It was a wild year in music, from the Drake-Kendrick beef to Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter and more. On the latest episode of Bet! Desus Nice and Scottie Beam chopped it up about the year and music and looked ahead to what could be in the annual Rolling Stone list of the 100 Best Albums of the year.
When it comes to big moments from the year in Hip Hop, Desus brings up Young Thug beating his case and coming home and, of course, the feud of the year which saw Kendrick Lamar EVISCERATE Drake (although, it should be noted that this episode was filmed before Kendrick dropped GNX or Drake decided to get litigious with allegations surrounding the mega-viral hit, “Not Like Us”). Meanwhile, Scottie wants to highlight Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter country album. And Drake, because you really can’t talk about the year in music without talking about the Kendrick-Drake beef. Desus even goes so far as to say Drake songs don’t hit the same way in the club in the aftermath.
Getting back to Cowboy Carter, Scottie says it was important for so many reasons. One being that Beyonce was able to tell country music to kiss her @$$, especially traditional country music and the expectations of what it should sound like. It was also a great example of genre-bending, which Scottie loves, and simply of Beyonce just doing what she wants to do. It was just really revolutionary to Scottie.
They both agree it was a great year for Hip Hop. even if it is evolving and growing and may not look just like it did in the 1980s, 90s, 2000s or even 2010s. Desus points out it’s gone global, with everyone having their own takes and constantly evolving. Which makes Scottie hope that eventually genres no longer represent boxes and artists can blur the lines and do whatever they want to do.
But getting back to the story of the year, Desus says he still remembers where he was when “Not Like Us” dropped.
He was at a restaurant and he thought it would be something, he just didn’t think it would turn into the biggest song in the world. Meanwhile, it nearly killed Scottie as she was at the gym on the stairmaster and almost fell off! Scottie says the beef between Drake and Kendrick became one of the biggest moments in Hip Hop, period while Desus says that even if you weren’t a Kendrick fan you became a Kendrick fan because of his lyrical tenacity. Desus points out that Drake almost brought it on himself, baiting Kendrick into responding.
Scottie thinks Drake lost touch with a lot of things and she desperately hopes he takes a break, even though Desus (accurately it turns out) says you know he’s not going to do that. Desus says Drake is just throwing anything at the wall and hoping it sticks. It’s time for him to relax, bro, and take some time off. But, again, this episode was recorded before Drake lawyered up to accuse his own label of payola, pay-to-play and allowing defamation in “Not Like Us.” So, unfortunately for all involved, it looks like Drake will not be taking Desus and Scottie’s advice.
For more on their takes on the year in music plus an interview with Guapdad4000, watch or listen to the full episode below. Plus, visit http://draftkings.com/betpodcast to enter a free-to-play $10K pool focused on the Rolling Stone list of the 100 Best Albums of 2024. Questions include, but are not limited to:
- On Rolling Stone’s 100 Best Albums of 2024 list, what genre will have more placements in the Top 10? (Country, Alternative, Rock, R&B, Hip Hop, Pop, Other)
- How many hip-hop projects will be included in Rolling Stone’s 100 Best Albums of 2024 list? (1-3, 5-7, 8-12, 13-15, 16 or more)
- Whose album will rank highest on Rolling Stone’s 100 Best Albums of 2024 list? (Sabrina Carpenter – Short N’ Sweet, Chappel Roan – The, Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, Charli XCX – Brat, Billie Eillish – Hit Me Hard and Soft)
- On Rolling Stone’s 100 Best Albums of 2024 list, which male rap album will appear highest? (21 Savage – American Dream, Schoolboy Q – Blue Lips, Future – We Don’t Trust You, Ye – Vultures 2, Future – We Still Don’t Trust You, Eminem – The Death of Slim Shady)
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Bet! is available via audio on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. You can follow Desus Nice on X at @desusnice and Scottie Beam on X at @ScottieBeam.
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