In this episode of 'Billboard Unfiltered,' Billboard staffers Tetris Kelly, Trevor Anderson, Kyle Denis and Damien Scott go into Janet Jackson’s “not black” claim towards Kamala Harris, and the aftermath after her comment. The team also broke down Future’s third album ‘Mixtape Pluto', Chlöe Bailey’s career and more!
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00:00In his new video that he dropped yesterday, he's rapping in front of cars, rap with like
00:06Narcan and Suboxone, but everybody's fine with it because he never has, he's never changed.
00:13He's very honest about it.
00:14If you heard something or if you could not verify what you said at your age, with your
00:22status, what you know about this industry and interviewing and all of this stuff, no
00:27comment.
00:28We've, we've needed this.
00:29We've needed a pop star.
00:30We needed somebody that can sing and dance and this and that.
00:32And it's like, she's there.
00:33Chloe Bailey's there.
00:34What's up, everybody?
00:38Welcome back to a fresh new episode of Billboard Unfiltered.
00:40All right, first things first, we got a new face in the house.
00:43Want to give a shout out to our man Tetris, host of Billboard News.
00:46So if you watch any Billboard program, you probably, honestly, you've probably seen him
00:49more than any of us.
00:51So welcome to the resident celebrity in from LA.
00:54You know, how you feeling?
00:55I feel great.
00:56It's good to be a deputy in the way that Carl is, you know, I have a big chair to fill,
01:00but I'll do the best I can.
01:02I guess our first topic is going to be about somebody who is obviously Drake adjacent,
01:06has been a little quiet about the particular beef because he's been too busy working on
01:10his own stuff.
01:11That, of course, is Future.
01:13Mixtape Pluto came out last Friday, so that's the big release of the week.
01:17Future's third album of 2024.
01:19So he's been on a pretty crazy run for the year.
01:21Obviously, the first two were the Metro collab albums.
01:24We don't trust you.
01:25We still don't trust you.
01:27So as Mixtape Pluto is the big news of the week, first of all, just general reactions.
01:32Is it are we at a point where it's a little too much Future for the year?
01:35Are we liking this sound because it's a little different than some of the Metro stuff?
01:39What's the what's the general feel about it?
01:42Never too much Future for me, to be honest.
01:44I'm loving it.
01:45Told My is my favorite song, you know, I told my bitch if I got to be faithful, I might
01:50fall off.
01:51That's a bar.
01:52That's gospel.
01:53That's a bar.
01:54Like, that's not for me.
01:56Y'all acting like that's your creed, like tattoo it.
01:58I'm gonna speak for myself.
02:00Absolutely.
02:01Like, that's gonna be something that I live by for the next, you know, eight months or
02:05so until the next tape drops, maybe.
02:07But I had a great time with the Future record.
02:09I just feel like he never lets me down in terms of just giving me a collection of solid
02:15tracks that I like to bump for the next couple of months.
02:17It's never like I'm asking for more Future music, but when it comes, I don't ever really
02:21turn it down.
02:22I think that's the thing about the hip hop community in general.
02:24I feel like nobody ever is like, this is too much.
02:28I feel like people will always take new tracks.
02:31You know, it's interesting because I know, obviously, there's somebody who people feel
02:35like should take a hiatus and we got a little too much, even without an album this year
02:40from Drake himself, like I know some, you know, people, obviously, they're always gonna
02:45be a conversation with each other, having been collaborators now, not enemies, but
02:49frosty, it seems like to some degree.
02:52And people are saying this is like, this is almost the opposite of, you know, Drake has
02:55been putting out loosey singles, kind of, you know, the 100 gigs, obviously, was, you
02:59know, just a massive data dump.
03:01He's been on some guest appearances here and there.
03:04I mean, it's the difference that it feels like with Drake, by his standards, people
03:09would say none of it's really hit.
03:11The difference is 100 percent qualitative.
03:15I think even before the beef, people were asking for Drake to take a break.
03:20Drake himself said he's going to take a break.
03:22He said he was like, he was tired and he was washed out.
03:26He needed to take a break for his health.
03:28People said that he was making the same album over and over again, which I think we can
03:31all attest to listening to Certified Loverboy.
03:34And for all the dogs, there seems to be some repetition in the in the themes and the
03:40sounds and the structures that he was that he was using.
03:43And that's that would be ultimately fine.
03:48If what you're replicating is something that people loved.
03:52Yikes.
03:52You don't think those albums are kind of like I was just listening to Demi and talking.
03:57I was like, that's crazy, because to me, they do represent completely different vibes.
04:03I think the only one that represents a completely different vibe is Honestly, Nevermind,
04:07which to me is the best album he's made out of that whole run he's been on.
04:12But I think the main complaints from people, especially around an album like Certified
04:17Loverboy was that we've heard all this before.
04:20We've tread this ground already.
04:23You know, this is stuff that we were hoping to move past by now.
04:26And.
04:29Well, however you want to take that is however you want to take that, that's that's
04:33the that was the general course from people in that album came out, I think for future,
04:37it's literally the same thing, but people seem to like the ground that he keeps
04:42retreading. If you listen to this album.
04:46And you listen to like DS2, I would there's very little daylight between the two of them.
04:51He's saying, you know, the lyrics on this album are things that he could have said 10
04:57years ago. You know, he says a line like I was serving my auntie when she was a dope
05:00head just so she can go and cop some Dolce.
05:03It's like. These are lines that he could have dropped years ago, but you've got to
05:11think everybody's not a hip hop head in the way that they're looking for something
05:14deep. You know, sometimes people just want music.
05:16They can vibe to they absolutely ride, too.
05:19And I think future is for that crowd.
05:21That's the audience. He's, you know, appeasing.
05:23I mean, he I think Drake has an audience that is ultimately larger because of, you
05:30know, he's a he's like more of a pop star than future.
05:34But I think even those people are tired of what he's been doing, as evidenced by the
05:38performance of his recent songs.
05:40I think people are like, this is do you not think that's more of like the label?
05:44I feel like Drake when he has.
05:46Yeah, I feel like when Drake has a project, it's pushed.
05:50It has the proper promotion.
05:52And I feel like lately he's just tossing it out.
05:54I don't feel like he's putting a proper push behind it.
05:57Everybody's like his songs are hitting, but I don't think they were meant to in the way
06:01that a single from Drake.
06:03I don't think I don't I mean, I don't think Drake Drake's marketing is here's a
06:08single. You know, he's on that on that level.
06:11The only time he's had like a proper, like long winded rollout was her five lover boy,
06:15which was extremely protracted.
06:16And.
06:19Did it work, maybe not really, yeah, it's like, I don't know, Drake is Drake is is an
06:26artist at such a scale that he can say, here's a song and traditionally we would all
06:31be like, holy shit, Drake's dropping a song to a slide.
06:35There was a hint of a song we would all run to our computers, just listen to it.
06:41I just think, you know, it's it's time for something new.
06:45Also, the guy's been on top for a very long time.
06:47It's bound to happen.
06:49But I think going back to future, it's I think it could be both.
06:53It could be, you know, I love I love the album.
06:55I think it's great.
06:57I also loved the other two albums he dropped this year, there's only so many hours in
07:02the day, there's only so many hours I can devote to future, I can't play him around my
07:06kids. So it's like, how much future am I going to really digest this year?
07:11It's it's tough.
07:13So it's not like too much future, but it's like you could have held off on this while
07:18we're still enjoying this other album that still has legs.
07:21You haven't even like pushed the song, this album.
07:24And I was like, oh, this was like that other song, this other album.
07:26You could have like push that instead of making this other thing.
07:30You know, well, you got all the time future.
07:32I know I got some hours in the day.
07:34Yeah, I got it.
07:36I got no kid.
07:37You see the difference here, you know.
07:39But I think when I look at their twenty twenty four releases, I think, Drake, you can
07:43kind of smell.
07:46Not the desperation, but you kind of smell that he's using these releases to
07:51restructure how he's being looked at in the marketplace by consumers versus future, like
07:56he's going back to Atlanta rappers with 100 gigs or he's dropping like a little pseudo
08:02dancehall Afrobeat vibe of blue, green, red, or he's trying to, you know.
08:06Get outside of the shadow of not like us and the beef and all that stuff, so it feels like
08:10these drops are and are in a way kind of like imagery have for him, where future is kind
08:15of like there's no really any imagery because he doesn't really care what his image
08:20looks like. He's his future.
08:22We love him as he is.
08:23We love him because and in spite of who he is.
08:25So we kind of fill in the blanks for the other stuff that his image, you know, speaks
08:31to. But Drake, you can almost you can feel the agenda a little bit too clearly with the
08:35twenty twenty four drops. And I feel like that's why in particular this year stuff isn't
08:39really hitting for him as much as much as it is for future.
08:43But I also just think, like Dame said, it's qualitative, like it's just bangers versus
08:47non-bangers. I don't think it gets less or more complicated than that.
08:51Yeah, I mean, now I understand how my boy feels when he's sitting.
08:56I'm like, listen, listen, because I'm not even that massive of a Drake fan, but sitting at
09:00this table with you guys, I'm like, oh, it's like this is like heavy.
09:05I like I like this year.
09:07That's a big, you know, it's a great question.
09:11I mean, I do like push ups.
09:14OK, I did.
09:16But no, you're right.
09:17I'm not telling you you're wrong, like, but I'm not telling you that you like to be.
09:26I'm not saying that is wrong about the songs that he put out this year.
09:30I just feel like y'all that I can tell Carl be like struggling because like the Drake
09:35heat is hard at this table.
09:36Y'all don't have it for him.
09:38But I think you have to realize that what he did for the culture, what he has done is no
09:42one has ever done it before.
09:44So to your point, it's going to fall off a little bit.
09:47But even in the little bit that he's falling off, he's still Drake.
09:51Oh, yeah. I mean, the mountain is, you know, he's got a long way to go before he's at rock
09:55bottom. Yeah, I just think in terms of in the conversation of, you know, what's
10:00the what are we more happy with more future or more Drake?
10:05I would say more future is the thing that I if I had to move a slider, but the future is
10:11the community, right? That's like the culture likes him.
10:15He's going to be good.
10:16But if you're talking about numbers, if you're talking about success, future couldn't
10:20even hold a candle.
10:22Well, OK, let's OK, let's let's let's get into that because that actually brings up a big
10:26point that people are looking forward to with this future album, this future debut.
10:30I'm looking ahead to the charts next week.
10:32Obviously, anytime future puts out an album, it's a big event.
10:35People hoping this album continues that streak of number ones.
10:38Obviously, the last two with Metro were both debuted at number one.
10:41So could future go three for three this year?
10:44And that would actually be his 11th number one album.
10:47So, no, it is not as many as Drake.
10:49Drake's at 14. But clearly, you know, at the best of the clip that future is putting
10:53them out, you know, Drake is is very much in sight.
10:56So, you know, we talk numbers and everything.
10:59Obviously, there's other, you know, streaming numbers and awards and that kind of thing.
11:03But I think people do people sleep on future success, like to the degree that he really
11:08is racking up. You know, he's about to possibly tie people like Barbra Streisand for
11:12Springsteen. Taylor Swift is not very far ahead.
11:15Drake is not very far ahead.
11:17I don't think anyone ever puts future in those conversations, both.
11:22Quantitatively and qualitatively, like if I were to ask people, you better go down to
11:27Atlanta, you go down to Peachtree, right?
11:29They go say, I like who's your top five rappers of all time, like future, maybe in
11:38Atlanta. Yeah, he gets mentioned, I think, up here, he'd be seldom, seldom mentioned.
11:43But I think. Even sales wise, you're asking who are the best selling rappers of the
11:49past 10 years, I don't think people would say, would say future.
11:52Yeah, I think he's definitely up there.
11:54I think he's under the sneaky radar.
11:59It's really fascinating.
12:01He. And it's not even like the clip of the music, because, you know, he releases a lot
12:06of music, yes, but. It all hits, it's really strange.
12:12Yeah, futures, it is an interesting thing that he's about to be up here with these
12:16legends, sort of same thing on the Hot 100.
12:18He's got, you know, I mean, well over 100 entries.
12:22He's sort of in that top echelon as well.
12:24Still sort of funny that there's never been that that I mean, Maskoff has been up
12:28there in terms of his life is good, was up there for you, wait for you, was up there.
12:32But it's still interesting that like.
12:35I guess there's like to your point about the other artists, there's never been this
12:38sort of consolidation moment where it's like, yo, like he's the future, it's future
12:44and a gap between everybody else.
12:45It's just sort of this, this real consistent success that I think is actually a good
12:50formula, probably for a lot of people, especially in the streaming era where, you
12:53know, everyone's just so focused on things like first week and, you know, where you
12:56are on the Hot 100 and, you know, I don't know if FutureHive stands in the same way
13:00that a lot of like a lot of other cats do.
13:04Yes, we do. But y'all, OK, shout out as the spokesman for the FutureHive.
13:08It's like, you know, they're not focused on all those same things, you know, like
13:13what awards did he get?
13:14I can't believe he didn't win the VMA.
13:16I can't believe he's not on today's Hot Pits.
13:17Like it's just he's grown his base like over the last 10 years that come out, support,
13:23ride, show up.
13:24They show up for the tour, things like that.
13:26But it's never it's never suffocating, you know?
13:29Yeah. He's too busy at the courthouse.
13:31That's what a FutureHive is.
13:33OK, he is who he is.
13:35Not taking care of their kids, you know.
13:37Woo.
13:38That's we're talking about this in the in the production meeting yesterday.
13:42It's like this guy has all of the vices and negative traits that seemingly a pop
13:51culture crowd would denounce and even cancel.
13:54You know, he is a sex addict, a drug addict who is a deadbeat father on paper.
14:02It's like a log line to a movie.
14:04That's like that's the that's the the image of Future in his new video that he
14:09dropped yesterday. He's rapping in front of cars wrapped with like Narcan and
14:15Suboxone. These are drugs that people take in order to prevent an overdose or to wean
14:21themselves off of opioids.
14:23This is the image that he puts forth.
14:27But everybody's fine with it because he never has he's never changed.
14:31He's very honest about it. Also, the music delves into like the horrors and like
14:39the the the cliffs that he has to climb back up to of dealing with the life that he
14:44lives, which I think is like something that a lot of artists can learn from.
14:48A lot of people, there's a conversation on Twitter, I think two days ago, people were
14:52likening him to a blues artist.
14:55I think that's not far off.
14:56I mean, if you think about like a lot of the blues artists who were themselves hooked on
15:01opiates and and.
15:03A lot of pain and tragedy in those lives, depressed for most of their careers, Future
15:10does. Align with that, but it's the fact that he's able to continually plow that ground
15:16and find new new growth to to talk about is a thing that's super interesting, and I think
15:21that's the thing that keeps people coming back to him, but it's also the thing I think
15:24that keeps him culturally where he is because his fans are like, of course he's not going
15:31to be up for album of the year because look at what he's rapping about.
15:35Look at look at the music videos that of course is not going to get tapped for this
15:39thing because he's making a music video.
15:42He's rapping in front of a car wrapped with an art can tablet like, yeah, his fans are
15:47very clear eyed about like who he is and what like the wider world probably thinks of
15:52him, which is great for him.
15:55Well, you talk about his fans and how supportive they are, but like, OK, so this is
15:59third in a year. Could he keep this momentum up?
16:02Do you think if he dropped a fourth album?
16:03Yeah, that we'd still be like questioning whether it would be number one.
16:06I think so. I think if he were to do it, you know.
16:10I think that was a percent R&B R&B mixtape like he comes out with another joint album
16:15or something, I think that's a guaranteed number one.
16:18I think it might get a bit trickier for going for like another solo hip hop tape.
16:22Yeah, that might, you know, stall at number two depending on the week.
16:26But I think he's I think he says no competition right now.
16:31There's no big really.
16:32Whoo. Don't sit at the Chapel Rhone.
16:34Hey, my girl got her vinyl out for the first anniversary.
16:38You know, apparently this Drake and party is supposed to come out at some point in the
16:41fall. Oh, damn.
16:42It's about to be October.
16:44So that's going to be fine because he goes toe to toe with them and drives R&B mixtape
16:48like the week before a week of.
16:50I want to see that. That was a future R&B mixtape.
16:52Yo, yo, Drake and Future at an R&B battle, it would be crazy.
16:57I want the 50 Cent Kanye showdown.
17:00Oh, yeah. And who you want to just so many conversations to have like that state of R&B,
17:04state of rap, Drake and Future like coming back together, but on an R&B tip, not on a
17:08rap tip this time.
17:09Like that would be really it would be it would be great to mix it into all of this.
17:13Like that's cool. That's a cool coda to this year's beef.
17:17I feel like that'd be interesting.
17:19Also, one underestimated
17:24talent of Future's is I think he's great at marketing.
17:27I think that goes under the table a lot.
17:28I want people really acknowledge how good of a marketer he is of himself.
17:34Like this whole mixtape Pluto thing, the run that he started, it wasn't he didn't just
17:39drop this album out of nowhere.
17:40He started with, you know, I'm going back.
17:42And he had all these social clips.
17:44And the whole message was like, I'm going back to this this time.
17:49Even the phrase mixtape Pluto is something that fans created to to to like
17:55mythologize this part of his career that they all love.
17:58And he took that and was like, yeah, I'm going to I'm going to tap back into that.
18:01Even the the Metro albums, you know, utilizing We Don't Trust You.
18:08As a callback, it's just incredible, the videos he made to promote that.
18:12I think he's like he he I don't know.
18:16He got it like he's great at this shit.
18:18He's great at making the story.
18:20He's great at furthering the story, furthering the narrative.
18:24We don't particularly everything we know about Future personally.
18:28We've learned through like the Shade Room, which is hilarious because we don't really
18:31learn much from his music about him, but he's able to continue this narrative that
18:36we all continually buy into album after album, which I think is really impressive.
18:40Well, the funny part is you're talking about you made me think about our second
18:44topic because you're talking about how good he is at marketing.
18:48And you would think there's somebody that would have the career at this point to be
18:51good at PR, to be good at media, to not make such a moment out of an interview.
19:00And that is Miss Jackson, if you nasty.
19:03Somehow, if you miss this, because it's kind of been it's one of it's kind of like
19:07the Super Bowl story that it started with one thing and then it has spun into this weird
19:12web of a snowball.
19:15So we know where I guess hopefully the press wanted to, you know, the PR team would have
19:20wanted to close the lid was there was an interview that came out in the Guardian UK publication
19:25over the weekend.
19:26Janice doing some tour dates, they're doing some press.
19:29And one of the things that the writer brings up, of course, you know, speaking to Janice
19:33legacy with Rhythm Nation and social empowerment is obviously where the possibility of having
19:39our first black female president in the United States, Kamala Harris, if she obviously wins
19:43on Election Day.
19:44So they asked Janet about that, you know, feeling like that probably was a pretty straightforward
19:49A to B question.
19:50Yeah.
19:51And Janet came back with that C, LMNOP answer to the point even the writer said she was,
19:58you know, stunned.
20:00Like when you insert yourself in that narrative, you know, but to quote what Janet said, you
20:04know, I don't want to put anything out of context.
20:06Janet says, well, you know, they supposedly said she's not black.
20:11That's what I heard that she's Indian.
20:14And the writer writes that she's looked at her expectantly, assuming possibly that the
20:18writer herself was Indian.
20:20The writer says, well, she's both.
20:23Janet answers, quote, her father's white.
20:25That's what I was told.
20:26I'm going to have to watch the news in a few days.
20:28She coughs.
20:29I was told that they discovered her father was white.
20:33Who told her this?
20:35I would love to know who told her this.
20:37I want to know the friend, the family member that was like, yeah, girl, you know, they
20:41said his daddy white.
20:42Her daddy white.
20:43I mean, this opens up so many, you know, obviously it starts with Janet and now, of course, everyone's
20:50going down their Twitter sleuth hole, suggesting her brother, Randy, who is her manager, possibly,
20:55you know.
20:56Randy's her manager?
20:57Yeah.
20:58Yeah.
20:59They say they dug up old posts on social media that suggested he was at least, you
21:03know, open to supporting Donald Trump's MAGA, you know, supportive posts that people found
21:08and, you know, the Internet will uncover anything.
21:10So people are suggesting that's a possible way.
21:13But to me, then, well, yeah, but then the story gets a little crazier because then there's
21:19a statement that comes out the next day by somebody sort of trying to do some damage
21:24control retracting on behalf of Janet Jackson.
21:26It's not from Janet herself.
21:28Then it comes out that Variety reports that the apology is actually not by someone in
21:34the camp.
21:35Well, Janet or they fired the person because that was the story.
21:39Yeah.
21:40The person had was working on her current documentary.
21:42Yeah.
21:43I had to work and work with her before they had let him go.
21:47And I guess in a last ditch attempt to save whatever she fucked up with that statement,
21:51he put out an unauthorized statement.
21:53And then Variety was like, we got that statement also, but we didn't publish it because apparently
21:56he's not actually repping Janet.
21:58And then that's when that article came out.
22:00And then Janet was like, yeah, I don't know him.
22:02Yeah.
22:03She's like, I stand by.
22:04I stand by my misinformation.
22:06No, I think, guys, what we have to realize here, yeah, where do we what we have to realize
22:11where we go is that no matter how much money you have, no matter how famous you are, she's
22:16still an auntie.
22:17And you got to look at it.
22:18That's the way I look at it.
22:19It's like, that's your black auntie that be at the cookout.
22:22It's like, yeah, I heard I saw on Facebook, you know, it's like we talk about misinformation
22:27and that's kind of how it works.
22:29You see stuff on social media.
22:30You hear a post.
22:31Somebody told you this.
22:32Somebody told you that.
22:33You just run with it.
22:34If you don't have, you know, checks and balances telling you what's real and what's not.
22:38And everybody gossips.
22:39And she's just an auntie that was told some information.
22:42And she's like, this is what I heard.
22:44Just because she's Janet Jackson, we're expecting her to be some super knowledgeable person.
22:50No, I'm expecting her to be a knowledgeable person because she's a voting citizen who's
22:53grown.
22:54Like, I think with all the love and respect in the world, she sounded a plumb fool.
23:05Like if you heard something or if you could not verify what you said, at your age, with
23:13your status, what you know about this industry and interviewing and all of this stuff.
23:18No comment.
23:20Just don't speak about it.
23:22And on top of that, like, if we even want to go a bit further, half this Jackson family
23:27is biracial.
23:28Why can't y'all understand the concept of a biracial person?
23:30Yeah.
23:31Like, it's a lot.
23:32It's insane to me that a family like that was the crazier part to me.
23:36Like I agree with that.
23:39There's like a subset of people that just get their information from God knows where
23:45and they believe it to be true.
23:47It reminds me of this XXL interview that Clover Hope did back in the day with DMX and she
23:52was like, are you voting?
23:53And he was like, no, I'm not really following the election.
23:56She was like, oh, like, what do you think about, you know, are you going to vote for
24:00Barack or Hillary?
24:01And he's like, what the fuck is a Barack?
24:05And she was like, Barack Obama, he's celebrities.
24:09They're just like, he was like, I have no idea who Barack is, but the Jackson family
24:14is like, yo, this is the most like Benetton ad family I've ever seen.
24:20There's all different colors.
24:21There's like so much happening.
24:22There's so much happening.
24:23Not the Fenty shades.
24:24That's what the Jackson family is.
24:25And they've had to deal with that back in the day, like back in a time in America when
24:35it wasn't so forgiving to be that, to be with different races and to intermingle with different
24:44types of people.
24:46They've had to go through that.
24:47She's had to go through her brother, like all the racial strife that he had to go through.
24:53So it's just like wild to me that she, even if she did hear that, she wasn't like, hmm,
25:00let me not say anything.
25:01Well, that's the PR part.
25:02That's the media part of like, just don't speak on it.
25:05But like you were saying like, oh, you expect her to be knowledgeable.
25:08And I've, in this election process, I've completely abandoned that.
25:12I don't expect anybody to be knowledgeable.
25:14This man said, hey, they're eating the dogs and the cats in Springfield, Ohio.
25:20And look how far that's went.
25:21That has been debunked.
25:22That has been unproven.
25:24And they still are saying it.
25:25It still gets thousands of likes when people post about it.
25:28People are going to believe what they want to believe.
25:31Misinformation is going to go.
25:32And if people believe it, they're going to run with it.
25:33You can't expect, at least I don't anymore, for people to actually care about the truth.
25:38I think on this particular topic, it's like, as a public, we've been familiar with Kamala
25:43since, God, eight years now?
25:46Like, six years?
25:47I mean, like, like, worst case, let's say 2020, when she was obviously for VJ, I live
25:51in California.
25:52Like, you can look up these pictures.
25:53Like, there are no pictures with a white father with Kamala.
25:56There's a picture with her black father, her Jamaican father.
25:59Like, this is like, misinformation is a real plague that we're dealing with.
26:05Absolutely.
26:06And I'm, when we're looking at just like, something as simple as Kamala Harris's racial
26:10makeup, like, this is not hard to disprove.
26:13And I love that she doesn't speak on it.
26:14I think it's great.
26:15Anytime she's been asked about it, or it's come up in an interview, she kind of just
26:19avoids it because it's weird to have to prove, yeah, it's weird to have to prove your race
26:24when it's so public knowledge, you know?
26:28Even the fact that she went to an HBCU, you know, she's in the Divine Nine, a black sorority.
26:35She is a black woman.
26:36It's very clear and obvious.
26:38And I don't think it's something to argue.
26:39And if you're choosing to believe that misinformation, there's really nothing you can do about it.
26:44I don't believe there's anything you can do to convince somebody that believes something
26:48that is not true.
26:49But that's interesting about it, because the only thing I, when I was reading this again,
26:53you know, Janet, it's weird.
26:55She's not saying it so definitively, like, oh no, like, I know she's, it's like, it's
27:00the whole part about like, I heard, and I thought, and I'm just, but then she doubled
27:06down.
27:07I'm just curious about the net, like, is there no natural, the natural curiosity, like, to
27:10go find out?
27:11Like, you just, you think Janet Jackson's Googling?
27:14Janet Jackson, bro.
27:15She hasn't been, I would be surprised if she even uses a computer.
27:19Yeah, exactly.
27:20I'm with him.
27:21I mean, I guess, you know, if she's had people in his, you know, you know, sort of telling,
27:25hey, we're going to, you know, sort of guiding her life in the sense of, this is your schedule
27:28for the day.
27:29This is what's going on.
27:31I mean, I guess you're right.
27:32Maybe that's the framework of a super celebrity life, a super celebrity who is, lives in the
27:38state that Kamala is elected in.
27:41Wow.
27:42Like, that's the thing that shocks me is like, I know you've been in rooms with, with this
27:46woman.
27:47She's, you're the most, you're one of the most famous people in that state.
27:50Like, I guarantee you, you have been in a room with her.
27:56Either for a fundraiser or like someone has, you know, brought you there even against your
28:01will and you had to like show up, make an appearance or.
28:04You've been in the room.
28:05You know what Janet Jackson might say into Janet Jackson's defense?
28:08She gonna say, so Kamala Harris was attorney general of California, you know, two terms.
28:14Who's your attorney general right now?
28:15Don't know.
28:16Don't care.
28:17That's the question.
28:18Meanwhile, I'm like.
28:19You gonna, you gonna get on Janet, but not, no, I'm just, I can see Janet saying, and
28:24who was yours?
28:26We're talking about the presidential candidate, not my attorney general.
28:30Meanwhile, I'm just wanting Kamala's white father to please reach out to unfilter.
28:35We would love to speak to Kamala's white father.
28:39Let us know.
28:40We're trying to get to the bottom of this.
28:41Please.
28:42I just.
28:43Yeah.
28:44You know, I'll give it, give it two days.
28:45I mean, I guess we can rest assured that in the 2024 election, Janet, Janet, Janet Jackson's
28:52thoughts won't have much sway.
28:53I don't think with many voters, that's like a good thing.
28:56But on a personal note, I just kind of, where's the music, Janet?
28:59I really love 2015's Unbreakable.
29:00Oh, there we go.
29:01There we go.
29:02Yeah.
29:03It's a really solid fucking album.
29:04It's a new music album.
29:05The Black Diamond album.
29:06Unbreakable was really good.
29:07Really good.
29:08People slept on it hard.
29:09Really good.
29:10The tour was good.
29:11The album was good.
29:12It was the number one album, you know?
29:13The real one saw it.
29:14Yeah, that's true.
29:15That's true.
29:16That's true.
29:17But like, you know, it's been coming up on a decade since Unbreakable.
29:18Black Diamond.
29:19Has it been a decade?
29:202015.
29:21It'll be 2025 next year.
29:23So it's been coming up.
29:24That's not about Kamala and her racial makeup.
29:26Why did you just make me feel like, it's old as shit.
29:29Damn.
29:30It's been ten.
29:31Damn.
29:32It'll be nine probably next month, and after nine comes ten.
29:35Yeah.
29:36All right.
29:37Well, you know who, uh, been up in several hours.
29:40Well, everybody, do your research, by the way, before we got to the Janet Jackson thing.
29:43We got to do a little PSA about this.
29:45Do your research.
29:46Folks, please do your research on the election.
29:47Kamala Harris is black.
29:48It is coming up in five, six weeks, you know?
29:52Make sure you have trusted sources.
29:54Just read one book.
29:55One book.
29:56And not the freakin' Laws of Power shit either.
29:58Just read a book.
29:59And stay off Facebook.
30:00Yeah.
30:01All right.
30:02Moving from Janet Jackson, another topic that had the internet, you know, just offering
30:06a range of opinions.
30:07This is one of those topics where it's like, everybody wants to be a PR, an A&R, a marketer.
30:12Everybody thinks they are.
30:13It just jumped off.
30:14So Chloe Bailey went on Instagram Live this week.
30:17A lot of folks were asking, in particular, about some appearances and, you know, when
30:21you're going to be performing your new music.
30:23She dropped an album back in August.
30:25Trouble in Paradise was the name of it.
30:27Kind of surprise album.
30:28So folks are like, you know, when are we going to see something, some tours, some information?
30:32One of the things that Chloe sort of hinted at is that, you know, appearances cost money.
30:38So suggesting that the money could be tied up for that, not approved.
30:42And then that sort of led to this whole cascade about fans assessing the state of her career
30:47and, you know, what has happened, what's worked, what hasn't worked, what she needs to double down on.
30:52Maybe what she needs to let go of.
30:54So sort of trying to place blame all over the place.
30:58Parkwood was a trending topic.
31:00So a lot of people had thoughts on Parkwood and Columbia and how that relationship has
31:04gone on.
31:05So I guess to open it up.
31:09So what do we think about where Chloe's career is and are there missteps and what can she
31:14do to get out of them?
31:16I don't.
31:17I'm not an A&R.
31:18It's the chuckling for me.
31:21Look, I just I just put it out there and you grab it and you shape it.
31:25You take the Play-Doh and shape it however you want to.
31:28It's a minefield.
31:29It is.
31:30But I do think I want to start by saying she is incredibly talented.
31:34Yes.
31:35And one thing that bothered me was when Tate McRae went viral recently.
31:39Everybody kept being like, we've needed this.
31:41We've needed a pop star.
31:42We needed somebody that can sing and dance and this and that.
31:46And it's like, she's there.
31:47Chloe Bailey's there.
31:48She has been consistently showing you that she can sing.
31:51She can dance.
31:52She can perform.
31:53She's all around amazing.
31:55Just nobody cares.
31:56And it's why does nobody care is what we're trying to figure out.
31:59Why don't the songs hit?
32:00What is it about her that's missing the mark?
32:03I used to think it was that her music was too R&B.
32:06I actually thought it wasn't mainstream enough.
32:08I thought it was a subset.
32:10But then she did Boy Bye, which was a really pop song.
32:14So she has dabbled and tried to do different things, but it never hits.
32:18So is she too similar to Beyonce?
32:20Is it too much of a Beyonce impression, if you will?
32:25I've seen that online a lot.
32:27But what is it that's not hitting?
32:29Well, I think the main critique people have said and just sort of surfing
32:33through tweets and all that kind of thing is, I guess someone described it
32:36best as this hypersexual pivot that they felt like.
32:38I don't want to say this angelic kind of vibe, but they were, you know,
32:41too obviously, I mean, the voices are heavenly.
32:43So kind of this natural R&B kind of sound.
32:46You have a track like Do It.
32:48You have some sort of energy there.
32:51Like, it's not too overwhelming.
32:53And then you jump to the solo stuff and everyone feels like it went
32:56from zero to 100.
32:58I don't agree.
32:59And it's almost like a whiplash.
33:00But if you actually follow Chloe and Halle, if you look back,
33:03she was always this.
33:05In their social media, in their personalities, she was always
33:08more sexual, a little bit more ratchet, if you will.
33:11And she always was serving that when her sister would be giving
33:14more demure, you know, more classy.
33:16They were always this kind of like yin-yang.
33:19If you followed them.
33:21Maybe music.
33:22I think tracking the conversations in 2020 around Ungodly Hour
33:25before they split for solo careers was really interesting
33:28because I remember people being like, oh, Halle is holding Chloe
33:32back from dancing more sexually on stage and really embracing
33:35that side of herself on stage and stuff like that.
33:37Begging her to go solo because they were attracted to her.
33:41And then she went solo, embraced that sexuality on her own terms,
33:45and then it became too much for those same people who were
33:48begging her to go solo.
33:50I don't think either of them should have gone solo yet.
33:53I think Chloe and Halle should have done a third duo album
33:56because Ungodly Hour was truly them cementing themselves
33:59for mainstream listeners.
34:01Oh, absolutely.
34:02Like, Love the Kids Are Alright.
34:03That's one of my favorite albums, you know, of the past couple years.
34:06That didn't really make a dent in the marketplace for real, for real.
34:09Ungodly Hour got their first Top 100 entry.
34:12I think the album went to number 12.
34:14They were at Coachella.
34:16They were at Coachella.
34:17The album went to number 12.
34:20The song was like 60-something or something like that, right?
34:23But, you know, they were really making something for themselves
34:27as a duo then.
34:29I think the combination of Ungodly Hour dropping during the pandemic
34:32and then going into Little Mermaid filming, it was like,
34:35where happens here?
34:36And Chloe was like, you know, I'm going to make this album.
34:39I don't know what the development process looked like for them
34:42as soloists versus as the duo,
34:45but it took me a minute to figure out what Chloe was trying to do
34:50solo-wise with the music.
34:52For me, she is an immensely talented person when it comes to writing,
34:57production, singing, dancing, all of the above.
34:59She is, you know, a multi-hyphenate.
35:02But when I was looking at and listening to these projects,
35:05they don't come together in a way that I think is best reflective
35:08or representative of what she's capable of.
35:10I think she would do well with an editor or an executive producer
35:15to kind of streamline the visions that she has.
35:17It sometimes feels like too much on a single song,
35:20let alone on an entire album.
35:22But there's stuff that works and there's stuff that doesn't work.
35:25But I think musically she still, I think she got close with,
35:29like, Have Mercy was a really good way to meet her sound
35:32with where the mainstream was at the time.
35:34I don't know if she's found that good balance yet again,
35:37but there's still good stuff happening and coming out of her music.
35:40I think in terms of what she was saying with, you know,
35:43the budget's not budgeting, it's rough in the industry right now.
35:46It's rough for Black women.
35:49It's like, listen to Black women.
35:51I can't say that enough.
35:53You got Tinashe. Let's talk about it.
35:56We got our girl Normani.
35:58I was going to say, it feels like a lot of parallels with Normani.
36:01Yeah, it's the Normani, it's Khloe, all of them.
36:03Just to try to find this lane and this sound.
36:06I would say that until I get to the list of things
36:10that Khloe has been able to pull off
36:13despite comparatively pulling in worse numbers
36:17than all of the girls that were just listed.
36:19Compared to Tinashe, Khloe has had an immense push.
36:24She's had a lot of girls.
36:25Crazy push.
36:26I don't think she's been a victim of major label largesse
36:34and bureaucracy in the same way like Normani has or Tinashe has.
36:39I think she's had all the opportunities that you could hope to get.
36:45I think that's what's so confounding, as you said,
36:48is that she's so talented.
36:50On paper, if you were to build a superstar...
36:53She has it all.
36:55That's what you would make.
36:56You would build Khloe.
36:59It's just confounding that it can't click.
37:03To me, who didn't follow their careers as closely as you guys,
37:08the jump from the group to her solo was a bit jarring for me.
37:19As a guy, I was like, sure, do what you want to do.
37:22This is great.
37:24A lot of the conversation around that, though,
37:27is what has happened to her.
37:30Is this what she believes will get her more eyeballs?
37:35But my thing is she already had the eyeballs.
37:37She's one of the most famous people,
37:39regardless of what she's been able to do.
37:42Her sisters in Little Mermaid,
37:43they've made it to this level of fame that otherwise...
37:47Normani would kill to have her visibility.
37:52I think it's just like, to Kyle's point,
37:55the music maybe is just not there.
37:57I think there could be a lot of success had
38:02if she were to sit down with somebody.
38:05I think we all threw out Dark Child.
38:08Yeah, we all threw out.
38:10She just needs a hit, a solid hit.
38:11I think she needs a direction.
38:13She needs someone to sit down.
38:16The way that Dark Child talked about working with Brandy,
38:20that's the type of work that I think she needs,
38:22where they sit down and they're like,
38:23what's going on?
38:25What are you really trying to say?
38:29Let's find some sounds that match that.
38:31Let's find a theme that matches that.
38:33Let's work through this together.
38:35Here's what I know.
38:36Here's what I've done.
38:38I can pair this with you,
38:39and we can make something great.
38:40I think there's a bunch of people she can work with on that.
38:43I don't think Murder Beat's not going to do it for her.
38:46I think it's like...
38:48And Mike Will won't do it, I don't think.
38:49I think she needs somebody.
38:53She needs a camper.
38:54Someone to really build a world with.
38:56She wrote and recorded this album.
38:58It was heavily inspired by St. Lucia on Trouble in Paradise.
39:02I am St. Lucian American.
39:04I did not really get much of my island's culture in that album,
39:08sound-wise, aesthetically, anything,
39:09besides the one visualization that was shot at Carnival.
39:14But you also have to realize she's coming from a lot of success
39:18and Parkwood and Beyonce.
39:20So I feel like she probably has a lot more control than she should.
39:24And I don't even mean that in a negative way.
39:25She's clearly very talented, and she can produce, she can write,
39:28she can do it all.
39:29But most artists that are that young, that are that new,
39:32would have a label and a team telling them what to do.
39:36And I feel like she probably just has free reign to be like,
39:39no, I'm talented, I'm smart, I'm going to do it myself.
39:43I think there is some level of label.
39:46I remember her saying that there was an album before In Pieces
39:49that was scrapped and then In Pieces came out,
39:51because there were four singles that she put out between
39:54Have Mercy and Surprise, none of which actually made the debut album.
39:58So there was an album, I guess, label.
40:00People were like, this isn't going to work.
40:02And then In Pieces was made.
40:04So I think there is some level of conversation,
40:07at least being had along those lines.
40:09But she probably does have a little bit too much freedom.
40:15But it's like, I don't even want to say too much freedom.
40:17It's possible.
40:19But it's like, you know, sometimes you need to hone it in.
40:23You just need to really just zero in on a very specific lane
40:27and brand for yourself.
40:29When I think of the name Chloe Bailey,
40:31a lot of different things come to mind,
40:33but they're not really a uniform brand of what Chloe Bailey is
40:35or represents.
40:37That's a problem in this marketplace that is tied to proper branding.
40:43Half the reason people were so into the whole Sabrina Carpenter arc
40:47this year was because of how well she branded herself across those singles.
40:51Aesthetically, style-wise, all of that stuff.
40:53It all makes sense.
40:55There's a disconnect happening in that level with Chloe
40:58that I think is very apparent.
41:00And for better or for worse,
41:02because she's operating in the shadow of Parkwood and Beyonce,
41:04people have another level of expectation for what she's putting out.
41:07That's why I also think it's just like,
41:10I think everyone had a level of expectations for Chloe's solo career
41:14immediately that they probably wouldn't have given to anybody else
41:17because of the Parkwood and Beyonce attachment.
41:19And it's like, well, maybe we have to readjust what we were expecting.
41:24Because you look at the duo's success,
41:27and it was like, okay, well, she was never going to come out of the gate
41:30with a number one debut like smash,
41:32but that seemed to be what was happening in people's heads.
41:34So when you do see the return, it's like, oh, you're really a mega flop.
41:38And I hate that conversation.
41:40It's a little bit more nuanced than that.
41:42I mean, she is the best performer, I feel like, of the generation right now.
41:46When you look at her BET Awards performance,
41:48when you look at her VMAs performance,
41:50she leaves it all out on the stage.
41:52She has the voice, the dancing, that fire.
41:55And I hate that a lot of artists, the Gen Z artists,
41:58they don't have that fire anymore.
42:00They're just like us.
42:02That's the thing, where she's not like us.
42:04She is bigger on stage as a persona.
42:07And maybe that's a part of the disconnect,
42:10is that people don't actually like that anymore.
42:12Yeah, they don't.
42:13Gen Z isn't looking for these big performances.
42:15They like a little bit more of, that's my homegirl.
42:18They like to know that they can also do it.
42:20There you go.
42:21But you see Chloe on stage, and you can't.
42:23I think we're done with the superstar model.
42:25I think we've been done for a long fucking time.
42:27Name one.
42:28A lot of the people who have gotten hits in the past five years
42:31really shouldn't have, but, you know, they do.
42:35Because they can, because, you know,
42:38they're not virtuosic talents.
42:40They're not incredible writers, not incredible performers,
42:43but they can craft a good hook,
42:45and they can sell it well enough that we can relate to it,
42:48so be my.
42:49Relatability is on Instagram.
42:51These kind of like stars that are just like,
42:55you get on stage and you leave it all on the floor.
42:58I saw so many people praising her Usher tribute
43:01at the BET Awards, and they were like,
43:03oh, I wish, you know, she made more music like this.
43:05She sounds so amazing.
43:06Like, they can recognize the talent.
43:08I wish she made Usher songs.
43:09It's like, yeah.
43:10I wish, too.
43:11Like, I wish we all made Usher songs.
43:13It's crazy, though, like, talking about Janet,
43:15because it's like Janet was another one who was in the shadow
43:21of a major success, was a child, and had to grow up in the public
43:27and then struggled to find herself as an artist
43:32while she was growing up, and the thing that helped her
43:35was working with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.
43:37You know, they were like, let's.
43:38Boom.
43:39Because them two albums before Control went all that,
43:41but they locked in and figured out A-Lane.
43:43And then boom.
43:44That could very well be what happened with, you know,
43:46solo album number three with Khloe if she finds someone
43:49that she has a really good synergy with,
43:51but I think that's a lesson.
43:53Yeah.
43:54Okay.
43:55All right.
43:56Well, it sounds like Khloe Bailey needs to call Kyle Dennis
44:00because he got ideas and plans.
44:02I love her.
44:03I really do.
44:04I love her and her sister.
44:05I'm rooting for her, too.
44:06I love talent.
44:07That's the other thing that comes back to it is, like,
44:08everyone agrees that the talent and the potential
44:10is all right there.
44:11We just got to sort of stack the deck, you know,
44:14a little more straightforward.
44:15We need people to care about performers.
44:17We had Beyonce.
44:18We had Britney.
44:19We had J-Lo.
44:20Like, these people were like stars.
44:23They were like, oh, my God, Jennifer Lopez.
44:25Oh, my God, Beyonce.
44:26And now people don't like that.
44:28It's, like, all about, like, relatability.
44:30That's great.
44:31You know, Gen Z is going to eat you up saying we're not
44:33impressed by talent.
44:35Is that what he's saying?
44:36I mean, that's what I'm saying.
44:37That's, you know.
44:38I mean, that's, like, another – that's a whole other topic
44:40that we can dive into.
44:41It 100% is.
44:42I don't think he's wrong.
44:43I think –
44:44No, he's absolutely right.
44:45Like, yo, like, the – and I love the song.
44:48I never met him, but I love the song.
44:50But, you know, Tommy Richmond, incredible songs.
44:54He dropped the clip of him performing them.
44:57At the rooftop situation.
44:59It was terrible.
45:01And I don't know –
45:02Tommy going to say I didn't have my – you know, I could control it.
45:04I could control the elements.
45:06I didn't have the background.
45:07I don't know what the circumstances were.
45:08I don't know, you know, I don't know what happened.
45:10But the clip that came out was not good.
45:13And this was the first time I'd seen this guy perform the song live.
45:18Yeah.
45:19And I could not believe it.
45:21It's like Pink Panther is too.
45:22It didn't sound anything like –
45:23That's another one.
45:24And, you know.
45:27Have you been able to listen to Million Dollar Baby since then?
45:29I love the song.
45:30Okay.
45:31But, you know, I think that's a topic for another day.
45:33But, yeah, I don't disagree.
45:35I will be back for that topic.
45:37I will fly back out for that one.
45:39Too talented and they don't appreciate her.
45:42Okay, well.
45:43There we go.
45:44Okay, I look forward to the three old heads and Kyle breaking down.
45:48Gen Z.
45:51The three old heads.
45:53Jeez, I was trying to be with Kyle.
45:55Yeah, okay, we'll break down Gen Z's performance preferences another day.
46:00But, yeah, I guess we'll see.
46:02We'll see, hopefully, what Khloe comes up with next.
46:04And maybe that gets her a little more in that direction Kyle was talking about.
46:08Before we go, as always, of course, we've got to get through the lightning round.
46:11Let's do it.
46:12So we're going to zip through that.
46:14Everyone, sort of what you've been spending, what you've been listening to,
46:16what you've been enjoying.
46:18Usually we start over here.
46:19I think we'll start over here this week.
46:20You know, in the spirit of Miss Khloe Bailey, I had to –
46:24Wow.
46:25Her and Joey Badass' new duet, Tell Me.
46:28I really love the track.
46:30I love her vocal delivery.
46:31It's really new, so kind of Jill Scott, you know, Erykah Badu vibes.
46:36Khloe singing about sex without it actually sounding corny.
46:40I can believe both of them.
46:42I believe their chemistry.
46:43It's a nice vibe, a nice little transition into cuffing season.
46:46Like, this is a nice pocket for both of them, for both Joey and for Khloe.
46:50So, love it.
46:52You know, one thing, speaking of Khloe's in that bag,
46:55there was a cover that she just did on like a social media or whatever,
46:58made for me.
46:59Oh, that's a good cover.
47:00Like, you know, back sort of when that was, you know,
47:02sort of all around TikTok and everything, and everyone was like,
47:04yo, like, this is what we want to hear.
47:07Because if you haven't heard that, you know,
47:09I don't know if it's on her ex or Instagram or wherever.
47:11Go find it because that's like –
47:13obviously it's a sex-driven song in a way, like a little slower,
47:17and she just melts right into that.
47:19It's crazy.
47:21So.
47:22Thank you, thank you.
47:23I'm going to go with Glorilla, Hold On.
47:26Okay.
47:27You know, it's a good song.
47:28It's not that she doesn't have a hit because she's clearly had great
47:31Hot 100 success, but I keep wanting Glorilla to have like that song,
47:36like that smash that's like everywhere, that's like, you know,
47:40her signature song.
47:41And I feel like she's starting to get there.
47:43And Hold On to me, it's got the TikTok-ability,
47:48like the repetitiveness that's something that can be –
47:51that's really easy to latch on to.
47:53And, you know, I'm country, so I love a little play on words.
47:56Hold On is the title.
47:57I'm like, chef's kiss.
47:59Let's go.
48:00Yo, yeah, I kind of thought TGIF might be –
48:02I mean, like obviously it was a huge hit,
48:03but I thought just where it started and how viral it went with Rihanna
48:06and everything, I thought it might be that one that kind of goes all the way.
48:10I mean, it became a big radio hit.
48:12It became – it just sort of, I guess, stalled out a little earlier than it was.
48:15Yeah, it stalled out.
48:16It just didn't sync up well.
48:17Like, people were really into the snippet,
48:19and then by the time the song dropped,
48:20like the hype had fallen a tiny bit on the ground level.
48:23And she also had a lot of – I mean, like,
48:24Wannabe is, of course, going on.
48:25Yeah, Glow is still, you know, got legs.
48:27She's got so much.
48:28It's boxed everywhere.
48:29Yeah, there's a lot of stuff in the marketplace at once.
48:31A lot of glitter.
48:32But, like, they never go all the way.
48:35And it's like something's got to go there for her.
48:37Yeah, I mean –
48:38It's crazy.
48:39I remember when Tomorrow 2 dropped, and I was going to a dinner,
48:42and I was in an Uber.
48:44I wind my window down, and you just heard it everywhere.
48:47Like, you just heard people playing it.
48:49Yeah.
48:50And I was like, oh, this is it.
48:51It's out of here.
48:52And then –
48:53And it was a top ten hit, so it's not like it wasn't, you know.
48:55That's what I'm saying.
48:56She has hits, but –
48:57But, like, clearly, yeah, I'm waiting for that one that just solidifies her.
48:59Her boat idea.
49:00Yeah, that kind of breakout.
49:02So, obviously, the album Glorious coming out in a couple weeks.
49:07Is it?
49:08Is it?
49:09I would say it's October.
49:10Really?
49:11Is it November?
49:12It's definitely –
49:13Kyle's on it.
49:14I want to say it's October 11th, yeah.
49:16There you go.
49:17Wow, that's sooner than I thought.
49:18That's right.
49:19So, maybe around that time, we'll get the proper push that she needs.
49:21You know what?
49:22Next time, I just got to believe in myself because I knew it.
49:24I knew I knew it.
49:25There's a lot riding on this album, I think.
49:26But, yeah, yeah.
49:28Gloria Hallelujah Woods.
49:29Let's see what she going to bring with it.
49:31What you got?
49:32I can't wait for her gospel.
49:33Well, I'm going to let –
49:34I'll go next.
49:35Okay.
49:36I went with Dochi in the song Nissan Ultima,
49:38which her album dropped a couple weeks ago.
49:41It's the current single from Alligator Bites Never Heal.
49:44And I think for a lot of people, obviously,
49:46there's been a lot of buzz about Dochi for a while.
49:49She obviously had the Kodak song that blew up.
49:51And I think if that was your introduction to Dochi,
49:54you may think kind of like Lotto.
49:56We knew Lotto from Bish from the South and a couple things,
49:59but Big Energy was the one that blew up,
50:01and I think people probably thought Lotto was a little more poppy.
50:04Yeah, she was.
50:06Well, that song definitely was poppy.
50:08But then this album comes out, and it's like, no,
50:10she really keeping it Southern and classic.
50:12And I think in that same vein for Dochi,
50:14if you think what it is, like Block Boy was,
50:17it's like, oh, that's kind of the Dochi sound.
50:19Yo, check out this new album.
50:21She is – y'all love my favorite sort of jackhammer on this track,
50:25just spitting in one of those ways that it's like the breath control,
50:29but the clarity and just the articulation on a technical level is fantastic.
50:35This song is her new single.
50:37It's starting to come up on radio a little bit.
50:39So kind of in that same vein of where we saw Lotto make that jump from,
50:43you know, people thinking maybe pop is always going to be her lane
50:46to something that's just more real and raw
50:49and more technically on a hip-hop like rap level,
50:52I think this could do the same thing for Dochi in particular.
50:54So I'm excited to see where this one goes in the next couple weeks.
50:57Nice. All right.
50:59And let's wrap it up with D. Scott.
51:01Yeah, I'm going to – yeah, I'm going to be the old head
51:04and my pick is a song, Sunshine by Bilal.
51:09He has an album coming out this Friday called Adjust Brightness.
51:14This song is – I think it's the first single off of it.
51:19The album's only 11 tracks.
51:21He recorded it throughout over the past four years,
51:25so like starting during COVID and going into now.
51:30He learned to paint, he says, and he spent some time in Morocco.
51:37This song, though, is just great.
51:39It's like fast and energetic.
51:41It reminds me of like Chicago House,
51:43but if you were to like put that through a jazz filter.
51:47And his voice is his voice. His voice is incredible.
51:49He's one of the best vocalists of the past 30 years in my opinion.
51:53So, yeah, I'm excited for the album to come out.
51:57Adjust Brightness. I like that.
51:59At first when I heard that, I was like, oh, that's kind of smooth.
52:04It's good. Check it out.
52:06Bilal is like – he's so talented,
52:12and I don't think he's reached the heights that we all thought
52:16he was going to reach when Soul Sister came out back in the day.
52:20But, man, a guy can sing his ass off.
52:24I think he still has that loyal follow.
52:27When he sort of tours, I think anywhere,
52:29whether it's – I know my aunt lives in Pacific Northwest.
52:32When he comes to town there, there's a real community that appreciates that,
52:36and I think he always can sort of latch on to that.
52:38And he was introduced to a new generation when he was on To Pimp a Butterfly.
52:42That kind of rediscovered him then.
52:45But, yeah, this Friday, Adjust Brightness.
52:47Adjust Brightness. All right.
52:49Okay, well, we wrap things up.
52:51Of course, want to give a special shout out to Teddy for sitting in this week.
52:54Thank you guys for having me.
52:55We appreciate everything.
52:57As always, great conversation.
52:58A lot of topics to jump through today.
53:01You know, we didn't really have a light one,
53:03but we're here for the heavy conversations all the time, too.
53:06So appreciate everybody, and as always, thanks to you all for watching.
53:10New episode of Billboard Unfiltered.
53:11As always, next week, see y'all then.