In the eighth episode of 'Billboard Unfiltered,' Billboard staffers Carl Lamarre, Trevor Anderson & Damien Scott run through Megan Thee Stallion’s new album & Camila Cabello’s ‘C,XOXO’ and what they thought of Drake’s features. Additionally, the trio breaks down the highlights from the 2024 BET Awards, including Usher's tribute and Will Smith's first performance, along with other standout moments!
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MusicTranscript
00:00If this was just a 10-track album, it would have been like a classic record.
00:04It killed me knowing that you got two Drake records and they kind of were somewhat of a,
00:10you know, duds, and then you come with a heater.
00:13I'm hoping we can take this and continue going forward
00:16to the next like build-off this year and keep it going back.
00:21Been quite some time.
00:22Hey, hey.
00:23Just a little bit. Everybody was doing their thing, little vacays.
00:26Yeah.
00:27You know.
00:27It's that time of year, so.
00:29BET.
00:30Skin tan, hair long.
00:32Smell like vacation.
00:33I love that.
00:34All right.
00:34You got a little tan on you, Pop.
00:36A little bit.
00:36All right.
00:37Oh, yeah. I forgot. Yeah.
00:38Well, I know you were out in L.A. last week, obviously.
00:40Yeah, I was out in L.A. with BET.
00:41You can see...
00:43I'm thinking of that Sexy Red video with the...
00:46Oh, when she made a rain on me?
00:47Well, yeah. When you...
00:48Go check this out if you haven't seen Carl on the Billboard Hip Hop Social.
00:53What's the line?
00:54How do you...
00:55You don't even know what you said.
00:56Miss Sexy got that shawty like...
00:57Oh, yeah. I was just in the moment.
00:59Because I thought she was throwing hundreds.
01:03So, in my mind, the nigga in me was like,
01:05oh, you need to go get that money.
01:07Like, I was ready to throw the mic
01:09and just run to the floor to get the money.
01:11But I was like, nah.
01:12Sexy stimulus package.
01:13Yo, let me have some sense.
01:15It was only singles on the floor.
01:17It was only one dollar bills on the floor.
01:18Oh, they were real?
01:19They were like...
01:19Oh, they were real.
01:20It was real money?
01:20I was...
01:21Huh?
01:21It was real money?
01:22It was real money.
01:22I was waiting for, like, sexy bucks.
01:23Nah, it was one dollar bills and then...
01:24It wasn't that had the...
01:25Usher, Usher, Usher.
01:27How far we've come from, you know,
01:29that joke to what he did, to what he had up his sleeve.
01:32She let her handler come and pick it up.
01:33So, I didn't want to be that guy.
01:34Not that they said we got to recoup as much as we could.
01:35Like, literally, this money went free.
01:39Usher bucks might be worth something.
01:40Listen, but it has been like a busy week.
01:43We have a lot to catch up on.
01:45We're going to kick it off first with Megan Thee Stallion is back.
01:50She dropped her third studio album,
01:51Megan, this past Friday.
01:5318 tracks consisted of past singles,
01:56Boa, Cobra, and her Hot 100 chart topper, Hiss.
01:59Features UGK, Glorilla, Kyle Rich, Victoria Monet.
02:05How are we feeling about it?
02:06It's fire.
02:08It's her best album.
02:09Yeah.
02:09By far.
02:10I don't know.
02:13By far seems extreme.
02:15Easily.
02:16I think easily and by far are very different.
02:19Yeah, easily her best album.
02:21Yeah, I agree.
02:22This is it.
02:22This is like what everyone was hoping she would make.
02:27It's dope.
02:28I was listening to it and I love Megan.
02:31We had her number three on our list.
02:34Yep.
02:37Not traditionally an album artist.
02:41You know, her albums are always fine.
02:44Went in with very low expectations.
02:45Yeah.
02:46First six or seven tracks were incredible.
02:49Fire.
02:50She's wrapping her ass off.
02:52She's discussing the things that are happening in her life with actual sincerity and real heft.
03:04She's not joking about a lot of the things.
03:07She's really explaining like, yo, this is shit that happened to me.
03:10This is how I feel about it.
03:12Also, I'm that bitch.
03:15Yeah.
03:15So this is what it is.
03:17The production is even.
03:20Usually her albums are like great production.
03:23And then what the fuck is this?
03:26She ran out of money or something.
03:29But this is like, it feels expensive.
03:31The budget was there.
03:32Yeah.
03:32It feels like Rock Nation really was like, here you go.
03:35Here's what you need.
03:39It's great, man.
03:40There's a lot to dig into.
03:42I'm on my third or fourth list and I think it's great.
03:46Yeah.
03:47Yeah.
03:47H-Town representer.
03:49Yo.
03:50Yeah.
03:50I'm agree with a lot of what Dave said, I think.
03:53Especially the mixtapes.
03:54We always knew were fire.
03:56Teenage Snow Fever.
03:57Like people have been waiting for the album to deliver on that level.
04:00And I think interestingly enough with this one, because I wasn't sure where it would
04:05land in the sense that Traumazine, when it came out, was obviously like the response
04:09to everything that happened with Tory Lanez and sort of the initial feedback.
04:12And so for this album to be the response to the response, part of me was like, okay,
04:17some of the material that could have been there on this new album kind of been used
04:23up in Traumazine.
04:24But it's actually like the response to the response is what's fire.
04:27I don't know if Megan even necessarily thought that she would ever have to make an album
04:31like this.
04:32You thought Traumazine was going to be it.
04:34And then it's like, yo, people are still talking about it.
04:37And people are still taking metaphorical shots.
04:41Now we've got to go back and give a response to the response.
04:44I mean, starting out with Hiss, and hearing Hiss, I think, especially in the album sequencing.
04:48It's crazy to start the album off with.
04:51Made me appreciate the record again.
04:52Yeah, because literally kicking off, I said, okay, I'm going to say this shit and I'm
04:56going to get it off my chest.
04:57And we can stop fucking with this from the minute.
04:59When Hiss dropped originally, I was like, this is cool.
05:02Yeah, but when you hear it as an opener, as the intro to an album.
05:06Yeah, it resets the whole narrative.
05:09Yeah, I mean, 18 songs.
05:10I could have done without a couple.
05:12Yeah, which ones?
05:12We were talking about the one that had the Japanese rapper on it.
05:19Well, Mamushi, we were talking about beforehand.
05:21That was the only one.
05:23You had to hit pause when that came through.
05:24Yeah, because when you start to rap it, I legit just hit next on it, yeah.
05:28But honestly, with that, with A Takuha Girl, I kind of liked that Meg went in that different
05:35direction.
05:35Because I think what made some of the early mixtapes fun, too, was Meg had more fun with
05:39stuff.
05:40Like she was really playful with it.
05:42She was just really kind of like doing silly shit.
05:45And so I think even though, I mean, I don't necessarily think that's going to be on my
05:49playlist.
05:50But at least to hear it in the context of the album, it kind of broke it up sonically.
05:53It gave it a different little vibe rather than just sort of 18 straight jackhammer kind
05:58of shooting tracks.
06:00I mean, that's really what it's like.
06:02Yeah, that's how she raps.
06:04Yeah, I'm just like, sometimes I'm like, bleh.
06:10So I mean, that one was all right with me.
06:12It's a jackhammer for the album.
06:14It's a jackhammer, whatever it is.
06:18I think that's the right genre for it.
06:21I like that.
06:23I mean, I probably could have done without.
06:25Worthy, I thought was interesting.
06:27That was a pop alt kind of one.
06:28I could live with it.
06:31It's not that I didn't like it.
06:32I guess it just came too late.
06:33And it was kind of a weird shift, like two tracks down from the bottom.
06:37So it was like, OK.
06:39It kind of reminded me like when SZA had those couple tracks on SOS that were like, I think
06:44F2F was like the sort of alt rock avrilish one.
06:46I was like, OK, it just kind of threw it off a little bit for me.
06:50But I like Utako Hot Girl.
06:51I thought that was good.
06:52It's a good one.
06:53I like Rattle a lot.
06:54I thought World of Girls, that was really good.
06:56So in general, I mean, I think this is probably really a hit album for Megan in terms of
07:02quality.
07:03The reception has been pretty strong so far.
07:05And of course, we'll see, you know, how those first nine tracks looking at it now are just
07:10if it was like this was just a 10 track album, it would have been a comedy record.
07:15I was I was thinking about that when I was at the gym today.
07:18I was surprised because I was eight tracks in and I was like, holy shit, there's not
07:22one fucking missed.
07:25I think what I was most impressed with her, she's always been known for like having these
07:30sticky singles.
07:31But I think like her songwriting in terms of like hooks went up a level on this album.
07:37Like there were a couple of hooks and I was just like, OK, this shit is pretty catchy.
07:41Like I could rock with this.
07:43And I started bringing them back a couple of times.
07:44Rattle was one of them.
07:45Figueroa I love a lot.
07:46Figueroa is great.
07:47That's a heater.
07:48It's great to me.
07:48Oh, yeah, you want to?
07:50What?
07:52The chorus is great.
07:53I don't know.
07:54Some of the chorus just felt a little like it was all right.
07:57Like, I don't know.
07:58You don't like songwriting?
08:00I hate it.
08:01Hey, it's all right for me.
08:04But I thought even some of the chances she took, like you said, at that one.
08:07What was it?
08:08The Mama Ooshie record, whatever it is.
08:11I'm sorry, I can't pronounce it.
08:12I can't.
08:12I own that, y'all.
08:14My bad.
08:14Y'all go ahead.
08:15Just go ahead.
08:16Pack it up.
08:16Her even taking certain chances like that and the Kyle Rich, the Drill record, I thought
08:21was phenomenal.
08:22The B.A.S.
08:23Both in the shit record.
08:25And I thought she was very calculated with her features, too.
08:28Shout out to Big K.R.I.T.
08:30getting a look on this album.
08:31Buddha Bless and Big K.R.I.T.
08:33on a record, I think it's the Miami Blues.
08:35The UGK record is fucking fire here in Pempsey.
08:40Give out a verse.
08:41Her and Glorilla.
08:43I think that is just the envy.
08:44Like, Ghost N' Ray right now.
08:45Well, that tape.
08:47Like, Ghost N' Ray right now, bro.
08:48Yeah, we might need a purple tape, man.
08:49Listen.
08:50They might really need to do a whole project together.
08:51Honestly, that tag team is delivering.
08:53I thought about this, and you guys can maybe tell me if I'm bugging.
08:56I don't think we've seen this before.
08:58Would you guys be cool with a repeat?
09:01Like, if they were...
09:02One, if they did an EP together.
09:03But two, if they went on tour again together.
09:06I think that's kind of like...
09:08I would kind of want to bring that tandem back again for the road.
09:13And take it a step further with a project.
09:15Yeah.
09:15Yeah.
09:16I mean, okay.
09:17Why not?
09:19I mean, going back to your boy.
09:20When we see, you know...
09:21Yeah, I was gonna say Drake did it.
09:22Drake at 21.
09:24I mean, we see all these little pairings kind of come together.
09:28But from a tour standpoint,
09:29you think people would still want to pay to see them both again?
09:32If they drop a project that is just 10 tracks
09:37as good as the ones that they've released so far,
09:39I think people would be here for it.
09:41I think people would fuck with it.
09:42And of course, you know, you add the solo shit that they'll do anyway,
09:44you know, for a tour set.
09:46I mean, they're gonna do...
09:46Like Glow is...
09:47You know, TGIF is gonna do...
09:48Yeah, Glow is gonna be...
09:49Glow's on fire right now.
09:50When I went to the Garden, man, Glow fucked that shit up, man.
09:54She's on fire.
09:54Yo, Glow is...
09:56I mean, I know it's sort of segwaying from Megan,
09:58but it's crazy because Glow obviously came out so strong with FNF tomorrow too.
10:03And then Cass would have thought the second, you know, 2023,
10:06they thought, oh, okay.
10:06She was cooked.
10:07It's a one-year wonder.
10:08You know, she couldn't hold on.
10:10A one-year wonder.
10:11That's really what it was.
10:12It was like, that's really what it was.
10:15A one-year wonder.
10:16Cass, you know...
10:17That Cha-Cha bullshit.
10:18Fucking hit.
10:18I'm here one year.
10:19That's it.
10:20You can last one summer.
10:21And then at 24, she's come back.
10:24And just fuck shit up.
10:25Wannabe.
10:26Yeah.
10:26Glow.
10:26TGIF.
10:27Yeah.
10:28She's been cooking.
10:28I mean, she got Rihanna.
10:29I was gonna say she got Rihanna out here, you know.
10:31The Rihanna co-sign.
10:32Rapping like, this is...
10:34No, she is at a whole different level.
10:35And I love that you mentioned the female MCs list,
10:38because as we set in the piece,
10:40and we got to reiterate this,
10:41that was just like the first early rankings.
10:44The final ranking is going to come out end of the year.
10:47I think there's going to be a lot of reshuffling on that.
10:50You know?
10:51That's why the title ended with right now.
10:54Right now.
10:54It's gonna change end of the year.
10:57And I think Megan...
10:59I think both Meg and Glow are gonna rise up.
11:03Absolutely.
11:04Absolutely.
11:05I just hope, and I think this has been a great,
11:08you know, year so far for Meg.
11:09This is kind of reminiscent of when she had that run with Savage,
11:11and she got the three Grammys.
11:13I think this is the first time since then
11:15that she's been able to put everything together
11:18in terms of having that feud with Nikki,
11:20topping her on that.
11:22Hisco in number one.
11:23Having this sold-out arena tour.
11:25Having a fire album.
11:26The feature's been hitting.
11:28So I can't wait to see what she does to finish out the year.
11:30But she...
11:31This is...
11:32She's having an MVP year.
11:34I also think that she's...
11:36You see it in public at events,
11:40like the BET Awards,
11:41or even just on social media.
11:44She acts as this nucleus of the female rap world
11:48in a way that we haven't really seen
11:51in a long time.
11:54To me, she's acting the way that people,
11:57I think, wanted Nikki to act.
12:00As, like, bringing up the newcomers
12:02and, like, you know,
12:04casting this wide, broad church
12:07for people to come under and feel connected to.
12:10Do you feel like Cardi never had that moment?
12:13I think Cardi was...
12:16Is great and very magnanimous at being like,
12:20oh, I'm going to, you know,
12:22spread love to everybody.
12:25But she's never had the opportunity, I think.
12:29Like, Meg's had this tour where she's like,
12:31come.
12:31Everybody come be a part of this thing.
12:33Like, everybody who fucks with me,
12:36you're welcome to come
12:37and come backstage and kick it
12:38or come on stage.
12:40Like, Cardi's...
12:41She's like, I'll get verses out.
12:43I'll show up.
12:44I'll show up for you.
12:45But people seem to...
12:47Yeah, like, people seem to gravitate around Meg.
12:50That they didn't...
12:51To Cardi and not...
12:53I'm not saying that that's a bad thing.
12:55Maybe they did.
12:56They just didn't record it or whatever.
12:58But you see a lot of...
13:00There's always, like, a group around Meg.
13:03People seem to, like, really be enamored with her.
13:06And it's, like, real star power, right?
13:09It's like, that's a...
13:10Like, when she was at the BET Awards
13:11and she came out with Glow,
13:12I was like, she's a star, like a superstar.
13:15Yeah.
13:16It just feels like that.
13:18And not that Cardi is not a star.
13:20But as we talked about on the show before,
13:23you know, there's some things that Cardi still has to do.
13:26Their album, tour, to, like, really...
13:31Become that person, I think.
13:33And I think to Karl's point,
13:35this is Meg putting it all together.
13:38And we're seeing the fruits of that.
13:39Like, people are like, yes, you are...
13:42Like, you didn't coordinate yourself.
13:45We're gonna coordinate you and come to you.
13:47You are that person now.
13:48Okay.
13:50You know, I think we're gonna see her
13:52hopefully grow in that role and become bigger.
13:56And this album is great.
13:58I think we all agree on that.
14:00And, you know, I think she...
14:03This is, like, a great place for her to continue on
14:07and do more great stuff.
14:08But I'd love to see it.
14:09I think she's...
14:11I love that she's that role.
14:12Yeah, because I feel like, thinking about it,
14:14obviously, you guys know I'm a Cardi advocate.
14:18Uh, with Meg, I think she is becoming so receptive
14:23to being that face of female rap.
14:26Yeah.
14:27You know, she's not running away from it.
14:28Right.
14:30And, you know, Nicki obviously still killing it.
14:33But she's kinda, you know, I don't wanna say aging out,
14:36but there has to be a new face.
14:39Cardi still hasn't put out an album in six years.
14:42Meg, the baton is right here for her
14:44to fucking just take it and go and run with it.
14:47I was, like, aging out for Nicki.
14:48Nicki's just, like, seems to be in her own world.
14:52She's like, I've done all this already.
14:54Yeah.
14:55I've been in the public eye.
14:57I've given so much of myself already to all of this.
15:01Like, I'm good.
15:03But I still think she has that competitive...
15:05I mean, maybe it's just with Meg,
15:06where she doesn't wanna give that...
15:08Of course.
15:08I don't think she's ever gonna, like, give that up.
15:10But I think, like, the battery to do
15:14everything that we're talking about,
15:16it's a lot to do.
15:18Yeah.
15:18All right.
15:19It takes a lot out of you.
15:20It's a lot of time.
15:20It's very time intensive.
15:21She has a kid.
15:22She's, like, growing into being this, you know,
15:26a different person behind closed doors.
15:28It makes sense that someone like Megan is like,
15:31yeah, I'm gonna, like, I'm gonna come in here
15:33and take over this spot.
15:35I'm gonna run this shit.
15:37Yeah.
15:37As your boy Drake said, the throne is for the taken.
15:41Watch me take it.
15:42Watch me take it.
15:44Watch me take it.
15:46Well, actually, that's a perfect segue and pivot.
15:50We're gonna go to Miss Camila Cabello,
15:52who also released her album on Friday, CXOXO.
15:5614 tracks, features from young Miami and JT.
16:01Can't even say City Girls
16:02because she built them separately.
16:03This is crazy.
16:05Lil Nas X.
16:05You want me to season this?
16:06Right.
16:07Playboy Cardi.
16:08And, of course, two features from the boy.
16:14One being Hot Uptown
16:15and the other one being Interlude dubbed Ugly.
16:19Three yous.
16:21Three yous.
16:23I came decked out today.
16:25This is, I think, I thought about it.
16:26It's like my third Drake slash OVO shirt
16:30since we've been filming.
16:31I came to, I came ready, prepared
16:34because I know the shittage is gonna begin.
16:36Wow.
16:36What?
16:37The shittage.
16:38I came ready to protect my boy from the shittage.
16:43But two tracks are out.
16:47How do we feel about those records?
16:50Because there are, you know,
16:52little conversations being started.
16:53Like, oh, the Drake stimmy,
16:55it ain't hitting like it used to hit.
16:56Amen.
16:58Go ahead.
17:00Well, I know you've been itching for this for a month now.
17:03Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
17:06I'm not itching for it.
17:10Tearing a black man down.
17:12Go ahead, man.
17:14Well, I like the song.
17:15I like...
17:16Which one?
17:16Uptown.
17:17Hot Uptown?
17:18Hot Uptown.
17:18Okay.
17:19Hot Uptown.
17:20I think it's a good song.
17:21Okay.
17:22It sounds like a Drake song.
17:25Honestly, nevermind-ish.
17:26Yeah.
17:27Definitely.
17:27Definitely sounds like it was made in no session.
17:29You know?
17:29Yeah.
17:29Sounds like a Drake song.
17:31Fits into the album to me
17:34because the album sounds like an amalgamation of popular...
17:39of other popular songs.
17:42There's like a bunch of songs on there that I'm like,
17:44oh, this is a SZA song.
17:46This is like a Charlie XCX song.
17:48But the Drake song I think is interesting
17:50because it feels like it was made
17:53in like a different era or a different time.
17:56Yeah.
17:57When we know it was made like a year ago, maybe.
17:59It's like some Marvel Universe shit.
18:01It's crazy.
18:02Wait, the Drake song being the Ugly Interlude.
18:05Oh, you mean-
18:06No, like both of them, basically.
18:08Oh, okay.
18:08You got this feud.
18:10They feel like they were made in like a different time.
18:12Yeah, yeah.
18:13Like, it sounds like a Drake song.
18:16And we're like, yeah, this could have been an Austin Nevermind.
18:18But listening to it, you're like, damn, this feels like...
18:22Like, yes, you filmed this shit, you know,
18:24almost like pre-pandemic.
18:25And now the world has changed.
18:27Yeah, it's like we've moved on from this point in time
18:31in a way that, you know, the rumors were
18:35that he didn't want it to come out.
18:38Who would?
18:39And I get it.
18:42Not only because you wouldn't want this
18:44to be the first thing that comes out after-
18:46It's not a reflection of where he's at right now, yeah.
18:48But more so because of that.
18:49Yeah.
18:50Because it just sounds like we're all, you know,
18:54we're all waiting to see what he does, right?
18:55Like what the new thing is from him,
18:59which I'm sure there will be after the fucking push of beef.
19:03We got, you know, God's plan.
19:06This feels like something that he was like,
19:10oh man, can I give you like a newer song?
19:14Can I give you like, I've been working on this new shit.
19:17It's better than this.
19:18And it's not bad, but it's like, it feels dated.
19:23And it's weird to say that about a Drake song
19:26that we know was made probably less than 18 months ago.
19:34Go ahead.
19:35You want me to go?
19:36Yeah.
19:37Yeah.
19:38Okay.
19:39Should've had you go first.
19:41I think-
19:42Nah, the prosecution always go first.
19:44Holy shit.
19:46I thought Hot Uptown was a solid record.
19:49Like I said, very honestly, nevermind-ish.
19:51It kind of reminded me when Nikki got the Needle record with Drake.
19:57And I was in my mind, I don't know why,
19:58but I was comparing those two and I was like,
20:00shit, Drake gave Nikki the better throw away versus Camila.
20:06Though I thought Hot Uptown was solid
20:08in terms of just like verses, like guest features.
20:11I thought Ugly was mid.
20:13What killed me the most with those two records
20:16was the track after that, the Dream Girls record.
20:20Oh, with the Dream sample?
20:21That shit is hard.
20:24And I was like, it killed me knowing that you got two Drake records
20:28and they kind of were somewhat of a, you know, duds.
20:32And then you come with a heater right after that.
20:35Yeah.
20:35That's the one time I kind of thought-
20:37That might be my favorite song on the album, actually.
20:39That's where I kind of was like,
20:40damn, Drake actually would have sounded good on this.
20:42And then it was also like, I never would have thought
20:45you're coming off too colossal.
20:48I still think Drake's a colossal feature artist
20:50coming off two colossal features.
20:53The biggest feature artist.
20:54You feel me?
20:55Just for them to like kind of be mid
20:57and your own solo record trumps both of them.
20:59But is it mid?
21:01If this, to continue on some Marvel shit.
21:04If the feud did not happen.
21:04If the beef didn't happen.
21:06And-
21:06That's not one of his strongest features.
21:09I'm not saying it's like one of his strongest.
21:11I'm just saying it's, to me, listening to it,
21:13I was like, this is fine.
21:15This is a fine Drake feature.
21:18This is like a run of the mill Drake song.
21:20But that's the thing, right?
21:21And I feel like Hov dealt with this throughout his career.
21:25You get to a point where you ascend to a certain level.
21:27Expectations are so huge and grandiose
21:30where it's like, you got to hit it every fucking time.
21:34Anything less-
21:34As Hov said, it's a penalty of leadership.
21:37Right.
21:38So you got to keep it going.
21:41Exactly.
21:41So even if the beef did not happen,
21:43I'm still holding Drake to those standards.
21:44Now, shit is just heightened.
21:46Where it's like, it got to be fucking undeniable.
21:49Absolutely.
21:50I just think that if the beef didn't happen
21:52and this was just like,
21:53and she was just coming out with the album
21:56and she does the same thing.
21:57She drops the Cardi record and then this comes after it.
22:02I think people are like, yeah, fire.
22:07I don't think people would be like, oh, this is not that great.
22:13Right.
22:14Well, Trevor, do you think the quote unquote,
22:16the Drake effect, is it in question?
22:18Is it still-
22:20I mean, I'm not going to put the Drake effect
22:24in the grave off this situation.
22:25I mean, I think it's so hard to say that off two,
22:34and not even like rap songs.
22:35Like these are pop dance kind of hybrid genre songs.
22:40We got the Ugly, which is sort of a typical
22:42sort of sad boy interlude.
22:44Like that to me is not Drake at like,
22:46if Drake were trying to fire back on a verse
22:48and it just fell flat,
22:50that to me would be more of a warning sign
22:52than, you know, just two songs
22:54that I think are so separate and so removed.
22:56There are Drake's, like Drake fans
22:58are not running to this album to hear what he,
23:01like, you know, to play it again
23:02because like, oh, you know, that bar didn't deliver
23:06or he tried this little pun, it didn't work.
23:08Like there is a very pop Drake lane
23:10and there's a very like hip hop lane.
23:11There's a reason when Honest and Nevermind came out
23:13that Jimmy Cooks was a song that took off.
23:15Like that fan base was, it's for that kind of sound.
23:18So I'm not going to sit here and say,
23:20just if these songs, you know,
23:21don't become these major hits
23:23that people want to attach to Drake's name,
23:25that it's like, oh, we knew it.
23:27He couldn't bring Camila Cabello to the top 10.
23:29So I guess we got, he got to pack it up.
23:32He couldn't bring an interlude to the top 10.
23:34So we got to pack it up.
23:35He's going to bring the numbers in.
23:36He's going to bring the numbers in.
23:37I mean, we literally, he's the numbers guy.
23:40But we literally saw 4BAT this year.
23:42Like, like, like jump, jump up.
23:43Had a top 10 record.
23:44Off the Drake features.
23:45I mean, it's like.
23:46That was a, 4BAT was already a star.
23:49I mean, the song was, the song was percolating,
23:51but the, but if you want to say on the numbers.
23:55That he didn't even need to do it.
23:57That was, that was our prediction.
23:59But now you have the top 10.
24:00That was Billboard hip hop's prediction.
24:02But now he has a top 10 record courtesy of the board.
24:04That song was not coming close to top 10 until, you know.
24:07We didn't, we said that that might happen on its own.
24:11But, well, you know what's, you know.
24:13Oh, now, now it's different.
24:15Now we're changing our minds.
24:17First of all, I didn't.
24:17It's a great song, by the way.
24:19Fans Drake, it's a great song.
24:21It's still a great song.
24:22Minus Drake, the 4BAT.
24:23What, act two?
24:24Yeah, I mean, yeah.
24:25But I don't know if it would have been top 10.
24:28Fine, I'll.
24:29Drake put it on the express track.
24:30I'll concede that.
24:31I'll concede maybe it would have been top 10.
24:33But also, when was that?
24:35That was like April.
24:36I mean, what, you talking about pre-feud?
24:38That was like April.
24:39You cannot sit here and tell me that off just the first time.
24:43Yeah, you can't.
24:43The first time.
24:44I'm just.
24:45Post-feud.
24:46I'm, all I'm saying is look.
24:48Don't listen to me.
24:50We're all, look at the numbers.
24:52Okay, so we're going post-feud, right?
24:54Yeah.
24:55But y'all act like.
24:55He did the Sexy Red record.
24:57Yeah.
24:57You buy everything.
24:58That debut top 40 or no?
24:59Good, no.
25:00It got, it was 44.
25:02It's a great song.
25:03Great.
25:03I like that song a lot.
25:04Great verse.
25:06Did you expect more from a chart standpoint?
25:08I did.
25:09Okay.
25:11So you're calling it a fail?
25:12No, I think debuting at 44, great for Sexy Red.
25:17Bad for Drake.
25:18Bad for Drake.
25:19Especially if you were to, if you're taking Trevor's argument that the bag that his fans
25:24are looking for that actually is going to take off and work is like the Jimmy.
25:30Jimmy Cooks.
25:31That lane.
25:34That's it.
25:35That's the Drake spin on that shit.
25:39Drake killed that verse.
25:40He did.
25:40That verse is fire.
25:41That had the Metro.
25:43Now, yeah, I mean, given the flip and everything, I thought there would be more.
25:47I thought that she was going to absolutely catapult to the top.
25:51It had all the, it had all the pieces.
25:52It had him.
25:53He's actually talking about the beef.
25:55He's like, you know, I would do this and this if these niggas would stop starting with me.
25:58He flips the fucking sample.
26:01And still nothing.
26:02But how much of it is being a casualty of the beef versus just the actual fall off?
26:08Because, you know, time.
26:10Well, it's tough for us to.
26:14It's tough for us to like really extricate one from the other at the moment.
26:18I would love to revisit this conversation in a year.
26:21And if it's a continuous theme, then, you know.
26:26Sure.
26:27I'm just saying all we have right now is what we have.
26:29Are just those two records.
26:31That's my point.
26:32All we have right now is what we have right now.
26:34Because, you know, there's some features Drake done and they just like.
26:37Well, no one for no one.
26:38No one remembers.
26:39Fucking you remember that Swae Lee record?
26:41No, exactly.
26:43My point exactly.
26:44That's Swae Lee, Drake record, which was absolutely trash.
26:47Do not remember that shit at all.
26:48My point exactly.
26:49Oh, yeah.
26:50I do remember that song.
26:51We are so used to him, you know, bringing everybody up.
26:54There are a couple that got lost by the wayside and nobody remembers, but we can't, you know.
26:58I don't think we can sound the alarm just because now if he starts putting out one thing.
27:02I'm saying if he puts out more features trying to recapture that magic, they don't work.
27:06OK, then, you know, clearly we can look at that and say, OK, maybe the hip potential
27:11is getting a little more desperate.
27:12We're getting a little more out there to the other point, though.
27:15I will say the fault, you know, the fall off about Drake is.
27:20I mean, it is out there.
27:21People are really like thinking post certified lover boy that things have started to scale back
27:27and we don't know what's going to go.
27:28I was actually one stat that kind of always intrigues me is that Drake's Hot 100 number
27:34one.
27:34The last time he had a multi week number one, like more than one week at number one.
27:38That's what multi means.
27:39You know what song it was?
27:42Try Jimmy Cook's.
27:43It was in my feelings.
27:45Wow.
27:45So the thing about it is more than one in one week.
27:48Wow.
27:49Of course, it stays around the top 10.
27:50But it's interesting.
27:51Scorpion.
27:52Yeah, the scorpion 18.
27:53But it's funny because it's like so Drake, you know, Drake records are still events.
27:57Yeah, they always debut at number one.
27:59So they have like what's next at number one.
28:01Wait for you.
28:02It's sexy and all this stuff.
28:04But what album?
28:05They don't seem to last as long as they used to.
28:08What album was it when I think it was certified lover boy when, as usual, every song charted
28:17a top 10 and then the next week it was gone.
28:22Was it certified lover boy that that started?
28:24Well, certified love.
28:25I mean, I thought way too sexy like debuted number one.
28:27I thought that was going to last.
28:28Yeah.
28:29And it ended up only being one week.
28:31I mean, you know, you see the album bombs always kind of cascade.
28:33Like they're always sort of hanging back.
28:36I know what her loss, the rich flex going number two and Taylor Swift blocked it from number
28:40one.
28:41Right now, by the way, people were kind of remember that.
28:43Which one?
28:45Oh, OK.
28:46Yeah, great album.
28:47They meant Taylor.
28:48But I mean, it feels like the certified lover boy kind of only had that one major pop hit.
28:52Right.
28:52And then, you know, it sort of struggled to find a second one.
28:55There are a couple of tracks that floated around radio for a minute, but definitely
28:59like between Scorpion and certified lover boy on a chart level, it changed.
29:04Let me pose you guys this question before we go to our next topic.
29:09If because I don't want new artists to think Drake's cooked because I promise you, if the
29:14opportunity for a free Drake feature came, I would hope ninety nine point nine.
29:21Absolutely.
29:21Y'all cats would take that.
29:22This is like this is falling from Mount Everest.
29:25He got a long way to the bottom.
29:27If you're a new artist and you have a free Drake feature on the table, you're taking
29:30it.
29:30I'm so fucking loose.
29:32Yeah.
29:32Why wouldn't you just for a free feature?
29:34Just make it short.
29:34Just make it short.
29:35Because cats that are really not about the fall off where it's like, oh, I'm I'm not
29:40touching him.
29:41You know, if you have the budget and Drake's like.
29:45You can't afford me, but I'll I'll take this much.
29:47I fuck with the song.
29:48I hop on it.
29:49Yeah.
29:50Yeah.
29:50You'd be crazy.
29:50You'd be an idiot to not to not do that.
29:53And, you know, I think, yes, everyone's like.
29:57The Drake effect, it's over, I think.
30:01They conflate two things.
30:03I think the idea of the Drake effect slowing down and.
30:10Ending is not the same as Drake being over.
30:15Right.
30:15I think.
30:17The Drake effect is a standalone thing.
30:19OK, it's this it's the ability for him to cataplyze.
30:23We said the catapult songs to the top of the charts because he's just that hot and people
30:29are that into into into into him listening to him.
30:34That might slow down just.
30:36Because it's time, right, like.
30:39It's time for a new guard to take over.
30:42People have done all week.
30:43There's a people who were if you were 10 years old when Take Care came out.
30:51You're in your 20s now.
30:53So just the the the audience is different.
30:57There's a different consumer base out there.
31:00So, of course, things are that that effect is going to change.
31:04It's not just different people.
31:05But the idea of Drake being over, I think, is ridiculous.
31:09Even Ja Rule when 50 Cent eviscerated him.
31:14Still, we're going to play Ja and Drake in the same.
31:16No, I'm just saying because people are like, oh, it's over for Drake.
31:19I mean, it was a rule.
31:22People think that.
31:22But if you look at his album sales, he still was going platinum and gold.
31:26There was an R.U.L.E.
31:27That was the album he dropped because he had the clap back joint, the blood of my back.
31:31Yo blood in my eye.
31:33I wasn't, you know, a good album, but R.U.L.E.
31:36He had caught up.
31:37He had wonderful the R. Kelly record with Ashanti.
31:40Yeah, right.
31:42But it was a top five record.
31:43Yeah, you know, it was a hit.
31:45That was a great album.
31:46Like the album that came, it was like the last temptation and then blood in my eye.
31:54I think blood in my eye was like a brick, maybe.
31:55Yeah, that was the clap back.
31:58But then after he was like, all right, let me just get back to doing what I do.
32:01Mm hmm.
32:02Yeah, he was like he was back selling record.
32:04He wasn't at the level that he was.
32:07But people were like, thank God you're back to just making the songs that we like you making.
32:14And then I'm making New York with Jada Fadjoe, which is a staple.
32:18And I say that I'm not saying that Ja Rule and Drake are the same, even though Ja Rule
32:24immensely talented artists who made absolute bangers and gargantuan albums.
32:31I think people forget just how fucking big Rule 336 was.
32:35Yeah.
32:36At the time of Pain Is Love was albums were massive, like massive, massive hit records,
32:43hit albums.
32:44Drake is bigger than that.
32:45And he's not going to go away just because people believe he lost a beef.
32:52No matter how devastating they think it is.
32:55So I will say that.
32:57Both sides.
32:5815 years of dominance, you know?
33:00Yeah.
33:01Oh, yeah, I was I was like, we'll see what's going on.
33:04I'll wait for the album.
33:05These sometimes these features, you know, there's a Taylor Swift feature out right now
33:09on Gracie Adams album.
33:10You would think Taylor Swift is on it.
33:12That's got to go to number one.
33:13Right.
33:13You know that it doesn't happen.
33:15It's just so just because it's featuring Drake means a lot different than Drake
33:19featuring or, you know, on Drake's own record.
33:22And I think we got to wait till it is a Drake led record, whatever that is going to be,
33:26whatever that's going to be.
33:27Right.
33:27That's the moment that's going to tell us.
33:29I love that.
33:30How do you guys feel about the Camila record overall?
33:33The album?
33:34I'll be real.
33:35I only I jumped to the first to the to the Drake records.
33:39But then, like I said, when Dreamgirls came on, when I heard the dream flip, the shorties,
33:46the shit, it caught my ear.
33:48I was like, OK, then when I started playing the record, I was like, oh, this shit is cool.
33:53Yeah.
33:53Like even the Playboi Carti single she had.
33:55I hate it.
33:56I love it at first.
33:57But that shit just fucking.
33:58I've seen so many people.
33:59It got so fucking catchy, man.
34:01They're like, is this a safe space?
34:02Can I you know, that's good.
34:04Even the preview was getting eviscerated on Twitter.
34:06People were like, don't put this shit out.
34:08That's just catchy, man.
34:09It's called Catch a Brick.
34:11Like, can I give a quick, quick shout out before we pivot?
34:13I got to give a quick shot to Playboi Carti.
34:15Just the features run he's been on murdering.
34:18It's been a really good year.
34:19So shout out to Playboi Carti.
34:20Yeah.
34:20Just want to keep it on a high since we were, you know.
34:23Since we were, we were wetting the trenches.
34:26Deep in the trenches.
34:28Six guys, six feet under, what?
34:30Um, but yeah, no, listen.
34:33Next topic.
34:34Last topic.
34:34But this past Sunday, BET Awards.
34:38Out in LA.
34:39Yeah, Carla.
34:39I heard Carla Mar was there.
34:41Yeah, Black National Holiday.
34:43It was a time out in LA.
34:45Um, big night for BET.
34:47You had Taraji P. Henson host for the third consecutive year.
34:51Big names popped out.
34:52I'm talking about Will Smith, Childish Gambino, Megan Stallion opened the show.
34:56Lauryn Hill showed up on time.
34:58Crazy.
34:59And close it out with Wyclef.
35:01Uh, Lil Fuji's reunion right then and there, man.
35:04It's always a touchy subject, you know, as far as like the BET Awards and it's standing.
35:11Obviously, since, you know, with award shows kind of plummeting in terms of, uh, viewership,
35:16you know, any standout moment for you guys?
35:19Did BET come through, deliver this year?
35:21I think compared to, I mean, it's, it's, it's tough because you are, you are looking sort
35:25of back at when you look at what, 25 years, the BET Awards.
35:28I mean, it used to really feel like the Black Grammys or kind of thing.
35:33Like, I mean, you had every, you know, legends would literally, literally everybody from.
35:37Prince.
35:38You know, Prince would be there.
35:39Michael Jackson pops out, you know, to do a surprise, uh, you know, appearance tribute
35:44for James Brown.
35:45Michael would go anywhere.
35:46Stevie Wonder would always be a staple.
35:48Whitney was there, you know?
35:49So the sort of 2000s BET era is, is just, it's, it's almost feels unfair to compare it
35:56to because that was just like, everybody was then and there.
35:59I think it's probably one of the most-
36:00We've lost our legends.
36:01Is that what you're saying?
36:02Well, well, I mean, a lot of the ones we named pretty much are, are gone.
36:05They're either dead or like they can't come to the show.
36:08Or they just don't want to.
36:09Oh yeah.
36:10So they have a felony conviction or, uh, you know, uh, they're behind bars or not, not
36:14welcome in the room.
36:15I mean, I, I, I failed to mention also Usher, Raymond, lifetime achievement.
36:21He was the man of the hour at the night who got honored.
36:24Um, the tribute.
36:27I'm gonna say to finish that point real quick, I was gonna say, I think, I think it was probably
36:30one of the better ones of the, certainly the post pandemic era.
36:33Yeah.
36:33And so, and it seems like, uh, I mean, there's a lot of talk about how hard it is to come,
36:39you know, put it together and how sort of last minute, a lot of things might've been
36:42and how scrambling it was.
36:43So given that, um, I actually think it turned out pretty well.
36:47Uh, probably the length was the only thing that I think like really seemed kind of, you
36:52know, kind of crazy.
36:53And I know a lot of it was, a lot of it was commercials.
36:55If you play it back, I guess somebody got to pay for that shit.
36:58But, uh, yeah, overall, I mean, I'm hoping we can take this and continue going forward
37:02and the next, like build off this year and keep it going back.
37:06Yeah.
37:07Disclaimer.
37:08I used to work at BET.
37:10Uh, and I will say working at BET gave me a new appreciation for just how difficult it
37:16is to put that show on.
37:18It's a massive undertaking.
37:21I give that team all the props in the world to, because as you said, yeah, it goes up
37:27to the last minute.
37:28Like I'm sure, uh, uh, Connie, who's, who's still over, who's still, uh, I think she's
37:35an SVP or EVP there now.
37:37Um, to the last minute, she's working to get people there.
37:41I remember back when, um, Stephen Hill was, was there, he was working hard to get people
37:47in the door.
37:47And it's a, it's a hard show to put on.
37:50I'll say that it's a really hard show to put on.
37:53So I always have, have like a soft spot for the BET awards just because it's our biggest
37:59show for black people.
38:00It's like the thing that basically, yeah, it's our biggest, biggest show, the biggest
38:05award show that caters to who we are and what we do and what we hold dear to us.
38:11So I think this year it was, the length was the only thing that was crazy to me.
38:15The best part to me was Donald Glover going up to present an award.
38:20And he was like, yo, why doesn't BET fuck with me?
38:26And I was like laughing at first thinking he was going to like turn it into a joke.
38:32And then he like kept going.
38:33He was like, I have more Grammys than Will Smith, but I have the same amount of BET awards
38:39as Sam Smith.
38:42It's valid.
38:43I mean, it was, but that's not what it really was a joke, but it was a joke, but it was
38:46like truth and comedy there.
38:48I wasn't in the room, but I felt people were like, yeah, and it's like, that to me, it
38:57was like, damn, this is the guy who made Atlanta, which is surprising that he didn't even, I'm
39:03sure Atlanta must've gotten nominated.
39:04Cause I know BET, well, I know a lot of cats who are like, how does, you know, he has Emmys
39:08and like, he should be sweeping the BET.
39:11Cause BET, they do honor TV shows and movies as well.
39:15Everything.
39:16I was shocked one that he just said it in two.
39:17I was shocked that he really does have the same amount of BET awards as Sam Smith.
39:23I thought that was wild.
39:26Was this his first time at the show?
39:28Would you guys happen to know?
39:29I don't know.
39:30I mean, a bunch of people were like the, the response to it, at least that I saw on social
39:34where people were like, well, you don't really fuck with BET.
39:38Like you, like what is it?
39:42You know, BET fucks with who fucks with BET.
39:44You don't, you don't fuck with it.
39:45So people aren't going to come or aren't gonna, aren't gonna, you know, show out.
39:49You think the invite got lost in the mail the past years?
39:52I mean, it feels like, go ahead.
39:56It's a touchy conversation.
39:58It's a chicken egg kind of thing of like, cause some, some people will say, Hey, you
40:02know, if BET is supposed to be black, everything you all should want to invite, you know, even
40:07the weirdos and the creatives and this and that.
40:10And then on the flip side is, you know, then other people will say, well, are you trying,
40:14you know, are you, are you trying to, you know, sit down and do interviews with us?
40:17Are you trying to be in the room with us?
40:19Are you trying to, you know, mingle?
40:20Or are you just like, when you do a new movie, are you trying to get your egots and stuff?
40:23And are we in the room or is it only, you know, what kind of junkets do you get access
40:28to?
40:29So it's sort of, yeah.
40:30So it sort of gets thorny with that.
40:31So it's almost like, you know, it's like, Oh, you know, like the black nerd ain't got
40:36no black friends.
40:37It's like, well, the black people kick you out or did you not want to be with the black?
40:41Yeah.
40:41So it does get, you haven't worked there.
40:43I've, I remember go, I won't say any names.
40:46I remember there were certain black celebrities who had, who had projects and we'd be like,
40:51Hey, what's up?
40:54You should do something with BET.
40:56And we're like, BET.
40:58And it's like, Oh, wow.
41:01It's like, yeah, bro.
41:03We're the ones we're always here for you.
41:06And I'll say, you know, to, to that point, Will Smith going and performing was amazing,
41:14but Will's been on this like black homecoming fucking press run.
41:20Not I'm black again.
41:23Ever since, you know, if you read the trades, like, you know, like our, our sister publications,
41:28Deadline and Hollywood Reporter and a variety after the slap, his business partners, his
41:35investors, Hollywood studios put everything on pause.
41:40His investors were thinking of pulling out their money and trying to sell Westbrook because
41:45they were like, maybe his reputation is too damaged now.
41:48Maybe like niggas don't fuck with him anymore.
41:51We won't be able to recoup our investment.
41:54And what does he do?
41:56Comes right back to us.
41:58That was the blackest press run I've ever seen Will Smith do.
42:01He did a couple of white publications, bro.
42:03He was talking to Carmelo Anthony.
42:06He did Melo.
42:07He did Melo's podcast, which was during the bad boy interview.
42:10Yeah, the interview was great.
42:11There's like a clip from that interview that I think I'll send it to you guys.
42:14It's amazing.
42:14He's talking about like Don Simpson, telling him that the gulf between
42:20like 90 and 100 percent is larger than a gulf between zero and 80 percent.
42:27And it's an amazing quote, and it really shows the work ethic and the dedication that he
42:32has towards his craft.
42:33But Will Smith was on this press run where he was talking to black podcasts that I hadn't
42:39even heard of.
42:40And he was like, blackety black.
42:42The dude said Ali Will would never go to a Carmelo Anthony podcast.
42:46And then he drops a rap song.
42:47And then he drops a rap song.
42:49It's like.
42:52But who's always there for you?
42:53BET.
42:55BET is always there for you.
42:57BET is like, yeah, well, come home.
42:59Yeah.
42:59And he comes and he performs and it's great.
43:02You know, it's like it's a thing.
43:06Damn.
43:06I won't go any further.
43:08I don't even know how to recover.
43:10I was going to say.
43:12But Will did kill it with Sunday Service.
43:15Shout out to Will.
43:15Shout out to Sunday Service.
43:16Kurt Franklin.
43:17It was an amazing performance as well.
43:20Great record.
43:21Childish did open up the Usher tribute.
43:25Did you don't have to call it?
43:26I think it was from the Kauai mixtape because he did cover that song before, which was great.
43:32Usher's tribute.
43:33I'm curious to get y'all thoughts.
43:35I had to get those BET compliments up front.
43:39Oh, because this is this.
43:41I had to get them now.
43:42OK, now not a knife coming out.
43:44Lay it thick, y'all.
43:45Not a great tribute.
43:47Not a great tribute.
43:50For a guy who is right now, I would say our premier musical pop star.
43:56Yeah.
43:58In terms of like.
44:01Just time spent, he's like he's a legend.
44:04He's our guy who's been doing it forever.
44:06He's our.
44:08Our vet.
44:09He's our he's our legend.
44:11Didn't feel like a tribute that matched that.
44:14Didn't feel like it was up to the level of who we all believe Usher is.
44:22Well, I saw I mean, sort of going off the social takes, I was trying to see what the
44:27temperature was on the Internet.
44:30I did see a fair amount of that, but the question opened up to really become why?
44:36Because some people, you know, if you feel like it wasn't if you feel like it wasn't
44:40of, you know, worthy of Usher, it's like, well, is it?
44:44You know, is it because we don't see a lot of the musical descendants who people think
44:49should have been there or could have been there?
44:51There's a lot of talk about, you know, there was there was a lot of talk about men versus
44:56women, you know, because the tribute was, I mean, had a lot of women.
44:59And I think, honestly, a lot of them really killed it.
45:02I thought it was Tiana and Vic.
45:04Yeah, the bad girl thing, I think was probably the most well-received, but also Coco Jones
45:09doing what song?
45:12There Goes My Baby, what Tinashe did, Nice and Slow.
45:17So I see a lot of people who because, I mean, one of Usher's big legacies is dance, of
45:21course.
45:22And so I was really trying to think about who is.
45:25You know, because you've had like you can draw a line from James Brown to Michael Jackson
45:29to Usher to Chris Brown.
45:31Breezy was on tour.
45:32And then it's kind of like, to be fair, because they were saying a lot of the male R&B
45:35singers today don't really dance.
45:37And so it's like, I don't know who would have been the right, like, who is that person to
45:43carry on that legacy?
45:44Who would have been that central figure?
45:46It's Chris.
45:46Yeah, it's Chris.
45:47It's Chris Brown.
45:48It's just Chris is on tour.
45:51He's the guy.
45:53He's the dang guy.
45:53But even the fact that it's just, you know, is it really just one?
45:56Like.
45:58Yeah, I mean, I think.
45:59Because you know a tribute is going to be 7, 8, 9.
46:02You want Marianne?
46:03So I mean, if we're talking dance and footwork, Oh, Oh, gets it in.
46:08Sure.
46:09I'm not saying he has to sing, but you know.
46:12No comment.
46:15I mean, it was.
46:16But I think that was the puzzling thing for a lot.
46:17Like it's sort of.
46:18I think Oh could have done.
46:19You remind me.
46:21Okay.
46:21Yeah.
46:21I mean, he kind of tried to remake that.
46:25No.
46:25Well, the video, I guess.
46:27Like Superstar.
46:27Yeah.
46:30Or Touch.
46:31Touch.
46:34Also good.
46:34I don't know.
46:34Good choice to have Kiki Palmer there.
46:36I don't know who put that.
46:37Yeah.
46:37But given all the background with the residency and like how that really.
46:42You know, just blew up on social media.
46:44It was like, Oh, that's that's a good little Easter egg.
46:46If you really know, you know.
46:47The connection between Kiki and Usher.
46:49That's the that's the thing that like.
46:52A black show can do.
46:54Yeah.
46:54Because they're like, Oh, I remember this.
46:55There's sometimes when it goes too far.
46:58Like some jokes were like, all right, you could cool it with the black Twitter stuff.
47:04But there's some moments where you're like, Oh, this is perfect.
47:07This is just what I want to see.
47:08I thought Donald's.
47:09I don't know.
47:10I don't think it was you who didn't like it.
47:12I thought Donald's.
47:15You don't have when he did the cover or.
47:17Yeah, I thought that was great.
47:18I like I like the I like the arrangement for it.
47:21I know some people kind of like why it's so auto tuned, but.
47:24No, he can't sing like Usher.
47:26But I mean.
47:27But he can sing.
47:27That's the weird part.
47:28He can sing, but he can't sing like Usher.
47:30But you know, I try to sing it like Usher.
47:33Just you change up the whole arrangement.
47:35Just do it like you.
47:36Yeah, like this is like his cover of So Into You.
47:40It was like.
47:40Oh, the one in the live lounge or whatever.
47:42Yeah, yeah, yeah.
47:45But Usher seemed to Usher, you know, went on social media.
47:48He was very appreciative.
47:50Said thank you to everyone involved in the tribute.
47:51He loved it.
47:52You know, I did think he was going to perform, but then it hit me.
47:55He's also doing Essence Fest this week.
47:58I think Usher's performed a lot in the past six months.
48:01The way he was like, I mean, he did Super Bowls.
48:04I was in the residencies going on tour.
48:05It's kind of like I'm going to get honored.
48:08I'm going to be honored.
48:08Yeah, and I think I wouldn't be surprised if he told BET that because I could see BET
48:12being like, yo, you're going to perform, too.
48:13And he's like, no, I'm going to sit my ass down right here.
48:18Yeah, watch.
48:18I mean, I had a great time on the red carpet.
48:21I think it's only right.
48:22I asked my fellas here before we go.
48:24Favorite Usher record?
48:27Oh, all time.
48:28Yeah.
48:30Dang, you could have prepped us for this.
48:34And we got to do it quick.
48:35So we got a lot of dead air.
48:39I'll go first.
48:40Yeah, it's a tie between you remind me and you don't have to call.
48:45I would say either you don't have to call or Climax.
48:48I'll say Climax is definitely like in my late stage Usher favorite.
48:52My early stage.
48:55You don't have to call.
48:56It's like it's classic.
48:58The perfect song, the video, the beat.
49:00Yeah.
49:01Yeah, it just it's just a perfect song.
49:04I love the remix, too.
49:05Shout out to Ludacris.
49:06That's an underrated remix.
49:07Yeah, let me double check.
49:08I'm missing none.
49:09I feel like you would say Superstar.
49:10No, I was actually the lead vote getter on the carpet when I asked.
49:15Superstar.
49:16Yeah, interesting.
49:18Superstar Confessions.
49:21Part two is hard.
49:22Yeah, part two.
49:23Amazing.
49:23I think the remix was heavier.
49:25I mean, it's just really like that's too pop.
49:29I mean, I got to give it to you.
49:33Got a bad like you got a bad.
49:34I like you got a bad.
49:35You got a bad is because I just think that's like when you just really like try to sing
49:39that, you know, in your shower, you know, whatever.
49:41I mean, have you tried to sing Climax?
49:43Well, yeah, but you know, you drop right down to that center as best you can.
49:49And you just pop a blood vessel trying to hit the notes.
49:51Yeah, it's hard.
49:55Hopefully.
49:57What a legend.
49:58Listen, what a legend.
49:59I can't wait to see the tour.
50:00Hell yeah, bro.
50:01That should be a good one.
50:02Yeah, when is it?
50:02When does that come off?
50:03August.
50:04Yeah, yeah, yeah.
50:05So we'll definitely be at the show.
50:06BET giving y'all y'all flowers.
50:08Y'all did it again this year.
50:09Can't wait for next year.
50:11And we hope you guys are able to take it with us next week for a fresh episode of Billboard
50:17Unfiltered.