Two weeks after the release of his new album, Porches, Reason appeared on The Breakfast Club to clarify one of the high-profile snafus that happened during the album’s rollout. A few days before the album’s release, Reason appeared on a livestream of the BACKONFIGG podcast, where he seemingly vented his frustrations about his label, TDE, prompting the label’s president, Moosa Tiffith, to call on and get into a heated back-and-forth with his artist.
In the course of the discussion, Moosa revealed that Reason was initially not a priority for his predecessor Dave Free, and joked that even the hosts on the podcast didn’t know any Reason songs. And while fans took the discourse as evidence of a rift between the artist and business partner, during his Breakfast Club interview, Reason asserted that while “it definitely shouldn’t” have happened in public, the discussion was just one of many and there’s no bad blood between them.
Asked if there was a problem between him and TDE, Reason said, “That entire situation, that was a conversation that me and Moo have had behind closed doors a lot…. it definitely shouldn’t have been out in the public. It’s a lot of misconceptions about that… Moosa loves this album. He helped me pick some of the records… It was just one of those things that got so nasty and ugly publicly that now, everything is ‘A Thing.’”
He elaborated that other comments he’d made accidentally fed into the narrative. For example, he’d said no one from the label came to his release party, but explained that the statement was taken out of context; he had previously had a label-led listening, but the release party was more private for family and friends. He also stood behind his statement about J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar, clarifying that he didn’t think J. Cole would be bigger than his former labelmate, just bigger in general.
He also said he had more than 1,300 songs recorded… and reiterated that he wanted to put more out. You can see the full interview above.
Top Dawg Entertainment rapper Reason released a new album, Porches, earlier this month, and now he’s celebrating with an appearance on the latest installment of UPROXX Sessions. Standing in front of the classic colorful graffiti wall, he delivered an A-plus rendition of the introspective album highlight “Call Me.”
Porches is Reason’s second album and the follow-up to his 2020 debut, New Beginnings. The project saw Reason seamlessly integrate himself into the contemporary hip-hop landscape as he linked up with featured artists like Schoolboy Q, Vince Staples, Rapsody, and Ab-Soul. His debut LP arrived after a series of independently released mixtapes caught TDE’s attention; He initially released There You Have It on his own in 2017, but TDE reissued the project the next year. Also in 2018, he landed an appearance on Black Panther: The Album, one of the year’s most beloved releases.
Check out Reason’s UPROXX Sessions performance of “Call Me” above.
UPROXX Sessions is Uproxx’s performance show featuring the hottest up-and-coming acts you should keep an eye on. Featuring creative direction from LA promotion collective, Ham On Everything, and taking place on our “bathroom” set designed and painted by Julian Gross, UPROXX Sessions is a showcase of some of our favorite performers, who just might soon be yours, too.
Artists and their labels have never traditionally gotten along all that great, but sometimes, the struggle between art and commerce boils over, leading to public outbursts and occasionally even legal action. This has especially been the case for indie label Top Dawg Entertainment, courtesy of a tendency to sign ornery, outspoken artists who aren’t afraid to vent their frustrations with the label like SZA or take their time recording new music like Isaiah Rashad.
And while TDE has been pretty patient in the past, leading to some of the more successful releases in recent years like albums from the aforementioned artists and former artist Kendrick Lamar, apparently, even they have limits. Moosa Tiffith, son of the titular Top Dawg and one of the managers at the label, finally reached his during a live interview with Del Amo rapper Reason, calling in during the rapper’s appearance to refute his complaints live.
During Reason’s appearance on the podcast BACKONFIGG, he vented about the rollout for his upcoming album, Porches, saying, “We had certain features lined up that could’ve went through. We had the budget, we had the feature lined up, takes too long to get pushed through, feature price ended up going up or something goes away. Content ideas lined up, not executed. Rollout ideas lined up, not executed.” Reason specifically pointed to an attempt to secure a feature from EST Gee, but before it could be finalized, the Louisville rapper had released a song with Future, increasing his popularity and driving up the feature price.
When Moosa called in, though, things got heated as the manager asserted that former co-president, Dave Free, didn’t even want to sign Reason, who he called a “substitute teacher.” He also challenged the show’s hosts to name 10 Reason songs, and mocked the rapper when they couldn’t. “Dave never wanted us to sign Reason,” Moosa declared. “He called him a substitute teacher. Dot only said Reason had talent, but it’s gon’ take more than just talent in this game right now and everybody know that.”
You can check out the full episode above and see the argument in question below.
Holy shit, Moosa from TDE had a heated exchange with Reason on BACKONFIGG
“Can you name 10 Reason songs”
“Dave Free said don’t sign him, called you a substitute teacher”
“You sitting in a room with 2 men that don’t know your music”
Doechii has always been a phenomenal performer. After experiencing her pop out at Isaiah Rashad’sThe House Is Burning listening in 2021 where I had to ask multiple people “Who is that?,” she dazzled at her own listening where she put on what can only be described as a performance art show for an eye-captivating performance of her song “Crazy,” complete with sticks and electrifying choreography.
Three years later, Doechii is impressing at Coachella and this time around I, along with the audience who for some may have been their first introduction to the TDE talent, got to know the rising star a little better. As the sun began to set, she opened up to thousands with not only her music but also some things about herself. Like, she’s from Tampa, Florida and that’s why she’s the Swamp Princess.
I got the blessing to speak to Doechii after her performance to learn even more about her and all the ingredients that came together for her Coachella debut.
“I went to a performing arts high school, so a lot of my background came from just my experience and my training there,” Doechii told Uproxx backstage. “So a lot of that kind of prepared me for Coachella right now. I had a dope high school experience. It was like High School Musical.”
And it makes sense. Everything Doechii does is with precision.
“I was in chorus, and I also did the jazz musical tech,” she added. “I learned how to write music and music theory.”
We also learn that “Crazy” is a song inspired by a few women in the music industry who people labeled as crazy when they were on the rise and a super meaningful.
“It was Missy Elliott, myself, and Nicki Minaj. I think just those women and how they came up in their careers, a lot of people didn’t really believe in them at first. That resonates with me because I feel like that was me in the beginning of my career. I just felt like it was nice to pay homage to them.”
Philip Cosores
To prep for Coachella, Doechii and her team developed the concept months ahead and rehearsed for two weeks straight.
“My band and I, and my background dancers, we rehearsed every day for two weeks,” she said. “And we just prepared, worked hard, and that’s how we got the show.”
From her blazing energy to her coordinated outfit with the matching contacts, everything was immaculate about her show. The energy she shared with the audience was majestic and divined with the rhythms of her unreleased track “Pacer” (#droppacer) and a slower song titled “Stress,” to which she offered a short 3-breath meditation session after.
“Sometimes you just feel it in the moment, and you just need to take a breath,” she said. “That’s it. I feel like I do that all the time. Just take a breath. So why not do it on stage?”
As far as “Pacer,” apparently it’s coming but she wouldn’t tell me when (I tried ya’ll).
“I can’t tell you,” she asserted. “We haven’t announced the date yet.”
Of course, I probed about the album, and yet —
“Album? Can’t tell you.”
But, there’s a tour and 2023 is looking like that year.
“It’s going to come out this year for sure. It’s almost done. So it’s definitely going to come out this year. I’m just not going to release the date,” she reiterated to me. “Look forward to the album, look forward to a tour this year, and I’ll actually be on Pharrell’s festival (Something In The Water).”
On “Stress,” we get to experience Doechii’s vocal abilities, and on her latest single “What It Is (Block Boy),” which is quite different from what we’re used to getting from her and serves as a digestible tidbit for those who have yet to catch on yet. The crowd went up for this one and so did I.
“I just thought it would be a really nice summer anthem to put out,” she said. “It’s something universally known. A lot of people know it. So that’s really how the song came about. It was just fun and upbeat, and I thought it would be a great song to perform.”
But, that was just for fun. Doechii is a rapper, period. Expect her to do what she wants musically, but always expect her to rap.
“I don’t know if we’re going to get more of that particular sound,” she told me of “What It Is.” “I just wanted to try it, vibe out. But after that, we’re back to rapping.”
As someone who admittedly didn’t get it at first, but am naturally intrigued by anything outside the box, I do know Doechii will never leave me (or the audience) empty-handed when she hits the stage. For Coachella, her intentions were clear.
“My intention for myself is to just release,” she told me. “But ultimately, I believe that when people come to events like this, they’re coming because they need something. They’re looking for something. You don’t know who’s in the crowd or what they’re going through. So whatever they’re looking for, that feeling of love and connection is what I want to leave them with.”
Kendrick Lamar might have completed his Top Dawg Entertainment record deal, but TDE isn’t done yet. If anything, it looks like the Southern California-based label will be doubling down on its remaining roster and increasing its album release cadence this year. Top Dawg himself revealed as much today on Twitter during a fan Q&A that found him addressing everything from a potential Black Hippy project to which of the label’s artists have tours planned this year.
When one fan asked which albums are on the docket, Top Dawg reeled off a list including new acquisitions like Doechii, Ray Vaughn, and Reason, as well as longtime mainstays Jay Rock, Schoolboy Q, and Zacari. However, he also mentioned a condition that needs to be met: “if everybody do their part,” he wrote. “when they turn them in I will release em.”
Reason , rayvaughn , doechii , Q , jay rock , zac and a compilation .. if everybody do their part … when they turn them in I will release em .. https://t.co/JBMo3KvG8J
We’ve seen that process take upwards of four years — just look at Ab-Soul’s last project, as well as Isaiah Rashad’s and SZA’s — but even so, that gives TDE fans plenty to look forward to in 2023. Some of the roster’s newer additions could use the extra exposure and momentum from a potential compilation, while the veteran members’ fans have been waiting a while to hear from them (Jay Rock’s last album, Redemption, was in 2018; Q’s was 2019’s Crash Talk).
Top Dawg Entertainment has come a long way since 2012 when the above photo was taken at SXSW. Kendrick Lamar has since won a few Grammys and a Pulitzer Prize, Schoolboy Q has taken up golf, Ab-Soul has survived depression and anxiety, and Jay Rock… is still Jay Rock, I guess. He keeps to himself a lot.
But collectively, there’s one thing we never really got from Black Hippy: A full group project. That may change soon, despite their vocal reticence throughout the years, if the man who started their label has his way. Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith teased a potential project from them during a Twitter Q&A session with fans.
When one fan asked whether the group would ever do a remix of “Vice City,” Top’s favorite Black Hippy track per a previous answer, the label head went one step further. “I think they will…” he replied. “They owe y’all an album or EP.”
Now, whether such a thing will come to fruition remains to be seen. As mentioned above, it seems very much like at least two (maybe three) members of the collective are halfway retired as it is, Kendrick is busy with PgLang and his cousin Baby Keem’s career, and three-quarters of the group have kids — which can really change the calculus for album release strategies. Hopefully, they can carve out some time to get into the studio together, though, because as a group, their chemistry was always unmatched and extremely enjoyable.
Thursday night (March 23), I went to the first evening of SZA’s sold-out Los Angeles tour dates at the Kia Forum where she performed songs from her No. 1 hit album SOS and her critically acclaimed debut album Ctrl. It was truly an ethereal experience filled with oceanic splashes of glowing reds, yellows, oranges, soft purples, and pretty pinks, intertwined with bright sparkling lights.
While many were in attendance to simply watch Solana perform “Kill Bill” or her soon-to-be-hit-record “Snooze,” I wanted to see how all the Easter eggs she’d been placing into her music videos since 2014’s “Babylon” video aligned with her show. Puzzles are my thing, what can I say?
This particular puzzle started on December 8, 2022, the day SOS was released. It was a full moon, which is said to be the perfect time to set intentions of releasing things that no longer serve you. That had to mean something, right?
The day she shared her tour dates, I immediately noticed that it was set to take place right in the bosom of Pisces season on February 21 while the new moon was in Pisces (her moon sign) and wrapping on March 19. The original final date of the tour was March 22, during the Aries full moon. The full moon is said to be the best time to manifest fresh intentions. From there I got lost in a rabbit hole of discovery.
Aware of these connections, I was better able to understand her tour performance — which could be seen as something like a Broadway play where SZA is acting out the journey of saving herself with help from the stars. When the show began, SZA sat on the ledge of a board, mimicking her cover art, as she rapped the unreleased “PSA.” Then, she took a dive into the ocean.
That moment reminded me of the “Babylon” video when she fully immersed herself in a lake, leaving behind $7 (a number that is significant for many reasons) and a note that read, “Gone fishin’,” an idiom for checking out of reality. Fishing for what? Wisdom.
YouTube
As she got into “Seek & Destroy,” “Notice Me,’ “Love Galore,” and “Broken Clocks,” I noticed her performing on a boat dock.
It’s reminiscent of her “Broken Clocks” video where the kids from Camp SZA are shown running to a lake to hang out. TDE’s own Jay Rock is there too and he holds a lifesaver.
YouTube
When she spit the words to her title track “SOS,” it looked like she was on the side of a ship or a submarine. Then she eased into, “Blind,” a song about discovering that everything you need to be great is already inside of you. ”It’s so embarrassing / All of the things I need living inside of me / I can’t see it,” she crooned. “It’s so embarrassing / All of the love I seek living inside of me/ I can’t see, I’m blind.”
Although there’s no music video, I peeped that the lighthouse she was singing in front of was from her Saturday Night Live performance. Lighthouses guide ships safely to the harbor, especially when the weather is difficult and dangerous.
Next up was the Darkchild-produced banger “Shirt,” a song that was well worth the wait — as was the live performance for it. Now, at the end of the “Broken Clocks” video, she gets beat up at a strip club, causing her nose to leak and putting a bloodstain on her shirt, while her friend yells “Sis! Wake up!” Jay Rock’s music plays in the background. In the “Shirt” video, she tells LaKeith Stanfield, “Color is light, light is energy, everything is energy.” Also, while she dissociates n another part of the video, we witness SZA attempting to grab a fish.
YouTube
Following “Shirt,” she got into “Smoking On My Ex Pack” while impressively doing a full-on costume change. Then, boarded a ship named SOS, and on the back, it read “Ctrl Fishing Co.” Appearing in a flowy black outfit, a beautiful performance of “All The Stars” took place along with Ctrl goodie “Garden (Say It Like Dat).” So far, the ride on her ship appeared to be pretty tranquil even as she rocked out to “F2F” alongside her glorious, stand-out guitarist.
Suddenly the ocean wave patterns became turbulent with rain pouring down as she performed the choreography to “Low” upon the deck of her ship. After wowing us all with the splits, SZA disappears into a sea of darkness.
Then, a bright light circulated the stadium, and to my left, a lighthouse resurrected in the middle of the audience. My eyes followed the light until it landed on SZA, who was adorned in a fairy-like yellow dress and floating in an orange lifeboat while singing “Supermodel.” Fans below were blessed with a rain of flowers sprinkled over their heads. With each song she performed, the closer to the lighthouse she got.
Once she returned to the stage for performances of “Kiss Me More” and “Love Language,” however, she was underwater with fish and a large anchor. Then, a large red shipping crate appeared to emerge from the ocean at the beginning of her “Kill Bill” performance and into “I Hate U,” where streams of water cascaded behind her. According to an interview with Rolling Stone, SZA originally envisioned herself sitting atop a shipping crate for her cover art.
SZA wrapped with “Good Days.” Back into her golden fairy-like dress, she was peacefully seated on the same board from the start of the show but instead, she glowed with the sun. “Half of us chasin’ fountains of youth and it’s in the present now,” she sang as a final reminder to the thousands of supporters who came out in the rain to see her.
SZA’s SOS Tour was indeed an immersive experience based on the Easter egg hunt alone (and I didn’t even detail all of the eggs!). At the end of the show, she teased the visual for “Low” which is expected to drop “soon.” The way SZA utilized her power to steer herself into a massively successful album that has touched people across the globe coupled with holding down the No. 1 spot for 10 weeks straight and a sold-out tour is absolutely inspiring. And if my intuition is correct, SOS could be making a return to No. 1.
As Top Dawg Entertainment’s leading lady, SZA has shown herself to be one of the label’s most promising acts. But this almost didn’t come to be. In a recent profile for New York Times, the “Nobody Gets Me” hitmaker revealed she initially wanted to join a different hip-hop collective.
In the weeks leading up to the release of SOS, SZA reflected on releasing her debut mixtape, See.SZA.Run. independently 10 years prior. The bulk of the mixtape was Brandun DeShay, a former member of Odd Future.
Odd Future was comprised of several acclaimed rappers and singers, including Syd, Frank Ocean, and Tyler The Creator. At the time, SZA found herself wanting to be part of the group too.
“Quiet as it’s kept, I wanted to be with like, Odd Future,” she said. “I felt more like a Clancy girl.” Christian Clancy and his wife, Kelly Clancy, are the founders of 4 Strikes Management, which has worked with Tyler, as well as Ocean.
Before she got signed, she recalled spending days with her Top Dawg associates in the home of Mac Miller.
She eventually signed with TDE in 2013, reasoning, “Punch believed in me.”
This week, SOS sits at the top of the Billboard 200 for the seventh week. It’s safe to say signing with TDE paid off.
Given that it’s the end of the year — traditionally, a time for looking back on the year in review and looking forward to the possibilities of the blank calendar ahead — it’s kind of fitting that Top Dawg Entertainment released Ab-Soul’s reflective Herbert now rather than somewhere in the furor of attention swirling around Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s comeback albums. This is because of the content of Herbert, yes, but it’s also because of Soul’s seeming place in the unofficial hierarchy of TDE’s fluctuating roster of artists.
With Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers concluding K. Dot’s commitment to the label and SOS potentially constituting SZA’s swan song (although the jury remains out in that regard; she seems to change her mind every other week and could be announcing five more EPs by the time you read this), TDE finds itself in an interesting place. For all purposes, it looks very much like the most commercially successful acts on the label are pretty much done. Schoolboy Q, who’s always kind of hovered in their periphery, last released an album, Crash Talk, in 2019, which could potentially have also completed his own obligation to Top Dawg, if Kendrick’s five-album deal structure is any guideline.
Jay Rock, who may as well be the label’s vanguard artist, hasn’t been heard from since 2018, although he typically takes long breaks between albums too. That means that for the first time, TDE is probably facing a new year with the prospect of no releases from its first and second-wave rappers and singers. It also means that 2023 might be totally clear for Top Dawg to truly move into its next wave of artists, many of whom seem poised to bridge the gap between the backpack rap-influenced releases of the label’s past and the more sonically malleable styles of contemporary hip-hop — which makes Herbert the perfect project to close that chapter of Top Dawg’s history.
Of all the first-wave TDE artists, Soul has probably been the hardest sell to the mainstream hip-hop fan. Influenced as much by underground mainstays like Canibus and Ras Kass as he was by Tupac, his bars have always been the densest, the most metaphorical, and the most abstract of the Black Hippy collective. While Jay Rock and Q reeled off morbid street stories and Kendrick offered intellectual observations on LA gang culture from the perspective of the hood-adjacent everyman, Ab-Soul was that stoner roommate everyone remembers from university who was really into metaphysical philosophy.
He was also — and I say this lovingly, as a fellow former denizen of the rap battle forums he frequented in the early days of the internet — a rap nerd beyond the like of his Black Hippy brethren. He was the one who deeply cared about the mechanical intricacies of rhyme work, the sort of blog commenter who probably threw the term “multi” into at least a few of his online missives. It showed in not just the music he made, but in the reception to it, as well. On his first two projects, Longterm Mentality and Control System, these tendencies made him seem quirky and idiosyncratic on These Days… and Do What Thou Wilt., though, he sounded out-of-touch and borderline delusional.
So it’s a relief to hear him shake loose some of the muck that bogged down those projects, endeavoring to discuss more earthbound subjects on Herbert — even when those topics get dark. On the title track, he addresses addiction, depression, losing his father, and even his ongoing ordeal with Steven-Johnson Syndrome, which affects his vision. On the motivational “Do Better,” he wrestles with survivor’s remorse while detailing his own efforts to follow the title’s advice. And in the lead-up to the album’s release, he was forthcoming about his recent suicide attempt, in which he jumped from a freeway overpass seeking a permanent solution to dark thoughts tormenting him through the recent pandemic.
Likewise, it’s satisfying, if not always delightful, to see that those rap nerd tendencies haven’t left him. Depending on your tolerance for rap dad jokes, some of the bars on the album can read like the most tortured puns to propagate their poet’s punchline prowess, or they can wow you with their wordplay wizardry. Here’s a test to find out which side you’ll land on. If that last alliteration-laden sentence made you groan a little (okay, I’ll stop now), approach with caution, and be ready to skip “The Wild Side” and “Art Of Seduction.” But even so, don’t miss the DJ Premier-produced album closer “Gotta Rap,” a defiant, triumphant celebration of Soul’s survivorship and pride in his pen.
Now, Top Dawg Entertainment must look to the future. Although 2018 signee Reason and 2020 recruit Ray Vaughn are both equally adept at twisting a double entendre to suit their purposes, they’re both grounded in the same sort of murky narratives as Jay Rock and Schoolboy Q. Meanwhile, Doechii has distinguished herself as the possible breakout star for phase two of the TDE experiment, garnering rave reviews for her viral singles “Crazy” and “Persuasive.” But whereas the first-generation TDE stars relied on their gritty stance and muddy, boom-bap-inspired production, it’s fitting that Herbert closes with a beat by the preeminent pioneer of backpack rap’s musical backbones.
Top Dawg, like hip-hop as a whole, has to evolve. The past year or so has shown us that the genre moves too fast and has become too omnivorous to cling to its origins, however important it is to acknowledge and remember them. So it’s good that we’ve learned as much as we possibly could about TDE’s flagship artists through their revelatory return projects (even going back to Isaiah Rashad’s 2021 album, The House Is Burning). The time has come to get to know the next generation, with their glittering dance beats, triumphant trap anthems, and a slew of new stories to tell.
Herbert is out now via Top Dawg Entertainment. Listen to it here.
It’s all happening, y’all: SZA’s sophomore album S.O.S. is right around the corner. The “Broken Clocks” singer revealed the release date during her Saturday Night Live performance this past weekend and S.O.S. is dropping this Friday, December 9th. It’s been a long-time coming since the brilliant Ctrl established SZA as a bona fide force back in 2017 and SZA has had her share of delays for the new album in the years since. Now that we’re finally, officially on the home stretch, SZA has now shared the S.O.S. tracklist and it has its share of surprises (Phoebe Bridgers!) and familiar faces.
For starters, both the previously released first single, “Shirt” and the SNL-debuted “Blind” are among the album’s 23 tracks. Yes, that’s right, 23 tracks! Travis Scott is set to appear on another collaboration with SZA on a track called “Open Arms.” There’s a posthumous appearance from Ol’ Dirty Bastard on the album-closing “Forgiveness,” Don Toliver will appear on “Used,” and then perhaps the most unexpected featured guest, Phoebe Bridgers, is on the album’s 12th track, “Ghost In The Machine.”
It’s giving y’all want number 1 … we go w that then .
SZA also reached out to fans to ask which of two back cover designs they liked. The more minimal layout of the tracklist which better showcases a photo of SZA won out.
(@big_business_) 
@iamdoechii 
(@SZASOSTOUR) 
