In the seventh episode of 'Billboard Unfiltered,' Billboard staffers Carl Lamarre, Trevor Anderson & Kyle Denis break down Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Pop Out’ event and how Drake should navigate his next move after the show. They also dive into the new Verzuz & X deal, their favorite albums that have been released in 2024 in Hip-Hop & R&B and more!
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MusicTranscript
00:00When I saw YG come out, I felt the knife.
00:04I felt the knife turn a little bit.
00:06Just on a tech level, like X and Amazon,
00:09that's a whole nother beef level that's coming.
00:12Shout out Glorilla.
00:13That mixtape is really hard.
00:14The girls and the guys were coming back this year.
00:16We still got something to say.
00:20So, first day of summer.
00:22We are here.
00:24Finally.
00:25It feels like it if you're in New York,
00:26because this heat is no joke.
00:28It's like 95 degrees outside.
00:31Happy belated Juneteenth.
00:33Yes, sir.
00:34That's because we were not working yesterday.
00:36Not working.
00:37Beautiful feeling.
00:38You know, being black.
00:40Always a good feeling.
00:41Always real proud.
00:42Being proud.
00:44Because last night was a hip-hop celebration.
00:48A celebration for LA.
00:50A moment in history.
00:51A moment in history.
00:52In case you guys missed it,
00:53Kendrick Lamar had the pop-out concert.
00:57That's what is being deemed now.
00:58The pop-out concert for Juneteenth in LA.
01:00Star-studded.
01:02DJ Mustard, DJ Head,
01:05and of course Kendrick and friends.
01:06DJ Mustard brought out Tyler, the Creator,
01:08Steve Lacey, Ty Dolla $ign, Blast, Dom Kennedy, 310 Baby,
01:14and then Kendrick came through.
01:17Dr. Dre, the whole black hippie.
01:21He did not like us five times.
01:23Five freaking times.
01:25And the whole LA.
01:27On the stage.
01:28Had the forum wrapped before him.
01:31There's not much I can say.
01:32I'm going to leave the floor to you guys.
01:34Why can't you say too much?
01:36I forgot who we were talking to.
01:39We need to get the official.
01:41It's like the State of the Union.
01:42That's the State of the Union.
01:43Now we get the little response.
01:46We need to hear from the 6.
01:48What the 6 has to say about this.
01:52Don't let that bullshit fool you.
01:54We know what his true colors, his true allegiance is.
01:56You know what's funny?
01:57I was going to wear my OVO shirt today.
02:00Lord.
02:01And just say, you know what?
02:02Fuck everybody.
02:04We're still here.
02:05We're still here.
02:06We're still repping.
02:07Okay.
02:08Repping what exactly?
02:09I decided against that.
02:10Okay.
02:11Because what Kendrick did last night,
02:14it was just a master class.
02:15I can't even front on that.
02:17I thought from front to back,
02:19him performing Euphoria off Rip.
02:22Just let me know the type of time he was on.
02:24And then to have Dr. Dre intro to Not Like Us.
02:30Yo, I got chills.
02:33I got chills.
02:34I don't want to make this a whole Aubrey thing
02:36because I want to give Kendrick his flowers.
02:39This is a Kendrick thing, an LA thing,
02:41more than it is a Drake thing.
02:42But what we saw last night will go down forever
02:46in hip hop history as one of the best performances
02:50of all time to me.
02:53Yeah.
02:54I mean, yeah.
02:57Yeah.
02:58I was blown away off the fact that
03:01I will bring up Drake in this sense
03:03when I saw YG come out.
03:05I felt the knife.
03:07I felt the knife turn a little bit.
03:09I said, I felt like battle lines would be drawn last week.
03:12I was waiting for this moment because from the jump,
03:14it was absolutely insane that Drake would question
03:18Kendrick's LA ties, the West Coast's allegiance to Kendrick.
03:22Too much dip on your chip.
03:24Of course YG is going to come out and pop out for this nigga.
03:27What are we dealing with here?
03:29You are Canadian.
03:32You got to remember that.
03:33You got to stay in your lane.
03:34You just have to.
03:36Like, really?
03:38You thought you was going to G check Kendrick Lamar
03:40as an outsider in multiple ways.
03:43Crazy, crazy business.
03:45But outside of the Kendrick portion of the concert,
03:48I really loved having the local acts kind of open up for him
03:51and give them that exposure.
03:53I got put on to Jason Martin and Cuzzo's.
03:56Like, I was really vibing with their music.
03:58I was really interested to see where, like,
03:59hopefully, Cuzzo's get some sort of...
04:01No, yeah.
04:02I was like, they're hard.
04:03Like, this is a really, really cool moment for West Coast music,
04:06especially because that still feels so insular
04:08in comparison to other regions.
04:10Like, they really have their sound, their style,
04:12and they don't really care if anyone else embraces them.
04:15But it was nice to, like, get a peek into that.
04:17I'm not familiar with, like, you know,
04:19the dancers and the clowns and all of that stuff.
04:22And I got a little crash course on sort of West Coast culture.
04:25That was really, really dope to go into this Kendrick set
04:29that's folding in different songs from his catalog
04:31that are all, you know,
04:32these sneak Drake-nesses throughout the way.
04:34You know, you have element in there.
04:36You got DNA in there.
04:37Kind of recontextualizing songs like Euphoria
04:40and, like I said at the end, like, shit was just amazing.
04:43I was on cloud nine.
04:45Yeah.
04:46Yeah.
04:47Yeah, I mean, I echo Kyle's point in particular.
04:49I think the staging of it in terms of, like,
04:52the way the program was set up,
04:53because I know a lot of people at the beginning were kind of like,
04:56OK, how many friends...
04:57You know, where is this going?
04:59He got mad friends.
05:00How long is it?
05:01I mean, I don't know if y'all saw,
05:02but when I got on the Amazon stream,
05:03and I think I got on maybe like 10 minutes late,
05:05and I started scrolling and I saw, like,
05:07they gave a six-hour window for it
05:09and maybe that's just what you got to do for live stream
05:11because you don't know how long it's going to go.
05:12But when I saw six hours, I was like, oh, yeah.
05:15I like Kendrick.
05:17I don't know if I like six hours.
05:19See, a nigga like me had my drink poured.
05:21I was ready to go.
05:22Let's see.
05:23That's a 4 p.m. Easter standard.
05:25Look, and maybe this is also...
05:27Kyle had the Henny on.
05:28Yeah, I literally had the Henny on.
05:30Were you grilling too?
05:31You said you were going to be grilling last week.
05:32Nah, my roommate wasn't in town, so we couldn't grill.
05:34But I did go to the liquor store.
05:36I got my Henny.
05:37Oh, he was ready.
05:38Very, very lit.
05:39Like, I can't even lie.
05:42I can't even lie, man.
05:43That was just too good.
05:45It was really funny, though, watching Dr. Dre pop out.
05:48It was, like, a really good example of just, like, how beautiful
05:52but also how, like, tragic the irony is with hip-hop politics
05:55that you bring out someone like Dr. Dre
05:57to introduce a song where you're calling this guy out
05:59for being an abuser and a pedophile,
06:00but it's, like, Dre's kind of king of all that shit.
06:03I did see that, too.
06:04Like, you know, shout-out Dee Barnes.
06:07Shout-out Michelle A.
06:08Like, we got to also acknowledge that there is some sort of, like,
06:12wall that we hit when we try to bring morality into this.
06:15But that was a moment that was a little bit dissonant for me
06:19and probably the only moment of dissonance,
06:21but, you know, a very stark one.
06:24But you also can't put on a West Coast celebration
06:27without including Dr. Dre.
06:29Like, he really is the ringleader of all of this.
06:32So it's like, what do you do with that one?
06:34But it's something that we do need to acknowledge, though.
06:36Yeah, great point.
06:37And, you know, to jump on that,
06:39I kind of thought it was interesting that we didn't see Snoop.
06:43I was expecting Snoop to come.
06:44We did not see Snoop.
06:45And I think he had kind of said it before.
06:47I think this was when Drake dropped the TaylorMade freestyle
06:51that he is just going to be simply neutral.
06:53Right.
06:54Like, both of them are his quote-unquote nephews.
06:56He was going to sit this one out.
06:57But you would think, from your point of view.
06:58But we saw Snoop's ass.
06:59I mean, you tell me.
07:00He said, that didn't do it.
07:01That didn't occur.
07:03I did see that.
07:05I was like, passion fruit, mango.
07:07Okay.
07:08I said, oh, you really are for the bag.
07:10Like, I really can't even front on you.
07:12Like, you really just are for the bag, Snoop.
07:14And that is what it is.
07:15But would have loved to see him pop out there.
07:17That would have been great.
07:18Like, cherry on top type shit.
07:20I do want to pose you guys this question now.
07:23We will pivot on to Drake.
07:26Where does he go from here?
07:28Who is he being?
07:29Drake.
07:31Well, the immediate answer is Camila Cabello.
07:34Do with that what you will.
07:36With them two new songs coming out, too.
07:39That's probably just going to be a misfortunate timing.
07:43No, no, no.
07:44If I'm Drake.
07:45You're not going to pull the songs off the album.
07:47I'm pulling it off.
07:48That's crazy.
07:49Oh.
07:50I'm pulling it off.
07:53Bro, they probably got that contract so ironclad.
07:56Two days after the fact that you just got mutilated on that kind of platform,
08:02you're going to come with some bullshit?
08:04Some pop bullshit?
08:05First of all, you don't know what kind of shit is coming.
08:09Don't give me that face.
08:10Don't give me that face.
08:11We're going to get a time stamp Drake on this Camila Cabello album.
08:17Well, absolutely.
08:18I mean, that would be, again, I'm going to never say never.
08:21That's very, very close to never going to happen.
08:25I mean, it's so different, and I think pop Drake and hip-hop rap Drake are so two different
08:31Drakes that I don't think anyone's expecting him to bury some diss in this record.
08:37That's going to live in the pop lane.
08:38That's a feature he's doing to help her out or whatever kind of.
08:43Yeah, I'm not expecting that either.
08:44But I also don't think it'll be a good song, either of them.
08:46I don't think there'll be hits either.
08:48We can run the tapes back if they do end up becoming hits.
08:50It's not the records that's going to save him.
08:53Well, yeah, but it was never meant to save him.
08:55Not save him, but at least you're like, oh, he's still got some juice in him.
08:59I'm not going to lean on a Camila Cabello record.
09:02I mean, what do you think about the Sexy record that came out?
09:05It came and went.
09:06Yeah, but I'm saying like-
09:07It's a good record.
09:08Okay, but I mean, it's not like this is Drake's first response to any of this situation.
09:12But you also got to remember, the whole Juneteenth concert, that was really the proverbial cherry on top to this whole feud.
09:19It wasn't not like us.
09:21It was just the whole setup of last night.
09:23Hence why I believe I would not drop anything.
09:28But see, let's flip the script.
09:31Now that this is already out there, announced, two Drake songs, and now you go and pull them?
09:36Absolutely.
09:37What does that look like?
09:38My career is more important than Camila Cabello.
09:41But what does that look like now?
09:42That is like-
09:43Yo, he got me.
09:44That Drake has run his-
09:45He got me.
09:46He got me.
09:47Which one do you think is worse?
09:49If I'm Drake, but he's a nice guy, I wouldn't give a fuck about the Camila Cabello record.
09:53I'll be like, yo, doesn't that look even worse?
09:55I know you're going to drop a deluxe.
09:57Wait for the deluxe.
09:58This is a fair point.
10:00Wait for the deluxe.
10:01That's a fair point.
10:02Why is that a fair point?
10:03Why is that a fair point that we know she's going to drop a deluxe?
10:05Juneteenth.
10:06Just give her a little bit of breathing room.
10:08Give me a little-
10:09I need some time.
10:10But you don't think it would look crazier for Drake to act like now, a day before-
10:15Crazy to who?
10:16Crazy to who?
10:18He already looks crazy, so it's like-
10:21I'm not saying crazy to who.
10:23You know when that little Pop Crave tweet comes out that Drake has removed his two songs.
10:28Fuck Pop Crave, man.
10:29It's not about fuck Pop Crave.
10:31When that story comes out that like, yeah, you was right to the point where you actively took your own things away.
10:37It got you to-
10:38You just let it-
10:39It's going to come out.
10:40Everyone's expecting it.
10:41You just let it rock.
10:42If they're hits, they're hits.
10:43If they're features, there are plenty of Drake songs that have Drake features that did not become hits.
10:46It's not like this is going to be-
10:47You know, this is going to kill his legacy, or he stumbled, or damn, that's the first one in seven years.
10:53To your point, because the records, they are inevitable.
10:55They're coming on Friday.
10:56Fine.
10:57Nothing we can do about that.
10:58After that, and I said it earlier, I would just go on a hiatus for the rest of the year.
11:05That's it.
11:06Because I don't-
11:07No matter how fire of a record or a verse he drops next, he's going to be scrutinized to the max.
11:14They're going to pick him apart just because Kendrick bodied him the way Kendrick bodied him.
11:18I don't think he's going to be able to buy any kind of win this year.
11:23So now to devil's advocate that, whenever Drake comes back out, if it's in three weeks, six months, eight years,
11:31the first response is always going to be, okay, here it is.
11:35Take your time with it.
11:36Here it is.
11:37In some ways, I get the idea, maybe you don't rush it, but I don't think you necessarily run from it.
11:43You don't run from it.
11:44I'm just saying you need to take time off for the next six months, work on the next album, because the next album he drops,
11:51it needs to be the best album of his life.
11:54I think Drake is actually in an advantageous position, and I've said this, because I think this could be the redemption arc
12:01that revitalizes how the culture-
12:04He's fine in mainstream America, because the next record he drops, a solo record, it could go top five, top three,
12:09just because of curiosity, even number one.
12:11Not Drake got to drop his Midnight's next.
12:13But the critical claim of it, cats are going to rip it apart.
12:17So take this time to be with your kid, enjoy your money, re-strategize, figure out your game plan, come back 2025.
12:25That's what I think.
12:26I've been saying this since Dark Lane demo tapes, I think, that he needs to just take some time to chill,
12:32because the music got stale.
12:35His approach got stale.
12:36He was still getting hits.
12:38He was still cranking out numbers, but it didn't feel the same way that it felt 2016 and prior.
12:44It felt like he was hitting a wall creatively for a minute now.
12:48Take some time, maybe even go back into acting a little bit, get back into your producing bag even more,
12:54come back to music after a couple months, maybe a year or two, because you can't afford to do that.
13:01You're one of the few people who don't need to assault us with music every three months,
13:06even though you seem to want to do so regardless.
13:09But just take some time and come back on your own terms, on your own pace, and he'll be fine.
13:15Because Drake is very capable of making good music and making great albums.
13:20He should just run that back and read between the lines and tell me what he was going to say.
13:27That's a clean up for me.
13:28Listen, I don't want to get hit by Aubrey's Angels.
13:33Oh, but the last 10 minutes won't, you know, that one line will do it.
13:39I don't know how I got to be the defense attorney, but I will.
13:42I was thinking about this.
13:44I don't know where you guys stand with this.
13:46It may be a little too early to say this, but I think Kendrick solidified that whole big three debate last night to me.
13:56I think he is top one.
14:02And I think now it's undisputed.
14:05Nigga like me never disputed it.
14:08And this is coming out of the Drake super fan.
14:10Like I can acknowledge that was the bow to like just close that whole discussion out.
14:16Yeah, there really was something about.
14:20I mean, it's weird to say that Kendrick was missing something because he, of course, had plenty of critical acclaim.
14:24He got, you know, everybody loves him.
14:26He got Grammys.
14:27He's got a lot of, you know, chart numbers act like things do well.
14:30But it did feel like.
14:32I guess he never had that one gravity moment that like he was the soul center of and everybody responded to it.
14:39And I think in particular, of course, streaming something like that could have the concert fine.
14:43And it would have, you know, we would have heard about it.
14:45We would've got tapes or whatever.
14:46But to, you know, put it on the holiday, put it on Juneteenth, bring out everybody, make sure that it's live.
14:52And also, I mean, I don't know if I need to give a shout out to Amazon.
14:56The fact that the stream did not crash.
14:57There was no delay.
14:59Like everything was high def.
15:01I was like, I don't know.
15:02Netflix.
15:03They got to catch up.
15:04Angles.
15:05Different shots.
15:06The edits on the wop, wop, wop.
15:07I said, yo, this is quality.
15:09That one little 10 second clip is like that lives rent free.
15:13Like I'm going to.
15:14Crazy.
15:15Like, I don't know.
15:16Whoever directed that shit.
15:17Emmy, give it to him.
15:18We're just talking about that.
15:19It could be an Emmy.
15:20But for that moment, like we just, you know, solely commanded just the whole culture for a night.
15:27And then that just really was the cherry on top.
15:29I think you're right.
15:30The last time I felt like Kendrick really owned a culture moment by himself.
15:35And it feels like humble to me.
15:37And the damn era.
15:38Because I kind of want to say Black Panther, too.
15:40But that's obviously shared with the movie.
15:42Right.
15:43Right, right, right.
15:44But it kind of has been.
15:46And by virtue of that, it's the music that he makes.
15:48So it's like it's not always fine tuned to have those moments, but to create one like that last night.
15:54And also just from a performance aspect.
15:57If there was ever a debate about who is one of the best live performers of rap outside of Tyler, Kendrick was ridiculous last night.
16:05The breath control was fantastic.
16:07Even when he was fumbling lyrics, he was able to get right back on beat and just kill it.
16:12Even when he just let the crowd rap for him.
16:14That in itself felt like a freaking emperor moment.
16:18Yeah.
16:19I mean, the way they held that A minor.
16:23Talk about choir practice in that.
16:24That was crazy.
16:28To your point about the breath control.
16:30To do something like a very new record like Euphoria.
16:33That's the first time you're doing that record.
16:35And it's six, seven minutes.
16:37And you're opening type shit with that?
16:38That's crazy.
16:39And knowing that if you stumble, the sniper is going to be ready.
16:44If you stumble on that one, the whole stream is kind of like gone.
16:48Because you open up with this diss track that went number three on the charts.
16:52Like tons of acclaim.
16:54It's a really amazing record.
16:55You can't fuck it up.
16:57Even when he did stumble a little bit, it didn't matter because the crowd was rapping over him.
17:00Three different beats, which is...
17:02That kind of breath control is...
17:05He's otherworldly, man.
17:06He can take no sips of water.
17:09Yo.
17:11Talking about push-ups.
17:12Okay.
17:13Did his push-ups.
17:14I think it was Lowkey who was the first one I saw talk about this.
17:18But the fact that it obviously was Kendrick-centric.
17:21But the whole West Coast coming together.
17:23That cannot be understated.
17:25And I think...
17:27You sort of always get nervous when you put this kind of thing out there.
17:30But to see other regions, if they could sort of replicate that kind of thing.
17:34Everyone steal this idea.
17:36Yeah.
17:37I don't know if it's like...
17:38Because you don't want to rush it and you don't want to...
17:41Don't get a half-ass lineup.
17:43Do it right.
17:44Take your time.
17:45I don't know if it becomes sort of a Juneteenth thing going forward.
17:48Or whenever people feel like the right time is.
17:51But obviously the East Coast, New York-centric, could have their own thing.
17:54We got too much ego out here, man.
17:56You think it beats...
17:57Yeah.
17:58Well, I don't even know who would be the artist.
18:00I don't know who would be the artist to be the whole dialogue.
18:03It's crazy because the artist who would have been would have been Pop.
18:05Yeah.
18:06I think so.
18:07Yeah.
18:08Yeah.
18:09But still, you could have...
18:10I mean, somebody East Coast.
18:11You know, you got Chicago, Midwest.
18:14Down South gets a little tricky because everybody want to put their own city.
18:17You know, Memphis, New Orleans, Atlanta.
18:19I would say let them do it.
18:20Atlanta.
18:21Let's get hyper-regional.
18:22Yeah.
18:23Yeah.
18:24Atlanta.
18:25NOLA got in motion right now.
18:26Houston got their shit.
18:27Atlanta always got their shit.
18:28Like, it's as many Juneteenths as the world keeps turning.
18:30Juneteenth ain't running out anytime soon.
18:32You know who I think would be able to pull...
18:34I mean, I think Future could do it.
18:35But Atlanta, I think if Thug was out, I think Thug...
18:37Yeah.
18:38Ooh, that could be a good...
18:39Everybody outside.
18:40I know.
18:41His coming home concert?
18:42I was going to say, especially like a post-release kind of...
18:44Yeah.
18:45Because didn't...
18:46Guwop did something when he came out, I think.
18:48I feel like I remember that.
18:49That sounds right.
18:50Yeah, I was going to say.
18:51But I feel like Thug knowing the magnitude of this case.
18:53Certainly.
18:54I mean, that would...
18:55Yeah.
18:56And that would get everybody past, present.
18:57Right.
18:58Yeah.
18:59In the mix.
19:00Wow.
19:01Yeah.
19:02But no.
19:03What a time it was last night to be alive.
19:07We're going to pivot.
19:08First of all, that Drake...
19:09He had to give Drake...
19:10Right.
19:11I was...
19:12He had to give Drake the last line.
19:13I was...
19:14I don't got caught.
19:15I just...
19:16Somebody playing not like us real rare.
19:17Let me let him live.
19:18I still got room for my king.
19:19You know what I mean?
19:20For my brother.
19:21Nah, but Versus is apparently back in the mix.
19:24It locked in a distribution partnership with Elon Mux's ex.
19:30Versus is back.
19:32And pretty much this is going to allow them to have 100% of ownership and creative control
19:38of the platform while X has exclusive distribution rights.
19:42So viewers will be able to watch the live stream series for free through X.
19:46How do we feel about Versus being back?
19:49Do we care?
19:50Sure.
19:51Okay.
19:52Okay.
19:53First off, this is...
19:54To my point about Amazon, I ain't never seen them Twitter X streams work the way that they...
19:59There's always some bullshit.
20:01There's always some going in.
20:02So just on a tech level, X and Amazon are...
20:05Oh yeah.
20:06That's apple and oranges.
20:07That's a whole nother beef level that's coming.
20:08That's apple and oranges.
20:09Because Amazon set the bar last night.
20:10Look, with Versus, there's really two things that, in my mind, stopped the momentum of
20:17Versus.
20:18One, obviously, is the pandemic eased up.
20:20So people are back outside.
20:21People weren't really looking at their screens on Friday night like that, Saturday night
20:26like that.
20:27The collective just disappeared.
20:29But the other problem that they had is, as far as we know, a lot of the people...
20:33Either the people who had the catalog either had done it, or the people who had the catalog,
20:37we felt we wanted to see do it, weren't going to do it.
20:40Mariah, Janet, Missy, Rihanna, Usher, JT, Chris.
20:45I mean, Jay was on that Twitter Spaces one time, I think back when it was called Twitter
20:49Spaces.
20:50And he was talking, and they asked point blank, are you going to do it?
20:54And he was like, no.
20:55Because it's like, who can compete, really?
20:57There's records that I haven't even done live that...
21:00For me to pick 20 songs, I'll bury anybody.
21:03He didn't say it quite that heavy, but Jay had the humble filter on, but that's what
21:08he meant.
21:09So I'm curious if it's just going to be a music thing, who or what they're going to
21:14do.
21:15I know there were some rumors back that they would expand beyond just R&B and hip hop.
21:20I think they did...
21:21One time, they did a Benny Blanco.
21:22They did a pop-ish one.
21:25But you know, they could...
21:26I mean, pop, country, I don't know.
21:28That, of course, already gets thorny because people are going to feel like that was our
21:31thing versus was a very black space, black oriented.
21:35So to make it everybody jumps in, that's already going to be a problem.
21:40And then if they do expand, I think there's also talk that they would expand beyond just
21:44music and do versus...
21:45Versus comedy, versus sports.
21:47And I'm kind of wondering what that looks like because...
21:50It's a bit ambitious.
21:51I mean, I'm trying to think if it's like versus movies, are we going to watch...
21:54Are we about to have Angela Bassett versus Taraji P. Henson?
21:57Scene versus scene.
21:59The wait and exhale versus the, you know, the...
22:06Not hitting fingers.
22:07I'm just trying to like...
22:09I was thinking Angela.
22:10What was the American dream?
22:11The Jackson...
22:12Oh, the...
22:17Yo, the lip quivering.
22:18Yeah.
22:19That's what I'm doing right now.
22:21I've been really over versus since it became branded as versus.
22:25If that makes sense.
22:26Okay.
22:27Like for me, the charm of it was these janky ass Instagram live streams.
22:31Like niggas just like playing records back and forth, giving the stories behind them
22:35before it became like, this is a thing.
22:37This is a competition.
22:38This is now a performance thing.
22:39I'm going to get at this venue and do this and do that.
22:42It became like super commercialized and super corporatized in a way that kind of stripped
22:49just the love of the game out of it for me.
22:53I think what could be effective is looking into the live sector for versus.
22:57Like a lot of the artists that were on versus probably can't mount arena tours by themselves
23:02right now, but if it was under the versus branding and it was like,
23:06Jill Scott and Erykah Badu go on tour together as a sequel to that,
23:10that could be something that I'm interested in.
23:12And they could live stream those concerts.
23:14I feel like that's more effective than trying to get an already dwindling pool
23:18of artists who haven't done it and will want to do it to live up to what we remembered
23:23versus to be.
23:24But then again, so much of versus was the pandemic.
23:27Like it was that cause and effect thing.
23:29We're not in that stage anymore.
23:30So the way we engage with it will be different fundamentally.
23:33I do feel like to your point, I was thinking about the movie thing
23:37as I was turning over my head.
23:38And I guess exactly to your point about the live thing.
23:41Like, I don't know how that movie idea translates on a live stream,
23:45but if they had, you know,
23:46if they brought Angela and Taraji to a theater and it was, you know,
23:49like y'all come in, like talk to them, live Q and a play,
23:52whatever back and forth stories behind this movie.
23:54Y'all don't know this.
23:55And I would be like, I would be there for that.
23:57If it's sports.
23:58I mean, obviously if you can get two legends in the same city or,
24:01you know, like, you know, whether it's basketball, football, whatever,
24:04like you could probably work with that.
24:06I know maybe that's the scale of that might be tough,
24:09obviously because you just partnered with X and I'm sure they want something
24:12that's going to go global and worldwide.
24:14But I do think that local element actually could be a real,
24:18a real cool part of it.
24:19Yeah.
24:20To your point.
24:21What would be the one battle to kind of, I guess, re vitalize versus.
24:29If they had to have one battle to kick it back off,
24:31what would you guys want to see?
24:33I kind of want to see Kendrick and Sam.
24:35I see Jane Wayne, Jane Wayne.
24:39I feel like they both got ridiculous.
24:42Like cross decades type shit.
24:44That'd be really cool to watch and get to involve different regions of the
24:48country type shit too.
24:49Okay.
24:50I like that.
24:52I mean, I, I definitely have been looking for something.
24:56It's tough.
24:57Cause I don't know if it's Mariah, Janet or Mariah, Mary, but Mariah,
25:00somebody, I feel like I really, I do want to see.
25:04And I swear,
25:05cause I guess the first half feels more Janet maybe ask in the second half
25:08Ryan Mary's the way to go.
25:09But they also both got that New York hip hop connection too.
25:12Yeah.
25:13I mean, yeah, I think.
25:14Caddiness in that stream.
25:16Oh, I would.
25:17Oh, that's my shit.
25:18I'm all for that.
25:22Very subtle shade.
25:24Oh my God.
25:25Yeah.
25:26No.
25:27Yeah.
25:28And I mean, and yeah,
25:29they probably have crossed with a lot of the same people and yeah.
25:31I, I, I mean,
25:32I think like that's kind of like two heavy weights of that.
25:35And especially cause nobody thought they were ever going to do it.
25:37And, you know,
25:38it'd be in maybe an ego check for them to even show up.
25:40And it feels like even the backstory of, you know,
25:43who showed up first and who got the, you know, what dress, you know,
25:46it could be a thing.
25:47We could get Brandy and Monica.
25:48We can do that.
25:49I feel like we have Brandy Monica.
25:51Exactly.
25:52We could have gotten that.
25:53We can't get that.
25:54It would be cool to see like a, not necessarily a versus competition,
25:57just like a,
25:58here are some records back and forth thing with like the young money guys,
26:00just Drake and Nikki just go back and forth.
26:02That'll be great for social and kind of just like revitalize versus
26:07in like the mainstream type thing.
26:08But you know, the two of them, I mean, also, you know,
26:11I guess it's playing out in the hair space, you know,
26:13Beyonce Rihanna subtle back and forth.
26:20They think they're,
26:21they already think they send a subtle shots across the aisle to each other.
26:26You got 20 minutes.
26:27Like do a prayer.
26:28We'll watch.
26:29Do it.
26:30I would watch that low key.
26:32I would probably go for Chris and Usher.
26:36Especially, you know, just coming off seeing Chris's show, you know,
26:39and it's just a reminder of like his men,
26:44what he's been able to do the last 15 years.
26:46Like it's still,
26:47the record still hold and they still hold very,
26:50very strong.
26:51And then obviously Usher having arguably the best year of his career doing
26:54the Superbowl.
26:55I'm having a moment.
26:56I mean,
26:572004 would like a word,
26:58but yeah,
26:59I mean,
27:00no,
27:01don't forget about me.
27:02I can't forget about that.
27:03But having this kind of resurgence for him this year.
27:05Yeah.
27:06It's been really good.
27:07So I'll probably be the matchup.
27:08I would.
27:09Do you think Chris Usher is not to,
27:10you know,
27:11father son kind of like,
27:12I kind of feel like that with Jay and Wayne.
27:13Yeah.
27:14I mean,
27:15that is,
27:16I was like,
27:17I can't even really fault you for that one.
27:18Cause I'm not mistaken.
27:19Usher did say a while back that,
27:20you know,
27:21people are trying to throw out names.
27:22And the one that he seemed to bite with was JT.
27:24I'm going to say it would be JT.
27:26Hey,
27:27no,
27:28no,
27:29you.
27:30Well,
27:31JT will need a,
27:32we'll get him an Uber to,
27:33to,
27:34and from the venue.
27:35So we ain't got to worry about that part.
27:38But when you think about Chris's catalog and even,
27:41you know,
27:42even Usher's catalog,
27:43I think people forget that when he wasn't actually on top,
27:45he was still able to sneak out top 20 hits,
27:48top 25 hits.
27:49Like it wasn't like he just died off.
27:51I will sing the gospel of good kisser till the day that I die.
27:53Okay.
27:54That's a record right there.
27:55I mean,
27:56that good kisser,
27:57I don't mind all that kind of stuff in there.
28:00Even when he was in his dance.
28:01Yeah.
28:02Some of my favorite dance songs are those Usher tracks.
28:05Oh my God.
28:06I love to see it.
28:10We are now at the halfway point of 2024,
28:15which is crazy to think about it.
28:18But we've had a lot of great albums come out this year.
28:22So I'm curious to hear some of y'all favorites on the hip hop R&B side,
28:27what y'all been bumping the most,
28:29who's been sitting at the top of y'all list.
28:31I'm going to start with Schoolboy Q.
28:34Okay.
28:35Blue Lips.
28:36I think in terms of rap,
28:38that's probably the one that I played the most outside of the future Metro,
28:41the first one,
28:42I don't really play the second one as much,
28:43but we don't trust you.
28:44I play a lot too.
28:45Those are the two big rap ones for me this year.
28:47You wasn't too crazy about the second one.
28:49The second one kind of felt too bloated and kind of just like y'all weren't saying much.
28:53That wasn't already said on the first one.
28:56There are some songs that I do like on there.
28:58I like Ride For You a lot because I really fuck with that sample.
29:01But other than that,
29:02I really prefer the first one.
29:03Yeah.
29:04I feel like with that album,
29:05they were trying to recapture the magic of Hendrix.
29:09Yeah.
29:10Kind of one more trap focus,
29:12one more,
29:13a little more melodic.
29:14And I wish they went more melodic on the second one.
29:17Like really dug into the R&B future.
29:20That's what I thought it was marketed as initially.
29:22And then it just became like,
29:23this is a sequel.
29:24And I was like,
29:25oh, okay.
29:26And I think it also,
29:27I mean, yeah,
29:28to your point,
29:29I think it definitely seemed like almost a too soon one too.
29:33I don't know if perhaps what happened with Like That threw off everything.
29:37That record became so much bigger than anything they probably could have expected.
29:42And certainly,
29:43I mean,
29:44yesterday we still see the remnants of it.
29:46But yeah,
29:47that might have thrown off,
29:48I think,
29:49the market.
29:50Of course,
29:51they were smart to capture the hype of it.
29:53We don't trust you is still definitely the one that's floating.
29:56There really wasn't a hit single the second time around.
29:58I don't know.
29:59Maybe some cats even thought they'd find another number one after that.
30:02But you can definitely tell which one the people fuck with more.
30:06And which one is just kind of hanging there.
30:08What about you,
30:09Trug?
30:10For me,
30:11I definitely want to give a shout out to the Bryson Tiller album.
30:14Great album.
30:15Great album.
30:16A little long.
30:17I mean,
30:18it's about 19 tracks,
30:19but we could always cut a couple.
30:21I think,
30:22just particularly,
30:23not only the album itself,
30:25I mean,
30:26Calypso is great.
30:27I think Persuasion is great.
30:28Whatever she wants is,
30:29I think,
30:30like,
30:31for that,
30:32especially to be the comeback song,
30:33I would have never expected it.
30:34I think that is one of the best songs of the year.
30:37Like,
30:38hands down.
30:39And especially given what,
30:40where Bryson was in his career.
30:42I think a lot of people weren't sure,
30:44you know,
30:45if he could have a moment like this,
30:47and particularly with the song to do with a rap record.
30:49Right.
30:51And then,
30:52of course,
30:53I wasn't sure,
30:54you know,
30:55okay,
30:56where's the album going to go?
30:57Album,
30:58of course,
30:59leans more R&B,
31:00but just even the different sounds in there,
31:01like,
31:02you know.
31:03He had like a dance record on there.
31:04Yeah.
31:05There was some Jersey on there,
31:06too.
31:07Yeah.
31:08So I really like what he did with that.
31:09I thought Chow was probably like my favorite record on that,
31:10too.
31:11Yeah,
31:12yeah,
31:13yeah.
31:14You brought up Bryson.
31:15I got to give a shout out to Party Next Door,
31:16man.
31:17Those two guys,
31:18man,
31:19they were cooked,
31:20and they both came out with really dope projects this year.
31:21I got to say,
31:22I love Thames' new album,
31:23Born in the Wild.
31:24Yeah.
31:25I've been playing that recently.
31:26I thought it was,
31:27Burning is my joint,
31:28Gangsta's my joint.
31:29I know,
31:30Kyle,
31:31I know you went crazy about Gunna,
31:32man,
31:33but that Gunna album,
31:34man.
31:35No,
31:36I do,
31:37I do,
31:38I love,
31:39I'm a big Gunna guy.
31:40This new album,
31:41I thought was just fine.
31:42Okay.
31:43Like,
31:44it's not,
31:45I don't hate it.
31:46I don't love it as much as I loved the last one,
31:47but you know,
31:48it puts out a solid body of work for me,
31:49so.
31:50Yeah.
31:51Yeah,
31:52based off the last one and the reception,
31:53with like,
31:54Fuck You Mean,
31:55and all that,
31:56I thought it would have a little more,
31:57you know,
31:58bigger.
31:59101 does seem to be coming up,
32:00though,
32:01like,
32:02I mean,
32:03the song itself,
32:04so we'll see,
32:05you know,
32:06if that finds a second hit,
32:07but it does,
32:08you know,
32:09I think kind of the public,
32:10public vibe is kind of maybe where Kyle is leaning,
32:11in general.
32:12But shout out Glorilla.
32:13That mixtape is really hard.
32:14Glow,
32:15man,
32:16that's another one they tried to write off,
32:17you know?
32:18Yeah,
32:19Glow.
32:20The girls and the guys were coming back this year,
32:21they said,
32:22we still got something to say.
32:23That's,
32:24yeah,
32:25yeah.
32:26Cause she came out with that cha-cha bullshit,
32:27and I thought,
32:28yo,
32:29I thought it was,
32:30and she said it too.
32:31She was like,
32:32yo,
32:33everybody thought I was cucked.
32:34Well,
32:35girl,
32:36cause that was an ass song.
32:37But it's,
32:38but it's just.
32:39It wasn't good either,
32:40on what you want.
32:41Oh,
32:42I mean,
32:43you know what's funny?
32:44It wasn't good either.
32:45It was like,
32:46I mean,
32:47it was like the grippy moment.
32:48Jeez,
32:49that's nasty.
32:50Well,
32:51Glow,
32:52Glow has quickly recovered with,
32:53you know,
32:54multiple.
32:55Yeah,
32:56Glow,
32:57wannabe,
32:58wannabe song of the summer right there.
32:59That's so hard.
33:00I think she just put out the TGIF.
33:01Yeah,
33:02it's tomorrow.
33:03Tomorrow,
33:04tomorrow,
33:05tonight,
33:06yeah.
33:07We got a lot more music coming.
33:08Kehlani's dropping.
33:09Kehlani.
33:10Kehlani's what,
33:11tomorrow 21st?
33:12Tomorrow,
33:13Megan Thee Stallion next week.
33:14Lucky Day next week.
33:15Ice next month.
33:16Next month.
33:17Oh,
33:18Kehlani.
33:19There's probably somebody in there
33:20that's going to drop a surprise real quick.
33:21We don't even,
33:22you know,
33:23it's going to be a crowded landscape.
33:24And you never know,
33:25K.Dot might.
33:26Come on.
33:27I don't know.
33:28Come on Summer,
33:29how long do I need that?
33:30I don't know.
33:31I did see a rumor,
33:32you know,
33:33a rumor that he's shooting
33:34Not Like Us video.
33:35I did see that also.
33:36On Saturday.
33:37You know,
33:38I was talking to somebody and they,
33:39do we need a video for this?
33:40Like.
33:41I would have,
33:42so the performance aspect
33:43should have been the video to me.
33:44That's what I thought was going to happen.
33:45I thought they were going to film the video
33:46That's what I thought.
33:47Last night.
33:48Right.
33:49But then they were talking about Saturday.
33:50They're going to film the video.
33:51If we get like a different mix
33:54or we actually get a remix along with the video
33:56or we get like new lines,
33:58like he was dropping new lines
33:59during the live performance.
34:00I can stomach a video.
34:02I think he has enough goodwill
34:04that the video won't feel like overkill.
34:06But I think after the video,
34:08it's like,
34:09okay,
34:10now let's hype it up.
34:11But I do feel like the video has to,
34:13it has to elevate.
34:14Yeah.
34:15You know,
34:16luckily it's track record.
34:17I mean,
34:18the way it's going,
34:19everything is going up.
34:20So you gotta,
34:21you know,
34:22gotta trust them.
34:23You gotta,
34:24you know.
34:25Yeah.
34:26Well,
34:27that's it for us this week,
34:28guys.
34:29Thank you for tuning in
34:30to another episode of Billboard Unfiltered.
34:31See you next week.