boy.
48:30Is that the main Legos?
48:32That was.
48:33I had Essence on it.
48:34Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
48:34That was fire.
48:36Heater, heater.
48:37But he comes back this time around with Brent Fias, Afrobeats Jam.
48:42I need more Brent on some Afrobeats records,
48:46because Jesus Christ, what he did on the hook,
48:48there's a beat switch on the record too on the second half of the song,
48:52which sounds fucking phenomenal.
48:54Bread and butter.
48:55I think if you put them together in a studio to do eight tracks,
48:57you're going to have nothing but heat.
49:00No skips.
49:01No skips.
49:02So check that out.
49:03Peace of my heart.
49:04Wizkid, Brent Fias, brother Kyle.
49:08My girl Ari Lennox is back with her very first single of the year, Smoke.
49:13I really love it.
49:14It's real feisty, it's in your face.
49:16Really explicit nods to Motown, which I think is super dope,
49:19because I think that might be where we're headed next as a culture,
49:22like tonically and aesthetically, like more people looking to that era.
49:26And she just wears it so well.
49:28It just works so well with her tone.
49:31It's a great track.
49:32I really like it.
49:32And the music video is really, really dope too.
49:33Fire video.
49:34Yeah.
49:35Yeah, there's something about Ari.
49:36I mean, I know Pressure obviously had a throwback kind of vibe to it,
49:39but it was updated.
49:40So when she kind of gets in that lane, I mean, I know in particular,
49:43you know, I mean, she's an R&B singer for sure,
49:45but that the soul word is always attached to her.
49:47And I think in particular, she like, you know,
49:50through that kind of a tribute and update, like she really takes that lane.
49:54And, you know, we don't really have any soul singers in particular anymore.
49:57Most people are just contemporary R&B, which is, you know, fine.
49:59But for her to like have that particular designation,
50:02I think she wears it well.
50:03Like the song very much is in that vein.
50:06Trap.
50:07And then I actually, I thought about using that one.
50:11I'm actually glad that I didn't, because I would have been stuck.
50:14But I actually want to give a nod to,
50:16I know we mentioned Big X earlier when we talked about the album rundown.
50:19I want to give a nod to the Change Me song that's on that album that's taken off.
50:23Because in particular, I think it's a pretty short song.
50:26And it's kind of one of the, you know,
50:28sort of nobody believed in me song sort of is, you know,
50:30now looking at me kind of joint.
50:32So we've been down that road before with a lot of artists.
50:34I think everyone kind of has that song in their bag on that second album,
50:37the third album in particular, when they really make it.
50:38It's like, y'all don't believe in looking at me now.
50:40And, you know, I'm staying true to myself, staying humble.
50:42So the message is always, you know, sort of universal.
50:45But in particular, with the structure of the song,
50:48it almost sounds like a sample in the beginning in the hook.
50:50But from what I learned, it's actually a new recording by this guy, Tony Coles.
50:54It's kind of got like a little soul, a little country kind of vibe to it.
51:00Big X is from Dallas.
51:01Obviously, he's been on Shaboosie Records and things like that.
51:03So he's very familiar with that space.
51:05But I like the structure of it in particular,
51:07because it comes through with that sort of soul classic, you know, retro sample.
51:12Then Big X jumps right in.
51:13You know, it's just like it's a barrage for his verse.
51:16Then you take that pause, come back through with that sample,
51:18and he kind of finishes it out with just a little kind of eight bar hook.
51:21So I like the flow and the structure of that track.
51:24And I just think, you know, obviously the message is, you know,
51:26something we can always go back to.
51:28And I think in particular to see him on the come up in a real way in the past year,
51:32what he's done just really solidifies,
51:34I think, all the things that he's achieved in the past 12 months.
51:36I love that.
51:37I know we named Tito our Rookie of the Year.
51:39But when you look at what Big X has been able to do these last 12 months.
51:42Yeah, Big X and Boss Man are really, you know, right there as well.
51:45Yeah.
51:46Kicking ass.
51:46So shout out to them.
51:48Dane.
51:50I'm going to go with a song called Center Stage.
51:52It's on the album by 38 Spech and Benny the Butcher.
52:00I've been waiting to see what Benny does next because,
52:05speaking honestly, I was a little disappointed about the Def Jam album.
52:08Trash.
52:10Love Benny.
52:10Trash.
52:11I was going to say that.
52:12I'm talking about separating the art from the artist.
52:17Yeah, I'm a huge Benny fan.
52:19And I've been waiting for him to do something after that.
52:24And I think this is better.
52:27It's getting back to where I think Benny is best.
52:32It's a song produced by Harry Frods, a nice soul sample.
52:37They're both going back and forth really well.
52:39Benny has a great, great verse.
52:41But this is like closer to the bag that I think Benny does well.
52:45I'm hoping he's working his way back to figuring that out.
52:50So go check that out.
52:51Shout out to Harry Frod too, man.
52:54It's another bad boy.
52:54Been doing it for like 10, 15 plus.
52:56Still going.
52:57Cooking.
52:59But that is all this week on Billboard Unfiltered.
53:02Hopefully y'all had a good time with us.
53:03Make sure you guys check us out next week.
53:07Peace.
53:08Peace.
53:08Go read some journalism.