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Janet Jackson is opening up about another wardrobe malfunction. In an interview with British Vogue in which the 58-year-old pop icon flipped through a look book of some of her most iconic costumes, Jackson stopped on one of the military-inspired looks from her 1989 Rhythm Nation album.
“Funny story. I was performing for the Queen of England, and we were doing Rhythm Nation,” Jackson said of the late British monarch who died at age 96 in Sept. 2022. “Sure enough, as soon as I squatted, my pants split right up my booty crack.” Jackson said she “couldn’t believe” her terrible luck before realizing it was worse than she imagined.
“Then I started feeling air back there, so I knew it had really happened,” she said, revealing her quick-thinking fix for the sartorial nightmare. “I never turned my back to her, which, some of the choreography, I was supposed to. I just faced forward.”
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The story from the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer is extra poignant given the other wardrobe malfunction she is most commonly associated with. As you may recall, back in 2004 Jackson performed with Justin Timberlake at that year’s Super Bowl halftime show in Houston, during which JT famously ripped off a piece of Jackson’s costume, exposing her nipple for 9/16th of a second.
The moment that was probed in a 2021 New York Times Presents documentary led to a raft of complaints from viewers, as well as fines and significant professional implications for Jackson. For years, many fans and pundits noted that Timberlake appeared to emerge from the pre-social media viral moment with little or no backlash, while Jackson’s career was dealt a blow from the incident after her videos were pulled from Viacom properties including MTV, VH1 and CBS and she was uninvited to that year’s Grammy Awards.
The Super Bowl slip dubbed “Nipple-gate” also introduced the phrase “wardrobe malfunction” into common parlance and, in the wake of the #FreeBritney movement that blew up in 2019, led to Timberlake issuing public apologies to both Jackson and his ex Spears for the way he’d treated them.
“I’ve seen the messages, tags, comments, and concerns and I want to respond,” Timberlake said at the time after the 2021 Framing Britney Spears documentary portrayed the “Cry Me a River” singer as acting callously following his split with Britney in 2002. “I am deeply sorry for the times in my life where my actions contributed to the problem, where I spoke out of turn, or did not speak up for what was right. I understand that I fell short in these moments and in many others and benefited from a system that condones misogyny and racism. I specifically want to apologize to Britney Spears and Janet Jackson both individually because I care for and respect these women and I know I failed.”
Jackson is gearing up to launch her Las Vegas residency with back-to-back performances on Dec. 30 and New Year’s Eve at Resorts World Las Vegas.
Watch Jackson describe her royal de-pantsing below.
To those closest to him, he was Isaac Freeman III, but around the world, he was renowned as Fatman Scoop. Hip-hop’s premier hype-man and entertainer, Scoop died on Aug. 30 after collapsing on stage at a show in Connecticut doing what he loved — rocking the crowd. He was 56.
Less than two weeks later, Scoop’s peers, friends and family gathered not far from the Harlem projects he was raised in, at the famed Apollo Theater on Thursday (Sept. 12) for a celebration of life ceremony.
Hundreds filed into the legendary venue and felt the full spectrum of emotions. There were laughs shared from funny stories, heartfelt moments, tears shed and some partying to music along the way.
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While Scoop showed up for so many whenever called upon in his decorated life, plenty of recognizable faces returned the favor to be in attendance at the ceremony. For perhaps the final time, Scoop and his recognizable bark brought people from different walks of life together for one last party.
Sway Calloway played MC for the night, while fellow Harlem native Teddy Riley, Jim Jones, A$AP Ferg, Busta Rhymes, DJ Webstar, Angie Martinez, Kid Kapri, Ron Browz, DJ Enuff and more either spoke or performed in some capacity throughout the evening. Other familiar faces spotted in the crowd included LL Cool J, Maino, DJ Self, Treach, Datwon Thomas and more.
Beyond the hits such as “Be Faithful,” Grammy award wins and working with the likes of Missy Elliott and Mariah Carey, there were a few characteristics that continued to pop up in people’s pensive stories on Thursday, which spoke to Scoop’s infallible nature as a great human being past his art.
For one, he was always a phone call — or voice note text message — away and came through for his friends, even if it didn’t come with a bag. Two, Scoop doesn’t get enough credit for how prolific of an MC he was before charting a different path as a trailblazing entertainer. “[Scoop] told me one story how he was supposed to be the first Biggie. And, like, Biggie jacked his style,” Ferg said, which drew laughs from the audience.
Three, he never had issues or beef with anyone in the industry. “Fatman Scoop is probably one of the most beautiful human beings I’ve ever met on this planet,” Busta Rhymes declared. “I don’t think I’ve ever ran into Fatman Scoop having an off day. I’ve never seen him angry, I’ve never seen him upset, I’ve never seen him perspire and worry about things outside of when he was on that stage busting a–.”
And four, the man stayed fresh and kept a bottle of Scope mouthwash on him at all times. “We had a crowd of people around and some girls were around, and Scoop was around and all the girls gave him the attention,” Teddy Riley said. “Why? He had the cologne. He had the cologne game on lock, but he had the Scope game on lock, and that’s why girls wanted to be around him. He didn’t have bad breath. I said to myself, ‘If I do that, would I be biting?’”
Fatman Scoop’s contributions to Missy Elliott and Ciara’s “Lose Control” earned him a Grammy award and a top five Billboard Hot 100 hit (No. 3) in 2005. Outside of music, he made waves as a reality star and overnight host at Hot 97, where he claimed to bring the first video camera into the station.
Hip-hop will be a bit quieter without Fatman Scoop’s signature raspy and resonant shout, but his life of the party legacy is etched into rap lore. Scoop is survived by his two children — Torrance and Tiana Freeman — and brother Kendall “Young Sav” Freeman.
While former President Donald Trump’s amplification of false claims during Tuesday’s presidential debate that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, OH are “eating dogs… eating the cats” have been widely debunked and endlessly mocked on social media, Wyclef Jean says it’s not funny and we need to keep our eyes on what’s important in November’s election.
The rapper/producer who was born in Haiti and emigrated to Brooklyn as a child told TMZ on Thursday (Sept. 12) that America’s historic embrace of immigrants is the nation’s “greatest asset.” Though he avoiding the repetition of the rumor spread by Trump and his VP pick, Ohio native JD Vance — which the state’s Republican Governor has said is without merit — ‘Clef stressed that we should all be taking this fall’s vote seriously.
“I will be forever grateful for my family’s life, for having a fair chance to live what is called the ‘American Dream,’” said Wyclef, who posted the TMZ chat on his X feed. “One of our greatest assets in America is that we are a country of immigrants. I speak from the heart when I say, Haitian people living in the U.S. are good neighbors and good people. We care about humanity. We care about our neighbors.”
Trump made the fallacious claim during his first, and seemingly, only debate with Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris this week in a moment that instantly became fodder for ridicule and contempt on late night shows and social media. Wyclef, who has long been a proud supporter of his native country, urged his fellow Americans to stop spreading the dangerous rumors.
“On behalf of Haitian Americans, I ask that we stop these racist messages and accusations. Put our hands out in peace and say thanks for being my neighbor,” Wyclef said. “We need to respect one another and vote based on policies and facts, not crazy talk. And we need to shake hands with one another and be thankful we are part of an America for all.”
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine dismissed Trump’s claims in a CBS interview on Wednesday, brushing aside the fake news that first popped up on right-wing social media feeds before being amplified by Vance and other Republicans. “This is something that came up on the internet and the internet can be quite crazy sometimes,” DeWine said, noting that the city’s mayor has confirmed that there is no credible evidence to support the cat- and dog-eating claims.
The rumors appear to have started following an incident in nearby Canton, OH in which a woman was arrested for killing and eating a cat, then further boosted by a photo of a person holding a dead goose that some on social media claimed was of a Haitian resident of Springfield. The video taken in Canton depicts a woman who is not Haitian being arrested for cruelty to companion animals; after being charged with the fifth-degree felony the woman plead not guilty by reason of insanity. The images were picked up and widely distributed by white supremacists, as well as X boss Elon Music and Vance, who has a home 45 minutes away from Springfield in neighboring Cincinnati, OH.
“I think we go with what the mayor says. He knows the city,” DeWine said of the town that has seen a major influx of 12,000-15,000 Haitian immigrants over the past few years that has strained city services, but who the Governor said have filled jobs in the city and work “very, very hard.”
While DeWine did not go so far as to say that the amplification of the rumor that started on a Springfield Facebook group were endangering the city’s Haitian population, U.S. National Security spokesperson John Kirby did deem Vance and Trump’s comments “dangerous.” The racist trope claiming immigrants cook and serve household pets has been used to demean and ostracize migrants for more than a century. In the midst of his third run for the White House, convicted felon Trump, 78 has continued to double-down on the debunked animal-eating claim in appearances this week.
In comments on Tuesday, Kirby said, “What’s deeply concerning to us is you’ve got now elected officials in the Republican Party pushing, you know, yet another conspiracy theory that’s just seeking to divide people based on lies and, let’s be honest, based on an element of racism. This kind of language, this kind of disinformation, is dangerous because there will be people that believe it, no matter how ludicrous and stupid it is, and they might act on that kind of information and act on it in a way where somebody could get hurt. So it needs to stop.”
Singer, activist and Springfield native John Legend also weighed in on the danger of spreading such hurtful lies in a video posted on his Instagram in which he touched on the rush of Haitian immigrants who’ve moved to his hometown to escape the political turmoil in their native country.
“I think all of us need to have the same kind of grace that we would want our ancestors to have when they moved here with our Haitian brothers and sisters who moved here too,” Legend said in a video posted on Thursday. “And nobody’s eating cats. Nobody’s eating dogs. We all just want to live and flourish and raise our families in a healthy and safe environment. How about we love one another?”
Legend noted that he grew up in the Christian tradition that encourages everyone to “love our neighbor as we love ourselves and treat strangers as though they might be Christ. So how about we adopt that ethos when we talk about immigrants moving to our communities and don’t spread hateful, xenophobic, racist lies about them?”
According to the Huffington Post, Springfield City Hall and other downtown buildings received bomb threats prompting an evacuation on Thursday, with Mayor Rob Rue saying that the threat featured “hateful language” aimed at Haitians and immigrants. In addition, the president of the city’s nonprofit Haitian Community Help and Support Center told NBC News that the recent hateful attention on the city’s Haitian population has them “scared for their lives,” with some residents keeping their children home from school out of fear.
Watch Legend’s video below.
Lil Wayne has broken his silence about not being tapped to perform at the halftime show at the 2025 Super Bowl in his hometown a week after the NFL announced that Los Angeles native Kendrick Lamar will do the honors. In an Instagram post on Friday (Sept. 13), a serious-sounding explained why it took him a minute to speak out about the booking that “broke” him, while expressing gratitude for the friends and peers who’ve expressed support and questioned why Tunechi was passed over.
“First of all, I want to say forgive me for the delay. I had to get strength enough to do this without breaking,” said a somber, clearly dispirited Wayne. “I’mma say thank you to every voice, every opinion, all the care, all love and support out there. Your words turned into arms and held me up when I tried to fall back.”
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Wayne, seated on a couch and dressed in a red, white and blue track jacket and red shorts, got super vulnerable about how the news hit him. “That hurt. It hurt a lot. You know what I’m talking about. It hurt a whole lot,” he said haltingly. “I blame myself for not being mentally prepared for a letdown. And for automatically mentally putting myself in that position like somebody told me that was my position. So I blame myself for that. But I thought that was nothing better than that spot and that stage and that platform in my city, so it hurt. It hurt a whole lot.”
The pain and vulnerability clearly etched on his face, Weezy bounced from distress to gratitude for all the people who held him up after the news broke. “But y’all are f–king amazing. It made me feel like s–t not getting this opportunity and when I felt like s–t, you guys reminded me that I ain’t s–t without y’all… and that’s an amazing reality,” added the 41-year-old MC who has been repping his city for three decades.
“So, like I said, it broke me and I’m just trying to put me back together,” he continued. “But my God, have you all helped me. Thanks to all of my peers, my friends, my family, my homies on the sports television and everybody repping me. I really appreciate that, I really do. I feel like I let all of y’all all of y’all down by not getting that opportunity, but I’m working on me and I’m working. So thank you.”
Back in February, mega sports fan Wayne openly admitted that he coveted the halftime slot during what is typically the most-watched TV event of the year. “I will not lie to you, I have not got a call,” he said on YG’s 4Hunnid podcast. “But we all praying, we keeping our fingers crossed. I’m working hard. I’m going to make sure this next album and everything I do is killer, so I’m going make it very hard for them to … I want to just make it hard for them not to highlight the boy.”
Since the new about K-Dot broke, a number of fellow rappers have come to Wayne’s defense over what they saw as a snub of the MC whose name is synonymous with the Crescent City. Among the supporters was Lamar’s chief rival Drake, who posted a series of photos of his mentor on Instagram on Tuesday, seemingly lining up behind Weezy without offering any context for his post. Other fellow Young Money/Cash Money family members including Nicki Minaj and Birdman have also spoken up about the perceived slight.
“Denying a young black man what he rightfully put into this game for no other reason but your ego. Your hatred for BIRDMAN, Drake & Nicki got you punishing Lil Wayne?!?!!! LIL WAYNE!!!!!!!!!! THE GOAT?!!!!!!!!!!! Nola what’s good,” Minaj tweeted. New Orleans native and No Limit Records boss Master P also spoke out in support of Wayne, as did Cam’ron and Mase, with Cam calling the pass-over “egregious.”
After a dry-run sharing the stage with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and 50 Cent during the 2022 Super Bowl halftime show in Los Angeles, Grammy- and Pulitzer Prize-winner Lamar will do the honors at Super Bowl LIX at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on Feb. 9. 2025; at press time no additional guests had been announced for next year’s halftime show and Lamar had not responded to the backlash about to the Lil Wayne brush-off complaints.
Watch Wayne’s video below.
Instead of being on the receiving end, Playboi Carti is giving out a gift for all of his fans on his 29th birthday. Carti unleashed his first song to hit streaming services since 2020 with the blood-stained “All Red” on Friday (Sept. 13).
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Carti surprised fans when rumors began circulating about a single potentially arriving. Shortly after being posted to YouTube, “All Red” indeed made its way onto DSPs.
“THIS 1 FOR YAL, I CANT LIE,” Carti wrote on his Opium label’s Instagram page.
The Atlanta rapper reconnects with frequent collaborator F1lthy, who provides the chaotic production. “Upside-down cross tat’ on my neck, shut ’em up, uh/ The Bentley is parked outside, my vibe tryna go for a ride/ I put VETEMENTS right on her thighs, I put the mask on ’cause I be fried,” he raps.
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Carti is no stranger to mixing up his vocals and he dropped the pitch of his voice once again here. Some compared his flow on “All Red” to sounding similar to Future. “Playboi Carti was definitely inspired by Future on “ALL RED” crazy how much influence Future has on all these rappers,” one fan wrote.
Another said: “All jokes aside that new Carti sound like future.”
There are finally some signals of Playboi Carti’s much-delayed I Am Music album being on the horizon. He posted various vinyl covers for the project to his Instagram and directed fans to his website.
Carti’s webstore is selling digital albums along with merchandise bundles, but there’s no release date and it’s only promised to arrive before October 2025.
PBC t-shirt bundles are available for $50 while pre-orders for the I Am Music hat and hoodie bundles are on sale for $65 and $100 plus fees, respectively.
“All Red” is Carti’s first streaming release since 2020’s Whole Lotta Red. Although he’s released a handle of singles to his YouTube page in the last year such as “Backr00ms” with Travis Scott, “2024,” “Evil J0rdan,” “Ketamine,” “H00dbyair” and “Different Day.”
Playboi Carti was honored at Billboard‘s 2024 R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players event in NYC last week with the artist of the year award.
He made a rare public appearance to accept the accolade. “I wanna thank my momma, I wanna thank God,” he began his speech. “Thank you Billboard — this my first award. Very happy to be here. R.I.P. Rich Homie Quan. ATL in the building. Shout-out to the whole New York. I love y’all. Thank you.”
Listen to “All Red” below.
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Big Sean joined Usher for a surprise love fest on Thursday night (Sept. 12) during the first of the Usher: Past Present Future Tour shows at Little Caesars Arena in the rapper’s home town of Detroit.
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Usher brought out Big Sean two-thirds of the way into the concert, during “Superstar” — which the latter samples on “Who You Are (Superstar),” a track from his just-released sixth studio album Better Me Than You.
“If we’re gonna come to Detroit we gotta make sure to shout out all the legends,” Usher told the crowd before introducing Big Sean, who spit out some lines from his track followed by his 2015 single “Blessings” as he and Usher waded into the crowd to walk to a second stage at the rear of the arena floor, which was decked out like a strip club, complete with a pole dancer and a bar.
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“Big Sean, I don’t mind you taking over the stage, but I gotta make a drink,” Usher said as he got behind the bar, mixing drinks for VIP fans in the area. Big Sean then took over with a rapid-fire mini-set that included portions of “So Good,” “A$$,” “Bounce” Back” and “I Don’t Fuck With You.”
He also told the crowd that Usher had accompanied him to the downtown Detroit Boys and Girls Club earlier in the day to inspect the facility, including its recording studio. Thanking Usher for allowing him to sample “Superstar,” he noted that “me and Usher haven’t done a song together. We made a promise we’re gonna do a song together,” although he did not say when, and even if, that might happen.”
Big Sean did get in a plug for Better Me Than You before heading off and leaving the rest of the show to Usher — who will be back at Little Caesars Arena on Friday, Sept. 13.
It was the latest major performance for Big Sean in his home town this year. He performed on the opening night of the National Football League draft in April and was part of the nationally televised opening concert for the newly renovated Michigan Central, the city’s former railway station, in June. He was performing earlier Thursday evening for a private show at a nearby nightclub, and on Monday, Sept. 16, he’ll be performing “a very special acoustic you” sponsored by Amazon Music at the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Usher — who performed the halftime show at Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas on Feb. 11 — kicked of the Past Present Future tour on Aug. 20 in Washington, D.C. and wrap up the North American leg with rescheduled concerts in his home town of Atlanta during December. A European tour begins March 29 in London with the first of 10 dates at the O2 Arena, as well as performances in Paris, Amsterdam and Berlin.
Guess who’s back? Eminem is spinning the block for another round of The Death of Slim Shady about two months after his 12th studio album arrived in July. The Detroit legend is getting spooky for Friday the 13th with the release of his The Death of Slim Shady: Expanded Mourner’s Edition. The deluxe edition gives […]
The Neptunes are no more. During a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter for their September cover story, Pharrell admitted that he and his former friend Chad Hugo are no longer talking to each other. “But I love him, and I always wish him the absolute best, and I’m very grateful for our time together,” he […]
Another eventful week is in the books, especially for Billboard, which hosted our 2024 R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players event last Thursday (Sept. 5) to kick off an action-packed weekend.
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Kendrick Lamar shook up the hip-hop zeitgeist when he was announced as the first-ever solo headlining act for the Super Bowl halftime show when SB LIX comes to New Orleans in February 2025.
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Not everyone was happy for K. Dot as some like Nicki Minaj, Birdman and Master P took issue with the NFL overlooking Lil Wayne in his hometown.
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The Billboard Unfiltered crew broke the entire situation down on Thursday (Sept. 12) with staff writer Kyle Denis and deputy director, editorial Damien Scott totally onboard with Kendrick getting the nod.
“I’ve always wanted Kendrick to do the Super Bowl,” Denis began. “Now he has the momentum to go make this another career-defining performance for himself. He’s one of our greatest performers… For me, there was absolutely no controversy… He has the catalog, he has the ability. If there’s someone I trust to be our first solo rap headliner, it’s absolutely Kendrick Lamar.”
Scott agreed: “It’s amazing and fun to have an artist who is in the midst of their peak headline the Super Bowl. From a perspective, we’ve never had that… Kendrick had a No. 1 song this year and he’s had one of the most exciting years of his career this year. It’s dope to have it feel so current.”
He also championed him as the “No. 1 rapper right now” and believes K. Dot is in album mode so there could be even more tunes on the way. It should be noted that the episode was recorded shortly before Lamar released an untitled track to his Instagram on Wednesday night (Sept. 11).
“It felt so ridiculous,” Scott continued of Minaj’s rant. “It felt so disingenuous and coordinated that it was laughable to a point. I think the larger outrage was a domino effect. I think people were outraged because people were outraged.”
Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album was shut out of nominations at the 2024 Country Music Awards, which sparked outrage from the Beyhive earlier this week.
Kyle Denis believes if Bey’s goal was to get CMA nominations, she would’ve made a different album that was more geared toward strictly being country.
“We’re missing the point of Cowboy Carter was in general. If Beyoncé wanted to, she could have gotten CMA nominations,” he said. “If she would have just dropped a traditional Nashville-made 12-track country album, no hip-hop stuff, no R&B stuff. It would have been 12 protectors… She’s 30 years in, she knows what the deal is for awards and stuff like that. That is not what Cowboy Carter is.”
Watch the entire episode above.
This past Sunday (Sept. 8), Kendrick dropped news that sent the rap community into a frenzy. Standing at the 50-yard line as he worked a football throwing machine with a huge American flag behind him, the Compton MC announced that he will be headlining next year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show. He also made sure to throw a subtle shot at his 2024 rival: “You know there’s only one opportunity to win a championship,” he said before loading another football into the machine. “No round twos.” Two weeks ago, Drake took to his finsta account, @plottttwistttttt, and posted an old video clip of NBA All-Star Rasheed Wallace telling reporters that his Detroit Pistons “will win Game Two” after dropping the first game of the 2004 NBA Eastern Conference Finals. Many believed that was Drake’s not-so-subtle way of telling fans that he’s not yet done with the battle. And despite talking heads like DJ Akademiks saying the Toronto rapper has no intention of continuing the back-and-forth, Drake alluded to a continuation on the song “No Face” (probably his best post-battle release) when he rapped lines like, “How you get lit off the n—a you hatin’ on?,” “This is the moment I know they been prayin’ on,” and “I’m just so happy that n—as who envied and held that s–t in got to finally show it/ I’m over the moon, yeah, we’ll see you boys soon.”
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Those lines don’t really hit the same post “round one,” but I get the sentiment. In boxing and pro wrestling, when the title holder loses their belt, they’re usually entitled to a rematch. He’s seemingly expressing that he doesn’t feel or want this battle for rap’s heavyweight title to be over. However, even after all that’s gone down, I’m still not sure he realizes who he’s dealing with. Lamar seems to have a darker side to him; a side he struggles to keep at bay, especially when he appears to despise his opponent so much.
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Enter last night’s loosie Lamar posted on his Instagram account. He’s not necessarily “dissing” Drake, but he’s indeed talking to him — and the rest of the mainstream rap community that promotes nonsense over substance. The song works as an exposé on the modern mainstream rap industry, and Drake serves as a symbol of both rap’s massive popularity and its devolving cultural significance in the eyes of fans familiar with the genre’s roots. To them, he has always been seen as a visitor, never to be taken too seriously. Yet, he’s proven that he’s willing to battle when tested. That coupled with his hit-making ability was able to buy him more cultural currency a little bit at a time. T
hat party seems to be coming to an end, though, considering Drake’s chart dominance has stalled since losing the battle. None of his recent releases have charted particularly well, at least judging by his own standards. The club just turned the lights on, and the DJ is playing “Poison.” The bar’s closing, where we going to for breakfast?
Dot starts off his latest with the lines, “I think it’s time to watch the party die/ This s–t done got too wicked to apologize,” before saying, “Just walk that man down, that’ll do everyone a solid/ It’s love, but tough love sometimes gotta result in violence.” In his mind, he did the hip-hop world a favor by exposing Drake and his so-called selfish, dirty mackin’, colonizing ways. He also takes aim at social media pundits who have served as mouthpieces for Drake, or at least claim to, throughout this battle.
Bars like, “Influencers talked down ’cause I’m not with the basic s–t/ But they don’t hate me, they hate the man that I represent/The type of man that never d–kride ’cause I want a favor” and “The radio personality pushin’ propaganda for salary/ Let me know when they turn up as a casualty, I want agony, assault, and battery,” are directed at them. At times, Kendrick comes across as someone who believes he has a moral superiority — but on this track, you can hear him wrestling with the angel and the devil on his shoulder on the chorus, as he pleads with God to give him peace, while also keeping the lames at bay.
Many fans and critics have described Drake as Thanos, because Rap Game Sinister Six had to team up to finally knock him off his pedestal. However, Kendrick has been Thanos this entire time: The Marvel supervillain’s whole philosophy was based on destroying and rebuilding, a philosophy Lamar mentions in this new song. He talks of burning down villages to start over and said one of his friends told him he must “burn it down to build it back up.” Lamar is grappling with the rationalization of what he’s done to Drake, so far, and he sounds like he doesn’t think the job is done just yet.
“Watch the Party Die” is essentially the scene from Avengers: Endgame where Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man try to walk Thanos down, and he spits some of the greatest dialogue a villain has ever spat. He looked them in the eyes and said: “You could not live with your own failure. Where did that bring you? Back to me. I thought that by eliminating half of life, the other half would thrive. But you’ve shown me that’s impossible. And as long as there are those that remember what was, there will always be those that are unable to accept what can be. They will resist. I’m thankful, because now, I know what I must do. I will shred this universe down to its last atom and then, with the stones you collected for me, create a new one, teaming with life that knows not what it has lost, but what it has been given. A grateful universe.”
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The rap world stops when K. Dot drops. He doesn’t have to use streamers with questionable ties to the community to leak information. He simply tweets a link out or posts a song on Instagram with no title, and a picture of gnarled black Air Force One’s, and everything comes to a halt. Almost like a snap of the finger.