In this episode of 'Billboard Unfiltered,' Billboard staffers Carl Lamarre, Trevor Anderson, Damien Scott and Kyle Denis determine whether Drake’s leaked track with Lil Yachty will help his comeback. They also dive into the rappers who are supporting Trump’s bid for president, new music releases in the world of hip hop including Childish Gambino, JT, BLXST and more!
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MusicTranscript
00:00Why are you leaking tracks through Yachty to Kai Sinat?
00:03I mean, but you know, he likes playing the strings in the background.
00:07Is it disappointing seeing some of my favorite artists
00:11show their support behind Trump?
00:12Absolutely.
00:14Garisha was holding it back, baby.
00:17That's all I got. I was like, Garisha was holding it back.
00:23Hey guys, and welcome back to a fresh episode of Billboard Unfiltered.
00:27So in case you guys missed it, Kai Sinat, he was on a stream,
00:32Lil Yachty sent him an unreleased record from Drake and Yachty himself called Super Soak.
00:38Previewed it last night, you know, got some mixed reactions to it.
00:42Yeah.
00:43So I'm curious to hear y'all thoughts.
00:46Could this be the spark to Drake's comeback?
00:50Wait, so he sent it to him saying it was unreleased.
00:52Unreleased.
00:53That's it. There's no, there are no other plans for it.
00:55Yeah, it sounds like an unreleased Drake song is like.
01:00Yeah, it's not.
01:03Doesn't sound that special.
01:05Sounds like a pretty run of the mill.
01:08Unreleased Drake song, which.
01:10Sounds like a B-plus to me.
01:12Which is, which is good because Drake makes good music.
01:16It's like, you know.
01:19Sure.
01:19OK, I can live with a B-plus.
01:22It's fine. I mean, I would love to hear the whole thing, you know, CDQ.
01:26You know.
01:29Yeah, sure.
01:32Sure.
01:32I'm curious to hear y'all excitement as well.
01:37Yeah.
01:43This is what he elicits right now.
01:48I mean, it'd be exciting.
01:50Yeah.
01:51I mean, I mean, look, there's a lot of things in play here.
01:54The first thing that, I mean, y'all have said several times that y'all think Drake should
01:58have vanished for the rest of the year, kind of laid cool semester two.
02:03And clearly back, you know, within a month, a month and a half's time.
02:06OK, so it is that.
02:07Then to come back with something that's a little more melodic, a little slow, a little,
02:12you know, if Drake, I mean, as far as we expect or thought that he's focusing on the summer,
02:17he wants to get new tracks, he wants to get everything seemed like it was going to be
02:20some energy, some momentum back.
02:23I mean, this is not going to be the track that's going to, you know,
02:25shoot him back to pop prominence or, you know, hot 100 number one necessarily.
02:29It could, you know, you never know what can hit number one.
02:31I'm not trying to, you know, you know, rain on the parade.
02:34But it does feel like to me that I would have thought he would come back with something
02:37a little more energetic, whether or not it was going to be aimed at Kendrick, whether,
02:39you know, subtle shots.
02:41Sure, take them, leave them.
02:42But I was just, you know, especially at this at this moment and even Drake's R&B tracks,
02:46you know, this feels like it's I don't know if this is like lead single territory.
02:50I don't know if this is probably just put a feeler out there and see if they respond
02:54and kind of, you know, if nobody likes it, you just say, hey, it was a throwaway.
02:58You know, we were just kind of messing around, whatever.
02:59And of course, if they love it, you go on a Jack Harlow million dollar baby kind of
03:03like, damn, everybody wants it.
03:04Here you go.
03:05Boom.
03:07But it feels like I just I'm surprised that this is really the first track.
03:12And I guess maybe the fact that Yachty gave it, I know he probably wouldn't do it without
03:14Drake's blessing, but that's also maybe a little cover of Drake didn't necessarily
03:18have, you know, Yachty kind of felt it.
03:20And Yachty kind of wanted it.
03:21But you can't say my fingerprints were on it.
03:23Right.
03:23So I mean, Kyle, let me pose you this.
03:27Were you surprised that he took a melodic approach on this record versus the traditional
03:32rapping that he does?
03:33Or I don't think so.
03:36OK, I don't think I was so surprised.
03:38I think as far as I can remember, the Camila features, because they weren't that memorable.
03:44But as far as I can remember, he was pretty melodic on those.
03:46Also, we're still in the summertime.
03:50You know, I like Drake with the melodies.
03:52I think a lot of people like Drake with the melodies.
03:56I don't think it's a huge shocker.
03:58I had to.
04:00I think it's a huge shocker that he went melodic.
04:03I do think that it's more of a shocker that this feels so tepid in a way.
04:10And granted, you know, it's not CDQ, it's not an official release or anything.
04:14So I can't give a full critique on it, but it does kind of feel like it's lacking in
04:19the kind of energy that should be there, even if it's going to be a more melodic approach.
04:23It just feels kind of tired in a way.
04:27But I think the context that arrives is kind of funny, though, because it's like you come
04:32back with this melodic snippet two days after you post a picture with the Tupac shirt on
04:39kind of reigniting what that area of the beef was about.
04:43And it's like, OK, why are you going to rap?
04:45Because if you're going to antagonize him or try to antagonize that again, are we going
04:49to get rap Drake?
04:50And then we got melodic Drake with Yachty on the snippet.
04:54I don't really know what to make of where what his strategy is right now.
04:58But I won't say the track is bad.
05:02I won't say it's good either.
05:04So I'll say this.
05:04The only concern I have and you know, this is more credit to Yachty than anything.
05:09I think Yachty's pen is very, very dope.
05:13You know, the reference tracks in the past, you know, another now another.
05:18It was Jumbotron shit that came out.
05:20That was Yachty behind the pen.
05:22Another late night that was Yachty working.
05:25So this also makes me wonder, was Yachty behind the pen for this as well?
05:31You know, I think to Yachty's point, I'm not going to guess it.
05:36I thought it was a cool record.
05:38I expected more.
05:40But I still think he intentionally teased it just to gauge the temperature, just to
05:45see what the climate is, you know, see what the reaction is going to be.
05:48If it's if everybody's loving it.
05:50Yeah, I'm going to give you out a CDR, CDQ version of it.
05:54I just don't get why we're doing this.
05:57Like, bro, you're Drake, man.
05:58Like, yeah, you lost a battle.
06:00OK, you know the thing, man.
06:01Like, I get it, man.
06:02Like you lost.
06:04You lost spectacularly.
06:06Spectacular.
06:07Let's not let's let's call it what it is.
06:09But you're still you're still Drake, bro.
06:12Like, why are we tiptoeing around this shit?
06:16Just if you you teased he teases that he's coming back this summer.
06:21Everyone gets excited and the response was generally like, great.
06:27Let's put this battle behind us.
06:29Let's all move on.
06:31And then all we get are Instagram photos and like weird captions and all this other shit.
06:35It's like we know what you're capable of.
06:39We know who you are.
06:40We know what you can do.
06:41Just put out a song and stand behind it.
06:43I think it's tough because I don't I didn't anticipate Kendrick to run the summer the
06:48way he has, you know, with one song.
06:51But the video just gave it another surge.
06:54Look, it's still dominant.
06:56We all love the concert.
06:58Yes, like we all love we all love not like us like we I don't understand this.
07:03Like, come on, Steph Curry.
07:04I'm just saying this, like, you know, I don't understand where this binary idea came from
07:14where because Kendrick has a hit that is has been dominating and has been birding up the
07:22charts.
07:23Everyone's really into that.
07:26For some reason, Drake can't also make a hit record that does the same like he has gone
07:34up against everybody.
07:35He's gone up against Jay-Z, Kanye, Kendrick, Cole, every other big name artist that you
07:41can think of.
07:41He's he's he's released hits while they were also making hits like Watch the Throne was
07:47made in reaction to Drake's success.
07:51And he's come out against that.
07:52He made God's plan after he made after he lost the fucking pressure battle.
08:00Like, what are what is this?
08:01What are we doing here?
08:03So let me let me pose you guys this record.
08:06Why are you leaking tracks through Yachty to Kai Sinat?
08:09I mean, but, you know, he's he likes playing the strings in the background.
08:12Just fucking release a song, bro.
08:13I mean, you don't need to.
08:14You're an adult here.
08:16Yeah.
08:17Like, if it's really that big of a deal, I feel like I think it's time for the shot.
08:20Then call of cash has to put a verse on problem when that song drops and the verse goes viral
08:25in your back.
08:25People's good graces.
08:26We can now shut up.
08:27Like, I don't understand why this feels like to Damien's point so much more dramatic than
08:33it needs.
08:33Yeah.
08:33Like, bro, like, you know how to make a hit.
08:37Just make a hit.
08:38Has that ability been shot a little bit?
08:40Is it a self-confidence thing?
08:41Do you need to take some time to get that back and then get back in the city and give
08:45us a hit?
08:45I don't know.
08:46But if that's the case, be honest with yourself and do that.
08:49Don't pull strings with barely mid track.
08:53But the thing about removing the Kendrick situation, which is hard to extrapolate, but
08:57taking that aside, even in the past couple of years, Drake's hit record has been.
09:02I don't say it's been spotty, but it's clearly like the level of stickiness to those hits
09:07has not been what it's been.
09:08I mean, there are these sort of, you know, start, stop songs like Search and Rescue or
09:13a Slime You Out or something that, you know, are definitely major hits on paper, but they
09:17didn't last the same way.
09:19And so to kind of that point, I'm wondering, you know, he clearly wants to be back in the
09:24conversation and not just in it, but dominating it.
09:26That's where he's been for, you know, a decade of his career.
09:28So for you to even go from being the man to just, you know, one of the big hit makers,
09:35that's a step down.
09:37That's something he's not used to.
09:38So I think some of these start, stops are really this sense of trying to figure out
09:42how do I not only get back in the mix, but make sure that I'm that nigga again.
09:47In a way that he hasn't been maybe since, you know, a Laugh Now, Cry Later, certainly
09:51a Scorpion era.
09:52So I was just going to ask, and I'm glad you brought that up.
09:55What's the last record for each one of y'all personally?
09:58That was like the ultimate Drake record.
10:02Just like dominating the solo record that he just killed.
10:05Whether it's chart success or not.
10:07Oh.
10:08Wait, we said, okay, now we thought the word solo record.
10:10So we like, we're not putting like the Rich Baby Daddy's in the mix, any of those kind
10:14of things.
10:15I think it's like, what's the last Drake solo record that just had everything in a
10:20chokehold?
10:21Yeah.
10:24Like God's plan comes to mind.
10:26It has to do with my feelings, but.
10:28Yeah, I mean, in my feelings, definitely.
10:30That whole thing, that God's plan, that's what that era was like the last.
10:33But I would even give something like a Laugh Now or a Life is Good.
10:36I know that's future in the mix too.
10:37But like, I would, I put, I would give him up to like that moment where.
10:41Life is Good was like 2020, yeah.
10:44Life is Good was great.
10:45How was 2018, 19, 20?
10:482020.
10:49Yeah, because I think the box was like, it was, it was the same time as the box.
10:53And that was, yeah.
10:54That means, yeah.
10:54So it's tough to have a solo record.
10:56But like, yo, he's been doing this for so long.
10:59Everyone, no one's on top forever.
11:01Like no one, no one's on top forever.
11:04Don't tell that to the woman out there on European stages every weekend, right?
11:08Right.
11:11We are, everyone not named Taylor Swift is not on top forever.
11:14But like, you know, even Taylor is dropping mid.
11:20I mean, you see this.
11:20Get him, get him y'all, get him.
11:22I'm just, all right, don't, don't.
11:24Oh, all right, my fault.
11:25I didn't, I didn't say that.
11:27I thought this was a safe space.
11:30I feel like in this streaming climate where like, people are now kind of allowed to have
11:36careers that last as long as they want to don't really get pushed out by like an industry
11:40or by a machine.
11:42Some people have this false idea that like, everybody has to be on top until they completely
11:47clock out.
11:48That's just not how a music ecosystem works.
11:51There are going to be people who dominate all the time.
11:53There are going to be people who have flashes in the pans.
11:55There are going to be people who have a mix of in-betweens.
11:57But like 12 years on top is like nothing to scoff at.
12:00Like that's literally pretty much unparalleled, unprecedented.
12:03Like, and it's not like you fell from one to 60.
12:08You're still very much in our top three debates right now.
12:11It's not like we're harping over the fact that this guy is, and you know, when I say
12:15we're harping, it was me.
12:16I'm harping.
12:18I'm, I'm niggas.
12:18I'm the one that was harping that he had, you know, the sexy red song debuted at 44.
12:23I'm like, ah, that's not what he used to do.
12:26But it's like, all right, niggas can't even get on the charts.
12:28These like, it's a hard game out here.
12:31Tom and Dre just, you know, be happy to be here.
12:34I'm not saying be happy to be here, bro.
12:35You're still doing it.
12:37I feel like it could be a red herring.
12:40I almost think this is like, you know, it might be a little, you know, he got something
12:43else cooking that you just go back to TV.
12:44It didn't 50 cents either.
12:45They was talking, picking up some ideas.
12:48Somebody got hit him with like the Black Panther shit.
12:51Remember who you are.
12:54Just remember who the fuck you are.
12:57Oh my God.
12:57Is that some Lion King shit?
13:00No, niggas.
13:00That was, that was Chadwick Pops, right?
13:07Yeah.
13:07Oh, maybe, well, maybe the last one.
13:09I mean, they turned, they turned, they turned into, they turned into lions in the, in the,
13:14in the planes when it, when they, what they did when it happened.
13:18Remember he went to the dream world?
13:20I know.
13:20I remember that.
13:21Yeah.
13:21And the whole like, yeah, yeah, yeah.
13:24There was some sort of cat.
13:25I don't know.
13:26I mean, you're the one that got the movie wrong.
13:27I'm just trying to help you out.
13:30I'm trying to help you out.
13:31There were, there were big cats that were, that were talking.
13:34You need to be helping a soundtrack.
13:36What's another movie coming out this year?
13:37He can do a soundtrack for.
13:39What was the Tyler Perry joint that just came out?
13:44Divorce in the Black?
13:48That would be amazing.
13:50Yo, imagine Drake does a Tyler Perry soundtrack.
13:52That would be fucking incredible.
13:54I think it would actually work.
13:56Like it would be like unironically embraced as good.
14:00And then that is a fire idea.
14:03OVO send the invoice, please.
14:04Let's go.
14:06Divorce in the Black 2.
14:08Get Megan good on a hook.
14:13Change of topics.
14:16There has been an influx of rappers being vocal about their support
14:23for former president Donald Trump.
14:26The list includes Sexy Red, Waka Flocka, Chef G, Sleepy Hollow.
14:33They were at a rally.
14:34I think it was in the Bronx a couple of months ago.
14:37Previously, when Trump was president, I mean, Kodak, he was outspoken about it.
14:42Wayne as well.
14:44Got them pardons.
14:46Listen, got the pardons.
14:47Got the pardons.
14:48That's definitely what Sleepy Hollow and.
14:50Oh, they, they, they, they got it all up here.
14:54With the elections, you know, gearing up coming up in November.
14:58How do we feel about, you know, some of our favorite artists siding with Donnie?
15:06I mean, they're free to do as they please.
15:07You know, it's America.
15:09But I would.
15:14Be willing to bet money that they have no idea what his platform is.
15:18I agree a thousand percent.
15:20They probably have another project to play 25 minutes, you know, which like Taraji props
15:25to Taraji for for everyone was was clowning at the BET awards for saying it so many times.
15:30But the Google searches for that just shot up after the BET awards.
15:35I think she's the probably the sole reason people are asking what that is.
15:40And people were actually interested in what and what was going on there.
15:45You know, I think.
15:46We've we've been fortunate.
15:48I say we, I mean, people.
15:51Are probably not.
15:53Kyle, because he's a child.
15:55But, you know, growing up, it was like we were fortunate enough to have like rappers
15:59that were aligned with with basic progress.
16:04You know, it was like we would use this platform to push for progress in our community,
16:11regardless of what that was.
16:12And we've seen that splinter post Obama and we can get into, like, why we think that is.
16:24But that's another thing.
16:25It's an entirely different show.
16:26But what I will say is I think we haven't had a candidate that really united, not just like
16:35black people as a whole, but younger people, you know, as a whole.
16:42Younger people in a long time.
16:44Yeah.
16:44And for better or worse.
16:48If you don't know anything about politics, if all you see is like the headlines on TV
16:52and then you turn and you see Trump just winding out being this guy who is seemingly impervious to
16:59anything, can do whatever he wants, say whatever he wants, act however he wants.
17:06You're probably like, oh, that's I want to do that.
17:08Right.
17:09You know, that seems cool.
17:10Why can't why can't we all do that?
17:14So to that point, do you guys feel like it's kind of performative?
17:19I don't know if it's performative as sorry, I don't want to take the whole the whole time.
17:24Yeah, I don't know.
17:24I don't know how I would say it's performative.
17:25I think the thing that like it's sort of reviewing who's who's supporting Trump and why
17:30I wish people could like actually have something.
17:33All they really say is, oh, things were better.
17:36Things were things just felt better under Trump.
17:38It's like and I'm not even saying you got to go into the whole make America great.
17:41When was it great?
17:42But like what?
17:42So what what was it like?
17:44Like, give me give me.
17:46OK, so then then then there's that because the other the other argument people always
17:50say is, you know, Trump was cutting them checks.
17:52Biden also gave some ease.
17:54But it's also like y'all like y'all really think like the government walked over to Fort Knox,
18:01you know, because I mean, remember, all these things are happening during COVID.
18:03You remember how bad things had to be for these checks to come out?
18:06People were unemployed.
18:08More people on top of that were furloughed.
18:10Like we ain't know where this shit was going.
18:12We didn't know when it was going to end.
18:13And and and then these checks come and people think that, first of all, I think it was just
18:18free money, like the government walked over to Fort Knox and spun the motherfucking vault
18:22and said, all right, cut them off a little bit, you know, so everybody be cool.
18:26And the best part is ain't nobody ever got to pay it back.
18:28It's like we gave ourselves an advance loan.
18:32And people really think just because, you know, the name was signed on that check that
18:35he just went in his goddamn Chase, you know, bank account and just distributed them out
18:39like like that's that's that's what we're voting a whole platform and purpose on is
18:44just because I got a check once upon a time like nothing else.
18:49He's he's extremely good at marketing himself.
18:52Absolutely.
18:54I feel like as we barrel forward to these latest ages of capitalism, it's so interesting
19:00to look at how Trump has remained a fixture in hip hop, just in different ways over the
19:06past couple of years, like at one point you were the end all be all for what wealth looks
19:11like in the country and you're referencing your name dropped just because you are the
19:15epitome of wealth.
19:17Then there's a 2016 period where some people are making fuck Donald Trump songs and you're
19:21actually getting, you know, called to task on record.
19:24And then now we're in a place where money is just so the end all be all of everything
19:31around us that anyone who is giving it to us or anyone who is as closely associated
19:36to it as possible, we're throwing our support behind them, regardless of all the other damage
19:40that they also do.
19:41And it's like, damn, this man, you know, I'm going to escape it like he 82 or 79.
19:46And it's like you've been a constant fixture in hip hop for so long, just in different
19:53ways.
19:53It's really fascinating to look at, but it's it's a disappointing seeing some of my favorite
19:58artists.
19:59So there's support behind Trump.
20:01Absolutely.
20:04Am I going to stop listening to said artist?
20:06No, I'm still bumping that sexy.
20:09I just feel like my fraction of the sense of the stream is just not going to do that
20:16much.
20:16And clearly, you know, they're not hurting.
20:20Have any of them come out and like voiced what you believe to be a coherent?
20:24Oh, not at all.
20:25Understand the reason as to why they're supporting these people or supporting him.
20:28But the crazy thing about both of these guys, they'll just be like, oh, fuck with Trump
20:31because he just a funny nigga.
20:33Well, you know, he has a personality.
20:35So y'all don't think I'm a little funny?
20:38I'm laughing at you.
20:39You're the real nigga.
20:39Oh, I love myself.
20:40Okay, but are you laughing?
20:41Where are you laughing at the laugh?
20:42Both.
20:43Well, I'm not going to over mean.
20:45I think Trump is objectively funny at times, but I think that it's absolutely not enough.
20:52But also I think it's just because this dude, you know, he does things that we've never
20:56seen anybody do before.
20:58Yeah, we've never just seen some.
21:01He's a felon.
21:02But that's what he got.
21:04And so it is a little like Frank Lucas.
21:08It's like someone's like, okay, touch Trump.
21:12Teflon Don, for real, bro.
21:14In your face, stupid.
21:17It's incredible to like that it goes for these rappers that it's like, oh, that's incredible
21:24as opposed to, wait, why can't I do that?
21:27Like, why?
21:28Why is it that you're allowed to be a felon and run for president?
21:31Now I'm a felon and I can't vote.
21:32Like, bro, the assassination attempt gave him so much brownie points for certain people.
21:38Brownie points?
21:39Yeah, like, yo, his level of gangsta went up like exponential.
21:43All the memes with the many men, it's insane.
21:47Um, I speak, but it's important to say as well, you know, over the weekend, President
21:57Biden officially pulled his name out the race, endorsing Kamala Harris.
22:03And as we saw, you gotta say the whole thing.
22:08I'm just trying to keep it human, you know?
22:09It's like a Tribe Called Quest, you gotta say the whole thing.
22:12President Kamala Harris to where she raised $81 million in under 24 hours.
22:17In terms of the hip hop community, Cardi B came out, John Legend, Lizzo, Lil Nas X.
22:23She walked out to Beyonce's Freedom.
22:25We're starting to see everybody outside really rallying.
22:28So it's good to see that kind of support from the community to counteract.
22:32It's what I was saying.
22:34We need somebody that can rally, you know, not only just Black people, but young people.
22:40We needed energy.
22:42Yeah, we needed someone to rally everybody together and get people excited again.
22:48And I hope that she presents as youthful.
22:50She's 59, about to be 60, but presents like 45.
22:54She really feels so much younger than she actually is.
22:57And that's such a massive contrast to the way Biden presented, the way Trump presents
23:02it's like, oh, actually, I am kind of invested in this year for real.
23:06I have some energy.
23:06I'm fired up.
23:08I personally was always fired up because, you know, I pay attention to politics.
23:12But the rest of my age base, I think people are really buying into,
23:21really get out there and vote and get out to those polls because stuff is on the line.
23:26But also now I really feel like the parties are listening to me in a way
23:31that it's like, yes, we heard your cries.
23:33We heard your pleas.
23:35We're going to run a different candidate.
23:36And it's going to be this one.
23:38And we're all going to fall in line behind her.
23:39I'm also happy that no one tried to, like,
23:43force, not force an open primary, but try to run up against her for it.
23:48We didn't have the time to do any of that.
23:49But I'm happy that we fell in line in a way that I feel like the right is much
23:55more susceptible to doing, which is to their advantage.
23:57But, you know, we took a page out of their book this time,
24:00and it's paying off so far with those donations and those Zoom calls.
24:04And I think the win with Black Women Call had, like, 45,000 people on it.
24:09And the win with Black Men Call had, like, 44,000.
24:11It's a win with White Women Call on Saturday.
24:14People are really mobilizing in a really beautiful way to watch.
24:17And an electoral energy that I cannot say I've ever felt in my lifetime,
24:23besides what I can remember from the O.A. campaign.
24:26Everything else has felt so dramatic and dreary since then.
24:29But this does feel like we have a glimmer of hope,
24:32and we're going to run with it all the way to November.
24:34And fingers crossed it actually doesn't blow out before then.
24:37I agree.
24:39I'm excited to hear Fabulous turn this into a bar.
24:44He's going to find a way before November.
24:46It's going to be amazing.
24:46He's going to find a way before November.
24:49Get ready.
24:49Yeah, we got some time.
24:51Um, and then this past Friday,
24:54I had a lot of releases.
24:55A lot of new music that came out.
24:56Childish Gambino dropped his last album under the Childish Gambino moniker.
25:03Um, JT came through with her first solo mixtape,
25:07The City Cinderella.
25:08Blast came through with his debut album.
25:11Um, curious as far as, like, new releases that came out.
25:16What was sticky to y'all?
25:18What was Gravitating?
25:19What y'all Gravitating towards?
25:21For me, it was, it was definitely Gambino.
25:24Um, I was just curious because it was the claim of his last album.
25:28We had this, and it was just interesting to have that
25:33up against, you know, the last Slim Shady album.
25:37It's like all these, like, monikers.
25:38Their alter egos are coming to an end, which is interesting.
25:42Uh, this, I think, you know, a better album than The Death of Slim Shady.
25:49Both albums, to me, don't really put a cap on anything.
25:53Like, I don't listen to this album and say, like,
25:55oh, I get, I get the Gambino story now.
25:58I understand why you needed this thing.
26:00Yeah.
26:02If he's like, I'm going to make music under Donald Glover now,
26:04and he made this album, I'd be like, oh, this makes sense.
26:08You know, it's, it's a, it's a good, it's like a good hodgepodge of
26:13everything I believe he listens to and everything I believe he enjoys.
26:15You know, there's like industrial dancehall and like indie rock and
26:22what he considers to be backpack rap.
26:25Some really good features, like Georgia Smith is on here on,
26:28I think the best song in the night is really good.
26:31It's tied to a movie.
26:32So I'm sure, as I think Kyle said earlier, like,
26:35or before we started shooting, when the movie comes out,
26:37we'll probably have a better understanding of what this is about.
26:39And I believe he told Zane Lowe, like, he did that on purpose.
26:43So people could listen to the album and do the work to understand,
26:48to try to understand what it's about and try to create their own,
26:54their own story around it, which I'm like, if you have a story,
26:58just tell us the story, why we got to make it up.
27:01But it's good.
27:02I think it's really good.
27:05I'm not the biggest Childish Gambino fan at all.
27:09I wouldn't even say like, I disliked a lot of his music in the past.
27:14And this was the one for you?
27:16To me, yeah.
27:17This is like, this is...
27:21Probably?
27:21Because he had camp, because of the internet.
27:23Yeah, I was never a fan of, I was never a fan of those, never a fan of those.
27:27I didn't know you said that on the Zane Lowe interview.
27:29That's interesting, because why drop a trailer?
27:33You've already given us images.
27:35You've already given us something, some semblance of a plot,
27:38which is why I was like...
27:38Why make a movie at all?
27:39Yeah, even I'm listening to the album and I'm like already
27:42thinking back to the trailer that I've seen.
27:44So it's like, I can't even really formulate my own idea,
27:46because it's already informed by what you've given me,
27:49even if it's not the full thing.
27:50Yeah.
27:51Which kind of fucked my listening experience, unfortunately.
27:54I didn't know you said that.
27:54That's interesting.
27:55Like the past albums, I've always...
27:57I didn't think they were all bad.
27:58I think Donald Glover is stupidly talented.
28:00I think he is one of the most interesting and capable creators
28:06and creatives that has been working over the past 10 to 15 years.
28:11His music was always just to me...
28:15Didn't stick, didn't stick to the ribs.
28:17I felt it was...
28:22Underdeveloped, if I had to give it a word.
28:24This feels like the best version of what he's been trying to do over the years.
28:28This is the most polished.
28:29Yeah.
28:30I can agree with that.
28:31In my view.
28:32So, you know, I hope he keeps making music.
28:34I hope he keeps going under Donald Glover.
28:36I'm interested to see what that looks like
28:37and what that sounds like, what it feels like.
28:40But, you know, as a last Childish Gambino album...
28:46Damn salute.
28:48Yeah.
28:49Shout out to Yo Phillips.
28:51He did a write-up for us.
28:52He ranked the tracks.
28:54It's funny because the song he has with his son, Legend...
28:57I'm so sorry I got to say this, but he had written...
29:00He said it was a poor man version of Will Smith's Just the Two of Us.
29:04Like an attempt.
29:06I just couldn't get that out of my head.
29:08I'm sorry.
29:10Yo.
29:11But Childish, he had some joints on that album, man.
29:13Like you said, the Georgia record, the owner of the record that he had previously released.
29:20There was another song.
29:21Adocasa, you said you wasn't a fan of it.
29:23I think it was...
29:24Steps Beach.
29:24Yeah, that was fire.
29:27Yeah.
29:28When I first heard that, that was the first track of the first three
29:30where I kind of thought it went down a step.
29:32But then, I don't know why.
29:34I guess I was distracted for like a minute.
29:35I played it back and I was like, wait, no, I'm kind of fucking with this.
29:39I thought a good little clean, a vacuum...
29:42You know what happens when you vacuum?
29:44You mask the music.
29:46You know what I'm saying?
29:48Don't ever tell nobody I got a good vacuum record, you know what I'm saying?
29:54My bad.
30:02I'm sorry, I stepped in.
30:04But I do think...
30:05I think the only thing about this record that threw me off was,
30:08I felt like it was imbalanced in terms.
30:10I thought the first half was actually really, really strong.
30:13And even some of the features, I thought, even though I liked the songs,
30:16I wanted a little more Chloe.
30:18I thought the Amore flow was actually really good.
30:21I think all of the guests were good.
30:22But kind of after we got to, what's it?
30:26Yoshinoa.
30:27In the back half, starting with the Legend song,
30:29it got a little more soundtracky, a little more vibe, background.
30:33I guess, to Kyle's point, when the whole project comes together,
30:37I guess we'll see where those songs fit in.
30:40But even the Fouché record, which was completely different,
30:44because it was...
30:44I like it, but I still wanted a little more of her.
30:46I'm surprised.
30:47In fact, the guests to me were a little...
30:49I mean, they were...
30:50Yeah, a little on the extra back burner.
30:53You could tell they were there.
30:54You could hear them, obviously.
30:55You could get hints.
30:56But they didn't really feel like even equals or duets or measures.
31:00So I was a little surprised that they felt a little underutilized.
31:04But I do think actually the first nine tracks,
31:06if you put them together, were some of the best of his career.
31:09The only thing about the back part to me is
31:12I did appreciate how much different stuff we got.
31:16And if you read a lot of interviews,
31:17especially I think the Times one was probably the most notable,
31:20where he talks about music not being quite as fulfilling anymore.
31:23So you knew he wasn't going to necessarily retread things that he hadn't done before.
31:26But to me, this felt like he was almost trying to put
31:29like a greatest hits album vibe
31:32before a greatest hits album.
31:34So it's like, let me give you everything about me in one album.
31:37But it's really like if we got a different energy and vibe this time,
31:40then you would combine it with all the other stuff.
31:42I think we would have sort of a stronger discography.
31:45So to me, we were like a step ahead in the process.
31:49And maybe that's just, you know,
31:50obviously I'm coming to terms with his legacy and what all this means.
31:53But I would have liked that one step further.
31:58Yeah.
31:59I think I have like two unrelated thoughts on the album.
32:03The first being like, I'm a huge fan of Charleston Gambino pre This Is America,
32:07like his music.
32:08I think all of it is really, really great.
32:11This Is America onwards, I'm like, I cannot stand most of it.
32:17This most recent album, I guess this is where the other thought comes in.
32:22I don't know how to deal with it in terms of like,
32:25do I look at this as a soundtrack and only a soundtrack
32:29or a studio album in his discography?
32:32Like, is this sitting next to Awaken My Love
32:34and it's sitting next to Camp and all these other things?
32:37Or is this more similar to like what Kendrick did with the Black Panther album,
32:41what Beyonce did with The Gift?
32:43Like is this because there's parts of the script in the music.
32:46Like we have a trailer.
32:47I think he's saying it's an album, right?
32:50And it's like, I don't know if I really believe that for real.
32:53Because I'm like, part of it doesn't even feel like Charleston Gambino
32:57or does feel very tied to this world of Bando Stone.
33:01That like, I just need the tour.
33:03I need the movie.
33:05I need everything else to make it come to full fruition for me.
33:08And as it stands right now, it's a solid piece of work.
33:12I will say that.
33:13And there are a lot of tracks that I did like.
33:15I really enjoyed the Flo Million Amore track a lot.
33:19I really liked the closing track a lot.
33:21But yeah, I think I just need to sit with it some more
33:24and see how the rest of the Bando Stone era unfolds.
33:28And maybe it'll all come together for me at the end.
33:30That closing track in particular, I agree with that.
33:32Like that to me is where it all kind of intersected well.
33:34Like I could hear it obviously as a standalone record,
33:37but I could definitely like get a sense of, you know,
33:40knowing the best basic outline that we have of what the plot is going to be.
33:43And it's sort of this, you know, catastrophe in the world.
33:46And I guess obviously that's going to be the song
33:47where everything comes together and resolves.
33:49Like I got the vision for all that just off hearing it.
33:53And a few other tracks in there.
33:54I'm still waiting to get that kind of cohesion from it.
33:57But I'm sure, you know, a guy like him,
34:00I'm sure there's a there's a grandmaster playing in the works.
34:02So crazy rain he got.
34:04He's so talented, so creative.
34:06I know he said he was pretty much trying to sell that.
34:09This tour is going to be like iconic,
34:12like the best people have seen in a long time.
34:14And if not, you'll get your money back.
34:15Tell me about it.
34:16I do want to see it because Will is opening, right?
34:18I haven't seen a lot, I want to see it.
34:20So that should be a good one.
34:22Arena tour at that.
34:24I know you listened to the JT project.
34:26I did listen to the JT project.
34:27City Cinderella has been buzzing a lot over the weekend.
34:29Yeah, I had a really good time with City Cinderella.
34:34I personally really love the mixtures of Miami sounds
34:38and New York sounds on the album.
34:40I don't think many people were expecting that mixture from JT.
34:43But I think the album makes, I'm not going to call it an album.
34:46I think the mixtape makes a very strong case for what the solo sound is for her,
34:51what her solo aesthetic is.
34:52It is lyrically sometimes similar to the City Girl stuff.
34:56But really, you get to see her open up more about her traumas growing up,
35:02her sort of journey trying to start from the ground up,
35:05being from this group that kind of had this crumbling on their third album
35:09and happened to make it on her own as a solo artist.
35:12I really love the intro track.
35:14It's called Hope.
35:15And the last track started the show.
35:16Those are probably like the most New York heavy sounds on there.
35:19There's a track called Uncle Al that's like a tribute to Uncle Al from Miami.
35:23And it's so good.
35:25It's like genuine, authentic Miami bass.
35:29But she also uses this interpolation of Push It by Salt-N-Pepa.
35:33That's a really nice mixture there.
35:35And there's similar things happening with, what's the name of that track?
35:40JT Cummins.
35:41She kind of, she samples Breathe In, Breathe Out, that Fatman Scoop record.
35:45That one is really, really good.
35:46But she has a really good ear for how to flip familiar songs
35:50into something that feels very, very individual to her.
35:55And overall, I just kind of love how all the Southern rap girls
35:58dropped a really strong project this year that sound like their cities.
36:02Like Megan really sounds Houston.
36:05Everything I think sounds like Memphis.
36:08This JT project sounds like Miami.
36:10I think that's really, really dope.
36:12And it's a cool spot for female rap to be in with
36:14the Southern girls kind of running it right now.
36:17Man, Karisha was holding her back, baby.
36:21That's all I got.
36:22I was like, Karisha was the one holding her back, man.
36:24I'm saying JT can spit.
36:26That's all I'm saying.
36:27JT can spit.
36:29Speaking of the samples we call out, I got to throw one question back that way.
36:34Because when I heard 90s baby, did you hear 90s baby?
36:36Uh-huh.
36:38Because y'all, that's sick.
36:38Because y'all don't know Karl Lamar is the number one Joe fan in the world.
36:42That's the wedding singer.
36:43He might be number two.
36:44Because when I interviewed her, she loved Joe.
36:47Okay.
36:48She loved Joe.
36:49I don't think that's what she said.
36:49She loves Joe.
36:50She was intentional about the flip.
36:52No, very intentional.
36:53She went to someone and was like, I want to flip this song.
36:56She was very, very, very involved in the production process for this tape.
37:02Which is nice because she recorded this while doing the club tour.
37:05This wasn't even like, I am sitting down in the studio for two months and really working on this.
37:10It was like, I'm hitting this club tour.
37:12I'm getting on this bus to the next one.
37:13I'm recording these songs.
37:15Most of these tracks didn't exist six months ago.
37:17And here it is.
37:19And she is already teasing another one, ready to go.
37:22JT's working.
37:22I love that.
37:24She definitely earned that spot on the top female rappers of the moment list.
37:29Wow.
37:30We rank that shit.
37:31Which y'all don't know, you've got advocates in the house.
37:34Yeah.
37:35I think she's going to move up.
37:36And then, yeah, I got to give a quick shout out to Blast.
37:40He dropped his debut album on Friday.
37:42A 20 piece.
37:45I struggle when it comes to long albums.
37:47But I've always said with him-
37:49Love that TikTok attention span.
37:50Got you.
37:50Yo, I can't lie.
37:51It's tough, man.
37:52It's pretty big though.
37:5320 piece, bro.
37:54It's a lot of albums.
37:55It's a lot of songs.
37:56It's a lot of songs, man.
37:56But I've always said with him specifically, I just feel like he's someone who does not make bad music at all.
38:03So when you guys get the chance, definitely check out I'll Always Find You.
38:06He's always gotten-
38:07People have been trying to knock him recently because they feel like he makes that same West Coast bop.
38:11But this album, you get a bit of Afro beat.
38:14You get some reggae tone because he got Becky G on the Rewind record.
38:20You get a little dance pop.
38:21He has a record with Ty Dolla $ign on I Need Your Love.
38:25So it's a concept album based on fictional characters.
38:29But the way he was able to string it together, he got some skits with E-40 and Snoop Dogg.
38:32I thought it was well done.
38:34Thought it was well done.
38:35So shout out to Blast, man.
38:37I like Private Show off that album.
38:38Private Show, hell yeah.
38:39That slow jam moment, that was real nice.
38:42He's with the pen, man.
38:44I'm curious to see where he can go.
38:45Because I know he told me the biggest thing when he first came out, people were already
38:50designating him as that hook guy to be the next Nate Dogg, to be the next Ty Dolla $ign.
38:55He's like, yeah, that's cool.
38:57But I'm all about albums.
38:58I'm all about bodies of work.
39:01This debut album, two projects before that, before I let go, and No Love Lost.
39:05He does not miss when it comes to projects.
39:08So special shout out to him.
39:10Word.
39:10I like that young people are focusing on making albums.
39:14I like that.
39:15We thought that was going to go away.
39:17So it's good to see.
39:18We got to keep that trend going.
39:19Yeah, props to him.
39:21Yeah, man.
39:22Die and breathe.
39:23Amen.
39:24So appreciate y'all kicking it with us for an episode of Billboard Unfiltered.
39:28We will see you guys next week.