Rap Against The Machine

Welcome to 52nd 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….

Front Seat

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

In 2024, I didn’t publish this newsletter as often but I did manage a weekly playlist (Jay’s Plays) where I rotated 10 or so new songs every Friday. In some ways, so closely monitoring the rap scene utilizing a DSP allowed me to discover a certain pulse when it comes to rap. That’ll be the subject of a newsletter next month; I’m gonna publish two in December, my annual Hip-Hop Award Season recap and also a piece specifically on my experience with my playlist and what I learned from it. By not publishing as much this year, however, maybe I was able to take a broader look at what was happening with hip-hop. It was a transformative time. There’s a bucking back against the system. And those hitting the hardest are being rewarded the most.

Back Seat

Respect my mind or die from lead shower.

PRIOR TO THE DOMINANCE of the steaming era, there was a time when the ecosystem of hip-hop consumption was bifurcated. There was the up and up operation that was retail orientated by way of cassette, CD and vinyl purchases. That system was run by the major label massive. And then there was the mixtape landscape that flourished via TDK tapes, CD-R’s and eventually USB sticks. That system was governed by the streets. Regardless of the physical manifestation of the music, the important dividing aspect between the two was the spirit of the music. Album music included bangers and legacy building records, but also singles that were designed to garner new fans. The mixtape music, on the other hand, was unadulterated (sample clearances be damned and beware of crudeness) and designed to speak directly to rap’s core constituency.  

There’s an intimacy in the latter approach, as Fab 5 Freddy wrote in the foreword for “Do Remember! The Golden Era of NYC Hip-Hop Mixtapes”:

I’ve been thinking a lot about that paragraph (and the excellent book it comes from) when I look back at how hip-hop moved this year. Without question, the Drake/Kendrick battle defined 2024 and with that K.Dot made himself the frontrunner for MVP. But until Kendrick’s surprise drop of GNX, Tyler, The Creator was making a run at the top spot himself with the chart success of his CHROMAKOPIA LP. 

Rather than pit anyone’s music against the other, instead what strikes me as so similar is the approach they—along with Drake and J.Cole—took in releasing new material. 

It was decidedly…selfish. 

Each of them made decisions that would allow their music to connect with their own fans as best as they saw fit and not as constituted by their recording contracts. 

The Inexact Science Of Ranking Rappers

Tyler was, perhaps, the most radical, by simply refusing to drop an album on a Friday. 

Fridays became the standard release day in order to better align global markets as a means to limit online piracy. From a business standpoint it made sense to change things from a rolling schedule (RIP to 10am or whenever The Wall opened its doors). But from a cultural standpoint, Tyler argued, it was short sighted: the daily and weekly zeitgeist are mitigated by a time (midnight) and day/s (Saturday and Sunday) that aren’t conducive to the participation of the material. 

As Tyler noted previously in an interview with Narduar (via FTW b/w Kurrco) : “People on the weekends, they just want to chill and hang out. So they’re not really listening. But I think if you put it out during the week, man. That commute to work or that commute to school or, just, whatever that is, you really have that hour or thirty minutes to dive in and really listen.

And: “People are sleep on the east coast and people are going to sleep on the west. I think it coming out in the morning would just make more sense.” 

So, Tyler said fuck that and announced on a Friday that his album would arrive on Monday—at 6am ET.

(Kendrick’s new album was released this past Friday but it arrived around noon rather than midnight.)

The Big 3 chose different reasons to alternatively release their music. 

During the battle, the dis tracks and replies often hit IG or YouTube first before landing on DSPs (if they even made it onto Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, etc.). 

The strategy behind these moves were usually done either for speed or because the use of copyrighted material (Al Green’s uncleared music on “6:16 in LA” or the unauthorized use of 2Pac’s likeness on “Taylor Made Freestyle”)

However, a lot of what Tyler said and what Freddy wrote is appears if you look closer. 

By going to social platforms first, artists dropped their talking point off right where the conversation was already happening (on Twitter or in Instagram and YouTube comment sections). 

And there was a discrete element to it all: you were getting the product straight from the connect. 

The middle men (who Drake formally took aim at after everyone informally tee’d off on them in 2024; my thoughts, here.) are having an interesting go of it. 

The three majors all had layoffs this year. Tidal, too. Spotify got out of the podcast business while making it seem like they’re still in the podcast business. Over at Apple Music, according to multiple sources, one playlist curator got into a spot with one of the Big 3’s exec team over their social media championing for a different member of the Big 3 and the aftermath wasn’t as smooth as a Dr Dre mix. 

Is The Drake Era Over?

These things are not mutually exclusive. 

Rap music served as an elixir to DSPs, putting it in a favored class. The metabolism of hip-hop turbocharged the algorithms. Business was booming and the genre grew as a result. 

Then, other genres caught up and Daniel Ek started routinely touting feeding the streamer as a means for success (no other streamer leader says that part aloud, which, likely is the reason Drake took aim only at the Green Dot). If I had to guess, a lack of transparency over data is a point of contention too. I’m sure Tyler wanted to know why labels continue to stand on Friday and why DSP’s are set on midnight ET as their preferred hour.

The pairing of rap and DSPs was historical and continues to be, even if it sometimes makes for strange bedfellows: mixtapes, for example, died on streaming’s watch and the replacement, “projects,” didn’t carry the laissez-faire attitude of its predecessor and its resemblance to albums with its barcode but without its quality did little to help the next generation of stars (we’ll get into that next month).

We’re ending the year by witnessing DTC become the new mixtape (again). And BTC (business to consumer by way of artists as the entity) feels like it’s becoming the new independent. That leaves the corporate Big 3 of UMG, Sony Music and WMG to ponder the best use of their services. 

Are they like that?

Trunk (Music)

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

As is his wont, Kendrick Lamar shook up the culture again, this time with a surprise album, GNX,  that’s still a concept project (although maybe lowercase c instead of big, important capital C concept), inspired by works of his youth and the coast of the west. Personal favs: “wacced out murals” and “tv off.”  [Listen]

Another surprise LP that recently hit the streams was Freddie Gibbs’ You Only Die 1nce, the sequel to his 2017 project. This collection is a tight 12-song set that features the Indiana rapper at the peak of his flow. Check out “Cosmo Freestyle” and “Rabbit Island.” [Listen]

There’s a lot to like about Ab-Soul’s Soul Burger, but the sequencing ain’t one. Start with track 6 and “I, Myself and Irene” featuring Doechi and then hit shuffle after that. [Listen]

Kash Doll’s 2023 Gangsta Grillz album, Back on Dexter, was one of my favorite LP’s of the year. She’s back, this time with a more introspective collection, The Last Doll. Still, she pops off on “Pressin’” where she’s joined by Tee Grizzley. I could go for an EP with those two. [Listen]

I think somewhere inside Cordae’s The Crossroads bloated tracklist is a really good album. Still, the 17-cut collection is worth a listen as is. He’s a good writer; still a work in process as an editor. [Listen]. 

Maxo Kreem and BigXThePlug both dropped some heat on their respective albums, Personification and Take Care. They crossed paths on the former’s LP via “Smokey” produced by Hit-Boy. Have a listen. [Listen]

Speaking of sequencing, Westside Gunn has a knack for it. Peep what he did on Still Praying.  [Listen]

Ken Carson’s “delusional” is wild kinetic. Press play. [Listen]

Young Nudy and Pi’erre Bourne reunited for Sli’merre 2 and they hooked me from the start. “Come To My World” gets it going but “10pc Teriyaki” and “Save Myself” keep it going. [Listen]

Can’t say I know what Real Boston Richey’s trajectory could be, but he got one for sure with DDG on “What U Bad For.” [Listen]

Aforementioned Drake legal action toward UMG and Spotify. [Info]

I wrote about the Shyne documentary for Variety. [Info]

Grammy noms. I don’t think Q got snubbed, but I would swap out Eminem for Latto, GloRilla or even Kenny Mason [Info]

GQ’s Men of the Year editorial package features a great Q&A with Future and Metro. It’s still in print, but should be online over here soon. [Read]

There was a lot of chatter on the socials recently when De La Soul (oddly) rebuked a book centered around De La. It wasn’t a straight up bio, though, which they mistakenly believed it was. The book is more of a memoir hybrid inspired by the trio via Marcus Moore. To celebrate/support Marcus, here’s a dope piece he wrote on Tyler’s album production. [Read]

I really enjoyed this Charles Holmes piece on Kendrick’s album and the provocative notion that he made a Drake album. [Read]

J.Cole and his manger Ib are podding and it’s fascinating to hear.  [Listen]

Three hours plus of 8Ball & MJG stories? Yes, please. [Listen]

Denzel Curry pushed out his King Of The Mischievous South LP; it’s basically a deluxe of his King Of The Mischievous South 2 mixtape that he dropped earlier this year. The Florida rapper has been on a run of consistency that's impressive; if you haven’t checked for him like that, now is the time. He has a real heater on his hand with “Still In The Paint” feat. Bktherula and Lazer Dim 700. The vid captures his energy and he even snagged a Waka cameo for the “Hard In the Paint” homage.  [Watch]

GloRilla has had herself a huge year and is capping it off with one of the best videos of her career in “I Luv Her”. [Watch]

Gunna is nothing if not resilient and  the“HIM ALL ALONG” visual is more proof. [Watch]

Kudos to NCB for nabbing Mach-Hommy for an Idea Generation sitdown ahead of his big NYC show tonight. [Watch]

And kudos to my man 50 grand, The Kid Mero, who got the big dog treatment via Boardroom. [Watch]

Shyne did mad press in promotion of his doc and no interview was better than his sitdown with the My Expert Opinion team.  [Watch]

Backseat Freestyle is written and produced by me, Jayson Rodriguez, independently for 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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