July 18, 2025 • 38 mins
On this week's episode, Raekwon drops a new album and we have a review of it! Drake says the U.K. has the best rappers? Murs, and his comments on ghost writing versus co writing. Does Hip-Hop need to change it's views on this? Let's talk about it!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Coming up.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
On this week's episode of hip Hop Now podcast, Drake
says that UK rappers are better than US rappers, my
thoughts on a brand new Rakon album, The Emperor's New Clothes,
and is ghost writing the same ass co writing in
hip hop Let's do it. Welcome to Jipop Now pop
(00:28):
fat ass. If you from the future, you know what
to do show as out of son't disrespect the leg
hip hop is say.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
This day, let's get rightful to the business. What up, y'all?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I am your host Vegas and this is hip Hop
Now podcasting podcast specifically designed to keep you caught up
on all things hip hop, music and culture that happened
throughout the week. Big shout out to the subscribers first
and four almost in audio form. Whether you listen to
this podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcast, or wherever you
(01:07):
get your podcast listening, hope you enjoy the program. Thank
you for subscribing, don't forget to review on Apple Podcasts.
But also a big shout out to those who follow
the podcast subscribe to the podcast via YouTube. Yes it's
been a YouTube video for a long time. I know
there might be some audio listeners who are coming back
(01:28):
to say what you on YouTube? Yes, I'm on YouTube
because guess what you gotta be Okay, you have to
if you're going to continue to do this.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Retirement is somewhere around the corner. Yah. I ain't gonna lie.
I can't do this all the time.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
But the channel is nice and lively, so let's keep
it going. We were trying to get to I think
like fifteen k. We did that, so appreciate you. But
that is not the end of the goal. So let's
just keep going to see how far this goes. You
know what I'm saying. But speaking of content and reasons
(02:03):
to subscribe to this channel, if you're domb though, if
you're done though. Okay, we did a last week. We
did a special review of the clips new album Like
God Sort them out. Shout out to the homie AK
who came through to help me kind of break down
our thoughts, feelings, impressions about the album. And you know,
(02:27):
there was a lot to unpack because that's just what
the album was. So if you're curious about my thoughts
on that album, go check out that video. If you're like, man,
how long is it? I don't know if I can
watch all of that I feel you because I'm like that.
I'll just tell you like this, it is definitely in
my top five of the year. Easy, but check out
(02:51):
the video, support the content I'm saying, right, But now
it's a new week. So with that being said, shout
out to hip HOPDX dot com and Brosure for heads.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Complex.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Yeah sometimes I check out Complex too, and a couple
of places where I'm getting some of these stories from.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Let's get right into the business dots.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
So while the Clips were taking the hip hop internet
world by storm with their rollout, with the anticipation of
their album after fifteen years, let God sort them out
and meeting the hype around this album, just celebrating Clips
(03:39):
in hip hop, Drake was in the UK as usual,
trying to cause distractions. Not saying it can't be in
the UK doing the tour out, but what I am
saying or London in general, right, But what I am
saying is we saw him do this with Australia when
the Super Bowl thing was about to happen because that
(04:00):
was the focus in the US in hip hop, so
he wanted to seem unbothered and then ironically cut the
show short after the super Bowl had came and gone right,
didn't even fulfill the dates because it was all about
getting away, at least he thought getting away with his
(04:20):
smoke down Hoodio went the hood with the Bullet City.
So it kind of felt like, Okay, here go my
rival push a t who. You know, they not really
going back and forth, but Kendrick is featured on the album.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Kendrick is not really talking directly about Drake in his verse,
but here we go again.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Leading up to the Clips album, it was all about
this Iceman album and a video and a song what
did I Miss? And a show or tour in the
UK where you know, some of the stuff he was
doing was you know, pretty dope. But it was to
as a look at me. You know, I'm still alive, y'all,
(05:03):
still got the smoke hoodie with the smoke fuller os
coming out on me. You know, I'm still alive. So
in a lot of ways, he says this thing, and
I would hate to just think, oh, well, that's just
Drake's opinion, because since this battle, everything Drake says is
(05:25):
about acknowledging what happened. And I feel like, as a
fan of Drake right, all he does is make it
worse for when we have to hear from him, see
him a new record, because he goes out of his
way to remind us that he lost right in his actions.
(05:47):
He reminds us that he's not like us. It's just
not a hit record. He just reminds you of that
because he keeps rewinding back. And some would say, well, why, well,
how is this that?
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Right?
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Well, one, you're in the UK and you're saying and
he didn't just say better than the US, So let's
be clear. He said better than the US and even
Canada UK has the best rappers. Now that's almost like
admitting and not to say that's true, but admitting that
(06:23):
in the US they're definitely not feeling Drake in a
way we used to, right, and that could mean like,
you know, paching what's happening, what people are saying, what
the media is saying about him, maybe even thinking about
doing the show, but kind of feeling like maybe I
(06:43):
can or I don't want to do a show in
the US, and it just goes south, right, because the
US is more likely to be in a situation where
they're shouting, you know, not like us, and they then
bought a damn Drake ticket, and plus gn X is
still doing what it's doing as far as the tour,
So it just seemed like he was making a statement
(07:06):
just because of where he was, but also trying to
take a shot at his biggest critics is the US,
because we really have more of a problem with you
following a lawsuit for a battle. So now he's trying
to write the narrative and just say, well, the US
(07:29):
opinion is not as great as it was because they
don't even have the better rappers in the world.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
It's the UK.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Now, I took it two ways, right, pause, I guess
I took it two ways.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Right, Let's just keep it what we're talking about.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
On one hand, it's like, okay, if he's comparing rappers
of today and I don't mean Benny and Fredigate and
he ain't talking them about I don't think he's talking
about them. I think he's talking about commercially successful, popular
you know, the most popular rappers.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Saying UK's version of that, UK's.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
Version of well, not version they started drill, but drill
or trap or the style of rapping is better than
the guys in the US. That seems kind of weird,
but I'll get to it. Well, no, let me just
say that seems kind of weird to say because a
(08:35):
lot of his contemporaries who he messed with, We're not
just talking about the people who are against him.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
That's a slap in the face to a lot of
people from the US that he cool with, right, Like,
that's like saying, Okay, I'm cool with Yati, Right, UK
rappers are better than you. He's cool with twenty one Savage,
even though we know his paperwork says he is from
the UK, So maybe that's what he meant. But you
(09:03):
know what I mean, it's almost like, Okay, they're the
guys who you would like to say the UK is
better than, right, who are your rivals. But then there
are the guys who are from the US who you're
still cool with, and you're saying that they can match
up to these guys. Now, on the second hand, I
(09:27):
think he was just doing what he was doing, right.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
He was just trying to feel the love and get
the admiration of UK rappers because just like Australia, it's
a safe space. In America, we hostile over our hip hop,
so there could actually be no place he can go
without some form of harassment about you know, the battle
(09:54):
with Kendrick, and maybe that's bothering him in a lot
of ways, like he keeps trying to get back to
status but he can't. And again, some of it is
because of him. Some of it is like you're taking
a selfie and sharing it with the world with your ads, well,
so your call audience where you get your ads from. Like,
(10:15):
you know what I'm saying, You just keep doing things
to say Kendrick was right, right, and you do it
in spite of oh, he said my abs are fake boom,
check this out, even if they're real.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
At this point now people don't care.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
They don't know because they feel like you've been lying
to them about everything the whole time and it's not
just what Kendrick says. So I kind of looked at
this like, in one way, he's manipulating the artists and
the people over there in the UK that were at
that show who love him, you know, or or cool
(10:52):
with him, and then in another way, he's disrespecting the
people who he's cool with in the US and a
lot of and you know, I think that was his
whole thing about saying Canada, you know, because it was
more like of an opinion of like, nah, just on
some hip hop. You know, I just feel like y'all
the best. It just seems weird because I'm like, don't
you think you the best? You're from Canada? What I mean,
(11:15):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
It just was weird.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Now, the question before we move on is is it true?
Speaker 1 (11:24):
It is not, It's not true.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
It's tough to say because if we're talking about history,
the US is the blueprint for anybody outside of the US.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
It is the blueprint for what you do.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Now, every region that developed the sound, that sound that
was developed is their own, but there's a blueprint nineteen
seventy seven and all of that that was in the
Bronx New York City in general right started to spread
(12:04):
to the West Coast because West Coast rappers have been
on record. I've watched a ton of interviews where there
was a certain time where West Coast was more about
you know, funk and stuff like that. And you know,
sure there was a rapper too, And I'm not talking
about those that emerged like Iced Tea and all of that.
I'm talking about prior to that Iced t NWA, the
(12:28):
West Coast wasn't known to be on something like some
hip hop stuff that started on the East and it
spread everywhere, but every place has their own version of
it that is unique to them, that they own. Hip
Hop isn't only New York's, just like it's not only
belonging to the US. So to say another place has
(12:50):
the better rappers when the Foundations still live and kicking
West Coast, South New York, Philly, wherever we're talking about,
I need to see them receipts, okay, because that ain't true.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
It's just not.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
And we don't need this fool to start things. Now,
there was a little feels like It battle that's trying
to jump up and become a thing. After the Joey
Badass versus Everybody, Kendrick and Drake, now there are a
couple of UK rappers who trying to step out there
(13:26):
and challenge people and skeptic challenged join the lucas both
disc tracks were made, Please don't make anymore. And then
some other dudes this in Eminem. I think Eminem is
going to clearly ignore this cap I don't want to
see US versus UK.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
I don't care. I don't want to see.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
It because guess what we got more bullets in the
chamber than they do right join the Lucas is whatever.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
We got too many people to throw direction. You will
be overwhelmed.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Shout out to my people from UK, but some of
them don't even rock with some of this music coming
out of there, so it's just a non starter. And
look who started it, Drake. Let's not feed him all right,
Next story. So the next release in this rollout from
(14:27):
Massive Hill, remember seven albums from seven Icons. The first
album to be released was from the icon the Legend
Slick Rick, an album that I reviewed on this podcast
and didn't necessarily like that much. I didn't think excuse me,
I didn't think it was whack. I just felt like
(14:49):
it left a lot to be desired, considering the length
of the album, the length of some songs that were good,
having hel Records, two House records on there, and I
understood the story the connection with this album to the
UK and that inform and it yourselver and that informed
(15:13):
some of the choices, but it just didn't leave a
good taste in my mouth for a fan of Slick Wreck.
It was just kind of like lackluster for me. If
you dig it, that's cool, but I there was just
too many skips for me. You know, the songs that
I love, I really love, it just didn't happen enough
(15:34):
on that album. So now here we are in the
second release from Mass Appeal from another icon and legend,
Ray Kwon, with a brand new album called The Emperor's
New Clothes. Leave it up to either Ray or Ghost
just to have the Empress New Ghost.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
It's like flip it like marble cake, right, Like I
just love the way they just make things sound so
bigger than they probably actually are. This album's just dropped.
If you don't know. My review scale is three listens.
I just do it because it just works right. First listen,
(16:14):
I'm just impressions. Second listen, now I'm listening a little
closer to the lyrics, to the music, how everything ties together.
And my third listen is just to confirm my thoughts
and my thoughts just for those who need a quick answer,
is it's cool.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
It's a cool album.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
So the album has seventeen songs, probably three skits in there, right,
clocks in under an hour at forty minutes. You know
that's my kind of album, right, I don't have a
lot of time to spend with you, you know, unless I
really really like it. So many notable features from Griselda
to Inspected Deck, Carlton Fisk. I don't think I know
(16:57):
that is that's no shade. I just the name sounds familiar,
just didn't ring a bell. As far as music, Ghost.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Face and.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Method Man's on here, NASA's on here, Marsha and Brosia.
And when I was listening to this album, I was
thinking about a ranking of Ray Kwon's album that I
did almost a year ago. If not a year ago,
I'll leave the link or card, or there'll be a
link at the end of the episode, but there'll also
(17:27):
be a card that pops up.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
Or should have popped up.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
You should have already seen it in the beginning of
the show. But I was thinking about like Ray Kwon's catalog,
and I went back and watched my own video to
kind of get an idea of or refresh my memory
on his catalog, And for the most part, it was
what I thought. Most people think the only good albums
(17:55):
in Ray Kwon's catalog are only built for cuber links
and only bill for cuber links too, which is absolutely
not true. The majority of his catalog is good, too great,
and the Classic you know what I'm saying, There's really
only one album that's like Whack, which you know which
(18:17):
one it is, and Mobilarity, and then there's one that's okay,
but then the rest are mostly good.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
I feel like this is a good album. The vibe is.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
A legend like retired, you know, relaxing, enjoying life, you know,
sitting back and reflecting on not only his life but
his career, and that comes across in a number of
songs and in a lot of ways. Those tend to
be my favorite on this album because of who ray
Kuon is and what he's accomplished in his career and
(18:56):
in me as a fan looking at him at this stage,
you know what it's like.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
It's like.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Nas and Hip Boys Magic three, right when Nas turned
fifty and this album dropped. It was almost like a
boss celebrating his career and success and acknowledging this run
he's been on. And that was one of the main
reasons why I liked Magic three, because it made it
(19:24):
different from everything else he had released.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
And most rappers, you know, they'll.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Make mention of how long they've been in the game
and what they've done, but to have an album kind
of crafted with that in mind, that's the context you
need going in. So if you're looking for Cuba Link
Part three, it's not necessarily it.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
But if you've liked even his last.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Project before this, called The Wild, it's a lot more
like that and the other projects like Shylin versus Woo
and stuff like that, where he's he's you know, he's
just making records, you know, like Yo, I still love
hip hop, I'm still making records and this and that. Now,
(20:09):
there are a few things as far as the features
that I thought would stand out versus those that I
really didn't have any anticiy anticipation for, but they wind
up being the standouts.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
The thing.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Let me start with the bad news, right, and not
super bad. It's not super bad. It's just a.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Pet peeve kind of bad. Rapec not rapecor. Ghost faces
on this album three times.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
That got me hype because I mean, it's Ray, So
anytime it's Ray, we need ghosts on at least three tracks.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
Anytime it's Ghosts, we need Ray to show up for
a couple of tracks. Also, it's just they internally linked.
They're like the best unofficial group or duo one of
the best of all time. But the older Ghosts is
(21:02):
not whack at all.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
And I'm not saying his appearances are whack, but there's
something lost in the nostalgia when his voice sounds completely
different from what we remember. He's more gruff. He almost
sounds like he like when I see him. He doesn't
look like he gained a lot of weight or anything crazy,
(21:27):
but he kind of sounds like that. He sounds like
husky almost. You know, you know how Big has that
big pun. They had that hussy kind of gravelly, not gravelly,
but maybe raspy in some ways, but you could tell
it was their weight for the most part, like Sean P.
Like as Sean P got bigger, he sounded a certain way.
(21:48):
But it kind of worked for Sean Pe because it
wasn't that different from his voice when he debuted with
bou Can Play. But with Ghosts, it's noticeable, and you
know it's Ghosts and he's saying all the things he
usually say. He's rhyming the way he usually rhymes, so
it's still Ghosts. But there's something left to be desired
(22:12):
when it ain't Shonder.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
In the crib with the glass on the table. That's Ghosts.
That's the ghost we like. It's the same thing.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Like if West Side Guns voice changed and it was
a little bit more husky and gravelly. That ain't like
I'm sitting at the computer like, it's not the same.
He could say the same things, but it's not the same.
But that's just nitpicking. I think his performance overall was decent.
(22:43):
I really like his performance on the last track called
Mac and Lobster.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Of course that's what it was called Mac and Lobster.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
It's ghostly, right, you know, So I can't take points
off because Ghosts is just getting older. That's foul, you
know what I'm saying, because that's what I assume it is.
I assume he can't really do that high pitched voice
because he would probably have to fake it because this
is where his voice is at his age right now.
So it is what it is. But nevertheless, like I said,
(23:14):
performance was dope, meth came through. I didn't necessarily like
the beat that they were on, so I think it
took away from all of their performances in some way.
But still not a Wax song. The Griselda joint. I
need a Griselda. I need to not hear them separately,
(23:37):
like can we get another mixtape album? Conway, Benny Benny
and Westside Gunn because on this song it made me
miss that combination of those three having a verse and
ray Kun fit right in with them. It's one of
the standouts for me personally. But one of the things
(23:57):
that people are walking away with now is got Busy.
On this album, he got busy. The song is what
is it? Amerto Amerta, The Amerta.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
Ray Kwon did his thing, but this is kind of like.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
If you watch my review of the Clips, I like
NAS's verse on the Clips album, but I felt like,
flow wise, he was doing a particular flow that felt
like he was trying to fit in instead of just
doing NOAs he doing Nas on this jount Like how
I was saying in that other review, like yeah, sometimes
I just want chittooth Nas kind of getting that on
(24:38):
this album, and it's a standout record for sure. There's
a couple of skits on here, but they're a typical
random Ray Kwan. You know, let's do a skit about
this because some of it, I was like, maybe maybe
I didn't get it. Maybe the songs lined up in
a way for some of these skits, but like he
got a skit call barbershop bullies and it's just random.
(25:02):
Ray Kwon's just talking, right yo, stop moving your head.
That's I guess he's a barber. Right then if somebody
else screamed something in the back, like it just was random,
right then he had another joint officer full beard, which
was funny. But it's Ray Kuon getting pulled over and
(25:24):
all of that, and you know he a boss. So like,
if you are familiar with Wu Tang and especially Ray
Kwan and his music and his history of skits and songs,
all of this stuff makes sense. They don't really have
to tie into records. It's just it's a Rakon album,
Like what do you want?
Speaker 1 (25:43):
What do you want? You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
But again, I think listening to this album, if you
like ray Kon and you're not only looking for Cuban Links,
Purple tape, you know records or Rizard of be on
the boards, which he hasn't been in decades at this point,
and you understand that there've been good albums from Ray
(26:08):
Kwon and Goes for that matter, without Rizon on the boards,
then I think you would like this album because it's
a good album top five.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
For me this year. Not really, but that's not the
same thing bad about it.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
That's just saying the songs that are the albums right
now that I hold in the top five of the
year so far, I just don't think this album is
better than those, but I think it's good enough to
be mentioned as one of the best of the years.
So to me, Mass Appeals rollout of seven albums and
(26:44):
seven legends.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
Is one in one.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
The word on the street is that next up will
be ghost Face with Supreme Clientele two. At least that's
the rumor. So we'll see. But consider and what I
just said about Ghosts and my feelings. If it ain't
showing in.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
The glasshouse throwing on the rocks.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
Like I can't take the gruff version, man, it's not
gonna sound the same, especially being a sequel to his
best album and one of the best albums.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
In hip hop history, Supreme Clientele. But we'll see.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
What do you think about Ray Kon's brand new album,
The Emperor's New Clothes.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
The features Ray, the Beats, the Skits.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
Leave your comments in a comment section below, and lastly,
so we're gonna try to be as quick as possible
with this one, but an interesting thing popped up in
my timeline. Also wound up being in a group chat
I'm in on WhatsApp shout out to them, and it
(27:52):
compelled me considering. I saw it on social media, and
I saw the conversation around it, and then it becomes
a conversation in a private chat. I felt like, well,
that kind of says maybe I should address it. So
this is stemming from a tweet from and shout out
(28:14):
to Mickey Facts, who basically was reacting to a video
of the rapper Mirrors talking about kind of breaking down
hip hop and how we perceive writers MC's collaborating on
(28:35):
the record and how some people view that as whack
or ghostwriting and question them sees as to or basically
question a pen game, like if you wrap, you should
be able to do that by yourself, You should be
able to write that by yourself. You shouldn't need help.
(28:57):
And even though I'm not gonna play, Mickey Facts thoughts
on it. To sum up his thoughts, he believes co
writing is fine if you're going to try to make
a hit or you're trying to do a song outside
of what you typically do that has a goal of
(29:17):
radio play or or you know, popular success. But he
does feel like if you're an MC, anything like that
album cuts freestyles in a cipher that should come from
your opinion. So we're gonna play MRS talking about it,
and then I'll just give you my thoughts on what
(29:39):
he has to say.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
I had a ghostwriter on my newest single, games Shame.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
I don't understand why the only genre to criticize vocalists
for not being the authors of their material. Single from
a kind of name, bang saw that I was mentoring
and working with.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
Yeah, so I said in the songs like I don't
like my second verse, see what you could do? He
shot me back something else phenomenal. I took what I
needed and I'm giving him now. I really feel like
you needs to create a safe space for the writer. Okay.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
So so that was that was MURVS speaking from his
point of view about the subject, but also giving a
live example of himself now me personally as a hip
hop fan and as a guy who's dug a couple
of MURRS projects and really gave him a lot of
(30:39):
respect off his pen.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
Right.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
That's because there are artists who can make a catchy record,
and you like him for all the things in the record,
and then they are artists who make catchy records and
you you, you're more focused on the writing, so you're like, Yo,
this dude is dope, you know, coming up with these
ideas and the way he flipped that and a way
he said this. But I have to say, and maybe
(31:09):
this is the old school academy. I'm sorry, Maybe this
is the unk or whoever you whatever you want to say,
maybe it's the old head. But that coming from Murs
makes me feel more like you could have wrote that.
You could have wrote that you are capable of writing that.
(31:30):
You could have wrote that I and I think, like
even him laying out the fact that my new single
I was working on it, I really didn't like my
second verse. I gave it to a mentee and say,
let me see what you do with it. He gives
you some great ideas. You pulled from those great ideas,
and maybe you pulling lines as well from those ideas
(31:51):
to finish the song, and you properly so give him
co writer.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
And credit.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
Even in this conversation. Sure, I can agree with that,
but considering merge to me is not what you would
call someone who's aiming to be on the radio, who
is popular outside of the cats that do know him,
the fans that do know him.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
I think he's more of.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
A core fan based type rapper, where it's like he
got his core, that's it. And I don't know if
his core would agree with him, because at least the
notion is if somebody said, do you think Merz has
a ghostwriter or co writers? It'll be a quick note
on both if the man didn't just tell you on
(32:46):
this single, I had a co writer. So I think
it's two things right as an MC, as a guy
who came up in the nineties, where you know, writing
your own stuff was pasted, you had to everybody assumed
that was your pin when you spit your wraps, and
it better be. I never would have sought a co writer.
(33:11):
But as a professional recording artist, even if you're independent,
your role is not only to make great music, but
it is to make music that hopefully becomes popular and
puts money in your pocket.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
Doesn't matter what you do.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
An independent business not giving away stuff for free, even
though you would like to think.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
That, it's just not so.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
The same goals for being on a major so maybe
he wanted to make something that was better than what
he was thinking, and he just needed some ideas and help.
I don't think there's anything wrong with that, because as
an MC writer's block exist sometimes you don't have the
time to sit. Some people get right his block and
(33:55):
it ain't just Oh, it took me a couple of weeks, but.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Then I got it.
Speaker 2 (33:58):
Some people may have right this block on one record, and
that will hold the entire album up because they can't
finish the album until they get past that. And sometimes
you need someone else's ears to hear what you can hear,
to see what you can't see right, to say, oh, well,
(34:20):
why don't you do this? It's in hip hop. Unfortunately,
people frown upon even that even that much because they
feel like you're creative, you should come up with it.
But after you reach a certain point, especially when you're
in the business of creating for profit, you can't really
(34:41):
take those chances right because so many things can go wrong.
So tapping somebody for the sake of getting the idea
fleshed out or revigorating what you kind of initially thought
but couldn't get out your system. Sometimes somebody can just say, oh,
I listened, maybe you should do this if you said
(35:04):
something like this, They didn't write the whole song for you.
They co wrote, they helped, and it doesn't mean they
helped write the entire album. Doesn't mean they ghosts or
ghost writing the whole album. But I said all that
to say that I think that rule of you know
yo not having ghostwriters, it just kind of applies to
(35:27):
me to anybody who's really gonna talk ish about their pin.
You can't have ghostwriters if you're talking about your pen being.
Speaker 1 (35:35):
Great, you can't do that.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
Now you trying to make a hit record, and this
guy has been releasing music but can't get off.
Speaker 1 (35:45):
But he's a great writer.
Speaker 2 (35:46):
In your mind, it's okay to collaborate, to fine tune
your ideas. Right, not to say go write my whole
album and not come and recite it, but to say,
you know, let's creatives come together. And it's not uncommon
in hip hop. It's not a new thing. When the
rules existed, ghostwriters were writing in the background. That's why
(36:08):
they were ghostwriters because it was hip hop, and people
were like, don't tell anybody, tell anybody that such and
such help because hip hop not trying to hear that,
so his plea to move on. I feel it when
it comes to having co writers, nobody should look at
(36:31):
a co writer as a ghostwriter, or take any points
away from an artist who's probably written so many rhymes
in his lifetime that having a co writer on a song.
When this man is like fifty or whatever, it's okay
for him to have a co writer.
Speaker 1 (36:48):
Ghostwriting is something else. Again.
Speaker 2 (36:52):
I would like to think those who are dope and
known for their pen can even write hits themselves. But
if you have somebody go and write it all and
you just recite and like Merg said, vocalists, well, vocalists
in MC no, no, no, let's not do that.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
Let's not marry those two. Right. It's either your pin
or you just or maybe you are just a vocalist.
Speaker 2 (37:20):
But being a vocalist sometime and a dude who can
write it other times, it just seems weird. But again,
I don't make music for a living, and in the
record industry outside of hip hop, this is commonplace. So
is it time for hip hop to join the party?
Speaker 1 (37:41):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (37:42):
Let me know what you think in the comment section.
Do you think co writing is a form of ghost writing.
Do you agree with Mert said, like you need to
get out of that. You know, artists working together means
your pen isn't as great as we thought. Because you
need help. Leave your comments section wherever you can. On
(38:04):
YouTube that's right below the video that's gonna do for me.
You can follow me on social media at Vegas World
I n C and check out the podcasts and audio form.
Wherever you listen to podcasts, subscribe of course, and right
here on YouTube subscribe like comment, but most important to
share with people you know enjoy this kind of content.
(38:26):
Until next time, y'all. I'm not a critic, I'm a fan.
Speaker 1 (38:29):
Peace
Coming up.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
On this week's episode of hip Hop Now podcast, Drake
says that UK rappers are better than US rappers, my
thoughts on a brand new Rakon album, The Emperor's New Clothes,
and is ghost writing the same ass co writing in
hip hop Let's do it. Welcome to Jipop Now pop
(00:28):
fat ass. If you from the future, you know what
to do show as out of son't disrespect the leg
hip hop is say.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
This day, let's get rightful to the business. What up, y'all?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I am your host Vegas and this is hip Hop
Now podcasting podcast specifically designed to keep you caught up
on all things hip hop, music and culture that happened
throughout the week. Big shout out to the subscribers first
and four almost in audio form. Whether you listen to
this podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcast, or wherever you
(01:07):
get your podcast listening, hope you enjoy the program. Thank
you for subscribing, don't forget to review on Apple Podcasts.
But also a big shout out to those who follow
the podcast subscribe to the podcast via YouTube. Yes it's
been a YouTube video for a long time. I know
there might be some audio listeners who are coming back
(01:28):
to say what you on YouTube? Yes, I'm on YouTube
because guess what you gotta be Okay, you have to
if you're going to continue to do this.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Retirement is somewhere around the corner. Yah. I ain't gonna lie.
I can't do this all the time.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
But the channel is nice and lively, so let's keep
it going. We were trying to get to I think
like fifteen k. We did that, so appreciate you. But
that is not the end of the goal. So let's
just keep going to see how far this goes. You
know what I'm saying. But speaking of content and reasons
(02:03):
to subscribe to this channel, if you're domb though, if
you're done though. Okay, we did a last week. We
did a special review of the clips new album Like
God Sort them out. Shout out to the homie AK
who came through to help me kind of break down
our thoughts, feelings, impressions about the album. And you know,
(02:27):
there was a lot to unpack because that's just what
the album was. So if you're curious about my thoughts
on that album, go check out that video. If you're like, man,
how long is it? I don't know if I can
watch all of that I feel you because I'm like that.
I'll just tell you like this, it is definitely in
my top five of the year. Easy, but check out
(02:51):
the video, support the content I'm saying, right, But now
it's a new week. So with that being said, shout
out to hip HOPDX dot com and Brosure for heads.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Complex.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Yeah sometimes I check out Complex too, and a couple
of places where I'm getting some of these stories from.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Let's get right into the business dots.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
So while the Clips were taking the hip hop internet
world by storm with their rollout, with the anticipation of
their album after fifteen years, let God sort them out
and meeting the hype around this album, just celebrating Clips
(03:39):
in hip hop, Drake was in the UK as usual,
trying to cause distractions. Not saying it can't be in
the UK doing the tour out, but what I am
saying or London in general, right, But what I am
saying is we saw him do this with Australia when
the Super Bowl thing was about to happen because that
(04:00):
was the focus in the US in hip hop, so
he wanted to seem unbothered and then ironically cut the
show short after the super Bowl had came and gone right,
didn't even fulfill the dates because it was all about
getting away, at least he thought getting away with his
(04:20):
smoke down Hoodio went the hood with the Bullet City.
So it kind of felt like, Okay, here go my
rival push a t who. You know, they not really
going back and forth, but Kendrick is featured on the album.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Kendrick is not really talking directly about Drake in his verse,
but here we go again.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Leading up to the Clips album, it was all about
this Iceman album and a video and a song what
did I Miss? And a show or tour in the
UK where you know, some of the stuff he was
doing was you know, pretty dope. But it was to
as a look at me. You know, I'm still alive, y'all,
(05:03):
still got the smoke hoodie with the smoke fuller os
coming out on me. You know, I'm still alive. So
in a lot of ways, he says this thing, and
I would hate to just think, oh, well, that's just
Drake's opinion, because since this battle, everything Drake says is
(05:25):
about acknowledging what happened. And I feel like, as a
fan of Drake right, all he does is make it
worse for when we have to hear from him, see
him a new record, because he goes out of his
way to remind us that he lost right in his actions.
(05:47):
He reminds us that he's not like us. It's just
not a hit record. He just reminds you of that
because he keeps rewinding back. And some would say, well, why, well,
how is this that?
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Right?
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Well, one, you're in the UK and you're saying and
he didn't just say better than the US, So let's
be clear. He said better than the US and even
Canada UK has the best rappers. Now that's almost like
admitting and not to say that's true, but admitting that
(06:23):
in the US they're definitely not feeling Drake in a
way we used to, right, and that could mean like,
you know, paching what's happening, what people are saying, what
the media is saying about him, maybe even thinking about
doing the show, but kind of feeling like maybe I
(06:43):
can or I don't want to do a show in
the US, and it just goes south, right, because the
US is more likely to be in a situation where
they're shouting, you know, not like us, and they then
bought a damn Drake ticket, and plus gn X is
still doing what it's doing as far as the tour,
So it just seemed like he was making a statement
(07:06):
just because of where he was, but also trying to
take a shot at his biggest critics is the US,
because we really have more of a problem with you
following a lawsuit for a battle. So now he's trying
to write the narrative and just say, well, the US
(07:29):
opinion is not as great as it was because they
don't even have the better rappers in the world.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
It's the UK.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Now, I took it two ways, right, pause, I guess
I took it two ways.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Right, Let's just keep it what we're talking about.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
On one hand, it's like, okay, if he's comparing rappers
of today and I don't mean Benny and Fredigate and
he ain't talking them about I don't think he's talking
about them. I think he's talking about commercially successful, popular
you know, the most popular rappers.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Saying UK's version of that, UK's.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
Version of well, not version they started drill, but drill
or trap or the style of rapping is better than
the guys in the US. That seems kind of weird,
but I'll get to it. Well, no, let me just
say that seems kind of weird to say because a
(08:35):
lot of his contemporaries who he messed with, We're not
just talking about the people who are against him.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
That's a slap in the face to a lot of
people from the US that he cool with, right, Like,
that's like saying, Okay, I'm cool with Yati, Right, UK
rappers are better than you. He's cool with twenty one Savage,
even though we know his paperwork says he is from
the UK, So maybe that's what he meant. But you
(09:03):
know what I mean, it's almost like, Okay, they're the
guys who you would like to say the UK is
better than, right, who are your rivals. But then there
are the guys who are from the US who you're
still cool with, and you're saying that they can match
up to these guys. Now, on the second hand, I
(09:27):
think he was just doing what he was doing, right.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
He was just trying to feel the love and get
the admiration of UK rappers because just like Australia, it's
a safe space. In America, we hostile over our hip hop,
so there could actually be no place he can go
without some form of harassment about you know, the battle
(09:54):
with Kendrick, and maybe that's bothering him in a lot
of ways, like he keeps trying to get back to
status but he can't. And again, some of it is
because of him. Some of it is like you're taking
a selfie and sharing it with the world with your ads, well,
so your call audience where you get your ads from. Like,
(10:15):
you know what I'm saying, You just keep doing things
to say Kendrick was right, right, and you do it
in spite of oh, he said my abs are fake boom,
check this out, even if they're real.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
At this point now people don't care.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
They don't know because they feel like you've been lying
to them about everything the whole time and it's not
just what Kendrick says. So I kind of looked at
this like, in one way, he's manipulating the artists and
the people over there in the UK that were at
that show who love him, you know, or or cool
(10:52):
with him, and then in another way, he's disrespecting the
people who he's cool with in the US and a
lot of and you know, I think that was his
whole thing about saying Canada, you know, because it was
more like of an opinion of like, nah, just on
some hip hop. You know, I just feel like y'all
the best. It just seems weird because I'm like, don't
you think you the best? You're from Canada? What I mean,
(11:15):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
It just was weird.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Now, the question before we move on is is it true?
Speaker 1 (11:24):
It is not, It's not true.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
It's tough to say because if we're talking about history,
the US is the blueprint for anybody outside of the US.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
It is the blueprint for what you do.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Now, every region that developed the sound, that sound that
was developed is their own, but there's a blueprint nineteen
seventy seven and all of that that was in the
Bronx New York City in general right started to spread
(12:04):
to the West Coast because West Coast rappers have been
on record. I've watched a ton of interviews where there
was a certain time where West Coast was more about
you know, funk and stuff like that. And you know,
sure there was a rapper too, And I'm not talking
about those that emerged like Iced Tea and all of that.
I'm talking about prior to that Iced t NWA, the
(12:28):
West Coast wasn't known to be on something like some
hip hop stuff that started on the East and it
spread everywhere, but every place has their own version of
it that is unique to them, that they own. Hip
Hop isn't only New York's, just like it's not only
belonging to the US. So to say another place has
(12:50):
the better rappers when the Foundations still live and kicking
West Coast, South New York, Philly, wherever we're talking about,
I need to see them receipts, okay, because that ain't true.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
It's just not.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
And we don't need this fool to start things. Now,
there was a little feels like It battle that's trying
to jump up and become a thing. After the Joey
Badass versus Everybody, Kendrick and Drake, now there are a
couple of UK rappers who trying to step out there
(13:26):
and challenge people and skeptic challenged join the lucas both
disc tracks were made, Please don't make anymore. And then
some other dudes this in Eminem. I think Eminem is
going to clearly ignore this cap I don't want to
see US versus UK.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
I don't care. I don't want to see.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
It because guess what we got more bullets in the
chamber than they do right join the Lucas is whatever.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
We got too many people to throw direction. You will
be overwhelmed.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Shout out to my people from UK, but some of
them don't even rock with some of this music coming
out of there, so it's just a non starter. And
look who started it, Drake. Let's not feed him all right,
Next story. So the next release in this rollout from
(14:27):
Massive Hill, remember seven albums from seven Icons. The first
album to be released was from the icon the Legend
Slick Rick, an album that I reviewed on this podcast
and didn't necessarily like that much. I didn't think excuse me,
I didn't think it was whack. I just felt like
(14:49):
it left a lot to be desired, considering the length
of the album, the length of some songs that were good,
having hel Records, two House records on there, and I
understood the story the connection with this album to the
UK and that inform and it yourselver and that informed
(15:13):
some of the choices, but it just didn't leave a
good taste in my mouth for a fan of Slick Wreck.
It was just kind of like lackluster for me. If
you dig it, that's cool, but I there was just
too many skips for me. You know, the songs that
I love, I really love, it just didn't happen enough
(15:34):
on that album. So now here we are in the
second release from Mass Appeal from another icon and legend,
Ray Kwon, with a brand new album called The Emperor's
New Clothes. Leave it up to either Ray or Ghost
just to have the Empress New Ghost.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
It's like flip it like marble cake, right, Like I
just love the way they just make things sound so
bigger than they probably actually are. This album's just dropped.
If you don't know. My review scale is three listens.
I just do it because it just works right. First listen,
(16:14):
I'm just impressions. Second listen, now I'm listening a little
closer to the lyrics, to the music, how everything ties together.
And my third listen is just to confirm my thoughts
and my thoughts just for those who need a quick answer,
is it's cool.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
It's a cool album.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
So the album has seventeen songs, probably three skits in there, right,
clocks in under an hour at forty minutes. You know
that's my kind of album, right, I don't have a
lot of time to spend with you, you know, unless I
really really like it. So many notable features from Griselda
to Inspected Deck, Carlton Fisk. I don't think I know
(16:57):
that is that's no shade. I just the name sounds familiar,
just didn't ring a bell. As far as music, Ghost.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Face and.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Method Man's on here, NASA's on here, Marsha and Brosia.
And when I was listening to this album, I was
thinking about a ranking of Ray Kwon's album that I
did almost a year ago. If not a year ago,
I'll leave the link or card, or there'll be a
link at the end of the episode, but there'll also
(17:27):
be a card that pops up.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
Or should have popped up.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
You should have already seen it in the beginning of
the show. But I was thinking about like Ray Kwon's catalog,
and I went back and watched my own video to
kind of get an idea of or refresh my memory
on his catalog, And for the most part, it was
what I thought. Most people think the only good albums
(17:55):
in Ray Kwon's catalog are only built for cuber links
and only bill for cuber links too, which is absolutely
not true. The majority of his catalog is good, too great,
and the Classic you know what I'm saying, There's really
only one album that's like Whack, which you know which
(18:17):
one it is, and Mobilarity, and then there's one that's okay,
but then the rest are mostly good.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
I feel like this is a good album. The vibe is.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
A legend like retired, you know, relaxing, enjoying life, you know,
sitting back and reflecting on not only his life but
his career, and that comes across in a number of
songs and in a lot of ways. Those tend to
be my favorite on this album because of who ray
Kuon is and what he's accomplished in his career and
(18:56):
in me as a fan looking at him at this stage,
you know what it's like.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
It's like.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Nas and Hip Boys Magic three, right when Nas turned
fifty and this album dropped. It was almost like a
boss celebrating his career and success and acknowledging this run
he's been on. And that was one of the main
reasons why I liked Magic three, because it made it
(19:24):
different from everything else he had released.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
And most rappers, you know, they'll.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Make mention of how long they've been in the game
and what they've done, but to have an album kind
of crafted with that in mind, that's the context you
need going in. So if you're looking for Cuba Link
Part three, it's not necessarily it.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
But if you've liked even his last.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Project before this, called The Wild, it's a lot more
like that and the other projects like Shylin versus Woo
and stuff like that, where he's he's you know, he's
just making records, you know, like Yo, I still love
hip hop, I'm still making records and this and that. Now,
(20:09):
there are a few things as far as the features
that I thought would stand out versus those that I
really didn't have any anticiy anticipation for, but they wind
up being the standouts.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
The thing.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Let me start with the bad news, right, and not
super bad. It's not super bad. It's just a.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Pet peeve kind of bad. Rapec not rapecor. Ghost faces
on this album three times.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
That got me hype because I mean, it's Ray, So
anytime it's Ray, we need ghosts on at least three tracks.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
Anytime it's Ghosts, we need Ray to show up for
a couple of tracks. Also, it's just they internally linked.
They're like the best unofficial group or duo one of
the best of all time. But the older Ghosts is
(21:02):
not whack at all.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
And I'm not saying his appearances are whack, but there's
something lost in the nostalgia when his voice sounds completely
different from what we remember. He's more gruff. He almost
sounds like he like when I see him. He doesn't
look like he gained a lot of weight or anything crazy,
(21:27):
but he kind of sounds like that. He sounds like
husky almost. You know, you know how Big has that
big pun. They had that hussy kind of gravelly, not gravelly,
but maybe raspy in some ways, but you could tell
it was their weight for the most part, like Sean P.
Like as Sean P got bigger, he sounded a certain way.
(21:48):
But it kind of worked for Sean Pe because it
wasn't that different from his voice when he debuted with
bou Can Play. But with Ghosts, it's noticeable, and you
know it's Ghosts and he's saying all the things he
usually say. He's rhyming the way he usually rhymes, so
it's still Ghosts. But there's something left to be desired
(22:12):
when it ain't Shonder.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
In the crib with the glass on the table. That's Ghosts.
That's the ghost we like. It's the same thing.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Like if West Side Guns voice changed and it was
a little bit more husky and gravelly. That ain't like
I'm sitting at the computer like, it's not the same.
He could say the same things, but it's not the same.
But that's just nitpicking. I think his performance overall was decent.
(22:43):
I really like his performance on the last track called
Mac and Lobster.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Of course that's what it was called Mac and Lobster.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
It's ghostly, right, you know, So I can't take points
off because Ghosts is just getting older. That's foul, you
know what I'm saying, because that's what I assume it is.
I assume he can't really do that high pitched voice
because he would probably have to fake it because this
is where his voice is at his age right now.
So it is what it is. But nevertheless, like I said,
(23:14):
performance was dope, meth came through. I didn't necessarily like
the beat that they were on, so I think it
took away from all of their performances in some way.
But still not a Wax song. The Griselda joint. I
need a Griselda. I need to not hear them separately,
(23:37):
like can we get another mixtape album? Conway, Benny Benny
and Westside Gunn because on this song it made me
miss that combination of those three having a verse and
ray Kun fit right in with them. It's one of
the standouts for me personally. But one of the things
(23:57):
that people are walking away with now is got Busy.
On this album, he got busy. The song is what
is it? Amerto Amerta, The Amerta.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
Ray Kwon did his thing, but this is kind of like.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
If you watch my review of the Clips, I like
NAS's verse on the Clips album, but I felt like,
flow wise, he was doing a particular flow that felt
like he was trying to fit in instead of just
doing NOAs he doing Nas on this jount Like how
I was saying in that other review, like yeah, sometimes
I just want chittooth Nas kind of getting that on
(24:38):
this album, and it's a standout record for sure. There's
a couple of skits on here, but they're a typical
random Ray Kwan. You know, let's do a skit about
this because some of it, I was like, maybe maybe
I didn't get it. Maybe the songs lined up in
a way for some of these skits, but like he
got a skit call barbershop bullies and it's just random.
(25:02):
Ray Kwon's just talking, right yo, stop moving your head.
That's I guess he's a barber. Right then if somebody
else screamed something in the back, like it just was random,
right then he had another joint officer full beard, which
was funny. But it's Ray Kuon getting pulled over and
(25:24):
all of that, and you know he a boss. So like,
if you are familiar with Wu Tang and especially Ray
Kwan and his music and his history of skits and songs,
all of this stuff makes sense. They don't really have
to tie into records. It's just it's a Rakon album,
Like what do you want?
Speaker 1 (25:43):
What do you want? You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
But again, I think listening to this album, if you
like ray Kon and you're not only looking for Cuban Links,
Purple tape, you know records or Rizard of be on
the boards, which he hasn't been in decades at this point,
and you understand that there've been good albums from Ray
(26:08):
Kwon and Goes for that matter, without Rizon on the boards,
then I think you would like this album because it's
a good album top five.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
For me this year. Not really, but that's not the
same thing bad about it.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
That's just saying the songs that are the albums right
now that I hold in the top five of the
year so far, I just don't think this album is
better than those, but I think it's good enough to
be mentioned as one of the best of the years.
So to me, Mass Appeals rollout of seven albums and
(26:44):
seven legends.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
Is one in one.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
The word on the street is that next up will
be ghost Face with Supreme Clientele two. At least that's
the rumor. So we'll see. But consider and what I
just said about Ghosts and my feelings. If it ain't
showing in.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
The glasshouse throwing on the rocks.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
Like I can't take the gruff version, man, it's not
gonna sound the same, especially being a sequel to his
best album and one of the best albums.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
In hip hop history, Supreme Clientele. But we'll see.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
What do you think about Ray Kon's brand new album,
The Emperor's New Clothes.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
The features Ray, the Beats, the Skits.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
Leave your comments in a comment section below, and lastly,
so we're gonna try to be as quick as possible
with this one, but an interesting thing popped up in
my timeline. Also wound up being in a group chat
I'm in on WhatsApp shout out to them, and it
(27:52):
compelled me considering. I saw it on social media, and
I saw the conversation around it, and then it becomes
a conversation in a private chat. I felt like, well,
that kind of says maybe I should address it. So
this is stemming from a tweet from and shout out
(28:14):
to Mickey Facts, who basically was reacting to a video
of the rapper Mirrors talking about kind of breaking down
hip hop and how we perceive writers MC's collaborating on
(28:35):
the record and how some people view that as whack
or ghostwriting and question them sees as to or basically
question a pen game, like if you wrap, you should
be able to do that by yourself, You should be
able to write that by yourself. You shouldn't need help.
(28:57):
And even though I'm not gonna play, Mickey Facts thoughts
on it. To sum up his thoughts, he believes co
writing is fine if you're going to try to make
a hit or you're trying to do a song outside
of what you typically do that has a goal of
(29:17):
radio play or or you know, popular success. But he
does feel like if you're an MC, anything like that
album cuts freestyles in a cipher that should come from
your opinion. So we're gonna play MRS talking about it,
and then I'll just give you my thoughts on what
(29:39):
he has to say.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
I had a ghostwriter on my newest single, games Shame.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
I don't understand why the only genre to criticize vocalists
for not being the authors of their material. Single from
a kind of name, bang saw that I was mentoring
and working with.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
Yeah, so I said in the songs like I don't
like my second verse, see what you could do? He
shot me back something else phenomenal. I took what I
needed and I'm giving him now. I really feel like
you needs to create a safe space for the writer. Okay.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
So so that was that was MURVS speaking from his
point of view about the subject, but also giving a
live example of himself now me personally as a hip
hop fan and as a guy who's dug a couple
of MURRS projects and really gave him a lot of
(30:39):
respect off his pen.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
Right.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
That's because there are artists who can make a catchy record,
and you like him for all the things in the record,
and then they are artists who make catchy records and
you you, you're more focused on the writing, so you're like, Yo,
this dude is dope, you know, coming up with these
ideas and the way he flipped that and a way
he said this. But I have to say, and maybe
(31:09):
this is the old school academy. I'm sorry, Maybe this
is the unk or whoever you whatever you want to say,
maybe it's the old head. But that coming from Murs
makes me feel more like you could have wrote that.
You could have wrote that you are capable of writing that.
(31:30):
You could have wrote that I and I think, like
even him laying out the fact that my new single
I was working on it, I really didn't like my
second verse. I gave it to a mentee and say,
let me see what you do with it. He gives
you some great ideas. You pulled from those great ideas,
and maybe you pulling lines as well from those ideas
(31:51):
to finish the song, and you properly so give him
co writer.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
And credit.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
Even in this conversation. Sure, I can agree with that,
but considering merge to me is not what you would
call someone who's aiming to be on the radio, who
is popular outside of the cats that do know him,
the fans that do know him.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
I think he's more of.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
A core fan based type rapper, where it's like he
got his core, that's it. And I don't know if
his core would agree with him, because at least the
notion is if somebody said, do you think Merz has
a ghostwriter or co writers? It'll be a quick note
on both if the man didn't just tell you on
(32:46):
this single, I had a co writer. So I think
it's two things right as an MC, as a guy
who came up in the nineties, where you know, writing
your own stuff was pasted, you had to everybody assumed
that was your pin when you spit your wraps, and
it better be. I never would have sought a co writer.
(33:11):
But as a professional recording artist, even if you're independent,
your role is not only to make great music, but
it is to make music that hopefully becomes popular and
puts money in your pocket.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
Doesn't matter what you do.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
An independent business not giving away stuff for free, even
though you would like to think.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
That, it's just not so.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
The same goals for being on a major so maybe
he wanted to make something that was better than what
he was thinking, and he just needed some ideas and help.
I don't think there's anything wrong with that, because as
an MC writer's block exist sometimes you don't have the
time to sit. Some people get right his block and
(33:55):
it ain't just Oh, it took me a couple of weeks, but.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Then I got it.
Speaker 2 (33:58):
Some people may have right this block on one record, and
that will hold the entire album up because they can't
finish the album until they get past that. And sometimes
you need someone else's ears to hear what you can hear,
to see what you can't see right, to say, oh, well,
(34:20):
why don't you do this? It's in hip hop. Unfortunately,
people frown upon even that even that much because they
feel like you're creative, you should come up with it.
But after you reach a certain point, especially when you're
in the business of creating for profit, you can't really
(34:41):
take those chances right because so many things can go wrong.
So tapping somebody for the sake of getting the idea
fleshed out or revigorating what you kind of initially thought
but couldn't get out your system. Sometimes somebody can just say, oh,
I listened, maybe you should do this if you said
(35:04):
something like this, They didn't write the whole song for you.
They co wrote, they helped, and it doesn't mean they
helped write the entire album. Doesn't mean they ghosts or
ghost writing the whole album. But I said all that
to say that I think that rule of you know
yo not having ghostwriters, it just kind of applies to
(35:27):
me to anybody who's really gonna talk ish about their pin.
You can't have ghostwriters if you're talking about your pen being.
Speaker 1 (35:35):
Great, you can't do that.
Speaker 2 (35:38):
Now you trying to make a hit record, and this
guy has been releasing music but can't get off.
Speaker 1 (35:45):
But he's a great writer.
Speaker 2 (35:46):
In your mind, it's okay to collaborate, to fine tune
your ideas. Right, not to say go write my whole
album and not come and recite it, but to say,
you know, let's creatives come together. And it's not uncommon
in hip hop. It's not a new thing. When the
rules existed, ghostwriters were writing in the background. That's why
(36:08):
they were ghostwriters because it was hip hop, and people
were like, don't tell anybody, tell anybody that such and
such help because hip hop not trying to hear that,
so his plea to move on. I feel it when
it comes to having co writers, nobody should look at
(36:31):
a co writer as a ghostwriter, or take any points
away from an artist who's probably written so many rhymes
in his lifetime that having a co writer on a song.
When this man is like fifty or whatever, it's okay
for him to have a co writer.
Speaker 1 (36:48):
Ghostwriting is something else. Again.
Speaker 2 (36:52):
I would like to think those who are dope and
known for their pen can even write hits themselves. But
if you have somebody go and write it all and
you just recite and like Merg said, vocalists, well, vocalists
in MC no, no, no, let's not do that.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
Let's not marry those two. Right. It's either your pin
or you just or maybe you are just a vocalist.
Speaker 2 (37:20):
But being a vocalist sometime and a dude who can
write it other times, it just seems weird. But again,
I don't make music for a living, and in the
record industry outside of hip hop, this is commonplace. So
is it time for hip hop to join the party?
Speaker 1 (37:41):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (37:42):
Let me know what you think in the comment section.
Do you think co writing is a form of ghost writing.
Do you agree with Mert said, like you need to
get out of that. You know, artists working together means
your pen isn't as great as we thought. Because you
need help. Leave your comments section wherever you can. On
(38:04):
YouTube that's right below the video that's gonna do for me.
You can follow me on social media at Vegas World
I n C and check out the podcasts and audio form.
Wherever you listen to podcasts, subscribe of course, and right
here on YouTube subscribe like comment, but most important to
share with people you know enjoy this kind of content.
(38:26):
Until next time, y'all. I'm not a critic, I'm a fan.
Speaker 1 (38:29):
Peace
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