R&B/Hip-Hop

Another week means another new episode of Billboard Unfiltered. This episode was broadcasted live on Wednesday (Feb. 26) with the core four back together.

Drake and PartyNextDoor topped the Billboard 200 with $ome $exy $ongs 4 U earning 246,000 first-week units. The feat brings Drizzy to 14 No. 1 albums, which ties him for the most ever among soloists.

Deputy Director Damien Scott thinks Drake cracked the code with his album sequencing in the streaming era with Views. “Views, to me, is where Drake figured it out. He’s like, ‘Oh, this long-ass album with a multitude of genres.’ He figured out how to make an album for the way people consume music now and then he kept trying to make that album over and over again,” he said. “He’s never dropped below a certain qualitative point where people are like, ‘I’m not gonna pay attention to this.’ … I’m curious to see what the staying power is.”

Staff Writer Kyle Denis considered the first-week sales for Drake to be “soft” when comparing to his previous bodies of work. “I’ll never take away this kind of feat. Tying the record for most No. 1 albums by a rapper, that’s something to celebrate about. But at the same time, when you contextualize these numbers they’re kind of soft,” he said. “I think him not clearing 300,000 is pretty surprising to me… This is squarely more in his wheelhouse and he’s still 100K behind his collab albums he did with Future and 21 Savage.”

When looking ahead to the all-time No. 1 albums list, Billboard charts expert Trevor Anderson wonders if Drake albums will continue to remain events. “Will Drake ever come out and it’s eh, fine, top 10 or will they always be events?” Anderson pondered.

Deputy Editor Carl Lamarre reported that he’s hearing that Drake could possibly come with his next heavily-anticipated solo album this summer surrounding his three-night headlining performance across the pond at Wireless Festival.

Meanwhile, J. Cole returned with “Clouds” last week, and it appears a possible feud with Freddie Gibbs is brewing on the horizon. After side-stepping the Kendrick Lamar feud last year, would Cole step into the ring with Freddie Kane?

“If he were to go at Cole, I don’t have any inside information, but I don’t think Cole would be like, ‘I’m alright, man.’ Gibbs is basically calling him a b—h, like you’re not gonna squeeze off with anybody. The dude’s still an amazing rapper,” Scott said. “The circumstances around the Kendrick beef are very particular… It won’t be like that otherwise.”

Ye and The Game also reunited earlier this week and appeared to be using Tina Knowles as the duo’s creative muse while Yeezy teased Game’s The Documentary 3.

“He’s just too old to be acting like this,” Denis said. “45 and 47, really? It’s just so desperate and so pathetic and it’s so clear you want their attention and they haven’t given you it in recent years.”

Watch the full episode below.

Yasiin Bey, formerly known as Mos Def, has a new album with The Alchemist on the way called Forensics, but that doesn’t mean he’s still playing the game.

The Brooklyn MC and actor sat down with The Guardian during Paris Fashion Week to talk about his latest project and the state of the music industry as it has to do with streaming.

“I was so disillusioned,” Bey told the outlet when looking back at when he first started. “You start out with idealism and passion, and then you encounter the kind of conduct and values George Orwell called ‘inanities’. And they do this sh– to everybody, it’s not even personal, it’s systemic.”

The convo then shifted to music streaming companies, where he lamented about the current pay model. “That sh– is gross, paying people part of a penny for their music,” he said. Those motherf—ers are cold blooded, man, like Scrooge McDuck, lickin’ his lips as he jumps into a pool of gold coins.”

Adding, “The music industry of now makes the one I started out in seem charitable. It’s completely exploitative.”

There’s no release date yet for Forensics, but it’s expected to drop sometime in the spring. For now, you can head over to Bandcamp to purchase a lanyard or a hat that feature a BUMP tag where fans can access the album and special benefits with their smartphone via blockchain.

The description of the tech and special features reads as follows: “BUMP technology allows purchasers to ‘bump’ their smartphone on the sewn-in tag, taking them to a private website where they can input blockchain registered ownership details and access additional content and benefits. Initially, this will include the album art and one of the audio tracks from the FORENSICS album. Later, it will include live-stream replay, other exclusive content, discounted merchandise offers, and ultimately, discounted access to the full Forensics project for digital replay upon its official release. Additional content will be added periodically up to and beyond the release of the full Forensics project.”

Yasiin described the release strategy as, “lo-fi, hi-tech high art.”