What Makes A Star In Rap Today?

Welcome to 44th issue of Backseat Freestyle. This is my weekly hip-hop newsletter I send out every Friday (I really thought I was pressing send on Friday but forgot about the Little Mermaid movie, which I had to take my kid to see; highly recommend!) focusing on one big thing that happened over the past seven days. I also include links (15-25 of them [today you get 30!]) 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 are my best path to long-term growth. With that said, let’s get into it….

Front Seat

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

THERE WAS A TIME IN 2021 while I was working on The Bridge podcast when I looked up various artist’s Spotify monthly listener totals to gauge the difference in popularity between rappers on the platform. To set my control, I used Lil Tecca. At the time, I think, he was close to The Kid Laroi in monthly listenership, so it seemed like a good idea to use him, considering Kid Laroi had a breakout hit in “Stay.” In the latest issue of Billboard, Tecca made the magazine’s 21 Under 21 list, as did Kid Laroi, and in the copy it listed their total streams which had Tecca up 4.4 billion to 3.1 billion, respectively. Tecca even has more Instagram followers, at 4.6 million to the Australian pop star’s 4 million. But it feels like TKL is treated like a star in the pop world whereas Tecca is viewed more like he’s still on the come up on the rap side. Why is that? Well, as hip-hop continues to grow, it’s also continuing to splinter into different audiences and there’s just not a unified measurement to stardom. Street bangers still matter, but classic albums probably don’t anymore; streaming numbers are important as are social metrics, but both sets of numbers vary from platform to platform. It’s like we’re in the barbershop multi-verse!

Back Seat

Respect my mind or die from lead shower.

IF YOU’VE FOLLOWED MY NEWSLETTER FOR A WHILE, then you know I have an upwardly positive view of hip-hop. In particular I like to say there’s more talent today than at any time in rap history. To make my point, I’ll note that the 25th best rapper right now is better than the 25th best rapper at any other moment. Hip-hop has a strength in its numbers; in other words, the roster is deep. But is it top heavy? In the past, the culture has been led by all-time greats in any era, from Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five and The Funky Four + 1 to Rakim and Big Daddy Kane to the current day likes of Drake, Future, J.Cole, Kendrick Lamar and Nicki Minaj. As our 2023 top dogs near their 40s, though, the next crop of acts are rising but how bright are those young stars burning?

There’s younger stars in every sense of the word in rap, who are in their thirties, including Travis Scott, Cardi B, 21 Savage and Tyler, The Creator.

But for the sake of this newsletter, I’m talking about under-30 talent: Lil Baby, Megan Thee Stallion, Big Latto, Polo G, Flo Milli, Roddy Ricch, Lil Yatchy, NBA YoungBoy and Jack Harlow. There’s also Playboi Carti, Yeat, 2Rare, Big Boss Vette, among others. Again, the bench is deep.

During the streaming age (and with the addition of TikTok to the proceedings), the popularity of a song can change in trajectory in such a short period of time. Overnight, as the saying goes. These days, however, it seems like it’s becoming harder and harder for artist’s to chase a song that’s gotten bigger than them. Conversely, it’s also become harder and harder for an artist to overcome a shortfall (or a brick, as the saying goes.)

I wanted to argue that Lil Baby is the last artist who crossed that threshold into stardom where he became bulletproof. He’s coming off a number one album last year, It’s Only Me, which, to me, was a solid project, however, it received mixed reviews. And it’s been relatively quiet for Baby even though he’s actively in his album cycle. Fans all but counted out Roddy Ricch after his sophomore album, Live Life Fast, failed to match the success of his debut, Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial. (For what it’s worth,“I Remember,” produced by Internet Money and featuring Roddy, is my favorite song of the year, so far.) And even after her Grammy nominations and proven ability to spit, every time Megan drops a new project it’s like a referendum on her abilities.

And those three have certified hits to their name.

It’s even harder out here for a burgeoning star.

Coi Leray has “Better Days,” “Twinnem,” “No More Parties,” “Blick Blick” and “Players.” She’s clearly the it-girl right now with a dynamic presence. And yet, I’ve had conversations with people who say they like her but where’s the music? Or I’ll read comments online saying she’s just a clout chasing, social media act. Huh?

I have a theory on why this is happening. It’s the sign of growth in our culture. For so long, hip-hop had a unity to it as its rise was tied to a togetherness. An us-versus-them mentality. We collectively rallied around Uncle Luke when he was on trial. We collectively rooted for Dr. Dre and Death Row post NWA’s fallout. Then we collectively mourned for 2Pac and Biggie. And we collectively cheered for Jay-Z when he performed “Izzo” and invited everybody to join him onstage at the BET Awards.

That was a time when rap media was dominated by The Source, Vibe and XXL. Classic albums were the currency dujour in those pages. And Hot 97 freestyles cemented stardom in tandem.

Now, of course, rap is less reliant on lyricism (let alone media cosigns). Vibes, moods and tones rule the day. And because of the power of DSPs, there’s an incessant need to feed the streamer, which makes the value of a single track (in constant bursts) more appetizing to the algorithm than an LP.

That’s why there’s no rush for someone like Ice Spice to bring an album to the marketplace. She has over 35 million monthly listeners on Spotify by way of EPs and guest spots. And she just got buddy-buddy with Taylor Swift. By comparison, Lil Durk, who has a song of the year contender in “All My Life,” has almost 28 monthly listeners on the platform. This is after dropping one of the year’s most highly-anticipated albums. And the Durk of it all, which I get into below in the Trunk section, is there’s an expectation for him to become who he collaborates with (ie Drake and Cole) and that’s just not his M.O. And it seems to be working out just fine.

Now, traditional indicators will always matter, of course. GloRilla is platinum in the ‘hood after “Tomorrow 2” and “F.N.F.” I even had her in my MVP consideration last year via BF’s Hip-Hop Award Season 2022. I don’t know if some of her contemporaries, man or woman, have two early career heaters like she does. Still, she’s lagging behind in Spotify listenership at 4.7 monthly listeners. That ranks her closer to Destroy Loney (4 million) than Big Latto (12 million). And Lone was the subject of a lot of chatter among the Our Generation Music set after his most recent album debuted on the Billboard 200 at number 18 (with nearly 30,000 in sales) and fans were debating whether he had usurped Carti in the Opium hierarchy.

Functionally, the participation of consumption has changed considerably (Carl Chery made a good point about this on an episode of The RapCaviar Podcast when talking about Yeat and how his 11 million monthly listeners are made up of less people who are listening more compared to other artists and fanbases), which means the rules have to be adjusted just the same.

So what makes a star today? A hundred different things, both big and small in meaning. And although there’s not a hundred different stars on the horizon, all those acts I’ve mentioned (and more) have a chance at big-time stardom.

Trunk (Music)

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

Lil Durk is a good collaborator, willing to adapt his own style to benefit the sum of its parts nature of a tag-teamed effort. See Drake’s “Laugh Now Cry Later” or his and J.Cole’s “All My Life.” But, by and large, that’s not who Durk is as an artist. He continues to display growth from album to album (“Pelle Coat,” “Same Side” and “Sad Songs” are excellent) but it’s more incremental than explosive. Still, he’s getting closer and closer and Almost Healed is Durk as his best: malleable, menacing and momentary. [Listen] Related: Durk’s cool visual for “Therapy Session/Pelle Coat.” And he covered the recent issue of XXL. [Watch] [Read]

I love the KATRAMINE team-up between Kaytranada and Amine and “4EVA” is an early summer favorite for me. [Listen] Related: I tend to not link to Zane Lowe interviews often because they’re zzzz but the pair didn’t do much press and I wanted to share their perspective. [Watch]

Maybe it’s because NBA Youngboy gets tagged with the workhorse label so much that we don’t acknowledge the work ethic of Kodak Black? Both have their legal issues, which sit them down often and perhaps they own their prowess to house arrest as much as their relentlessness. Here, Yak is back with PIstolz & Pearlz, an album full of the tension between his actions and highlighted by “Church on Saturday.” [Listen]

I’ve given a lot of real estate in my newsletter to the idea of New York Drill finding their next star to carry the scene. Maybe too much space toward the idea that one artist can replace what Pop Smoke was, although Fivio Foreign’s proper debut was a game effort. The reality is that it’s going to take a constellation of acts to recreate Pop’s stardom. Next up is DD Osama, who’s debut, Here 2 Stay, has a handful of highs but suffers a lot from the inconsistencies of a developing artist (he’s still a teen and it’s been less than a year since his brother Notti Osama’s murder) and bad sequencing. “Better Days” and “Upnow” shine brightest.  [Listen]

Lola Brooke and Cleotrapa hop on Liana Banks' breezy kiss-off, “Petty,” with some bars that are anything but sweet. [Listen]

Cordae wins an Emmy and now we have an EGOT watch happening. [Info] Related: My man’s and em, Erik Parer and Kelly G also won an Emmy for their Bubby Wallace doc. [Info]

Quavo announced in an IG Live that his next solo album would be titled Rocket Power and dedicated to Takeoff. [Info]. Related: Offset covers Variety, where he revealed a Takeoff tat on his back and his plans for his next project. [Read]

Coi Leray got game, as she partners with the WNBA. [Info]

Mass Appeal has game too, as they announced a Hip-Hop 50 event set to take place this August in Yankee Stadium [Info] Related: Tobe Nwigwe taps Nas for “On My Soul.”[Listen]

NBA YoungBoy takes aim at many in this scorching XXL interview. [Read] Related: His new track, “Bitch Let’s Do This,” does the same. [Watch]

Elle magazine taps Karol G for the cover of its Music Issue. [Read] Related: Anitta covers the Freedom issue of Harper’s Bazaar. [Read].

If you wanna know who Killer Mike is these days, at nearly 50, then read this NYT profile; he drinks green juice, waxes about his therapist and cries.[Read]

Bronx princess Ice Spice recounts her rise and creative relationship with RiotUSA in this Billboard cover story, plus she teases the deluxe of her Like…? project ahead of her proper debut album. [Read]

Conway The Machine talks about building his own label, the upcoming side B of his recently-released album, Won’t He Do It, and being known for more than just punchlines. [Read] Related: Speaking of punchlines, though, he got a lot of them in this Funk Flex freestyle. [Watch]

Key Glock opens up about grieving Young Dolph. [Read] Related: Key Glock’s Glockoma 2 is out now and “Work” is the latest single from the project. [Watch]

Self-promo: I got tapped by Apple Music to script and write the N.Y. State of Mind episode of their Hip-Hop DNA series, where I was tasked with drawing a line from A$AP Rocky to Rakim. It’s one of the more interesting Hip-Hop 50 projects. Have at it. [Listen] Related: The What?! podcast tries to nail down the most important hip-hop song of all time, and I was one of the folks they asked for their take. [Listen]

The Dissect podcast is riveting on some seasons and less so on others, which I find inspiring in the way Cole goes for it; the DAMN. season made me listen to that album differently. This new season, dedicated to Lyrical Masters, is more anthology in nature, where each episode is one song similar to most seasons, however it’s not tied together to a season arc. It’s worth a try. [Listen]

Former TV host and journalist Dee Barnes sits down with NPR to revisit her career and talk in depth on the 50th anniversary of hip-hop. [Listen] Related: Rollingstone’s Andre Gee with an essay about rapper’s ugly penchant for making Tiina Turner’s abuse a punchline. [Read]

I like the zone (zone, zone, zone) Swizz Beatz is in with his recent EP, Hip-Hop 50, Vol. 2, which follows the Preemo-produced Vol 1. as a part of the Mass Appeal Records series of projects. Here’s the visual for “Take Em Out,” the Onyx-sampling banger that features Jadakiss, Benny The Butcher and newcomer Scar Lip. [Watch] Related: Scar Lip recruited Snoop Dogg to hop on the remix to her breakout, This Is New York.” She was also a guest on Way Up With Yee. [Watch] [Watch]

Every so often on Twitter, I’ll dream up rapper/producer collabs I wanna see, mostly featuring older beatsmiths and younger rappers. Juicy J is a name that comes up often and he teams with GloRilla on “Lick Or Sum,”  where he takes the reins and re-interpretes Tear Da Club Up Thug’s “Slob on My Knob” into a flip for the opposite sex. More, please. [Watch]

My favorite song and video out right now, Symba’s “Top G.” [Watch]

Another great video, Moneybagg Yo’s “Ocean Spray,” which is pretty standard as a song but good execution and a visual that has a distinct feel for the subject matter. Well done. Looking forward to Bagg’s new album arriving later this year. [Watch]

Nicki Minaj doing her best Busta Rhymes/Ludacriss impersonation as a roving collaborator, while she drops one-off records here and there is pretty exciting. I know she’s building up interest for an album, but I’d take her just being super active versus an album right now/this year. “Red Ruby Da Sleeze” is a dope record. [Watch] [Related: She killed the “Pound Town 2” remix. [Listen]

They may be uncoupled or unconventional as a couple, but Diddy and Yung Miami on wax? They go together. Check them out, along with Fabolous on “Act Bad.” [Watch]

I went to Puerto Rico in September to see Myke Towers in concert and the experience was eye-opening. He has tons of cool kids at his shows and the boy be spitting with all his might. He’s sort of the Boricua J.Cole. Here he gets busy on Tainy’s “obstaculo.” [Watch]

And I also just got back from P.R. last week to see Eladio Carrion perform at his inaugural Sauce Boyz Fest. He brought out Myke Towers, but also collaborators like Lil Wayne, Fivio Foreign and Wiz Khalifa was one of the openers. He’s the bridge between the island and the states, case in point, his latest video, “Si Salimos” featuring a verse from 50 Cent. [Watch] Related: Amazon Latin’s HH50 offering, “Hip-Hop x Siempre.” [Watch]

I fux with Big Boss Vette heavy; where she’s at now reminds me of Big Latto maybe two or three years ago. She let loose her latest, “Ion Need.” [Watch]

Gifted Gab comes correct with her latest video, “Real Assist.”[Watch] Related: her partner in rhyme, Blimes Brixton, just released a remix pack.[Listen] I met the both of them a few years back when they appeared on a show I hosted, Live at Vevo; we had a ball that day. [Watch]

Angela Yee’s had some nice bookings lately on Way Up With Yee, including this interview with LL Cool J. [Watch]

ESPN’s Andscape put out a mini doc giving credit to the 2003 NBA All-Star game for helping to put ATL on the hip-hop map. I don’t know about that, but that certainly was the year when the A leapfrogged NY and LA. I think the event did more to revive the city’s nightlife on the regional level following Ray Lewis’ arrest at Super Bowl XXXIV versus lifting its hip-hop profile. [Watch]

Backseat Freestyle is written and produced by me, Jayson Rodriguez, 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: holler@ smartyartllc.com and check out the rates, here. And follow me elsewhere:

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