In this episode of 'Billboard Unfiltered,' Billboard staffers Carl Lamarre, Trevor Anderson, and Damien Scott discuss the significant role hip-hop artists have played in the upcoming election by being vocal about their endorsements. They also react to Tyler, the Creator's 'CHROMAKOPIA,' Lil Durk's arrest, and the reasons more rappers are ending up in jail, and more!
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00:00I know you've said he's in your big three, I think this is solidified.
00:04I mean the last two albums won Grammys, he's gonna probably lock up another number one
00:08hopefully with this one.
00:09I don't think Ari got that kind of time or the patience to really try to play this indie game.
00:16You really try to put somebody away for, you know, charges that are gonna be murder,
00:19gonna be, you know, multi-decade sentences, life sentences, all these kind of things.
00:24It really feels like rap kind of gave up this election.
00:29We kind of sat this one out.
00:33Hey guys, what's going on?
00:34And welcome to another episode of Billboard Unfiltered.
00:38It's good.
00:38Gentlemen!
00:39What up?
00:41Back again.
00:42About to close out this week in a good way.
00:44We got some music on Monday.
00:48Sure did.
00:49From a certain cat title, The Creator.
00:51His seventh studio album, Chromocopia.
00:55I enjoyed the Monday release.
00:57I enjoyed the Monday morning.
00:58It feels good, right?
00:58Yeah, going to work, listening to a new album in the morning on a Monday morning,
01:02starting the week with some good music.
01:03I like that.
01:04We should try more of that.
01:07If more releases are as good as this one, I am all for Mondays.
01:10You know, we could be on to something.
01:11Tyler dropped Monday, Earth Gang dropped yesterday, so who knows?
01:15We're gonna change the whole system up.
01:17Yeah, make a fake Trevor job just impossible.
01:22Tyler put out his seventh studio album, big, big features.
01:26I'm talking about Sexy Red, Lil Wayne, Gorilla, Doji, Schoolboy Q, Daniel Caesar.
01:33It's looking like pretty dope projections.
01:35It should have a strong debut.
01:37Let's talk about reactions.
01:38This is his first album since 2021.
01:41Having him back on the scene, how do y'all feel about this Monday release of an album?
01:47I like it.
01:48I think we were coming off such a high with the last album that everyone,
01:54including myself, was like, where's he going to go next?
01:56What's he going to do?
01:58The first single, I was excited because I thought he was going to go in a new direction.
02:03I thought he found some new inspiration, that he found a new bag to play in.
02:09You get into the album, though, and you're like, oh, this is still him playing around
02:12with early 2000s Neptunes.
02:16He's trying to remake number one over and over again.
02:20I love a record, by the way.
02:22Great, great record.
02:23But with that said, I think it's a strong effort.
02:26I don't think it's his best album.
02:27I still think his last album is his best album, but I think this is really good.
02:30He's now proven with this album, to me, that he has a bar that he won't go below.
02:36He's just so good now that for the foreseeable future, he's just going to be here.
02:42He's just going to keep making fire.
02:45So yeah, it's good.
02:47Good for him.
02:48I love that.
02:49Kyle?
02:49I loved it.
02:50Yeah, I think it's probably battling for top three for me out of his catalog.
02:58I like hearing people grow up on their records, and it's really cool to hear him mature.
03:03You know, him talking about pregnancy scares and aging and how his relationship or lack
03:09thereof with his father influenced the way that he looks at love and relationships as
03:13his own man now.
03:15I see a lot of influence from Mr. Morale from 444 in terms of stripping your ego to kind
03:21of come to terms with who you used to be, who you are, and who you want to become.
03:25I think those are all really interesting questions that it's cool to hear Tyler's take on,
03:29especially as him being who he is and where he's from.
03:33I love the Southern rap influences on this record a lot.
03:36Yeah, very heavy.
03:38I didn't see that coming.
03:38Doji on the track with an Uncle Luke sample was crazy.
03:42I like the HBCU marching band feel to Sticky and the Young Buck sample on that one too,
03:47Early Lights.
03:48I had a really good time listening, but I think it was cool that we started off the
03:51year with a big moment for the West Coast, and we're kind of closing it out with another
03:54big moment for the West Coast.
03:56And all the music is explicitly informed, but also reflective of their respective hoods.
04:01And I think that's a really cool moment for hip hop, and I really enjoyed it.
04:05That's a good point, man.
04:06West Coast really fucking dominated this year, bro.
04:09They killed it.
04:09Where the fuck New York at?
04:10It's funny because I saw Rory and Ma, they just put out an episode a couple days ago,
04:16and I think it was Rory trying to make the argument that the West Coast never really
04:20embraced Tyler up until recently.
04:27I mean, no one embraced Tyler, really.
04:31Odd Future were outcasts.
04:32They purposefully positioned themselves away from what was going on in the mainstream.
04:39It wasn't until a few albums, Tyler was like, no, I want to be a star.
04:44I want to be a legitimate star.
04:46I don't want to be an insane clown posse where I have this world that I've built all to the
04:51side that's really sustaining me, and I'm good, but I'm not considered by the rest of
04:57the rap game.
04:58He's playing with the big boys.
05:00Yeah, he's like, I want to compete.
05:02He's been competing, but it's like you've got to play the game to be in the game.
05:07So yeah, no one embraced him and no one accepted him, but he also wasn't trying to be embraced
05:12or accepted up until recently.
05:13I forget which track he said it on, but he's like, yeah, I'm the second best after Kenny.
05:17Yeah, it's true.
05:19Look at the pop out.
05:20That reaction when he came out on stage was absolutely insane.
05:25Guys beyond bonafide star.
05:27Yeah, right.
05:27Trev.
05:28Yeah, I mean, that line in particular, I know it's got a lot of resonance.
05:31Because I remember at the pop out when he did show up, and it was like, again, just
05:36that rise of like, whoa, homeboy is here, and he's really going to go toe to toe with
05:42all these people that you wouldn't expect him to have been at that kind of event.
05:44So for him to pop out, get that reception, really did solidify it.
05:48I like the album a lot.
05:49I really thought it had the right mix of introspection.
05:53I'm thinking the Like Him record, I didn't see that kind of thing coming.
05:57Obviously, you have the sort of interludes with his mom, sort of setting up a lot of
06:05these themes and questions and the pressure of why do we want to have a kid and what's
06:10he going to be like and make sure he's this and that.
06:12And so I thought that was a good connective tissue to kind of throw out through the album.
06:18But yeah, I mean, between Tyler, I love that it just is fundamentally him.
06:22There's plenty of records that are quirky.
06:25When I first heard Noid, I was kind of like, okay.
06:32As a start off record, I was like, okay, I'm not sure where this era is going.
06:37I'm not sure if I'm going to be the right passenger for this train.
06:39But that actually seemed to be one of the more, that to me wasn't really representative
06:45of the full album.
06:46I think Sticky.
06:47It's a banger.
06:50That little hook is stuck in my motherfucking head.
06:52I don't know who's going to play that first, who's going to do something special with that.
06:55Whether it's like an HBCU or whether it's hopefully a video or some shit comes out,
06:59they push that song.
07:00Because Tyler's not necessarily a mainstream hit artist kind of guy.
07:05Obviously, you got Earthquake.
07:06What's your name?
07:07They make waves.
07:08But to me, that's instantly a song.
07:10And I know it's got glow.
07:11I know it's got sexy, which some people might think is a cheat code.
07:14But I mean, use what you got.
07:16And I think that song in particular can really go and bring him to the next level.
07:21And one of the things in particular about this album is it's probably going to have
07:23a really big debut.
07:24Everyone's sort of expecting it.
07:26Tyler's only gotten bigger with all of his albums have improved on the last one.
07:29So this one looks like it's going to continue that trend.
07:32But there is no sense that I know sometimes artists, we say, oh, you kind of get that
07:37big first week because everyone liked your last shit.
07:39And you kind of starts off big.
07:41And is it really last?
07:43I don't have any real sense that this is going to fall off.
07:46It's just like, OK, we heard it just because you're Tyler, the creator.
07:50And we're going to put this shit to the side.
07:52I think, you know, hopefully this thing can stick around, you know, for a long time and
07:56be a real contender in the top 10 for a lot of weeks.
07:58Yeah, no, I echo that a thousand percent.
08:00I think for me, some of my favorite records, I love how Darling I bleeds into Hey Jane.
08:07Perfect mix right there.
08:08I thought he used the features real skillfully.
08:11Something that I really appreciated about Tyler, I have not seen an artist of his caliber
08:17have enjoyed such a second win.
08:20Like the second half of his career is incredible to me.
08:24Post, what was it?
08:25I would say it started with Flower Boy.
08:27Yeah, Flower Boy on that half of his career.
08:31And Flower Boy was like a reaction to the response for Cherry Bomb.
08:35Right.
08:35He was like, oh, I can I can do better than that.
08:37Yeah, I can I can actually play the game in a real way.
08:42From 2011 to 2016, he was just that weird, eccentric, odd future guy.
08:47And then he just really...
08:48Yeah, I get on the Playground, you're kind of like, okay.
08:50Yeah, he eating his own boogers.
08:52Let him rock it.
08:55And he has just been flawless when it comes to expressing his vulnerabilities.
08:58Take Off Your Mask is another record that I love with Daniel.
09:02Oh my God.
09:02You know, so I think he's really emerged as one of the leading figures in rap.
09:07I know you've said he's in your big three.
09:10I think this is solidified.
09:11I mean, listen, last two albums won Grammys.
09:15He's going to probably lock up another number one, hopefully, with this one.
09:19I haven't really heard anyone say anything awful about this record.
09:22It's pretty universally liked.
09:24This tour is probably going to do really well next year as well.
09:27I'm very confident having him in my locked New Age top three for sure.
09:32I mean, critically, commercially, he's got it all.
09:35He's a lifetime contract.
09:36The only thing I don't get, which I wish, sorry, is just when he started the rollout
09:41and Noid comes out and you're like, oh, this is going to be this.
09:46I kind of wish it was that.
09:48I wish.
09:49Listen to the album.
09:50It was like, I'm still a little confused as to what the theme of the album is supposed to be.
09:56Or like, no, I know the theme of the album is listening to it.
09:59It's very clear in that way.
10:00I don't get the marketing for the album.
10:01I don't get why he has this character.
10:04Yeah, the album art threw me for...
10:06Yeah, like when his mom was the narrator, I was like, what is...
10:08I heard something about light versus dark.
10:10What I saw from a clip from his speech before his listening party,
10:14and I think he was into it, dumb.
10:17He was like, I was really inspired by the honesty that Kendrick displayed on Mr. Morrell,
10:22and I want to do that on my own record.
10:23But it felt like I couldn't do it all the way,
10:25so I had to kind of put a mask of my own face on myself to be that honest.
10:30So interesting.
10:30I did see that, yeah.
10:32Shout out Paul on Sunbar.
10:35But it's, I don't know, I kind of wish he went further with it.
10:38I kind of wish he was like, you know, his early albums,
10:42he would have like the psychiatrist speaking to him, like that character.
10:46I kind of wish he pushed this whole mask wearing guy with the weird haircut as far as it can go.
10:57Also, his mom reminded me of the Frank album, of Frank Ocean's album.
11:01I thought it was Frank's mom at first.
11:02I was like, this is very...
11:04I was like, this is weird.
11:05Mama Ocean popping up.
11:07I was like, oh, maybe she's just like talking to everybody in the future.
11:10But great album.
11:12Yeah, great album.
11:13He'll be taking a show on the road next year with Lil Yachty, Paris, Texas.
11:18So be on the lookout for that.
11:19I low-key also want to just, you know, from my own little TikTok,
11:23I want to get Judge Judy to hear Judge Judy.
11:26And see what Judge Judy got to say about it.
11:28Would not be surprised.
11:28That was like the one track I didn't love off the record.
11:31I thought the hook was corny, but that was the only thing.
11:34The button's corny to me.
11:35But I love, love, love the idea of Judge Judy watching it.
11:38I feel like she would like really fuck with it.
11:42The track I thought was a little corny.
11:44Not...
11:45It's weird because I love Dochi's part on the song.
11:48But the song as a whole, I was like, ah, I can do it.
11:52I can kind of do without this.
11:53Yeah.
11:55Yeah, but I mean, Dochi was like, she's just fucking amazing.
12:00She's on a great run.
12:00Murdering everything.
12:01Second half of the year.
12:03She's been cooking.
12:04Certified future star.
12:05Oh yeah.
12:06Absolutely.
12:06Daniel Caesar get a couple looks on this too.
12:08What'd I tell y'all?
12:10I ain't going that far.
12:11He never really disappeared for real.
12:12I ain't going that far.
12:13Listen, he did disappear.
12:15Mattisburg Garden sold out.
12:17Mattisburg Garden sold out.
12:19I believe, yeah.
12:20He did LA.
12:21Wait, wait.
12:21Are we saying that Daniel Caesar is like a thing again?
12:24For a certain demographic, maybe.
12:26I'm not sure if he was ever not a thing for a lot of listeners.
12:30For a lot of listeners, he never really went anywhere.
12:33We don't want to admit that.
12:34But like, that was a packed ass arena that I went to last fall.
12:38Can't make that up.
12:40I know we got to move on, but that's crazy.
12:42That's crazy.
12:43Daniel Caesar is definitely gone.
12:44He was like-
12:44For a sect of listeners-
12:48Did Justin Bieber bring him back?
12:49Is that-
12:49For a sect of listeners, he was definitely gone.
12:52But I will say for a lot of people who didn't care about the whole YesJewel stuff,
12:56he didn't go anywhere.
12:57Right, right, right, right, right.
12:59I just mean like-
13:00Like at the culture fair?
13:02At the commercial thing?
13:04Yeah, there was a time where he was like everywhere.
13:07And he was like the next big thing in music.
13:09He was fucking huge.
13:09There were people proposing at his concerts.
13:12That was like a fucking trend that was happening.
13:14That was on the news and shit.
13:16And then he was gone.
13:18He just wasn't on TV.
13:21He wasn't on social media anymore.
13:24People were probably still listening to him, of course.
13:25He's very talented.
13:26That one social media clip that went in.
13:28But you know, I think-
13:29I'm skewed because my years for that were on a campus.
13:32And he didn't give a fuck on the campus.
13:34I mean, that's fair.
13:35So-
13:35That's fair.
13:36But obviously, in like a greater sense of the country, he-
13:39Yes.
13:40The nigga definitely fell off.
13:41Shout out to Daniel.
13:42I was going to say, but he's back.
13:44Daniel's back outside.
13:46We'll see what you do in 25.
13:48Staying on the path for what's going on in 2024.
13:50This actually just happened pretty recent.
13:54This Ari Lennox.
13:57Queen of Dreamville.
13:59She put out her record, Smoke, last week.
14:02Fire record.
14:03But hasn't been tracking too well.
14:06YouTube video-
14:07The YouTube streams, not good.
14:09Streaming in general, not good.
14:11She went on Instagram Live yesterday to voice her complaint with her label,
14:16Interscope slash Dreamville, asking to get out of her contract,
14:20saying she's not receiving the proper help in terms of marketing.
14:25Several artists came out to her defense.
14:27T-Pain.
14:28Kehlani.
14:30Ari Lennox, as we know, somebody who's uber talented.
14:33Put out Shea Butter Baby.
14:35ASL.
14:36Has gotten the acclaim, but the numbers just hasn't been there for her.
14:42So curious to hear if you're Ari Lennox, or if you are in Ari Lennox's corner,
14:49how would you guide her?
14:50What are some steps she should take?
14:52I mean, it seems as if she's come to the conclusion that
14:55she doesn't best thrive in a label landscape,
14:59and I would just take that to its natural next step,
15:03and really do try to get out of that deal,
15:05and try to make it work for yourself solo,
15:07because at the end of the day, your mental health,
15:10your happiness, and your security,
15:12and your music and your art is what's most important
15:15if you're approaching this from an artistic standpoint, first and foremost.
15:19So if this is just not working for her,
15:21and it doesn't seem like it has been working,
15:24we look back at something like her on the Rod Wave tour,
15:26getting stuff thrown at her and stuff like that.
15:28So it doesn't seem like this configuration is the best for her right now.
15:34So she's got my support in trying to do this solo, do this independently.
15:41Trev?
15:42Yeah, I mean, as far as the label situation goes,
15:46the only place that maybe makes sense to hop in terms of a major system
15:50as you can get there is RCA does really well with their R&B artists.
15:53They got an influx of cats, though.
15:55That's a lot of people over there, man.
15:56The only thing that's tough is, obviously,
15:58you're going to be fighting with a lot of your contemporaries and your peers.
16:03So there's a question of what kind of resources you're going to get,
16:05and what the pecking order over there might be.
16:07So I get that.
16:08Obviously, they do know what to do with the R&B crowd, though.
16:12So there's one look.
16:13If that doesn't work, then yeah, I mean, I think Kyle is right.
16:17I mean, maybe you exit the major label system for a while.
16:19Clearly, you do have a core support, which people are vocal about.
16:24They do like Ari.
16:25They want to hear from her.
16:26So it's not like the problem is in a way nobody shows up.
16:30I mean, maybe it's not the mightiest army,
16:32but perhaps you can build in a different way.
16:36Obviously, you'll have way more control over what your sound and your image
16:39and everything are like.
16:41So I think it's at least worth a try to give the full sense of who Ari Lennox is
16:46and what kind of music she wants to make and what lane she wants to go in.
16:50And if that doesn't work, of course, then you pivot from there.
16:52But it's probably worth a try.
16:53And especially, I mean, look, if you're an independent artist,
16:55now is one of the probably best times in music history to do that.
16:58You've got way more access to different platforms.
17:01You know, just throw an example.
17:02I mean, what Tinashe did this year, obviously,
17:04going, you know, bringing Nasty up, going viral, really making a real splash.
17:09And it took a lot of time and a lot of work.
17:11But she got there.
17:13And even No Broke Boys is coming along and doing this thing.
17:15So there is precedent for that.
17:18Just one of those things where, you know, you're going to really have to,
17:21without the major label support,
17:22you're going to have to get your hands dirty and really make it happen.
17:24And to that point, right, I think, and I said this earlier,
17:27a lot of cats need to be mindful going independent.
17:30You have to work 10 times as harder.
17:33This is you don't have the label's budget to play around with.
17:36Yeah.
17:36You're coming out of your own pocket.
17:38You're going to have to be willing to invest.
17:40You brought up Tinashe.
17:42Too Long came out in 2014.
17:45Yeah.
17:45That was her first hit.
17:47Nasty was her first hit in a decade.
17:52I don't think Ari got that kind of time.
17:54You know what I'm saying?
17:55Or the patience to really try to play this indie game.
18:00Ari, I'm going to say it is, baby.
18:03Hit up Roc Nation.
18:06Dead ass.
18:07Hit up Roc Nation.
18:08OK.
18:09Help them get you out of that contract.
18:12Knock Uncle Jay.
18:13Or try to rework this structure with Interscope and what it looks like.
18:18When it comes to R&B, who's that?
18:20You have Black.
18:21You have Summer Walker.
18:22I'm trying to think of Interscope.
18:24Black, Summer.
18:25And they're all like Renaissance, right?
18:27Yeah.
18:28I think LVRN.
18:29Somebody said it in the comments when I was watching her video.
18:32I think LVRN would be a good fit.
18:34Yeah, Ella.
18:35Ella.
18:36Is that Interscope?
18:37Ken Summers, Interscopia.
18:38You don't know if she's been served best as her position,
18:41kind of being the sole R&B person in Dreamville as a crew.
18:47That works for some people.
18:48I feel like that kind of worked to set disadvantage for a TDE,
18:51but it didn't feel like the fans embrace her in the same way
18:56in terms of how that structure is set up.
18:59So maybe she does need to just get in with the more solely R&B collective
19:03or just R&B fronted situation.
19:05That might help expand her reach a little bit
19:08and really cultivate those fans.
19:10People show up for Ari.
19:12I pick Smoke as my pick, I think, last episode.
19:15It was on Fresh Picks for that week.
19:17People loved Pressure.
19:18People loved Shea Butter Baby.
19:20There's an audience that is actively looking out for Ari Lennox.
19:24It's just a matter of wrangling them in the right place.
19:26Yeah, I mean, that Smoke video, I was looking before we started,
19:28has 500,000.
19:30OK.
19:31It's been about a week and a half.
19:32So I mean, yeah.
19:32So it's like, clearly, I ain't getting half a million views on my music videos.
19:38So we know that they're-
19:38It's a great bar.
19:39So we know-
19:39That's right.
19:41If y'all want to support, it's true.
19:42It's a great bar.
19:43But clearly, there is a real appetite and movement there
19:48if you can get half a million in a week and a half.
19:50So there is, I think, an audience that will support her.
19:52And maybe the fact, I know you say, hey, look, you got to work harder.
19:56When you maybe have that pressure on you to deliver,
19:59if you're going to be the one CEO making sure the lights are on
20:03and everything like that, that gives you a new motivation.
20:05But also, again, creatively, if you feel more free
20:08and more in control of your projects and you have more passion behind them,
20:11then that obviously is going to give you a lot more impetus to get out there and work
20:15and make sure that the music that you want to make is being heard
20:18and the collaborations that you want to do and the people you want to be with.
20:21So maybe it's just a creative reset in that sense that she needs.
20:25Unk, I wish you the best.
20:27There we go.
20:28Very, very talented.
20:30Yeah, I wish you the best.
20:31There we go.
20:32Amen.
20:32Ari, praying for you, baby.
20:34Smoke is a banger.
20:35So let's keep it going.
20:36Well, I'm curious.
20:36Do we ever think about what the current setup is?
20:39Obviously, Smoke suggests that there's a new album on the way, a new project.
20:43Yeah, so there's a new album on the way.
20:45I heard, you know.
20:46I mean, she said it, not even I heard.
20:48She said it, like, Interscope shot two videos.
20:51It's just a matter if she wants to release the other one now.
20:53OK.
20:54I mean, well, that's always Thor anyway.
20:56You're sort of publicly embattled.
20:58Hopefully, you know, it's the album.
20:59Yeah.
21:00The support and everything that it's going to need.
21:04I just want to know why she went on that Rod Wave tour.
21:07Hmm.
21:09Anywho.
21:10OK.
21:12Switching gears.
21:12Question box.
21:13Right.
21:15Switching gears.
21:18Unfortunate news.
21:20Lil Durk.
21:22Feds got him.
21:23Feds got Durkio for a murder for hire.
21:29If you guys have been privy to this, him and Kwando Rondo have been feuding the last few years.
21:36Um, Kwando Rondo and his people were allegedly involved in the murder of King Bon in 2020.
21:43Um, and the feds believe that Durk was responsible for a retaliation attack against Kwando in 2022
21:53in Los Angeles.
21:54Feds took him.
21:56The brother.
21:57Intercepted him on the way to the plane.
21:59Intercepted him.
22:00He apparently had three trips lined up to three foreign countries.
22:04I don't know if it was an escape plan.
22:06But, uh.
22:07I don't think he was escaping.
22:08I think he was.
22:09I think the brother was.
22:10I think you might have been kind of confused.
22:11You just happened to.
22:13They could just be playing in three different flights.
22:15Three decoys.
22:16Three.
22:17He's a jet setter.
22:18Bro.
22:20Three different flights is crazy.
22:21It's illegal.
22:22He can't fly no more.
22:23You can't.
22:23Three flights.
22:24Niggas can't take trips.
22:25It's like my grandma said.
22:26You can only drive one car at a time.
22:27You can't be on three different planes.
22:29Three different flights is nasty.
22:31Durk is Durk is different.
22:32But he's.
22:33You know that's like me.
22:33You know what makes me kind of like that.
22:36I say this to say he also had an album that was slated to come out in November.
22:41We do not know the status of that currently.
22:45But this kind of just leads to the point of we're seeing an influx of rappers
22:50heading to jail and prison.
22:52Being incarcerated.
22:53You know.
22:53I guess the question is.
22:56Let's talk about this concern with our guys going in to the system.
23:00And how this has been affecting hip-hop overall.
23:04We've seen Casanova.
23:06Obviously Diddy.
23:07Tory Lanez.
23:09Pooh Shiesty.
23:10The number is growing year by year.
23:12I think I'm most interested in how this relates to us using lyrics in cases.
23:18You know some of these people did heinous things.
23:21Like that's just not really up for debate in certain cases.
23:24I'm also going to remove Diddy from this.
23:26Yeah.
23:27I think that's like a different.
23:28That's a different era.
23:29A different.
23:31Different thing.
23:31Still crazy nonetheless.
23:32Still nuts but more than crazy.
23:35But like you know the whole thing with using lyrics in court cases to prosecute these guys.
23:41I'm very staunchly against.
23:43When I was at the DNC I interviewed a Texas congressman Greg Kassar about the RAP Act.
23:48Which is still in congressional limbo.
23:50It's just in the House of Judiciary right now.
23:52But that's essentially a bill to try and stop that.
23:56Legally you cannot use those lyrics in court cases because it's like one.
24:00Y'all guys don't do this for any other genre or race of people.
24:04And on top of that it's music.
24:07It is art.
24:08It's self-expression.
24:09It's not a direct admittance of anything.
24:13It's tough though man.
24:15When you got cast like YMW Melly.
24:17Get them to say it in a confessional.
24:19Murder on my mind.
24:20Get them to say it in a confessional.
24:21Him putting him saying stuff.
24:24It is art.
24:25You know how many country bands out there are about robbing and killing people?
24:31But you know some cats are brash enough.
24:33Sure.
24:34To just...
24:34And they're dick-headed enough.
24:36They are.
24:37I think we have like the...
24:38So you can't be mad if cats they smell cheese and they're gonna go towards where the cheese is at.
24:42I mean think about the scale and the scope.
24:44If you really try to put somebody away for you know charges that are gonna be murder.
24:48Gonna be you know multi-decade sentences.
24:51Life sentences.
24:52All these kind of things.
24:53And it's gonna hinge on you know that one bar you said right.
24:56Like I don't want my jury looking at that and being like well he did say you know I'll blast
25:00a nigga in the face if he...
25:01And I guess he...
25:02That might be the boondocks episode.
25:03You saw that right?
25:04Yeah.
25:04Yeah.
25:05I feel like if we're like to Trevor's point.
25:06If we're if it's like oh we can use the we can use this song that this person made
25:11to put this person away.
25:12It's like we're abdicating responsibility of actually investigating.
25:16Of course right.
25:17These these things.
25:17It's like yeah all right you have you know a lot of people have come down
25:21on drill rap because of this very thing.
25:24You know because you have a bunch of young black men who are rapping allegedly rapping
25:32about you know the things that they do in the street as and it's like you know
25:37a badge of honor to them to be like you know here's what I did to my op.
25:43Also as a warning like don't fuck with me because this is what I do right.
25:49Even still you cannot put somebody away for creating art.
25:53There is so much art out there that has that has also purported to to to put on
26:01or into public record the personal feelings of its creator.
26:05I'm talking about films and and and photography and even like some sculptures that have been made.
26:13If we're gonna start looking at all that shit then all right let's go back
26:16all the way and start locking everybody up who's who's who's even been connected
26:19to things like this.
26:20Like I I agree that it's something that is more brash than before.
26:26It's you know it's a it's a trend that I don't personally enjoy.
26:32But man if we start locking things up for art then as a.
26:36I agree.
26:37I agree with what y'all saying.
26:38What I'm saying is it's gonna it's gonna cause people to start sniffing around.
26:43It's our they're already right.
26:45So why even put them in a position to sniff?
26:47That's what I'm saying.
26:48Why self-censor?
26:50Like yeah like that's what you're asking.
26:52Like I feel like you shouldn't.
26:55I feel like you'll kill people first.
26:56Yeah a thousand percent.
26:59Somewhere you know a thousand percent.
27:01That would be a good place to start.
27:02Yeah yeah let's let's uh murder is bad.
27:05Yeah first of all.
27:06Yeah um just want to put that on the record.
27:09I want to come out and say that.
27:10Because it had to be said.
27:11Murder.
27:12In case you didn't know we stand on murder.
27:16But even then why why put yourself in a position for cash.
27:18So like I said to come sniff around.
27:23Why should I have to put limits around what I can do with my art.
27:26Off the chance that it gets used.
27:27If you murk somebody you are you gonna just put yourself.
27:31I'm not saying if the person rapping it has killed somebody.
27:36But everybody whether or not you have a body is gonna have to then put a blockers on their art.
27:40Because of something like that.
27:41Yeah like not only people who have a case pending.
27:44People who are completely innocent are gonna have to be like damn.
27:47In case they implicate me in like some kind of Rico thing.
27:50I can't have xyz lyrics in my song even if I'm personally clean.
27:54Because there's a precedent now that anything that I say.
27:56Can be thrown back in my face in court.
27:58That's not right and it only seems to happen for this genre.
28:02And like I I can't get with that all the way.
28:06I imagine you had to have your lawyer like look at your lyrics before they went out.
28:10Could you imagine Puff rapping about freak offs?
28:12I mean he kind of has.
28:15Have he?
28:15Not not like directly.
28:16But Puffsey's made songs about you know having.
28:20Minaj yeah.
28:21But like the old cats would have said yes the problem is y'all y'all y'all just you know.
28:25We got away with it.
28:26We were under the radar for the longest time.
28:29Even like Jay-Z.
28:31Oh him selling bricks and all that?
28:32No he's made he's rapped about the he said the address of where he sold drugs.
28:36He said 560 State Street.
28:38I was selling bricks out of there.
28:40And I you know I I was in the car with this person.
28:42And you know I gave the gun to Ty Ty.
28:44His whole verse I've seen it all yeah.
28:46You know it's it's like.
28:48All right do we just.
28:50Is the Statue of Limitations what?
28:53I think it does work in his favor though.
28:54Oh yeah.
28:55Well it definitely does work in his favor.
28:57It can't be okay for Jay-Z.
28:58Hope was pushing them bricks in the 80s.
28:59I'm saying it can't be okay for Jay and then bad for these kids who look up to Jay-Z.
29:03Because they're doing it like two a year after the fact.
29:05Bro Jay-Z was selling drugs in 95 and rapping by 96.
29:09YMW Melly's joint came what a year after he clipped those allegedly.
29:13Bro after he allegedly came out in 96.
29:16Jay-Z was selling drugs two years before that.
29:18Biggie was selling drugs while he was making music.
29:23Yeah.
29:24Like this is not a new thing.
29:25And it can't be like oh these kids are are why which you know.
29:29Yes these a lot of these a lot of these a lot of these young people are fucking wiling.
29:33And I you know I will say that.
29:34But we can't take away like their artistic outlet because we want to pigeonhole them into a law
29:44that doesn't even fucking really exist.
29:47Like that's crazy to me.
29:48You know you know what this reminds me of.
29:50Totally it's a bit different.
29:51But 50 when he put out Ghetto Koran.
29:54How the cops use that song.
29:56Yeah 50 also got shot for that.
29:57But you know.
30:01Yeah that's what comes with it.
30:05It comes in many forms.
30:06Like why you take the risks that you take.
30:10But no I think it's ridiculous man.
30:12Like you know I think it's it's it's very much like listening to Dirk.
30:16Let's like focusing on Dirk.
30:18A lot of Dirk's music is like catharsis from having gone through the shit he's gone through.
30:26A lot of which involved you know a lot of illegal activities.
30:29Right.
30:31He's allegedly on trial for this.
30:33He's about to be on trial for you know murdering a hit.
30:35I mean that's fucking terrible.
30:38As Trevor said murder's bad.
30:40But using the like using his lyrics as a precedent it sets a precedent that I think would be
30:49very dangerous.
30:50And if we were to apply it across the board as Kyle says I think it would just be a complete
30:58mess.
30:59And I think once you start doing that you'll see that if we were to apply it across the
31:04board it wouldn't hold up.
31:05It wouldn't hold up to scrutiny.
31:07It's only it's only with us where it's like yeah we know it's almost as if like we know
31:11you guys are guilty.
31:12This is just like icing on the cake.
31:14Yeah you know like we don't even need this.
31:16Well you start with the inclusion and work backwards.
31:18Yeah.
31:19Like using Young Thug's lyrics in court is crazy to me because like if you see the clips
31:25of them in court we're like reading the lyrics.
31:27These motherfuckers don't know what Thug is saying.
31:29If you were to play them the fucking lyric if you play them the song they have no idea
31:33what Thug is talking about.
31:35They have to have people in court deciphering the shit.
31:37I'm just saying they probably hire you know some other dudes to do some you know Google
31:41translate type shit.
31:42It's crazy.
31:44Google translate Young Thug lyrics.
31:46I'm sure it's got homework at night.
31:48Well it's just yeah I just like Dane said dangerous precedent that would just disproportionately
31:53impact this genre and black men.
31:56I really just really would.
31:57Even though across genres people sing about all kinds of stuff.
32:00There's an entire genre of country ballads about murdering and robbing people.
32:05And drunk driving and just like all right.
32:08The likelihood that you see any of those get pulled up in court against an artist you know
32:12of those genres is probably slim to none.
32:15Like especially in comparison to hip hop and it's just I don't think this is a precedent
32:19that we should be setting at all.
32:22I think if your case is strong enough the lyrics shouldn't be there at all.
32:26And based on what we're seeing with this indictment it seems like I mean you know there is no
32:30no mention of lyrics or anything like that.
32:32I'm not you know down the road of the trial but based on the probable cause summary seems
32:37like they have plenty to go on.
32:39I mean they have their kids.
32:40So childhood friend wearing a wire for multiple years.
32:43You know it's just wild.
32:46I know that didn't tell me about just just when you slapped it.
32:50God damn it.
32:52I hate to see it with Derek.
32:55I mean we don't know if and when he'll see daylight.
33:00He just got his record cleared right earlier earlier this year too.
33:03Yeah prayers out to the families involved in this case.
33:08I'm just gonna say based on what's in the indictment the prosecutor says I know that
33:12Banks has attempted to publicly distance himself from suspected gang and or criminal activity.
33:17And it's a billboard link right there.
33:19So shout out to us.
33:20Shout out to us for being here.
33:21Shout out to Bill.
33:22It's like Dan you have this kid who grows up in one of the worst neighborhoods in the
33:26country.
33:28He makes it out using music and he tries to better the community for so people don't
33:35follow in his footsteps.
33:37And they think that's bad.
33:38You know what he sounds like?
33:40They think it's smoke and mirrors you know.
33:41Sounds like Nino Brown man.
33:44New Jack City.
33:46But we told what happened with Nino.
33:48There are no poppy fields in Harlem.
33:53And my my brother's keeper man.
33:57That's all I want to know.
34:00Gentlemen.
34:00Well another trial.
34:02I'm never calling Carl if I ain't wasting my call on you.
34:08I'm gonna go say that's crazy.
34:10Good luck.
34:12You know I'll make sure you you know.
34:14Okay.
34:19We are a few days from D-Day.
34:21D-Day election.
34:23Kamala Trump 2024.
34:27Kamala came full force.
34:29Had Beyonce pull up in Houston.
34:30Beyonce, Kelly and Tina for her in Detroit.
34:33Eminem pulled up.
34:35Mr. Obama rap and lose yourself.
34:38We've seen the women in hip hop really come out of full force to support Kamala.
34:43You know Cardi, Glow, Meg.
34:47Haven't really seen too much on the male side.
34:50You know we've seen Fat Joe, Quavo, E-40.
34:54And then Trump has his supporter coming through.
34:57And Plies.
34:57And Plies.
34:58Shout out to Plies.
34:58Shout out Plies.
34:59He made a song called Mrs. 47.
35:02Mrs. 47.
35:03Let's fucking go Plies.
35:04Shout out to Plies.
35:06While Trump on the other hand you know usual suspects.
35:09Waka Flocka.
35:11You know Chef G.
35:12How do you guys feel hip hop has shown up in this election and has more have more could
35:18have been done you know especially for the Kamala side from the male side to help her
35:23out in that regard?
35:24I think hip hop showed up pretty poorly.
35:28You know as I'm not saying you have you know you should blindly support anybody.
35:34And I don't you know I don't think we like owe our vote to anyone.
35:38But there's been a startling lack of insight from our from like the rap community when
35:46it comes to this.
35:47And from a few like elders that you mentioned you know they've been very very loud.
35:53And they voiced their opinions.
35:56And you know they've been there.
35:57But man it really feels like rap kind of gave up this election.
36:08We kind of sat this one out.
36:10You know it's weird to see.
36:12It's weird that most of the headlines when it came to male rappers because I think the
36:17female rappers were always there.
36:21They're you know they're supporting.
36:24And they're on IG.
36:26And you know Cardi's always very political.
36:29And she's you know I think shout out to them.
36:31But man the men to me have been very disappointing.
36:37I expected more even if they don't endorse anybody.
36:42I think having the conversation around the election and making sure that their fans are
36:49even engaged enough to participate to me was the bare minimum.
36:53And I didn't even see that.
36:55And you know I remember when Obama was running and it felt like the entire community was
37:02involved.
37:04Like even without Jeezy's My President is Black like it felt like we were all invested
37:12in this outcome.
37:13The vote or die campaign was big.
37:14All of that.
37:16I don't know if it's because it feels like the whole world is kind of on tilt right now.
37:22And people are consuming other things.
37:28But yeah it feels like hip hop kind of abdicated responsibility for this election.
37:33I also think it's the first presidential election at least for Black people where
37:40in terms of the candidates it's a Black woman and it's not a Black man.
37:43I think that also was one of the reasons why I feel there was less fervent engagement
37:51from the men in hip hop.
37:54Black men don't really like to be decentered in any conversation at all.
37:58And by default with Kamala being the nominee they're not centered.
38:03And suddenly you know stuff like reproductive rights is really thrust into the forefront.
38:08That's not really a calling card for a lot of Black men.
38:13Even though it fucking should be.
38:15It really should be.
38:17Really fucking should be.
38:18Especially a lot of these rappers.
38:20That's neither here nor there.
38:21Zero pull out game.
38:23I think like Dane touched on this earlier but it's like what's startling to me is the
38:30difference in the ages that showed up for these different candidates.
38:34It feels like the younger women in hip hop are definitely very politically engaged talking
38:40about this election.
38:42Whether they're on Trump or Kamala's side but it feels like their age mates on the male side
38:47are just completely disengaged and disinterested.
38:49And I think it might have been different had this been a man.
38:53But I also I'm not completely sure that it would have made that much a difference either.
38:56I just feel like there's a general disconnect with
39:01political engagement and Black male youth in America right now.
39:06It kind of feels like there's you know if you look at popular hip hop media right now
39:13there's been articles that read about this a lot of reporting done on this.
39:18A lot of the talking heads we see like streamers and online figures.
39:23I think if you were to like chart them they would be politically like center right.
39:30Yes.
39:30And I don't know why that is.
39:32I think there's been a generational pushback.
39:34You know the whole like woke thing and the idea of not wanting to deal with
39:42progress to Kyle's point that isn't directly centered on them has been a problem.
39:50I think they are marketed to more in a way that we weren't.
39:55And I think all of that has kind of led to the fans and the artists also going that way.
40:02You know if you had if most of the most popular
40:06talking heads are spouting all of this like disinformation
40:10and right wing talking points like far far right talking points
40:15and they're the people you have to kind of go through to reach the youth.
40:20I can see them you know not speaking up as much or not wanting to rock the boat
40:26or just kind of going with it because like yeah this is what this is what's in vogue.
40:29This is what's cool and not doing as much research as they should.
40:33Yeah.
40:33I mean there's definitely also been I guess some attempts to recognize that
40:37and do some things about that.
40:39So it was a little crazy that in the past couple of weeks we saw
40:42I think it really kicked off with the Obama sort of lecture you know to a lot of black
40:47men where he basically said what the quiet part that people were sort of worried about is
40:52you know are black men willing and able to show up to support a black woman.
40:57Now there was obviously a lot of pushback from that because like I saw
41:01Wendell Pierce is probably one of the first ones to come out and say like
41:04well you know black men are still heavily a very reliable democratic voting base.
41:09So to sit here and pretend like you know 80 85 percent of black men are out here you know
41:14doing this like this is sort of a scapegoating problem.
41:17So even that caused some division but then you have Kamala Harris
41:21sort of needing to pivot to putting out a specific plan like about okay
41:25this is how black men will benefit from policies that in theory are going to benefit everybody.
41:29But you know here we go like okay if you need a special call out okay we'll have it.
41:36You know yeah they're obviously like I think men in general are moving towards
41:39the Republican Party and so you're all you are seeing you know Trump and the
41:42Republican Party in particular making more gains with probably he's probably gonna get
41:47more share of the black vote this time around than he did you know in any of his previous elections.
41:52But to Dame's point I think it's interesting that you know regardless of whether you know
41:55you want to break down whose policies are better and and where it sets up I guess the
42:00particularly from our stars like the lack of engagement with the process at all is very
42:04interesting and you know some people of course will suggest that maybe that means that their
42:09their position is not going to be one that's going to be matched with their fan base.
42:13Or maybe they are not as politically engaged as we would like them to be.
42:16It kind of reminds me even we heard that Ply song he put out and he was kind of talking
42:20I mean I know it sounds crazy but he was talking in the opening about you know his
42:23grandma was crying when Obama was elected everything and he he even says right then
42:27like I don't really get like you know why it was such a big deal until now we are almost 20 years
42:32later and now we understand the impact of that so it's very likely that you know I mean even though
42:38they are superstars and they have these platforms and these you know positions and we want to be
42:42role models and everything a lot of these cats are just 20 year old kids doing 20 year old stuff
42:47and we know in general 20 year olds the youth vote is not you know plenty of people are not
42:52going to vote even though it is the most important election of our lifetime and you hear all the
42:56messaging you got all the surrogates and things like that at the end of the day it's like okay
42:59like I'm 24 bro like you know whatever I'll I'm gonna be fine doesn't really affect me doesn't
43:04really matter to me so um but at a time when you know everybody from Taylor to Beyonce to you know
43:11everybody around the world is showing up it is surprising nobody you know and I don't want to
43:16necessarily single out anybody but like I am surprised maybe someone like Hendrick you know
43:20who has been and I was not politically you know that's that's always been a sort of thorny thing
43:25but in a year where he's been very active very influential even just like a get out the vote
43:29kind of thing I'm surprised that uh that that hasn't come through from someone you know like
43:34at his stature or something like that so um there's still of course time and you know maybe
43:39people will do that little October surprise and hopefully this weekend you know dog it's about
43:43to be November I know but look you gotta you gotta you know look look Beyonce came you know
43:50in 2016 she came through with that 11th hour and you know it's surprised that we're not
43:56slow down
44:02lift the election how did that work out but uh I mean that's all you can hope and you know
44:08one thing I did want to add also is that you know the the conflict in the Middle East and how that's
44:13played out in the past year has also really disinterested a lot of youth voters from really
44:18having a say for either candidate because they're not happy with where either candidate lands on
44:22that issue um that's something that Gwabadat 4000 also brought up in addition to his own
44:27personal experience with um Kamala being a DA in California when he was growing up and having
44:32a hand in locking his mother up he also mentioned he was like I don't love you know her stance on
44:37this conflict and that's another reason why I'm not voting for anybody in this election so there's
44:42a there's something to be said about that and there's a segment of you know young voters who
44:50it really isn't even like a party thing for them it's like this issue is not being addressed
44:54adequately for them by either side and that's turned them off to this entire thing all I'm
44:58gonna say is if you guys have 15 minutes go on YouTube type in project 2025 you know when Trevor
45:07says like especially cats you know 18 and up this election is really gonna affect y'all
45:16more than you believe black men especially you know so please give it a read or give it a watch
45:23whenever you can um because a lot of shit will unfold yeah I think I just want to like the media
45:32thing I think is something just not to gloss over with as it pertains to rappers and and
45:40and hip-hop and we were talking last episode about the lack of uh or like the state of hip-hop media
45:46and you know it's not a surprise to me that as the number of outlets dwindles and as people believe
45:54the state of hip-hop journalism has also uh been diminished that we see a lack of information among
46:02not only rappers but the fan base and I think those two things are directly correlated
46:07and you know it's I think about uh Taraji at the BET awards when she mentioned project 2025
46:16immediately just my own in my own personal orbit I heard people talking about it way more after
46:25she mentioned it the google searches for project 25 2025 after she mentioned it skyrocketed uh and
46:34it's like that sort of thing is what I think was missing a lot in this election there was no
46:42place for this discussion or for people to go and and learn and I think media people you know joke
46:49about media and they you know make all these wisecracks about it but it's very important I
46:52think you know Ta-Nehisi when he was on his book tour for his latest book he kept drilling home
46:56this idea that you know your politics are not just what happens on the ballot yeah your politics is
47:02not just your vote politics is everything that takes place right up until that moment and he
47:09says a lot of that is the media a lot of that is what you consume and if there's not a lot of
47:16shit out there that's informing our our demographic about not only just like the democratic party but
47:24just about the entire stakes and the process and you know how everything works the the small
47:32imaginations that lead us to where we are it's tough to expect them to know what's going on
47:40and so I think you know the responsibility is on them for sure but it's also a I think a bigger
47:47issue that will get worse if it's not addressed and I to you know expand on that it's like this
47:54all happening right after hip-hop 50 is also like really in the forefront of my mind because there's
48:00no reason why you know hip-hop should be so present in the election process you know with
48:07Megan and Quavo stumping and Beyonce out here and stuff like that it's so present it's being used
48:12as a tool to get people to these rallies but at the same time its lyrics are being criminalized
48:18and we don't have a structure to actually have the culture talk about the culture right and that's
48:24why we're left with an electorate an electorate that's honestly probably less engaged and less
48:31educated about this stuff than the ones that came before them and truly be the exact opposite but
48:36this this is just now another reminder for us to really just take this back because it really does
48:42feel like hip-hop this is a nexus point for hip-hop being like actually taken out of our hands for
48:47real because it's now it's a tool of the state even if Eminem has been a tool of the state for
48:51a minute now but like this is on full display. Okay Karras, what on the phone? I just I don't
49:00know if I was just a loop when I was 18 um 21 but best advice y'all go vote you know your vote
49:10does matter so have a voting plan read a book check your locations yeah be ready I mean not
49:16just been I know president obviously gets all the shine but top down whether it's you know
49:20governor senate your local courts yeah all that so much more on the ballot than just you know
49:25who's running the whole show listen in case this is our last episode just want to say I love y'all
49:35it's been a good ride see y'all on the other side
49:43we'll be back with a fresh episode of billboard unfiltered to you guys soon