It’s been a busy week in the world of hip-hop and R&B. Billboard Unfiltered returns on Thursday (August 8) with an episode featuring Drake’s 100 gig dump and Ye and Ty Dolla $ign’s Vulture 2 and Latto’s place in the pantheon of female rap.
Since the feud with Kendrick Lamar, Drake’s every move has been analyzed by fans. Deputy editorial director Damien Scott praised Drake’s smart decision to leak the three songs and archive footage, comparing it to something Ye would have done along the lines of GOOD Fridays.
“We know he’s a person who thinks not only about his career, but also about the entire market and the people he’s playing against,” Scott said. “I think it’s extremely novel. It’s really creative. The biggest compliment I can give is that it feels like something Ye would have done when he was so successful. Back when he was doing the GOOD Friday releases.”
But he still believes the Lamar feud weighed on him in making this move. “I think it’s not crazy to think, ‘Okay, let me calm down for a minute.'”
However, editor Kyle Denis believes Drake is nervous about how his next single will be received and found a loophole to test that. “I do think it’s py-y,” he explained. “Because I think these three songs are all you’ve released versus three songs plus 10 hours of archive footage. If you believed in this new stuff, why are we reminiscing at the same time?”
On Vulture 2the panel agrees that the original version of the project didn’t feel complete and fans rightly wanted more from Ye and Ty. “It feels like Ye doesn’t care. If Ye doesn’t care, why should we care?” asks Scott.
Senior chart and data analyst Trevor Anderson is surprised that none of the tracks managed to top the Billboard Hot 100.
“Wherever you want to start after 2015, Vulture 1 “Carnival” are the outliers… I think that was more of a surprise to people,” he said. “This feels a little subpar – I’m surprised there’s no song jump… Everything since College Dropout has been No. 1, you don’t want to make too much of it, but when you look at the record books you think, ‘Oh, this is where the drop really happened.'”
Given Kanye’s excellent discography, Associate Director of Hip-Hop/R&B Carl Lamarre is frustrated, knowing what Ye can do when it comes to Version 2‘s final product.
“I still believe in him to this day — maybe you could put Kendrick in the same category where he released five consecutive classic albums. Knowing what he accomplished creatively and how he took a slump like that and didn’t give a damn? One of my favorite songs is ‘530,’ and I saw glimpses of it, but then it went downhill in the last part,” Lamar said. “So it’s hard for me to write it off and say, ‘It’s completely over.'”
After a first listening test, Denis has high hopes for Lattos Sugar-honey iced tea album and believes it could put her in the top 3 in female rap alongside Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B and Nicki Minaj.
“One of those (big three) spots is a little shaky right now for obvious reasons. This album – I think it’s better than any other female rap album we’ve had this year. I stand by that. I’m very happy with this album.”
Watch the full episode below.
