21 Questions And They're All About Rap

Welcome to 54th issue of Backseat Freestyle. This is my weekly hip-hop newsletter I send out every Friday(ish) focusing on one big thing that happened over the past seven days. I also include links (15-25 of them) to what I’ve been listening to, reading and watching. You can check out the archive, here, and read more about me, here. If you’re already a BF subscriber, thank you for your continued support. If you’re arriving to this issue by way of a forward, LinkedIn or social media, please subscribe below. And please share this newsletter with your circle so that they can enjoy it, too; personal referrals go a long way toward my goals for growth. With that said, let’s get into it….

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Front Seat

This is what’s driving hip-hop this week….

I like the predictions business. It’s a fun and interesting way to get into the minds of smart people. The accuracy isn’t as important to me as is seeing the mills of a mind turning. Getting a glance of what pieces of info someone is gravitating toward to make a proclamation can be fascinating. In 2023 and 2021, I reached out to execs across the music and media business to pick their brains. I think both posts are still helpful to read. This time, however, I wanted to do something different. Especially after last year, when we witnessed a historic battle, the emergence of generational talent and there was so much activity from the legends. So, I got some questions that I got to ask. I won’t play 50 and expect answers, but I did turn on the comments for this post if y’all want to have a discussion. You gotta love it.

Back Seat

Respect my mind or die from lead shower.

1. Who’s Gonna Pay For Music Videos? Historically, like a good dinner meeting, labels have footed the bill for music videos. Then things reached a point where the tab was covered by a consortium of, well, interested partners: record companies, plus brands who placed products in the visuals or, in the case of “Hotline Bling,” a sponsorship (Apple Music). These days, however, with the steady need to post BTS across a variety of platforms in addition to the want to make music videos, who benefits the most from being financially invested in a visual for a song? And would that party ever take over for record companies in becoming the debtor?

2. Is It Harder Than Ever To Be A Star But Easier Than Before To Make A Hit?

3. How Much Juice Does Radio Still Have? People need curators. And people need the 411. So there’s value in the FM dial (or whatever is your app of choice.) Maybe with touring changes, radio shows will become a bigger draw again and we’ll see more top tier talent on those stages? At the very least, in New York, Summer Jam will be very interesting this year. Speaking of touring changes…

4. Will The Future Of Touring Be Less Stops, Higher Prices And More Acts On The Same Bill? 

5. Could Def Jam And Island Records [Re]Merge? (How about Epic and Alamo?) Def Jam and Island’s market share now each register under Republic after UMG’s east coast/west coast reorg, so for revenue purposes, this argument is null. However, in terms of operations and strategy, Island is riding a hot hand these days and Def Jam is still implementing it’s new plan under Tunji Balogun, who was appointed CEO in 2022 but just last year publicly announced his vision in an interview with Billboard (emphasis in the quote is mine): “I want Def Jam to be the destination for the next generation of global Black music.” You can see the outline of his goal via an artist like Adekunle Gold, especially his collab with Pharrell and Nile Rodgers, "Falling Up.” There was a time, however, when the two labels—Def Jam and Island—were joined at the hip under L.A. Reid…and it’s not that hard to imagine it happening again: one of Island’s co-CEO’s, Imran Majid, does have experience signing hip-hop acts (Lil Tjay and Russ). Will the clock start ticking this year on this Def Jam regime? (As far as Epic, the currently have a global star in the making on their hands with Tyla, but the rest of their young roster is in various states of development. And Travis Scott and Future were brought in under Reid not current label head Sylvia Rhone. Could Alamo chief Todd Moscowitz take the reins of a combined operation once Rhone’s contract is up? Or will someone else front a music group that rolls up Epic, Alamo and Arista? Full disclosure: my wife works at Sony but is not involved in the day-to-day domestic operations of any one label.)

6. What’s Next For Live Streaming? Amazon seems to be all in with their programming on Prime and Twitch, hosting several hip-hop festivals (Dreamville, Lil Weezyana and The Roots Picnic) with an assortment of hosts including Wayno, Mouse Jones, Loren LoRosa (she was excellent in her debut and is becoming a force on TBC) and Amber Grimes, among others. YouTube too, in a carefully curated way, has skin in the game, although their marketing of said efforts doesn’t seem to indicate it’s a priority for them. Is Netflix next to jump in the fray after the big Beyonce blowout? Is livestreaming even financially feasible considering there’s not a VOD option afterward in many cases?

7. Will Rap Catalog Purchases Bear Fruit This Year? Are we gonna see Wayne’s Rebirth album turned into a stage play? Is “Mask Off” gonna soundtrack the next “Mad Max” reboot?

8. What Area Will Generative AI Impact Hip-Hop? Fresh vocals from Beanie Sigel have been teased. Metro used it for “BBL Drizzy.” But is there another area that’s ripe for disruption beyond one-off use? 

9. When Will Ethiopia Habtemariam Return? I could just call her to get this answer and she’ll probably call me if she reads this (Hi, E!) But I’m headlining her (and a public-facing return) to illustrate a larger point: With layoffs across all three majors in 2024, there’s a lot of label executives floating in the wind with specialized expertise that can be harnessed in specific ways, i.e. former Roc Nation co-president Shari Bryant and her company as marketing guns for hire. Or, theree’s radio promo vets who know regional markets well and could shed their reps as merely pluggers (not my view) and set up shop as talent brokers or managers. I’m curious if we’ll see more services companies or businesses that resemble JV’s in spirit if not in deal structure? Potential abounds. 

10. What’s Drake’s Next Album Gonna Sound Like? Same goes for Chance The Rapper.

11. Is Travis Scott Too Big To Fail? “4X4” soft launched on WWE and officially launched during the college football championship but even with all that muscle the track isn’t even top 25 on the Spotify US chart nor top 20 on YouTube’s music trends chart. Is superstardom reached when one can drop mid and the behavior around it performs like a hit? And will Travis’s spiritual godfather, Ye, be able to worm his way back to prominence despite all the reasons he shouldn’t garner any attention?

12. How Will Hip-Hop Podcasts Evolve? We’re seeing less interview shows (likely a result of rapper’s ability to go live on IG when they want) in favor of more talk formats. Yet the formula still often remains two or three guys or a male legend who feels compelled to join the medium. When it works it’s still compelling. The Bigger Picture gained traction during the Drake and Kendrick battle and remained as interesting post clash of the titans. But the Kid N Play podcast is aimless. 

13. Is The Post Streaming Era Closer Than We Think? J.Cole and Mick Jenkins are just two artists who in the last year went direct-to-consumer with bonus material (and more, in Cole’s case) and a concept project, respectively. Cole’s use in particular is interesting, because in just one digital space he’s housing music, a podcast, and now a blog after also using the same destination for a livestream concert. That’s a lot of data collection for him to sift through. 

14. Is The Opium Takeover Actually Gonna Happen In 2025?

15. Is Creator Culture Benefiting Music Or Is Music Benefiting Creator Culture? In media, what makes for good journalism to a paying audience doesn’t necessarily equate with what makes for good content on social media. That tension has exacerbated the crisis in journalism to the point where hot takes have just about wholly consumed reporting. The former greases the advertising mill ex platform while the latter is expensive with only modest returns, if any, on platform. I say this, because it feels like TikTok has become ad hoc music marketing strategy at this point. And precisely what gets marketed…the song or the challenge? Is it really both? Or is it neither, because the algo is the actual winner? And if Tiktok is cooked in the U.S. is Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts where the attention goes or is the diplomatic episode over the app a chance to double back to a decentralized promotional system not reliant on one tool?

16. Will Indie Label And Distributor Deal Structures Impact Major Label Contracts? This is a bit insider baseball, but the way labels sign artists is changing as a result of the way fans listen and consume music. 

17. Where Does Hip-Hop Live On TV? There’s Lifetime biopics, scripted fare like The Get Down and Hulu’s Wu-Tang: An American Saga and tangential programming like Atlanta, Dave and maybe Empire. But on the non-scripted tip, I can’t think of anything beyond Netflix’s Rhythm + Flow right now. From personal experience, I know this is tough terrain beyond the occasional documentary. I worked on a Yo! MTV Raps reboot in 2016. In 2023 I was an EP and the showrunner for The Breakfast Club on BET. The former never got off the ground (a later edition did via Paramount+) and the latter didn’t make it past the first season. So this isn’t a recent thing. But I can’t imagine a network this year won’t try to aggregate Kai Cenat hangs into a weekly series. 

18. Can Music Producer Splits And Payouts Be Simplified?

19. Is There Another Global Sound Set To Break? Afrobeats and musica urbana (both catch-all terms) were the sounds that delivered Burna Boy and Bad Bunny to stateside audiences. Will a new sound emerge from a different territory? Or, will more domestic operations instead seek out international tunes ala Def Jam (see no. 5 on this list) and Republic (Anitta)?

20. Is It Just A Matter Of Time Before DSP’s Prioritize Algorithmic Genre Playlists Over Human Curated Ones?

21. What Is The Hip-Hop Journalism Debate About? Does hip-hop journalism even exist anymore? Is “hip-hop media” a sufficient umbrella descriptor for the current content ecosystem that includes IG pages, podcast hosts, streamers, YouTube shows plus online outlets and legacy magazine operations? Am I still a hip-hop journalist?

Trunk (Music)

Music, news, reads, podcasts and videos that I’m checking for this week.

Central Cee’s arrival was so imminent it nearly dulled the official release of his debut album, Can’t Rush Greatness. To wit: the London rapper has been a staple on RapCaviar since his 2022 breakout “Dojo” and his 2023 collaborative EP with Santan Dave signaled the UK had taken shore in the states. Still, Cee is a rap rookie without a proper album and the coronation that comes with that. It was worth the wait: “No Introduction” sets the table with a spark, “Up North” is some heady inner-monologue and “Ten” featuring Skepta is microphone melting. [Listen] Related: UK’s finest, CC and 21 Savage, connect for “GBP.” [Watch]

Boldly James has already released two albums *this year*, Murder During Drug Traffic, and Permanent Ink. Both are ill. I’d listen to the second one first, though. [Listen] [Listen]

It’s hard to believe it’s already been over six years since Mac Miller passed away and his latest release, Balloonerism, is the rappers’ second posthumous album. It’s a remarkable time capsule of the ascent the Pittsburgh native was on prior to his death. “5 Dollar Pony Rides” is the standout but “Do You Have A Destination?” and “Funny Papers” are sketches of where he was heading with his sound. [Listen] Related: There’s a companion film on Prime Video. [Watch]

Lil Baby’s WHAM is perhaps best viewed as a return to form for the Atlanta rapper, although his last LP (2022’s It’s Only Me) was hardly a disappointment. His rise was electrifying (as is the case for most new talents) yet he plateaued when the formula remained the same for too long. However, records like “I Promise” and “By Myself” offer peaks at an emerging depth. [Listen] Related: Baby said another new album from him will be arriving next month. Also, he graces a digital Complex cover. And, he reeled in Juelz Santana for the cameo in his “99” vid with Future.[Info][Read] [Watch]

Busta Rhymes’ EP Dragon Season…The Awakening finds the rowdy rapper on top of his game. [Listen]

Why does Apple Music love radio so much? [Info]

Rest in peace to DJ Unk, who passed away due to a heart attack. He was just 43. [Info]

And RIP to the great Barry Michael Cooper, who coined the term New Jack Swing and was a pioneering writer for the Village Voice and also a screenwriter. He passed away at 66. [Info]

How G3’s “Tweaker” became the year’s first rap hit. [Read] Related: the video is here (and dope he has his brothers in it with him) and in an interview with Speedy Morman, Gelo had some words for Cam’ron. [Watch] [Watch]

Pretty insightful piece on Kai Cenat and his climb to success. [Read] Related: Cenat’s article was the cover of Billboard’s Power 100 issue, which is an interesting package this year as the industry seams to be somewhere between a crossroad and an inflection point. Related: I’d also read about Fanum in GQ if you’re reading about Cenat; the latter was a part of the former’s crew at the onset of their careers. Though it’s worth noting both pieces only mention in passing that streaming is overly male, that’s something that should be sussed out more in each article since there’s something to be said of the audiences that powered the two guys to fame. [Read] [Read]

Cabbages does a short overview the traits of the hip-hop podcast ecosystem, giving props to Big Facts and shots at a couple others. [Read]

Questlove (and shouts to Joseph Patel) is a busy man these days. He recently premiered his Sly Stone documentary at Sundance and his homage to SNL’s music history in the form of a doc is now available to watch on Peacock. Naima Cochrane caught up with The Roots drummer to talk all things Black genius. [Read]

Journalist Marcus Moore was on the receiving end of backlash from De La Soul after he inadvertently rankled the group with his latest book, a mix of memoir and homage to the Long Island luminaries. Moore’s peers came to his defense overwhelmingly on social media. Here, he speaks with RS’s Brian Hiatt about the whole ordeal. [Listen]

EST Gee stopped by The Breakfast Club for an all-encompassing talk about his new album, I Ain’t Feeling You. [Watch] [Listen]

Speaking of rankle, Joey Badass jump started 2025 with some in-your-face rhymes in a pair of twin videos with hopes of putting the spotlight back on himself and the Big Apple. I’m all for “The Ruler’s Back” and “Sorry Not Sorry.” Others? Not so much. [Watch] [Watch]

Morray shows up with force on “F.T.A.” It’s a dope record with urgency behind it. I get the tie in to the song title with the prison visuals but feels like there was another route he could have taken things creatively instead. [Watch]

All eyes are on Playboy Carti and the eagerness for his I Am Music album to arrive. But you’d be blind if you were paying any attention to him and not Latto in this visual for the “Blick Sum” remix. [Watch]

There’s countless arresting images in Travis Scott’s “4X4” vid but what they add up to is beyond me. [Watch]

If BossMan Dlow releases something, I’m gonna press play. I suggest you do, too. Here, he links with French Montana in Miami for the pair’s “Mo Chicken” collaboration from the Dlow Curry album. [Watch]

I didn’t give much love to Ice Cube in my Hip-Hop Award Season issue when I touched on the vets, but “Rollin’ At Twilight” from his Man Down release last year was a solid play and in this clip he also breaks off a short excerpt of “Let’s Get Money Together” with B-Real literally riding shotgun. [Watch]

This video is fucking dope. It’s what counts as austere in hip-hop, but the mild flexing is fly and the restraint only makes things the touch cooler. Oh yeah, it’s Larry June’s “Bad Choices” featuring 2 Chainz (he snapped!) and produced by The Alchemist. [Watch]

Open Mike Eagle delivers an earnest soliloquy on “the legacy of MF DOOM four years after his passing.” [Watch]

Ok, so 9th Wonder went absolutely ham on Mass Appeal’s Rhythm Roulette. It’s a masterclass on beatmaking. And, now I have to make sure I see him DJ in person this year. [Watch]

Backseat Freestyle is written and produced by me, Jayson Rodriguez, independently via my company, Smarty Art. If you have any comments, feedback or questions, feel free to email me: [email protected]. If you would like to discuss sponsoring an issue of the newsletter, contact: [email protected] and check out the rates, here. And follow me elsewhere:

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Podcast: I’m gonna introduce the podcast element within the newsletter very soon to serve the Backseat Freestyle subscribers first; TBD if I ultimately go wider wherever you listen to podcasts.