Ebro in the Morning

Common Praises Andre 3000 & Nas’ Lyrics: “Those Words Will Last”

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It’s no secret that Common’s got some serious writing skills, but that doesn’t stop him from occasionally looking at other artists with envy. During a recent interview on Hot 97’s Ebro in the Morning, the Chicago MC discussed Andre 3000’s new instrumental album, New Blue Sun. He says that while he obviously appreciates the Outkast icon’s bars, he’s just happy to see him putting out music of any kind, despite it being somewhat controversial.

“First of all, it’s just great to hear something from André,” he began. “Of course I wanna hear his raps, but that dude has been such a creator… When I put on that flute album I was like, ‘Yo, this joint is dope to me.’” According to Common, some producers have even reached out to him offering to loop instrumentals from the project for him to rap over.

Read More: Hip Hop Artists Who Have Won Big At The Oscars

Common Wishes He Wrote Some Of Andre 3000 & Nas’ Lyrics

Despite being a fan of New Blue Sun, Common might have found himself missing Andre 3000’s signature storytelling skills. After all, he says that he’s still jaw-dropped by what the artist has been able to come up with over the years. “Him [André 3000] and Nas, for me, are the two that I’ll be like, ‘Damn, I wish I wrote that,’” he said. Elsewhere in the interview, he showed love to Nas for the lyricism in his 1994 Illmatic track “N.Y. State of Mind.”

“I was playing ‘New York State of Mind’ and one of the greatest lines ever written is, ‘Beyond the walls of intelligence life is defined/ I think of crime when I’m in a New York state of mind,’” he described. “That’s like poetry. That’s like American literature,” Common continued. “When they put that next to James Baldwin and Nikki Giovanni, those words will last.” What do you think of Common praising Nas and Andre 3000 for their writing skills? Do you agree with him? Share your thoughts in the comments section down below, and keep an eye on HNHH for more updates.

Read More: Common Takes Drake’s Side In Yasiin Bey Beef

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The post Common Praises Andre 3000 & Nas’ Lyrics: “Those Words Will Last” appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

Onetime Drake Rival Common Chose A Surprising Side After Yasiin Bey’s ‘Target’ Criticism

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Yet another hip-hop icon has weighed in on Yasiin Bey’s controversial comments about Drake, and this time, it’s one of Bey’s own peers in the so-called “conscious rap” movement of the late ’90s and early 2000s. However, if you expected Common to side with his frequent collaborator against the Toronto star — with whom Common once shared a contentious back-and-forth with Drake resulting in at least two presumed diss tracks — you might be surprised by his response.

Appearing on Ebro In The Morning on New York’s Hot 97 Wednesday morning (January 24), the Chicago rapper shared his take after being asked for his opinion by host Ebro Darden. “I think Drake comes from hip-hop,” he said, in more-or-less direct contradiction to Bey’s viewpoint. “When I first heard him rhyming, I was like, ‘Yo, this dude rhyming.’ And if he goes out and makes songs that are popular, then that’s what it is. He’s still an MC… The dude is an incredible songwriter, he’s an incredible artist… You gotta have some respect and know that this dude is a very talented artist.”

After the host’s joked that Yasiin’s take was “very on-brand for him,” Common was also very complimentary to his rapper-turned-actor, saying, “He has poetry within his rap. He can style on anything. He can do a lot.”

Bey set of days of intense debate within the hip-hop world when he said during an interview, “Drake is pop to me, in the sense like, if I was in Target in Houston and I heard a Drake song… it feels like a lot of his music is compatible with shopping.” While some hip-hop heads (mostly those who likely stopped listening to new rap music sometime in 2005) agreed, others felt that the take was unfair to Drake or idealized hip-hop as an artform, since early rappers were equally as materialistic in their music.

Meanwhile, Drake himself pointed out that he could never NOT be hip-hop, using an old Method Man quote as an example and pointing out the hypocrisy inherent in Bey’s comments as someone who once fought for the expansion of artistic expression in hip-hop. “What umi say again?” he wrote, nodding to Bey’s 1999 single “Umi Says,” in which Bey sings, “My Umi said shine your light on the world / Shine your light for the world to see.”

Of course, there’s also Lil Wayne’s take, which simplified all Drake hate down to one simple reason.

Watch Common’s interview with Ebro In The Morning above.

Jim Jones Wants A Hitmaka & Hit-Boy Verzuz

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Jim Jones and Hitmaka stopped by Ebro In The Morning to discuss their new album Back In My Prime and a potential Verzuz against Hit-Boy. Moreover, those comments came after the latter dissed Hitmaka and other producers in a song tease. Of course, that blew the Internet up, both with impressed reactions to disappointed responses. However, it was Hitmaka who started the whole debacle in this interview by talking about radio play on Hot 97. But more interestingly, Jones knew where they could settle things: a Verzuz battle.

“Do I smell a Verzuz?” the Dipset legend asked. Furthermore, his proposal prompted excited reactions from the rest on his on-air colleagues. “We can settle this fast. Tell Za on the zone we got some za. I would give them L.A.” Despite this debate, Hitmaka did admit that Hit-Boy’s been at the game longer than him. “He’s been running longer than I’ve been running in this field,” the Chicago producer explained. Even with all that, the Hot 97 crew were surprised that Hitmaka took things in that direction.

Jim Jones Wants A Hitmaka & Hit-Boy Verzuz

“I’m on the radio. Hit-Boy not on the radio,” he said before saying that he still has love for the King’s Disease producer. “If you play the soundtrack to your life for the past four, five years on radio – I know it’s gotta be frustrating with ‘em my name is so similar, my brother.” After these comments went viral, Hit-Boy released a snippet where he dissed Hitmaka, Metro Boomin, and others. “I just seen Yung Berg smoke on the wave/ I should do him like Trick Trick and snatch Hit out his name,” he rapped against Hitmaka. “I’m like Debo on this cruiser/ How you got no credits without co-producers?” In fact, the producer clapped back at Hit-Boy’s comments, calling him a “terrible artist.”

Meanwhile, Metro Boomin seemingly responded to these disses in a cryptic way. He tweeted out a picture of Kendrick Lamar lyrics from the Mr. Morale cut “Rich Spirit.” “Stop playin’ wit me ‘fore I turn you to a song,” the lyrics read. Still, Jones isn’t wrong in assuming that a Verzuz could truly squash things between them, at least commercially. After all, Hit-Boy has more impressive albums to his name, despite Hitmaka dominating air waves. Regardless, check out the Hot 97 interview above and stick around on HNHH for the latest on Hitmaka, Jim Jones, and Hit-Boy.

Ebro & Peter Rosenberg Debate 2Pac & Snoop’s “2 Of Americaz Most Wanted”

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Hot 97’s Ebro In The Morning co-hosts Ebro, Laura Stylez, and Peter Rosenberg are working on a collaborative list of the top 50 Songs in hip-hop history by selecting 10 songs every Thursday until August 10th. Listeners will have the final say to narrow down the selections by voting on the Hot 97 app and website. Debating selections during a recent episode, Ebro picked Tupac’s 1996 hit single “2 Of Amerikaz Most Wanted” featuring Snoop Dogg. Rosenberg adamantly disagreed with he nomination and the two went back and forth over the merits of the song.

“Never thought I’d see you throw away a pick like this,” said Rosenberg. From there, Ebro remarked: “The Tupac disrespect this week is gotta stop. It’s two days in a row. This record comes on today. It plays all the way through. It was huge when it happened. Tupac and Snoop. And Snoop was on trial at the time and he was in the courtroom. You even remember the visuals all these years later.”

Ebro, Laura Stylez, & Peter Rosenberg

NEW YORK, NY – SEPTEMBER 14: (L-R) Radio personalities Ebro, Laura Stylez, and Peter Rosenberg attend ‘Up Close And Personal With Rita Ora’ at SOB’s on September 14, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Johnny Nunez/Getty Images)

“2 Of Amerikaz Most Wanted” released in promotion of 2Pac’s fourth studio album, All Eyez on Me. It incorporates an interpolation of Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five’s song “The Message.” It was also the last song performed at the House of Blues concert on July 4, 1996, which was the rapper’s last recorded performance before his death.

As for the other 2Pac disrespect Ebro mentioned, Rosenberg argued that the rapper was placed too high on Billboard and Vibe’s top 50 rappers list at number 4. Ebro was clearly offended by the opinion at the time. “What are you talking about bro?,” Ebro responded. “Bro wrote ‘Dear Mama’ and ‘Keep Ya Head Up’ and ‘Brenda’s Got A Baby,’ like full stories. One song is one story. It didn’t deviate from the topic at all, which is something that many of the greats have never been able to do in one song. They deviate for a punch line or they don’t stay on topic for the sake of swag or whatever they are trying to do. ‘Pac would do a whole song on one topic.”

The Debate

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DJ Akademiks Accuses Ebro Of Blackballing DaBaby 

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DJ Akademiks has made headlines all month long for offending nearly every generation of Hip Hop. After getting blasted by the likes of LL Cool J, Russell Simmons and Michael Rappaport for claiming that pioneers of the genre were “dusty” and bad with money, the Youtuber stopped by the Power 105.1’s the Breakfast Club to clarify his statements while issuing the vets an apology. 

He even atoned for his remarks against Lil Wayne’s daughter Reginae after being called out by her mom, Toya Wright, and “Uncle” T.I. for seemingly referring to her as a b****. “If she’s taking it in that sense offensively, I do apologize,” Ak stated. Despite his apology tour, the 31-year old media personality is still standing on his remarks about Hot 97 host Ebro. Last week, Akademiks called the radio host out for trying to “politic me out the game” while accusing the morning show host of blackballing certain artists. 

Ebro Darden

On Wednesday (September 28), Ak doubled down on his claims, suggesting that Ebro blackballed DaBaby and is “using Apple Music as a weapon for ur personal issues.” “Da Baby last project in 2020 ‘Blame it on Baby’ sold 124K first week,” the Off The Record podcast host tweeted. “His new project after being blackballed by Ebro, Apple Music is scheduled to do less than 20K. Now yall understand my Ebro convo. DSPs control who is hot and who is not. Fall out of favor with them.. UR DONE”

While Ebro has yet to address DaBaby claims, he did call out Akadmiks for his “dusty” comments earlier this week, tweeting, “You’re drunk. I told people I had jobs for you. You’d rather be drunk and disrespectful to women and align with scumbags. Do you boo boo!” 

Share your thoughts below. 

Jack Harlow Says Drake Offered Him Words Of Encouragement After Their Collaboration Leaked

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Jack Harlow‘s upcoming sophomore album, Come Home, The Kids Miss You features a promising selection of collaborators. Fans, however, have already gotten a taste of some of the upcoming tracks in the form of a leaked Drake collaboration, which surfaced online last month. The track was revealed to be titled “Churchill Downs” yesterday, following Harlow’s unveiling of the album’s tracklist.

In an interview on Hot 97, Harlow admitted that he was upset by the leak.

“It hurt my feelings,” he said. “I’m really tight about leaks. I don’t bounce my music so I haven’t had leaks in a long time. I don’t ride to my music while I’m working on an album… the only time we get to experience it is in the studio. [The leak] was heartbreaking, especially because [Drake]’s an idol of mine. I wanted to control that moment, but it’s destiny.”

Harlow mentioned that Drake was also sad about the leak, but as an artist who has dealt with his music leaking for years, Drake was able to offer Harlow some words of encouragement.

“[Drake] kind of, you know, nudged me like, ‘Aye, don’t trip. This what was meant to happen,’” he said. “I think his experience, he let me know like, ‘You think this is gonna affect your life? Like, it’s fine.’”

In addition to Drake, Harlow also collaborated with Lil Wayne, Pharrell Williams, and Justin Timberlake on the album.

Check out the full interview above.

Come Home, The Kids Miss You is out 5/6 via Atlantic. Pre-save it here.

Jack Harlow is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Ebro Darden Apologizes For Calling Tinashe’s Name ‘Ghetto’ During Their Interview

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R&B singer Tinashe and New York radio personality Ebro Darden are trending on Twitter after a video of their 2013 interview on his Hot 97 morning show resurfaced in which he teases her about her name. After Ebro asked Tinashe’s last name (it’s Kachingwe, by the way) and his co-host, Peter Rosenberg, supplied the answer, Ebro tried to joke about Tinashe’s “unusual” name — which comes from the Zimbabwean Shona language and means “We have God (or God is with us)” — somehow mashing together reckless colorism with an ignorant, classist statement.

“Can we point out how light-skinned she is with a ghetto-ass name?” Ebro wonders. Rosenberg checks him, telling him, “It’s not a ghetto name, it’s an African name.” Although he incorrectly states that it’s a Nigerian name, Tinashe clarifies that it’s Zimbabwean and gives them the definition. Ebro tries to explain himself, saying, “Sometimes these ghetto names are actually African.” Meanwhile, Tinashe merely smiles at Ebro in the clip on Twitter, which cuts off before her response. In the full interview, which is still on YouTube, she addresses the light skin comment, explaining that her father is from Zimbabwe, while her mom is white.

In posting the video, the user who resurfaced the clip pointed out the singer’s composure in the awkward moment but let’s be honest: She’s probably used to it. People say all kinds of wild things to kids who don’t just have generic or Biblical names and the question “what are you mixed with” gets lobbed at fairer-skinned Black people all the time. In fact, Tinashe herself imperfectly explained colorism during the run-up to her third studio album, Joyride, pointing out how her complexion often causes confusion from other people. Twitter, being Twitter, dragged her for the comment, but it looks like today, the tables have turned.

Users excoriated Ebro for his comments (it’s unclear whether they recognized how old the video is), while pointing out the obvious irony in them, given Ebro himself is a light-skinned Black man with African roots and an unusual name. For his part, he apologized for comments, saying, “Yea this was a terrible joke, we were using the name skit for people to learn her origins… love Tinashe that’s my homey still.” Obviously, he’s (mostly) grown from this era of confrontational journalism, although he also made Saweetie cry by dissing her freestyle a few years later. Hopefully, he’ll continue to learn and grow, as we all should, and find a way to balance his jokes with consideration, thoughtfulness, and empathy. You can watch the full interview above.

Ebro Darden Apologizes For Calling Tinashe’s Name ‘Ghetto’ During Their Interview

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R&B singer Tinashe and New York radio personality Ebro Darden are trending on Twitter after a video of their 2013 interview on his Hot 97 morning show resurfaced in which he teases her about her name. After Ebro asked Tinashe’s last name (it’s Kachingwe, by the way) and his co-host, Peter Rosenberg, supplied the answer, Ebro tried to joke about Tinashe’s “unusual” name — which comes from the Zimbabwean Shona language and means “We have God (or God is with us)” — somehow mashing together reckless colorism with an ignorant, classist statement.

“Can we point out how light-skinned she is with a ghetto-ass name?” Ebro wonders. Rosenberg checks him, telling him, “It’s not a ghetto name, it’s an African name.” Although he incorrectly states that it’s a Nigerian name, Tinashe clarifies that it’s Zimbabwean and gives them the definition. Ebro tries to explain himself, saying, “Sometimes these ghetto names are actually African.” Meanwhile, Tinashe merely smiles at Ebro in the clip on Twitter, which cuts off before her response. In the full interview, which is still on YouTube, she addresses the light skin comment, explaining that her father is from Zimbabwe, while her mom is white.

In posting the video, the user who resurfaced the clip pointed out the singer’s composure in the awkward moment but let’s be honest: She’s probably used to it. People say all kinds of wild things to kids who don’t just have generic or Biblical names and the question “what are you mixed with” gets lobbed at fairer-skinned Black people all the time. In fact, Tinashe herself imperfectly explained colorism during the run-up to her third studio album, Joyride, pointing out how her complexion often causes confusion from other people. Twitter, being Twitter, dragged her for the comment, but it looks like today, the tables have turned.

Users excoriated Ebro for his comments (it’s unclear whether they recognized how old the video is), while pointing out the obvious irony in them, given Ebro himself is a light-skinned Black man with African roots and an unusual name. For his part, he apologized for comments, saying, “Yea this was a terrible joke, we were using the name skit for people to learn her origins… love Tinashe that’s my homey still.” Obviously, he’s (mostly) grown from this era of confrontational journalism, although he also made Saweetie cry by dissing her freestyle a few years later. Hopefully, he’ll continue to learn and grow, as we all should, and find a way to balance his jokes with consideration, thoughtfulness, and empathy. You can watch the full interview above.

Tyler The Creator On Being Canceled For Past Behavior: ‘What’s Your End Goal?’

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Since he’s just off the release of a new album, Call Me If You Get Lost, Tyler The Creator has been on something of a press tour of late. Which has been great, because there are few artists in the game who can speak with the kind of nuance and understanding that he’s developed over the last decade. In a wide-reaching conversation on Hot 97’s ‘Ebro In The Morning,’ with Ebro Darden, Peter Rosenberg, and Laura Stylez, Tyler reflected on his past with Odd Future and where he’s headed now. One topic the group discussed is the ever-present threat of being “canceled,” something Tyler experienced earlier than most. Several years ago, circa 2014-2015, there was a period where Tyler was banned from Australia, the UK, and New Zealand for his lyrics that were deemed to be promoting violence and homophobia.

Around the 22 minute mark, Peter Rosenberg asks, “Would Odd Future have made it in 2021?” to which Tyler responds “Oh, f*ck no! We came at the right time, where you could still be crazy. You could still be a kid and f*ck up. You could still have satire, you could still allow people to have a conversation even if you disagreed. Right now is crazy. I was just thinking about the idea, I’ve done so much ill sh*t in this ten year span…. what if they got me out of here in 2011? And wouldn’t allow me to get right here?”

He goes on to discuss the undertones of when and how people are canceled, especially for past behavior, when they’ve clearly changed. “People just go back to stuff and go ‘look what he used to do,’” he said. “And it’s like yeah, but I’m not on that no more. So what’s your end goal? When people go back and dig up old stuff from someone who’s here now, it’s like hey, what’s your end goal? Accountable… what does that mean? Is the goal, you shouldn’t do that, you should change and be a better person? Not even me, but to whoever they’re saying it to… I’ve been a better person for the last nine years. That was ten years ago. But I think people like doing that to make themselves feel better about themselves.”

Check out the full interview above.