Hip-Hop
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Megan Thee Stallion and RM are collaborating on new music.
The 29-year-old Houston rapper announced through social media Sunday (Sept. 1) that she’s teaming up with the BTS star on the new song “Neva Play.” The collab drops on Friday, Sept. 6, and can be pre-saved on streaming services here.
“NEVA PLAY WITH RM OUT FRIDAY HOTTIES X ARMY #MEGJOON,” Megan captioned a promo drawing on Instagram of herself sporting blue hair and flashing cash while RM casually looks over his shoulder.
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She further teased in the post, “ps. This is one of my favorite RM verses I’ve heard! I’ve never heard him rap in this style before.”
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“Screaming!!!!!!!,” Halsey, who collaborated with BTS on “Boy With Luv” in 2019, wrote in the comments.
The “Hiss” rapper hinted at a new duet on X (formerly Twitter) earlier in the week, when she simply tweeted a pointed string of emojis: “🐎X💜 👀.” The cryptic post got lots of fans fired up, with some immediately guessing that the purple heart signified BTS’ involvement. The following day, BTS’ account confirmed the news of a team-up: “🐎X🦔(🐨),” the K-pop band wrote, retweeting her original post. “Coming Soon! 💜👀.”
The news arrives about two months after Megan Thee Stallion released her third album, Megan, which debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200. Meanwhile, BTS’ full-band activities have been on pause as the members fulfill their mandatory military obligations in South Korea, with some of the boys dropping solo projects in the meantime.
“Neva Play” won’t be the first time Meg has worked with members of BTS. In 2021, she jumped on the remix to the boy band’s Billboard Hot 100-topping single “Butter,” which they all performed together at BTS’ concert in Los Angeles that November.
“I love BTS, and I was telling my manager, ‘I really want to do a song with BTS, I don’t know what I can do or what we’re going to do,’” she recalled to Entertainment Tonight the following February. “Around that the same time, they wound up reaching out to me and asking me to do the ‘Butter’ remix. So, I was like, ‘Oh my God.’”
See Megan Thee Stallion’s post about her RM collab on Instagram below.
The hip-hop community is paying tribute to New York rapper Fatman Scoop, who has died at the age of 53.
Musicians like Missy Elliott, Questlove, Ludacris and Ciara are mourning the loss of the Grammy-winning hype man — whose real name is Isaac Freeman III — after he collapsed during a concert in Connecticut on Friday night (Aug. 30). The rapper’s family announced his passing the following morning on social media. A cause of death was not provided.
Elliott, who collaborated with Freeman on her 2005 hit “Lose Control,” took to X (formerly Twitter) to honor him.
“Prayers for Fatman Scoop family for STRENGTH during this difficult time,” Missy wrote. “Fatman Scoop VOICE & energy have contributed to MANY songs that made the people feel HAPPY & want to dance for over 2 decades. Your IMPACT is HUGE & will be NEVER be forgotten.”
“Lose Control,” which also featured Ciara, peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song’s video earned a Grammy Award in 2006 for best short form music video, and the track received a Grammy nod that year for best rap song.
Ciara also honored the late musician on social media. “Rest Easy at @FatmanScoop! You were truly one of the best voices in hip-hop! I’m so glad I got to experience your greatness! We will all miss you greatly,” the singer wrote alongside a video of Freeman on X.
Questlove shared a lengthy tribute on Instagram, writing, “I want to thank Fatman Scoop for being an embodiment of what hip hop was truly about. To just forget about your troubles and live in the moment and allow joy in.”
The Roots drummer’s dedication was “on behalf” of a list of groups, including “everyone who procreates after a celebratory night in the club,” “all human beings whose hands have the ability to raise up” and “EVERY DJ who needed to spike the punch with adrenaline music to make the energy INSTANTLY rise from a 3 to a way past spinal tap 11.”
Ludacris noted on Instagram that “Scoop was one of those people that reminded you what the word LOVE Truly means. It’s an ACTION, and with his ACTIONS he exuded the PUREST form of Passion For HIP HOP. Every human being that he came Into contact with felt that LOVE & that PASSION. THIS is the Type Of LEGACY WE should ALL continue from here on until ETERNITY.”
DJ D-Nice remembered Freeman, writing on Instagram, “he was always kind to me. This is a major loss for the culture. My condolences to all of his loved ones.”
On Friday, Freeman was performing at Town Center Park in Hamden, Conn., where he appeared to have suffered a medical emergency, according to TMZ. Fan-captured video on X showed the him collapsing mid-performance. After medical personnel performed chest compressions behind a DJ booth, Freeman was then transferred to a local hospital. His death was announced the following morning.
“It is with profound sadness and very heavy hearts that we share news of the passing of the legendary and iconic Fatman Scoop,” his family wrote on Instagram. “Last night, the world lost a radiant soul, a beacon of light on the stage and in life.”
Freeman gained prominence with his 1999 club favorite “Be Faithful,” featuring the Crooklyn Clan. His other musical accomplishments include a feature on Mariah Carey’s 2005 song “It’s Like That,” which reached No. 16 on the Hot 100. Over the years, he would appear on tracks by Skrillex (“Recess”), David Guetta (“Love Is Back”) and Ciara (“Level Up” remix), among many others.
Fatman Scoop has died after collapsing during a concert in Connecticut on Friday night (Aug. 30). He was 53.
The New York rapper, whose real name is Isaac Freeman III, was performing at Town Center Park in Hamden, Conn., where he appeared to have suffered a medical emergency, according to TMZ. Fan-captured video on X (formerly Twitter) showed the legendary hip-hop hype man and radio personality collapsing mid-performance. After medical personnel performed chest compressions on Freeman behind the DJ booth, the artist was then transferred to a local hospital.
Freeman’s passing was confirmed Saturday morning (Aug. 31) in a post from his family on Instagram. A specific cause of death was not provided.
“It is with profound sadness and very heavy hearts that we share news of the passing of the legendary and iconic Fatman Scoop,” the heartfelt message begins. “Last night, the world lost a radiant soul, a beacon of light on the stage and in life.”
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The post continued, “Fatman Scoop was known to the world as the undisputed voice of the club. His music made us dance and embrace life with positivity. His joy was infectious and the generosity he extended to all will be deeply missed but never forgotten.”
Freeman’s tour manager Bryan “DJ Pure Cold” Michael also shared the sad news on social media.
“I am honestly lost for words,” Michael wrote on Instagram. “You took me all over the world and had me performing alongside you on some of the biggest and greatest stages on this planet, the things you taught me have truely made me the man I am today.”
Freeman gained prominence with his 1999 club favorite “Be Faithful,” featuring the Crooklyn Clan. He also appeared on Missy Elliott’s 2005 hit “Lose Control,” alongside Ciara. The song peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and its video earned a Grammy Award in 2006 for best short form music video. The track also earned a Grammy nomination for best rap song.
Freeman’s other accomplishments include a feature on Mariah Carey’s 2005 song “It’s Like That,” which reached No. 16 on the Hot 100. Over the years, he would appear on tracks by Skrillex (“Recess”), David Guetta (“Love Is Back”) and Ciara (“Level Up” remix), among many others.
When Nico Baran was 10, he discovered the popular digital audio workstation FL Studio during a class presentation and started making dance tracks. “That helped me build up my skills for making loops,” says Baran, who soon transitioned to R&B and trap productions.
Seven years later, in 2020, the Houston-born, Madrid-based producer started DM’ing loops to members of the producer collective and record label Internet Money. One member, oktanner, played the beats for CEO Taz Taylor, who brought Baran onto the team that year. Taylor asked Baran to send him ideas ahead of his session with The Kid LAROI, which led to Baran scoring his first major placement on LAROI’s debut mixtape, F*ck Love, co-writing and co-producing “Tragic” featuring YoungBoy Never Broke Again.
He has since compiled a genre-spanning résumé — and an impressive original loop library, which he often shares as sounds on TikTok — producing songs for rappers like Lil Tecca, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie and Shy Glizzy, as well as Latin artists like Bad Bunny with Young Miko, Eladio Carrión and Fuerza Regida. In June, when Baran posted a now-viral snippet titled “Love Is Gone” — a moody instrumental that has since amassed 1.8 million TikTok plays and 4.3 million official on-demand global streams, according to Luminate — Drake caught wind of the hype. “He reached out to me through Instagram,” Baran says. “I’m still sending him stuff to this day.”
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Wallace Joseph, SVP of A&R at Warner Chappell Music, calls the producer a “genius,” saying his talent is “purely natural. What he’s doing is next level; whether he’s playing keyboards, producing, or anything else, everything he touches goes viral.”
Ahead, Baran is hoping to make time for his own music as well, saying he “definitely” wants to release an album of his own — “kind of like Metro Boomin and DJ Khaled,” he says, “where I can bring artists into my own sound.”
¥$ (with Lil Wayne), “Lifestyle”
Last November, Baran wrote, “POV: Ty Dolla $ign & Kanye need beats for their next album,” over a TikTok featuring one of his loops. In December, when Ye previewed “Lifestyle” during an Instagram Live filmed at a private Las Vegas party teasing Vultures 2 (despite Vultures 1 not having dropped), Baran noticed a familiar beat: The song sampled “Love Is Gone.” As Baran recalls, “People were sending me screen recordings through Instagram like, ‘Kanye sampled you!’ ” One of the song’s producers, Australian duo FNZ, had sent Ty “Love Is Gone.” Baran says, “He liked it a lot. He showed it to Kanye, and Kanye loved it. It still feels unbelievable.”
Ice Spice & Central Cee, “Did It First”
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In 2023, songwriter-producer Lily Kaplan sent Baran a Dropbox link and asked him to tinker with her vocal tracks. He built a loop around one of them by chopping up the line “Baby, do you understand?” and adding synths before sending it to RIOTUSA, Ice Spice’s go-to producer. RIOT ultimately used it for Ice and Central Cee’s “Did It First,” one of the buzzier singles from her debut album, Y2K!, that dropped in July. “Ice Spice really loved that one loop, and it kind of went crazy,” says Baran of the track, which hit No. 10 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.
The Kid LAROI, TBA
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Four years after “Tragic,” one of LAROI’s producers reached out to Baran about sampling a loop that he had posted on TikTok to use on a track from the Australian artist’s forthcoming second album. (His debut, The First Time, arrived last November.) “That’s mainly what I’m focusing on right now,” Baran reveals. “I’m sending a lot of ideas to LAROI’s producers. Aside from that one song, hopefully more [will] come about.”
A version of this article originally appeared in the August 31, 2024 issue of Billboard.
When André 3000 released his debut solo album, New Blue Sun, in November, hip-hop die-hards were understandably upset: The set spanned 88 minutes, showcased flute-playing in a new age and jazz paradigm and included zero words.
At 49 now, André 3000 suggested that topics like getting a colonoscopy and checking his eyesight didn’t fit into hip-hop subject matter. “Sometimes it feels inauthentic for me to rap,” he told GQ at the time of the album’s release, “because I don’t have anything to talk about in that way.”
Less than a month later, Lil Wayne, 41, said on Young Money Radio that he was “depressed” to hear 3Stacks’ comments because he has “everything to talk about.” Pusha T, 47, agreed, telling Idea Generation in live-event footage uploaded in December, “It is kind of stifling to the genre to even think like that. As long as you live in hip-hop in all capacities and as long as you’re still sharp with that pen, you got something to say. We want to hear it.”
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Ironically, the chatter about rappers reaching an expiration date occurred at the end of a yearlong celebration of hip-hop’s cultural longevity. In 2023, genre pioneers including DJ Kool Herc, Kurtis Blow and Roxanne Shanté were honored with a celebratory Hip Hop 50 Live event at New York’s Yankee Stadium. Meanwhile, icon-heavy arena tours kicked off, including Masters of the Mic: Hip-Hop 50 Tour (featuring Big Daddy Kane and Doug E. Fresh, among others), and LL COOL J’s F.O.R.C.E. Live outing (featuring Queen Latifah, Rakim and more).
That attitude has continued well into hip-hop’s 51st year, with sold-out shows and buzz-worthy albums released decades into artists’ careers. “It’s been interesting to watch rappers get older and redefine what’s acceptable and possible in hip-hop,” says Carl Chery, creative director and head of urban music at Spotify. “Rap has historically been perceived to be a young man’s game, but we’re now seeing rappers have critical and commercial success [into] their 40s.”
In July, Eminem released his long-teased concept album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce), led by the top 10 Hot 100 hit “Houdini.” Its debut atop the Billboard 200 ended Taylor Swift’s record-breaking streak at No. 1 with The Tortured Poets Department. That same week, Common released his Pete Rock-produced The Auditorium Vol. 1, and in August, Rakim dropped his first album in 15 years with G.O.D.’s Network (Reb7rth) while Killer Mike delivered Songs for Sinners and Saints. Still ahead, LL COOL J will return with his first album in 11 years with The FORCE, due Sept. 6, and Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre have teased their joint album, Missionary, fresh off a performance at the Summer Olympics’ closing ceremony in Los Angeles. Will Smith has even returned to music with his first Christian/gospel single, “You Can Make It,” featuring Fridayy and Sunday Service Choir, which they debuted at the 2024 BET Awards in June.
How, then, are these rappers staying active while entering their fourth or fifth decades? Common believes it’s a matter of understanding the difference between “legacy” and “veteran.” “Sometimes when I hear ‘legacy,’ it makes me think that people don’t view you as still present in it,” he says, “that you are still creating music that is palatable and viable for the times. To me, it’s an honorable way of saying, ‘Man, you had a good run.’ ”
Meanwhile, being a veteran, he says, not only alludes but gives respect to the length of time an artist has sustained. “They have experience and some time in the art form,” he says — which is something Common felt was missing when he was starting out, as hip-hop was still a relatively new commercial art form. But now, at 52, he believes there is victory in having a passion that burns strong enough to want to keep writing raps.
“When we were coming up, we didn’t have any examples of people in their 40s and 50s making music,” he observes. “In my 20s, I was thinking, ‘Man, how am I going to make it in my 30s? Who is going to listen? I have to hurry up and make this happen.’ And now, in my early 50s, I’m like, ‘Wow, it’s a new life to this.’ ”
Chery says he’s been paying special attention to Eminem and Ye, both of whom have managed to appeal to a Gen Z audience. “Granted, Ye and Em have a unique appeal, but I wonder how many artists will be able to change their audience moving forward,” he says. “I’ve always been envious of how young rock listeners take pride in knowing Black Sabbath or Led Zeppelin. They’re students. A lot of younger rap listeners are dismissive of older music.” (Upon the release of Common’s The Auditorium Vol. 1, Grammy Award-winning producer 9th Wonder proposed on X that “adult contemporary hip-hop needs its own category” at the awards show; during this year’s ceremony, Killer Mike swept the rap categories.)
While Common is less concerned with how the music he makes today is perceived, there is one thing he knows he wants: longevity. He admires the arc of many jazz musicians’ careers, recalling seeing pianist Ahmad Jamal, who died in 2023 at 92, play in Chicago; as Common says, Jamal “played until he left the planet.” He says the same of drummer Roy Haynes, who is 99 — and whom Common saw perform just a few years ago.
“If André 3000 decided to rap about a colonoscopy, he’s going to make it dope as hell,” Common asserts, “because this dude rapped about going to Whole Foods and made a whole story out of that.”
This story will appear in the Aug. 31, 2024, issue of Billboard.
A$AP Rocky dropped his eagerly-awaited single “Tailor Swif” early Friday (Aug. 30) on streaming platforms.
The track, which first surfaced as a leak after Rocky’s live performance at Rolling Loud Portugal in July 2022, has sparked plenty of conversation, especially with its nod to Taylor Swift.
Rocky initially performed the song under the name “Wetty,” and after it leaked online, fans clamored for an official release.
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Though the rapper was initially hesitant about including leaked tracks on his upcoming album Don’t Be Dumb, he ultimately decided to give fans what they wanted. Rocky took to social media on Thursday (Aug. 29) to announce the release, cheekily writing, “SINCE U DUMMIES LEAKED IT ALREADY,” and sharing a snippet of the music video, which was shot in Ukraine.
While describing the project for his Billboard cover story, Rocky said he’s continuing his exploration of German expressionism.
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“In this very moment, it’s very grim. That’s an abbreviation,” he said. “It’s infusing German expressionism with ghetto futurism.”
The track’s title has drawn reactions from fans, particularly Swifties, who have mixed feelings about the playful reference to the “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” singer. Despite the reception, the release of “Tailor Swif” has only heightened anticipation for Don’t Be Dumb, which Rocky has pushed back to the fall.
“Tailor Swif” follows Rocky’s August single “Highjack,” which debuted at No. 89 on the Billboard Hot 100.. With Don’t Be Dumb on the horizon, Rocky’s upcoming album is shaping up to be a major statement, both musically and visually.
Stream A$AP Rocky’s “Tailor Swif” below.
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To celebrate the 10th anniversary of his mixtape Days Before Rodeo, Houston-born rapper Travis Scott has dropped a special edition titled Days Before Rodeo – Live from Atlanta: Chopped & Screwed – Vault 1 & 2.
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The limited-edition release, available exclusively on shop.travisscott.com, features previously unheard snippets from the Days Before Rodeo era and a full live set from Scott’s recent anniversary performance in Atlanta. Alongside the music, vinyl bundles, exclusive merchandise, and other limited-edition items are also available.
Released in 2014, Days Before Rodeo was Scott’s second mixtape, setting the stage for his debut album Rodeo in 2015.
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The mixtape featured standout tracks like “Mamacita,” featuring Rich Homie Quan and Young Thug, and “Don’t Play,” featuring Big Sean and The 1975. The tracks, along with production from Metro Boomin, Lex Luger, and Travis Scott himself, introduced a moody, atmospheric style that has since become a hallmark of the trap genre.
The release comes following following Scott dropping the music video for “Drugs You Should Try It” more than a decade after its original 2014 release.
La Flame released the trippy “Drugs You Should Try It” visual on Aug. 18 after DBR came to streaming services on Aug. 23. The clip kicks off with an homage to Virgil Abloh, who designed the neon-lit smoking cowboy sign that makes an appearance. Scott starts free-falling into a pool of despair and allows his mind to drift into the depths of his conscious.
Scott’s chart success includes his sophomore album Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight, which topped the Billboard 200, and the Astroworld album, which spent three weeks at No. 1. His hit single “Sicko Mode” became a staple on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 1, while his collaborations with artists like Drake and Young Thug have secured multiple top 10 hits
A court-ordered auction of Damon Dash’s one-third stake in Jay-Z’s Roc-A-Fella Records has been postponed for at least three weeks, court documents show, and the minimum price for the sale will be more than doubled to help cover Dash’s massive unpaid tax and child support debts.
The auction – in which the U.S. Marshals Service will sell off Dash’s 33.3% interest in the storied record company – had been set to be held Thursday. But in an order Tuesday, a federal judge granted a motion to extend the deadline for the event to Sept. 21.
The delay will give more time to sort out who will get paid first from the proceeds. The auction was originally intended to pay off an $823,000 judgment against Dash won by movie producer Josh Webber in a civil lawsuit over a failed film partnership. But New York City has jumped into the case to demand more than $193,000 in unpaid child support, and New York state later claimed that the auction must also help pay down more than $8.7 million Dash owes in back taxes.
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In a court filing on Monday, Webber’s attorney Chris Brown alerted the judge that he had reached an agreement with New York City and New York state to sort out a pecking order for the proceeds, but he also asked to push back the auction; it was that request that was granted by the judge on Tuesday.
Under the agreement, the minimum bid for Dash’s stake will be increased from $1.2 million to $3 million. New York City will get first dibs at that money, taking at least $193,000 to cover the money Dash owes in child support. That will be followed by $1.7 million going to the state to cover part of the massive tax bill, followed by the original $823,000 in legal damages owed to Webber. After other civil litigants are paid smaller sums, the remainder of the tax bill – roughly $7 million – will be paid to New York state. If anything is left, it will go to Dash himself.
Other issues remain to be ironed out. New York City is still seeking an additional deposit of nearly $70,000 more from Dash to cover ongoing child support payments in the future, and wants any payouts from the auction paused until a judge decides the issue. Brown has opposed that motion, and a hearing before the judge to decide the issue is set for next month.
Dash himself was not involved in the deal. In court filings, his attorney Natraj Bhushan said his client was “not privy to these discussions, had no input on the same, and disagrees with the priority given.” In a statement to Billboard on Wednesday, he said the pecking order had yet to be finalized.
“We look forward to upcoming court conference so that all interested parties can be heard and the court can decide who gets what, and in what priority from the forthcoming public auction,” Bhushan said.
Brown declined to comment on Wednesday. Attorneys for New York City and New York state did not immediately return requests for comment.
Whenever it happens, the auction will be for Dash’s stake in Roc-A-Fella Inc., an entity whose primary asset is Jay-Z’s iconic debut album Reasonable Doubt. The rest of the catalog of music released by Roc-A-Fella, which dissolved as an active label in 2013, isn’t involved.
The owners of the other two-thirds of Roc-A-Fella — label cofounders Jay-Z (Shawn Carter) and Kareem “Biggs” Burke — have already attempted to stop the auction, including making changes to the company’s bylaws and intervening in the lawsuit. But a federal judge rejected such opposition in February.
Though the auction’s minimum bid has now been increased, it’s entirely unclear how much a potential buyer is going to be willing to spend on Dash’s one-third stake.
The royalties from Reasonable Doubt would likely provide them a revenue stream; since its 1996 release, Reasonable Doubt has racked up 2.2 million equivalent album units in the U.S., according to Luminate, including 21,500 units so far this year. But the eventual buyer also would be a minority owner in a company controlled by hostile partners, with little ability to perform typical due diligence on the asset they’re about to purchase. And Roc-A-Fella’s rights to Reasonable Doubt will potentially expire in 2031 thanks to copyright law’s termination right, which would allow Jay-Z himself to reclaim full control.
A federal judge has ordered convicted pharma executive Martin Shkreli to hand over his copies of Wu-Tang Clan’s Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, rejecting his claims that he had a right to retain duplicates of the one-of-a-kind album even after he forfeited it to federal prosecutors.
Following a hearing Friday in Manhattan federal court, Judge Pamela K. Chen granted a preliminary injunction to PleasrDAO — a digital art collective that bought the album in 2021 after Shkreli was forced to forfeit it as part of his criminal case.
In addition to extending previous restrictions barring him from sharing the album, the judge ruled that Shkreli must hand over “all recordings of the Album’s contents that Defendant possesses or controls” to his own attorneys. He has until Friday to file written confirmation that he’s done so.
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By granting the motion, Judge Chen rejected Shkreli’s arguments about the copies. In court filings last month, his lawyers argued that making private copies had been legal when he owned the rare album — and that he had not been required to turn those copies over to prosecutors when he handed over the famous original CD.
Pleasr sued Shkreli in June over the potential leak of the album, accusing him of violating both their purchase agreement and the federal forfeiture order. They also accused him of violating federal trade secrets law, which protects valuable proprietary information from misappropriation.
Wu-Tang’s fabled album was recorded in secret and published just once, on a CD secured in an engraved nickel and silver box. Though the group intended the bizarre trappings as a protest against the commodification of music, Shaolin later became the ultimate commodity. In 2015, Shkreli — soon to become infamous as the man who intentionally spiked the price of crucial AIDS medications — bought it at auction for $2 million.
When it was initially sold, Shaolin came with much-discussed stipulations — namely, that the one-of-a-kind album could not be released to the general public until 2103. But Shkreli’s lawyers say the deal granted him the right to “duplicate or replicate the work for private use.”
After Shkreli was convicted of securities fraud in 2017, he forfeited the album to federal prosecutors to help pay his multi-million dollar restitution sentence. Pleasr then bought the album from the government in 2021 for $4 million, and in 2024 acquired the copyrights and other rights to the album for another $750,000.
Pleasr, which has recently been attempting to monetize the album, sued Shkreli on the grounds that had been threatening to release the album publicly and destroy the exclusivity that the company had purchased.
In a statement following Friday’s ruling, Pleasr’s attorney, Steven Cooper of the law firm Reed Smith, called the ruling “an important victory” for his client: “We are pleased that Judge Chen recognized that immediate relief was necessary to thwart the continuing bad acts of Mr. Shrkeli.”
An attorney for Shkreli did not immediately return a request for comment.
Following Friday’s ruling, the injunction against Shkreli will be in place until a final ruling is reached at the end of the case. Barring a settlement, the lawsuit will now proceed to full litigation – including discovery, dueling motions from each side, and an eventual jury trial.
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Dr. Umar Johnson is known for his strong opinions and ability to both enlighten and infuriate those who choose to debate with him. In a recent appearance on a popular podcast, Dr. Umar Johnson shared his thoughts on Hip-Hop and how he feels the music and culture have not helped the wider Black community.
Dr. Umar Johnson was a guest on the Hustle Over Everything with host Alex Whitfield, and the pair got into a spirited conversation regarding Hip-Hop that has since gone viral. In the chat, Johnson asserts that Hip-Hop music has “betrayed Black America” after fellow guest Mouse Jones locked horns with the famed Pan-African psychologist and educator.
Jones asked Johnson if he felt that Hip-Hop as a culture or the industry where it thrives was what sparked his harsh critiques. Johnson stated that the culture and industry are both responsible for what he framed as a betrayal.
“You’re still selling death and destruction to my kids while your kids are going to $30,000 a year privileged white schools; that’s what you call a traitor,” Johnson said. “The hip-hop community has betrayed Black America.”
Despite Hip-Hop’s half-century existence, Johnson doesn’t see that the music or culture has added true value to Black culture overall.
“You’ve been around for 50 years, the most popular music genre in the world, billions and billions of dollars, and all you can tell me about is a few people can get jobs,” Johnson shared. “That’s bullsh*t when you look at the cost that the black community has had to pay for Hip-Hop. A whole two or three generations of black kids growing up thinking the best thing you can do is be a gangster.”
With the clip of Dr. Umar Johnson and Mouse Jones debating the finer points of Hip-Hop going viral, fans on X, formerly Twitter, offered their thoughts on the debate and even posted some examples to counter Johnson’s arguments. We’ve got those reactions below, along with the episode of Hustle Over Everything mentioned above.
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Photo: Hustle Over Everything/YouTube