Kendrick's GNX, Drake vs UMG & Rhythm + Flow Season 2

[00:00:18] What's up fam and welcome back again to another episode of Recap Kickback where we talk about Black entertainment news, Black TV, Black media, Black music and whatever else I want to talk about.

[00:00:27] It's me, your host Chappelle, AKA Kick Black, that's my rapper name here. And with me I got a couple more rappers to talk about all the events of this week and our review of this week, Rhythm and Flow Season 2.

[00:00:41] As so far it has been dropped on Netflix. They've dropped four episodes on Netflix, I watched some of it and my guests and co-hosts have watched the rest of it and so we will talk about it today.

[00:00:51] With me of course, The Professor! It's Mari. Mari, what's up?

[00:00:56] Hey, we're back. We're Black and we're talking about rap. Look at that, look. I'm, bars.

[00:01:03] I don't know if she'd even know it.

[00:01:05] Hey, hey, don't talk about it. Mari, this very rap-centric episode is brought to you by Recap Kickback.

[00:01:11] This is your idea. What made you think to talk about Rhythm and Flow Season 2? Because we have other options.

[00:01:17] Because I love Rhythm and Flow Season 1. I watched Rhythm and Flow Season 1 during the pandemic and

[00:01:26] clearly I'm a sucker for reality TV shows. So like rap reality TV shows, I'm not gonna lie, I watched The Rap Game.

[00:01:35] Yeah. I watched all of those seasons. Like, I just love a good singing competition. I am a fan of like the voice and stuff like that. But this, this competition with Rhythm and Flow, it just feels like, I love watching it because it just feels so authentic to our culture.

[00:01:55] It feels like something for Black people. And it's just, it is. And I love it. I love every second of it. I don't have to like second guess, like, are they not making it through because they're Black? Again, looking at you, the voice.

[00:02:11] It happens. So it's like, I love, it's just such a good show to me personally. I love the setup and everything.

[00:02:18] Well, I've never seen Rhythm and Flow before. And so I was very happy to go and say, let's go and check it out and see what all the fuzz is about.

[00:02:24] And Mari had the perfect guest in mind, making their Recap Kickback debut for some strange reason, because you would think you've been here before.

[00:02:31] But whatever, I'm gonna hold that against him and not me and my poor scheduling skills. It's A-Ball Vangers. What's up, Isaiah?

[00:02:37] Yo, it was good. I'm here to talk about this amazing show. I love season one. So when y'all texted me about this, I got hype because I love this show.

[00:02:46] I didn't know you watched Rap Game. I watched all of them shows too.

[00:02:49] Yeah, I did. Yeah.

[00:02:51] Yeah.

[00:02:51] It's just a weird guilty pleasure. Like, I just watched it.

[00:02:55] It's crazy to see Lotto on this now.

[00:02:57] I love it.

[00:02:58] That too, you know?

[00:02:59] Yeah, Flou J.

[00:03:00] Flou J. Yeah.

[00:03:01] Flou J.

[00:03:02] Flou J. By the way, Flou J.

[00:03:05] But no, I'm happy to be here.

[00:03:07] Yeah.

[00:03:08] Isaiah, for the people who are not familiar with you on Recap Kickback, and again, I will take some of the blame for that because you should have been here before.

[00:03:15] But for the people who are not familiar, tell everybody what it is that you do and why you're the perfect guest to talk about Rhythm and Flow Season 2.

[00:03:23] So I do commentary and podcasts on my own channel.

[00:03:29] But on the side of that, I rap and do a whole bunch of other stuff.

[00:03:34] But music is a big thing for me.

[00:03:36] And I was trying to do it seriously for a while.

[00:03:39] And, like, I got a bunch of songs that got pretty big.

[00:03:42] But then I just do it as a hobby now.

[00:03:44] And, like, I'm such a huge rap fan.

[00:03:47] Like, I started out, like, old school with, like, Biggie and all that, as you can see, like, the poster right there.

[00:03:52] And then, like, I got into, like, the SoundCloud era.

[00:03:55] And just, like, I just follow rap so closely.

[00:03:58] So I really love rap, especially right now.

[00:04:01] Like, rap is, like, a sport.

[00:04:02] It's really crazy.

[00:04:03] You feel me?

[00:04:03] So it's, like, it's so fun to watch.

[00:04:05] So you pick the person to come on this podcast.

[00:04:08] So I got a lot to say.

[00:04:10] Yes.

[00:04:11] And so thank you all for joining us for this episode as well.

[00:04:14] I hope you've clicked like on the podcast.

[00:04:16] If you haven't, what are you waiting for?

[00:04:17] Click like.

[00:04:18] Subscribe here on YouTube.

[00:04:19] YouTube.com slash at Recap Kickback to make sure that you show us some love so we can keep this Recap Kickback content.

[00:04:25] We're approaching the end of the year.

[00:04:27] Mari, this podcast started in February of last year.

[00:04:30] Right in time for Black History Month.

[00:04:32] We're almost at a year already.

[00:04:35] And this year just flew by.

[00:04:38] I mean, just ridiculous.

[00:04:41] What is time?

[00:04:42] What is time?

[00:04:43] Time is nothing.

[00:04:44] I haven't been counting the episodes that we have because I did not number them.

[00:04:49] But I'd have to imagine we're creeping up on about 100 YouTube videos of content here on Recap Kickback over the span of less than a year.

[00:04:59] So we have been churning out the content here, trying to make sure that, you know, people know that we are reliable when it comes to tuning in and getting some information.

[00:05:06] Some Black entertainment news, some Black content.

[00:05:09] Also seeing our beautiful faces here on YouTube.

[00:05:11] So I do want to thank everybody for tuning in and making all of this positive Black stuff possible because it has been a ride.

[00:05:17] But as you know, we talk about rhythm and flow at the end of the episode.

[00:05:21] Before that, we have to talk about this week's entertainment news.

[00:05:24] And a lot of the entertainment news that we're going to focus on this time is focus on music because it's been a very music heavy news week.

[00:05:33] And I think the news I want to start with is one of my favorite things that happened this last week.

[00:05:38] Kendrick Lamar.

[00:05:39] He's back, baby.

[00:05:40] And he has dropped his new album, GNX Surprise Release.

[00:05:46] This is Kendrick's latest album that people have been speculating with maybe might not be coming.

[00:05:52] I've been seeing rumors that people thought, oh, is Kendrick ever going to give us another album?

[00:05:57] Maybe he's retired.

[00:05:58] Maybe he's even focusing on Baby King's career.

[00:06:00] No, he dropped an album out of nowhere.

[00:06:02] And Isaiah, this, I'm sorry, I love this album so much.

[00:06:08] I cannot stop listening to it.

[00:06:11] I feel like this is in the running for being Kendrick's best work.

[00:06:14] Have you checked it out?

[00:06:16] Yeah, I actually want to do like a recap at some point.

[00:06:20] I don't know what, but like I love GNX.

[00:06:22] It's so fire.

[00:06:24] And honestly, as you said, as it says in the article, it is definitely a victory lap of an album because of all the disses.

[00:06:30] I'm going to be real with you.

[00:06:31] If you look at like the promo that he did on Instagram for this album, there's a song on there that's not on this.

[00:06:38] So it makes me believe that there's another album coming.

[00:06:42] Oh, God.

[00:06:43] More like a mixtape more than anything, but it's mad fire, bro.

[00:06:47] Love this album.

[00:06:47] Right.

[00:06:48] I mean, yeah, to your point, I've seen rumors that this might just be a mixtape disguised as an album.

[00:06:54] This was a surprise release.

[00:06:55] We did see the one promo video that has a verse that is not anywhere on the mixtape slash album.

[00:07:02] So it could appear also noticeably absent from this album.

[00:07:06] Not like us.

[00:07:07] Mari, have you had a chance to check out GNX yet?

[00:07:12] Yeah, I was listening to it.

[00:07:13] Like, not as committed to it.

[00:07:17] Like, boy rap?

[00:07:19] Yeah.

[00:07:19] Yeah.

[00:07:20] Ah, God.

[00:07:21] It's like the MNBA.

[00:07:22] I'm only partially here for it.

[00:07:26] So I did listen to it.

[00:07:30] I never thought I needed somebody yelling mustard in my ear.

[00:07:36] I was like, wait, what?

[00:07:40] Yeah, no, it has some like really standout tracks.

[00:07:46] And like for me, I was like, Kendrick, it's too early in the morning.

[00:07:50] Like I was listening to it on my drive into work.

[00:07:52] I'm like, I can't, my brain isn't fast enough to compute these things.

[00:07:56] Like, it's so good.

[00:07:57] Like lyrically, it's very good.

[00:07:59] And I was just like, oh, I was like, okay, I can't like absorb the lyrics right now.

[00:08:05] So I'm just going to try and vibe.

[00:08:06] And it still works in that sense as well, too.

[00:08:10] So I like it.

[00:08:12] I like it.

[00:08:12] Again, nothing will ever beat the women for me.

[00:08:16] But Kendrick is definitely up there.

[00:08:19] Look, the women have definitely been having a renaissance in rap in this last year with

[00:08:23] people like Meg Thee Stallion and Glorilla really just taking front of the stage.

[00:08:28] People finally getting Flo Millie what she deserves.

[00:08:31] Don't you doing the things?

[00:08:32] And so, yeah, it's been a great time.

[00:08:35] But my dogs have been showing up lately.

[00:08:38] Isaiah, I was texting you about it.

[00:08:39] We were trying to get a podcast going so we could talk about Tyler The Creator's last

[00:08:42] album that just dropped.

[00:08:44] And this is the only thing that could have got me to put that album down, Isaiah, because

[00:08:48] it was in heavy rotation, too.

[00:08:50] Yeah.

[00:08:50] The West Coast has been running rap this year.

[00:08:52] I ain't gonna hold you.

[00:08:54] And this might be like a crazy sentiment for some people.

[00:08:59] And like people might not agree with me.

[00:09:00] But Kendrick's my goat of like rap.

[00:09:03] I'm so serious.

[00:09:04] And it's like Biggie has been my goat for like a long time.

[00:09:09] And I never thought that like I would dethrone him.

[00:09:11] But like Kendrick is dethrone him for me.

[00:09:13] And it's just like, I don't know.

[00:09:15] It's just every he is hip hop.

[00:09:17] You feel me?

[00:09:17] It's just like that whole album, by the way, like Dodge Blue was fire and Luther was fire.

[00:09:22] Those aren't even like rap songs.

[00:09:24] I don't even care for like singing.

[00:09:27] But like the chemistry with Sizz is crazy.

[00:09:30] Yeah.

[00:09:30] Like New West Coast like artists he put on that I never heard of before was good.

[00:09:35] Like, yeah, I just love I love everything about this.

[00:09:38] And then you got the complete destruction of Drake.

[00:09:41] And this isn't even like a Drake diss album.

[00:09:44] But like he got shots in this whole thing, too.

[00:09:46] It's just crazy, man.

[00:09:47] It just is.

[00:09:48] I grew up with Kendrick always being like the guy.

[00:09:51] And everyone was like, nah, it's Cole or Drake.

[00:09:54] And like, I love those two as well.

[00:09:55] But I'm like, Kendrick to me is always like him.

[00:09:58] And I never understood the possibility of Kendrick not being him.

[00:10:02] And I'm glad everyone's finally recognizing that.

[00:10:04] So, yeah, I love GNX.

[00:10:07] It's a great time.

[00:10:08] Yeah.

[00:10:09] Ironically enough, GNX is probably my least favorite track on the album.

[00:10:12] But I like it, too.

[00:10:14] You know, I like every song on the album.

[00:10:16] Reincarnation might have changed my life.

[00:10:18] I mean, reincarnated might have changed my life.

[00:10:20] I have not stopped talking about or tweeting about or listening to that song.

[00:10:26] Because Kendrick, I mean, he just went and said, OK, what if Tupac was here?

[00:10:31] Right.

[00:10:31] You know, we saw I mean, and this is also a subtle shot at Drake in a way because we saw that Drake dropped his A.I. disc using Tupac's voice.

[00:10:40] And Kendrick responds by taking Tupac's flow for an entire song and just telling an amazing lyrical story that I just I'm talking.

[00:10:50] I'm talking about that is my shirt.

[00:10:52] So I love it so much.

[00:10:55] But the album is following his last album, 2022's Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers, which I did not like.

[00:11:01] I do not like that album.

[00:11:03] I have nothing good to say about it.

[00:11:05] It was it happened, but I never talk about it because I'm like, maybe maybe he's not the guy.

[00:11:10] But I'm kind of what I say on this one.

[00:11:12] I've been a biggie fan for a long time.

[00:11:13] I listen to a lot of rap music.

[00:11:15] And this put him in the upper echelon for me.

[00:11:18] Like this solidified, you know, like the goatness that he is, because I thought Damn was my favorite Kendrick Lamar album.

[00:11:26] You know, to Pimple Butterfly, people say it's probably his best work.

[00:11:29] I mean, he's got so many bangers, but this right here, it felt so complete.

[00:11:34] And it's even got people being like, all right, has he gone too far?

[00:11:38] Has he lost his damn mind?

[00:11:40] Like this man is calling out Lil Wayne, you know, being like, hey, I know you couldn't be happy for me for the Super Bowl.

[00:11:45] Like, I mean, Mari, it just is a subtle enough jabs at people to where this making people wake up and pay attention.

[00:11:52] Honestly, he should have hit him again because what the mess was Wayne doing with his like sobbing, crying,

[00:11:59] I didn't get the Super Bowl.

[00:12:01] Shut up.

[00:12:02] Shut up.

[00:12:03] Get out of here.

[00:12:04] I am going to defend Mr. Mara on Big Sur real quick.

[00:12:07] That was a great album.

[00:12:07] I did not like it.

[00:12:11] But yeah, Wayne, I don't know what the hell.

[00:12:13] Like I personally would like to see a Wayne versus Kendrick battle because I think that's actually like worth Kendrick's time.

[00:12:20] But I think Wayne would be crazy to actually do it because I think that his whole legacy would get destroyed.

[00:12:26] Like, I think Wayne just needs to like take the hell from it.

[00:12:30] Yeah.

[00:12:30] Yeah.

[00:12:31] He already said the don't poke the lion.

[00:12:34] Da da da da da.

[00:12:35] Yeah, you need to stop.

[00:12:36] Poke him.

[00:12:37] Poke him again.

[00:12:38] You know, Wayne has gone on record and even admitted that he's not the best battle rapper.

[00:12:43] And so it would not be the wisest thing.

[00:12:46] And Kendrick has momentum.

[00:12:48] Some people say even stolen momentum because we're going to get some lawsuits this week from one of Kendrick's former rivals,

[00:12:56] who I will now say is no longer in the conversation to even hold that title as a rival.

[00:13:02] Drake is taking legal action.

[00:13:04] This man wants to speak to a manager, Mari.

[00:13:09] He is not happy.

[00:13:11] He's suing the label.

[00:13:12] Twice.

[00:13:14] Twice.

[00:13:14] Yeah.

[00:13:15] It's like, hmm, somebody accuses you of not being of the culture and essentially being white.

[00:13:20] And the first thing you do is say, I'm telling her, I'm going to sue you.

[00:13:24] Yeah.

[00:13:26] It's like, sir, you just like, and then right around the drop of the album to who, who are Drake's people?

[00:13:34] You know how I know you are.

[00:13:35] Didn't I go over this already?

[00:13:37] Who are Drake's people?

[00:13:39] Because they are doing this horrendously bad.

[00:13:41] Like, like it would, you, it was just kind of getting quiet.

[00:13:44] Yeah.

[00:13:45] This album was going to reignite some stuff, but not like us isn't even on this album.

[00:13:48] So you, if you had just sat there and ate your food, you know, you, you could have came a little sneaky comeback.

[00:13:54] Now you are doing legal findings.

[00:13:58] You're, you're, you're suing.

[00:14:00] Now the, the, the, the jokes have been flying on, on blue sky.

[00:14:05] It's just like, sir, like who are your people?

[00:14:09] Who are your people?

[00:14:10] Please.

[00:14:11] Here's the problem with this.

[00:14:12] All of them.

[00:14:13] Here's the problem with this.

[00:14:15] It's like, there's so many.

[00:14:16] And I like speed through them.

[00:14:17] So like, first of all, this isn't the first one.

[00:14:21] He's doing like two lawsuits.

[00:14:23] And one of them is like defamation of character.

[00:14:25] I'm pretty sure he's claiming.

[00:14:27] First lawsuit.

[00:14:28] If you really want to be honest.

[00:14:29] But here's the thing.

[00:14:30] How do you have a lawsuit for defamation of character when you claim you fed him lies the entire rap battle?

[00:14:38] So, so what are you suing?

[00:14:40] Yeah.

[00:14:41] Okay.

[00:14:41] So that's the first thing.

[00:14:43] The second thing is you're, you're suing Yungi and Spotify because like they're allegedly like,

[00:14:47] pushing not like us and all that, which I'm actually sure is probably true.

[00:14:51] I'm not going to, I'm not going to.

[00:14:52] I mean, you just put them on the playlist, right?

[00:14:54] The rap caviar and all that.

[00:14:56] Yeah.

[00:14:56] Whatever.

[00:14:57] But, but here's the thing, Drake, you are, you're suing Spotify and Yungi, your own,

[00:15:01] your own label by the way.

[00:15:02] You.

[00:15:03] His own label?

[00:15:04] Benefited off of it.

[00:15:05] Yeah.

[00:15:05] So Drake's label is a, is a sublabel, subsidy of under them.

[00:15:09] So it's like Yungi, the big umbrella.

[00:15:12] And then.

[00:15:13] Yeah.

[00:15:13] He's under there.

[00:15:14] Yeah.

[00:15:15] But it's like, he benefited from this for decades, like literally Scorpion, his album

[00:15:20] dropped and he was the first person to be like the head of every single genre because

[00:15:24] that's so many genres on one.

[00:15:26] So it was like, and then you were also benefiting this through the Meek Mill beef and all that

[00:15:31] stuff.

[00:15:32] It goes on and on.

[00:15:33] So that's a problem.

[00:15:34] So you're saying he knows the inner working.

[00:15:35] So he's now trying to say that.

[00:15:38] Which, which is crazy because even if he's right, then that just, that just takes it back

[00:15:42] all of his legacy.

[00:15:43] Right.

[00:15:43] Cause Drake, he's the first one that brings up streams.

[00:15:47] And so UMG is like, you can sue us if you want to, but you really, it's not going to

[00:15:51] go nowhere.

[00:15:53] Yeah.

[00:15:54] Yeah.

[00:15:54] And it is crazy too, because he's definitely suing his own label over this, which is wild.

[00:16:00] He, he's suing for defamation.

[00:16:02] He's also suing for like the, the, the bots and saying like, oh, they're running up the

[00:16:07] stream.

[00:16:07] But Drake, none of that is important because this is a rap battle.

[00:16:12] Exactly.

[00:16:13] Any streams.

[00:16:14] If 10 people heard it and heard you get chewed up, then that's what happened.

[00:16:18] And people are going to talk about it.

[00:16:19] And so it's like, you can keep doing lawsuits as much as you want, but no one's going to

[00:16:23] take back the feeling I get whenever I hear not like us.

[00:16:25] Cause I'm going to get up and dance to call you a pedophile every time.

[00:16:28] Yeah.

[00:16:29] And see, I knew this was coming because, because it's like, he's been like releasing a lot of

[00:16:35] music since the beef on like Instagram and stuff trying to like, and then like, yeah, he

[00:16:41] was like, a gigabyte of music one time.

[00:16:44] Yeah.

[00:16:44] Yeah.

[00:16:44] A hundred gigs.

[00:16:45] It was a hundred gigs.

[00:16:47] It was a hundred gigabytes of music.

[00:16:49] A lot of music this summer on, and he wasn't trying to help UMG get money.

[00:16:56] So he was trying to do on his own turn, but they were like, no, you got to put it up.

[00:17:01] So like, they put it up.

[00:17:02] It was like, no promo.

[00:17:03] You probably didn't hear about it.

[00:17:04] Right.

[00:17:04] But it's like, there's like seven songs got no airplay this, this summer.

[00:17:08] And it's just like, instead of like, just like making good music.

[00:17:12] Right.

[00:17:13] Like I saw he went on XQC's Twitch stream.

[00:17:16] I'm sorry.

[00:17:16] Kick.

[00:17:17] Kick streamed the other night.

[00:17:18] Cause he has a kick deal to like stream at least like once a month.

[00:17:21] And he was like being petty on that, like taking shots at Kendrick, the weekend.

[00:17:25] Who else?

[00:17:26] Uh, Steve Lacey.

[00:17:27] Like you just taking shots at everyone.

[00:17:29] It's just like, just make music.

[00:17:31] Like I don't know.

[00:17:31] Make music.

[00:17:33] Make music.

[00:17:34] Him coming after Steve Lacey is crazy.

[00:17:36] Cause they, Kendrick put a billion gangsters on the stage and had the pop off and everybody

[00:17:42] was going up and Drake ain't said nothing about them people, but Steve Lacey is who you

[00:17:47] going to come for?

[00:17:48] Sir, what are you doing?

[00:17:50] Who is Steve Lacey?

[00:17:52] You gotta, you gotta get into it.

[00:17:53] I thought you knew you wanted me.

[00:17:56] Yeah.

[00:17:57] I don't know that song.

[00:17:58] Yeah.

[00:17:59] You gotta get into it.

[00:18:00] Steve Lacey don't pop out with the guitar and sing.

[00:18:02] He a guitarist.

[00:18:03] Is Steve Lacey Megan Thee Stallion?

[00:18:05] No?

[00:18:05] He was on the internet.

[00:18:07] Yeah.

[00:18:08] You ain't listening to the internet?

[00:18:10] Oh, come on.

[00:18:11] No.

[00:18:12] He wrote songs for Solange.

[00:18:14] That, that should say Solange.

[00:18:15] That don't say that.

[00:18:16] Look.

[00:18:18] But listen, Steve, Steve Lacey is a guitarist and of all the people for Kendrick to come

[00:18:23] after.

[00:18:24] I mean Drake.

[00:18:25] Why you come back to somebody?

[00:18:26] I mean Drake to come after.

[00:18:27] Why would you come after the guitarist?

[00:18:28] You know what I'm saying?

[00:18:29] Mm-hmm.

[00:18:30] Mm-hmm.

[00:18:30] Yeah.

[00:18:30] So UMG, of course, denies all of this.

[00:18:33] They say that it's offensive and he's lying and all this other stuff.

[00:18:36] And Drake's attorney is basically alluding that UMG has violated a RICO law.

[00:18:43] They're saying that this is organized crime, basically.

[00:18:47] And yeah, UMG has also been accused of fraudulent promotion and misleading business activities.

[00:18:53] So Drake is coming for their necks.

[00:18:56] And a lot of people have been wondering if Drake is just trying to get out of his contract.

[00:19:00] That's what I was about to say.

[00:19:01] Yeah.

[00:19:01] Yeah.

[00:19:02] And I mean, it does feel like maybe that there could be, you know, where there's smoke,

[00:19:07] there's fire.

[00:19:08] I mean, yeah, get out of your contract, but you're looking like a dummy while you're doing

[00:19:11] it.

[00:19:12] So what is...

[00:19:13] At the end of the day, I'm going to be real with you.

[00:19:15] He's actually 100% correct.

[00:19:16] And I think all these labels are in bed with each other.

[00:19:19] But it's like the timing, you benefited off these same practices for years.

[00:19:26] And now that it's not benefiting you, you're crying about it.

[00:19:29] It's just like...

[00:19:30] Drake was the guy growing up.

[00:19:32] Like, I'm just saying, like, he was him.

[00:19:35] And just to see, like, this downfall, there's no recovery, even if he wins it or not.

[00:19:40] It just looks really pathetic.

[00:19:41] He looks like a Karen.

[00:19:42] And I'm just so disappointed in Drake.

[00:19:44] Like, the fact that he cut off his brains after Kendrick made fun of him, and now he's

[00:19:49] about to put out an R&B album instead of rap.

[00:19:52] It's just like, it's just sad, bro.

[00:19:54] I'm just, I'm tired of Drake.

[00:19:55] I'm over him.

[00:19:56] He's going out sad.

[00:19:57] I love it.

[00:19:58] Because, you know, listen, he's been getting away with this for way too long.

[00:20:03] And I said it back when we did the Kendrick versus Drake versus everybody.

[00:20:09] What's beef?

[00:20:10] Check that out.

[00:20:11] I'll drop the link in the show notes.

[00:20:13] But I said it back then.

[00:20:14] Drake had been doing exactly what Kendrick Lamar accused him of for so long, for riding waves,

[00:20:19] hopping off the waves when they don't serve him anymore, then going to the next one.

[00:20:22] And this is no different.

[00:20:23] He was fine with UMG when it was serving him.

[00:20:26] And now, like, what?

[00:20:27] This is preposterous.

[00:20:28] I got to shut this down.

[00:20:30] Oh, really, Drake?

[00:20:30] Okay, cool.

[00:20:31] So more on that to come.

[00:20:34] I'm sure there will be more updates on whether or not that pans out.

[00:20:37] But I think the damage is done.

[00:20:39] Yes.

[00:20:39] I don't know if you've seen he's going on tour in Australia during the Super Bowl.

[00:20:45] He just started his tour in Australia the same week of the Super Bowl.

[00:20:49] Who Drake is?

[00:20:50] Yeah.

[00:20:51] Okay.

[00:20:51] Okay.

[00:20:52] Yeah.

[00:20:53] He's fleeing the continent.

[00:20:54] He's fleeing the continent.

[00:20:57] Whoa, slow down, Jamal.

[00:20:58] Don't pull up with an eye.

[00:20:59] You know?

[00:21:01] The entire Young Money collection just looks bad.

[00:21:03] I'm sorry.

[00:21:04] It really do.

[00:21:05] But they've been looking bad for a minute.

[00:21:08] You know what I'm saying?

[00:21:09] I just, you know, it's scary to talk about them because they crazy.

[00:21:14] But, you know, let's just call it what it is.

[00:21:17] There's a lot going on over there.

[00:21:19] And there's not a lot of good rap coming out of that group right now.

[00:21:21] You know, if you got it, if y'all just start rapping, people will forget.

[00:21:24] People will forget.

[00:21:24] People have short memories.

[00:21:26] And they will change their minds.

[00:21:27] I always said, Drake should have pivoted the moment this happened.

[00:21:31] He should have looked at Not Like Us, like an L.

[00:21:33] And he should have went to do something else.

[00:21:34] He should have started making his singing rap again.

[00:21:36] You know, go back to singing to the women.

[00:21:38] You know, the college students love Drake.

[00:21:40] You know, all that kind of stuff.

[00:21:42] Back to that red pill stuff, though.

[00:21:43] So.

[00:21:44] Yeah.

[00:21:45] He was supposed to go start acting.

[00:21:49] Let me talk to you, Drake.

[00:21:50] Listen to me.

[00:21:50] I know you're listening to this.

[00:21:51] Drake, go be an actor.

[00:21:52] I know you're fighting it because people are telling you that you're an actor.

[00:21:55] You're a whole.

[00:21:55] But listen, go do it.

[00:21:56] So many rappers have taken massive L's in life and just going to be like just the greatest.

[00:22:03] Like they're going to be legendary actors.

[00:22:05] LL Cool J was hosting the Emmys when I was growing up.

[00:22:08] Like LL Cool J was.

[00:22:10] Ice-T has been on Law & Order for 55 years.

[00:22:12] You know, you can go and do this.

[00:22:15] Ice Cube was making family movies after saying F the police, you know, and making a career out of it.

[00:22:19] Drake, you can come back from this, but this is not it.

[00:22:23] Stop fighting this stuff in court.

[00:22:24] Nobody cares.

[00:22:25] Nobody cares.

[00:22:26] And history will show that nobody cares.

[00:22:29] He's about to be the next Ja Rule.

[00:22:32] And at least Ja Rule went down swinging.

[00:22:35] Dear God.

[00:22:35] Ja Rule.

[00:22:36] He started a fire festival.

[00:22:39] Yeah.

[00:22:39] Yeah.

[00:22:39] Ja Rule was.

[00:22:40] But he pivoted.

[00:22:41] Ja Rule stopped.

[00:22:42] He stopped trying to fight it.

[00:22:44] And he just went and did something else.

[00:22:45] And then he pops up whenever he gets in trouble with something else.

[00:22:47] But he definitely got taken out of the game.

[00:22:50] 50 Cent really did remove Ja Rule and all those fangas from his mark.

[00:22:53] Remember those days with the Ja Rule, the Shanti days?

[00:22:56] Ja Rule and the Shanti.

[00:22:58] Undefeated.

[00:22:58] He used to be.

[00:22:59] Well, defeated.

[00:23:00] Because Vinny Simpson said, get out of here.

[00:23:02] Ja Rule and the Shanti.

[00:23:04] Together.

[00:23:04] Together.

[00:23:05] Yeah.

[00:23:06] Defeated, but then undefeated.

[00:23:07] Right.

[00:23:08] Exactly.

[00:23:09] So, yeah.

[00:23:10] Anything else in the rap sphere before we move on to something else in our news?

[00:23:14] Because I've been seeing some news about Alicia Keys lately.

[00:23:20] She apparently is going to be in a Broadway musical called Hell's Kitchen.

[00:23:26] And it has announced its American tour.

[00:23:28] Now, Alicia Keys gives me somebody who should have been on Broadway a long time ago.

[00:23:33] You know what I'm saying?

[00:23:34] Like, her and that piano, she just wheels that bad boy around and does what she wants to do.

[00:23:38] I'm very excited for Alicia Keys because she's also a legend in these streets.

[00:23:42] You know, she got hits.

[00:23:44] I know for a while, Mari, it was very cool for people to be like, Alicia ain't really.

[00:23:49] The word Key is doing a lot of hard, like heavy lifting and that.

[00:23:53] But Alicia got hits.

[00:23:55] I remember her verses with John Legend.

[00:23:57] And I mean, they could have gone probably for like three hours if they wanted to.

[00:24:01] I mean, sure.

[00:24:03] I like, I'm not going to lie.

[00:24:05] Like, I didn't listen to Alicia Keys' music growing up.

[00:24:08] I listened to her sing.

[00:24:10] Yeah, I listened to her sing.

[00:24:11] Just like Fallen's?

[00:24:12] Yeah.

[00:24:13] I didn't listen to her albums.

[00:24:15] Like, you don't know my name.

[00:24:16] Like, I don't know.

[00:24:18] I never like resonated with Alicia Keys like that.

[00:24:20] So, you know.

[00:24:21] I like a musician.

[00:24:22] Very much not after her, you know, her second act.

[00:24:25] So.

[00:24:26] Oh, no.

[00:24:27] I like a musician who can, uh, who can, uh, like play the piano, but then also break up

[00:24:32] a happy home at the same time.

[00:24:34] You know, like that's kind of my vibe.

[00:24:35] And, you know, Alicia did the things.

[00:24:38] Uh, it's going to be a multi-year tour.

[00:24:40] This is horrible too, y'all.

[00:24:42] We know that as well.

[00:24:44] But it's just funnier to joke about her.

[00:24:47] It is.

[00:24:48] It is funnier.

[00:24:49] Because she going to got that.

[00:24:50] She said, I want, I want it.

[00:24:51] I'm going to get that.

[00:24:52] Okay.

[00:24:52] I got it.

[00:24:52] And she, and she did.

[00:24:53] And did.

[00:24:54] Um, but yeah.

[00:24:55] Multi-year tour in the fall of 2025.

[00:24:58] Premiering in Cleveland Playhouse Square.

[00:24:59] Running simultaneously with his Broadway run at the Schubert Theater.

[00:25:03] And what?

[00:25:04] More than 30 cities during his first year.

[00:25:06] And so we're going to see a lot, uh, from Alicia Keys in that realm.

[00:25:10] Which I think is good.

[00:25:11] I think that she's hit the point where she's maybe not like a top artist that people are

[00:25:15] going to line up and go see like in concert anymore.

[00:25:18] Like the hits ain't coming out like they used to.

[00:25:19] But in Broadway, this is, this is, this feels like right.

[00:25:23] Isaiah, were you an Alicia Keys fan?

[00:25:25] Because I couldn't believe that Mar is not.

[00:25:28] R&B is not my expertise, but I like My Boom.

[00:25:31] It was a good song, you know?

[00:25:32] But like, look, she can do, you know what Usher did?

[00:25:36] He got residency somewhere and went crazy.

[00:25:38] You know what I'm saying?

[00:25:39] So I think Alicia Keys is a big name, you know?

[00:25:42] And everyone's going to go pop out to see that show.

[00:25:44] And it's going to give her some relevance again, you know?

[00:25:46] So I like it.

[00:25:47] Yeah.

[00:25:50] If we're going to talk about Broadway, yada, yada, yada.

[00:25:54] Alicia Keys, Hell's Kitchen.

[00:25:56] But did we watch Wicked, though?

[00:25:58] That is what I want to know.

[00:26:00] Chappelle, you watch Wicked, right?

[00:26:03] I got the bootleg, y'all.

[00:26:05] You know what I'm saying?

[00:26:06] Somebody sent me the leak.

[00:26:07] So I watched it this morning.

[00:26:09] I had to be doing a long, that's a long, a long Broadway movie, okay?

[00:26:15] So I was like, not trying to watch it on 1X.

[00:26:18] But I watched it.

[00:26:19] I fell asleep a couple times.

[00:26:20] But I doubled back.

[00:26:21] I've seen all of it.

[00:26:22] It took me a minute.

[00:26:23] Took me a couple watches.

[00:26:24] But I got it.

[00:26:24] I mean, two and a half, two hours and 40 minutes, I believe, was the runtime.

[00:26:29] Which I believe is the runtime of the entire stage play.

[00:26:33] It is.

[00:26:34] And this is just part one.

[00:26:36] Yeah, they spent two hours and 45 minutes on part one.

[00:26:39] Mara, you went to the movies to see this?

[00:26:41] I did.

[00:26:42] I went to the movies to see this.

[00:26:43] Me and Gina, of course, we showed up on opening date.

[00:26:49] Because I love Broadway, full stop, but also Broadway movies.

[00:26:55] And I never saw Wicked on Broadway because I read the books.

[00:26:59] I read the books like over 12 years ago.

[00:27:03] So when I read the book, I was like, oh, there's a play.

[00:27:06] And then somebody had kind of roughly told me what the play was about.

[00:27:09] I was like, that's nothing like the book.

[00:27:11] And I was broke back then.

[00:27:14] So I was in my mid-20s.

[00:27:16] So I never went and saw the stage play.

[00:27:19] It's just like one of those things.

[00:27:20] Once it gets so far out, you know.

[00:27:24] It becomes a part of the culture.

[00:27:26] So you know the rough draft of everything.

[00:27:28] And I knew maybe one or two songs going in.

[00:27:33] So I waited for the movie.

[00:27:35] And it was not a disappointment.

[00:27:37] I know, Isaiah, you didn't see it, right?

[00:27:40] No, I didn't grow up.

[00:27:42] I'm going to watch the bootleg version after this.

[00:27:44] You know what I'm saying?

[00:27:45] Yeah, I'm going to say it to you.

[00:27:45] I got you.

[00:27:46] Do you like musicals?

[00:27:48] I love theater.

[00:27:50] And I love musicals for sure.

[00:27:52] See, I watched The Wiz.

[00:27:53] I didn't watch The Wizard of Oz.

[00:27:55] Yes, a real one.

[00:27:57] So I want to watch this.

[00:27:59] Because I'm assuming part two is what?

[00:28:00] The Wizard of Oz or something?

[00:28:02] No.

[00:28:02] So yeah.

[00:28:04] The Wizard of Oz is like, this is the prequel to The Wizard of Oz.

[00:28:07] Yeah.

[00:28:08] But there will be a part two of Wicked that has not aired.

[00:28:12] It will air a year from this air date.

[00:28:15] So next year, they'll drop part two.

[00:28:17] And then I guess from there, you can continue.

[00:28:19] And spoiler alert, spoiler alert, spoiler alert.

[00:28:21] There will be references to Wizard of Oz in part two.

[00:28:25] Cool.

[00:28:26] Yeah.

[00:28:27] Yeah.

[00:28:27] I do play.

[00:28:28] I want to see the stage play, though.

[00:28:29] I love Broadway.

[00:28:31] Yeah.

[00:28:32] Me too.

[00:28:32] So honestly, this is the number one.

[00:28:37] Did you see?

[00:28:37] It's the number one.

[00:28:39] It's the number one Broadway movie ever.

[00:28:41] Like it had the biggest debut ever.

[00:28:44] It was 118 million opening weekend, I believe, was the number.

[00:28:49] And still like counting or whatever, I think.

[00:28:52] So it's like, it's one of the biggest debuts.

[00:28:56] They had to tell people not to sing in the theater.

[00:28:59] Thank God nobody sang in my theater.

[00:29:01] We just had to put up with clapping at the end of the movie, which is fine.

[00:29:05] I was like, OK, that's fine.

[00:29:08] But in December, they're saying that a lot of theaters will release sing-along versions

[00:29:13] of Wicked.

[00:29:14] Wicked.

[00:29:15] So yeah, me and Gina already are planning to go to the sing-along versions.

[00:29:19] Like I am that annoying.

[00:29:21] Like, but not that.

[00:29:22] Thank God, y'all.

[00:29:23] A lot.

[00:29:24] That's great.

[00:29:25] I love.

[00:29:25] Well, I can't remember if I talked about it here, but like I watched, I want to watch

[00:29:31] the Mean Girls movie, the Mean Girls musical movie.

[00:29:33] I loved it.

[00:29:34] Like I love musical movies.

[00:29:36] My favorite, I think my favorite musical.

[00:29:40] It's hard, but I think it's Chicago and I've seen Chicago on, I've seen Chicago on Broadway

[00:29:47] and, and like touring the touring show twice.

[00:29:51] So I've seen it twice.

[00:29:52] Like Chicago is so good to me.

[00:29:55] So like I'm, I love musicals.

[00:29:59] They need to do Heathers.

[00:30:01] I want to see that.

[00:30:02] Yes.

[00:30:02] Heathers.

[00:30:03] Apparently it's coming soon.

[00:30:04] So that's fire.

[00:30:06] Yeah.

[00:30:07] Wicked, you know, Wicked's been in production for four years.

[00:30:10] Wicked has been in production for four years.

[00:30:12] Mean Girls was in production for, I want to say a little bit less than that.

[00:30:16] So apparently like it kind of takes a long time for, for all of it.

[00:30:21] So I heard Heathers is getting a musical.

[00:30:24] Like it's, I think with Wicked doing as well as it did, it's going to green light a lot

[00:30:30] of other movie musicals.

[00:30:32] But what we've seen is very hit or miss because Mean Girls didn't do as expected.

[00:30:38] But I think that's because of the poor marketing.

[00:30:45] Wonka didn't do as expected.

[00:30:47] Again, poor marketing.

[00:30:49] Color Purple did very well.

[00:30:51] Dear Evan Hansen did pretty bad, but that was there.

[00:30:55] That was just a whole host of problems with that.

[00:30:57] It's a bad play.

[00:30:58] Yeah, it was.

[00:31:00] I'll give you that.

[00:31:02] Listen, last year, last year, I decided that Broadway was a blind spot that I had.

[00:31:07] And I went and watched a bunch of Broadway musicals.

[00:31:10] I've seen the original stage plays of a lot of these musicals that you're naming.

[00:31:13] And that's why I can confidently say whoever made that was crack.

[00:31:17] That's a crack story.

[00:31:18] And it's insane that it got that far.

[00:31:21] But this year I went to Broadway for the very first time.

[00:31:24] I saw The Outsiders on Broadway and the Emmy, I mean, Antonio winning Outsiders.

[00:31:31] And I loved it.

[00:31:32] It was great.

[00:31:33] And so I actually have now checked that off my list.

[00:31:36] I've actually been to Broadway and seen something.

[00:31:38] So now when I bootleg this, I don't feel bad.

[00:31:40] OK.

[00:31:41] Yeah.

[00:31:41] I mean, yeah, that's for sure.

[00:31:44] Yeah.

[00:31:45] You did.

[00:31:46] You supported the arts.

[00:31:47] There you go.

[00:31:48] At one time, you supported the arts.

[00:31:51] But imagine that there were like a cinematic Hamilton.

[00:31:55] That would be crazy.

[00:31:56] Yeah.

[00:31:58] Did you watch Hamilton on Netflix?

[00:32:01] On Netflix.

[00:32:02] When it was on Disney Plus, I'm sorry.

[00:32:04] Did you watch it when it was on Disney Plus?

[00:32:05] Yeah.

[00:32:06] Like that was a pretty decent recording of like an onstage production.

[00:32:10] You know, it felt all cinematic.

[00:32:12] But yeah.

[00:32:13] They did.

[00:32:13] They shot.

[00:32:14] So I actually liked that Hamilton wasn't cinematic.

[00:32:18] And I think that's what Chicago gets right as the movie.

[00:32:21] Because Chicago, the movie flips back and forth between cinematic.

[00:32:25] And then when it gets to the musical numbers, it switches to the stage.

[00:32:29] To the stage.

[00:32:30] Yeah.

[00:32:30] They do it in a really good way.

[00:32:32] Hamilton being they recorded it knowing that they were going to record it for the movie.

[00:32:38] They did it with the original cast back in 2016.

[00:32:40] And they recorded it over two nights so that they could get several different angles.

[00:32:45] So I honestly want to see some discernment.

[00:32:50] And if these studios can discern between what works as a big budget movie, which Wicked does.

[00:32:58] I mean, come on.

[00:32:59] The special effects for Wicked make so much sense for it to be like a big movie budget like that.

[00:33:06] And see what should be contained to the stage.

[00:33:10] If they can balance that out, then they could really make money off of musicals for like the next few years to come.

[00:33:18] Because people love, they want to go to Broadway, but everybody can't afford to go to Broadway.

[00:33:24] So that's why Hamilton really popped off.

[00:33:27] Because Hamilton had been a big Broadway property for so long.

[00:33:31] But people just couldn't.

[00:33:32] I know I couldn't afford those tickets.

[00:33:35] Hamilton money is real.

[00:33:37] It was.

[00:33:38] And so when you bring it to the theaters or you bring it to people's homes, that's where you make the money.

[00:33:44] So I would love in the future if we could really get some more musicals made into movies or to streaming.

[00:33:53] And have some be as the stage play and some be like high budget.

[00:34:00] And hopefully with Wicked making this much money, we'll get something like that.

[00:34:07] So I'm pretty sure I have so much to say about Wicked.

[00:34:10] I will see how passionate you are about this.

[00:34:13] Yeah.

[00:34:14] Let her cook.

[00:34:14] Let her cook.

[00:34:15] Yeah.

[00:34:16] Big win for the AKAs.

[00:34:18] Cynthia Erivo of Alpha Kappa Alpha goes and we needed a win, AKAs.

[00:34:24] We needed one.

[00:34:27] Is this the thing that SpongeBob is in?

[00:34:29] The SpongeBob guy?

[00:34:30] Is he in this?

[00:34:32] Yeah, apparently.

[00:34:33] So this is where the whole Ariana and SpongeBob.

[00:34:36] Oh, okay.

[00:34:38] Okay.

[00:34:39] Aqua Turtles.

[00:34:40] Yeah.

[00:34:41] So, yeah.

[00:34:44] Cynthia Erivo putting on as Elphaba in this role.

[00:34:49] And, you know, I saw a lot of people being like, Elphaba should have just been a Black character from Jump.

[00:34:55] And it's weird that everyone was making a big deal out of it being Cynthia Erivo.

[00:34:58] When you look at the plot and you're like, it feels like it should have just been a Black character from Jump.

[00:35:04] Everybody or white people.

[00:35:06] White folks.

[00:35:06] Because it makes, it absolutely makes sense.

[00:35:10] Like her character being a Black character.

[00:35:12] Micro brains and all.

[00:35:13] Exactly.

[00:35:14] Oh my God.

[00:35:14] She's green.

[00:35:15] Who cares?

[00:35:16] Yeah.

[00:35:17] She's green.

[00:35:19] They had to complain about that.

[00:35:21] But the lady showed up and showed out.

[00:35:23] It was good.

[00:35:24] As somebody who watched it on Moogle, I'll be watching it again because I can.

[00:35:28] And y'all gotta wait and go to the movie yet.

[00:35:29] So, blah.

[00:35:30] So, check it out.

[00:35:31] Because she, she did kill that.

[00:35:33] She was hitting them notes.

[00:35:35] And they were saying that she wasn't going to be good in her role either.

[00:35:38] And she proved everybody wrong.

[00:35:40] Crazy.

[00:35:40] And then why victorious?

[00:35:42] Exactly.

[00:35:42] That's what I was going to say.

[00:35:44] Because like, I didn't, I wasn't a victorious kid.

[00:35:46] And Ariana Grande has been such a, she's, listen to this.

[00:35:51] She's such a huge pop star that we've all forgotten that she was originally a, like, a Nickelodeon.

[00:35:58] A star character.

[00:35:59] She originated, like, she originally is a theater kid.

[00:36:02] Like, she's originally a theater kid.

[00:36:05] But we all forgot because she's such a, like, a huge pop star.

[00:36:09] So, like, this is exactly her wheelhouse.

[00:36:11] And she killed it.

[00:36:12] She really did.

[00:36:13] Take notes, Drake.

[00:36:15] Okay?

[00:36:16] I just told you.

[00:36:17] Go back to what you know.

[00:36:18] Okay?

[00:36:19] That's all I'm saying.

[00:36:20] You might have a good exit here.

[00:36:21] But yeah.

[00:36:22] That's, that's our Black Entertainment News of the Week.

[00:36:24] I love, I love that we worked wicked in there because Cynthia Erivo, very Black.

[00:36:27] She, she had to, she, she stumbled.

[00:36:30] Don't get me wrong.

[00:36:30] I was looking at her sideways for her comments about Black folks early on.

[00:36:33] But, you know, the AKs forgave us all.

[00:36:35] I gotta forgive her too.

[00:36:36] You know, I gotta, I gotta let it go.

[00:36:38] People learn.

[00:36:39] We ain't gotta get into it.

[00:36:40] We're not here, we're not here to disparage this woman at the heights of her.

[00:36:43] Just know, just know we remember.

[00:36:44] Okay?

[00:36:45] But the North remembers.

[00:36:46] All right?

[00:36:47] So, thank y'all for listening.

[00:36:49] Of course, if you are only here for the entertainment news, we'll catch you next time.

[00:36:52] But stay, stick around for Rhythm and Flow Season 2 because we're going to have a brief synopsis of what that is.

[00:36:57] Talk about some of the things and the standouts we saw from the first four episodes of Season 2 right after this break.

[00:37:05] Okay.

[00:37:05] And we're back.

[00:37:07] So, Rhythm and Flow.

[00:37:09] This is a rap competition as we talked about earlier.

[00:37:12] They're very much in the style of like The Voice or American Idol where you have contestants come up.

[00:37:17] They audition for an esteemed panel of judges and then they move them on to the next round in the first four episodes.

[00:37:23] We get the auditions.

[00:37:24] We get auditions from different artists from all over as they come and they sit in front of our panel of judges.

[00:37:31] So, I've never seen Season 1 and I haven't seen all of the episodes for Season 2.

[00:37:35] So, I'm going to be asking a lot of questions to my Rhythm and Flow experts here as y'all enlighten me on the format of the show.

[00:37:41] Because we're giving our main core judges here with Ludacris, you know, as our number one.

[00:37:51] I think we got Big Lotto as our number two.

[00:37:53] And then DJ Khaled as our number three.

[00:37:55] In Episode 1, we had Big Sean as our fourth.

[00:37:57] Is there normally a guest judge or is it like a fourth seat?

[00:38:02] For certain rounds.

[00:38:03] Okay.

[00:38:04] And so, so Big Sean is not a recurring character necessarily.

[00:38:07] Just one episode.

[00:38:08] Just one, just one episode.

[00:38:10] So, like last season, do you remember this, Isaiah?

[00:38:13] Last season for the auditions, they went to different cities.

[00:38:17] Yeah.

[00:38:17] And it was so cool because they would go to different cities and they would have like a person, like a famous rapper from that city be there as the fourth on the panel.

[00:38:28] I guess, I don't know.

[00:38:30] Because they, I think they recorded the first season like right before COVID.

[00:38:33] Because I know I watched it during the winter during lockdown.

[00:38:37] But I can't remember like.

[00:38:39] They did it all in Atlanta where I felt different about it.

[00:38:44] But as you said, season one, they took one of the judges out of Cardi B, Chance and T.I.

[00:38:50] And they sent them out.

[00:38:51] So like Cardi went to New York.

[00:38:52] She had like Fat Joe and I think Jadakiss.

[00:38:56] And then like, I remember T.I. went out.

[00:38:59] He had like Nipsey and somebody.

[00:39:01] Like they just had like people depending on the areas.

[00:39:04] And I thought it was cooler that way.

[00:39:05] I did too.

[00:39:06] Like more people who possibly can't fly out or something, you know.

[00:39:10] Yeah.

[00:39:10] We're like this one that's in Atlanta.

[00:39:12] I think only one artist from that's actually from Atlanta actually ended up moving past the first round.

[00:39:19] But I don't know.

[00:39:20] The format of the show has always been like iffy to me.

[00:39:23] I mean, I'm sure we'll get to that.

[00:39:25] But like, yeah, I like the traveling aspect and the different cultures a little bit more in the first one.

[00:39:31] Right.

[00:39:32] And this one.

[00:39:34] So the first season had kind of a controversy about.

[00:39:39] Is this kind of like predetermined innocence, right?

[00:39:44] So the winner of last season, D Smoke.

[00:39:47] Who was he related to, Isaiah?

[00:39:50] Was he is he related to Sir or or he's related to Sir?

[00:39:54] Sir.

[00:39:55] I thought you were Sir.

[00:39:56] Yeah.

[00:39:56] Like Sir, except for then he said this.

[00:39:59] Anyways.

[00:40:01] Hey, look at TDE.

[00:40:05] Always saying something stupid.

[00:40:07] So D Smoke was related to Sir.

[00:40:09] He was like the front runner for the longest.

[00:40:12] He had already had basic like I think he had basically already had a record deal and stuff like that.

[00:40:18] So like there was already kind of like some.

[00:40:23] Some was.

[00:40:24] I don't know.

[00:40:25] I don't feel because one I know for a fact because I recognize some people from season one.

[00:40:30] One of them was related to Dizzy Wright.

[00:40:32] And then another dude was a well-known battle rapper.

[00:40:35] Like I've been seeing off of YouTube for like a year.

[00:40:37] Yeah.

[00:40:38] His name.

[00:40:39] Yeah.

[00:40:40] I know you're talking about.

[00:40:41] But yeah, I don't think it was predetermined.

[00:40:43] I'm going to be real.

[00:40:43] Yeah.

[00:40:44] Yeah.

[00:40:44] It's just it's just the thought the maybe the thought process is like if you go to a voice or an American Idol, normally it is like amateurs, people who have not broken in, you know, to the industry.

[00:40:58] There was just a lot of recognizable faces.

[00:41:02] And so because of that, there was kind of allegations.

[00:41:06] But at least with that one, again, they had more open.

[00:41:09] It felt like or what from what I understand, they had more open auditions from this season.

[00:41:15] From what I understand, these people like had to like submit to casting and then were chosen and then flown in.

[00:41:23] So to me, that even more kind of would kind of be like, you know, even on top of that, what's like you're saying, the smoke making it so far.

[00:41:35] My problem with rhythm and flow last season and this season, obviously, assuming it goes the way I think it's going to go the next batch of episodes.

[00:41:43] I don't think the battle rap should be like a thing.

[00:41:47] And I had a problem with this on the rap game, too.

[00:41:50] There's a lot of like artists who just don't know how to battle rap or are more just like good at making music.

[00:41:55] And I felt like in season one, a lot of people who I was like, you know, this person will probably dope in a music video challenge or like when they never make it.

[00:42:03] Yeah, because they can't battle rap against some street rapper.

[00:42:07] Battle rappers don't necessarily know how to make good music.

[00:42:10] And people who never make good music don't know how to battle rap.

[00:42:13] It's two different things.

[00:42:14] You know what I'm saying?

[00:42:14] Exactly.

[00:42:16] Especially when Eminem is one of the judges.

[00:42:18] He's going to be hella critical.

[00:42:20] I feel like people who are like lyrical or like just like probably have crazy hooks or something.

[00:42:26] They're not going to get a chance to like show their talent because they can't battle rap against somebody.

[00:42:31] Exactly.

[00:42:32] I agree.

[00:42:32] So, Chappelle, what we're talking about is after the auditions, they then go to the ciphers, which we saw in these first four episodes.

[00:42:39] But the next batch of episodes, they got to go through battle rounds.

[00:42:42] And so they went from they went from they found 22 people from the in the auditions.

[00:42:49] Those 22 people then went through the ciphers.

[00:42:52] They got rid of eight people from the ciphers.

[00:42:54] And then they're down to 14 people.

[00:42:56] So next batch of episodes, they they already which is really interesting how they did this.

[00:43:03] Netflix.

[00:43:04] They actually told us who was going to be battle rapping against two.

[00:43:08] They set it all up, sent them to Detroit, have the big Eminem kind of like half reveal.

[00:43:15] But we have to wait for the next batch of episodes.

[00:43:18] It's going to be seven battle raps and whoever loses goes home.

[00:43:23] So they're going to it's going to whittle it down to seven before they then get into like what Isaiah is talking about as the individual portion of the show where they're going to be able to sit down with a producer.

[00:43:35] Like, yeah.

[00:43:37] And be an artist, like make a song, make a video.

[00:43:41] Last season, what was that girl?

[00:43:42] Was it London?

[00:43:43] What was her name?

[00:43:44] London.

[00:43:44] London.

[00:43:44] She made a fire ass song.

[00:43:48] Yeah.

[00:43:48] That was so good.

[00:43:50] But she made it just two episodes too early.

[00:43:52] She like made it like, you know what I'm saying, Isaiah?

[00:43:55] Because it got it through the collaborations, but not through the finale.

[00:43:58] Yeah.

[00:43:59] Like it was so good that she she had to do it like two more times afterwards.

[00:44:04] And it just wasn't as good as.

[00:44:06] Yeah.

[00:44:07] Yeah.

[00:44:07] Yeah.

[00:44:07] I'm just like, how are you having contestants battle rap?

[00:44:11] But like, no disrespect, like Cardi B is one of the judges.

[00:44:16] Like why?

[00:44:17] We're going to get into the judges soon.

[00:44:19] But like, I feel I feel so some type of way for like DJ Khaled being there because it's like, I understand the producer angle.

[00:44:28] Yeah.

[00:44:28] He's there for the.

[00:44:29] I would have took more of a Metro Boomin or something because it's like DJ Khaled doesn't really make most of his beats right now.

[00:44:38] Like he pays people and he had like a lot to say about a lot of these people.

[00:44:43] He's very critical.

[00:44:44] And it's like, bro, you don't even make good music.

[00:44:47] I remember he went on social media and he was hating on Tyler, the creator for like beating him for a Grammy, calling him mysterious music.

[00:44:54] It's like, bro, you're not good.

[00:44:56] And Tyler packed him up.

[00:44:56] And Tyler packed him up.

[00:44:58] Yeah.

[00:44:58] Sure did.

[00:44:59] I don't think we were worried about him being a judge on us, but this is.

[00:45:02] Yeah.

[00:45:03] I'm so glad he stopped yelling into the mic because I remember those days where you go, who are you, nigga?

[00:45:08] Like, like, if you don't get my face.

[00:45:11] Yeah, this is not.

[00:45:12] Sir, you are not.

[00:45:13] You know, like, you know what I'm saying?

[00:45:15] So I was like, I don't think you can say that.

[00:45:17] So I'm happy that he took the note.

[00:45:19] You know, I definitely could see that as a criticism.

[00:45:22] I'm looking at the season one list.

[00:45:24] And yeah, auditions last year.

[00:45:26] You had Snoop Dogg, Anderson .Paak and Nipsey Hussle as the guest judges in episode one.

[00:45:31] Fat Joe.

[00:45:31] Fat Joe and Jada Kiz in episode two.

[00:45:33] Killer Mike Quavo in Big Boy in Atlanta.

[00:45:35] And then Chicago auditions Twister, Royce the Five Nigh and Lupe Fiasco.

[00:45:38] So those all feel like, like, these are good, you know, strong named artists that I was like, okay, yeah, if they're handling auditions, then I trust these people, right?

[00:45:48] But also, you're right.

[00:45:50] Some of the rappers that were going to get their audition, at least in episode one, definitely don't come off as, this is a rapper that I think can win a battle, you know, at first glance.

[00:45:57] You know, there's so many different aspects of rap and hip hop where you got battle rap is its own category of theme.

[00:46:05] Then you got rappers who can throw slugs at each other that, you know, it's still like, it's like a battle, but it's not battle rap.

[00:46:10] That's a separate thing.

[00:46:11] Then you got, you know, the singing, melodic rappers who don't really do that kind of stuff.

[00:46:16] And so it's almost crazy to put them in the same type of category and let them all duke it out.

[00:46:21] But Mario, they do have battle rounds in The Voice.

[00:46:24] Is it very similar to that?

[00:46:26] Oh, no.

[00:46:27] The battle rounds in The Voice, that's my favorite portion of The Voice.

[00:46:31] And it's different.

[00:46:33] Like, the coaches give The Voice, in The Voice, they give two people one song and they have them sing like, it's like a duet.

[00:46:41] Like, they break the song into like parts and go back and forth singing, which is very entertaining to me.

[00:46:49] But I don't think that's how you would find The Voice, like an actual The Voice.

[00:46:54] Because, you know, you really get to see the range of those performers when they get to do the arrangements of the songs that more likely fit their voice.

[00:47:04] In the battle rounds, they always have to pick an arrangement that fits both of their voices.

[00:47:08] And even though it's supposed to fit both of them, it always, it can be a disservice to at least like one person.

[00:47:15] So it's different in a sense, but like it's same in that one person moves on, other person gets chopped.

[00:47:25] Yeah.

[00:47:26] But yes, but the battle raps, the battle round in Rhythm and Flow is like, that's the crazy thing.

[00:47:32] Like Isaiah said, it is like the real battle rap.

[00:47:35] It's not even like for the play, play, play, like on rap game.

[00:47:39] It's like they're really in each other's face and they're not even like on beat.

[00:47:44] They're just, yeah, just punchlines and punchlines.

[00:47:46] And I was like, who really wants to see that from people who aren't battle rappers?

[00:47:50] Like not me.

[00:47:51] And they're going to be doing it in St. Andrew's Hall, like in Detroit, like.

[00:47:54] Where they did 8 Mile.

[00:47:56] 8 Mile.

[00:47:57] This is too much.

[00:47:59] And on top of that, and I do like the contestants this season, actually.

[00:48:04] But like, I'll say while we're on the judges, it's like, all right.

[00:48:09] In season one, I felt like Chance, T.I. and Cardi, say what you want about them.

[00:48:16] No.

[00:48:16] I know.

[00:48:17] I like them.

[00:48:18] I like them.

[00:48:19] I think their decision making was way more consistent across the board.

[00:48:24] And they were like.

[00:48:25] Really?

[00:48:26] I felt like they were like, they had a criteria and they stuck with it the whole time.

[00:48:31] Okay.

[00:48:31] I feel like Lotto, DJ Khaled, and Luda have like said certain things to like eliminate some people.

[00:48:41] But then like.

[00:48:41] Change it up for season two.

[00:48:42] Other people get it passed.

[00:48:43] Yeah.

[00:48:44] And then like, how many times do I hear Lotto be like, I've been on a show before and like, you know.

[00:48:49] People in my season.

[00:48:51] Or like, what DJ Khaled said?

[00:48:54] Oh, when I'm in the studio and I'm making a song.

[00:48:59] Like, they're not consistent.

[00:49:02] Like, I don't want to jump ahead.

[00:49:05] I don't know what the format is.

[00:49:06] But like, some people that they keep in the last episode.

[00:49:10] Yeah.

[00:49:10] Versus some of the people they eliminate who actually got the job done.

[00:49:14] They're judging it based off of like, all right.

[00:49:16] The potential of someone.

[00:49:18] Versus last season.

[00:49:19] People are like, how did you do this challenge?

[00:49:21] You know what I'm saying?

[00:49:22] Did you show up?

[00:49:24] Yeah.

[00:49:24] Exactly.

[00:49:25] We will definitely get to that, Isaiah.

[00:49:27] Because I didn't want to hear your thoughts on that.

[00:49:28] I don't want to mess to y'all.

[00:49:29] Y'all joking.

[00:49:30] Yeah.

[00:49:30] No, no, no.

[00:49:31] So.

[00:49:32] Yeah.

[00:49:32] Go ahead.

[00:49:33] No, you can go.

[00:49:35] So, yeah.

[00:49:35] So, so I did watch the first episode of season two.

[00:49:38] And I will even say that I kind of picked up on a little of what Isaiah is saying in that.

[00:49:44] Because we had different artists coming out, you know, to get introduced or whatever.

[00:49:49] But there were a couple moments where some of the criticism for some particular people

[00:49:55] didn't really just go across the board to everybody.

[00:49:58] I think his name was Jacques Lane.

[00:50:01] And he's telling them like, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce.

[00:50:05] And they're like, ooh, you told us to bounce?

[00:50:07] Yeah.

[00:50:08] We really just kind of wanted to bounce.

[00:50:10] But then the very next person is like, say, patience, say, patience.

[00:50:15] They're like, patience.

[00:50:15] Hey, hey, hey.

[00:50:16] Don't go on.

[00:50:17] Don't go like that.

[00:50:18] Yeah.

[00:50:18] Don't go on.

[00:50:19] But then you'll see the next person.

[00:50:20] And they're like, ooh, say this.

[00:50:22] Put your head.

[00:50:22] And I'm like, okay.

[00:50:24] I thought we were going to say that.

[00:50:25] Okay.

[00:50:25] You know?

[00:50:26] I get what you're saying.

[00:50:27] But I don't think it was the, like, everybody says, like, put your hands up.

[00:50:31] Put your hands up.

[00:50:32] It was because Jacques Lane came out and said, hey, hey, hey, for real, for real.

[00:50:36] So I don't, I don't.

[00:50:38] He was.

[00:50:39] He was.

[00:50:39] He over explained it.

[00:50:41] He's like, he's like, I need y'all to bounce.

[00:50:43] I need y'all.

[00:50:44] Like, are you the choir director?

[00:50:46] Like, I think he overdid it.

[00:50:48] It wasn't.

[00:50:48] And before the music even dropped.

[00:50:50] Plus, he was rude to DJ Mustard.

[00:50:51] I love when I, every time somebody, like, acknowledged Mustard, I was like, was that a good acknowledgement

[00:50:57] or a bad one?

[00:50:58] Like, if you're not nice to, I said Mustard.

[00:51:01] I was like, Mustard is not the DJ.

[00:51:02] Holiday.

[00:51:03] Holiday.

[00:51:03] Holiday.

[00:51:03] I'm sorry.

[00:51:04] DJ Holiday.

[00:51:05] DJ Holiday.

[00:51:06] It's like, like, he was so rude to DJ Holiday to me.

[00:51:09] He was, I don't know.

[00:51:10] And, and I just love when people like, uh, Holiday, got the beat, please.

[00:51:14] Or like, you ask, ask Holiday nicely, please.

[00:51:18] Like, yeah, Jock is not a good example of that because he overdid it.

[00:51:23] He was very weird.

[00:51:24] The vibe was weird.

[00:51:26] The vibe was weird.

[00:51:27] That people were not feeling it.

[00:51:28] But, you know, like, if your critique is don't tell us what to do, then the next person

[00:51:32] should not be able to tell us what to do.

[00:51:33] You know what I'm saying?

[00:51:34] And I think they had the right vibe.

[00:51:36] There you go.

[00:51:37] Like, keep the vibe, you know?

[00:51:38] But I think you've got to kind of keep your critique level across the board.

[00:51:41] We talk about our judges.

[00:51:43] If you're not familiar with our judges, Ludacris, you know.

[00:51:47] So, turned actor, as I've pointed out before, a viable option for rappers.

[00:51:53] You know, you can be a rapper.

[00:51:54] You can be an actor.

[00:51:54] Look at Ludacris.

[00:51:55] But Ludacris, legend.

[00:51:57] A legend.

[00:51:58] I mean, talking about album run.

[00:52:00] Oh, you're like three, four albums in a row.

[00:52:02] His first four albums.

[00:52:03] I can, yeah.

[00:52:05] All, every word.

[00:52:06] All four.

[00:52:07] Yeah.

[00:52:08] Do you know the lyrics of Blueberry Yum Yum?

[00:52:10] I do.

[00:52:10] Yeah, of course.

[00:52:11] Yeah.

[00:52:12] Come on, Blueberry Yum Yum.

[00:52:13] Yeah.

[00:52:14] Look.

[00:52:15] Get on here.

[00:52:15] They'll start doing Splash Waterfall.

[00:52:17] Like, we can start name dropping.

[00:52:18] We can.

[00:52:21] Because he's a legend.

[00:52:22] So, I love that they brought him in because it does really like, okay.

[00:52:25] Little Chris is here.

[00:52:26] So, it's like, you know this is real, right?

[00:52:28] Like, you know, like, okay, they ain't playing.

[00:52:29] But then you have Lotto.

[00:52:31] Mara, you've been talking about how the female rappers are in there.

[00:52:33] Like, they're in there having a moment.

[00:52:35] Lotto was a part of that moment.

[00:52:37] I think she's the perfect judge here.

[00:52:39] Um, because I know Isaiah is tired of hearing it.

[00:52:42] But she did come up through the rap game.

[00:52:45] She...

[00:52:45] Did she?

[00:52:45] She was on a show?

[00:52:47] Yeah.

[00:52:47] She was on a show.

[00:52:48] Do you want me to pre-show?

[00:52:49] What?

[00:52:50] This is the first time I'm hearing about this.

[00:52:52] Yeah.

[00:52:54] Season one or season two.

[00:52:55] I can't remember.

[00:52:55] Season one.

[00:52:56] Season one.

[00:52:56] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:52:57] So Lotto was on a competition show?

[00:52:59] She was on the rap game.

[00:53:00] She went as Miss Mulatto on, um, on the rap game.

[00:53:06] Yeah.

[00:53:08] And she did.

[00:53:09] She won season one.

[00:53:11] And she did really good.

[00:53:12] And that season was really good.

[00:53:14] And so I think having her on here as somebody who is, is like a clear example of where,

[00:53:20] where you can go from, like, being on this show to being like, like I said, the only

[00:53:26] solo female from Atlanta to go platinum or whatever.

[00:53:31] Yeah.

[00:53:31] Like, I, and I really did like her critiques.

[00:53:34] I get it.

[00:53:34] They weren't, um, they weren't consistent because Lotto was, you could really tell that she

[00:53:39] was just, like, looking for people who were real and, like, who she caught a vibe from.

[00:53:44] She, yes, she, she, that is one thing she was, um, consistent when she was like, it's

[00:53:49] about authenticity, authentic, authentic, authentic, authentic.

[00:53:52] And so, um, I, I really liked her as a judge better than Cardi B.

[00:53:57] Like, I think I like Cardi B as a personality and I did like her on the first season.

[00:54:03] Um, but like, I think just Lotto understands it a little bit better for sure.

[00:54:10] Yeah.

[00:54:10] Um, and then of course, uh, DJ Khaled as well as our producer anchor here.

[00:54:15] Um, you know, we don't have to listen, list all of, uh, uh, DJ Khaled's hits cause he

[00:54:21] got to tell them.

[00:54:21] He's worked with everybody.

[00:54:23] Um, but yeah, also make, it makes sense for him to be here.

[00:54:26] I know Isaiah is not a huge fan.

[00:54:28] Uh, I think, yeah, I think this is like the last time you can have DJ Khaled do one of

[00:54:32] these things after this.

[00:54:33] It's kind of like, okay, okay.

[00:54:34] He would have been a better, like judge for the music video or something challenge.

[00:54:40] Right.

[00:54:41] Okay.

[00:54:41] He wasn't there for like the, the site, like the, the preparation for the Cypher.

[00:54:47] So like, you can't tell me half of the people who guessed it on this or people who didn't

[00:54:52] even come on this wouldn't have been down to host this.

[00:54:55] You know what I'm saying?

[00:54:56] I get, he's very like marketable.

[00:54:58] He's commercialized is DJ Khaled.

[00:55:01] I just get so annoyed when he critiques people.

[00:55:04] I'm just like, yeah, we don't know.

[00:55:06] I get it.

[00:55:06] But the good thing is he's like chair three though.

[00:55:09] Like his, like his critiques are like, Oh yeah.

[00:55:13] And him, he's here too.

[00:55:15] No, I just have to make a point about the music videos though.

[00:55:17] So how much production goes into the video?

[00:55:19] Is it like a, like, they're just like, they go crazy or they go crazy?

[00:55:24] They, they give them the, whatever you want to do, you do.

[00:55:28] And they went crazy last year.

[00:55:30] So yeah.

[00:55:31] Huh.

[00:55:31] I wonder, are those videos on YouTube to watch or you got to go watch the show?

[00:55:35] I might go check them out.

[00:55:39] I like that.

[00:55:39] And our, and our guest judges Tom, I'm a big, I'm a big Sean fan.

[00:55:42] So I was happy.

[00:55:43] I was very happy to see my voice show up.

[00:55:45] He was very fun.

[00:55:46] Yeah.

[00:55:47] Very fun.

[00:55:47] He did exactly what I thought big Sean was going to do.

[00:55:49] When he got hype, he stood up, he danced, you know, he really put,

[00:55:52] he was happy when anybody put on for a city.

[00:55:54] We had a Detroit artist in episode one as well.

[00:55:57] Yeah.

[00:55:57] Um, but Detroit diamond.

[00:55:59] Yeah.

[00:55:59] But who are our, our special guests in the subsequent episodes?

[00:56:04] So, uh, Buster Rhymes was, uh, in episode two for the rest of the auditions.

[00:56:10] He was really good.

[00:56:11] Yeah.

[00:56:11] Back from season one.

[00:56:12] Okay.

[00:56:13] He was like the dad that gives you the long winded advice.

[00:56:16] Like, I was like, I know that they had to cut this down because he was talking very long.

[00:56:21] He was giving some advice.

[00:56:22] He was saying stuff.

[00:56:22] I was like, Buster, where are we, where, where are we at right now?

[00:56:26] But he did a good job.

[00:56:28] Uh, then Remy Ma came in for the ciphers, which was.

[00:56:32] Okay.

[00:56:32] She was good.

[00:56:34] Yeah.

[00:56:35] He killed the ciphers.

[00:56:36] So, um, and that was it.

[00:56:38] Right.

[00:56:38] Isaiah.

[00:56:39] Uh, yeah.

[00:56:40] Yeah.

[00:56:41] Mm-hmm.

[00:56:42] Yeah.

[00:56:42] Okay.

[00:56:43] And, um, so we have Remy.

[00:56:46] We got Buster as our, as our judges, but first we had Big Sean.

[00:56:48] And so we had to bring in, you know, our artists and give them spotlight as well.

[00:56:53] I know we have a ton of artists to talk about when you did four episodes, but let's talk about

[00:56:56] the highlights.

[00:56:57] So from, from the first episode, I definitely, I did like Detroit, uh, Detroit Diamond.

[00:57:02] I thought she was really good.

[00:57:03] Um, obviously she got them hype.

[00:57:05] That's what I'm always looking for.

[00:57:06] I like to see the judges reactions.

[00:57:07] Cause if you're in the room, you really feel the energy from the rap, you know?

[00:57:11] And if somebody can control the energy in the room, I think that's like one of the hardest

[00:57:15] things to do being on stage.

[00:57:18] The crowd really got into it.

[00:57:21] And so she tells a story about how her brother got murdered and how she wants to go and create

[00:57:25] generational wealth for her family.

[00:57:27] So I was rooting for her.

[00:57:28] We all fans of Detroit Diamond.

[00:57:30] Like I know that they get to the cyphers.

[00:57:32] Um, does she still with us by the time that happens?

[00:57:35] They don't cut her, but.

[00:57:36] Do you want to know?

[00:57:38] This is assuming you watched rhythm and flow season two episodes, one through two, one

[00:57:42] through four.

[00:57:42] So yeah.

[00:57:43] I think we're talking about it now.

[00:57:44] Yeah.

[00:57:45] Go ahead and spoil it.

[00:57:46] Yeah.

[00:57:46] She, she survived.

[00:57:47] She did.

[00:57:48] Yeah.

[00:57:50] I don't think she's a star, but she's around.

[00:57:56] I agree.

[00:57:57] I like, it's hard.

[00:57:58] Like I love her story.

[00:57:59] I think in episode one, she's literally wrapping her story about like trying to make it up

[00:58:03] out of Detroit and stuff like that.

[00:58:05] So it's, it's a very good story.

[00:58:08] Now she wasn't memorable.

[00:58:10] Once you got to episode four, I had to actually like, I actually had to go back and try and

[00:58:15] remember who she is.

[00:58:16] So she actually slows.

[00:58:17] She kind of falls by the wayside with, uh, of the other like female rappers, but she

[00:58:23] does make it.

[00:58:24] I don't know how she's going to fare in that next round, the battle round.

[00:58:29] Um, but she's from Detroit.

[00:58:30] So, uh, I'm going to be, I'm going to kind of be mad if she knocks, it knocks.

[00:58:35] It's crazy.

[00:58:36] Cause she's not bad at rapping.

[00:58:38] I just think that everyone, there's people who are better than her.

[00:58:42] Yeah.

[00:58:43] It's like I said, I just think it's a memorability thing.

[00:58:46] Like she's just not as memorable as the other female rappers they have.

[00:58:51] Yeah.

[00:58:51] Yeah.

[00:58:52] My, my next question is that, um, I want to know if America has any say so and who wins

[00:58:59] this game.

[00:58:59] Right.

[00:58:59] Cause like in the, in the, in the voice and stuff like that, like the judges are there,

[00:59:03] but we get to vote, you know, we get to vote when we want to go through, but I don't

[00:59:07] think that happens on Netflix show.

[00:59:08] Right.

[00:59:08] The show was pre-taped like a long time ago.

[00:59:11] Yeah.

[00:59:12] So they'll go to the crowd and be like, you know, this person or this person.

[00:59:17] I feel like that's a missed opportunity.

[00:59:19] You know, like, uh, I don't get me wrong.

[00:59:21] You know, uh, the judges, the judge being there matters, but I think in a battle rap,

[00:59:25] you could do the, you know, be ready.

[00:59:28] You could do that kind of thing.

[00:59:29] Right.

[00:59:29] That's what they did on the rap game, but I don't remember if they did that, if they

[00:59:33] did that here.

[00:59:34] So we'll have to see the next.

[00:59:36] How do you, how do you feel about that though?

[00:59:38] Taking it out of the judge's hands a little bit and letting the crowd.

[00:59:40] I mean, if it was a live show, I think it would be more effective.

[00:59:43] Um, but I don't even know if the audience is actually like a real audience for this

[00:59:48] show.

[00:59:48] Cause like, how would the outcome not be leaked out by now?

[00:59:52] You know, it's like, I don't know.

[00:59:54] Um, yeah, I just think that at this point, if it's a pre-taped show, I'm fine with just

[01:00:00] the judges picking at this point, you know?

[01:00:02] Um, it just like, DeSmoke put the bar so high.

[01:00:06] So I'm just, I don't know.

[01:00:07] I think that I don't really know what they're looking for in a winner.

[01:00:10] So I don't know.

[01:00:12] I agree with Votto.

[01:00:14] They're pushing for that.

[01:00:16] You can tell that they're trying.

[01:00:18] Honestly, they're the better ones.

[01:00:20] There's like three dudes.

[01:00:21] There's two or three that I think could take it.

[01:00:25] But when we ever, we bring them up.

[01:00:28] We can talk about.

[01:00:29] So one of the guys who I don't know is long for this game.

[01:00:32] He barely scrapes by in episode one.

[01:00:34] Callie.

[01:00:34] He's the first rapper with a 4.0 in high school and a 4.0 in college.

[01:00:39] And I just thought like, that's precious.

[01:00:41] Take those tassels off.

[01:00:43] You know?

[01:00:43] Like, what are you doing?

[01:00:44] It's really funny.

[01:00:46] Like, Callie is one of those.

[01:00:47] If you're going to talk about inconsistent judging, he would be the one that I would use

[01:00:51] as an example for because like, they were really on the fence and they basically like, just

[01:00:57] let him sway them.

[01:00:58] But he shows up in the cipher round.

[01:01:02] He shows up.

[01:01:03] And I was like, oh, yes.

[01:01:06] Like, I was so happy.

[01:01:07] Like, I was rooting for him in that moment when he's begging the judges because his raps

[01:01:12] were like, legit.

[01:01:14] Just, I was like, oh my God, this is, you're saying stuff that I'm like, it's taking me

[01:01:19] a minute to process.

[01:01:19] Like, I really like Callie.

[01:01:21] So I'm glad he made it through and he does make it through to the next batch of episodes.

[01:01:28] And he just, he has that fight.

[01:01:30] He has that flow that's really, really interesting.

[01:01:34] And I'm glad Lotto like fought for him.

[01:01:38] Yeah.

[01:01:38] Yeah.

[01:01:38] He's like, he just has good energy for me.

[01:01:41] Like, great energy, right?

[01:01:42] Yeah.

[01:01:43] I don't think he's winning.

[01:01:44] No, no, no, no.

[01:01:46] He doesn't have winning.

[01:01:46] He has good energy.

[01:01:47] I won't be shocked if he makes it past Battle Rapda.

[01:01:50] I think you actually can pull some.

[01:01:52] Yes.

[01:01:52] I want to see him in a music video.

[01:01:56] He seems very intelligent.

[01:01:58] And so I think, and I think that's an underrated part of rap is that really like, you know,

[01:02:02] you can, you can get the vibe and all that good stuff.

[01:02:05] But you know, a smart rapper is going to show themselves.

[01:02:07] And I think that was some good advice that Lotto gave him.

[01:02:09] Like, you don't have to wear the tassels because once you start talking, we're going

[01:02:11] to know that you're intelligent, right?

[01:02:13] And so you don't have to wear that.

[01:02:14] And so hopefully he takes those critiques and he applies it and he moves further into the

[01:02:20] game.

[01:02:21] Another standout for episode one, LG from Philly.

[01:02:23] Hey, Isaiah, you're from that area.

[01:02:26] What do you think?

[01:02:27] Yeah.

[01:02:27] I rocked with her.

[01:02:29] I didn't.

[01:02:29] Yeah.

[01:02:30] She is going to be a present in my opinion.

[01:02:33] I don't think she's winning either, but she's going to go pretty far.

[01:02:36] I think she's dope.

[01:02:38] She's one of the people that I'm like, dope rapper.

[01:02:41] But like, what are you going to do?

[01:02:44] Yeah.

[01:02:44] You feel me?

[01:02:45] Like, I don't know how I feel about that portion of her, but she's going to do really

[01:02:48] well with just like pure lyrical stuff.

[01:02:51] Yeah.

[01:02:51] Because at one point they're going to have to start thinking about like marketability

[01:02:55] and stuff like that.

[01:02:56] Mm-hmm.

[01:02:57] Yeah.

[01:02:58] But I love her flow too.

[01:03:00] So those were my standouts for episode one, but tell me, y'all know, y'all know what's

[01:03:04] coming to the Cypher round.

[01:03:06] Who, who are we losing?

[01:03:08] Who are we keeping?

[01:03:08] What were some of your standouts from the, the, the next few episodes?

[01:03:12] Mario, who you got?

[01:03:13] Okay.

[01:03:13] Okay.

[01:03:13] I got to talk about, uh, Dono and, uh, Sarah Ali.

[01:03:18] So you got to see Dono on the first episode.

[01:03:21] She was the, she was the one who, who, who sang and then rapped Patience.

[01:03:26] She sang Patience.

[01:03:27] She was rapping, but she shouldn't have been singing.

[01:03:28] Yeah.

[01:03:29] Right.

[01:03:30] But I loved it.

[01:03:31] Oh my God.

[01:03:32] Like I, I get, she was off key, but like Khaled said, it was like, it wasn't like, to me,

[01:03:38] I wasn't like, Oh my God, get this bitch off the stage is because how long have we been

[01:03:42] listening to Drake and Nicki Minaj sing off key?

[01:03:46] It's for DJ Khaled, especially for DJ Khaled.

[01:03:49] He is the biggest offender of having Nicki Minaj singing for no reason.

[01:03:53] I will call him out every time.

[01:03:54] And that's what he said.

[01:03:55] He was like, he was like, singing off keys does not bother me.

[01:03:58] I was like, no, we know.

[01:04:00] We know.

[01:04:01] So it's like her singing was like, I really liked that part.

[01:04:05] And then when she started rapping, I was like, Oh my God.

[01:04:08] She's like, I loved it.

[01:04:09] I thought she was one of like a few people.

[01:04:12] I want to say there was like three or four people who felt like they had full on songs

[01:04:18] here in the, in the audition.

[01:04:20] Like it felt like composed songs and hers felt like one of them.

[01:04:26] I was rooting for her so hard, but then when they get to the cypher part, this is why

[01:04:32] Chappelle, you got to keep watching.

[01:04:35] She, it's so funny.

[01:04:36] Like all of a sudden she's like a Gen Xer that is like, like budding heads with her group

[01:04:43] and her and this other girl, Sarah Ali, they are like budding heads about the order.

[01:04:49] And Donna was like, she's like big Donald, not the little one.

[01:04:52] They are like fighting about the, the order.

[01:04:55] So, so much so that Sarah Ali is like, I'm trying, I'm trying to not cook you on the cypher

[01:04:59] and stuff like that.

[01:05:00] And then, and Donna was like, and I think it was Donna who's like, uh, well, we'll see

[01:05:05] you in the, I'll see you in the battle wraps and I'll send you home.

[01:05:07] Like it's, it got so good.

[01:05:09] And, and the drama was high.

[01:05:12] Sarah Ali's from Brooklyn, her audition.

[01:05:15] So I watched all four.

[01:05:17] Then, like I said, I went back and watched it again because once I knew the outcome, I

[01:05:20] wanted to see like spotlight, the journeys of the people I knew who were going forward.

[01:05:25] And so both Donna and Sarah Ali did something so great, which is why they both moved through

[01:05:32] because they showed one side on the audition, like one side to their craft on the audition.

[01:05:38] And then when they went to the cypher, they just completely changed up like, like their

[01:05:43] style in a good way.

[01:05:45] Like they, like you saw Donna sing Patience, but when she got to the cypher, she was talking

[01:05:51] about like killing niggas.

[01:05:53] Like it was insane with Sarah Ali, like it was so crazy.

[01:05:56] I was like, girl, you, I, you was the nice girl singing about Patience.

[01:06:00] And now you, now you and this girl, I try to like go back and forth about varying bodies

[01:06:05] and it was great.

[01:06:06] Um, but Sarah Ali's, uh, audition, maybe Isaiah will back this up.

[01:06:12] It was interesting to me.

[01:06:13] She's from Brooklyn.

[01:06:13] Her flow was very laid back.

[01:06:16] And it was like, it's not something that I particularly liked, but I get why they, they,

[01:06:23] they moved her through.

[01:06:24] I think she really, she really slid.

[01:06:26] She did it, but it was like, I don't know.

[01:06:28] I'm so used to everybody like rapping so fast.

[01:06:31] She was like, when her rapping was like, so in the pocket, I was like, damn, okay, this

[01:06:36] is cool.

[01:06:37] But yeah, I I'm rooting for the two of them for, for sure.

[01:06:41] And they're not facing each other in the battle round.

[01:06:43] So we might get both of them to move on.

[01:06:46] So I, I appreciate that.

[01:06:47] At least they didn't, they didn't do that to us or whatnot.

[01:06:52] Isaiah, do you have a winner pick from this season that stood out in your early?

[01:06:56] Cause you're, you've eliminated a lot of people.

[01:06:57] You're like, I don't think they got it.

[01:06:58] I don't think they're going to win.

[01:07:00] Who do you think is going to win and why?

[01:07:01] I don't even think the two people Mari said is going to win.

[01:07:04] I think they took up a lot of screen time though.

[01:07:06] They did good though.

[01:07:07] They're actually good.

[01:07:08] I got two people.

[01:07:09] And then a third that I feel is a dark horse, which I don't want to win.

[01:07:12] But like, I think Jay Taj is fire.

[01:07:16] He's good.

[01:07:17] He's, he's a dangerous person.

[01:07:19] And I'm like, I would be shocked if he doesn't make it to the finale.

[01:07:23] Like that dude is really good.

[01:07:25] That would be two West coasters in a row.

[01:07:28] It don't matter.

[01:07:29] It don't matter.

[01:07:30] West coast is kind of the thing right now too, Mari.

[01:07:33] They're having a moment with Tyler and Kendrick.

[01:07:36] It's, it's, it's the time for what's going to be.

[01:07:38] He got the aesthetic.

[01:07:39] He got the flow.

[01:07:41] I'm, I won't be shocked if he's going to be able to rap.

[01:07:43] Like he, like he.

[01:07:47] Jay Taj has a black dad.

[01:07:50] And I think his mom is Pacific Islander.

[01:07:53] Cause her, yeah, her, uh, her accent.

[01:07:56] I was like triggering me.

[01:07:57] I was like, okay, I think I, I think I know.

[01:08:00] But yeah, yeah, yeah.

[01:08:02] But he, he's very like, he's very big.

[01:08:05] He, he has like that, that West side.

[01:08:08] What's his name from, um, the, uh, West, uh, that, uh, that, uh, that ice cubes, uh,

[01:08:16] group, the older group.

[01:08:17] The NWA.

[01:08:19] You talking about E.D.?

[01:08:20] No, no, no.

[01:08:21] Oh, no.

[01:08:22] The one who was with T-Boz for a while.

[01:08:24] What's his name?

[01:08:26] Oh my God.

[01:08:27] You know, the West side connection.

[01:08:29] One of the guys from West side connection.

[01:08:31] Oh, okay.

[01:08:32] Yeah.

[01:08:32] Um, was it, um, what is she that?

[01:08:34] Who was it?

[01:08:35] She was weird.

[01:08:35] She wasn't.

[01:08:36] Are you talking about the NWA members?

[01:08:37] Yeah.

[01:08:38] The lights can do it.

[01:08:39] No.

[01:08:40] No.

[01:08:47] No.

[01:08:48] Oh my God.

[01:08:48] She used to be with Dalvin from Jodeci.

[01:08:50] Listen, I don't know who T-Boz, uh, dated.

[01:08:53] You look like DJ Yellow.

[01:08:54] No, no.

[01:08:55] Anyways.

[01:08:56] Anyways.

[01:08:57] Oh, Mac 10?

[01:08:59] Mac 10.

[01:09:00] There we go.

[01:09:00] I didn't know they, I didn't know T-Boz dated Mac 10.

[01:09:03] Okay.

[01:09:03] Yeah.

[01:09:04] We finding that out.

[01:09:04] All right.

[01:09:06] Yeah.

[01:09:06] Mac 10.

[01:09:07] Yes.

[01:09:08] I like him.

[01:09:09] Big Mac, Mac 10 vibes to me.

[01:09:12] Okay.

[01:09:14] And sorry.

[01:09:15] The other person.

[01:09:16] Oh no, you got it.

[01:09:17] The other person who I think really has a good shot is Yoshi.

[01:09:21] I think she's fired too.

[01:09:24] Yeah.

[01:09:24] She got a lot of great energy, good story.

[01:09:27] Uh, got a lot of screen time too.

[01:09:30] I feel like she's going to go crazy.

[01:09:31] I just feel like.

[01:09:33] She's about to destroy whoever that dude is, uh, in the battle.

[01:09:36] She's about to destroy him.

[01:09:38] Yeah.

[01:09:38] Like, I, I'm, I'm afraid for that guy.

[01:09:42] Um, and then lastly, I don't think he should win.

[01:09:45] I think he should have possibly.

[01:09:46] Hmm.

[01:09:47] I'm not going to say get eliminated, but I feel like they really want Dre TL.

[01:09:52] I like Dre TL.

[01:09:53] Yeah.

[01:09:54] I like Dre TL.

[01:09:55] I like Dre TL.

[01:09:56] He's so good.

[01:09:57] Mid and 42 Doug.

[01:09:58] He's just a street rapper.

[01:09:59] You could tell like that's hot right now.

[01:10:01] So like they pushing him.

[01:10:03] You saw a lot of those eyes, like boom.

[01:10:05] When he started rapping.

[01:10:06] Oh my God.

[01:10:07] He's the only one.

[01:10:08] Yeah.

[01:10:09] Like he's the only one with that, like, like little baby, like 42 Doug type flow.

[01:10:14] So like, right.

[01:10:15] I guess it's new.

[01:10:16] So like, that's what they want.

[01:10:18] If he gets past the battle, like he's going to do really well for the rest of the game.

[01:10:23] But see, that's the thing, Isaiah.

[01:10:25] They, they, for the people with that little baby flow, like that newer rapper flow, people

[01:10:30] like to write them off.

[01:10:31] They were calling them mumble rappers at first and stuff like that.

[01:10:33] And they really don't pay attention to their lyrics.

[01:10:35] But now they just normalize.

[01:10:37] People like when Dre TL started rapping, it's like, you could tell he had that younger flow,

[01:10:41] but it was like, oh no, he's still rapping.

[01:10:43] And so I think that, uh, I caught that in episode one, that Dre TL was probably going

[01:10:47] to be around for a while.

[01:10:48] I was waiting on y'all to tell me that something had happened and he was gone.

[01:10:51] So we made it.

[01:10:52] I don't think he had the strongest cipher, but like, they all were like, he's another one

[01:10:56] of those people that got like that.

[01:10:58] I see potential in you stamp.

[01:11:00] So they like let him slide.

[01:11:02] But like, when I tell you people got eliminated who did good and got eliminated for people

[01:11:08] who messed up.

[01:11:09] Just talk about Cody Ray.

[01:11:10] You want to talk about Cody Ray.

[01:11:13] Here's the thing though.

[01:11:14] I think Cody Ray's going to do good when she can rap on a beat.

[01:11:17] Like when she can make music, I think she'll do well.

[01:11:20] Oh, he got robbed.

[01:11:22] I'm sorry.

[01:11:22] He got robbed.

[01:11:23] That's what I thought you were talking about.

[01:11:24] Yeah.

[01:11:24] Nah, he did get robbed, but I think they just didn't like him for some reason.

[01:11:28] Yeah, I agree.

[01:11:29] He actually should have survived.

[01:11:31] He rubbed them the wrong way, I believe.

[01:11:32] Yeah.

[01:11:33] I was talking about Honey Gold.

[01:11:35] She should have been eliminated.

[01:11:36] Like, she missed a point.

[01:11:38] Lotto tried.

[01:11:39] Lotto tried to eliminate her.

[01:11:41] And all the men were like, but she got something special.

[01:11:44] Yeah.

[01:11:44] But then they did eliminate her the second time.

[01:11:47] I think I know her.

[01:11:48] She messed up in the cypher and they still let her.

[01:11:50] Like, and when she did rap, I don't think she rapped the rap that she wrote.

[01:11:55] I think she just did something pre-rated.

[01:11:56] That's just my headcanon.

[01:11:58] But like, regardless, like she should have been gone.

[01:12:01] She should have been gone.

[01:12:02] But she's a pretty girl.

[01:12:04] She's going to get killed in the, in the, in the battle rap.

[01:12:07] But if she makes it to like the solo artist portion where you can record music and stuff,

[01:12:12] I think she'll do good.

[01:12:13] I ain't going with you.

[01:12:14] I ain't going with you too, unfortunately.

[01:12:15] I knew I knew her.

[01:12:16] But she shouldn't be here.

[01:12:17] I follow her on Instagram.

[01:12:18] I didn't know she was a rapper.

[01:12:19] I just thought she'd take my photos.

[01:12:21] Honey Gold.

[01:12:22] My photos.

[01:12:23] Exactly.

[01:12:24] She, Lotto, Lotto tried to get her up out of there.

[01:12:28] I liked her audition though.

[01:12:30] I actually liked her audition.

[01:12:31] I thought there was, I thought Lotto was hating.

[01:12:33] No.

[01:12:34] See, at first I thought Lotto was hating as well.

[01:12:36] But then I went back and watched it.

[01:12:39] The problem is.

[01:12:42] It doesn't, I agree with Lotto.

[01:12:44] It's not, it doesn't feel authentic.

[01:12:45] She, she's, she, she's trying to rap like Doja.

[01:12:48] And then she tries to rap like Nikki.

[01:12:50] Like you can tell she's trying to rap like those people.

[01:12:54] But also her personality is so like, I'm chronically online Gen Z.

[01:13:01] She's like, that's what she's saying.

[01:13:06] Yeah.

[01:13:08] She's like, you know, whatever.

[01:13:10] I like that one.

[01:13:11] I'm sorry.

[01:13:12] She was unscathed.

[01:13:12] Of course you do.

[01:13:15] She's talking about you.

[01:13:16] She said chronically online Gen Z.

[01:13:18] And Isaiah's like, and what about it?

[01:13:19] You know?

[01:13:20] Yeah.

[01:13:20] It was mini Doja.

[01:13:21] She was giving Doja.

[01:13:22] Yes.

[01:13:23] Mini Doja.

[01:13:24] Exactly.

[01:13:24] And it's just like.

[01:13:26] It's not.

[01:13:26] She'll start showing feet in them chat rooms.

[01:13:28] I think we're good.

[01:13:29] She was viby.

[01:13:30] She was viby.

[01:13:31] I think she was robbed.

[01:13:32] And listen, if she don't win, she was robbed.

[01:13:33] I'm going to go ahead and put my stamp on this one too.

[01:13:36] And then finally, I got to say Jazz with an X did great in the auditions.

[01:13:42] And she barely squeaked by on that cypher.

[01:13:44] Like I need her to come back.

[01:13:46] Jazz with an X was on episode one.

[01:13:48] Oh yeah.

[01:13:49] I'm shocked she survived too.

[01:13:51] Yeah.

[01:13:52] Because she was in a bad group.

[01:13:53] Like there was in the cypher round, they had five groups and there was two groups that

[01:13:58] were just demonstrably bad.

[01:14:00] Yeah.

[01:14:00] One group that was like, meh.

[01:14:02] And then two groups that were great.

[01:14:04] So it was like they had, and then they had to whittle it down to eight.

[01:14:08] Did they cut?

[01:14:10] They almost, they honestly could have cut one whole group if they wanted to, but I think

[01:14:15] they saved one person from it.

[01:14:16] Um, but Jazz with an X, Chappelle, she actually got three segments within the first episode.

[01:14:23] She was the-

[01:14:24] I love her.

[01:14:25] Yeah.

[01:14:25] She was the one who opens up where, uh, she tells her mom or her aunt that she's about

[01:14:30] to be on a rhythm and flow and her mom and or aunt throws her wig, takes her wig off her

[01:14:36] head and threw it at her.

[01:14:39] Yeah.

[01:14:39] And then like, we need to put it back on her head.

[01:14:41] Like, and then she had the, then she had the, the segment with her dad, where her, who

[01:14:47] her dad, who just had a recent stroke and he was recovering and we saw her with her dad.

[01:14:51] And then she was on the stage.

[01:14:54] She closed out episode one with a really good rap, which also, um, to me was like a song.

[01:15:01] It was like, I'm not, I'm not, I'm too pretty to be stressed.

[01:15:05] I'm not lucky.

[01:15:05] I'm blessed.

[01:15:06] That song.

[01:15:07] And it felt like-

[01:15:09] I don't remember her from episode one.

[01:15:10] I thought she might've been episode two.

[01:15:12] Yeah.

[01:15:12] Yeah.

[01:15:12] Cause, uh, I'm pretty sure Dre, Dre TL closed episode one, if I'm not saying.

[01:15:16] Okay.

[01:15:17] So she, yeah.

[01:15:18] So she opened episode two.

[01:15:19] My bad.

[01:15:20] Because, because when Dre TL was leaving, they were like, dang, how are you going to, how

[01:15:24] are they going to follow that up?

[01:15:25] And then she was, yeah, sorry.

[01:15:27] She was next.

[01:15:28] Um, she was really, really good.

[01:15:32] I, I immediately looked, she walked out on stage and Ludacris was like, oh, she about

[01:15:36] to fuck it up.

[01:15:37] And they said, you think so?

[01:15:38] She, before she even opened her mouth, he said it and she did.

[01:15:42] She killed it.

[01:15:43] I love, I love Jasmine X.

[01:15:44] I, she barely survived that cypher.

[01:15:47] So I really need her to bring it.

[01:15:50] Um, yeah, she's really good.

[01:15:52] So who's your weapon?

[01:15:55] Go for it.

[01:15:57] Okay.

[01:15:58] So I said, it's going to be a, I said, it's going to be a girl.

[01:16:01] So out of the top three, I, like I said, I think it's Dono, Sura Ali and, um, Jazz with

[01:16:09] an X, um, Dark Horse.

[01:16:12] Like, I think it was Lotto or Ludacris literally told, uh, Sura Ali, like you are the front

[01:16:19] runner.

[01:16:20] Like after the cypher, they told her that.

[01:16:22] So she, I, she is just not the one that I prefer out of the three.

[01:16:30] Um, she did a good job in the audition.

[01:16:32] She did a good job on cypher.

[01:16:33] I think she's going to, like, I would be surprised if she doesn't kill the battle rap portion

[01:16:37] because she, um, has that type of aesthetic and it'll just be, does she trip and fall

[01:16:43] like London did when it comes to like the production side of it?

[01:16:48] You know, um, I'm rooting for Dono.

[01:16:51] I truly am.

[01:16:52] I really like what she, what she did in the first, in this batch of episodes.

[01:16:58] Um, so you're willing to pick as Dono.

[01:17:01] Yeah, that's where I'm going to go.

[01:17:03] That's where I'm going to go.

[01:17:05] And I, and I, uh, Yoshi Vintage, ah, fuck.

[01:17:08] There is Yoshi Vintage.

[01:17:08] I was going to say, Jay Todd, but they want to, I feel like Lotto's not going to let a

[01:17:13] girl not win.

[01:17:14] So I'm saying Yoshi Vintage is fine.

[01:17:16] Yoshi, okay.

[01:17:17] She got it.

[01:17:18] I do like it a lot.

[01:17:20] She got it.

[01:17:21] She got it.

[01:17:21] I'll go with Dre T.L.

[01:17:23] Cause, uh, you know, I haven't seen the people you saw, but I'll go with Dre T.L.

[01:17:27] Uh, yeah.

[01:17:28] Um, the one thing we haven't really talked about today is that there's no recording contract

[01:17:32] at the end of this.

[01:17:33] It's just money.

[01:17:34] It's money.

[01:17:35] They give money.

[01:17:36] I think last season, they just gave the winner a studio time to Spotify.

[01:17:40] That's it.

[01:17:41] Um, but yeah, they give you money.

[01:17:44] They like go crazy.

[01:17:45] And that's why D smoke made the whole album and got the Snoop Dog connection and all that,

[01:17:50] you know?

[01:17:50] So it, they, Hey, they give you Spotify studio time to make an album.

[01:17:55] It don't drop, don't drop the ball.

[01:17:57] You know what I'm saying?

[01:17:58] Yeah.

[01:17:59] Yeah.

[01:17:59] Honestly, it's like, it truly is in this day and age where you can get famous.

[01:18:04] Apparently somebody on this cast might have like a, like might be TikTok, a TikTok rapper.

[01:18:11] I think that, Oh yeah.

[01:18:13] I think that comes up in the battle rap.

[01:18:15] Somebody gets called it like a TikTok rapper or something like that.

[01:18:17] I check it.

[01:18:18] Yeah.

[01:18:20] Um, but like, yeah, like in this day and age, you got money.

[01:18:24] You, if you manage it right, you definitely can end up, you know, on the charts if you,

[01:18:30] if you do what you're supposed to do.

[01:18:32] So it's probably good that they're not in some predatory contract.

[01:18:36] Cause you know, people from X factor, American idol have said that.

[01:18:42] Yeah.

[01:18:43] Listen, a lot of one of the rap game and turned down the Jermaine Dupree contract.

[01:18:48] She sure did.

[01:18:50] Yeah.

[01:18:51] Where's Nova?

[01:18:52] Where's street bud?

[01:18:54] Where's mommy?

[01:18:54] Where's all of them?

[01:18:55] No, we're not.

[01:18:56] Oh my God.

[01:18:56] I mean, not have won that season.

[01:18:59] Lord Jesus.

[01:19:00] And look, and it's not just the rap game.

[01:19:02] Cause dear God, uh, please name three winners of the voice.

[01:19:07] Okay.

[01:19:08] I've been on for 20 years.

[01:19:10] It's been on.

[01:19:11] I'm pretty sure we're at season 20 of the voice.

[01:19:14] And, um, yeah, I had heard a song on the radio from a person with the voice,

[01:19:19] except for the country artists.

[01:19:20] I've heard like, you know, Cassidy Pope, I think.

[01:19:22] And like a couple of other, like.

[01:19:24] Melanie Martinez.

[01:19:26] Turn it down.

[01:19:27] What'd you say?

[01:19:29] When the game, turn it down.

[01:19:30] Take the money.

[01:19:31] Like the cash value option.

[01:19:33] Yeah.

[01:19:33] Do it for yourself.

[01:19:34] Cause we can see, we can tell that you can be a self-made rapper these days

[01:19:37] and you don't need a record deal necessarily.

[01:19:40] Are there anything else from rhythm and flow season two that people need to know

[01:19:43] what before, uh, you know, they get into the nitty gritty of the battle rounds.

[01:19:47] I know you haven't seen it, but I'm sorry.

[01:19:51] This is just like a quick rant.

[01:19:52] What was that girl Mizzy doing?

[01:19:55] Where she dressed like a grandma during a cipher and then completely messed her

[01:20:01] cipher up the entire time.

[01:20:02] I was just like clown show.

[01:20:05] And I was like, I don't know.

[01:20:07] There was everything that could have went wrong.

[01:20:10] Just like.

[01:20:10] It went wrong.

[01:20:11] And they were like, they were like, yep, she's getting like, they didn't even think

[01:20:16] about.

[01:20:16] You don't need to have a good sublipity coming out of this show.

[01:20:19] Like you just look bad.

[01:20:20] They didn't even show her audition.

[01:20:22] I don't even remember her audition.

[01:20:24] Like.

[01:20:25] They knew they were just going to pay her to the left, you know?

[01:20:29] It's over.

[01:20:30] It's over.

[01:20:31] You come out of this show.

[01:20:31] The least you could do is try to have like at least some buzz about you, even

[01:20:34] that you didn't win, you know?

[01:20:35] And so that's probably the opposite.

[01:20:37] But I think you're talking about it.

[01:20:38] So at least she's memorable.

[01:20:40] Damn, man.

[01:20:40] She literally came out of that cipher, like bonnet on, like glasses with a chain, a

[01:20:47] meme down to her knees, slippers and a cane.

[01:20:51] Like she came out.

[01:20:52] The judges immediately were like, what is up?

[01:20:56] She's like, oh, I like to like rap in characters.

[01:20:59] I just wanted to show you guys I'm a character.

[01:21:01] They're like, OK.

[01:21:03] And then when she starts rapping, she messes up her lyrics.

[01:21:06] She starts to forget her lyrics.

[01:21:07] And then when she does like recover, it don't make no sense with her being a

[01:21:11] granny.

[01:21:12] Like, I don't know.

[01:21:15] Like, I don't know what I was expecting her to pretend like she's a rapping

[01:21:18] granny, but that would make more sense than you.

[01:21:20] She would dress like a granny.

[01:21:22] Talking about you doing this and that.

[01:21:25] Like, it was so weird.

[01:21:26] But like the two ciphers that completely bombed.

[01:21:29] It's because like the first two people, they bombed.

[01:21:33] And then when their energy was bad, like you can't get energy back.

[01:21:37] Yeah.

[01:21:38] Yep.

[01:21:38] It was bad.

[01:21:40] And in the ciphers, there's no audience.

[01:21:42] So it's just them.

[01:21:43] It's just the groups like saying their lyrics straight to the judges.

[01:21:48] So.

[01:21:49] Yeah, you could definitely tell when things weren't going over well.

[01:21:53] OK.

[01:21:54] All right.

[01:21:55] Well, sounds like an interesting show.

[01:21:57] Again, if you have not tuned into Rhythm and Flow, what are you waiting for?

[01:22:00] This show is an award-winning show.

[01:22:03] I saw that it won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Reality TV Program.

[01:22:08] And it also won the Hip Hop DX Award for Best TV Show of the Year back in 2019 and 2020.

[01:22:13] And there's also international versions of this show as well.

[01:22:17] There's a French version of the show on Netflix as well.

[01:22:21] Rhythm and Flow of France.

[01:22:23] And then I believe there's an Italian adaptation that was announced in 2023 and was released

[01:22:28] this year in February 2024 as well.

[01:22:31] So it's taken off.

[01:22:32] Let's support it.

[01:22:33] You know, we already talked about this.

[01:22:34] We got to support our Black stuff.

[01:22:36] And this counts as a Black theme because one, it's wrapped.

[01:22:38] And two, it was created by John Legend.

[01:22:41] And, you know, I'll take it.

[01:22:42] You know, whatever.

[01:22:43] And so, yeah, I'll be checking it out.

[01:22:45] And then maybe we'll follow up at the end or something like that.

[01:22:48] We talk about the winner.

[01:22:49] Who knows?

[01:22:50] But until then, Isaiah, thank you so much for joining us for Recap Kickback.

[01:22:54] It's been great.

[01:22:55] Oh, yeah.

[01:22:56] I don't.

[01:22:56] I didn't know that you guys were allowed to say certain things.

[01:22:59] We might have.

[01:23:00] We might have snuck it into the.

[01:23:02] The problem is.

[01:23:03] So anybody listening who's uncomfortable with the word, the problem is we talk about a

[01:23:06] lot of shows that say the word.

[01:23:07] And so, like, we had to talk about rap shit.

[01:23:10] I'm sorry, y'all.

[01:23:11] It's basically every line in the show.

[01:23:13] We talked about insecure.

[01:23:14] It's heavy in there, too.

[01:23:16] We ripped the band-aid off if you're uncomfortable with that kind of stuff.

[01:23:18] Cover your ears.

[01:23:20] Sorry.

[01:23:21] Sorry.

[01:23:22] You know what I'm saying?

[01:23:22] We're not meaning to make it uncomfortable, but we're going to keep it authentic as we

[01:23:25] can.

[01:23:26] Isaiah, thank you so much for being here.

[01:23:28] Thank you for letting me be here.

[01:23:29] You feel me?

[01:23:30] Yeah.

[01:23:30] That was great.

[01:23:31] Tell everybody where they can find you or what you're working on and if they can

[01:23:35] catch any of these eight ball bangers.

[01:23:37] They can find me on X at eight ball bangers.

[01:23:42] You can find me on Blue Sky now at eight ball bangers.

[01:23:46] And then you can find me podcasting about a bunch of stuff on a silent podcast.

[01:23:53] I'm about to come out of my little hiatus.

[01:23:55] I just need a little break, but my break is about to be over and I'm about to pump down

[01:23:59] mad content.

[01:24:00] So you can find me there.

[01:24:01] Yeah.

[01:24:02] I know you wanted to do your album review.

[01:24:04] Just saying, you can do it here on Recap Kickback.

[01:24:07] You know what I'm just saying?

[01:24:07] Just hit me up, man.

[01:24:08] Listen, I'm winning.

[01:24:10] I'm really bad at scheduling around the holidays because it's just so big right now.

[01:24:13] I will blow your phone up.

[01:24:14] I'll blow your phone up.

[01:24:15] Tell me when to get on the street.

[01:24:16] All right.

[01:24:17] I'll be there.

[01:24:17] Let's be like that.

[01:24:18] All right.

[01:24:18] See you later.

[01:24:19] Mari does it.

[01:24:20] She knows what to do.

[01:24:22] Mari, what are you working on these days?

[01:24:24] Where can people find you?

[01:24:27] Well, I'm over on Blue Sky now.

[01:24:29] I officially deactivated my Twitter so you can find me at Mari

[01:24:32] talks too much on Blue Sky.

[01:24:34] Of course, me and Sarah Kering, True Crime Tuesdays,

[01:24:38] Crime Scene Podcast.

[01:24:39] You can go to crimeseenepod.com in order to subscribe.

[01:24:42] We just had a very fun time with the girls from a date with Dateline

[01:24:46] talking about the Stanford Prison Experiment.

[01:24:49] Unlocking the Truth is a docuseries on Hulu presented by Nat Geo.

[01:24:56] You might think you know everything about the Stanford Prison Experiment,

[01:25:00] but I promise you, you do not.

[01:25:02] You want to check that out and then you want to go listen to me, Sarah, Katie,

[01:25:06] and Kimberly talk about it over on Crime Scene.

[01:25:10] So again, go subscribe at crimeseenepod.com.

[01:25:14] You can also follow us on Crime Scene Pod on Blue Sky.

[01:25:17] And we are still on X.

[01:25:20] But yeah, so follow us everywhere.

[01:25:22] Or you can type in Crime Scene to your favorite podcatcher and we're all over the place.

[01:25:29] Also, if you think you are subscribed to Crime Scene, just go in and resubscribe.

[01:25:33] We've had some listeners say that they weren't getting the new episode since we went independent.

[01:25:40] So my suggestion to you is even if you think you're subscribed,

[01:25:44] just go to crimeseenepod.com and resubscribe.

[01:25:48] Or again, resubscribe at Apple, resubscribe at Spotify,

[01:25:52] just to make sure you're getting your content.

[01:25:55] Because we're putting it out here.

[01:25:56] You should be listening.

[01:25:59] Yeah, other than that, that's it for me for this week.

[01:26:04] And catch me.

[01:26:06] Recap Kickback on all social media platforms.

[01:26:08] At Recap Kickback.

[01:26:09] We're on Blue Sky as well.

[01:26:10] And of course, you know, all social media platforms.

[01:26:13] Recap Kickback.

[01:26:14] If you're listening to this and you haven't subscribed, what are you waiting for?

[01:26:16] YouTube.com slash at Recap Kickback to let you subscribe to our YouTube content.

[01:26:20] We got a lot more coming your way.

[01:26:22] I'm trying to get the holiday content recorded.

[01:26:23] I've been tapping the people as the A who are going to be there podcast,

[01:26:28] trying to get them scheduled.

[01:26:29] Tracy J, what are y'all doing?

[01:26:30] Come holla at me so we can talk about these holiday.

[01:26:33] We got one to do a rollout.

[01:26:34] I got you.

[01:26:35] I'll be messaging them.

[01:26:36] You know what I'm saying?

[01:26:37] They coming.

[01:26:37] They coming.

[01:26:38] We're going to do a little holiday rollout.

[01:26:39] But we definitely got some black Christmas movies and stuff coming your way.

[01:26:43] Mari, we definitely need to do at least one of those on the main feed.

[01:26:46] That would be fun, too.

[01:26:47] So we got to figure out which one to do.

[01:26:50] So, yeah, stay tuned for all of that.

[01:26:52] And then, of course, check out the other coverage.

[01:26:54] Abbott Elementary is on a brief hiatus right now.

[01:26:57] So we'll be coming back to talk about the most recent three episodes of Abbott

[01:27:00] once the next two-parter drops in a week or so.

[01:27:04] And then, yeah, make sure you check out me on RHAP, wrapping up the summit with Taryn

[01:27:09] and various other things, House of Villains, blah, blah, blah.

[01:27:12] But, yeah, that's it.

[01:27:13] For Isaiah and for Mari, this has been so much fun.

[01:27:16] Thank you all for listening.

[01:27:17] And make sure you're here next week to tune in to Recall Quebec.

[01:27:20] Until next time, you ain't got to go home, but you definitely got to get the help out of here.

[01:27:23] Peace out.

[01:27:23] We'll holler at you later.

[01:27:24] We'll be right back.