Music
J. Cole responds to Kendrick Lamar with the ‘7-minute exercise’ – let’s break it down
When I woke up two weeks ago, I heard Kendrick Lamar criticizing Drake and J. Cole on this song “Yes” from Metro Boomin and Future’s album “WE DON’T TRUST YOU” The 20-12 months-old hip-hop fan in me was excited. In the verse that made almost everyone listen to this song, Kendrick took a shot at two hip-hop titans, ridiculing the idea of Rap Big 3 as suggested by J. Cole in “First Person Shooter” – from Drake’s lackluster album “For All dogs.” I was ready for Drake – who famously had high- and low-stakes feuds with Pusha T, Meek Mill and Common (among others) and has smoked for a litany of artists – to get competitive and drop a few bars but we have some inspirational quotes from the scene and some captions (?) on Instagram. Le sighs.
On the other hand, I had no doubt that J. Cole would respond in some way. When? I had no idea, but there’s no way one of the few rappers would appreciate his incredible lyricism and signature look, which undoubtedly puts him as one of, if not the greatest “feature rappers” of all time. Again, this is debatable, but I’m willing to say it. If J. Cole is featured in someone’s song, I RUN to listen to it. And it doesn’t matter what he does. He hits 1,000 on features. His appearances in songs from Benny the Butcher Down 21 Wild Down Summer walker Down Little Yachty Down Lil Durka whoever and wherever he goes, it’s a trail of flames. However, his albums leave a lot to be desired. So much so that I HOPE he would hop on someone’s album and write a Kung Fu Kenny verse that would let the hip-hop world know that if you want smoke, he’s got fire.
So fill me with curiosity but caution when I woke up to a text from a homie that read, “Surprise Cole album! So much for the bed.” Even though I’m always worried that his albums will be too mediocre, his albums are events, so I played “Might Delete Later” because Cole earned my auditions. I knew there was going to be a diss record, and I looked through the tracklist of what it might be, focusing on the last album, 7 Minute Drill, because Cole has a tendency to put the important album last – and I was right. Before I got to this song, however, I decided to listen to the rest of the album, and let me just say that I really appreciate that J. Cole continues the tradition of Drake’s “Honestly, Nevermind” album with the title – “Might Delete Later” – which can also be a sufficient review of the album.
That’s okay though. The highlight of this album is “7 Minute Drill”, through which J. Cole responds to Kendrick. Over the course of three and a half minutes and a beat change, we get a Jay-Z-style assessment of Kendrick’s legacy from “The Takeover” and a warning that Cole can have to bet on Kendrick Nino Brown, which is fascinating because he bet on Kendrick on “First Person Shooter” himself, Kendrick and Drake on the same status. But now he may need to take his brother somewhere Nino had to make Gee Money in “New Jack City”. Well played, Cole. Well played. I quite appreciated the reference as a way of explaining the situation.
In reference to Kendrick’s catalog, here’s what Cole had to say:
This is what people will probably discuss… because it is true. Even the most die-hard Kendrick fan should agree with what Cole reads in Kendrick’s catalog. “Good Kid, MAAD City” was a classic and “DAMN” was a monster. But “To Pimp a Butterfly,” while ambitious and noteworthy because it is kind of unique as a hip-hop record, is healthier talked about than listened to. The same goes for “Lord”. Morale and The Big Steppers” can also be one other ambitious and amazing concept album, but I doubt many individuals listen to it repeatedly, if in any respect.
The only reservation I even have about his bars is that Cole’s catalog is not all that great. I’m not even sure if he actually has anything that might be considered a classic. The closest non-compilation album could be “2014 Forest Hills Drive” – I believe, and that is the extent of it. “The Off-Season,” his last album, had some great records, but a classic? Eh. Nothing else really reaches the level of classic or different than J. Cole stands. I believe most of us who don’t think J. Cole is Rap Jesus but really like him are waiting for this album to make us all understand the hype. But that is neither here nor there; he remains to be one in all the GOATS. The thing is, J. Cole going through Kendrick’s catalog is a bit weird when, well, Cole’s best work is not even on his own albums; as I said, J. Cole’s features are price the price of admission, the albums… not a lot.
But again, I’m glad this album exists. We have two famous and talented rappers who release albums in the kind of iron-blades-iron. Cole and Kendrick clearly have a mutual respect for one another – how could they not, they have been working together since the starting – so it’s all hip-hop. J. Cole is undoubtedly one in all the best spitters in the game. It makes no effort for him, and I can not help but appreciate and respect it. Hip-hop is healthier due to J. Cole’s qualities. And Kendrick is Kendrick; at this point who knows what he’ll do next, but when he releases the album we’ll all discuss it again because that is what happens with releases.
Hopefully we’ll record a number of more records in that point before one or the other comes out at the other’s show in Los Angeles or Charlotte. In the meantime, I’ll be waiting for J. Cole’s rumored final album, The Fall Off, similar to the remainder of the hip-hop world.
Oh, and I assume we’ll keep waiting for Drake’s response.
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Music
Kendrick Lamar tops Apple Music song charts in 2024 and women are making history
NEW YORK (AP) — “Not Like Us” but people sure like him: Kendrick Lamar Smash topped Apple Music’s global song chart in 2024 as a large music streamer published year-end lists Tuesday and provided listeners with data on their most listened to songs.
“Not Like Us” is Lamar’s first-ever song to succeed in primary on the worldwide year-end charts.
In second place is “Beautiful Things” by Benson Boone. Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” is third, Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” is fourth, and Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” is fifth.
“Cruel Summer” is, in fact, a fraction of Swift’s seventh studio album “Lover”, released in 2019. revival in summer 2023
Of the 100 songs on the chart, 39 are songs by female-identifying artists, which is the primary record in the worldwide chart’s seven-year history.
And this may occasionally come as a surprise: Japanese hip-hop band Creepy Nuts’ breakthrough song “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” topped Apple’s most read lyrics in 2024. Other Creepy Nuts songs include “Not Like Us”, “Espresso” and “Birds of a Feather” by Billie Eilish.
“Bling-Bang-Band-Born” also topped the Apple Music song chart, which allows users to see which songs fans sang along to probably the most. It is obvious that Japanese music is becoming more and more popular internationally: in 2023 one other Japanese group, YOASOBI, topped the Sing charts in its inaugural yr, with “Idol”. “Idol” continues to dominate this yr, peaking at #2.
New to the 2024 year-end charts set is the addition of the Shazam Global Radio Spins chart, which uses Shazam to see what songs are being played on radio stations world wide. “Houdini” by Dua Lipa Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” and Tate McRae’s “Greedy” top the list.
Also available Tuesday might be Replay — Apple’s alternative to Spotify’s Wrapped playlist — which allows Apple Music subscribers to experience the most well-liked music on the streaming service this yr. Artists can now also share their year-end data using Apple Music for Artists.
In November, Apple Music named Eilish Female Artist of the Year, following her hugely successful 2024. This yr, Eilish became the youngest person to ever win the award two Academy Awards, and released her critically acclaimed third album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, which gained popularity seven 2025 Grammy Awards nominations. At this yr’s awards ceremony, she accepted two latest record player-shaped trophies – despite the fact that she hasn’t released a brand new album – each for “What Was I Made For?” With hit movie “Barbie”.
“It’s always special when a young artist can connect with so many people so quickly,” Rachel Newman, senior director of content and editorial at Apple Music, said in an announcement. “But what has been truly remarkable about watching her evolve over the past yr will not be only that her voice and artistry proceed to resonate so widely. The point is that she blossomed as bravely and truthfully as she did – on her own terms and in her own way.
Music
Kendrick Lamar and SZA embark on their ‘Grand National’ tour across North America, including Toronto. MUSTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE!
We all knew this was coming. Kendrick Lamar dropped his latest album “GNX” on the Friday before Thanksgiving and people were screaming “MUSTAAAAAAAAAARD” over Kendrick’s hilarious shouting of DJ Mustard’s name on the song “tv off.” This appears to be the case for DJ Mustard, who recently wrote that he I shouted as I walked down the road forgetting that he was referring to himself. Good times.
Anyway, because Kendrick is the variety of artist who abandons a project and then continues an enormous tour to support heron Tuesday, December 3, 2024, his press team spammed all of our inboxes with a press release announcing that Kendrick and SZA were embarking on the “Grand National Tour,” a 19-city stadium tour crisscrossing North America. Makes sense. The show covers most major cities within the United States – the New York metropolitan area, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Houston, Washington, DC, Vegas, Philadelphia, etc. – and one fun little performance on June 12, 2025 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
This guy.
If you’ve got literally been living under a rock or spent 12 months recording “Naked & Afraid” or something, you realize that Kendrick Lamar and one in all Canada’s biggest exports, Drake, were embroiled in a tiff that included criminal charges, legal motion, bops, and an absolute song 2024’s ‘Not Like Us’ where Kendrick Lamar beat Draked Drake in every way possible. Drake is, in fact, from Toronto. Considering that Kendrick and Drake haven’t only repeatedly attacked one another lyrically over the past nine months, but their teams, supporters, and fans have also taken sides, performing together in their respective cities really didn’t seem to be a no brainer. that may occur. At least not now. Drake continues to be Drake, although his luster has been greatly enhanced (some due to Kendrick, others since the claims of the colonizers are beginning to look more accurate than we would love, no matter what “business” dictates), so in fact when he decides to set out tour to support whatever he’s doing, he’ll Los Angeles.
I feel the identical might be said about Kendrick. Should he NOT go to Toronto because he’s arguing with Jimmy within the wheelchair? I assume that is silly. Plus, Kendrick told us he really loves New Ho King, a restaurant in Toronto. Shouldn’t he go for fried rice and dipping sauce? Of course I did, especially after it went away claimed that Drake shut down TDE artist SiR’s performance at a location in Toronto.
I hope everyone has their popcorn ready because that is just diabolical. Like, honey, after you go to the Super Bowl and perform “Not Like Us” (that is gonna be wiiiiiiiild) for hundreds of thousands of individuals, are you going to do the identical thing at Drake Stadium? I do not even know what to say here. If Kendrick ever desired to make an announcement, performing “Not Like Us” in Toronto to a sold-out arena that screamed “A-minoooooooor” in unison and then screamed “MUSSSSTAAAAAAAAAARD” could be the stuff of legend.
I ponder who comes up with these schedules and locations. I assume LiveNation gave Kendrick a listing of places and he replied, “Yes, Toronto.” Now that I give it some thought, I’m really surprised he won’t stop in Toronto on June 16, which is Tupac’s birthday, considering what a distinguished (and weird) role Tupac played in all this. It almost looks as if an oversight on Kendrick’s part – either that or the room was booked that day.
Who knows what’s going to occur? It’s doubtful, but perhaps between now and the beginning of Kendrick’s tour, Kendrick and Drake will sit down with Farrakhan (or anyone this generation holds in high regard) and squash the meat and we’ll never hear “Not Like Us.” have performed again, with Kendrick safely traversing Canadian soil while Drake has been digging within the bag and actually releasing an album that shows some growth – or a minimum of real ambition. Once again, I doubt this can occur, so I’ll just patiently wait until June 12, 2025 is circled on my calendar.
BLACKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
Music
It’s almost time for Spotify Wrapped. When can you expect the 2024 summary?
NEW YORK (AP) – It’s almost that time of yr: Spotify is preparing to release an annual, personalized summary of users’ listening habits and the yr in the audio industry.
Spotify has been providing its listeners with data sheets since 2016. Year by yr it becomes an increasingly larger production and Internet sensation. Spotify said his yr 2023 is closed was “the largest ever created” by way of audience reach and sort of data provided.
So what is going to 2024 bring? Here’s what you have to know ahead of this yr’s edition of Spotify Wrapped.
What exactly is Spotify Wraped?
It’s an annual have a look at individual listening trends, in addition to trends around the world on the streaming service. Users discover their top artists, songs, genres, albums and podcasts, multi functional interactive presentation.
The campaign has turn into a social media sensation as people share and compare their Wrapped data with their friends and followers online.
Previous versions gave users all types of charts and facts, including whether or not they were amongst an artist’s hottest listeners, in addition to a personalised playlist of the yr’s 100 hottest songs that they may save, share, and take heed to each time they wanted. nostalgic.
Spotify also creates a series of playlists that reflect national and global listening trends, featuring the hottest artists and songs streamed. In 2023 Taylor Swift was the most streamed artist on Spotifyunseating Bad Bunny, who had held the title for three years in a row.
Every yr holds something latest. In 2019, Wrapped featured a decade-long summary of user trends in streaming. Last yr, Spotify matched listeners to City of Sound based on their artistic interests and the way this overlaps with those of artists from other parts of the world.
When is the expected release date?
So far, the streaming platform has kept the long-awaited release date of Wrapped under… hmm, under wraps.
In previous years, it was published after Thanksgiving, between November 30 and December 6.
Every yr, rumors spread on social media about when Spotify will stop collecting data to organize its summary results. This yr was no exception. Spotify He quickly debunked these assumptionsasserting on social media that “Spotify Wrapped doesn’t stop counting on October 31st.”
A Spotify representative didn’t reply to a request for comment on when the company will stop data tracking for Wrapped.
Where can I find my Spotify Wrapped?
Once Wrapped is released, each user’s Spotify account will prompt them to view an interactive data summary. It can be accessed through the Spotify smartphone app or via by logging in to Spotify. Wrapped is out there to users with and and not using a Premium subscription.
What else can I learn from my Spotify data?
There are several third-party sites you can connect your Spotify account to that can analyze your Wrapped data.
How bad is your Spotify is an AI bot that assesses your music taste. Reception shares the best songs in a shared graphic that appears like a receipt. Instafest gives you your individual personal music festival-style lineup, powered by your best artists. What sort of NPRCore are you rates how similar your music taste is to NPR Music.
What if I haven’t got Spotify?
Other major streaming platforms like Apple Music and YouTube Music have developed their very own versions of Wrapped in recent times.
Apple Music Replay not only gives its subscribers an end-of-year summary of their listening habits, but additionally monthly summaries – a feature that helps differentiate itself from Spotify’s one-time summary. This is issued at the end of the calendar yr.
Meanwhile, YouTube Music offers its listeners similar year-end releases, in addition to periodic seasonal releases throughout the yr. Earlier this month, it published its annual summary for users.
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