Of Music & Men #44

Can ASAP Rocky still make you feel something, or just make it sound good?

We break down Don’t Be Dumb, why the production hits harder than the raps, why the features can’t carry the album, and why the biggest thing missing is real story.

Then we get into Drake vs Rocky, Kendrick’s chess moves, why Not Like Us became bigger than a diss, J. Cole and the “maturity” debate, Grammy politics, and why LaRussell might have the smartest independent blueprint out right now.

If you want honest hip hop takes without the fake industry fluff, tap in, share, and join the convo.

Transcript

Snowed In Start And Wild Jokes

SPEAKER_02 0:00

It's Lane LA. Music at Man episode 44. What's up, Dre?

SPEAKER_01 0:09

What's up? 44, damn.

SPEAKER_02 0:11

Yeah. Yeah, we potty. Yeah. Harry Potter, the boy who partted. Yeah.

unknown 0:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 0:22

Not the little one. What's up, Dre? You snowed in today, God.

SPEAKER_01 0:27

Yes, uh. It's packed outside.

SPEAKER_02 0:30

It's crazy. It looked unfortunate out there. Like, I saw it, I threw my trash and it missed the trash. And I let it be out there. It'll uncover itself. Yeah, it'll uncover itself.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

No, we ordered food and they canceled our food order. So uh we ordered it yesterday and it just never came.

SPEAKER_02 0:51

Bro, we ordered some shit last night, rolled the dice, rolled the dice on somebody's life out there, bro. I feel bad about it. So I gave him a crazy tip. You know, I had to give him a tip to, you know, I was like, I need some tacos. I need it, right? You know.

SPEAKER_01 1:06

Yeah. Hey, I feel that. I'm I might do that to somebody later.

ASAP Rocky Album Gets A Five

SPEAKER_02 1:09

Hey, bro, building character. Hey, it doesn't matter how you know someone, what happened, how the relationship formed. Once the relationship's over, you can do whatever you want. I think I think this is an overarching feeling for ASAP Rocky. I have. And let's get to ASAP Rocky's album, Don't Be Dumb. How do you feel about this album?

SPEAKER_00 1:33

Good five.

SPEAKER_02 1:36

So I have it exactly the same. And here's the problem, guys. ASAP Rocky started off with a level of rat that you cannot, you can't act like you can't do that anymore.

unknown 1:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:51

You can't act like you can't do it anymore, and I want at least one track where you do that. You didn't get them.

SPEAKER_01 2:02

This is one of those things where, like, you know, artists have a bunch of unreleased music. They do a bunch of stuff, something I'll make the album. Like, after this break, he was better off reaching back into the vault, pulling out some stuff from like 2014 and just like releasing that than what we just got. Like, if this is what you've been working on, it's better if you move into a different avenue.

SPEAKER_02 2:27

Here's the thing with me, bro. I can see what he's trying to do. He's trying to be rock, he's trying to be punkish, he's trying to be alternative, and he's still trying to do hip hop. Here's the thing. He's not talented enough to do all those things at one time.

SPEAKER_00 2:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:43

He's not one. He's not Wayne. He's not Uzi. He's not Trippy Red. He's not Triple X.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

He's none of these guys. But that being said, in Aesop's lane, and in his sound was original. Okay, he was the best at doing what he did in the style. He did it. This sounded like someone who just tried to come out and start rapping two years ago. And I think he, every song in this album that had a feature by somebody else, the feature was better than him.

SPEAKER_02 3:12

Yep. So the features can't be the highlight of your tracks. Like the features should have more bars or more to add to the story than you. The biggest thing with this ASAP Rocky album to me is that it lacks story, it lacked death. He just had several children with Rihanna. Tell me about your life as a father now. This isn't because, like, when we're talking about, and we'll get into it after we're done with the album, but his tension with Drake, the the narrative is maturity, but I don't hear it in your music.

SPEAKER_01 3:47

Yeah, his his interviews reflect his interviews, talk more about that stuff than his music does, and I guess kind of that's maybe the purpose you would have. Like you said, where's the kids? How's life? How's the like the struggle and the progress on fashion? Like you've had some fashion wins over the past five years. You've also had some confrontations in the industry, stuff like that. Like, this is where your music as art is supposed to reflect. And didn't feel that.

SPEAKER_02 4:21

I didn't feel anything from it, bro. Like it's supposed to, like, it's supposed to invoke something. You know, I did like the lead single pop rocky. That that was good, but it's a single, it's a pop song. So I'm not looking to ace up Rocky for pop songs. Is what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_00 4:43

Right.

SPEAKER_02 4:44

And if that's the strongest sound on your album, I just don't know if I could gravitate to that music. Like, I listened to this for the entire Rise of Pittsburgh. So I listened to the album front to back.

SPEAKER_00 4:57

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 4:59

It was nothing that was like, yo, what do you say? Oh, what that means? Oh, who is he getting at? Oh, that's profound. Why would he get at him like that? Because like people are talking about the uh the Drake disc. Drake Disc isn't that profound. Like guys.

SPEAKER_01 5:13

It's not. You got a really good bar in the Drake Disc, and it was about y'all fucking each other's baby mom.

SPEAKER_00 5:24

That was your best. It's the best bar we got out of you in years.

SPEAKER_02 5:30

In years, man. We don't talk about ASAP Rocky's discs on futures album towards Drake. People, like, all right, let's get into it because we both got the album MF, right? We got the album at a five. The music on the album is better than the MC. The production in the sound is better than ASAP Rocky. He did not rise above his luxury print. Like at this level, he has enough money to buy a great album, to be honest.

SPEAKER_00 6:01

Yeah.

Drake Tension And Rihanna Context

SPEAKER_02 6:02

And that's what he did. He bought the sound, but he did not create anything beyond that. Like it, like I'm sorry. It just nothing beyond the production has gravitated towards him. Oh, that beats fire. Oh, this is good. This is that. I like how it sounds. I'm not getting anything as far as death from him. And maybe that's like, you know, that's his lane. He doesn't make, you know, music with deaths, but like as he postures with maturity in this situation is weird. So let's get into it, bro. So ASAP Rocky's running around. He's doing a lot of fucking interviews. He's talking to everybody. He's talking about Rihanna. He's talking about tensions in the industry. And he's then he gets into the Drake situation. He thinks Drake was being shady or fake towards J. Cole. Let's start there. He said a lot of things. Let's start there. I didn't really understand the J. Cole angle because he didn't diss J. Cole. He only went at the people that came at him. So how did he leave him the dry? I don't understand that. I'm pretty sure. What came out first? Push-ups or seven minutes later?

SPEAKER_00 7:14

I think seven minutes later came out first. But I think someone fed ASAP this angle. Like, and I know we're gonna get into it, but like you can't talk about someone being faked to Drake.

SPEAKER_01 7:30

It's like, can we really talk about the real inherent beef and y'all issues? And like I know people want to act like because these guys are celebrities that they can't be normal people. Yo, if we were friends and during the whole duration of our friendship or a portion of our friendship, I was dating a chick and we break up and then you go get with that chick and get her pregnant in a normal everyday situation between friends, that's going to be a problem. Because they would look at that like you were being some kind of what you want to say, bro. Y'all beef, he's like, Oh, our beef still girls, blah blah blah. Bro, yeah, I mean most people aren't cool with you getting with their ex. I'll be honest with you. So just because they're rich, that's that's honestly where y'all beef come from. And then it spiraled into other stuff. But like that's honestly the rich, like y'all beef.

SPEAKER_02 8:15

Yeah, so I And Drake's not blameless.

SPEAKER_01 8:18

Drake did it to Wayne. So, like, I'm not saying Drake's like an like a good person, but Ace said, Don't act confused. Like, I don't know what happened. I thought we were friends, like in that interview dude, it's like, yeah, I thought we were friends, and then one day we just weren't.

SPEAKER_02 8:30

Bro, all right, let's talk about ASAP Rocky. ASA Rocky's a funny motherfucker, dog. First of all, you couldn't say his name at all, right?

SPEAKER_00 8:38

No, he kept avoiding it.

SPEAKER_02 8:40

Right? He couldn't say his name at all, right? So that was weird as fuck. When you can't say somebody's name, that means if you if you say their name, they know they're taking it as a personal call out, right? If you can't call them out, but you have so much to say about this man, it's very weird. As far as the Rihanna Drake ASAP situation, ASAP Rocky, from what I've heard, this is on DJ Academic story, is back in 2020 at a Yams Festival when the Drake and Rihanna situation was still pretty positive and they were cool. He was there, and I guess he was talking to he was going to perform, but he couldn't perform. They didn't let him perform. They didn't let Drake perform at the Yams Day. And then Rihanna's like, it's an insecure guy here that won't let you perform. Now, 2018, I'm pretty sure Drake had his kid with the girl that ASAP slept with, right? So ASAP has had two years to be like, all right, whatever, Donna, whatever. Like he's had ample time, right? And now Drake and Rihanna are still fucking around with each other at the time. That's why she even said the shit to him.

SPEAKER_00 9:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:52

Basically causing the tension and pointing out that ASAP is not letting him perform today.

SPEAKER_01 9:58

And even then, like ASAP, you weren't even dating a shorty.

SPEAKER_02 10:00

Y'all were just that's that's what I'm trying to figure out. And here's the thing with ASAP, I think it's always been an insecurity thing with him and Drake because of how the relationship started and where the talent levels are. See, Peter Lamar is clearly more talented than Drake in one or more aspects, right?

SPEAKER_00 10:20

Yeah. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 10:21

I cannot say that for ASAP besides fashion. He dresses better.

SPEAKER_01 10:26

Yeah. And you know what? That may not have always been true. When long live ASAP came out, you couldn't have told me that ASAP was not comparable to Kendrick Drake and J. Cole. When that album came out, you could not have been like, this man keeps up this consistency at this level of rap. Put him in top five of our generation. You dropped the ball.

SPEAKER_02 10:48

He's from New York. He has an automatic claim to king of hip-hop. He never used it, he never aspired to. He always wanted to, you know, dress nice.

SPEAKER_01 11:04

And that is here's the thing, and here because here's what people get messed up. Because there are people, not everyone, but there are people who can do a multi-like things and be talented at all of them. And Kanye do it. We've seen Uzi do it, right? ASAP, you had the potential. But you for some reason weren't mixing your arts. You were trying to do music. Like Uzi, Uzi does fashion and music together. They are together, they feed off of each other, they inspire each other. ASAP, you drop the ball because you were not able to bring your two worlds together. Great, you're good at fashion and you're in good positions of fashion. But yes, your success is not going to look the same as you.

SPEAKER_02 11:47

Yeah. I mean, that's I think that's the killer, right? When somebody puts you in a position, it is public. Like the shit he said about Drake as far as him putting in a position in his early in his career, it is public. It's not a private thing. It is public. For you to move a different way publicly is crazy. Like, if I got engaged on an opportunity, and later down the line, they're trying to crack my girl or crack the girl that I stopped talking to, married her, and had multiple children with her.

SPEAKER_01 12:20

You were around with her the whole time I was dating her. I'm going to think you were black. And once again, Drake's not a good person. He did this shit to Wayne. But we're talking about you and Drake.

SPEAKER_00 12:31

Got clear.

SPEAKER_01 12:33

Don't act confused.

SPEAKER_02 12:34

And then this is where I get conflicted. The whole narrative was that Drake is a bad person and he deserves everything that's happened to him. Acept just did some bad things. Why are we not saying anything to him about anything? And people why, bro?

SPEAKER_00 12:51

Why? Because it's against Drake?

SPEAKER_02 12:53

It's just because it's against Drake, bro. He shouldn't have just sold drugs when he was a kid. Like, if like, I swear to God, that's the only thing that's a validating factor for uh black people sometimes. I swear to God.

SPEAKER_01 13:05

Yeah, because we see other people in the industry doing grimy as shit. Everyone messing with each other's girls, passing around, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Cheating on each other, shooting each other, doing whatever it is. That's just the game. That's just beef. And once again, ASAP, you, and it's not like I'm not upset. Like, live your life. You have a beautiful wife, you have great children, you're in a successful position. Do that. But you trying to reinteract right now with this level of execution is going to be viewed harsher than someone who's just coming in because of the legacy you had in your music. Like doing what you did before and then doing what you're doing now, this is what a fall-off looks like. This is what it looks like for someone like, oh, you're outdated.

SPEAKER_02 13:49

I wouldn't even say I think he tried to update, but his software didn't work. That's what it felt like. He was trying to sound young, but he's not young. He should be having some more mature bars. Where he should have a certain, like, I don't think he had a plan. I don't think this album was like planned out from track one to track whatever. Like, I think there's like, we got a bunch of songs, let's put it out there. We're gonna be super artsy because that's that's the thing that saves a lot of people is being artsy, artsy, making performative it. You don't understand. Yo, music is subjective, but product is product. It's a reason we have the comms.

SPEAKER_00 14:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:32

I'm not trying to get an artisanal burger every fucking day. And if someone if someone doesn't want to eat there, or someone says it's not good or not worth it, that's it's on y'all. I don't think this ASAP Rocky, in the way he's approaching rap, in the elements he's trying to infuse in his album and trying to execute, I don't think he can. And I it is so weird he didn't get Rihanna feature in this. So Rihanna's still Megan's feature.

SPEAKER_00 15:04

Is she still Megazer?

SPEAKER_02 15:06

So what? After all this claiming it, my wife and we got all these kids. So we can't get a feature?

SPEAKER_01 15:14

No, what we should have got was at least like a voicemail? An intro?

SPEAKER_02 15:18

A voicemail, something like fucking shit.

SPEAKER_01 15:20

Kids laughing on a track in the back, like just a little family movement. And like that's the stuff we want to see. Like, I've seen we've seen people settle down, hit that. We've seen that from Clinton Parter, the artist. Yeah, if your girl can't even do the feature, she's a world-renowned artist. What is that about? Not an intro, not a kid laughing in the back. Hey daddy, great music. Love the album. Nothing.

SPEAKER_00 15:42

I also don't like Mid Life Crisis. I've done some research. Oh, some research to Rihanna.

SPEAKER_02 15:51

Ooh. So, like, she's had some tension with like darker skinned woman.

SPEAKER_00 15:58

Really?

SPEAKER_02 15:59

And she had some colorism. Yeah, she had big tension with Tiana Taylor. I only say this because Drake posted Tiana Taylor recently. And they had some tension too, and they were connected. So Drake is connected to Tiana Taylor and Rihanna. He just posted her after she has won something, right?

SPEAKER_00 16:16

So Okay.

SPEAKER_02 16:18

Lincoln back, I get on a tangent. Tiana Taylor and Rihanna had beat, and she was posting this, and she said some color and shit, and this is all the way back in the day.

SPEAKER_01 16:27

Okay, like this isn't new stuff. But it was like, I didn't know this, bro.

SPEAKER_02 16:31

Yeah, bro. So, like, currently, I wonder what's going on. These these guys uh these guys got some shit going, man. You know, Tiana Taylor's from Harlem, too.

SPEAKER_01 16:43

Did not know that.

SPEAKER_02 16:45

It's a lot of it's a lot of narrative films.

SPEAKER_01 16:48

How how they're cooking up high level up there.

SPEAKER_02 16:50

Yeah, they're doing some shit. That's all I was like, man, they're doing some shit over there. But uh, I don't understand how people could say Drake did anything to J. Cole. He didn't go at him, he didn't uh attack him, he didn't say anything of flattering. The only thing he said is what?

SPEAKER_01 17:10

I don't care what Cole thinks that dot shit. No, he said I don't, yeah, I don't care what Cole thinks that dot shit is weak. It's like the only line he said regarding J. Cole the whole time. That nothing related to a disc. He's just saying, like, you know, Cole can give us respect on it. Not here for that, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And that was even before the beef took a turn of throwing accusations. That was earlier on. That like that's what I'm saying. That was super early. It wasn't even this before everyone realized this is not.

SPEAKER_02 17:40

Kendrick win the beef with with just euphoria and um meet the grams. This, I think this was no, I'm just saying, like, I'm just asking. Does Kendrick win the beef publicly to people if the only songs that are out are Meet the Grams, Euphoria, and an LA track he had?

SPEAKER_01 18:05

That one was Kendrick Kendrick does not win the beef without Not Like Us. Okay. To me, Kendrick, not like us, cemented Kendrick winning the beast. Kendrick does not win the beef without me.

SPEAKER_00 18:17

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 18:17

But yeah, I get to know 100% Kendrick won that beef. Not like us was obviously a hip hop monument. So we can say that now.

SPEAKER_02 18:28

Oh, most definitely.

SPEAKER_01 18:30

But without that song, no, he does not win the beast. But yeah, no, saying that he did anything to J. Cole, and that's the other thing, right? Like, proudly had these people showing one that they interact. It was always weird for years. You see other artists interacting again together, blah, blah, blah. And I know J. Cole, Cole, and Jake, Kendrick, and Drake were doing different things in different ways. But they never really talked a lot about each other in songs, right? And you had that, even just name-dropping and mentioning each other was not common. But during this beef time, you had Drake doing that. You had J. Cole talking about and uh Poor Antonio, like, not as scared to say it. Drake, you did a lot for me, my nigga. Like, Drake has done a lot for a lot of artists who came up in that 2009 and 2012 era. And actually, as much as people hate him, Drake's been betrayed by so many artists that he has helped ASAP Rocky the weekend. Like, it has been an actual continuous thing. So as much as people call Drake a culture, vulture, blah blah blah, a lot of your favorite artists would have not even gotten their start if Drake had not brought them on and just y'all call him a vulture for the ones who he brings on and then fail, like the JB Blackboard and stuff like that. Like if he takes you a sound and he throws them away, it's on them to succeed. We have other artists that he's done that for, and they grew into their own. And no one's calling him a vulture for that. Now your artists are famous and they're doing their things, but a lot of artists got put on by Drake.

J Cole Drops Real Storytelling

SPEAKER_02 19:56

And it's okay to say that. Get into something fresh here. Let's talk about J. Cole's new song, bro. Let's talk about the Fallout. I'm excited. I give this song a 9.5 out of 10. This is storytelling. This is rap. This is bars. This is everything ASAP Rocky's album lacked. This is an artist with something to say. This is an artist with a perspective. This is an artist that can show just how skilled he is. Now we're gonna go into the fluff he's getting and the flack he's getting, but artistically, his pen, his craft, he is one of the best rappers alive.

SPEAKER_01 20:40

Yeah, I also give this a nine. I like the video, I like the story, bro. Really, he's rapped a whole life backward, right? Like, we just like putting that together concretely to make it a song. Drake Hole's one of the best storytellers to every yeah, okay. And I would say, in our generation, he's the best storyteller. There's obviously a bunch of other storytellers that come through hip hop and have had their own right and their own influence. In our generation, J. Cole is the best storyteller in rap to me. And he continues to prove that. Giving us this, and like, you know, we're expecting a lot more of this in the album. It saddens me that he's claiming this is his last album. But like this is like something we want to look forward to.

SPEAKER_02 21:26

This is hip hop. This is the this is everything we ever wanted. I'm just glad to hear bars, man. This is a barometer check because you know, Drake and Kendrick post beef put out some cool music, but nothing of note, nothing like with some real oof. And I'm not saying that Drake was dropping trash, but a lot of those songs were poppy records, right? And GNX is the most poppy we've ever seen, Kendrick. So we're we're not hearing much from the GOATs right now.

unknown 21:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:00

Now we're hearing something from J. Cole. It's substantial and it sets a standard for the rest of the field. Hopefully. Now he is getting some flack. Fat Joe is saying, hey man, I can't I can't believe that shit. You can't say you're the greatest after you buy out the beef. I mean, I know how I feel.

SPEAKER_00 22:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:22

How do you feel about that shit? I mean, bro, that's your crack, bro. I'm just saying, like, I told people that there was gonna be ramifications for your actions.

SPEAKER_01 22:36

So here it is, it is, it is.

SPEAKER_02 22:39

Drake's light skin.

SPEAKER_01 22:41

I'm always gonna always gonna be under that opinion. Because that's that's what it was. It was it was um because one of the things he said was like, yo, if someone coming, you say you're the best, someone come and challenge you, as soon as they throw a punch, you run away. Look, I get an analogy and it sounds cute. My opinion of it is also gonna be a little different. Where it's like, hey, if I'm telling people, you know, everyone's like, oh, we're the best on our block, and if someone comes like, no, I'm the best in the block, and then you realize that he actually wasn't coming to talk to you. Boxers go and fight, but if I'm a boxer and I'm yelling at this other guy, and but I think he's talking to me, at some point I'm gonna realize this fight's not upon me. This is pre-scheduled, this is predetermined. Kendrick Lamar had a target and he discarded that beat, and it was not J. Cole.

unknown 23:28

J.

SPEAKER_01 23:28

Cole's only mistake, to be honest to me, was even entertaining because from the jump, this was a targeted attack. I'm sorry. 20 of y'all hopped on the double album to target Drake. This had nothing to do with J. Cole, but his mistake was entering it because once you entered it, yes, now you're in there. But this had nothing to do with him. I don't even think he should have really gotten into it. Uh, but I also same thing, there is ramifications. I still respect him for being like, actually, I realize this shit ain't got nothing to do with me. I'm out. Is there ramifications for that? Yes. It's cool because it gave him the free space he needed to go ahead and make this open.

SPEAKER_02 24:09

Yeah, I I I agree with you, bro. Uh, it's the most mature thing you can do, but people forget that rap started on the playground in New York, you know?

SPEAKER_01 24:18

It's not about maturity.

SPEAKER_02 24:20

It's the attitude, you know, it's just not there, bro. Like, there's not a lot of maturity within the community, a peaceful exchange. We'll see if Kendrick and Drake piece it up like Nas and Jay-Z did, right?

SPEAKER_01 24:33

No. No. You would see Drake piece it up with Kanye before you saw Drake piece it up.

SPEAKER_02 24:40

Oh, yeah, for sure. It is crazy. It is a lot, it's wild. I do think J. Cole should have never thrown anything out there. If seven-minute drill didn't exist, I'll be fine with his position.

SPEAKER_01 24:53

You know what's even worse? The seven-minute drill wasn't so good. Like, that was the That's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_02 25:00

So, like if seven-minute drill came out and that's his little jab, and Kendrick came over with a haymaker, but here's the thing, he would have to split his attention.

SPEAKER_00 25:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:10

Right? And but Kendrick was he Kendrick uh Kendrick had a methodical plan attached to Drake. And I don't care what he says of the future, what his camp says, me as a man to have that much hinged on another man, it's fucking weird.

SPEAKER_01 25:35

Hey, bro, you didn't have enough hate in your heart.

SPEAKER_02 25:37

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. That's like, I think it's just weird. It's a waste of energy and resources. I'm sure Drake is like punished these guys in different ways, you know, like behind the scenes.

SPEAKER_01 25:48

Yeah, there's things we don't know, but this avoid a level of hate of like, yo, like you do shit like this after somebody like fuck your girl.

SPEAKER_02 25:55

Like, this was really that had to happen. Something like that had to happen to a couple of things.

SPEAKER_01 26:00

Something equivalent to like, yo, he might as well fuck my girl. Like, this was a high level of hate. And he can posture it and say, nah, I'm just doing it because this like this is what the culture wanted. They wanted to eliminate you to Drake. No, you had a personal vendetta against You had tracks pre-reported. As also as someone who Drake helped get on. But we can talk about that. We can talk about that later. It's cool.

SPEAKER_02 26:27

But but all right, Charlemagne had the same sentiments.

SPEAKER_01 26:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:31

He also said the same thing. He said something about ASAP Rocky that's been coming trendy, me saying, I only hear about ASAP Rocky talking about others. I don't hear about his music. We don't care about ASAP Rocky's music like that, man. You date Rihanna, you know, you got some kids, you dress nice. You probably go being uh the next Marty Supreme. You know, that's what they do with the artistic niggas. They just throw them in there.

SPEAKER_01 26:54

You know, I I'm starting to I'm starting to have less respect for any artistic black artist who keeps being a poster boy to promote and sell luxury European fashion instead of making their own and bringing mine back to you. Don't give a fuck. Unless you are like this is why I give biggest respect to Rihanna and Kanye. And it took Kanye getting booted off for him to do it, but he did it. But Rihanna has her own, which no, she didn't she sell it. She but it was hers. Like she started, she did it, she grinded it. And it's what you're supposed to do. I'm I'm like, I don't want black people to think, oh you gotta make it, you gotta grind, and then you gotta like have it and have it dying. No, no, no. You can still do business. You can make something, grow it, you can sell it. Let it be known that's no longer yours, though, or they're gonna co-op that and make it run. But like get your back. She did that, client's still in production of his own things. I think Uzi should make his own line. Everyone wants these positions. Oh, I want to be, you know, the VP of fashion at Louis Vuitton or blah blah blah blah blah. Make something that is ours, and then you have control, and then when you want to go and pass it on, you can choose. Oh, I'm the owner, so I can choose.

SPEAKER_02 28:05

I can choose a black director to be like you can keep the cycle in the power in our community, or you can keep being a poster boy or all these dudes are fucking sharecroppers, bro. Yeah, that's what they're doing. That's they sharecroppers. They don't want to open their own farm, they don't want to do anything, they want to just give a piece off to him and get paid off for that. Like, that's what's going on. Tyler Creator, all these guys can all start their own brands, but it takes time, management, and money. And that's what Drake has done with his brand, right? We're not even talking about that. They just got venture capital over there.

SPEAKER_01 28:42

Nobody's talking about it. They just did a collab with Marvel. Which guess who owns that? Disney. So Drake was really a profile. You think Disney was gonna let it?

Industry Clownery And Viral Fights

SPEAKER_02 28:53

Come on, bro. People are joking, bro. Let's talk about some more jokes, man. Andy's 22 fights Jason Lowe. Bro, this man is a joke, bro. I think uh this is crazy.

SPEAKER_01 29:04

This is all behind you.

SPEAKER_02 29:06

This is crazy. I don't know how much money is being made from these dark events, dark energies, the ghouls and the goblins behind all this shit. Because this shit is ridiculous.

SPEAKER_01 29:19

This is like the weird background stuff of you talking about the music industry. Like, we're just just seeing it publicly. Weird shit like this has been going on for a long time. You got dudes involved in the industry doing weird stuff, having the girls do weird stuff, weird ass cut rituals for rich people to go and watch. We're just publicly seeing it. A black artist shall just stop going on, no job.

SPEAKER_02 29:40

Yeah, they gotta stop hanging around. That shit's is looking like Django. That shit's looking like Django. YK Cyrus is on that shit. DJ Academics, listen, DJ Academics is a pioneer in a news space and the media space, but like his character is so low.

SPEAKER_00 29:55

It's so bad.

SPEAKER_02 29:56

So bad. It's like, what can we do? L22 is a media influence out there in LA, which I that's uh that's a conundrum in itself. But I feel like he's he's deep in that community. He's hung up. I don't know what's going on behind the scenes. I hope everybody stays safe. Jason Love got the knockout.

SPEAKER_01 30:20

Uh everyone I mean, he's at this point, like, you know what, he must be like the most second most popular porn star to like Johnny's fans. Like, hey, get your bag, you know. I guess that's what you have to do as a male porn star. You can't get the LF money. I don't know. But as far as music goes, L22 is involved in some good stuff. Uh it's not a podcast. I really think black people should be getting on.

SPEAKER_02 30:41

How do you feel about this NBA Youngboy Consonant drama? Consonant's assistant is going back and forth with this girl Gigi that Kai just broke up with publicly, saying that NBA Youngboy cheated with her, this and that. It turns out it was Lil Baby's like blunt roller or somebody attached to Lil Baby or some shit like that. The girl was not attracted to Kai. He just has a lot of motion. It happens. He picked the wrong woman. He made some mistakes himself. What I've heard is that they both cheated on each other back and forth. So it was messy, bullshit, young shit. So on the character point, I get it. I wish Kai he needs to carry himself much better. And I'm starting to see that Kai is very coddled. He's very, he might have a lot of handlers around him at this point.

SPEAKER_01 31:29

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:31

I don't know how much he's educated himself. He he very much looks like the entertainment right now.

SPEAKER_01 31:37

Well, yes. Well, he's young. It's such an interesting situation to see how they handle themselves in the space terrain. He's young. I think Kai might be like 22. I don't know because uh Speed just turned 21 and I think of some other age. Kai is the second biggest uh streamer in the world. First being Speed. Speed's just more international. But Kai might be the Kai might be the biggest known streamer in America. Let's say that you're in that position, you're young, you're under 24. There's going to be a lot of people around you. That's the other thing people like streamers, you gotta realize you are now at an entertainment space that you have to deal with issues that other celebrities not to deal with. You have to look at people around you. And Kai is the biggest streamer and entertainment entertainer in that space. In America, we already got an issue where all these people are clock golf, right? So you gotta watch people have around you. Uh, I do think that he does have a lot of handlers. I think the best thing about thing that could have happened to Kai is the relationship that he's built around Drewski and Kevin Hart because of the things that they try to point out. Kevin Hart's been in the industry for a while, and Drewski away he's had it come up in another non-traditional way, but he handles his business a little differently. Like I think they have a lot that they can teach Kai, and in his position, he has a lot that he can learn. But yeah, I mean it happens, it happens. Just yeah, you gotta watch people around you, watch the situations, vet people more, whether that's your control, your hiring, all that stuff like that. This would be locks in more. Uh, I know he has other issues and stuff going on, uh like outside of streaming and stuff, where he's another person, he wants to get into fashion, he wants to do his own line though. I can support that, I can get behind that. He has the money. Go ahead. Just like as you get more famous and handle stuff, you just gotta watch out.

SPEAKER_02 33:28

Yeah, I mean, if I was Kai, I would use my celebrity to collab with no brands. So all my first things are soft touches, already known things, collaborative pieces, start my own lines, a bunch of different places, and then my rendition of the polo line, try to split shit like that. If I'm Kai, if he goes all organic, Trader Joe's, you know, farmer's market, then he gotta have it all set up correctly. There at his level, there should not be a miss a mistake here. Like he he he shouldn't be dropping the ball here. He has too much money and influence to do it correctly in the network. Him and NBA Youngboy, that's more streamer shit and street shit, they gotta stay away from each other. I hope that stops. I hope that ends because NBA Youngboy was really upset because he's looking at things from a street level, but it's not that. This is a streamer and he he uh he comes from the block, but he got out with his talent, you know? And he didn't know. Yeah, and he's done great things.

SPEAKER_00 34:30

He got his friends out.

Solidarity Problems And Capitalism Talk

SPEAKER_02 34:32

Got his friends out, and he wasn't trying to like, he wasn't overly enamored with the harsh uh realities of his environment. He's also the child of an immigrant, so his culture is a little different too to be a young boy. So, like, that's where like there'd be a lot of friendship within the culture because people come from different homes. And they don't understand. Like, if you come from a different home, I get it. Like a lot of people like base disrespect or just looking at them as the situation because of where they came up from, and I get it. And it's also people like you can just talk to them. You can talk about anything. Like that that's pretty cool. But um, salt pepper, they got their case dismissed. I'm not happy that they got their case dismissed, but this is what we talked about, Drake. This is exactly what we talked about. They publicly weakened Drake, Drake's case before it got dismissed. It's getting uphill right now, currently, and then their cases got dismissed. This is what happens when there's no solidarity. This is what happens when you're backbiting. This is what happens when songs like not like us has infected the culture to such an extent that we are both struggling and fighting the same system, but you're still saying, ha ha, you're not like me. And they're older acts, by the way. So maturity, grace, respect, leadership, we didn't get none of that. And that's the problem in the black community itself, in these hyper-capitalistic places. I'm not saying it's not like this in Africa and other places where there's still a sense of community. But the capitalism in here in America, like I was thinking about this. The black American experience and how we experience capitalism is very different than other people, especially those who don't. Because of what we do for it.

SPEAKER_01 36:22

I would say the only difference is the direct impact we feel in corruption. I would say it's not true. Yeah. Because I guess we we are capitalistic, and I feel like sometimes corruption is farther removed from us than what other people face, right? Like it's not as likely you come and a police officer meet you here in America and you grab them off. But if you go to Africa, I can get the corruption face-to-face. If you pull me over, like I slip you at 30 and I'm getting away. Like I just think it's different in that end.

SPEAKER_00 36:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:51

But it it's it's definitely that also makes it harder to navigate.

SPEAKER_00 36:56

Yeah, but yeah, no, it's it's so like uh go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 37:00

I'll talk more so like on a street level where like there's a sense of unity, like community, right? And leadership. Like there's a totally different culture than a you know, somewhere in Africa, like a city in Nigeria versus Philadelphia. Like, just culturally, how kids interact. Right? They're not the minority there, so they they're free. You know what I'm saying? Like the expression and how they interact with each other is a little different. Different here, like people to get their first bag selling crack, are they putting in work, are they doing this or that, right? The first thing they do is dehumanizing someone that looks just like them. That's what I'm saying. Like, that's the attachment to money we have as black Americans, and that dissociation is not helping us, you know? Like it's not helping us even a little bit. Like, salt and pepper are legacy acts, and they are dealing with something that Drake is dealing with, and they should be together, you know.

SPEAKER_01 37:55

I wish there was as much support and conversation around their suit and and positivity as there was in demonishing Drake for his right, like more people pay attention and wanted Drake to show in his lawsuit, and there were people trying to outlet and get support or ever winner theirs. So, like yeah.

Grammys Politics And Better Awards Ideas

SPEAKER_02 38:18

Yeah, man. I remember you were conflicted. Speaking of, Kendrick is leading and not he's lead he leads in Grammy nominations. He's definitely gonna get some for sure. I to me Grammys don't mean shit. Like they don't mean shit to me. Like, yeah, we I just don't get like I understand the music business now, and I understand what the Grammys are. When I was younger, I thought it was like the greatest thing an artist can receive. Now I understand it's just politics, it's just business. It's just whoever kissed the right ass or did the right work, whoever said yes, uh, no, sir. Like whoever did that, whoever's collaborating, you know, collaborating to make sure we demolish this artist's contract before it's up, so when we renegotiate, it's lower. Because he just outworked our, he just outworked our. We're gonna have to give this black man a billion dollars. We don't want to.

SPEAKER_01 39:16

Yeah, no, it's it's been for years. First off, even before, right? In the early 2000s, even in the early 2010s. Those were big issues that were still being fought on people getting passed up on Grammys and this, this, and that. And so like I don't know why people still attend. Like, why are we are we still clapping and dancing when waiting for a reward from people who honestly don't even like remedy? It's like the money to bring. So it's not, I don't think any of these award shows are things that we should be like expecting and hoping and we get like that.

SPEAKER_02 39:53

Like we should do our own awards and it should be organic, it should be based upon just uh it honestly, it should be like the president. Like, we should all be able to sit in our crib and pick what's our favorite song of this shit. Pick with that, dah dah da.

SPEAKER_01 40:10

Or or let it be, let it be weighted, right? Like we make our like, and I don't know who runs like BNT and shit like that, like uh the BT Wars or whatever. Like make a new one, right? And you have it where, hey, the judges, first off, you rotate judges, can't be the same, right? And you do maybe a panel of five, and it can only be legacy older artists, right? You do a thing, you have a panel. It's Jay-Z, it's Nas, it's Pharrell, it's John Legend, it's whoever, right? Okay, and they're voting this year, and then you know, next year it's whatever, and then you do it way, it's actually really simple, and you do it way then, you know, their vote counts this much, and then fan vote counts for another. And like that would be real. That would be something that you can actually I really work for this. Like people I respect in my field liked it, and the fans voted. Not some old 70-year-old dude only listens to country and say, uh, don't really like this music, this urban music.

SPEAKER_02 41:05

Yeah, bro, I don't know how we let that dude, uh, Fantano, get so rich off of that. Like, that's so crazy.

SPEAKER_01 41:12

And then anytime we start winning any categories, they split it. They split it. Because now what don't they got an urban and urban country category now? So that it's not mixed in with the regular country music.

Online Rap Beef Feels Like High School

SPEAKER_02 41:23

Yeah, they got us in every award we can't be awarded for. It it's a weird synopsis of life dealing with this constant beratement, but still being used for money. Like that's the whole scenario. And I I wish we'd get out of this, but um, there's people getting into it. Fabio and 21 Savage are trading shots online. I don't, I don't know. I don't know why they're doing this. Damn, act gonna get the ordered I act was like posting everything they did posting, bro. You know.

SPEAKER_01 41:57

Well, no, because I watched I watched the specific interview that Act did with Fabio, which that's another person. I think bro is like a I think he's too old to be a bully and to be doing weird stuff. I stopped listening to his music for after he got on Flatball Mac stream and him and it was doing weird stuff, like doing weird stuff like you're trying to bully a kid. But AC was saying like 21 was he asked how do you feel about 21 saying, like, oh, we gotta move past it, grow past that street stuff, blah blah blah. And Fabio's like, oh, he's not really street or whatever like that. That was the whole instigation. That was like Aq instigated the whole thing.

SPEAKER_00 42:31

Oh, okay, okay.

SPEAKER_01 42:32

Yeah, so so that's how it started, and he's like, Oh, he's not street, blah, blah, blah. Ac was like, oh, you know, like the way people talk about things how baby and stuff like that. And Fabio's like, nah, he's not street, like, blah, blah, blah. And it was the whole thing, and Fabio said something about like letting 6'9 like go, and he's like, what do you want to do now? 6'9 was like, Oh no, so no, that's how the whole thing started. And I'm just like, first of all, y'all too old to be y'all too old to be doing this. And to be like that, in essence, y'all too old to be done this.

SPEAKER_02 43:02

Yeah. I mean, bro, every time I hear and see this shit, this reminds me of high school lunch ticket. Like, yeah, what the fuck is going on? That's the maturity level with Dylan Leaf here. Fabio's like 30 plus, he just came out of rehab. That's what he was just talking about. That's what he just got out of, and he's dealing with 21 saying which on the internet. That shit's goofy as fuck, bro. I don't get it.

SPEAKER_01 43:24

I think it's a clown character.

SPEAKER_00 43:28

It's wild.

SPEAKER_02 43:29

You see that shit with uh blue face and all that streaming shit he's doing now.

SPEAKER_00 43:34

Yeah, hey, I respect it.

SPEAKER_02 43:36

Get the I like that. I think uh that's his lame, bro.

SPEAKER_00 43:40

Yeah. You think you're gonna keep up with it long term?

SPEAKER_02 43:43

Nah, he's gonna get his bag out of it. That's what a lot of these dudes are doing. They're streaming, you know, getting a little bag out of it. Do it for a year. Do it for a year. Yeah. Hey, he should do it for a year. Keep him in the house and keep him out of bullshit.

SPEAKER_01 43:55

But do it for a year, make funny videos, put it on YouTube, and just collect residual.

LaRussell Rollout And Owning Your Work

SPEAKER_02 44:00

Cash the fuck out, bro. What are your last thoughts about all this stuff, man? With ASAP Rocky, J. Cole, Kendrick. We got all this stuff going on in the legal space. Oh, actually, we gotta talk about LaRussell, bro. You have to talk about LaRussell. Okay, so this is probably the most innovative album rollout we've ever seen in the music industry. And he's now being noticed about the highest of the high ups, Jay-Z, Sean Carter. How do you feel about this, man? I feel good and bad about this because if Jay-Z's around, he's gonna find that business model, bro.

SPEAKER_01 44:38

Well, so here's the thing. So, one, this isn't even the first time LaRussell has wrote his album out like this. Like he so if anyone doesn't know his journey, his story, whatever, go to his Instagram. It's a long explanation. Go to his Instagram, see the way he's been moving, see the way he's been doing and releasing. But it's cool, you know, pay what you can pay for the stuff. People are donating a big amount of money, like in its public list. So you can see, you know, people have donated a thousand dollars for the album,$500,$250, blah, blah, blah, right? Because of the way he handles stuff and the way he does his music. He's even giving proceeds from his music for the album pre-sales, giving them away to people who are struggling to pay rent. School scholarship, like he's giving percentages of this money that's being given to him away to people in the community, right? And that's been his thing, and he's been doing it for years. So, like when people look at stuff like this, oh, you know, these artists who don't have a lot of numbers and stuff like that. When you want or in 100% control of your music, you get to decide the way you can give back and help. So, as far as his stuff with Jay-Z, he's actually tried to work with Jay-Z before he's an interview about it. Kind of a weird situation happened. Now they've actually like met, or it was someone through Jay-Z's TV, never really like worked with him, but we're going to be doing Roc Master situation. Now he's actually met home. I'm sure they had a conversation, sure they hashed that situation out. LaRussell has smartly done business for a year and done it on his own. He said he's he never said he was never going to do a deal. He just wanted to do things certainly if he does choose to do a deal. Especially with a group that he's already seen kind of business be a little wonky with before. He's going to have some level of creative control, if not majority level of creative control. Jay-Z being involved can be a positive thing if he pays attention to how he what he allows him to be involved in. I think that's that's yeah, what he lets him do.

SPEAKER_02 46:43

I'm gonna be watching this shit, man.

SPEAKER_01 46:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:45

I gotta watch this shit. LaRussell's kept his character throughout all the trials and tribulations of his career so far. His music is authentic, beat it, powerful. You know, it's crazy. We gotta start talking about LaRussell because how old is LaRussell and how long has he been rapping? Because he gotta start getting into those conversations, right? You know, I always say this that we don't have this new school, this new people to pick up after Drake and Kittrick, and all there's a lot of positive rappers that just don't have appeal.

SPEAKER_01 47:16

Yeah, so well, well, here's the thing. This stuff is very, it is very regional, right? And I think he's like 28, 29. This stuff is very regional to the Bay Area. But here's the thing. One, I mean, I love that. He makes his music for the people, he supported by the people he makes music to. If it happens to be wise for pill, good. If not, he has already carved out a lane for himself in his community in California. He's right there, my connections to people, right? He makes very positive music, he makes great music, he hits different avenues, he has pop music, he has conscious rap, he has other kinds of rap. Like so he hits multiple levels. And then the thing about the deals, too. We're not saying it's bad to get a deal. There are plenty of artists who do great things who are in deals, and that's a lot of times how you some people have to start. It's just do you change who you are once you get it done? Once you get that deal, do you stop giving back to the community? Do you stop making this kind of music, right? Like, that's when it becomes an issue. So if he stops doing the positive stuff he's gone, he stops giving back, he stops doing other stuff like that, then it's going to be hard to see him the same way. But yeah, it would be cool if people like this became more popular and people were like, oh, like we don't have to listen. It's drill all the time. We can listen to the music. That's what I'm saying. This is like good music.

SPEAKER_02 48:36

This this rappers in this lane, and we gotta start. I've been saying here on the podcast, it's championing them guys more. Um Russell, guys like Mike, guys like Mobby, guys like Earl Sweatshirt. These guys should be the most prominent guys in hip hop because they're they're pushing a maturity and positivity that we need in the community. It's healing. You know, from the drill, we get this. From the drill, we heal.

SPEAKER_01 49:01

Hey, I like that.

SPEAKER_02 49:03

From the drill we heal, this is episode 44 of Music Given. Tap in then episode 44.